Evening star., 1922-06-26
Ford's Presidential Boom May Not
Re All Humor.

| Automobile terms such as crank"
| "self-starter." ''fiivver" and gas" that
| have more than one meaning in the
American language. figure largely in
| the general run of editorial comment
ION the Ford for President" talk. AT
the same time many papers from
every section of the country agree
with the Chicago Journal tdemo-
cratic) that those who regard it as
| Il joke had better revise their esti-
mates" Not that many Of them would
welcome a serious effort to put Henry
Ford in the White House. but they
point to fluid elements in the present
| political situation the course of which
may conceivahly make this latest
Ford joke" a solemn matter by 1874.
| The boom was started, the Roanoke
World News tdemocratlc) reports
by some misguided Michigan 1oiks
who profess to see some connection
! between quantity production OF nv
vers and the duties of the Presl,
dent of the United States lnciuaeo
Sandusky (Ohio)s Register Gepub-
llican) relates further, were a clergy
man. a Judge, publisher and prom
inent business man Thus there
| were represented the Register de-
| duces, The pulpit. the press, tne
| not constitute a national movement
right at the start. where was there
ever any movement OF an ali-eli-
bracing characterg SO. mus pc
sieged," as the Norfolk Virginlan
pilot independent democratic) puts
| it. "the Caliph of Flivverdom, after
the wont Of other public men SIM.
!larly placed has made 1t known that
| if the people want him for President
! he will run--not otherwise.
How Mr.. Ford is to ma OUT
| whether or not the people want him
until they have had a chance to vote
! for him he does not explain" notes
the indianapolis Star independent
! republican,: and lacking that crl-
terion, the Minneapolis Tribune IRE
/ try is not an easy thing to identity:
] Mr.. Bryan, for instance, has 1dentl-
| fed several Of them to his own satis-
faction. but in each case it turned out
| that what he heard was something
| quite different" .
make Henry Ford candidate for
President is more than mere rumor,
the Utica Observer Dispatch (demo-
cratic) asserts, and 'is likely to be
| a considerable one before the time
comes for making nominations to
that Office two years from this sum-
mer" Because of the consistent VIC
tories scored by the progressive can
didates in the primaries in Indiana,
Pennsylvania and Iowa." says the
Ann Arbor (Mich.) Times-News dn-
dependent), there has been some
wonder among political leaders Of
both parties regarding a posi- BILE
split in the republican ranks at the
next presidential election" and "in
the event of such a division" the
InJl hot
Ford, running on the democratic
ticket, would stand good chance of
election"
That "he would have a real chance"
to win the democratic nomination III
he went after it with the help of
firm belief of the Lincoln (Neb.) State
Journa4 independent republican,, for
that party is now leaderless," and
greater miracles have occurred in
American politics than the nomina-
tion of Henry Ford by the democratic
pa arty two years from now would be-"
He has achieved the greatest busi-
ness success Of our times" the Lin
coin paper continues, "and what is
more extraordinary, has done it with
to this confidence the fact that he Is
one of the best known men In the
world, and you have the foundation
for a political career Of no small pos
sibilities."
Believing with the writer's quoted
that a formidable move to run Ford
for President is not unthinkable,
many other editors seriously discuss
what they believe to be hfs qualifi-
cations and fitness-or. in most cases,
his, to them. lack Of fitness. 1t is
"only natural" the Des Moines Capt.
tai (republican) thinks, that he
should be mentioned for the presi-
dency, but his best friends will GER
tainly not discover in his makeup
one good qualification fitting him for
the presidency-not one" while
"there are thousands who would think
the country quite unsafe in his
hands," He is mo statesman" the
Asheville Times (independent) de-
clares: utterly ignorant of the
fundamentals Of politics."
Further, the Aberdeen Is. D.) World
objects on Industrial and economic
grounds, for, 1T says. Ford ''heads al
ready one of the great Industries of
the country. II his Muscle Shoals
.offer is accepted, he will head another
and viii be a. business figure per-
haps without Deerssin the world He
win control through his pag rolls
the lives Of : a,vast number of men