The Monroe journal., 1922-03-31
The City Beautiful and Other
Editorials by Mr.. r. F. Beasley
The Women Will Not Surrender the Beautiful Aogether-Why
the Best Brains Fail MIR. Harding-What the People
Are Interested in-A Brief for the Girls
rom Goldsboro News. March 27)

too selfish to work together, and tina
l without party cohesion under a DEF
: inte and responsible leadership, m
! the best brains. but the sorriest b,aii
i are going to run things.
: When Republican insurgency start
ed way back yonder the insurgent
were a group of the best minds 0
: the Republican party in congress, an,
their weight was of great value il
the general reform movement tha
elected Wilson in 1912. But tina
same block has become to be, by tn,
changes of time and politics, prin
eipally a bunch of wind TANNERS D
whom He'll Roaring Hi Johnson i:
the chief. Its chief business is to lei
the president do nothing good or bad
The growth of the country has made
congress what some renowned states.
man said the tariff was, local issue
Ii no longer thinks nationally or COM
pactly. The original idea of the body
like many other of our original ideas
that have passed out, was that il
would be a compact body of the best
brains of the country celebrating and
acting upon general principles and
governing the country accordingly,
with the president merely as the chief
executive. But the country has grown
50 large, the number of members
have been so increased, the local.
sectional and class interests have be-
eeme so complex. that no member Of
house or senate rep esents the coun.
try or even sta ., but merely a
faction of some slrt or another. The
crisis of the Civil War exploded this
theory and since that time the nresi-
dents have been more and more held
to account by the public. The pres
ident is the only man thar all the
p, ople can see or get chance at.
This is why the old electoral scheme
il but a shell and we have what is
practically the eleet;or Of the pl esi-
dent by direct vote ef the People
Lincoln had to take charge of cong
ress and ever since that time some
president has been in charge Of it
more or lesss. depending upon the
need and the personality and power
Of the man who happened to be chief
executive. Only the three men who
were strongest in their conception OF
executive power and responsibility
have left any permanent impress
from their administrations. These
were Cleveland. Roosevelt, and Will
son, All these men had congress ON
their hands and every one of them
led the people into overriding con-
gressional stupidity, inertia, and back
wardness in giving effect to popular
will.
And now Mr., Harding, having vain. |
" attempted to turn the clock of |
political evolution backward a half |
century, must lead or fail. He will
probably continue to fail. Mr.. Hard
.ng is a soft soap statesman. He
mas applied his methods vigorously
~. Intellectually. Whether he knows
now TO do anything else or not. no
)ne can say. Sometimes a timid man
Sho breads fight will put UP a good
M W hen pushed into a corner, and
10Th the best brains" and the sor-
'le5t of his party have pushed Mr..
harding into corner. As president
md as the amiable gentlemen and
veil wishCr that he is, we are sorry
or Mr.. Harding. But as the politician
vho seized upon a state of popular
frenzy to hoist upon the
ountry a theory of government
which is actually and historically un-
ound, and prohted thereby. we are
t the opinion that he is getting about
That was coming to him.