San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-08-10
Of i
] HARDING ARE
! WORLD WIDE
Death Brings Realization
Of Great Qualities
Of President.
A TRUE CHRISTIAN
Normally Meant to Him a
Return to Religion
and Faith.
By DAVID LAWRENCE.

Aboard the S. S. Leviathan, Aug. 10.
\ Warren Harding has achieved in
4 death that which was his life's ambi-
: ton. He wanted to be loved by the
. American people. Their affection
: spontaneously given, their applause for
Z kindness and good will rather than
their passing esteem on complex poll
) cies of state-these he sought as the
: highest reward of plain mans en-
.deavor TO be righteous.
Returning Americans bring back
, alike tales of respectful tributes spok'
ZEN By people high and low in the Eu.
sropean world. There is n universal
mote to the eulogies of all. German
flags fly at half mast in Berlin today
British coincidence is no less eloquent,
sand the French press extols the KIND
sliness and fairness of the dead Pres
sident. Could Warren Harding have
wished for more:
Somehow it seems the irony of fate
lin American political life that these
1expressions of good will and apprecia' |
ation of a conscientious man, come ait
ser death has adjourned his punllc
Service. The same eulogles expresSeo
ten days ago would have been suspect
ed of partisan purpose or factions"
a Spirit Of Resignation.
: Only those who knew Warren Hard
ine intimately can bear testimony to-
.lav 10 the wholesomeness that peryad-
ed his personality. Cheerful almost al
ways. smiling even when political per,
sidy was subtracting every now ana
then 4 friend, there was a stoieai
.spirit of resignation to fate In MS
moods recently that suggested taltn ID
providence which somehow would right
things and make all men better ard
better. His was an influence OF calm
ness. cancellation and incessant effort
40 win antagonists by kind words u
compromise rather than buster and
Threat.
ON the western trip which this cor
respondent took part way across the
continent before going to Europe, the
late President revealed publicly tne
side Of his personality which to MS
friends had always seemed charaet-
pristically Harding trait in the White
House. 1t was his consciousness OF
almost super-human responsibility.
No man in the world possesses the
power over so many millions of people
as does the President of the United
States. No one but a man who has
exercised that responsibility can faint
Nv imagine the pressure of conscience
which again and again develops out OF
the complexity of facts and circum-
stances demanded in presidential de-
cisions. Instinct rather than deliberate
Judgment often turns the scales of &C.
ton. And Warren Harding was q
man who worried about things al
though be tried hard not to show 1t.
He was neither sensitive nor calloused
II sc Ia ~.
and office impersonally. Rarely did he
use the personal pronoun in converse
ton about official business. 1t was
usually "the executive feels" or per-
haps "the President will consider.
The presidency was something OF
which he felt himself somewhat il
awe.
Realized Own Shortcomings.
. The last night the writer spent on
the presidential train, Harding talked
OF sincerity and there was just a plain
tive note in his voice as he referred.
in passing, to the question attitude Oh
some Of his critics. He had hoped to
be given credit at least for good inten-
ton and sincerity. His own shortcom-
ings he realized fully. He could talk
10 you of the ebb and flow of hit
administration in popular favor with
had no connection whatsoever WITH
the presidency. There are above all
modest appraisal Of self as genuine
as it is rare.
As for Europe he hoped to see early
peace. He toll the writer that he feat
sure the Ruhr controversy would br
settled before autumn. He was conf
dent that the Europeans would worp
out their problems without the need Of
American Intervention. But he was
Hone the less concerned. He hoped to
Inspire by his words on the western
platform. passion for peace. -..
y He talked Of social justice, obedi
ence to law, fair dealing between eco
fomic interests; indeed OF all tho
points of friction in the Americas
Commonwealth, with the fervor of re-
ligion. Normally TO him was not nor
mally economic readjuStment, but .
return to religion. 1t was as if he
realized the war had shaken faiths
and belief and that the need of the
Hour was more faith and more belief
Some observers noted an evangelistic
spirit in his speeches not unlike the
Realistic appeals on Woodrow VII
sons Inflated trip across the contin
emit.
aAware Of his own inadequacy-ip
fact, who is adequate today to the
burdens of the presidency ?-Warre1
Harding sought to translate his OVID
goodness of heart, his own clearness Of
conscience and his own affection for
square dealing into the philosophy of
government. He did not finish his
task. He did not quite utter all he
inwardly prayed for. But if he left d
legacy 10 his successor. those who
knew him best will unite in saying j,
was that America should be to the
world an example of higher morality
and to itself a nation of true Christian
unselfishness.