The Washington times., 1924-07-26

do all the other lofty and noble and
patriotic political things which, peo-
pie always contemplate and intend
and demand when they are hard up.
Suddenly, accordingly. to match
the sncialistic radicalism which in
1920 polIed more than 200 900 votes
In New York, there sprang UP the
northwestern agYarian radicaIisnl
which in 1922 put Henrik Shipstead
OF Minnesota, into the United States
Senate as the first new third-party
Farmer Iaborite member of that
body and which also gave that body
such new additional members as
Brookhart Of Iowa, Howell Of Ne
braska, FSazier OF North Dakota,
Dill of Washington and Wheeler Of
Montana.
1t is to be noted that this new
movement had no national impor-
lance whatever till the price Of
wheat went down. II Is to be
noted that the price of wheat Is
now going up.
Meanwhile. however, the railroad
trade unions, numbering many
hundreds of thousands Of highly
active native.born American voting
citizens, were engaged in a little
quarrel of their personal own
against the Esch- Cummins Trans
portation Law and the Railroad
labor Board. Just as the low
price of wheat made the north
western farmers radical" so the
Esch-C ummins Transportation Law
and the Railroad Labor Board, en-
acted and established in 1920, make
the railroad trade-unionists ''radi.
cal"
Democrats Outrage GOmpers.
Meanwhile. further, the Demo.
cratic Party in its convention last
month and this month in New York
adopted a platform and nominated
Ia ticket which grievously offended
and outraged that veteran devoted
Democrat, Samuel Gompers, head
of the American Federation OF
Labor.
Meanwhile, finally the Socialist
party become so tormented inter-
nally by its extreme left-wing COM
munist element that it began to
turn in reaction and relief toward
the idea Of cooperation with nom
socialist bourgeois progressives
and radicals-Iike La Toilette.
All these things, with little or no
logical connection between them and
representing little or no combined
logical drift. or purpose. just hap
pened' to happen at about the same
time.
They found focus only because
Robert Marion La Toilette still
lived. The question arises:
Can La Toilette take & lot of dis
connected elements, united only in
support of him for President, and
can he, in the heat and enthusiasm
engendered by large vote at the
polls next November, fuse them
afterward intd2an actual new party?
May Cement Factions.
On the affirmative side it is to be
noted that II the Socialists and the
railroad trade unionists and the dis
contented American Federation Of
Labor leaders can deliver even q
part Of their vote In the industrial
East, and IL the Farmer-Labor
groups can deliver their usual pres
emit vote in the agricultural West,
1t viii be the first time In our his.
tory since the civil war that a
third-party Presidential candidate,
calling himself a. candidate Of the
wage-earners and the farmers has
had actually both a really large
wage-earner vote and a really large
farmer vote concertedly and stimuli
tGneously n
That IS the genuine novelty in
this election.
Some people. enthusiastic but ex-
perfenced and Weather.wise and
wary--say that At viii be difficult
for La Toilette to fuse these ele.
nsents permanently but that is pos
sible-po possible.
La Toilette might put into this
accidental combination of wage.
earners and farmers q cementing