Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1923-06-16
President Must Be Definite
-, ON Issues to Win Ouer West
Tour to- Take Him Through Enemy Coun.
try, Where Party Lines Haze Been
Dropped Generally by Voters.

Harding fully appreciates the situa-
| ton. He knows that the winning Of
with fine words or a presidential
smile. He is conscious that national
elections no longer are decided by
die west. President-making and
President -unmaking have been trans
ferred to the broad reaches beyond
I the Mississippi. and. as Woodrow
Wilson showed in 1916 one western
state is enough 10 decide the issue.
Undoubtedly Warren q. Harding
is embarking upon an expedition
bound to be of decisive influence
upon his political future. That is
true, whether he wills 1t so or not.
and. despite his insistence upon the
journeys non-politicai character.
Next years presidential campaign is
too near at hand and too much in
the public mind to permit Mr.. Hard
ing that complete detachment from
I oltics which he sincerely desires
as he swings around the western
circle. When he talks to the west
On the world court. transports tion
& agriculture. taxation and other sub
jects of administration achievement.
Fast or projected. Mr. Harding means
to talk as President. He does not
want to appear in the suiSe OF
candidate for reelection. seeking
voters approval OF his stewardship.
fsut he is definitely catalogued In
people, minds as an aspirant for
second tenn. anG it is in that light,
| beyond all question. that the western
ers will listen to him and study him.
Il. O. P. managers make no secret
i OF that. One CT the shrew6est of
them-a man who may manage the
! 1924 campaign, Walter Folger Brown
was the architect-in- chief of the
Presidents itinerary and is now out
ahead of him. an advance agent.
Nr. Harding is talking to far
wider audience than the one he will
talk TO in the flesh. He is addressing
Iowa and Nebraska. the Dakotas,
he speaks to Missouri and Kansas.
Colorado and Wyoming. Utah, Idaho
and the rest of the states on his
time table.
Personality Counts.
The President takes with him an
!! asset every politician in the United
States cordially envies him. That is
his lncomparably attractive per-
sonality. He is virtually a stranger
TO the regions he is touring. In 1916
he made a few western speeches for
MI Hughes. and in his 1920 pre-
convention canvass Mr.. Harding
darted occasionally into the middle
west. As President. the Mississippi
valley. the Rocky mountain country
and the Pacific coast region have
never seen him. They will find him,
as everybody does. President who
looks the part" is few predecessors
did. He has a modesty of manner
that seldom fails to captivate even
a political foe. These things are
going to count heavily in Mr. Hard
ing's favor on his impending trip.
Friend and enemy alike admit they
VIII do such persuasive talking" for
nm that he will not find it neces-
sary even to intimate such a posi-
bility as 1924 candidacy.
This needs to be remembered
warren G. Harding, to date, has au-
thorized no syllable that commits him
to aspire to another term. He could
withdraw from the 1924 situation to-
morrow without contradicting a word
that ever escaped his lips on the sub
1ect. Three members of his cabinet
renomInated' him. But Harding
himself is heart whole and fancy
free.
Many of his friends always have
neen convinced Harding intends to
remain uncommitted until this west
ern trip is behind him.
Stock Has Risen
One man is watching DEVELOPMENTS
in that direction as eagerly as anv
or the Presidents admirers are. That
is Hiram johnson. At one time John
sons friends Rugged the delusion he
cculd defeat Harding in stand-up
fight for the republican nomination
in the primaries. That was when the
Presidents fortunes, following the
l922 congressional elections. were at
their lowest ebb. Since then Mr..
Harding's stock has risen apprecia-
bly,. The Johnsonites now have
abandoned their hope of frightening
the President out of the race. and
VIII enter it on the Californian's be-
half only if Mr.. Harding definitely
retires. At this writing, with the
Winnins of the west" in sight for Mr.
Harding. as his friends earnestly be-
lieve, they say there's nothing surer
in politics than that the President
will be triumphantly renominated bv
his party in June. 1924
Copyright, 1921