Evening star., 1936-06-26
The Story of Aft M. Landon
CHAPTER XII-Before the Nation.
BY RICHARD B. FOWLER.

nOrlZOn.
It started, Of course, as the natural
result of events. The country (and
Kansas awoke one morning to see
ALI M. Landon as the man who piloted
Kansas on even keel through the
storm, Republican Governor who had
been elected and reelected against
Democratic landslides.
For a year before his nomination
at Cleveland, the Landon name grew
in proportion to the number OF ma
tional leaders, East and West. that Wis
tied him at the old Topeka State
House. They we're responsible for the
spreading interest in Landon. a move
ment that grew simply by word-of-
mouth.
The visitors to Topeka were not
greatly interested in Kansas finances,
except as an indication. They were
interested in ALI M. Landon as a
potential leader of his party. Now
he must be viewed in the light of q
party leader.
Landon in his big easy chair, talk
ing in a drawing, rather likable voice,
about the tariff or international A.
nance. gives first impression of being
one of the absolutely unaffected men
in public life. It would be hard to
detect any change in his manner
whether the guest happened to be an
international banker or a Kansas
farmer. He is unhurried. at ease and
evidently is thinking carefully about
everything that he says. He has no
manneriSms.
Possesses Balance.
The fundamental characteristic Of
ALT Landon may be sensed almost i'm
mediately, but it usually takes visitor
several hours to devine. The charac-
teristic Is balance" He has prob
ably no single trait or ability that you
have not already known in other men.
Landon, like his administrations in
Kansas, is different only because of a
! combination of qualities which we
call the genius Of the average man
balance.
Looking at him as a potential ma
tional leader his balance may be more
useful than any other kind of genius
The Landon balance runs through
everything he has done and explains
most Of his success in Kansas. Avoid
ing extremes is one result of his bal
ance. He weighs all sides of con-
troversial problem and gathers al
available information before he acts
parSnnc yryhn Iiln IN rot a Innt1n
official act according to liberal" OF
conservative" would say he was lib
eral' when he opposed a permanent
constitutional restriction on schoo
levies; conservative" when he sup
ported temporary legislative restric-
ton; and again liberal" when he was
cold to the redbaiters who are con-
tinually trying to start investigation;
at the State university The fact is
liberalism or conservatism had moth
ing to do with it. Landon is a strong
supporter of enlightened education
but when funds ran out he let Kansa.
teachers take a temporary cut along
with everybody else.
Fairness Explains Support.
In Kansas they simply say he /:
fair" 1t explains why two sides Of
a disrupted party worked together with
Landon when they could agree on nc
other man in the State In fact. II
explains as much as anything else why
Kansas political leaders say he is one
of the smartest politicians the State
has seen in many years People have
confidence in him. He is the arbitel
type, master at getting people to-
gether on the essential point.
There has been a recent tendency
to compare him with Theodore Roose.
velt-the similar philosophy, the store.
house of information and the prefer.
ence for the outdoors. The compari.
son can be carried too far. Landon
at this writing, does not have the wide
variety of knowledge that made
Roosevelt famous. His knowledge i
more concentrated, dealing with fun.
damentals as opposed to Roosevelt!
mountains of superficial facts. Hi.
love of the outdoors is much less pic.
turesque than Roosevelt's. Landor
made his living in the open spaces
And personally no man could be IL
more direct contrast to the dramatic
Roosevelt than Alf Landon The Kan
sas Governor is no Snowman. Hi
strength is at the council table.
Others have attempted to compar,
him with Coolidge, a comparison tina
is fundamentally untrue. A more re-
cent inclination to compare him will
Grover Cleveland may have some ba
sis in fact. At least, Landon has tn,
Cleveland faculty for growing in Office
Human Rights Core Of Philosophy.
The core of his philosophy is Thu
man rights" The phrase to him i
no vague platitude for the lodestone o
progress through the paths of histor!
leading on into the future. He see!
that "the road has not always fol-
lowed a straight course in the bes
direction-there have been curves ane
detours."
He sees government as the protec.
ton of the people, guaranteeing to in.
dividuals the rights they have inner.
tied under the American system, pro-
tecting children through child labol
laws, protecting aged persons with 9
workable pension system, protecting
the wage-earner and business mar
by removing the obstacles to sane re-
covery; but within the limits leaving
men free to work out their own des
TIMES with their own initiative. HI
values the Constitution, not as al
emotional ideal but as a Fundamental
guaranty of rights that we call tn
American system" To quote him:
"A government Is free in proper
tion to the rights it guarantees to tn
minority. The Constitution was no
framed to give us anything, but II
protect inherent rights we alread,
possessed. It was framed to protec
minorities controlled by impulsive ma
jorities. It has preserved the right o
trial by jury-religious freedom-th