The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1931-06-17
Fitting Tribute

Fitting Tribute
It was a fitting tribute which President Hoover paid
Tuesday to the late President Warren G. Harding on the
occasion of the dedication Of the Harding tomb at
Marion, Ohio.
The brief speech which the president made revealed
something OF his own character as well as shed some new
light upon the dead president, whose character and
record remain something of an enigma to the public
at large.
More has been written and said about Harding than
about any of our recent presidents-and not all Of 1t has
been wholesome. Those who had stomach for 1t regaled
themselves a few years ago with "The Presidents Daugh-
ter" a book which %purported to deal intimately with the
private life Of the one-time chief executive. There also
was "Revelry." a book which claimed to give the Gin
side" Of the %goings-on in Washington while Harding was
president, and more lately the infamous CASTOR 3. Means
has contributed 'The Strange Death Of President Har-
ding"
In each of these books there may have been a little
truth, distorted and magnified in the hope of creating
a best seller. None of them give a fair picture OF the
man who assumed the burden of guiding the nation out
of the throes in which it %floundered after the World war
and the treaty of Versailles.
Hoover conjures for us the picture of a man who was
himself so faithful to his friends that he could not ina
CINE their being unfaithful to him. Great-hearted and
broad minded, Harding was distinctly a man of the peo-
pie and it was he who bound up, as best he could, the
wounds of war. The success which attended his efforts
" ACoIo4C POAlVACoA culAAly oIO q AooAOAAoA "a UUoA-
ness is literally attested by the record Of this country
during the last 10 years. 1t was upon the foundation
laid by Harding that the Coolidge administration estab-
lshed its record. The nation should not forget, in at
tempting to estimate the worth Of the Harding admins
tration, those factors which weigh heavily for good
President Hoover did not and he is to be given credit
for rising to the defense Of his friends good name on the
occasion of this dedication of the Harding tomb.
If the way to gain a friend is to be one, Hoover Tues
day proved himself worthy of personal friendship. The
fact that his friend now lies cold in the grave and that
he gained no appreciative handclasp in recognition OF
his tribute, makes Hoovers action all the more COM
mendable. Whatever else may be said Of the president,
he is no gutter. He did not hesitate to cut through the
smoke screen which the muckrackers have thrown about
the Harding administration.
On the other hand the president made no attempt to
excuse the shortcomings Of his friend as president. He
in ringing terms the activities of those alleged
friends of Warren C. Harding who betrayed both him
and the nation.
For Hoover feels in his heart that Harding really was
the victim of his own blind confidence in men whom he
liked. He appreciates how keenly Harding felt the igno-
miny which was heaped upon him when it was shown
that Daugherty. Fall, Forbes, Miller, Jess Smith and the
rest had used high office and his friendship for their
selfish and illegal ends.
One gets a new picture of Harding if he places cred
ence in a story which has gone the rounds OF the
nations newspaper offices in recent years. It tells how
Harding, when he learned of the manner IN which FORBES
had looted the veterans bureau, leaving the nations
soldiers to suffer while he lined his pockets,
for Forbes. In his white house office he wrung the
truth from Forbes unwilling lips and a great rage over
came him. For Forbes had been his appointed; the gov
ernments failure to care for the shattered human wrecks
tossed up by the war had been his failure.
And so his great hands clutched at Forbes flabby
throat. The willy tongue stuck out as the betraycr gasped
for breath.
Vyhatlor thiS ctOrv ha trIle Or q fable mi petS the idea |
that Hoover thinks of Harding somewhat in that light.
The people of Ohio think of him so, for they knew him
loved him. They looked upon him as a man, whose
greatest personal charm was his greatest political weak
ness. This was his faithfulness to and his willingness to
believe in his friends.