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The Commoner
VEBBPABY, 1920
The Republican Presi
dential Candidates
if any one Inquires why I discuss Republican
wMential candidates instead of those of my
n oarty I answer, first, that more Republicans
Zva announced their candidacy and second, that
te less embarrassing to discuss Ropublic&a
than Democratic candidates.
Thoro are certain general principles that must
ba observed in considering anyone's candidacy.
T?e first is that availability is not always syn
onymous with merit; that is, one man may be
much more deserving generally than another and
yet less available as a candidate. Success in poli
tics may bo described as the conjunction of pre
paredness and opportunity. Many may be pre
pared and have no opportunity; some may have
opportunity and yet not be prepared to take ad
yantago of It. Circumstances circumstances
beyond control of the individual may. play a
yery important part. One man may be especial
ly fitted for the presidency in. time of war while
another may bo much better fitted for a presi
dential term in time of peace. In comparing
the candidates, therefore, I mean no reflection
upon those whom I may think" less available.
They may be, in some cases,, superior to those
who are especially available at this time.
It is no special compliment to the Republican
party to say it has a multitude of men who are
qualified to fill the presidential chair. In a mem
bership of more than seven million it ought to
be possible to find an almost unlimited number,
who possess the qualifications necessary for the
discharge of the high duties of this great office,
fyt mos ofjJiem, being unknown aTe. unavail
ableeach may be "a gem of purest ray serene"
but hidden in urifathomed- political caves.
The leading Republican candidate, so far, is
General Leonard Wood. The straw votes give
him first place and he is the only candidate who
has received the endorsement of a. State. "Wheth
er he will be allowed to represent the soldier
element alone or w.ilL find a competitor in Gen
eral Pershing, is yet to .be seen. It would not be
surprising if these two men shduld finally be
come active competitors for the vote of those
who are inclined to a military candidate. Cir
cumstances accentuate the differences between
them; General Pershing received the military
opportunity that General "Wood coveted. The
former will rest his claim upon what he BID
accomplish, while the latter will build upon
what he MIGHT have accomplished, thus giv
ing wings to imagination. . They' are not only
rivals from a military standpoint but they ap
peal to different elements' in the party. General
wood is residual legatee of former President
iioosevelt, while General Pershing, being the
son-in-law of Senator Warren, will naturally bo
more acceptable to the standpat element.
But is this the time for a military candidate?
je war is over and he establishment of the
league of Nations looks to the prevention of
war in the future. The renditions are not such
oemand a military candidate; on the con
Si a mllitary leader would seem out of place
Z ?,r we cnsider the world at large or our
domestic problems.. The League of Nations is
American idea and rests upon what our coun
of alrGady accomplished in the direction
mh I, IlG nomination of a military man at
naMMi would ralse a question as to our
En ntlona' lfc ould indicate a feeling at
SS in,cromPatible with the world's hope of
ttouSnA i n of oqual honesty a liable to be
men ? y theIr environment, and the envlron
IntwnSn a ?oldler w6uld make him deal with
than u? lotions in a soldierly way rather
flump J1 ia vIew t0 avoiding war. His in
at crm i be decisive against peace methods
daneip i moments. As Illustrative of this
militw need only t0 recali tn fact that the
the laJ ?presentatlves of the United States, at
tho infiii co Conference at the Hague, threw
Polsonn lenCe of tnis natiori against excluding
War luus gas from the legitimate weapons of
to evS!Hiary man in th White House would
tr'umnh nfS unfit for domestic policies. The
nt fail t i democrat1c idea in tho war can
of our ni;, g atl imPetus to the' popularizing
' fler, hnxvl! government, and a professional sol
aturaiiv i r deraocratic in principle, would
erntnent ni toward arbitrary methods in gov
aitf an a 1.I- differonce between a Democrat
aristocrat is not a difference in honesty
Of In morn! rm,.n.. i.
Pie, is willint? tn trn.f "uving faith in the peo
governmeni ; while , A? t0n thoIr own
method more and more employed whnro V
the army the olllcer in author Uy commands
d?eer TtCrnrllnUB' A proSSffni Tot
a er at the head of the government would chill
the growing enthusiasm in favor of putt Sk tin
People in complete control of their own govern-
.The labor question will be one of tho nromi-
brannchSofGSt ft CamPaIg,n' not "oo pXuTar
branch of the .labor question, but the far-reach-
f M continuous struggle of tho laboring man
for -the betterment of his condition. The sol
der is always brought into a labor dispute by
the capitalistic side and his sympathies are
naturally with that class. However honest ho
may bo, ho can not put himself in tho wage
earner s place and consider the question from
that point of- view.
The first big question for the Republican party
to decide, therefore, s whether thoy will com
mit the party to the leadership of a professional
soldier or seek a civilian leader. Thoy have a
number of civilian candidates to choose from
but these represent opposite elements.
Governor Lowden of Illinois belongs to the
reactionary crowd; he was in the convention of
1912, at Chicago, and actively enlisted on the
Taft side; he can hardly expect support from
the Progressives. His identification with the
pH.lmaAfian3'pany, gives Atp the corporate element
in the 'country a sufficient guarantee as to his
conservatism.
Senator Harding represents the same element
and will divide the reactionary .strength with
Governor Lowden, (except that portion that fol
lows. General Pershing in case of his candidacy.)
Senator Harding is a more able man, with a con
siderable amount of political experience and one
of the best cainpaignel-s his party has produced
in recent years. Ho presided over the last Re
publican Convention and .has been one of his
party's leaders in the Senate ever since he en
tered that body. The Republicans may bo
afraid to nominate a man so openly connected
with Wall Street as Governor Lowden; if so,
they will naturally turn to Senator Harding who
will, doubtless, be as satisfactory to them al
though his corporate connection may not be as
easily proven as Governor Lowden's.
The progressive element of the paTty has two
candidates, Senator Johnson and Senator Poin
dexter. The former is better known than the
latter because ho was vice-president on tho ticket
with Mr. Roosevelt eight years ago, but that
very fact would tend to prejudice him in the eyes
of. the stand-pat element of the party. His nomi
nation would be even more clearly a progressive
victory than the nomination of General Wood.
Then, too, Senator Johnson is handicapped by
his opposition to tho League of Nations. The
Republican convention could not endorse his
position and he would be compelled to run upon
a platform which, by its silence if not 'by its
language, would condemn his course.
Senator Poindexter is, to a lesser degree, em
barrassed' like Senator Johnson by his fight
against the treaty and could hardly be expected
to poll as large percentage of tho Progressive
vote, although this is partially offset by the fact
that he is not as a shining mark for reaction-
Gov Coolldge is also mentioned, although the
inclination seems to be to attach him to other
booms as the second man on the ticket. He may
bo drawn into the higher circle if tho fight be
tween the leaders becomes bitter enough, but
lie does not yet embody a plan or a program. If
all the policemen in the United States strike be
tween now and the convention and any party
ES? a Dosition that makes the strike question
S5la?amoint iBsne. he may become the logical
SSd'date but, if as seems' entirely possible the
next elect on turns on other issues he may have
? ,iti?fv hv showing some connection with the
ohaneoB until hi VntUr to 0flt,ma
Dl Hn J10 announco8 his platform of prlfo.
that ho iSvV? th, othor n,Mdatii Id
scholarlv o imiyA aI$oa,trngly to th'e mord
fart i i. i 7ont 0f rh0 KoPuMcan party. Iii
WUson no,?, hLr0a80nJb, t0 flUPPo that tho
tlm SJJW1 CIins1 those who wero drawn to
the .President by his prominonco in educational
Snd'taD? nU,,S moUodh of thoughtwoSla
views 10 b08t ronocon . o!r
Thoro is timo yet for othor entries but tlia
1 nos are so clearly drawn that I venture to make
a guess. First, that neither -General Woo "So?
St?Jalr ??rs Ins tf.11 b0 ab, l8 contro1 ft ma
jority of tho Republican delegates. Tho opposi
tion to militarism will bo sufficient to dofoat
Doth, even if tho rivalry botween them was not
sufficient to enable each one to prevont tho
nomination of tho othor.
When wo come to tho civilian candidates, wo
find that, the gulf betwoon tho two reactionaries,
Lowden and Harding, on tho one sldo and, tho
two Progressives, Johnson and Poindexter on
the othor, too wide to pormit tho nomination of
a conspicuous representative of oithor nido. Tho
Republican party wants to win; tho passion lor
victory is greater than devotion to any parti
cular man, and whon tho progressives and reac
tionaries find that noithor s'do will consent to
an outstanding representative of tho othor side,
both sides will begin looking for a compromise
candidate, and tho logi of the situation seems
likely to point to somoj,yri& mwjoas Governor
Sproul. Tho reactlonqjjL; aro always talking
about a business man .fL President and Gov
ernor Sproul represents that element rather than
tho politicians. Thoy will, of course, havo to
have a man sound on tho prohibition question
and Governor SprnuJ-jnado his campaign on that
issue and led thft.iyjM ;, .Mate forr. ,
tion. Tho Republican pj$y must have' a man In
favor of woman's suffrage also and horo, too,
thoy will find Governor Sproul Is all they could
. desire. They will havo to havo a man with some
progressive tendencies In order to make him ac
ceptable to'the Western progressives. Governor
Spr6ul "has qualified In this respect by opposing
Senator Penrose and by the advocacy of some
reforms. An Eastorn progressive will bo more
acceptable to tho reactionaries than a Western
progressive, and an Eastorn progressive will al
so be more acceptable to the Wostern progressive
than a Western reactionary.
All roads load to some man of the Sproul type
and Govornor Sproul has another element of
strength that Is not to bo overlooked. Senator
Penrose has climbed as high as he can hope to
go; ho would not bo thought of as a candidate
for president, but it may be assumed that ho
wants to stay in tho Senate Governor Sproul is
more than a mere danger, ho is a posltivo
menace to Penrose, and the senator would much
rather have him for president than for a suc-
cessor. Whon it is remembered that Senator
Penrose is the most potential slnglo factor in
tho Republican party it will bo seen that his
personal Interest In removing Governor Sproul
from the list of rivals may become an important
factor in a close contest.
This is tho situation as it appoars to me today
but it will not embarrass me in tho least if con
ditions so change as to .jMflnpel mo to revise my
estimate as to relative s( -ngth. I can view the
situation as impartially as I did the contest be
tween Mr. Taft and Mr. Roosevelt. I was then
in a position to certify to the truth of what each
said about the othor, and so, today, It does not
embarrass me to point out to each of the Repub
lican candidates the weakness of his competitors'.
Being more interested in my country's welfare
than In mere party success, I hope for the nomi
nation of a Republican who will, if elected, make
a good president. Therefore, I would like to
see Senator Kenyon nominated a man whose
sympathies are with the people, and who might
be expected to support with his influence all
remedial measures. But, as the reactionary ele
ment has a dominating influence in the coun.
sels of tho Republican party, it is unlikely that
they will choose such a standard bearer, unless
the leaders become frightened by tho new par
ties that are coming Into existence.
W. J. BRYAN.
The fact that none of the lawyers employed
by the liquor interests to find an opening in the
national prohibition legislation have become dis
couraged enough to throw up thoir jobs would
indicate that the whisky-makers are not so close
to bankruptcy as might be Imagined from what
one reada
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