Great Falls tribune., 1922-02-19
AID 0F HARDING
IS REPUBLICAN
CANT PA|CN NEED.
Democrats Forcing Is
sue Early and Rely on
Reaping Reaction.
President May Write
Letters, as He Plans
an Alaska Vacation.
gv ROBERT r. SMALL

Copyright, 1922. by The Great Fans Afiouiio
Washington, Feb. 1S.-The political
battle of 1922 got under way with
rush this week. 1t started with SORT
| Of forensic fury which means much
bitterness before the ballots fall next
| November. Never in an off-year has
the campaign been launched SO far
in advance of the election. There has
been desultory political firing at this
| season Of the year in the past, but
now there is a general fusllade al
| along the line.
| TIE American people are in for
| more than eight months of active cleo
tioneering. The democrats are say
| ing that the Harding honeymoon" is
over. The strategy Of the democratic
| campaign is becoming more and more
| apparent. They are going to make the
president co-defendant with congress
on the ground that the executive mas
| failed to assert that leadership over
! congress which makes for effective
party government.
Coolidge to Be Wheel Horse
The republicans, keenly alive to the
heavy attack that is to be made upon
them are rallying to the defense OF
the Grand Old Party. Their plan Of
campaign is to blame the democrats
for the condition of the country to-
day and to declare that only by con-
tinuing the republicans in power can
the troubles of government be rlghted.
Realizing that it is to be great
political war, Washington is wondering
! today to what extent President Hard
ing will permit himself to be drawn
into the campaign. Vice President
Coolidge already has plunged into the
fray and it is certain he IS to pc
wheel horse all through the fight.
Hardings Friends Need Hun
Some Of Mr.. Harding's closest po-
ltical and personal friends are up for
election this fall, and it is only rea-
sonable to suppose that he will do
as much as he can to further their
chance at the polls. One or two Of
the presidents senatorial friends are
facing primary fights also, but in their
case it is difficult to see how Mr.
| Harding can interfere or intercede
in any way.
Take the case of Senator New. OF
Indiana. With the possible exception
of Attorney General Daugherty, Sen
ator New is the closest friend the
president has in Washington. For
more than a year it has been rumored
that former Senator Albert j. BeV-
eridge would contest the nomination OF
Senator New, but not until this week
was the announcement formally maoe.
Harding Offers Rivals Posts
The resulting primary campaign in
| Indiana promises to be a stiff one. 1t
was reported in Marion during the
"best minds" conference preceding
the inauguration that Mr.. Harding, in
an attempt to clear the Indiana field
for Senator New, had offered Mr..
Beveridge an ambassadorlal post IN
the diplomatic corps. The later is said
to have preferred to make the race for
his old place in the senate.
Likewise it is known that President
Harding had offered Senator New
nlace in his cabinet, both prior and
since his inauguration. Senator New,
however has likewise preferred to
make the senatorial race, being will
ing to stake his political future on the
outcome.
Harding May Write Letters
The republican leaders in congress
are coming fast to the conclusion that
tleV Will ueeu tuC dooiotdhtC ot liC
president Of the coming campaign and,
while he may not make political
speeches it is certain he will be call
ed upon to do q great deal of letter
writing. extolling the virtues Of the
Grand Old Party and attempting to
point out the triumphs Of the con-
gress.
Already the president has decided
TO include congress in the credit that
may be reflected upon the admlnistra-
ton in connection with the arms par
lev, He has intimated that congress
helped inspire the whole idea of the
conference and has been regarded as
sort Of partner in 1T.
President Praises Alaska Trip
President Harding started his ad-
ministration on the theory that the
three constitutional branches of the
government should be kept scrupulous-
" separate and distinct Having come
fresh from the senate himself, he was
inclined to criticise those presidents
who had asserted control over con-
aress. But now he finds congress
more than anxious to share with what
ever it may have Of sorrow or tri-
umph with the chief executive of the
nation.
If President Harding's plans carry,
be will spend two months of the COM
ing summer on a trip to Alaska and
will escape that much Of the strenu-
GUS campaign. This campaign will
wage henceforth both within the halls
of congress and without. Party lines
have been drawn and partisan clashes
are imminent.
To overturn the present overwhelm-
ing republican majority in the house
would seem an impossible task, but
the democrats In militant mood, be-
lieve they can do it.
1t will mean. however. the winning
of no less than 85 congressional dis
tricts now represented by republicans,
in addition to holding all the present
democratic districts. This latter task
should not be difficult, for only the
staunchest democratic districts wealth
cred the republican storm in 1920 and
these districts are certain to hold fast
in this more favorable year.