USA > New York > History of the state of New York, political and governmental, Vol. VI > Part 35
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WARREN G. HARDING
Warren G. Harding, 29th president; born at Corsica, Ohio, November 2, 1865; publisher; member Ohio state senate, 1900- 1904; lieutenant governor of Ohio, 1904-06; defeated for gov- ernor, 1910; United States senator, 1915-21; elected president, November 2, 1920.
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vide for the vast volume of American freights and will leave us more helpless than ever in the hard grip of foreign syndicates.
"Transportation .- Interstate and intrastate transportation have become so interwoven that the attempt to apply two, and often sev- eral, sets of laws to its regulation has produced conflicts of authority, embarrassment in operation, and inconvenience and expense to the public.
"The entire transportation system of the country has become essentially national. We therefore favor such action by legislation or, if necessary, through an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, as will result in placing it under complete Federal control.
"Economy and a National Budget .- The increasing cost of the national government and the need for the greatest economy of its resources in order to meet the growing demands of the people for government service call for the severest condemnation of the waste- ful appropriations of this Democratic administration, of its shameless raids on the treasury, and of its opposition to and rejection of Presi- dent Taft's oft-repeated proposals and earnest efforts to secure economy and efficiency through the establishment of a simple busi- nesslike budget system, to which we pledge our support and which we hold to be necessary to effect any real reform in the administra- tion of national finances.
"Conservation .- We believe in a careful husbandry of all the natural resources of the nation-a husbandry which means develop- ment without waste, use without abuse.
"Civil Service Reform .- The Civil Service law has always been sustained by the Republican party, and we renew our repeated declarations that it shall be thoroughly and honestly enforced and extended wherever practicable. The Democratic party has created since March 4, 1913, thirty thousand offices outside of the Civil Serv- ice law at an annual cost of forty-four million dollars to the tax- payers of the country.
"We condemn the gross abuse and the misuse of the law by the present Democratic administration, and pledge ourselves to a reor- ganization of this service along lines of efficiency and economy.
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"Territorial Officials .- Reaffirming the attitude long maintained by the Republican party, we hold that officials appointed to adminis- ter the government of any Territory should be bona fide residents of the Territory in which their duties are to be performed.
"Labor Laws .- We pledge the Republican party to the faithful enforcement of all Federal laws passed for the protection of labor. We favor vocational education; the enactment and rigid enforcement of a Federal Child Labor law; the enactment of a generous and comprehensive Workmen's Compensation law, within the commerce power of Congress; and an Accident Compensation law covering all government employes. We favor the collection and collation, under the direction of the Department of Labor, of complete data relating to industrial hazards for the information of Congress, to the end that such legislation may be adopted as may be calculated to secure the safety, conservation, and protection of labor from the dangers inci- dent to industry and transportation.
"Suffrage .- The Republican party, reaffirming its faith in gov- ernment of the people, by the people, for the people, as a measure of justice to one-half the adult people of the country favors the extension of the suffrage to women, but recognizes the right of each State to settle this question for itself.
"Conclusion .- Such are our principles, such are our 'purposes and policies.' We close as we began. The times are dangerous, and the future is fraught with perils. The great issues of the day have been confused by words and phrases. The American spirit, which made the country and saved the Union, has been forgotten by those charged with the responsibility of power. We appeal to all Ameri- cans, whether naturalized or native-born, to prove to the world that we are Americans in thought and in deed, with one loyalty, one hope, one aspiration. We call on all Americans to be true to the spirit of America, to the great traditions of their common country, and, above all things, to keep the faith."
The member of the committee on resolutions from Wisconsin offered a substitute platform expressive of the familiar LaFollette ideas, inclusive of disfavor
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toward Americans engaged in assisting belligerent na- tions in the European War-meaning, of course, the Entente Allies, as there could be no possible assistance to Germany on account of the Allied control of the seas. A division on the question of adopting the substitute was refused, and the original platform was approved viva voce.
Other Parties
Progressive Party .- Convention held in Chicago, June 7-10, 1916. Temporary and permanent chair- man, Raymond Robins. As above related (see Re- publican Party), the conferences with the Republicans were without result. The convention was advised by Roosevelt to nominate Henry Cabot Lodge for Presi- dent, but was for Roosevelt only and chose him as the candidate by acclamation. John M. Parker, of Louis- iana, was unanimously nominated for Vice-President. Mr. Roosevelt declined. On June 26 the Progressive national committee, by a vote of 26 to 6, endorsed Hughes. A conference of the party was called by some of its radical supporters, which met in Indianapolis on August 3 and repudiated Hughes but did not make a new Presidential nomination. Parker continued as the Vice-Presidential candidate. The party nominated Electors in a few States, but received no substantial support and went out of existence.
Prohibition Party .- Convention held in St. Paul, July 19-21, 1916. For President, J. Frank Hanly, of Indiana; for Vice-President, Ira D. Landrith, of Ten- nessee.
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Socialist Party .- No national nominating convention was held. The candidates were chosen by referendum vote of the party members. For President, Allan L. Benson, of New York; for Vice-President, George R. Kirkpatrick, of New Jersey.
Socialist Labor Party .- For President, Arthur E. Reimer, of Massachusetts; for Vice-President, Caleb Harrison, of Illinois.
The Election
Electoral vote for President and Vice-President :
Woodrow Wilson and Thomas R. Marshall, Democrats :- Ala- bama, 12; Arizona, 3; Arkansas, 9; California, 13; Colorado, 6; Florida, 6; Georgia, 14; Idaho, 4; Kansas, 10; Kentucky, 13; Louisi- ana, 10; Maryland, 8; Mississippi, 10; Missouri, 18; Montana, 4; Nebraska, 8; Nevada, 3; New Hampshire, 4; New Mexico, 3; North Carolina, 12; North Dakota, 5; Ohio, 24; Oklahoma, 10; South Carolina, 9; Tennessee, 12; Texas, 20; Utah, 4; Virginia, 12; Washington, 7; West Virginia, 1; Wyoming, 3. Total, 277. Elected.
Charles E. Hughes and Charles W. Fairbanks, Republicans :- Connecticut, 7; Delaware, 3; Illinois, 29; Indiana, 15; Iowa, 13; Maine, 6; Massachusetts, 18; Michigan, 15; Minnesota, 12; New Jersey, 14; New York, 45; Oregon, 5; Pennsylvania, 38; Rhode Island, 5; South Dakota, 5; Vermont, 4; West Virginia, 7; Wiscon- sin, 13. Total, 254.
Popular vote :
Wilson, 9,129,606; Hughes, 8,538,221 ; Benson, 585,113; Hanly, 220,506; Progressive Electors, 41,894; Reimer, 13,403.
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Democratic Party
Convention held in San Francisco, June 28-July 6, 1920. Temporary chairman, Homer S. Cummings, of Connecticut; permanent chairman, Joseph T. Robin- son, of Arkansas. At the opening the convention sent to President Wilson a message expressive of its "admir- ing and respectful greetings." The proceedings were marked by full accord with the President in his poli- cies, especially in relation to the League of Nations. James A. Reed, of Missouri, one of the leading opponents of the League in the United States Senate, who had been chosen as a delegate from his dis- trict but afterward had been rejected by the Missouri Democratic State convention, was refused a seat by action of the credentials committee, which was ap- proved by the national convention.
First ballot for President :- William G. McAdoo, of New York, 266; A. Mitchell Palmer, of Pennsylvania, 256; James M. Cox, of Ohio, 134; Alfred E. Smith, of New York, 109; Edward I. Edwards, of New Jersey, 42; Thomas R. Marshall, of Indiana, 37; Robert L. Owen, of Oklahoma, 33; John W. Davis, of West Vir- ginia, 32; Edwin T. Meredith, of Iowa, 27; Carter Glass, of Virginia, 261/2 ; Homer S. Cummings, of Con-
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necticut, 25; F. S. Simmons, of North Carolina, 24; James W. Gerard, of New York, 21; John Sharp Wil- liams, of Mississippi, 20; Gilbert M. Hitchcock, of Nebraska, 18; eight others, 2312. The contest at all stages was practically confined to the three candidates who led at the start-McAdoo, Palmer, and Cox; the others having appreciable support were mostly favorite sons, none of whom made gains of any significance ex- cept Davis, whose vote at the highest reached only 76 (fortieth ballot). After the early ballots it became manifest that the supreme struggle was between Mc- Adoo and Cox. The Palmer vote presently declined until it was under 200, but after that retained marked solidity and for a brief time even showed a decided rise ; as late as the thirty-sixth ballot Palmer had 241, against 399 for McAdoo and 377 for Cox. A noteworthy inci- dent of the long contest was a motion offered at the end of the thirtieth ballot to drop the lowest candidate after each succeeding ballot until a nomination should be effected. When Ohio was reached in the roll-call on this motion Governor Cox's manager, Edmond H. Moore, announced that his State passed to await Penn- sylvania's vote and would vote as Pennsylvania did- this course being plainly taken in deference to Palmer as the weakest of the leading candidates. Pennsylvania voted against the motion, as did Ohio; and it was de- feated by 8201/2 nays to 256 ayes. Following the thirty- eighth ballot the Palmer vote disintegrated; on the thirty-ninth Cox had 4681/2, McAdoo 440, Palmer 74, others 10812. The forty-fourth and last ballot as com-
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pleted before changes stood: Cox, 69912; McAdoo, 270; Davis, 52; Owen, 34; Glass, 11/2 ; Palmer, 1; Bain- bridge Colby, 1. Changes were at once made to Cox which gave him more than the necessary two-thirds, and he was then nominated unanimously.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, of New York, received the nomination for Vice-President by unanimous vote.
Platform (unanimously adopted) :
"The Democratic party, in its national convention now assembled, sends greetings to the President of the United States, Woodrow Wil- son, and hails with patriotic pride the great achievements for country and the world wrought by a Democratic administration under his leadership.
"It salutes the mighty people of this great republic, emerging with imperishable honor from the severe tests and grievous strains of the most tragic war in history, having earned the plaudits and the gratitude of all free nations.
"It declares its adherence to the fundamental progressive principles of social, economic, and industrial justice and advance, and purposes to resume the great work of translating these principles into effective laws begun and carried far by the Democratic administration and interrupted only when the war claimed all the national energies for the single task of victory.
"League of Nations .- The Democratic party favors the League of Nations as the surest, if not the only, practicable means of maintain- ing the peace of the world and terminating the insufferable burden of great military and naval establishments. It was for this that America broke away from traditional isolation and spent her blood and treas- ure to crush a colossal scheme of conquest. It was upon this basis that the President of the United States, in prearrangement with our Allies, consented to a suspension of hostilities against the imperial German government; the armistice was granted and a treaty of peace negotiated upon the definite assurance to Germany, as well as to the powers pitted against Germany, that 'a general association of nations
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must be formed, under specific covenants, for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.' Hence, we not only congratulate the President on the vision manifested and the vigor exhibited in the prosecution of the war, but we felicitate him and his associates on the exceptional achievement at Paris involved in the adoption of a League and treaty so near akin to previously expressed American ideals and so intimately related to the aspirations of civilized peoples everywhere.
"We commend the President for his courage and his high concep- tion of good faith in steadfastly standing for the covenant agreed to by all the associated and allied nations at war with Germany, and we condemn the Republican Senate for its refusal to ratify the treaty merely because it was the product of Democratic statesmanship, thus interposing partisan envy and personal hatred in the way of the peace and renewed prosperity of the world.
"By every accepted standard of international morality the Presi- dent is justified in asserting that the honor of the country is involved in this business; and we point to the accusing fact that, before it was determined to initiate political antagonism to the treaty, the now Republican chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee himself publicly proclaimed that any proposition for a separate peace with Germany, such as he and his party associates thereafter reported to the Senate, would make us 'guilty of the blackest crime.'
"On May 15 last the Knox substitute for the Versailles treaty was passed by the Republican Senate; and this convention can contrive no more fitting characterization of its obloquy than that made in the Forum magazine of June, 1918, by Henry Cabot Lodge, when he said :
"'If we send our armies and young men abroad to be killed and wounded in northern France and in Flanders with no result but this, our entrance into war with such an intention was a crime which nothing can justify. The intent of Congress and the intent of the President was that there could be no peace until we could create a situation where no such war as this could recur. . We can- not make peace except in company with our Allies. . It
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would brand us with everlasting dishonor and bring ruin to us also if we undertook to make a separate peace.'
"Thus to that which Mr. Lodge in saner moments considered 'the blackest crime,' he and his party in madness sought to give the sanctity of law; that which eighteen months ago was of 'everlasting dishonor' the Republican party and its candidates to-day accept as the essence of faith.
"We endorse the President's view of our international obligations and his firm stand against reservations designed to cut to pieces the vital provisions of the Versailles treaty, and we commend the Demo- crats in Congress for voting against resolutions for separate peace which would disgrace the nation. We advocate the immediate rati- fication of the treaty without reservations which would impair its essential integrity ; but do not oppose the acceptance of any reserva- tions making clearer or more specific the obligations of the United States to the League associates. Only by doing this may we retrieve the reputation of this nation among the powers of the earth and recover the moral leadership which President Wilson won and which Republican politicians at Washington sacrificed. Only by doing this may we hope to aid effectively in the restoration of order throughout the world and to take the place which we should assume in the front rank of spiritual, commercial, and industrial advancement.
"We reject as utterly vain, if not vicious, the Republican assump- tion that ratification of the treaty and membership in the League of Nations would in any wise impair the integrity or independence of our country. The fact that the covenant has been entered into by twenty-nine nations, all as jealous of their independence as we are of ours, is a sufficient refutation of such charge. The President repeat- edly has declared, and this convention reaffirms, that all our duties and obligations as a member of the League must be fulfilled in strict con- formity with the Constitution of the United States, embodied in which is the fundamental requirement of declaratory action by the Congress before this nation may become a participant in any war.
"Conduct of the War .- During the war President Wilson ex- hibited the very broadest conception of liberal Americanism. In his conduct of the war, as in the general administration of his high office,
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there was no semblance of partisan bias. He invited to Washington as his councillors and coadjutors hundreds of the most prominent and pronounced Republicans in the country. To these he committed responsibilities of the gravest import and most confidential nature. Many of them had charge of vital activities of the government.
"And yet, with the war successfully prosecuted and gloriously ended, the Republican party in Congress, far from applauding the masterly leadership of the President and felicitating the country on the amazing achievements of the American government, has meanly requited the considerate course of the Chief-Magistrate by savagely defaming the commander-in-chief of the army and navy and by assail- ing nearly every public officer of every branch of the service intimately concerned in winning the war abroad and preserving the security of the government at home.
"We express to the soldiers and sailors and marines of America the admiration of their fellow-countrymen. Guided by the genius of such commanders as General John J. Pershing, the armed forces of America constituted a decisive factor in the victory and brought new luster to the flag.
"We commend the patriotic men and women who sustained the efforts of their government in the crucial hours of the war and contributed to the brilliant administrative success achieved under the broad-visioned leadership of the President.
"Financial Achievements .- A review of the record of the Demo- cratic party during the administration of Woodrow Wilson presents a chapter of substantial achievements unsurpassed in the history of the republic. For fifty years before the advent of this administra- tion periodical convulsions had impeded the industrial progress of the American people and caused inestimable loss and distress. By the enactment of the Federal Reserve act the old system, which bred panics, was replaced by a new system, which insured confidence. It was an indispensable factor in winning the war, and to-day it is the hope and inspiration of business. Indeed, one vital danger against which the American people should keep constantly on guard is the commitment of this system to partisan enemies who struggled against its adoption and vainly atempted to retain in the hands of speculative
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bankers a monopoly of the currency and credits of the nation. Already there are well-defined indications of an assault upon the vital prin- ciples of the system in the event of Republican success in the elections in November.
"Under Democratic leadership the American people successfully financed their stupendous part in the greatest war of all time. The treasury wisely insisted during the war upon meeting an adequate portion of the war expenditure from current taxes and the bulk of the balance from popular loans, and, during the first full fiscal year after fighting stopped, upon meeting current expenditures from current re- ceipts notwithstanding the new and unnecessary burdens thrown upon the treasury by the delay, obstruction, and extravagance of a Repub- lican Congress.
"The non-partisan Federal Reserve authorities have been wholly free of political interference or motive, and in their own time and their own way have used courageously, though cautiously, the instruments at their disposal to prevent undue expansion of credit in the country. As a result of these sound treasury and Federal Reserve policies, the inevitable war inflation has been held down to a minimum, and the cost of living has been prevented from increasing in this country in proportion to the increase in other belligerent countries and in neutral countries which are in close contact with the world's commerce and exchanges.
"After a year and a half of fighting in Europe, and despite another year and a half of Republican obstruction at home, the credit of the government of the United States stands unimpaired, the Federal Reserve note is the unit of value throughout all the world, and the United States is the one great country in the world which maintains a free gold market.
"We condemn the attempt of the Republican party to deprive the American people of their legitimate pride in the financing of the war-an achievement without parallel in the financial history of this or any other country, in this or any other war. And in particular we condemn the pernicious attempt of the Republican party to create discontent among the holders of the bonds of the government of the United States and to drag our public finance and
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our banking and currency system back into the arena of party politics.
"Tax Revision .- We condemn the failure of the present Congress to respond to the oft-repeated demand of the President and the Secre- taries of the Treasury to revise the existing tax laws. The continu- ance in force in peace times of taxes devised under pressure of impera- tive necessity to produce a revenue for war purposes is indefensible and can only result in lasting injury to the people. The Republican Congress persistently failed, through sheer political cowardice, to make a single move toward a readjustment of tax laws which it denounced before the last election and was afraid to revise before the next election.
"We advocate tax reform and a searching revision of the War Revenue acts to fit peace conditions, so that the wealth of the nation may not be withdrawn from productive enterprise and diverted to wasteful or non-productive expenditure.
"We demand prompt action by the next Congress for a complete survey of existing taxes and their modification and simplification with a view to secure greater equity and justice in tax burdens and improve- ment in administration.
"Public Economy .- Claiming to have effected great economies in government expenditures, the Republican party cannot show the reduction of one dollar in taxation as a corollary of this false pretense. In contrast, the last Democratic Congress enacted legislation reducing taxes from eight billions, designed to be raised, to six billions for the first year after the armistice, and to four billions thereafter ; and there the total is left undiminished by our political adversaries. Two years after Armistice day a Republican Congress provides for expend- ing the stupendous sum of $5,403,390,327.30.
"Affecting great paper economies by reducing departmental esti- mates of sums which would not have been spent in any event, and by reducing formal appropriations, the Republican statement of expendi- tures omits the pregnant fact that the Congress authorized the use of one and a half billion dollars in the hands of various departments and bureaus which otherwise would have been covered back into the treasury, and which should be added to the Republican total of ex- penditures.
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"High Cost of Living .- The high cost of living and the deprecia- tion of bond values in this country are primarily due to the war itself, to the necessary governmental expenditures for the destructive pur- poses of war, to private extravagance, to the world shortage of capital, to the inflation of foreign currencies and credits, and, in large degree, to conscienceless profiteering.
"The Republican party is responsible for the failure to restore peace and peace conditions in Europe, which is a principal cause of post-armistice inflation the world over. It has denied the demand of the President for necessary legislation to deal with secondary and local causes. The sound policies pursued by the treasury and the Federal Reserve system have limited in this country, though they could not prevent, the inflation which was world-wide.
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