The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1924. THE AMERICAN ELECTIONS.

Southland Times, Issue 19393, 6 November 1924, Page 4

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1924. THE AMERICAN ELECTIONS.

The anticipated bursting of the La Follette bubble has been brought about with unmistakable emphasis by the voting in the Presidential contest. Carrying only his own State, Wisconsin, Senator La Follette has been repudiated by the country, and his entry evidently did more damage to Mr Davis, the Democrat candidate, than to President Coolidge. Details of the voting so far to hand indicate that the election was a personal triumph for Mr Coolidge, who will now be able to assume control of the Republican Party without the restrictions imposed on him by the Harding policy to which, with scrupulous loyalty, he adhered as a President by legal succession, rather than by popular vote. Mr Coolidge seems to have received more support in the South than was generally expected, and the new Senate will probably be more acceptable to the President by reason of the opportunities it will offer for the dissipation of the bloc which Senator La Follette controlled and used to obstruct the operations of the Republican leaders. Senator Lodge’s retirement from the Republican leadership in the Senate was an accomplished fact before the contest, and the post-election announcement by the White House shows that President Coolidge proposes to exert a personal influence on the future proceedings of that body. There are to be changes in the Cabinet, but no indication of the direction these will take has been given. There are promises that the severe protective tariff is to be modified, a departure which will receive a lot of support in the country where the evils of high duties are generally recognised. Mr Coolidge is not likely to accept the League of Nations, but his public utterances and the activities of the Government under his leadership suggest that the co-operation of America with the Powers in Europe will be more energetic than was the case under President Harding, a move which will be facilitated by the withdrawal of Senator Lodge. Mr Coolidge is now in a strong position. The Republicans entered the election with the stigma of the oil scandals upon them, and there can be no argument on the point that his personal integrity was the principal weapon in the victory which the party has scored. This means that he has gained ascendency in the party as well as in the country and, therefore, he will have more power than his predecessor. President Coolidge will now have a chance to show his countrymen the true measure of his capacity and there will be surprise amongst his personal following if he does not take his place with the most effective of the nation’s rulers.