xt70rx937t9n_449 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt70rx937t9n/data/mets.xml https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt70rx937t9n/data/46m4.dao.xml unknown 13.63 Cubic Feet 34 boxes, 2 folders, 3 items In safe - drawer 3 archival material 46m4 English University of Kentucky The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.  Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Laura Clay papers Temperance. Women -- Political activity -- Kentucky. Women's rights -- Kentucky. Women's rights -- United States -- History. Women -- Suffrage -- Kentucky. Women -- Suffrage -- United States. The New Republic text The New Republic 2020 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt70rx937t9n/data/46m4/Box_17/Folder_26/Multipage19598.pdf 1920 September 22 1920 1920 September 22 section false xt70rx937t9n_449 xt70rx937t9n _ ’GfieNe») . —
REPUBLIC

.Publz'a‘ked [Weeklj/

 

Wednesday” September 22nd 1920

 

 

 

"‘9 " pram T ‘A”
v . M " v

Tile Democratic party and

i The Liberal Vote

Harding on Agriculture

Traction Service .at Cost

' Tildenqs TWO Championships

Mr. Hitcizcock Blows Out tile Gas (E. G. Lowry)
Is tlze Non-Partisan League Declining? (C. R. folmson)
Tite Socialist International (Sidney Weab)

A NEW ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

GEORGE D. HERRON

 

 

rwtgfimn -

FIFTEEN CENTS A COPY
'FIVE_,DOLLARS A YEAR

VOL. XXIV. No. 303

 

 

 

 

 

W lathe Republk: Publishing Company. IMAZIWSIZM StreetNeleorkflx Entered as Samuel Class mafledwemberfAIQM at the Post Office amewYotkflYwmda' the aid Had! 5.879. '

 

 THE NEW

 

REPUBLIC

 

    

September 22, 1920

 

 

TheWhite Elephant of Siam

The real sacred white elephant;

from a shatch made on the spot

NE of the biggest fakes ever [concocted
——as laughable a Story as ever has been

toldl
unsuspecting public, loving to be fooled, fell
for it. You know the white elephant of

P. T. Barnum perpetrated it, and an

the East—sacred keeper of the spirits of roy-
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with retinues of priests and servants! There
was Barnu'm’s otter—$250,000 for the loan
of the elephant for a year—priests, attend-
ants, etc! What happened, how a ruse was
invented, its success, are told in the remem-

brances of Charles Mayer’s circus days, in

A s 1 .

The American MAGAZINE on the Orient

  

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Art Insert of 8 Pages in Color

This is the first of a series of adventure
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tains—but does much more.
Visions in a sweeping View of a continent rich
in new endeavor and beauty and in Vital in-
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As Barnum did it: a

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Among other good feature: of the October Issue:

The Story of Willard Straight

The tale of a young American of vision and ac-
tion in the fascinating life of the East, laying
the foundation for today’s great International
Consortium for loans to China which may solve

the Far Eastern Problem.

Louis Grams;

The Way of the Farmer in Japan
And how Japan’s victorious army and navy, and
the smoking chimneys of Osaka, rest on the bent
back of the farmer and his wife, standing up to
their knees in their paddy fields, raising no less
than 4,000 different kinds of rice.

On the Trail'of the Lord Tiger

Robertson Scott.

Hunting the big animal in Indo-China.

Hero Hunting in Persia

H. C. Flower, Jr. ‘

Meeting the Khans of Central Iran.

ASIA PUBLISHING COMPANY

Harold Weston.

N. R. 9-22-20

627 Lexington Avenue, New York City

Send the next five issues of ASIA, the American
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 September 22, 1920 T H E‘

NEW REPUBLIC

III

NEW HARPER BOOKS

 

W L. George is here! Few

English writers have ever been

welcomed with such enthusi-i

asm. Simultaneously with his
arrival comes his new novel

CALIBA ivy. L. cm...

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“It renders with startling fidelity certain types of character
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Post 81/0. Clot/1. $2.00

 

THE THREAD OF '
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TURKEY BOWMAN
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marks. Homer Croy as a new authen-
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like Mark Twain he comes from and
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“THE GREATEST FAILURE
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THE VACATION OF
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By William Dean Howells

was written at the time of the author’s
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growing out of the old. $2.00

 

Est. 1817 ‘ HARPER & BROTHERS NEW YORK
m

 

 September 22, 1920

THE NEW REPUBLIC

 

 

 

You have probably read and undoubtedly have heard much dis-
cussion concerning Bertrand Russell's articles on Soviet Russia—
but are unable to figure just where Mr. Russell stands. He is a
communist—BUT.—Mr. Russell writes with annoyance of "splendid
(Bolshevist) banquets"—

GEORGE LANSBURY

in his new book

WHAT I SAW IN RUSSIA

describes these same banquets: "We had soup (water that fish had
been boiled in). kasha or "birdseed," sometimes a little meat, and
black bread and teal"

We ask that at least 5,000 of the 50,000 New Republic readers
send to us today $1.50 (10c. extra for postage) for George
Lansbury’s most interesting account of the social, industrial and
political conditions in Soviet Russia.

 

 

It is only fair to themselves that they should judge the complicated
Russian situation only after examining all available evidence.—
The recent attempt, in England, to discredit Mr. Lansbury, because
of his frightful picture of conditions due to the Allied blockade, has
completely broken down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE DARK MOTHER

By WALDO FRANK

A GENERAL INTRODUCTION
TO PSYCHOANALYSIS

 

Many of the best minds of this country and Europe con-
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THE? ADVANCING HOUR‘
By NORMAN HAPGOOD

This notable book by our err-Minister to Denmark is
receiving more widespread attention than any similar book
since “The Economic Consequences of the Peace." The
New Republic says “It is a book worth everyone's reading.”

$2.00 (postage l0c.)

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’E’fle

Ne»)

RE PUB LIC

A Journal of Opinion

 

 

VOLUME XXIV

NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1920

NUMBER 303

 

 

 

 

Contents

The Week

Editorials ‘
The Democratic Party and the Liberal Vote. . .
Harding on Agriculture ......................
Tilden’s Two Championships .................
Traction Service at Cost .....................

General Articles

Is the Non-Partisan League Declining? ......
............................... C. R. Johnson 88

Mr. Hitchcock Blows Out the Gas ............
........................... Edward G. Lowry 91

The Socialist International ....... Sidney Webb 94
A New Italian Renaissance. .George D. Herron 97
The Wanderer (Verse)...John Gould Fletcher 99

Reviews of Books -
Salvation by Saving ............ Ordway Tead 100
The Third Window ................. C. M. R. 101
Victorian Recollections ............... S. C. C. 102

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Week

OW that Maine has spoken the Democrats
are having a hard time to keep up their
courage. They can win some comfort from the
fact that public sentiment is far from homogene-
ous throughout the country. Sooner or later the
formula, “As Maine goes so goes the country,”
Will prove a delusion. Why not this year? There
are no local causes to account adequately for the
overwhelming Republican majority in 'Maine.
From the start it has been evident that the Dem-
oCracy had a heavy handicap to overcome in the
popular disillusionment with the Democratic rec-
ord. Everything depended for them on the pro-
gress Cox might be able to make toward defining
new and Vital issues. So far as Maine is concerned,
this progress has obviously been wholly negative.
It does not necessarily follow that the same thing
is true of the country at large. But the burden
of proof rests on those who would affirm that
the country at large is moving in the reverse direc-
tion.

THERE is enough dis-content in the rank and file
of the electorate to upset many political calculations.
The Victory of Tom Watson over Hoke Smith and
Governor Dorsey is one indication of the abnormal
condition of political sentiment. Whatever Watson
stands for, it is not for the policies of Wilson nor
the platform of Cox. Another indication is given
by the primary returns in Wisconsin. There the
candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and
secretary of state who were endorsed by LaFollette
and the Non-Partisan League won by comfortable
pluralities. The same political forces dominated
the nominations for the state legislature. The one
victory for the regulars consisted in the renomina-
tion of Senator Lenroot, but over a seriously di-
vided opposition. The Wisconsin electorate is ob-
viously not too content with the tendencies repre-
sented by Harding. But apparently the force of
the opposition is to spend itself in the local contest
within the party. The Democrats will get little or
nothing out of it.

IN the war and in .pcaceinegotiations the coal
question exerted an immense influence upon the
calculations of statesmen. The German invasion
was intended, if not to end the war at a blow, to
wrest from the Allies the industrial power repre-
sented by the Belgian and French coal mines. The
strategy of Russian intervention, from «the begin-
ning to the present day, has been directed toward
control of the Donetz coal basin. The most sig-
nificant clauses of the Peace Treaty are those that
deal with the Saar Valley, the Silesian coal meas-

‘ures, and the compulsory deliveries of coal from

Westphalia. The Spa conference, intended to ef-
fect a general settlement of the issues between vic-
tor and vanquished, turned into a debate on coal
which ended none too conclusively. But now it ap-
pears that the statesmen were exaggerating their
power to deal with this question. They had over-
looked the miners and the new sense the miners
have acquired, all over Europe, of the power they
can wield and of their international solidarity.

 

 80

AT the international coal miners’ congress at
Geneva, where delegates from both sides of the
late battle line met in harmony, a resolution was
adopted unanimously committing the miners to a
war against. war. In case the statesmen again at-
tempt to drag the peoples to war, the miners of
all countries propose to strike. This agreement is
significant, in view of the French determination to
occupy Westphalia if the stipulated coal deliveries
are not forthcoming. Another resolution was unan-
imously carried for the nationalization or socializa-
tion of the mines. There were differences of opin-
ion on the points whether private owners should be
compensated or not, whether the mines should be.
exploited by the state or be run by a mixed control
representing the miners, the consumers and the
state. Only the American delegate opposed all
forms of nationalization. For the rest, there was
an agreement that private ownership would have
to go, but hOW or when remains to be determined.
It may, however, be taken for granted that when
the miners of one country try to force nationaliza-
tion, coal supplies from other countries will be hard
to obtain.

IT does not seem likely that the miners of France,
Belgium and Czecho-Slovakia will soon move toward
the nationalization of mines, however ardently they
may espouse the principle. There is more reason
for anticipating some such action in Germany and
England. The German miner has been impressed
by the struggle between the mine owner and the
indemnity claimants over the surplus of his labor.
Stinnes tries to hold on to the surplus, and Mille-
rand tries to take it away. What right has either,
the miner asks, and prepares to push his own
claims. The British miner has a more compact
and self-conscious organization and has tasted Vic-
tories that lead him to demand more. The gov-
ernment did indeed reject the miners" project of
nationalization, but the government cannot prevent
the miners from demanding more and more wages,
until the property interest in the mines becomes
shadowy. The increase in pay for which the miners
are now threatening to strike does not go so far
as that, to be sure, but it Will move the industry
along toward the point where further concessions
to labor will actually cut into the property interest.

OUR «own coal mining dispute looks like a primi-
tive and elementary matter, in comparison. The
anthracite coal miners allege that they are not get-
ting enough pay to live on. They say they are
not even on a level with the bituminous workers,
who are by no means munificently paid. The
anthracite owners and operators are rich enough to

THE NEW REPUBLIC

September 22, 1920

pay a living wage. There is nothing revolution-
ary about the demand for a living wage, upon an
industry that can well afford to pay it. But the
case has its perplexities. The organization agreed
to abide by the award of the President’s commis-
sion, and now that they do not like the award, the
miners are resisting it by “vacations,” which amount
in effect to an unauthorized strike. As the President

_ points out, the outlaw miners make a scrap of paper

out of a solemn agreement, as the Germans did
when they invaded Belgium, or, the miners might
retort, as the President did when he consented to the
annexation of the Southern Tyrol by Italy and to
indemnity items not provided for in the armistice
agreement. In so mixed a world as the present a
broken agreement is not sufficient. to throw the case
of either a union or a President out of court, but
it does certainly prejudice the case.‘ The time will
come, we *hope, when organized labor will keep
its agreements, and employ itsmoral force rather
in controlling the kind of agreements made.

WHAT is happening in Italy will remain a be-
wildering puzzle until matters have settled down
and the history of the late months has been ana-
lyzed by students less excitable than the cable cor-
respondents, It is obvious that more and more
of the factories of Italy are'being seized and op-
era-ted by the workers, without the owners’ consent;
but how efficiently are they producing? One such
concern has just launched a destroyer for the gov-
ernment; another is turning out aeroplanes as usual/I;
a third continues to produce automobile parts and
assemble them. We are told of arrangements with
the cooperative stores to take the product of fac-
tories seized by the workers and to accept labor
checks in payment for articles of consumption. The
owners have practiced what the Bolsheviki of Rus-
sia describe as sabotage. They have carried away
their order books, so that the workers might not
know where to make deliveries, and the technical
and managerial officials, whose interests are nat-
urally allied with those of the employers, hold them-
selves aloof. The government keeps hands off, pre-
ferring that this novel experiment in industrial or-
ganization work itself out with-out bloodshed, rather
than run the risk of revolution involved in forcibly
restoring the owners to their property. Whither
the movement is tending is uncertain. For the
present the workers show no disposition to com-
promise merely on the basis of increased wages.
They demand a share in the control of the industry.
N o doubt there are many communists among them
who hope to inaugurate a Soviet regime, but the
available informationthrows doubt on the frequent
assertions of the correspondents that this is essen-

 

 September 22, 1920 T H E N E W

tially a Bolshevik uprising. Nevertheless, the fu-
ture must look stormy to the Italian profiteer who
had hoped to shine the rest of his days from out
of his heap of war winnings.

P ROSPECTS for early peace between Poland and
Russia do not appear especially [bright. The P0-
lish commissioners have set out for Riga with
the intention of capitalizing their recent victories
and forcing upon Russia a boundary one hundred
miles east of the line tentatively fixed at Versailles.
This would add to their territory, roughly speak-
ing, fifty thousand square miles, in which even ac-
cording to Polish estimates, the proportion of
Polish inhabitants is only one-quarter. The re-
maining population consists of Jews, whose de-
sire to fall under Polish rule is probably not very
vivid, and “White Ruthenians,” whom we used to
call “White Russians,” a stock less differentiated
from the Great Russians and less consciously sepa-
ratist than any other that the statesmen have at-
tempted to wrest away from Russia. It may be, of
course, that this claim of Poland is presented
merely for the sake of abating it for a proper con-
sideration. But recent history does not justify us
in expecting shrewd trading sense from the Poles
when blown up by recent success. They are likely
to insist too much, and in insisting, to give Russian
militarism a moral basis for an attack on Poland
With forces more substantial than those which re-
cently came to grief. And in that even-t it will be
the Russians who will exhibit immoderate greed,
being blown up by success. However the game in-
clines, the cost will be disastrous to the peasants
and workmen on both sides.

WASHINGTON, everlastingly confident in its
Wisdom, informs The Times that “reliable reports
from Russia, received through oflicial channels”—
hence of course thoroughly reliable—say that Rus-
sia is economically in a very bad way, and that
the peasants are very restive but too greatly intimi-

dated to rise in rebellion. They discredit predic-
tions that the Bolshevik regime will come to an
end in six months, “together with all other specific
predictions.” They assert that the Bolsheviki are
passing through a serious crisis, but that “foreign
aggression, such as the Polish offensive, helped
them to rally and hold out for a time against the
processes of disintegration” which are nevertheless
going on. “The Bols-heviki are reported to be
greatly disheartened, having obtained nothing es-
sential in the way of concessions from the powers,
and expecting nothing.” The policy of Washing-
ton, we see, is being justified by the event. No
aggression and no dealings with Russia until the

REPUBLIC SI

Bolsheviki get disheartened and die. Then we shall
cash in on our record of true friendship for Rus-
sra, when dreams come true.

EIVIPLOYEE representation in corporate direc-
torship is to be given a trial by the Procter and
Gamble Company. At each of the three plants of
the company the qualified employees will nominate
five representatives from whom the stockholders
will elect one to the directorate, presumably, but
not necessarily, the one receiving the highest vote.
Representatives must be thirty years of age or over
and must have been in the service of the company
for at least three years. The innovation will be
worth watching. It is conceivable that Procter
and Gamble may be taking the first step toward
what may amount in the end to a revolution in our
scheme of industrial organization. Down to the
present it has ‘been assumed that if the directors
take care of capital and profits, labor and wages
will take care of themselves. Considerations of
profit, occasionally supplemented by non-economic
considerations, such as philanthropy or revenge,
have determined whether a shop should run on
full time, or half time, or be closed down alto-
gether. Perhaps in future the workers will be
given a vote on this point corresponding with their ,
Vital interest in it.

INSTEAD of a cash bonus, or “readjusted com-
pensation,” as he prefers to call it, Governor Cox
would give every man who saw service with the
colors a chance to become an owner of real estate.
He points to the platform, which pledges the enact-
ment of legislation for soldier settlement and home
aid, without encumbrance of red tape or advance
financial investment. “That platform,” says Cox,
“I regard as a promissory note, and I shall see
that it is paid, every dollar and every cent.” The
American taxpayer, therefore, ought to take the
matter seriously and figure on the cost. Suppose
a million soldiers availed themselves of the terms
of the promissory note. A decent farm home,
such as might appeal. to a man who is satisfactorily

employed, as most of the soldiers are today, could

not be provided for less than $10,000. Not much
of a cottage can be provided for the urban worker
for less than $5,000. Something between five bil-
lions and ten billions appears to be due on this
promissory note. True, Cox probably contem-
plates a loan of capital, not a gift outright; but
a loan to men who are not carefully selected (se-
lection would mean “red tape”) and who make no
“advance financial investment,” merges insensibly
with gifts. There is a deal to be said for a policy
of national aid in the establishment of homes, for

 

  

82 THE NEW REPUBLIC

soldiers and for civilians who can make the invest-
ment profitable for themselves and for the nation,
but no workable policy of that character is deduci-
ble from the Democratic platform’s “promissory
note.”

HARDING’S confession of faith in conservation
would carry more credit if his talk sounded a bit
less like the current Mountain State propaganda
for the quick transfer of the remains of our na-
tional domain to private speculators. “The prob-
lem of our Far West is one of wisely directed
development rather than of too much conserva-
tion.” “Emphasis must be placed upon their” use
' (that of water supplies) rather than upon their
storage.” “In some places private capital, in others
public funds, can best do the work that is required.”
Shall we translate, some projects will pay and
others will not? Nobody in the country wants
natural resources held indefinitely out of use. If
water can be put on the lands, everybody wants
it put there. But the real conservationist wishes
to be assured that between the government, which
still holds the land and the water, and the ultimate
settler who will make the land yield fruits, there
shall appear no private speculator to skim off the
profit of the undertaking. The speculator is on the
ground, clamoring loudly for a chance to “utilize”
the neglected resources. Away from his moun-
tain domain, he talks seductively, with great show
of public spirit. Has he succeeded in taking Hard-
ing in? Harding’s speech sounds as if he had been
taken in.

The Democratic Party and the
Liberal Vote

ECENTLY the New York World published
a fine letter from Mr. Myron M. Johnson
of Hartford, appealing to the liberal voter on be-
half of Cox. You may intend to repudiate the
Wilson administration, said Mr. Johnson, but
What you willVdo is to repudiate the Wilson ideals.
You wish to condemn his Russian policy and the
Treaty of Versailles, but you cannot do so by con-
niving at the election of Harding. He does not
object to what you object to. He does not mind
the bad faith or criticize Wilson for it. He would
not only have behaved at least as illiberally as
Wilson, but he would have raised no standard of
ideals by which to judge his own work. Wilson’s
ideals may condemn Wilson’s achievement, but
Harding’s achievement could be no better and his
ideals would be worse.
“The Democratic party,” he says, “is blunder-

September 22, 1920

ing and incompetent sometimes, and its leaders of-
ten fail to live up to its high ideals. But the Demo-
cratic party has a broader and kindlier outlook
upon the world than has the Republican party.”

‘ There is a measure of truth in this defense of
the Democrats. In spite of the Southern Bour-
bon and the Northern Tam-many, in spite of West-
ern Republican progressivism, there is less oppo-
sition in the Democratic party to mild progressive
measures than in the Republican. But the m-odi‘
cum of truth does not mean that Democrats are
by nature “broader and kindlier” than Republi-
cans. It is of a more definite and practical kind.
The machine Democracy in the South and in the
big cities cannot win a national election without
large progressive support.’ In order to win they
need more often a “broader and kindlier” appeal
to independent and liberal voters. It was that ap-
peal which gave them Victory in 1916. The Re-
publicans, on the other hand, if they are united,
can Win without pandering to liberalism. When
they have their progressives thoroughly house-
broken, as at present, they can poll their full party
vote. They have a better chance than the Demo-
crats of electing a frankly “stand pat” candidate
like Harding running on a frankly “stand pat”
platform.

There is nothing intrinsically liberal about the
Democrats and Democracy. They simply need
the independent and liberal vote somewhat more
than do the Republicans, and are obliged more
frequently to .bid for it at election time. Cox is
bidding for it now as Wilson did in 1916, but
surely under such conditions the attractiveness of
the bid depends primarily up-On the fulfillment of
past promises. Liberals have nothing to gain by

being courted before election only to be betrayed

after election. They will not persuade the Demo-
crratic party to be more liberal by supporting it
after it has proved false to its promises of liberal-
ism. Defeat rather than Victory will teach the
Democrats to take liberalism seriously. If, after
the experience of the past two years—after Rus-
sia, IVersailles, Burleson land Palmer—liberals
again vote the Democratic ticket on the theory that
Republicans will behave worse, they will throw
away their only weapon of influence. They will

have rendered themselves as negligible in the Dem»

ocratic party as Mr. Hoover did in the Republi-
can party when he preferred regularity to pro-
gressivism rather than progressivism to regularity.
They will become, like Mr. Gompers and his tol-
lowers, a mere annex to the Democratic machine.
Once they continue orthodox and regular under su-
preme provocation, they serve notice that they may
be safely ignored. The only way in which they

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September 22, 1920 THE N E W

can testify to the need and practical importance of
liberalism is to rebuke its betrayal. The liberal
this year is in an analogous position to the suffra-
gists when they wisely adopted the strategy of
putting the onus on the party in power. Under a
two party system the party which professes lib-
eralism and betrays it is the party which needs to
suffer.

When the Democrats nominated as their can-
didate a man like Governor Cox, who was not as-
sociated with the bad faith of Mr. Wilson’s lead-
ership of the party, there was a chance that in spite
of the negative platform and the deplorable rec-
ord of the party in ofiice, he might do or say
something to earn the confidence of liberals. They
might overlook the party and its record, because
its new candidate impressed them as a man of
sincere liberal convictions. But if lVIr. Cox has

' done anything or said anything since his nomina-

tion to earn the confidence of liberals, beyond re-
peating the