Evening star., 1927-02-16
Politics at Large
By e.. Gould Lincoln.

a'rukeH IATH tetIet piH, NiH US
equalization principle. on the anec-
1on. and imagination of the rnra'
voters OF the country? No one knows
exactly. Certain farm organizations
are hack OF it, That is about all
that Is certain But. unless all signs
fail. the country will be given dem
onstratiop in the 1928 national and
congressional campaigns which will
show whether this mea sure--or. to put
IT more generally the agricultural
duesticn--has any real political sig
nifIcance. The wheels are all reased
to put the farm bill through the House
and send it to the President. Right
there. say those who should know. the
bill will strike snak. II Will he
vetoed. and 1t is well understood that
1t cannot pass over the Presidents $
veto.
The bill. then. Is going to fail Some
OF its opponents, probably the majority
OF them. look for the agitation for
this particular measure TO die out.
There are those from the Middle
West, however. who believe that It's
failure now will have no little effect
on the elections next year. Unless
there is real agrarian revolt this
does not seem likely.
Are the Republican protectionists.
who hold up their hands in holy hor-
ror at the so-called economic iniauities
Of the McNary.Haugen bill. merely
hypocfitical? Senator Reed OF Mis-
souri,. Democrat, and an opponent OF
the McNary bill SAYS they are. He
contends that it Is idle for any one
who supports the protective tariff to
throw mud at the McNary measure:
that the protective tariff interferes
with the law Of supply and demand
To an extent even greater than the pro,
posed McNary bill. Senator Reed at
least Is consistent. He Is opposed to
the protective tariff and the farni re-
lief bill
Secretary Mellon, the "old man. OF
the Treasury, has come forward at
the time OF the Anal engagement in
Congress over the McNary -Haugen bill
with blast intended to blow it out
OF the water. He did the same thing
year ago. and the bill was defea ted
then. He may change few votes
now. But. for one rea son or another,
the majority Of the House Is now ex.
pected TO vote for the pa ssage of the
bill. Some Of them because they be-
lieve the President will veto the bill
and 1t Will get him into trouble: others
because they believe the President will
veto the bill and they may make them
selves solid with the farm voters In
their districts and still not have the
measure on the statute books Still
others will vote for the bin because
they really believe In 1t, and the prin.
ciple 1t contains.
Within the week Lincoin's birthday V
has been celebrate ted in many parts of
the country. Representative Will
Wood of Indiana chairman of the Re-
publican national congressional COM
mittee. in an address before a Repub.
lican club in Passaic, -. j.. undertook
to draw from the life OF Abraham Lin
coin some wholesome political pre-
cepfs. Lincoln, he said was party
man and believed In party rule In the
Government Of the United States He
warned against "blocs''-though they
were not called blocs in those DAYS.
Lincoln, he insisted. would not have
taken much stock in the initia tive,
referendum and recall. or i'm the direct
primary. MIR. Wood holds the last
responsible I'm part for the growth Of
the "blocs." He quoted Lincoln's first
political speech. when. In 1882, at the
age OF %. he ran for election to the
Illinois Legislature. In that speech
Lincoln said:
Fellow citizens. 1 presume you all
know who l am. / am humble Abra-
ham Lincoln. | have been solicited bv
many friends to become a candidate
for the Legislature. My politics are
short and sweet. am in favor of q
national bank. l am in favor of the
internal Improvement system and a
high protective tariff. II elected, i
shall be thankful; if not. il will be all
the same"
This Lincoln address In quoted not
because 1t is new. but because IL might
be copied with advantage by some of
the latter-day politicians. Some poll
tics today are neither sweet nor short.
4
The so-called "third-time issue"
raised by DR.. Nicholas Murray Butler.
president of Columbia University. In
with the possible candidacy
OF President Coolidge I'm 1928. has fail
ed to turn the country upside down.
In the first place. the country is by no
means convinced that President Cool
idge. II elected for another four years
in 1928. can be justly said to have a
third term. In the second place, Mr..
Coolidge Is regarded by the people gen
orally as safe, sound and at the
same time Arm Chief Executive. but
not as man on horseback" They
do not visualize him in the role of a
dictator. Selling power which does not
belong to him. An effort has
been made to stir up the third.term
matter In Congress. and a resolution
has been offered In the House by
Representative Beck of Wisconsin
which would put that body on record
as opposing the reelection of the
President. But so far it has not
caught on" One Democratic Senator
has considered offering a similar reso-
luton in the upper house. But many
pf his colleagues thought II bad poll
tics. At any rate. the resolution has
not yet been forthcoming.
aspirations. and some OF
them have become President. In
nearly. every case. however, the Vice
President who has attained the presi-
dency has done so through the death
Of the President. This is true In the
case OF Coolidge. Roosevelt. Arthur
and on back to the days OF Van
Buren,, who was elected President |
fter he had occupied the office of |
Vice President Vice President
Charles G. Dawes has been a more |
.olorful Vice President than many /!
who have gone before him. He began |
ais service with violent attack on |
he rules of the Senate. He has
.spoused the cause of the McNary. |
farm bill. although his chief |
has been opposed to it--or IL reputed |
o have opposed 1t. At the same time |
hat the Vice President. who halls !
rom Illinois. has been making him
Ielf solid with many Of the farmers,
,e has lost few friends among the |
bankers. He In himself one OF the
,ig bankers of the country--or was
,Afore Autered nf9Co uA tS