Iron County register., 1922-04-20
Washington Correspondence.
BY WALLACE BAssFoRD.

said the results were due to local
causes. 1t appeared strange at the
time that the various and varying
"local causes" brought the same re-
suits all the way from Providence
Rhode Island, to the cities of Utah,
but the Democrats, still smartlng from
the drubbing of 1920, were backward
in pointing out the significance that
seemed to lie therein. But when var
ious cities in Maine kicked out their
Republican officials about month
ago, the trend began to be Of more
definite character. This week Hart
ford, Conn, overturned a machine
that had held the city for the Repup-
licans the last twenty years, while
Kansas City, Missouri, in a straight
party fight, elected q Democratic
mayor by $4,000 majority. The Re-
publican Governor OF Missouri, Hyde,
went into the fight with ali the help
the State and National machines could
give him, backed by big Republican
majority at the last election, but suf-
fered great reverse.
These elections are strongly remind
full of the sorry condition in which
the Democrats found themselves dur
ing Cleveland's last administration |;
Harding's situation is very similar to
Cleveland's, if not fully analogous. tt
will be recalled that Cleveland came
into Office in March. 1898, just after
prosperity had taken wing. He got
the blame. For year and half he
struggled against the inevitable. He
had Congress with an unwieldy ma
jority and dissension in the ranks
just as Harding has today Cleveland
had hardly gotten his chair warm be-
fore the city elections began to come
along; inside of six months the re-
ports had begun to grow monotonous
just one Republican elected after
another. At first Democratic leaders
said the results were due to sslocal
causes,n but that was soon worn
threadbare. 1t made little differences
where the elections were held-the
results were very similar. The diff
Guilty seemed to be that the people
were 80 disheartened by hard times
(begun under Harrison's Republican
administrator that they would not
support any man OF the same political
faith as the man who headed the ex-
listing government. Today the Re-
publican leaders find the, same diff
culty in getting the people to vote
the ticket of the party in control at
Washington. If the analogy goes as
far as next November-seven months
from now Harding will receive the
same sort ofrepudiation as was suffer-
ed by Cleveland, for in the middle of
of the latter's term an antagonistic
House was returnedby a very large
majority. Some qneer things occurr-
ed; Champ CLARK was defeated by an
itinerant music teacher while Richard
P. Bland was beaten by a horse doc
tor. The biggest Democrats in Con-
gress were turned out, while many of
their successors proved to be "Con-
gressional jokes" Many Of them had
been allowed to take the party nomi-
nations because they were in districts
so strongly Democratic in the past
that the Republican nominations we're
considered worthless; had the abler
Republicans seen chance Of getting
+ a seat in Congress there would have
been a different tale to tell. And it
behooves the Democratic organiza-
tions in the various States to see to it
that only able men are nominated
against the sitting Republicans, for
the signs Of. the times indicate that
scores Of Republican seats are to be
vacated. A landslide seems to have
no respect for previous majorities.
The desperate state Of the admini-
stration is indicated by the heartless
discharge Of the 28 chiefs of the vari-
GUS divisions Of the Bureau Of Engrav;
ing and Printing, where stamps, paper
4 money and Liberty bonds are engrav-
ed and printed. 1t is the most won
derful shop Of its kind in the world
Z and has been considered a model o.
efficiency. The best opinion here
seems to be that Harding needed jobs
for his clamorous and hungry follow.
ers, and by putting Republicans Of hii
own choosing into all the head places
he could have them remove those be-
low them, thus providing many hun
dreds Of places. Senator Harreld ol
Oklahoma, one OF the accidents Of th!
last election, gave out a statement Y
the effect that the Administration
found that many of the chief offic'
holders reported more frequently t.
to Mr.. Tumulty, President Wilson
secretary for eight years, than to tn
present heads of the government. !
THE were true it would be q damag