Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1923-02-26
MIR. HARDING AND. THE
-, SHIP Subsidy BILL

Ii MT. IidiuilS PSI
Five program dies in the Sehat,
! today. {as. even its Senatorial
sponsors admit will be the case
there will be no weeping OF
! mourning Cor it in the homes
and hearts, of the plain people
tMr. Laskei, may gnash his teeth
and say bad words under his
breath, and the interests which
have been banking on Govern
.ment favor may be 'dfsgusted' with
| the "short- sightedness" of the
flibustering minority.'J But the
: taxpayers of the; country will
! feel thankful to escape the, adj
ditional burden which this mea-
sure would have imposed. >
The defeat of the. Lasker-Hard-
ing solution of our mercantile
marine problem does not, pf
course. dispose of that problem
1t remains to confront the hexl
Congress, and IT cannot be- al
lowed to continue indefinitely as
costly and unsolved war legacy
The Harding subsidy bill was OPP
posed by a determined Senatorial
minority at this session for two
reasons. First, because 1t was
regarded as 4nsound economical
,ly and,as dangerous experiment
financially, and, SECOND, because,
although it had been repudiated
at the polls, Mr.. Harding tried
to force it through at this SEES
sion by the help of Senator's >anG
Representatives who had been
beaten on this very tissue last
November. The signal rebuke
given the Administration dies
not, however, eliminate the mer-
-earaile. marine issue. 1t repre-
sents largely a protest against
the recording of forcible snap
judgment contrary to expressed
popular sentiment, and 'relsgates
the whole question to q new
legislative jury. What our ship
ping policy is to be remains 20
be seen. But whatever it may be
the action of the Senate minority
assures us that it will be free
from the appearance of unwlse
haste and from the unpleasant
suggestion of executive compul-
sion.
Politically Mr.. Harding has
made the greatest mistake of his
Presidential career in his atti-
tude toward this measure. Even
if his logic and that of Mr.. Lask-
err were far more convincing than
they are, even if their scheme
for making our mercantile ma
rine a paying proposition finan-
cially and commercially was OBJ
viously meritorious, Mr.. Hard
ing "queered" it and himself by
his attempt to drive it through
the Senate against the will of an
intelligent and honest minority.
There was not the slightest
chance for its passage without
the votes of the lame ducks" in
the House and the Senate, and
his employment of them for tins
purpose looked like mercenary
bargain. No such idea may have
been in the Presidents mind,
and no such thought in theirs,
but, on the face of it, it. pre-
scented to the cynical and suspi-
cious the unfortunate aspect of
executive buying and political
bribery. go
That Mr.. Harding has had a
nasty fall over the ship subsidy
hurdle must be apparent to the
most unsophisticated of political
observers. And that he is con-.
scious of it and is trying to re-
instate himself in public confid-
ence seems indicated by the
grand, though belated, gesture
which he is now making with.
regard to American membership
in the Permanent Court of Inter-
national Justice. Commendable as
the latter may be, it will not
entirely obliterate the scars he
has received in the ship subsidy
fight.-Baltimore Sun.