Life — April 22, 1920 — page 20: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

APRIL 22, 1920 “While there ts Life there’s Hope’’ Published by LIFE PUBLISHING COMPANY Cuartes Dana Ginson, President Grosce B. Ricnaroson, Vice-President Lr Rov Mitter, Treasurer Grorce p'Urassy, Secretary Eowaro S. Martin, Editor Tuomas L. Masson, Managing Editor F. De Satss Casey, Art 17 West Thirty-first Street, New York London Offices, Rolls House, Breams Bldgs., London, E. C. HE price of Lire, ever since it started, has been ten cents. Thirty- seven years ago, that was a fairly high price for what was given, and paid a profit on a moderate circulation. The paper of late years has increased in bulk, as well as very largely in cir- culation, but there has been no need, nor any desire, to increase the cost of it to subscribers or other buyers. But during the last three years, as every one knows, the dime has shrunk about one-half and no longer buys HE new game of “ Pound- ing Hoover” is develop- in, popularity in politics. And naturally. As long as Hoover was not a declared candidate there was no oc- casion to disparage him, but having declared himself willing to take the Republican nomination, but not willing to be the Democratic nominee, he be- comes, of course, for the time being fersona non grata to earnest and active Democrats. Judge Gerard, who spoke so hand- somely of him at the Jackson Day dinner in Washington last winter, ex- plained at the Jefferson Day dinner on April roth that the Hoover whose nom- tion by the Democrats he advocated iu January was by no means this “ Her- bert Hoover a partisan, sceking only the Republican nomination, standing hat in hand before the door of the house where the forces of reaction are in council.” Judge Gerard won't vote what it used to buy, either in labor, white paper, printer's ink or anything clse. Very much against its wish Lire feels constrained, not to double its price, which it might do without more than offsetting the depreciation in the purchasing power of moncy, but to increase it by one-half to fifteen cents. Subscription rates will remain for the present unchanged, but the new price for papers sold on the newsstands will become effective in the course of a few weeks. for Hoover as Republican candidate. No! No! Neither will Mrs. Bass of Illinois, member of the Democratic National Committec, who, at that same Jefferson dinner described Hoover as “willing to accept the (Republican) party platform led,” which is not really what he said, but why contra- dict a lady! Also” Republican candidates who were having a nice contest by them- selves and find it complicated and dis- turbed by Hoover's entrance, like his room much better than his company. Senator Johnson complains like a man whose feelings have been hurt, and his leading backer, Hearst, makes the sort of attacks that were to be expected, putting most emphasis on the fact that Hoover has lived in England. All these noises must be rated as evidence that Hoover as a candidate is a useful disturbance. He is the candidate of the League of Nations. He wants it, and that is the issue he represents. It is not a partisan issue. Voters by the million in both parties want it, and a considerable number of voters in both parties object to it Without Hoover's intervention the platforms of both parties would proba- bly have indorsed it, both calling for some description of it that they didn't expect to get. That would not have satisfied Hoo He wants to get something, to wit: The League. He asks from the Republicans a platform on which he can fight for it. He might have asked such a platform from the Democrats, but he said he differed from “the extreme position taken by the President on participation in pure- ly European affairs,” and it was to be expected that the President would write the Treaty plank in the Demo cratic platform and call for the Treaty he helped to write very nearly as was written, That prospect probably influenced Hoover to go in with the Republicans, whose disposition, unless goaded, would naturally be to talk nothing but platitudes about the Treaty in their platform and to be indifferent about it in their campaign. But if Hoover is their nomince that attitude won't do, and there may be a real race between the two parties with the League of Nations as the goal, and, possibly, Johnson and Hearst running an independent ticket to beat it. UPERFICIALLY the difference in that case would be that the Repub- licans would try for a League with Hoover reservations, and the Demo- crats for a Wilson League, but the im- portant thing would be that the League would be the main issue of the cam- paign, whereas without Hoover in the runni it scarcely could be. For what excites the politicians is not the League, but party politics, and out- side of the League there is a great body of domestic questions of the most ur- gent importance, about taxes, labor, railroads and the like, to be settled. It may dawn on the politicians that the short cut to those questions, and to party politics, is to pass the Treaty be- fore June, and load up Hoover with a big administrative job under it, and eliminate him and his disturbance from the campaign. Possibly that may still be done, and comicbooks.com