Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1938-01-20
Mr.. Curtis Ellis was caller In
Palmer, Saturday.
DISPELLING THE FOG
(Rv Charles MichelSOn)


Let me today greet a fellow fog
dispeller in the person OF Senator
Vandenberg, who has just annOunc"
ed, first, that Il shall not seek Re
publican nomination or any other
presidential nomination in 1910"
and second, that Il hope l shall new
er run away from any public duty
or obligation which confronts me-"
However, there is the following
clear, for he says, apropos of his
other statements, that II have no
illusions in these directions as re
spects the 1910 situation"
Perhaps it would clear the residue
mists of the Michigan senator's
ideas on the subject to interpret his
remarks in this wise: eff it looks as
is there was a Chinaman's chance
of the Republican candidate for
president getting anywhere in 1910,
I'll be Johnny on-the~spot, but / do
not propose becoming a burnt offer
ing if things do not look any better
than they looked for Governor Lam
don in 1886"
OF course in this glorious, free
country of ours anybody can in.
terpret anything in any way he
President of the United States says
he wants to cooperate with every
honest business and is hostile only
to the mere handful who would
abuse their opportunities, Repub-
lican editor can accuse him of set
ting up straw men to knock down.
But that is a depression. We were
discussing possible Republican cam
didates for the presidential nomina
ton two years hence.
When you come to think OF 1T,
Senator Vandenberg, assuming that
he was avid for the nomination,
could hardly declare his ambition
at this time because if he did, he
would stir up all the possible rivals
for the empty honor and thus make
determination more difficult. On
the other hand, if he wanted to
avoid it, he could hardly place him
self in the position of declining so
long in advance nomination that
might never be offered him.
In short, the senator is keeping
strictly in line with the groupings Of
his party, which appears unable to
make up it's mind on what it is 60
ing to do Professor Glenn Frank,
ex~ President of the University Of
Wisconsin and now chairman of the
Republican party's program commit
tee, gives us the Illuminating fact
that lit is not the business of this
the 1898 or 1910 campaign" And
Mr.. Frank E. Gannett, chairman Of
the National committee to Uphold
Constitutional Government, which is
the residuary legatee of the Liberty
League, in declining membership in
Professor Franks committee specifi'
cally explains that he cannot join in
any platform making organization
because of the non partisan char.
onf< re II Ic rnya n
Mr.. Gannett to DR.. Frank, "you
and your associates success, and
hope you will draft platform that
will help solve the great problems
we face
A party platform is a declaration
Of the party's principles. It's pur
pose is to tell voters the aims and
policies because of which their
suffrages are asked. In fact, in the
call upon Professor Frank to take
the Craftsmanship it was expressly
stated that the purpose of the COM
mittee of one hundred was to for
mulate just such a declaration. To
quote Professor Frank himself, the
committee twill seek to play it's full
part in sincere, open minded, re-
sponsible search for principles and
lines of national action that will
keep America growing concern
So if he is not engaged in for
mulating a PLATFORM it is rather
difficult to find out just what he is
doing.
The difficulties in writing a Re
publican platform are pretty severe
in any event. How much more diff
ficult must it be to write a platform
that isn't a platform for a non ex.
isting candidate? Both Governor
Landon and Colonel Knox who car
ried the banner of despair in SO
have refused to play with Professor
Franks distinguished body, which
perhaps affords an index of what
these banner bearers think of the
whole business.
Candidate Field Barren
My fellow columnist, Mark Sui.
l1van, staunchest of the G. o. p.
publicists, even if he, no more than
anybody else, knows what the G.. O.
Z. stands for at this time, recently
K-I