Evening star., 1925-09-08
COOLIDGE FACING
POLITICAL CRISIS
viii Be Put to Supreme Test
of Public Life Upon Re.
turn to Capital.
Ry FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

RY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.
Troubles. trials and trihulations
more numerous and varied than any
vet faced in his presidential career.
await Calvin Coolldge's return to
Washington this week The aircraft
npheaval provoked by Col. William
Mitchells allegations: the Shipping
Board situation. churned up by Com
missioner Bert +. Haneys defiance
of the Presidents request to resign,
and the incalculahle possibilities Of
the coal strike. of themselves form p
combination Of crises" sufficient 10
tax presidential energy
But these are not the only found.
lings Mr. Coolidge will find on the
White House doorstep. Before he
has had lime to do much more ths n
look them over and map Out ways
and means of dealing with them. the
French deht funding mission will
be in Washington. The admins
tration had hoped TO conce nitrate the
attention of its hest minds on the
duel with NJ Cailaux. the keenest
financial brain in Europe. Now. Mr..
Coolidge and his counsellors find 1t
necessary TO difuse their time.
thought and skill in half n dozen
directions. each fraught with immense
public and political Importance.
Budget Claims Attention.
One of the, first things to which the
Presideut will turn his attention will
he The budget which Is tp he an ex-
preston. in more emphatic form than
over. of the KEYNOTE of the Coolidge
1nninistration-itS economy program
Mr.. Coolidge is decidedly vexed with
certain departmental opposition 10 his
retrerChment schemes. His desire to
whittle down Army and Navy apprn-
prlations 10 an extent approXimating
$50 600 900 has aroused anxieties in
hoth services. They are preparing to
combat he cut. If possible. and their
efforts viii ramify into Congress early
in the session
The President enters upon the
crucial test Of his executive capacity
the first since he became President
in his own right-with one tremen.
dnus asset. namely. his stran glehold
on public confidence. Nj. Coolidge win
tackle each cne OF the thorny prob.
lens confronting him in the conscious
ness that the country at large. and
even political foes. trust him 10 do
the common sense and leVel-hea ded
thing. That does not mean that his
eventual action in a given case is as-
sured in advance of popular approval !
What II means is that the mass OF
the people is ready Ia give the Presi
dent free hand in graphing with !
these various controversial situations |
II will do SO in the belief that he is
more likely 10 make right decisions
than wrong ones. This writer reaches !
these conclusions on the ha sis Of a
full Summers sounding of public opin-
ion from coast TO coast. Mr.. Coolidge
wades into his seq OF troubles forti- !
fed in three vital respects--he mas the
Nations confidence he is in excellent
hghtine trim physically and he is
blessed with 'non-worry" tempera.
ment.
VIII Need Whole Strength.
OF each and all Of these sources Of .
strength President Coolidge will have
ample need as the Autumn wears on
and the Winter Of his congressional
discomfort approaches. The year
ahead is to be year OF partisa n poll.
tics. 4 new House and So United
States Senators will be elected in I926.
The Democrats plan tremendous
drive to control the Seventeen Con
gress. 1t is already in progress. Rep
resentative Oldfeld of Arkansas. chair /
man of the Democratic congressional
campaign committee. is now in the
West. spying out the land in the ter
their biggest fGhr. No opportunity
is likely 10 he omitted TO make trou-
HE for the Coolidge administration
from now until November. 1926. :
Every advantage will be taken Of any
misstep the President commits. OF anv /.
failure 10 satisfy public opinion on
outsta ndinc issues-the Mitchell air
craft hulahaloo for exampe--or any
hesitancy to mollify group demands /
such as the Western farmers insist
ence on some kind of a tariff square
deal There are underground rum !
hlings Of some more scandals to he
drag geed before the Senate next Win
Ter. Calvin Coolidge has won the
reputation of being as shrewd poll
tician as ever entered the White
House. Friend and enemy alike agree
that the hour is about TO strike when
he must give an acid test OF his ca
pacity for leadership in a political
jam
Here is IA hulation of the ma ior
issues that viii presently demand the /
Presidents attention:/
t. The undouhted impetus Col. |
Mitchell has given to the popular eX-
pectation thai the country's aviation (!
affairs will he put in order without /
delay.
Shipping BOARD Feud.
,. Unrest over chronic strife in the |
Shipping Board az illustrated by the /!
Haney- Palmer feud and the in !
xistence of the American shipping in !
terests that Congress forthwith leg |
isIate the Government out Of the /
shipping business.
3. Anthra cite coal strike develop |
rnentS. with ever present possibility !
that conditions may force presiden- |
tial Intervention or some form OF /
control Of coal approx |
mating naturalization.
!; The French debt nagotia ions /
certain Ia he complicated by rival !
schools Of American thought az 10 I
tne terms tha+ should be granted To
France One school favors cancella : |
tion: another. as good. or better I
terms as were given to Great Britain. /,
still another school represents the
make them pay-to- the Ia st-cent idea |
Italian negotiations. on heels of !
French, also -coniure up worries for
the administra tion.
3 Western farm unrest despite .
good crops and prices. and prospec-
tive recurrence at demand for pro |
lection for agriculture on McNary-
HauEen or other lines that will place
farming on n protective level with |
INDUSTRY and labor
Contested Nominations.
e. Presidential nomina tions that !
will he contested in the Senate
Wallace McCamant OF Oregon ap-
point ed to the Federal Circuit bench. |
Thomas r. Woodlock OF New !
York. appointed TO the Interstate /
Commerce Commission.
Discussion in Congress Of re-