Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-01-09
The Political Mill
BY C. Could Lincoln.


The passing of Calvin Coolidge may
or may not have affected greatly the
political situation as it relates to the
G. o. p. Undoubtedly there were those
in the Republican party who firmly
believed that Mr.. Coolidge should be
the party nominee for President in 1896.
They would have liked to nominate Mr..
Coolidge in 1882, but it was early ap-
parent that Mr.. Coolidge would not per-
nit himself to be entered In the race
and also it was clear that 1t would
have been impossible to defeat Mr.. Hoo
yer for denomination. The Democratic
trend in 1882 was so strong that no
epubltcan-including Mr.. Coolidge-in
all probability could have won the
presidential election. 1t will be recalled
that the Coolidge administration as well
as that Of President Hoover was under
fire Of the Democrats during the CAM
paign.
Henry L. Stoddard has now published
the fact that he was authorized by
former President Coolidge less than q
month ago to declare to the country
that Mr.. Coolidge would not again &C.
cept public Office and that he was and
would not be candidate for the presi-
dency IN 1885. Mr.. Coolidge, having
made up his mind. was not man to be
shaken from his purpose. In 1928 he
might easily have been the nominee of
his party for reelection. Indeed, had
he not issued the famous Il do not
choose to run" statement undoubtedly
he would have been renominated and
reelected. Republican leaders in all
parts OF the country were rallying to
the Coolidge standard at the time. It
was insisted that he would not in any
sense Of the word be third term"
President, since he had merely taken
charge Of the administration half way
through the Harding term of office.
But having made his announcement
that he did not choose to run, his
friends could not shake the attitude of
the then President. Probably they
could not have done so in 1886 had Mr.
Coolidge lived
In 1896 the Republicans will again
turn to Herbert Hoover or they will
select as their standard bearer a candi-
date who is yet to be brought forward.
The Hoover people in the G.. o. P. are
biding their time. They believe that
there will be reaction in favor of Mr..
Hoover as the months pass. What Mr..
Hoover himself will have to say about
the matter is another thing Probably
he will say nothing. for no man can
possibly tell what the next few years
will bring forth. Already, and even
more strongly since the death of Mr..
Coolidge, there is talk of Representa-
tive-elect James w. Wadsworth of New
York, former Senator. as a new leader
for the Republican party and its presi-
Dental candidate when the time rolls
round.
1t is easily conceivable that the
eighteenth amendment will have been
repealed by 1886. 1t would be difficult
today to pick Is States which would
stand out against repeal If Congress
should Immediately submit a new
amendment to the Constitution killing
the prohibition amendment. Once the
eighteenth amendment has been elini-
mated from the Constitution, it is not
likely that serious attempt to repeat
the national prohibition experiment can
or will be undertaken for some years to
come. Mr.. Wadsworth was an offering
on the sacrificial altar Of national pro-
hibition. In 1925 he stepped boldly
forward as an opponent of the eight
zenith amendment when he was a can
didate for reelection to the Senate.
Whereupon the ardent drys in New
York put up an independent Republic
an candidate and took from Wadsworth
enough votes to throw the election to
his Democratic opponent, Senator Wag-
ner. With prohibition as a national
issue removed. Mr.. wadsworth may
easily become an outstanding leader of
the Republicans. He was highly re-
garded when be was a member Of the
Senate, both for his courage and his
ability and wisdom. In those days his
colleagues talked of him as a probable
presidential possibility. But when in
1925 he went down to defeat, it looked
as though he would never stage come
back politically. The great reversal Of
public sentiment on the prohibition
question, however. in the last eight
years has changed the situation alb
solutely.
Mr.. Wadsworth, still wet, will enter
the House when the new Congress
meets 1t Is expected that through sheer
ability he will be an outstanding figure
in that body. Two years hence he NAV
become Republican candidate for Gov
ernor Of New York, or he may seek the
Senate seat now held by Senator Cope
land. AS rule, the Office of Governor
of New York has been successful STEP
ping stone to the presidential nominal
ton. The last two Governors of New
York, both Democrats, were nominated
for President by their party. Chief
Justice Hughes, who had been Governor
Of the Empire State, was the Republican
nominee in 1916, and the late Col
Theodore Roosevelt went from the Gov
errors chair in Albany to Vice Presi-
dent and to the White House Many
former Governors have become presi-
Dental candidates and few Senators
have had that honor.
Mr.. wadsworth is In his fifty-saxth
year. He halls from upstate New
York, as distinguished from New York
City. 1t Is the hope of many New York
that Mr. Wadsworth will
play a prominent part in the Republi-
can State organization; perhaps step
into the leadership. The party has been
at skies and sevens, needing strong
Leadership. One criticism made of him
when he was in the Senate lay in the
fact that he did not give enough at
tention to the party leadership in the
State, that he gave his attention to
national affairs rather than to those of
New York State. Mr.. Wadsworth can
not by the widest stretch of imagination
be called a progressive" However,
many of the progressive Republicans
from the West who served in the Sem
ate with Mr.. Wadsworth had real
admiration for him. In another four
years the country may be looking for
not too radical candidate for President.
And certainly Mr.. Wadsworth is no
more conservative than Calvin Coolidge
was.
Mr.. Wadsworth is by no means the
only Republican whose name is being
mentioned in connection with national
leadership. Ogden Mills, also of New
York, at present Secretary Of the
Treasury and rated one of the ablest
men in the Hoover cabinet, is fire.
quently mentioned in this connection.
Mr. Mills was at one time member