Evening Post. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1926. AMERICAN ELECTION

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 110, 5 November 1926, Page 6

Evening Post. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1926. AMERICAN ELECTION

The excellent reports which reached us from Washington early in the week made it quite clear that or*, the personal side the political campaign which concluded on Monday fully maintained the high reputa-. tion for low tactics long since established by these contests in the United States. As is usual, we are told, in American political campaigns, when the election draws near, personal abuse and mudslinging become rife. The present contest is no exception, even the name of the President being bandied about and candidates for office referring to each other by vicious names. Insinuations are passing concerning the private life of aspirants for office. One is reminded of the painful ex- , periences recorded by Mark Twain in his "Running for Governor." He had fondly imagined that his unblemished character would give him a great initial advantage as an independent candidate, but he really did not know what his character was until his candidature was announced. He then discovered that he had been "convicted of perjury by thirty-four witnesses in Wakawak. Cochin China, in 1863" ; that he had been tarred and feathered for a series of petty thefts in Montana: and that "a certain man was seen to reel into Mr. Twain's hotel last night in a state of beastly intoxication." "The infamous perjurer, Twain," "Twain, the Montana Thief," and "Mr. Delirium Tremens Twain" nevertheless held bravely on, and even the added charge of poisoning a rich uncle, coupled with the demand for" the opening of the grave, did not break the candidate's spirit. But the end came when "nine little toddling children of all shades of colour and degrees of raggedness were taught to rush on to the platform at a public meeting and clasp me round the legs and call me Pa." This convincing display of affection supplied the last straw, and "Mark Twain, 1.P., M.T., D.T., etc., etc.," retired into private life. It is appropriately enough in the same State and the same election which provided the setting for Mark Twain's veracious narrative that personalities are reported to have been most conspicuous on this occasion. The New York State campaign has, says the message already cited, degenerated into the ugly spectacle of Mr. "Al'^Smith and his opponent for the Governorship, Mr. Mills, both usually dignified and able men, making charges, counter-charges, and references to their private lives, until Mr. Mills apologised and public affairs were again made the issue instead of personalities. It is surprising that even by way of retort Mr. Smith should have lowered himself in this way, for he is a good "mixer," with an amiable disposition, a winning manner, and a smile for which President Coolidge's backers would be glad to pay ix heavy price, especially if the Presidential contest of 1928 is to be between these two. In "Colliers' Weekly" Mr. William Allen White describes Mr. "Al" Smith as "essentially a friendly man; he is the kind who loves good company, a good cigar, a good story, and a good song after a good drink, and is not ashamed of it." Peculiar interest attaches to Mr. Smith's candidature because of the strong probability that he will be the Democratic nominee for the presidency m the next fight. He made a good showing at the party's National Convention two years ago, and was shortly afterwards elected Governor of New York State for the third time. While his fourth candidature was still in doubt. Governor Smith was regarded by independent orities as "the outstanding figure in the Democratic Party." If he has won again—and presumably we should have been told if he had not —his claims to the party's nomination for the .presidency will certainly be very hard to resist. The speculations to which the prospect of Governor Smith's candidature for the presidency has given rise serve to illustrate some of the complications of the elections decided on Tuesday. Despite the Governor's immense popularity in the Empire State, Mr. Mark Sullivan notes that from the national standpoint Mr. Smith is subject to a fourfold handicap, namely, the fact that he is a Catholic, plus the fact that he is the outstanding Wet in the country, plus the fact that ho is from Tammany, plus the fact that he stands in the country's eyes as the personification of New York ideas, which the rest of the country find distasteful. Another independent authority, the "Duluth Hcirald," adds that "to most of the Democratic patriots of the nation Tammany is the symbol of all that is evil in public life," and that 'the Ku-Klux-Klan, which still rampages in many of the Democratic States, would wreck the Republic to beat a Catholic." Though the Ku-Klux-Klan provided the last Democratic ! Convention with the bitterest of i its many causes' of dissension, we have heard little of it lately, but it evidently still runs the liquor question close in some States as a burning 'issue. The latest State primaries, said the "New Yorker" in September, have clarified the issues delightfully, and now wo know whore wo stand. Missouri has gone anti-Prohibition, Kansas anti-Klan, and Tennessee antediluvian. But on a national scale Prohibition has apparently been the chief disturbing influence, especially for the Democrats. Under the title, i"A Poser," the cartoonist of the

"New York American" depicts the Democratic Party looking on helplessly at the party coach-which the divided opinions of its team of donkeys have brought to a standstill. The "Wet North" with its ears back is for going on, but the "Dry South" has cheerfully turned round in the shafts and heads in the opposite direction. But though the Democrats may have been "facing south by north" on this issue with even more glaring inconsistency than their opponents, they have considerably improved their position in Congress. Whatever may be the ultimate outcome of what is described as "one of the most complicated and hard-est-fought campaigns, with a tangle of issues obscuring the result and a depth of interest never before recorded," the Democratic Party which had had no luck since President Wilson's second election ten years ago emerged from the confused fighting with credit, if not with distinction. The party's hopes of dominating Congress have not been realised, but it has certainly given the other side a bad shake. Though "both the Drys and the Wets claim that the election indicates an important victory for their causes," nobody can claim a victory for the Republicans! They have definitely lost control of the Senate by the loss of seven seats to the Democrats. Even with a nominal majority of 15, President Coolidge could not always hold his own in the Senate, and now what is virtually a dead-heat will leave him entirely at the mercy of the Western insurgents of his own party who have already given him so much trouble. In the House the Republican majority of 59 has been almost halved, but the returns are still incomplete. In personal losses also the Republicans have suffered the more heavily. In Senator Butler, of Massachusetts —the President's own State —he loses a personal friend and confidant who was his virtual leader in the Senate and for whom alone he issued a personal appeal to the electors. The defeat of Senator Wadsworth, the Republican leader in New York State, is another heavy blow. But as President Coolidge's popularity seems to be quite independent of any snub that Congress may give him, he may still come up smiling.