Evening star., 1936-08-04

don feels on the subject. Gov. Lam
don pooh-poohed the idea OF regu-
lating the production Of oil by State
compact. Now. apparently, Candidate
Landon is enamored of the idea of
State compactS. If oil can be regu-
lated by State compact, why not all
other commodities and interests that
the States have in common? Then
we could abolish. in large part, the
Federal Government and revert to an
era in which horse and buggy cam
didate" would feel perfectly at home.
Whether Mr.. Landon and Col. Knox
are progressive or not, there is not any
doubt that they are Hearstian. Mr..
Hearst brought up Col. Knox. and he
adopted Gov. Landon. Col. Frank
Knox, the nominee for Vice President,
whose self-effacing and temperate ac-
ceptance speech last Thursday night
hope you all heard, was for three
years the high-powered general mana
ger of all the Hearst newspapers, and
his earlier candidacy for the preSiden-
tial nomination received more than
friendly editorial notice in the Hearst
press. Gov Landon was nominated
as the result of Hearst build-up that
made a national figure out of an OBJ
scure one.
On June 13, last. there was printed
in various newspapers a syndicated
article by William Allen White, who
Is probably as close to Gov. Landon
as any man living. The title Of this
article was How Landon Won-The
True Story Of the Birth, the Boom
and the Climax of Kansan's Nomina-
ton" From this Illuminating article
I quote:
When the two private cars Garry
ing Mr. Hearst and his party were
parked in the Topeka switch yards,
all Kansas knew that her Governor
was beginning to be somebody"
Mr.. Landon and Col. Knox may be
as progressive as the not-disintkrested
Mr.. Hearst AYERS, but If they are, then
it Is a curious coincidence that the
most reactionary individuals and in
terestS in the United States are sup
porting them. For it must be ad-
mitted that these particular individ.
| uals and interests usually know their
political onions. Since when did the
liberty-loving Du Points, Andrew w.
Mellon, Ogden l.. Mills, Winthrop w.
Aldrich. Charles D. Hilles, David A.
Reed, j. Henry Roraback, Henry P.
Fletcher, Senator Jesse H. Metcalf or
John D. M. Hamilton, the latter an
ofshoot of the machine of the late
Dave Mulvane and, until recently,
the bitter antagonist of that progress
sive group in Kansas which now fawns
upon him, show any except a malevo-
lent interest in real progressive or
in progressive principle? Can it
be that Wall Street, the New York
Herald-Tribune. the Chicago Daily
Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle
and the Los Angeles Times. to say
nothing of the Liberty League and
the papers Of William Randolph
Hearst and other wealthy reaction
aries, out of tender regard for the
welfare Of the plain people Of Amer.
lea, have suddenly deserted the spe-
cial interests and have gone prcgres-
sive?
The most that can be said for the
Republican party is that it has been
to a beauty parlor to have its face
lifted. But face-lifting does not
make new personality: it merely
gives temporarily more pleasing ap-
pearance to an old face. There has
been no character-l lifting in the Re-
publican party. 1t still suffers from
soul erosion. 1t has merely attempted
to take on the verisimilitude Of pro-
gresSivism in order to fool and be-
tray the people. Concentrated wealth,
the power of money. still dominates
the Republican party. If you doubt
this statement, count noses and see in
which political camp the great bank
ers, the monopolistic industrialists
and the vested interests that have
been built up by Republican favor and
which flourish on special privilege
have pitched their tents.
Even Gov. Landon does not now
claim that he is progressive The
only sop that he can throw to the
progressive West is that he is "prac-
tical' progressive.