Vol. IV No. 10 The Weekly News-Magazine NATIONAL THE PRESIDENCY The last day or two of the President's "vacation" in Vermont were not much different from similar days in the White House. Two hundred automobiles full of "Grangers" from ten states rolled into Plymouth and were received on the lawn, rainy and misty though it was. Alva B. Johnson, onetime President of the Baldwin Locomotive Works; Representative John Q. Tilson, of the Speaker's Bureau of the Republican National Committee; John Barrett, Chairman of the Coolidge Independent Group; George W. Davison, Vice President of the Central Union Trust Co., were among the callers. The total number of visitors during the 13 days approached 30,000. The President and Mrs. Coolidge motored to Rutland to lunch with Governor Proctor of Vermont. Professing to feel refreshed from their vacation, Mr. and Mrs. Coolidge and their son John boarded the Presidential special at Ludlow. For two hours they stood on the back platform waving to crowds at stations; then darkness fell and next morning they were in Washington. The President wrote to the Women's Church Committee on International Good Will, which is sending a Christmas ship to Germany: The appeal of little children is worldwide, and America has never turned a deaf ear, whether the cry came from Armenia or from the devastated regions of France, from Rumania or from the Far East. Such charity is, I believe, one aspect of the good-will of America to all nations, of our desire to promote durable peace through mutual understanding." ¶ President Coolidge addressed the National Fraternal Congress which was meeting at the Capital, saying: September 8, 1924 AFFAIRS "In point of numbers I am told that you have between 10 million and 12 million American men and women organized in various fraternities which have delegates at this meeting. Without the moving spirit of fraternity, of a common effort for a common purpose, our government, economic and social organizations would at once disintegrate." The President indicated that he would oppose the elevation of U. S. naval guns on the ground that it would stimulate competitive naval building abroad, and that it would be better to have foreign governments spend their money paying their debts to us then putting such money into armament. President Coolidge presented to the Forbes Library in Northampton, Mass., a large collection of his family's photographs, annotated in his own hand. The Prince of Wales lunched privately at the White House (See Page 9). CONTENTS National Affairs Foreign News Books Music Cinema The Theatre Education Religion Science Law Page 1-6 THE CAMPAIGN The Crucial West Campaign "dope" flows freely from the mouths of politicians. Most of it is too unreliable to serve as a basis for a considered judgment. All of it must be discounted in inverse proportion to the political opinions of the person who gives it, both on account of intentional and unintentional coloring. The following estimates of the political situation in the crucial West must be 'discounted because of the Republican sources from which they come. Properly these estimates should be compared with similar data from Democratic and Progressive sources, but parallel data from the latter is for the moment lacking. The first of these estimates was made by Clinton W. Gilbert, famed correspondent of the Republican newspapers of Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar Curtis. He gave, in an article, the estimates which are represented in the table below, and he declared that his sources were "the private opinions of Republican politicians." The figures under each candidate's name represent the place where it was estimated he will stand in the election according to present indications. Business and Finance 24-25 1 2 10 The Press Point with Pride View with Alarm 32 Published weekly by TIME, Incorporated, at 236 East 39th Street, New York, N. Y. Subscription, $5 per year. Entered as secondclass matter February 28, 1923, at the post office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Kansas wwwwwwwwww This tabulation gives Coolidge 37 of the 115 electoral votes of these states, LaFollette 28, and Davis only six. Twenty votes stand an equal chance of going to Coolidge or LaFollette. Sixteen are uncertain. Mr. Gilbert concludes that John W. Davis is not a *The total number of votes in the Electoral College is 531, the majority 266. National Affairs-[Continued] candidate in this region. Democrats would have something other to say. The other estimates, while from Republican sources, are less subjective and therefore more reliable than such estimates as the above. They were published by John Barrett, Chairman of the Coolidge Independent Group. They purport to be the answers of a group of 2,400 "key voters" in the central West to a questionnaire. It is an open question as to how representative these voters are, and their exact distribution was not given. The same questions were sent out in June and after Mr. Coolidge's acceptance speech in August. The questions and answers: Question No. 1-"Is the so-called La Follette Movement growing in your State to the degree that it may be a menace to the success of both old parties?" On his first invasion of the region west of the Alleghanies, John W. Davis spoke to the State Democratic Convention at Columbus, Ohio. His subject was the acceptance speech of Mr. Coolidge, which he attacked from stem to stern. Extracts: "What is the issue that you bid me submit to the American people? I care not in what words we put ithonesty in Government, fidelity in administration, uprightness in the administration of the law, justice in the passage of legislation-it all comes, in the last resolve, to the question of party responsibility. . . . "I make no charge against the honesty and integrity of the present occupant of the White House. I think no man truthfully can. ... "We are told that the things for which the American people are longing and yearning, that the thing which above all others they desire, and the thing which they are going to struggle to, is a Government of common sense. Now, I shall not go back over the history of the last three and one-half years in order to define that term. (Laughter and applause). . . . "May I be permitted to say this in all kindness-that, after all, there is no virtue in the world more universal, no virtue in the world as common, as common sense; and the reason I say so is that I never yet have met an adult man or woman, and very few of minor age, who did not claim that they possessed it. (Laughter and applause). . sense. "What have the Democrats to offer? We also have some rather common things to offer. But they are things, believe me, which require even more of struggle, more of effort, and certainly more of vigilance than this universal common We want, my friends, to offer to the American people, first of all, common justice. (Applause). We want it in our legislation, and we declare that a tariff law which takes from one man in order to enrich another, which imposes upon the people of this country an indirect burden in the form of revenue derived by the Government is, in its nature, inherently unjust and must be modified. (Applause). . . . ... "Then, we want not only common justice, but we want to offer to the American people common honesty. And when I speak of common honesty I do not mean only that we shall keep our fingers out of the public pocket. I do not mean only that we shall abstain from stealing the public money or giving away the public lands. I mean honesty in thought as well as honesty in deed. . . . "Then, we wish to offer to the people of this country another common virtue-the virtue of common courage at home to speak those things which we believe and let the public pass their judgment upon them; courage in legislation to refuse, if need be, a general demand, if clearly adverse to the interests of the country; courage in administration." Another Dawes Plan? Gen. Dawes spent his 59th birthday working on a speech. He then gathered his family together; and the entire group were transported from Evanston, Ill., to Lincoln, Neb. There they were met by an honor guard of boy scouts, by bands, by marchers carrying ten-foot cornstalks. That evening, General Dawes delivered his speech. It dealt with the farm question. He analyzed the situation which had brought about the depression in agriculture during the past year and found its causes to be the poor market for farm products, especially wheat, abroad He declared that the protective tariff and discrimination in immigration justify farmers in demanding relief. He condemned the political stumpspeakers who shout loudly for legislative remedies in order to gain votes. There could be nothing worse for agriculture than ill-considered legislation. The solution of the problem he saw in a sort of "Experts' Plan" for agriculture the appointment of an expert commission to make an investigation and to draft concrete proposals for legislation. He repeated that President Coolidge had promised to create such a commission; and he considered the moment opportune for such an enterprise, since the pressure of farm problems is temporarily relieved by better crop prices. He concluded: "Whoever promises more than this is entering into a contract which cannot be filled." The New York Times (pro-Davis), in a leading editorial, gave Mr. Davis credit for making, on the whole, what was a sound speech and a good proposal. Mr. Dawes and the honest Times must divide the credit. A Caller It is seldom that rival candidates pay social calls on one another, but Gen. Dawes, having delivered a speech at Lincoln, could not resist the temptation to call on the Governor of Nebraska. Correspondent Boyden Sparkes furnished this graphic account of the meeting: "Gov. Bryan carefully placed a chair for his expected visitor and left wide open the door of the executive office, a large hideous chamber, papered green and with a metallic ceiling embossed with a design of palm leaves, cornucopias and parallelograms. The Governor's mahogany conference table is so placed that he sits in a swivel chair in a sort of a stall formed by his roll-top desk, a small table and the large one. Не placed the chair, in which he intended Gen. Dawes to sit, at the open end of this space. Then the General entered. "Well, how are you, Governor?' he exclaimed heartily as he advanced with outstretched hand. "General, I'm glad to see you,' replied the Governor, warmly, and they clasped hands, strode into the execu tive office and took their seats as the Governor had planned. "Gen. Dawes crossed his legs, light September 8, 1924 TIME National Affairs-[Continued] ed his underslung pipe and balanced his stiff straw hat on his knees. Gov. Bryan, after a moment of politeness said, 'Excuse me, General,' and covered his bald and shining dome with his black slouch hat. "His constant fear is of a cold in the head. With his hat on he becomes assured and self possessed quite as Gen. Dawes grows less tense, less nervous when his fingers are warmed by the bowl of his celebrated pipe. "A small diamond stud glittered two inches above the top button of Gov. Bryan's shirt, but no vest hampered the comfortable bulge of his waistline. The General's habitual double breasted gray coat was buttoned, but his blue silk cravat was flying free." The conversation endured for about ten minutes and both parties to it declared afterwards that they had merely exchanged reminiscences about Lincoln. At the end, Governor Bryan called in the photographers, a large light was set up, shutters clicked as the two candidates sat side by side. Then they shook hands and parted. The Grand Prize Labor Day was the time of a National speech-fest for the Grand Prize -the Presidency of the United States. The Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates of the Republican, Democratic and Progressive tickets, with the single exception of General Dawes, all spoke. Calvin Coolidge addressed a delegation of Labor leaders in the East He deRoom of the White House. clared that American Labor is the most prosperous in the world and gave statistics to show that although hours of work have decreased 6% since 1913, the buying power of Labor's wages has increased and is several times that in other parts of the world. This he attributed to restriction of immigration and protective tariff. "We do not need to import any foreign government. We had better stick to the American brand of Government, the American brand of equality and the American brand of wages. "I am for peace and against agI am opposed to wargressive war. like preparations. But I am in favor of an adequate Army and Navy. . . . ... "I want to have America coöperate in securing a speedy settlement of European differences. . . . "I am in favor of continuing and extending the policy of covenants between nations for further disarmament.... "I want to see our institutions more and more humane. But I do not want "I want to encourage business, that "I want to see jobs hunting for men, rather than men hunting for jobs. I want the factory able to consume at a fair price the products of the farm. . . . "The foundation for a new era is being steadily and surely laid. Whether we shall enter upon it depends upon the attitude of our fellow-countrymen. "I have an abiding faith in the American people." John W. Davis spoke to the Ohio Valley Trades and Labor Council at Wheeling. He laid down a platform for labor: first, equality of opportunity so no castes may develop; second, equality of right-that is, legislation for no one group, but for all. Said he: "Injunctions have been issued which by their terms went beyond any proper limit and sought to deprive men of a lawful exercise of indisputable rights. They have been framed with partisan zeal and their effect has been to cast upon the courts the performance of duties which properly belong to those executive officers of the State or nation who are primarily charged with the preservation of public peace and public order. "It is not well for society, it is not well for the courts, it is not well for the parties themselves, that these things should be so. My views on this subject are not the result of any newly formed conviction." Robert M. LaFollette radiocast his speech from the Capital. He promised to purge the Government of special interests, to abolish the power of big business to fix prices, control natural resources and credit and fill the Government with their representatives. This he believed could be accomplished in large part without special legislation. He declared: "The people have Charles W. Bryan at Elk Point, S. "Agriculture is not asking for alms. The farmers are not seeking information as to how to farm, nor are they suffering on account of their own extravagance or lack of thrift. What they want is the handicaps and the hobbles which have been placed on them by the Republican Administration removed. They were seeking demands similar to those of laborsufficient price for their products to enable theni to live at American standards with a margin for old age." Burton K. Wheeler opened his big guns on Boston Common, declaring: "Instead of a government of the people, by the people, for the people, we have a government of Wall Street, by Wall Street, for Wall Street. . William Z. Foster, Presidential candidate of the Workers' (Communist) Party, asserted at Omaha: "Ramsay MacDonald is only carrying on capitalism. . . . LaFollette can only curtail the moneyed class rather than abolish it. Capitalism will remain in complete power until Labor assumes control." Uncensored? Mrs. Clem L. Shaver, wife of the National Campaign Manager of the Democratic Party, wrote a letter to The Fairmont West Virginian in which she said in part: We notice in recent press reports that the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate, Charles W. Bryan, a well known pacifist, continues to pick at and harp upon the coming observance of National Defense Day, insisting upon designating it a "militaristic" pro gram. This is, naturally, a pacifist point of view; but, strange to say, in the days before became "Charlie" Bryan the amazed-no, gentle reader, we did not say "amazing"Vice Presidential nominee of his party, he set the seal of his approval as Governor upon the Defense Day plans, offering to call out the state militia and to invite all patriotic societies to participate. Why has Mr. Bryan changed his point of view so quickly? Surely it can not be because he wishes to make a mere political issue of a patriotic demonstration that has the indorsement of every patriotic society in the country. women's This is especially true of the organizations. The Daughters of the American Revolution, the Colonial Dames of America, the Daughters of 1812, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and many other women's clubs and organizations of all kinds for all women are patriots-have indorsed Defense Day and will be found taking part in the program on September 12. The women of America are not pacifiststhey never have been-from the days of Mollie Stark, Betty Zane and Margaret Lynn Lewis. It is said that when the British, under General Tarleton, drove the Virginia Legislature from Charlottesville to Staunton, volunteers were called for to prevent the passage of the British through the mountains at Rockfish Gap. History tells us that Mrs. Lewis called to her side her three young sons, aged 17, |