The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1926-05-12

An Idea Back Home
JefferSonian Greatness
Egyptian Justice
The World Is Small
BY NJ. e. Tracy


Addressing the United States
Chamber of Commerce, Governor
Ritchie of Maryland chose as MS
text the late President Harding S
war cry-"more business in Govern
ment and less Government in busl'
ness"
He was less guilty Of plagiarism
however, than such a bare state
ment would seem to imply.
II he borrowed the idea from
Harding, Harding in turn, borrowed
it from Thomas jefferson, and il 1t
were used by the Republicans on
one occasion, it is now back with
the Democrats, where it originated
and where it belongs.
=
The significance of Governor
Ritchies appearance and what he
said lies in the fact that he is
generally regarded as among the
three or four men from whom the
Democrats must pick a presidential
nominee in 1928.
In this connection, it is interesting
Ia note that he favors less regula-
ton, less centralized power, less
Federal interference, and that he
favors them not only with regard to
some pet scheme, or particular issue,
as do most politicians, but right
down the line.
II belong to the Jeffersonian
school Of Democracy, he told the
boys, (which believes that the Gov
srnment governs best which governs
cast, provided it governs wisely
Lord Macaulay said that he could
never make himself believe Thomas
jefferson was great man because
Of this very doctrine.
He said that, though such doc
trine might work alright in a ma
ton of scattered farmers, it would
prove more and moree impracticable
as manufacturing took the place of
agriculture.
He said that when America came
to have her Manchesters and Bir-
minghams as she surely would, the
basic weakness of Jefferson's phil
osophy would be revealed.
I know Of nothing that better H.
lustrates the difference between Eng
lish and American viewpoints than
the inability Of this great essayist
and historian to sense the wisdom
OF this great statesman.
/ know of nothing that better ex-
plains our own peace and prosperity,
compared to the mess England is
now in, than the Jefferson ideal as
opposed to the Macaulay ideal.
We should be very grateful not
only that we had a Jefferson to voice
It, but for men like Governor Ritchie
to reiterate it.
T. + T.
Speaking Of Governors, Mrs. Folk
won her suit against the Egyptian
nationalist party yesterday.
Her husband. the late Governor
Folk of Missouri, was employed by
representatives of that party in 1919
to spread the gospel Of Egyptian in
dependence. He was to receive a
salary Of $4,000 a month and a
straight fee of 100000 in each case,
If he had to appear before the
League of Nations, if he had to un-
dertake a campaign Of propaganda.
if independence were achieved, etc.
He did a great deal of work, but
received only $4,000 all told, though
he remained in the employ Of the
Egyptian nationalist party for eigh.
teen months.
After his death. Mrs. Folk brought
suit to recover what was due him,
and yesterday she was given a ver-
dict Of S55, 900 by an Egyptian court.
!
The world grows intimate as it
grows small. and little more con-
siderate all the while.
Nine expeditions start for the pole
an American wins and Norwegian
rival kisses him.
One hundred years ago that would
hardly have been possible.
One hundred years ago the Egyp-
tians would hardly have been hiring
an American lawyer to help them
win independence, and if they had
his widow would hardly have gotten
anything out of it, unless he had
collected while he lived.
One hundred years ago the king
Of the Congo would hardly have gone
to Brussels to have his leg cut off,
and if he had a Belgian court would
hardly have forced the surgeons to
give it to him so that he might carry
it home.
Yes, that, too, happened yester-
day. and the black face of the king
of the Congo is wreathed in smiles.
Thanks to twentieth century ideas
he cannot only have his diseased leg
cut off by skilled doctors, but he can
tuck it under his arm and take it
back home, whether to eat, as some
suggest, or to place with the sacred
relics of his fathers, as is more
probable