Evening star., 1937-08-12


what rightfully might have been his
second four-year term.
But Mr.. Coolidge counted as term
the period between August 3, 1928,
and March 4, 1925, when he was in
augurated after his successful cam
paign of 1924. He construed the
period between March 4, 1925, and
March 4, 1929, as his second term.
Anything beyond that would in his
Judgment violate the anti-third- term
tradition.
Was Elected Only Once.
Calvin Coolidge had deep-seated
beliefs about constitutional precedents
written and unwritten. But as a
matter of fact he had a better case
for third term than anybody else,
for had he accepted reelection in 1928
and served the four years from March
4, 1929, to March 4, 1888, he would
have been President only about 9l2
years in all instead of II, which is the
usual concept Of three terms.
Beyond his famous statement, II do
not choose to run for President in
1928" nobody ever really knew just
what were his reasons until he pub
lshed them in a magazine article long
after he left the presidency There
were in 1927 and 1928 many persons
who wanted to draft Mr.. Coolidge for
the presidency.
Since the days of George Washing
ton, however, there has been no more
conspicuous example of remuneration
OF ambition than that given by Calvin
Coolidge. At the time he left office
the country was on wave of what
was regarded at the time as enduring
prosperity.
For purely political reasons, Mr.
Roosevelt has chosen all along to
argue that the depression was purely
American and that American mistakes
brought it about, but most economists
abroad as we'll as here have united in
contending that conditions which
brough on the depression we're world
wide.
So far as politics is concerned, the
Republicans have allowed themselves
to be measured into more or less of
an acceptance of the Roosevelt
premise and they have failed to
emphasize that, irrespective Of what
caused the breakdown in 1929 through
out the world, the economic condition
Of the United States itself in the post
war period was, on the whole,
eminently satisfactory
The Roosevelt administration still
points to the banner Coolidge year of
1925 as standard of measurement
OF what constitutes normalcy. Prices
and wages are not yet as good as they
were in 1925, though in some lines
they are better.
Effects of Dev2IuatiOn.
1t may take generation before the
full effects Of the devaluation of the
dollar are thoroughly realized and
understood by the people. Persons of
fixed incomes are already feeling the
pinch due to the fact that prices are
going up faster than their incomes
Economies and efficiency methods are
tending to hold some prices down, and
this in a way relieves the strain on
the vorkingman's pocketbook, but the
probabilities are that beginning with
next Fall some items in the family
budget will rise uncomfortably The
coming advance in automobile prices
may psychologically induce other price
increases due to higher labor costs and
higher taxes.
Even government is beginning to
feel these increased costs in the prices
OF the articles bought. Just the other
day an estimate for white paper
needed for the second six months of
the year with identically the same
quantity to be ordered as in the same
period last year was revealed to a
Senate committee here to mean a
e6o0,000 increase for Uncle Sam.
Maybe these issues will become