Evening star., 1923-12-15
FACTIONS ARRAyED
FOR 1924 BATTLE
Presidents "Silent Com
mand" Masters Republican
Situation.
ny FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.


Presidential battle lines for 1924
are now drawn. Contending forces
face themselves in definite fighting
array. The week just ended in Wash
ington clears the air In every impor-
,ant direction. Calvin Coolidge is
out in tthe open; Hiram Johnson has
chosen his issues; preconvention cam
paign managers. on both sides are an
nounced: the tumult and the shouting
may now begin.
At the capital there has not been
for four years so significant a gath
ering of republican leaders from the
four corners of the republic. The
juXtaposition of the opening of Con-
gress. the midwinter Gridiron Club
dinner and the meeting of the repub-
lican national committee was respon-
sible for it. Among many facts of
paramount bearing on the 1924 cam
.paign one stands out like Mars at
perihelion. That Is the silent COM
mand" which Calvin Coolidge has
taken of the republican party and it's
mechanical organization. A week
ago Mr.. Coolidge, while the titular
leader of his party and an all but
declared aspirant for its presidential
nomination, was yet an unknown
equation. He had kept silence. He
had maintained a mastery inactivity.
He had made no moves on the G. o. p.
chessboard. TODAY -Aorgh no public
word on the suk3ect has escaped him
President Coolidge is the indiSput table
master of the situation. Politicians
recall no instance in which power
was seized more unostentatiously, yet
firmly, than the manner in which the
Scepter has been graSped by the un-
dramatic man from Massachusetts,
Power stuns Upham.
Now it can be told" the Coolidge
influence emerged with positiveness
IN connection with the selection Of
the convention city. Nobody was more
stunned by its manifestation in that
form than Fred w. Upham of Chi
cago, republican national treasurer
Upham had the committee votes
amply in hand TO send the convention
to Chicago. In effect, the Coolidge
leadership'-not the President him
self-called upon Upham to stand and
deliver. He did so unreservedly, in
the spirit of organizat ton loyalty. 1t
was the less difficult for him to sur
render, because many national COM
mitteemen We're for Upham" rather
than for Chicago" High hotel rates
aside. a considerable number of them
felt that Chicago was getting to have
an undesirable monopoly of conven-
tions. They were glad to have a
proper justification for supporting
Cleveland's ambitions. But the point
was that the Coolidge leadership"
had but to make a gesture. and the
~-f, h1n ~t-, to-
constituting the national committee
yielded handsomely. 1t showed the
Presidents friends that he is a COM
manding figure among the responsible
republican leaders of the country
the men who must organize victory
in 1924.
Noses Carefully Counted.
Mr.. Coolidge's supporters counted
noses pretty carefully during the
great gathering OF the republican
clans in Washington. Their author
lied spokesmen assure this writer
that, while they are not already
claiming assured victory over John
son, they believe conditions are fa-
vorable to the President in the utmost
degree. They estimate that of forty
eight national committeeman, except
ing the five from the territories, not
counted for Coolidge. These men
speak for the republican, party of
their states. They are the leaders
Of leaders. They brought tidings that
the Presidents conduct since he took
office in August has been satisfactory
to the rank and file of republican
voters, and that his message to Con-
gress capped the sheaf of the good
Impressions he has been making.
Coolidge leaders don't underesti-
mate the Importance Of Hiram John
sons rivalry They affect to feel no
fear of the issues he has chosen for
himself-the bonus, the anti-world
court argument, the opposition to the
administrations European policy in
connection with reparations, and the
increase in southern republican dele
cations. Coolidge partisans recog-
nize Johnson's talents as a cam
paigner. They know his genius for
capitalizing discomfort. They say
: there's no politician in America SO
Scapable Of dressing a skeleton of
an issue with flesh" They are aware
to western voters, among whom the
most unrest over existing political
and economic conditions exists. But,
admitting all of these apparent john
son assets. they believe the Coolidge
cause is safe.
Opposite in johnson Camp.
In the Johnson camp, of course.
Numerically opposite views prevail
One of the Californian's official
mouthpieces outlined them frankly to
this writer. People should not be
deceived" he said, "by events of the
week in Washington. The contest
between President Coolidge and SEN
ator Johnson will not be fought out
in such an arena or such an atmos-
phere as the meeting of the national
committee presented. There sat men
who, If not actually members of the
administration. are dependent upon
the administration for political ia
vors and political existence. Among
such men, naturally, Coolidge senti
ment is strong and overwhelming.
But Hiram Johnson's chances lie not
among these. They lie among the
plain people, remote from Washing
ten, who are not lulled by the as
surance that alPs for the best in this
best of all republican worlds.
Johnson's Field of Action.
Hiram Johnson will not seek his
fortunes for 1924 in the circles which
are content with things as they are
the bigger business interests that for
obvious reasons don't want things
disturbed. He will ask support out
there where the dissatisfaction and
distrust begin. Anybody who has
crossed the country, east and west,
north and south, knows where those
regions are. They are far more nu-
merous than the Presidents support
ers suspect. In them there is the
dormant feeling that the casts grip
10 foSfapod too firmly on tho affairs