Evening star., 1923-10-21
MASSACHUSETTS BOCEY
MAY BE ENDED BY C.. o. p.
Allen May Run With Coolidge and
Westerners Given High Posts
i'm Congress.

may get the idea that President Cool
idge Is inclined to wait just a little
too long before deciding any course
Of action. The cautious political prog
| nosticators are awaiting to see how
ne shapes up when Congress is IN
session and legislative problems de
velop
: Between President Coolidge and
Gov. Allen of Kansas strong friend
ship exists. This developed largely
! through similar experiences while
each was governor Of his state, Cool
idge in meeting the crisis caused BY
the Boston police strike, and Allen f.
meeting the coal strike emergency
Defends President.
Only the other day Gov. Allen went
promptly to the defense of President
Coolidge when Gov. Pinchot OF Penn
sylvania declared that the principal
responsibility for prohibition enforce
ment rests upon the federal govern
ment and that President Coolidge
should act. Gov. Allen countered with
the statement that a governor has
responsibility and should not attempt
to pass any of it to the federal gov
ernment.
In this connection 1t Is perhaps
significant that Gov. Pinchot Is re-
garded here as a candidate for the
republican nomination for President,
although he is seriously handicapped
in his own state by the fact that Sec
retary Mellon and Senators Pepper
and Reed are Coolidge supporters and
they believe Pennsylvania delega-
tion to the republican national con-
vention will be composed of more
Coolidge, than Pinchot delegates.
Gov. Allen is today one of the most
| effective workers for Coolidge dele
gates to the next republican conven-
/ tion from his section of the country
Gains Additional Strength.
| President Coolidge has gained
strength In the northwest and the
west by quietly taking a position re-
| garding railroad rates on necessities
which may forestall the threatened
attack on the Esch-Cummins trans
| portation act in the next Congress
| President Coolidge's position, in effect,
| is that rates on necessities, especially
! such as coal and wheat, destined for
| consumption in this country should
be as low at least as rates on those
products intended for consumption
| elsewhere. He believes that consid-
Grafton should be given to the advisa-
bility of making rates on coal and
! wheat consumed in this country as
low as is consistently possible. Pres
ident Coolidge is given credit for be-
ing largely responsible for the re-
newed interest of the Interstate COM
merce Commission In rates on an
| thracite coal and on wheat.
! President Coolidge, at the same
| time, is opposed to any mutilation OF
! the transportation act. A canvass of
the next Congress shows that a group
| of members from the so-called wheat
| belt" will make a determined effort
to kill at least that portion of the ACT
| requiring the Interstate Commerce
Commission to fix rates so as to allow
railroads an annual return of not
more than 5a per cent on the aggre-
| gate value of their property serving
the public. Some railroads are not
! able to earn that return on the basis
| of present rates. The President is of
| the opinion that the act should have
further trial untrammeled by further
! Legislative patchwork.
Position ON .Home Rule"
| The statement by President Cool
idge regarding prohibition enforce
ment made at his conference with the
governors is particularly significant
in view of Gov. Pinchot's recent re-
marks.
| The President has taken the stand
that there should be a halt in the
Capitalization of power In the federal
government and that the federal gov
| ernment in matters in which the
states have a joint interest should
cooperate In solving the problems OF
the states, but should not attempt TO
direct and shape the policies of the
states, especially with regard to pub
! lie health and education. He is for
home rule" for the states as against
| bureaucracy in Washington and seeks
| suggestions for closer cooperation
between the President and the gov
: ernors.