The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1928-06-01
The Cherry
" Where with our
roo Little Hatchet
we tell the truth
about many things, sometimes pro-
foundly, sometimes fiippantly,
sometimes recklessly. y...........

iuuHuiy, sometimes HfppantIy,
sometimes recklessly.
Politics seethes. Likewise it CUR
giles and surges and regurgitates. 1t
garrumps and humphs. 1t rattles,
wheezes and clatters. 1t tries might
lily to assume dignity, stubs it's toes
and gets mud splashes on it's high hat.
Politics rolls along in limousines,
sweats around in stuffy day coaches,
bumps over the road in Fords of the
old vintage. 1t is all things to al
most all men. To the remainder it
is nothing-except, perchance, a joke
1t is not a tall unlikely that those
who regard the game as joke are
the philosophical ones who get all the
better of it in the end.
Anyway, the kettle boils, sputters
and stews, the drums roll and the
thunder claps-applause has to come
from somewhere, it seems.
So it will go, gaining intensity un-
til the Ides of November, or there
abouts, when winners will clique to-
gether and say, "This job goes to Joe
and this job had better go to Jake"
A senate committee sits in high
and exalted state-ph, lots of ex-
altation-asking everybody how many
nlckels he spent to convince the SOW
ereign electorate of the fitness of his
candidacy, where he spent them and
what he promised for them This is
interesting.
To great many observers all this
inquisitorial business, while choice
meat for page one, is about an in
effective in getting at the important
truth as a convention of gas bags
would be. 1t offers a chance for a
lot of valuable posing in the white
and purifying light of publicity, but
it is and always will be question
as to whether any valuable truth is
revealed thereby.
The modern campaign is run with
money and not much else; but money
can be spent viciously in very small
amounts and properly in very large
amounts, and the "how much" is the
least vital question of ALL
Manifestly, no candidate is going
to spend money viciously himself, nor
any such spending if he can help it.
Not only that, but those who may
have charge of any vicious spending
will be mighty careful to see to it
that the candidate knows nothing of
it. 1t being patent that such know
ledge would be fatal to all hands,
innocence of candidates is almost
guaranteed. 1t is almost established
on prima facie evidence, without the
necessity for any coroner's inquest in
that direction.
Thus the grand game of tag be-
tween Mr. Inquisitor and Mr.. Hooey
goes on, with Mr.. Inquisitor, many
times, being quite as wise to the pos
sibilities as is the renowned Mr..
Hooey.
1t may seem that all of this specu
l., e ,,ata e..
the multitudes of wage earners, who
will troop to the polls and vote, pre-
sumably, for somebody on that not
too distant November day when the
flags are all flying atop the masts,
when the banners flip and flap and
exultation is all stored up ready for
the grand blow-off But it is of much
interest and more import.
When Harding was put over in that
now famed smoke-filled room no
money changed hands-not that night.
But the deal was made just the same.
If no Harding campaigner had spent
a nickle, Harding would have been
Harding just the same.
Some idiot, backing the best candi-
date that ever lived, might perform
such imbecile antics as to seem to
smear that candidate with all of the
intrigue of a Borgia, yet the candi-
date might and probably would re-
main the same.
What it all comes to is that the air
is and will be filled with tricks, de-
ception, hokum, blather and misinfor-
nation.
He who gets it all straight and
properly weighs all evidence and fac
tors will be a wise guy, indeed. And
there will not be any too many truly
wise guys. AS usual, it's game OF