Evening star., 1924-09-23
Davis Omaha Speech Excites
Sharply Partisan Comment

uted over $500, 100000 to the neces-
Sary revenues of the Government. Mr.
Davis has only secondhand claim
at best upon a general policy of tax
reduction President Coolidge has
strongly emphasized economy in gov
ernment and consequent reduction
In taxation as the most important do
mestic policy for public welfare But
while the President would reduce
those taxes that handicap business
enterprise. Mr.. Davis would strike al
those which protect business enter
prise in this country and thus the
labor employed in it" In addition to
this the New York Herald Tribune
tRepublican) takes exception to Mr
Davis criticism of Mr.. Dawes state
ment that an ultimate solution of the
farmers problem ought to be sought
along nom partisan lines. and it feels
that while The is at liberty 10 criti-
cize Gen. Dawes agricultural relief
plan on its merits. he is not at liberty
to criticize it on the ground that il
implies an evasion of party respon-
sibility and opportunity"
On the whole. the Pittsburgh Ga
zette- Times (Republican) does not
believe the tillers OF the soil will
be impressed with Mr.. Davis rem
edies, and principally because they
are in the midst of a demonstration
that economic laws which got them
into temporary difficulty are now
working them out Of their troubles"
And, though Mr.. Davis Travelled
nearly 1000 miles TO talk to the
Western farmers. the New York
Evening Post independently believes
''he had little to tell them that they
have not heard many, many times"
and, ''if they are looking for a new
farm Moses TO lead them out of the
wilderness. they must look further,
for John w Davis had precious little
to offer them other than a look at
his handsome self and a discussion OF
his own political philosophy"
In the Middle West, the St Paul
Dispatch and other leading papers
unfavorable to Mr.. Davis speak their
minds sharply After Candidate
Bryan's confession on Labor day that
for his part he had nothing to offer
the st. Paul Dispatch, Candidate
Davis expressions on the subject
were awaited with considerable in
terest and hopefulne eSS, but what Mr..
Davis had to say on agriculture at
Omaha frustrated those hopes and
disappointed that interest" After all,
this paper feels his speech was what
q
fastidious and urbane scholar of the
law, whose interest in and knowledge
of the agricultural West is confined
to the fact that he will probably get
no votes to speak of from that di-
rection."
In fact. Mr.. Davis had no settled
ideas about the agricultural question.
according to the Topeka capital
(Republican), which says: There is
no reason to suppose he had given
it study. He had never been heard
from on the subject during the entire
agricultural depression. He has a
Labor day speech; he has the. faculty
OF taking on protective political col
oratfon in a campaign, almost to a
marvel, and he caught up at Chicago
agriculture as sponge Soaks up
water. But in his Omaha speech he
betrayed the newness of his approach
to this subject The speech was su-
perhcia1 and full of conventional
catch words" While he may prom
Use to repeal the law of supply and
demand, to legislate economies out
of existence and to put into the
pocket of the farmers what he takes
Kansas City Journal tRepublican) is
because the cure would only make
the country all the sicker, including
the agricultural patient whose eco
nomio health depends upon that Of
every other industry"