Evening star., 1932-06-19
Chicago Platform Puts New Spots Under
The Skin of the Republican Elephant
BY WILLIAM HARD.

BY WILLIAM HARD.
CHICAGO, June 1S-The Republican
elephant is starting off now on the hot
journey toward next election day with
a lot Of new spots under its hide.
To get the chief abiding trick Of this
elephant you have to remember that 1t
always carried its new spots under the
hide and not on it, where they might
look disturbing. The outside Of the
grand old party must always seem the
same. 1t must always give confidence"
to the sane, solid sense" of the COM
munity and to the old-timers who rode
on its back when they were children
The donkey may be wild donkey. The
elephant must always be a safe, tame
elephant. 1t must subordinate and
even conceal the novelties which 1t is
about to carry to the legislative mill
Grasp this fundamental proposition of
Republican psychology. and you will
entirely understand the course OF train
| ing which the elephant gave itself IN
its convention at Chicago and the spirit
in which 1t approaches the coming
campaign.
This is no time for experiments
upon the body polite" said Mr.. James
R. Garfield to the Chicago convention
as he read its proposed platform: and
the delegates applauded in comfortable
assured conviction that the country
would feel that nothing new, nothing
| upSetting, was coming to be imposed
upon it by Republican party action.
Then Mr.. Garfield, in an unobt .Isive
voice. proceeded to deliver him.slf of
item after item in long list H. sur
reptitiouS neWnesses.
ha toI
Sltlon OF immense areas of land for
watershed protection and grazing and
forestry and public parks and game
reserves" in order to remove the sub
| marginal" and less fertile acreages of
our country from all possibility of pri-
vate exploitation, which might mean
private failure and loss The power of
Government and the purse of Govern
ment were to be used on a vast scale to
expand Government ownership of land
for the purpose of improving private
profit in the operation of the rest of
our landed domain. No clearer case of
governmental intervention, financial
and administrative, in private business
development could exist. The conven-
ton let it go into the platform noise
lessly.
Mr.. Garfield then also suggested with
| success, that the Republican party
Should impose new governmental
regulation upon investment companies
atnllated with banks. He also suggested
! and again with success, that the Re-
publican party should impose a new
| governmental regulation upon electric
current carried across State lines into
interstate commerce. He further sug-
gested, and once more with success.
that new additional governmental mo-
mentum should be given to the labors
| OF the Federal Farm Board in the di-
rectlon of supplanting private grain
| dealers and cotton dealers with Cooper
atlVe marketing societies financed out
CT the Federal governmental treasury.
Ihese drastic experiments a conven-
ton which had rejected all experl-
mentahSm accepted with pleasure.
Then came the one real outburst of
fervor greeting any subject-outside OF
prohlbition-in the platform proceed
lngs OF the convention at any time dur
ing its stay in the Chicago Stadium
This outburst followed Mr.. Garfeld,s
| three colorlessly enunciated sentences in
favor OF an essentially socialistic con-
troll OF the production of petroleum.
They were beautifully guardedly worded
sentences. They said:
The conservation of oil Is a major
problem to the industry and the Nation
The administration has sought to bring
| coordination of effort through the
| states, the producers and the Federal
Government. Progress has been made
and the effort will continue"
What did that mean? The oil States
knew; and their attending citizens, in
GLIDING millionaires, evidenced raptur-
NJ f1at %l,a EnI-
eral Government would continue TO
issue estimates of prospective petroleum
production, together with suggested al
locations" OF that production, to the
several States; and 1t meant that those
States would thereupon, each within
its own territory, impose local gov
ernmental set of ALLEGATIONS" upon
private producers. This experiment in
the petroleum industry is the most COL
lectivistic and governmentalistic ao-
venture in all American business; and
the Republican elephant is about to
trundle it into revolutionary existence
among us while trumpeting mo ex-
perinentS."
A precisely similar theory of behavior
was illustrated by the Republican Chi
cago Convention in its most discussed
proposal-the proposal regarding pro-
hibltion.
The convention declared itself against
the repeal" of the eighteenth amend
ment. That was necessary. The ele-
phant must never seem to be eliminat-
ing any of our institutions. 1t must
never seem to be obstructive" 1t must
always be engaged in improving, harm
lessly improving, "constructively" I'M
proving, whatever institutions we may
have. Therefore the Republican party
could not promise a bold and blood
curdling twentieth amendment What
it could, and what it did, in essence,
promise was bigger and better eight
eenth amendment.
This enlarged and perfected amend
ment will preserve the abolition OF the
saloon. 1t will also preserve the au-
thority of the Federal Government over
the liquor traffic throughout the whole
United States, even within those States
which may vote themselves wet. Ap-
peals by this writer to ex-senator Henry
Allen of Kansas and to Secretary Of
State Stimson, high carpenters Of the
Chicago conventions prohibition plat
form, for an authoritative interpreta-
ton of it have left him in no doubt
that the Flank, if distilled down to the
true enersizing sap in it, could be writ
ten as follows:
I'VE favor giving the country q