The New York herald., 1922-12-04


Mr.. La Toilette viii hold the favor Of
the farming communities.
The La Toilette program is held by
Administration leaders to be indefinite
and ambiguous; that OF the Admin
istration concrete and, with Congress,
sional support, entirely feasible. The
eagerness of the leaders of both
parties on the one hand and of the
advocates of the third party of pro-
bounced radical tendencies on the
yother to help the farmer out of his
present difficulties somewhat neutral
ICES the pretensions OF the La Toilette
AS both sides want to help the
farmer the opinion largely prevails
among the leaders of the regular
parties that a solution for the agri-
cultural problems should not be diff
ficult TO find. The regulars believe
that as soon as It is found the hard
headed American farmer. sensing the
dangers of wildeyed radicalism with
Bolshevist trimmings will speedily re-
cover from his present spirit of de-
preston.
Cause for Grievance Admitted.
The leaders of both the regular
parties and irregular movements yet
in embryo frankly admit that the
farmer has cause for grievance; that
the recent elections brought TO the
surface an unexpected degree of dis
satisfaction with both parties; that
the drubbing administered to Repub-
lican candidates clearly reflected a
dafo afr,a 70 Tho RpniIh1fpan
party out Of Office rather than TO vote
the Democratic party into office.
This is admitted to have been the
inspiration for the La Toilette scheme
of organizing the third party. which.
as said, had to be abandoned because
of the lack of popular support The
regular Republican and Democratic
leaders concur in the opinion that
nothing short of an aggressive radical
proposal would have met the situa-
tion resulting from the recent cleo
tions.
They are not at all certain that COM
ing events growing out of the con-
fused political conditions that prevail
in various sections of the country will
not bring about the creation of
party with program radical enough
to suit the most vigorous critic of the
present Administration. One of the
great difficulties encountered by the
La Toilette conferences was the dis
inclination of the majority of Repub-
lican and Democratic spokesmen to
carry their war of resentment Cor am
bition) to the extent of isolating them
selves in an Independent movement.
The conference established the fact
that there are four distinct groups in
the Republican party and two in the
Democratic. The Republicans are di-
vided into "a the conservative ele-
ment, represented by Henry Cabot
Lodge and the vast majority of the
Republican Senators and Representa-
tives; (2) the liberal-conservative
wing. represented by Senators Len
root and Mccormick: (3) the insu~
gent group, represented by Senator'S
Borah, Norris and Johnson. and (4)
the radical clique, made up of Sena-
tors La Toilette, Ladd and Brookhart.
with others to come.
The Democratic division has not
been clearly established, but the atti-
luQt III E)OQlHclA DcHdiOiS diiN LNCPAC-
sentatives who have manifested a
casual interest In the La Toilette en-
terprise clearly established the fact
that they will not align themselves
with any radical proposal emanating
from Republican sources.
A few Democrats from border and
far Western States elected to the next
Congress have expressed sympathy
with the third party movement, but
the overwhelming number of Demo-
Gratis from the South insist on cling
ing to the old traditions. which GER
tainly do not make for radicalism of
the sort popular in widely separated
spots in the East and to a greater ex-
tent in the far Western States.
II appears TO be the Democratic
policy 10 permit the Republicans to-
play with radicalism, to see which
way the cat is going to jump and
take advantage of every opportunity
that points to partisan advantage
Some Democratic leaders who were
approached by the promoters Of the
La Toilette scheme turned down their
thumbs without giving it a second
thought That was one Of the things
WHICH COfnpelleQ INC rcNlSlOn Oh the
La Toilette plan, though one that was
not exactly in accord with the am
bitions and wishes of the Wisconsin
Senator himself.
Just what is coming out OF the po-
litical box as the result Of the La
Toilette conference is problematic.
The leaders of the regular wing in
the Republican party who express
their determination to stand back of
the Harding administration naturally
expect a great deal of turmoil and
interference with the Presidents pol
icies from the insurgent and radical
groups in both houses. But they are
now much less concerned over the
threats and warnings coming from
the radicals.
In the words of one of the old time
leaders, ga lot of water is going over
the dam before the next Congress Is
organized in March. We may have an
entirely different situation to meet
from that which now exists. There Is
really no sense in getting excited
about movements that are generally
declared to be revolutions. but which
usually turn out to be mere gestures.
We may have third party, but it
should be one OF pronounced radical