Evening star., 1940-01-20
Senator Boruh


A famous and well-beloved Ameri-
can statesman has gone to his rest
and the entire Nation mourns his
passing. William Edgar Borah was
unique. He cannot be replaced. His
death has removed from the world
scene a figure whose gifts and talents
might be shared by others but whose
personal genius was unparalleled in
modern times. Possibly not since
Daniel Webster has there been such
a remarkable personality in Con-
gress. This much his contemporaries
understand and appreciate at the
moment of the passing Of the la
mented senior Senator from Idaho.
Mr.. Borah certainly was not ame-
nable to explanation by any Of the
usual formulas. He was a liberal,
yet not a radical. His efforts in be-
half of such reforms as the income
tax, direct election of members of the
upper house of the national Legis-
lature, creation of the Department of
Labor and of the Children's Bureau
never were revolutionary. He ia
vored prohibition, the primary sys-
tenn, an eight-hour day for Federal
employees, free tolls for American
ships in the Panama Canal, postal
savings expansion, extension of farm
loans to reclamation projects, inves-
legations of the coal and steel indus
tries, moderate tariffs, strong correc-
tion for monopolies, mild imitation.
But he was opposed to judicial recall,
woman suffrage, Federal laws against
lynching, the soldiers bonus, Gov
ernment spending for pump prim-
ing" purposes, the National Recov-
cry Act, New Deal agricultural re-
lief policies, President Theodore
Roosevelt's progressive movement in
1912 and President Franklin D.
Roosevelt's proposal to enlarge the
Supreme Court in 1887. He refused
to aid Robert M. La Toilette in the
organization of third party in 1924
and retained his traditional Repub-
lican affiliations even when he was
at bitter odds with leaders like Boies
Penrose, Elihu Root, Presidents
Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge
and Herbert Hoover.
Those who were regulars" in poll
tics complained that he was "unre-
liable" while those who were consist
emily "insurgent" branded him "un-
trustworthy" Both groups, it seems,
paid Mr.. Borah unintended compli-
ments. In effect, they found him an
independent spirit. One observer,
having watched his development
through many years, said of him
that he was "a party in himself"
The remark was logical Especially
in the field of foreign affairs in
which he deliberately and conscien-
tiously undertook to be a master, he
stood alone. It was common to
bracket him with the "irreconcil-
ables" in opposition to the League of
Nations, yet he rose head and shoul-
ders above the crowd. Similarly, he
battled against the World Court not
as a spokesman for body of critics
but singly and unaffiliated in his re-
sistance. He campaigned for recog-
milton of Soviet Russia when no other
Senator dared to raise the question.
So, too, he agitated for the recall of
the marines from Haiti and Santo
Domingo, demanded reductions in
appropriations for the Army, insist
ed upon disarmament as a means
toward peace, promoted pacifist
ideals in the face of what appeared
to a majority of Senators to be ma
tional dangers. The cornerstone of
his faith was his Interpretation of
George Washington's warning against
"entangling alliances" yet he faith
cred the Washington Conference of
1921 and sturdily supported the Pact
of Paris for the "outlawry" of war
in 1928.
Listing the contradictions in MIR.
Borah's philosophy serves in a way
to emphasize the value of his life.
He was above the claims of a con-
stricting pattern of thought. Perhaps
a larger measure of worldly success
might have been his lot had he been
capable of small expedient COM
promises. Instead, he chose to
isolate himself from the temptations
of conformity. His courage kept him
free. And it was that quality of
leonine courage which, above all 9TH
er characteristics, made him famous,
earned him the admiration, the re-
spect and the warm affection of null
titudes. He was, then, an individual
ist-not merely in theory but also,
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