Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-18

velocity OF IRnC, ana mas nOTlOTS IEOL1
practically all the important universities
and learned societies In the world. The
sister, Miss Miriam Nicholson, has been
known for IS years as an author; her
I'm the Bishops Carriage" was one OF
the conspicuous best sellers some 20 TO
IS years ago.
DR.. Charles Michelson's genius Is for
the thing he Is now doing. As q crowd
rouSer through the medium of pen and
ink, he Is the daddy of them all. Thirty
years or more ago he was an associate,
at once pupil and confrere, Of Arthur
McEwen, in San Francisco, and every
oid-time newspaper man knows who
Arthur McEwen was. Many of them are
of the opinion that McEwen, and per-
hapS Nicholson also, was the man who
showed Hearst how to do 1t when the
latter was beginning his career in San
Francisco.
So We can take that for granted. The
tariff will be made unpopular. The
point about Mr.. Nicholson is that he
will write the anti-tarth arguments In
terms that the public will understand,
and terms that will cause the hair on
the back Of the readers neck to rise in
belligerence. Because Mr.. Nicholson
writes things that people will read, 1t
follows that the newspapers print them.
Even the Republican newspapers rrint
them. A Republican who Travelled
through the New England States not
long ago came back to Washington
startled to have found Mr. .Michelson's
pungent anti-tartd arguments on the
front pages of orthodox Republican
newspapers. Mr.. Michelson's stuff was
almost the only matter dealing with
the tariff that these newspapers were
printing, the Republicans were not sup
plying them with any equivalent.
Supplying Material Is Art.
The truth, Of course, Is that It Is an
art to supply material about the tariff
that the newspapers will print. Prob
ably it Is more difficult to write inter-
esting things on the pro-tarif side than
on the anti-side. On the anti-side the
formula Is more simple. From 10000
items, one here and there can be picked
out and can be detached from its asso-
Citations, from its place in a scheme of
compensatory duties. Its effect on the
readers pocketbook can be portrayed in
terms that make it look like the income
tax combined with the installment pay
ments on the automobile.
All that Mr.. Nicholson will do. The
reader, during the next four months,
will see millions of words. Sometimes It
will appear to have come from the
mouths of distinguished Democratic
statesmen-but Charley Nicholson will
have done it.
And if Nicholson were not enough,
the two biggest strings of chain news
papers in the United States have quite
obviously decided to dedicate themselves
to the anti-tarif side of the argument
Their cartoonistS are assembled in pla-
toons; their writer's in regiments. Quite
assuredly the machinery Is all set to
make this tariff extremely unpopular.
Indeed, the machinery has been under
way for several months with high EN-
cheney.
Maybe it will 60 wrong. It could 20
wrong in any one of several ways. Sup
pose the public this Fall should decide
to get excited, and subsequently vote,
not on the tariff butt for example, on
prohibition. That would be fatal to the
Democrats two ways. 1t would send
their tariff arguments to the junk heap
and 1t would be most uncomfortable in
many States where the first desire Of
Democratic leaders is to forget the
cleavage between wet and dry within
that party
Another thing could happen. II is
quite within possibility that by next
october business may be very satisfac-
tory. One sound judge within the
writer's acquaintance thinks that bust
ness will be very much improved by
october and will be perfectly satisfac-
tory by December. The election comes
in early November. BY that time it is
a possibility, certainly, that business
may be as comfortable as it was in any
average month during the past seven
years. If things should turn out that
way, all the Democratic genius in the
world won't be able to make the public
think this tariff bill is or was bad and
won't be able to get the people excited
on the tariff at all
And, Of course, there are ether pos
sible events that might lift this tariff
bill out OF the arena Of the coming
elections.
Heavy Going Faces G. o. p.
Tariff or no tariff-even II the tariff
should be out Of the campaign COM
pletely-the Republicans are destined
to have heavy going. They will have
heavy going regardless of their merit
or demerit. There is nothing strange
about that. 1t is strictly the usual
thing. In a presidential election, as
In 1928, one party or the other wins
heavily. Through winning heavily In
the presidential election, 1t carries into
Senators and Representatives. Then,
two years later, as this year, come the
mid-term elections. Always the party
that swept the high tide in the presi-
dental election GIBBS back In the mid.
term elections to Senate and House.
That has happened over and over
suspect, without investigating carefully,
there has rarely or never been a nor
NAL exception to this rule. It will hap
pen this year.
For example, the Republicans in 1928
elected a considerable number of Rep
reSentatives in Virginia, Kentucky and
elsewhere in Southern or border States
from districts that never, since after
the Civil War elected Republicans.
That. Of course, was abnormal Almost
surely some OF those districts will swing
back to their normal Democratic moor
ings this Fall.
The Republicans need not and will
not be dismayed to lose a considerable
number of members of the House.
Their present majority there is about
SO. They could lose roughly IS seats
to the Democrats and still have q ma
Jority of so.
The real menace to the Republicans
is what will happen If their majority
IN the House should be reduced to so.
There are In the House some Republi-
cans Of the same type Of thought and
of the same temper as the Insurgent
Republicans in the Senate These Re.
publicans In the House have not, how
ever, formed q bloc. Whether thew
should be disposed to or not, they could
not by uniting with the Democrats,
overcome the present majority of 90.
II, however, the Republican majority
in the House we're reduced to so or less,
the Insurgent Republicans might be
able and certainly would he faYnnted fo
form a bloc which, by combining with
the Democrats, could compose o ma
jority. This temptation always exists
in such a situation. It Is ever a TENN.