Evening star., 1924-12-31

4 d I
| candidates for the D. LAWRENCE.
| presidential nomi-
nation. Calvin Coolidge had the
advantage of being already in the
| White House. so his acts from day to
| day gave an indication of his char
| acter of public service. The oppo-
sition party, however based its whole
| hope for victory on the promise that
the Harding administration had not
made good. Striking revelations con-
cerning the leasing of oil lands in
| Wyoming and California promised at
| one time to mean the expulsion of the
| Republican party from power. The
| Democrats tried hard to associate
President Coolidge with the errors of
| cabinet officers appointed by his
predecessor, but to no avail
Country Trusted Coolidge.
The country simply would not be-
lieve that man of the rugged New
England training of Mr.. Coolidge
| could permit a repetition of the oil
| scandal. Nevertheless, the ousting of
| Secretary DENLY and Attorney Cen
eral Daugherty was demanded by the
| leaders of the Republican party who
| felt that the election could be better
| won with handicaps removed than If
| the administration were to continue
| on the defensive.
Since that time there has been a
! noticeable effort on the part of the
| Coolidge group to dissociate them
selves from all acts which occurred
prior to the taking of the oath of
| office by the Vice President. Also
| since the election, when the American
| people gave Mr.. Coolidge an over
| whelming majority, there has been
| confirmatory evidence that he wished
to steer the ship of state without
4 Al 4 ! l.,
"Better Business and Prosperity"
The most impressive thing, indeed,
about Calvin Coolidge since the No
vember election is his determination
to make a record on his own behalf
and not to regard the obligations or
commitment of a predecessor in poll
| tics too seriously If there was any
| one thing, however, which typified
the Republican candidacy it was the
| slogan Of Better Business and Pros
perity."
This did not appear last June-at
| the time of the convention-as the
paramount issue. 1t then looked as
! if the Republican administration
would fight a defensive campaign.
| The Democrats were preparing to
| crusade for liberalism and radical
| ism which hoped to use the Teapot
| Dome controversy as the basis of its
| claim to power. Unrest in the agri-
| cultural regions of the country SEEM
| ed sure to mean political upheaval
| There had been signs in the 1922
congressional elections of a reces-
sion in popular sentiment with re-
| spect to the Republican party and
even the Republicans themselves
| early in 1924 feared the tide would
run against them.
Turning Point of Year.
The turning point in the year came
with the events of June and July.
Not only did the Democratic party
| break in half at Madison Square
! Garden but the appearance of
| third party, under the leadership of
| Senator La Toilette of Wisconsin,
made assurance doubly sure for the
Republicans. On top of it all came
! the sudden ascent of the curve of
! agricultural prices. It was due, of
| course, to no act of the Coolidge ad
ministration but to a series of cir
cumstanceS throughout the world
which enabled the American producer
to become the beneficiary of the
| change for the better.
| Politicians, however, do not look
beneath the surface-they are salts
| fed with the result and not it's
| causes. A rise in agricultural prices,
| which at first was gradual, at last
| became a sensation until q ray of
hope was spread everywhere that the
depression of the preceding months
| would be superseded by an era of
golden opportunity. Some sections of
the country produced larger crops
! than ever before and the prices re-
| ceived were especially favorable. The
unrest in the agricultural States had
| been due almost entirely to the di-
minished return which the farmers
had been receiving for their products.
The cry naturally had gone up
| against excessive freight rates and
the profits of the middlemen.
The clamor for relief In a legisla-
tive way had become so acute that
the farmers of the West had begun
to look to Washington for a solution
| of the problem, which had, in fact,
only q general relationship to the
Government at Washington. This was
more or less borne out later in the
year, when the upward trend of prices
] began to have its effect
Advantage to Party in Power.
The party in power was not slow
to take advantage of the change in
| the agricultural situation, and the con-
| ServativeS from one end Of the West
| to the other insisted that it was no
| time to add disturbing factors to the
| situation by changing the admins
| tration. When 1T is said that the
| Government at Washington had little
| to do with the Improvement in agri-
cultural conditions, this must be quail
| flied by the statement that the exten-
| sion of credit facilities by the Gov
! ernment through the War Finance
! Corporation and private institutions
generally gave a psychological conf
| dence which helped the West to re-
| cuperate when the good crops began
| to move.
| There was money enough to lend,
| and when the yield was found to be
| large and the shortages in other
| countries were discovered, the west
| ern farmer began to think of paying
| off his debts. Estimates vary as to
| how much money was made by the
| American agriculturist on the crops
| for the year, but there can be no
| doubt that considerable payment was
1 made on previous Indebtedness.
Agricultural Commission.
There are, of course, some excep-
! tions to the rule. The cattle indus
| try benefited only slightly and in re-
cent weeks has become even more
depressed. The President realized
early in the year that the problems
| of agriculture could be settled only
! by q non-partisan study apart from
| the maelstrom of campaign politics.
| His first inclination was to appoint
an agricultural commission in mid
summer and start working on q So
luton, but he was dfssuaded from the
| course by the farm leaders themselves.
| who thought very little could be ac-
complished because of the inevitable