Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-10-28
THE ELECTION IN IOWA.

AE4AA
DIVA can hardly be considered
4 a doubtful state when it comes
to national issues. 1t is over
whelrningly republican. Yet they
are having a hot fight in Iowa over
the election of a United States
senator, and many conservative old
line republicans are supporting the
| democratic candidate. Among
these republican supporters OF the
democratic candidate is DR.. Hard
ing, father of the republican presi-
dent now at the White House. The
republican party organization at
Washington is supporting Col
Brookhart, who won the repub-
lican primary nomination, much as
they support of Senator LaFollette'
| They are not saying much, but they
have swallowed their medicine and
are irving hard not to make a wry
face over it.
The Republican bolt from Col.
Breokf1art is based on the allega-
ton that he is not a republican,
but a socialist, in his ideas and
principles. The charge does not
seem to US TO be sustained by the
evidence. Col. Brookhart himself
saws he is not a socialist. He ought
to know. He says he is a "repub-
lican of the party Of Lincoln,
Roosevelt and Kenyon" By that
we should Judge that he deems him
self a progressive" republican.
The socialist party leaders say ne
is not a socialist. They ought to
know. But at the same time they
admit that most Of the members
of the socialist party in Iowa are
going to vote for him.
The republican boilers who ask
the conservative republicans to
vote for the democratic candidate
for the senate, Slyde L. Herring,
admit that they do SO as a choice
Of evils. They describe the demo
cratic candidate as IAN experiment
of misguided political and economic
Judgment" but they see in him
zone who stands, nevertheless, tor
constitutional and American lnsti-
tutions." We are a good way Off
from the contest, and we would be
loath to misrepresent the demo
cratic candidate for senator, but
our impression is thai he is what
would be called a conservative
democrat opposed by a progressive
republican. If so it is merely an
other illustration of the fact that
both the major political parties are
split into two parts, progressive
and republican, and that those two
divisions are naturally antagonsstic
TO each other, and call for a revi-
sion of party lines so as to hero
all the pr~ogressives together ane
the conservatives together in one
party. That is what is going or
in Iowa and also in Montana.
There is a considerable similar.
itv between the platform of Mr.
Wheeler in our state and Col
Brookhart in Iowa. These ideas
expressed in his platform, include
repeal Of the Esch-C unmins rams
p~ortation act, reorganization OF the
federal reserve system in the inter
est Of farmers and labor, advance
ment of cooperative production
credit and marketing, and payment
Of an adequate" soldiers bonus
out of a tax on war and excess
profits. In answer to the charge
that he is a follower of LaFollete,
Col. Brookhart says: Il know and
admire Senator LaFollette very
much, but in the senate I would
expect to follow a course Of pro.
gressive independence based upon
my own ideas" Regarding his
socialist support Col. Brookhart
has said that he repudiates socialist
endorsement and that he has never
read a socialist book or heard {
socialist lecture i'll his life. Tha'
is not much to brag about, but W.
presume the colonel was anxious
to make it appear to his republican
supporters that he is no socialist
Our idea is that in spite OF some
old line republican support givei
the democratic candidate in low;
Col. Brookhart will be elected
This seems to be a year in which
~ 49, raIsnaI ;daau ~.