The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1923-10-04
CHANGE OF EXECUTIVES
WITHOUT JAR OR ALARM
Proof of Strength and Wisdom
Of Our Institutions and Party
System Furnished World

prove anew that Americas form and
system of government is the best in
the world.
Not since the assassination of Lin
coin has a President of the United
States been taken so suddenly and
with so little warning as was the
case with President Harding Sufi-
cient time elapsed between the shoot
ing Of Garfield and Mckinley and
their deaths to enable public officials
and private interests to anticipate
any eventuality and prepare for it
had there been any need for such pre-
paration. But the death of President
Harding came without warning or
expectancy. Literally speaking, the
head Of the nation, who is the most
powerful political executive in the
world, changed overnight.
Yet this sudden transition of power
and responsibility was not reflected in
any untoward manner either in this
country or where this country's inter-
ests were involved. The nations in
terests abroad were not affected in
the slightest. The stock market,
which is supersensitive, was not dis
turbed. Business, industry and fl
nance went on with their usual conf
dence. Nowhere was there the least
jar iii the routine of governmental af-
fairs. Nowhere was there any alarm
of apprehension over the future of
the nation, its policies or its stability.
The American people deeply and
sincerely mOurned the loss of their
leader, but their grief was calm.
There was no fear in it. They in
stinctively turned to their new leader
in the hour of their deepest distress
with the same confidence that they
had shown in the one who had just
been called by death:
1t was demonstration of popular
faith in the personal character and
attributes of President Coolidge,
magnificent and we'll deserved tribute
to the individual.
But it was more. It was a demon
stration Of the strength and stability
of our peculiar form Of government
and the abiding faith of the people in
our Institutions.
There is a group in this country
which is continually attempting to
compare American institutions and
the American system of government
unfavorably with governmental insti-
buttons and systems of Europe. They
are continually engaging in the I'M
patriotic and un-American practice of
holding up foreign governments as
models for the United States to fol-
low, and urging the people of this
country to make changes in our gov
ernmental system so that it may more
nearly approach some of the Euro
pean systems.
1t would be interesting for such
critics of American institutions to
contemplate in how many other ma
tions do governments and ministries
change without any disturbance of
the financial markets, without any
alarm upon the p, of private enter
prise, without any apprehension upon
+bo mont Of oo,,or,,,oop+ oA;oio1c o,,d
employees, without any unruly demon
strations on the part of the public,
particularly the radical clements.
1t is known to all well posted
Americans that mobs and riots often
necessitate the calling out of troops,
are common occurrences in some
European countries when there is
change in the personnel Of the head
of the government or the ministries.
1t is impossible in many European
nations to effect such change with
out long delay, sometimes weeks,
during which period the enemies of
orderly government attempt to seize
control. 1t is a wonderful system
which provides, in case of emergency,
for a change in the responsible, di-
recting head of our government with
out dislocation or stoppage of single
Nor should the fact be lost sight of
that the new President, like the late
President, is the product of the
American system of party govern
ment. Both were the selections of a
party convention. 1t is a sound sys-
tenn which selects the personnel of
our national leaders with such care
that in the hour of emergency the
people know that the destiny of the
republic is in safe hands.
There is, in these circumstances, a
rebuke to those engaged in the I'M
American propaganda Of belittleing
our country, our system of govern
ment and our institutions. The facts
afford a lessen of patriotism and c
cause of justification to all who have