The Dominion. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1920. THE AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 31, 1 November 1920, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1920. THE AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

The great political campaign in the United States which has; occasioned so much stir during the last few months is now nearrog its climax. A week or two hence the people will vote in a Congressional election and also for the members of the electoral college winch, under the Constitution, is deputed to elect the President. So far as the I. ies.dential election, on which intoiobt chiefly centres, is accrued, th<outlook is by no means well defined. The statement in one of to-clay s cablegrams that the odds are seven to one in favour of Senator Harding, the Republican candidate, is confessedly a sample of electioncerinK propaganda. Apparently we 1informed observers lean on the] whole to. the opinion that toAror. Harding is net unlikely to prevail over his Democratic rival, but the latter has some big factors in his favour, and' there is still room for a surprise result when the membership of the electoral college is determined. The Republican candidate admittedly has tne advantage of being supported by .the betterorganised party machine and .it strengthens his position that prominent Republicans like Me. Tact who favour the League of Nations are giving him active support. On the other hand Governor Cox has made a much more direct appeal than his chief opponent to. popular sympa-

thics It is mentioned to-day tiat in the course of what is describee as a most bitter attack he stated that Senator Hardino was in bondago to big business and corporate interests and had turned his back on every proposal for progress. This is not a new note in the_ campaign of the Democratic candidate. On the contrary, he and his sup. 'porters have from the outset, relied

largely on his liberal and- progressive record, particularly since .he became Governor of Ohio, and upon setting this record in contrast "with the allegedly extreme conservatism ■if lub opponent. Governor Cox thus appeals directly to organised Labour and iB credited with having enlisted its strong support. Mr. Gojipers, the President of the American Federation of Labour, is openly campaigning on his behalf. It haß to be noted in this connection,however, that Governor Cox is liable to be robbed of a certain amount' of support by two minor-party candidates. The Socialists have nominated Mb. E. V. Debs, who is now serving a sentence of ten years' imprisonment for treason—he was found guilty of obstructing the Draft Act and of trying to persuado American soldiers to refuse to do their duty in wartime—and it will not be surprising if some elements in the heterogeneous population of the United States give the Socialists this year the increased vote they are confidently anticipating. Votesplitting possibilities attach also to tiie candidature of Mr. P. P. Christensen, the nominee of the FarmerLabour Party. A possibly important detail factor in the forthcoming election.is tho attitude of the naturalised German-Americans who are entitled to vote. These people in so far as they are organised arc definitely opposed to Governor Cox. A German-American national conference held at. Chicago in August passed a resolution supporting Senator Harding's candidature a'nd eulogising his "unalterable opposition to the League of Nations." A German-American journalist (Mr. G. S. Viereck), commenting on.this action, observed that the Republican candidate was. "distinctly the lesser of two evils," but at the same time offered his compatriots the following advice:—

Wherever there 16 the slightest possibility of electing Cos, wo urge our readers to vote for Harding. To elect Cox is to endorse Woodrow AVilson.

. . . Where Hardinpr's "victory is assured, let us vote for Dobs or for Christensen.

Whilo such support gives Senator Harding little enough reason for pride it no doubt improves his prospects of election.

While German-Americans have eulogized Mn. Harding's unalterable opposition to the League of Nations, the outlook in the Presidential con-

test evidently owes much of its uncertainty to the fact that in the course of the campaign the Republican candidate has whittled down his opposition to the Leaguo of Nations almost to the vanishing point. Ho is still putting forward elaborate arguments intended to demonstrate that the League Covenant as

it stands embodies subtle dangers to Americanism, but he has at the same time declared that he" favours the formation of

.... a society of freo nations, or an association of free nations, or a league of free nations, animated by considera-

tions of right and justice, instead of might and 6elf-interest, and not merely proclaimed an agency in pursuit of peace, but so organised and so participated in as to make tho actual attainment of peace u reasonable possibility. Such an association I favour with all my heart, and T would make no fine distinction as to whom the credit is due. . . .

This statement is hardly to be distinguished from a formal blessing of the international policy which Mn. Harding and his political associates have done'so much for party purposes to discredit. There is no doubt, however, that with much more to the same effect coming from Republican sources it has gone far to convince the American people that the League issue is not really at stake in the present election. Expressing what seems to be a widespread view, Dr. Frank Crane wrote recently in Current Opinion:

Even if there is a Republican Senato and President, the United State-s will have to go in (to the League)* for the simple reason that there will be nothing else possible to do. Intelligent Republicans realise this and are making theii plans as gracefully as they can after they have thrown Mr. Wilson to the wolves.

If from the international standpoint' tins state of affairs gives some ground for satisfaction, it has at the same time robbed the Democratic candidate of an issue on which

he might have expected to appeal effectively to a very large proportion of American votes—notaoly the millions of women newly enfranchised. The total position' seems to be that with the League issue prae tically eliminated, the Democratic Party is somewhat at a disad: vantage.