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Show 1 Presidential Specified- j lions ! j Ty Frederic J. Ilr-skia. 'W.VPH1NOTON. '?.'. 5. What l'-;-S V.T (.7 i..at s. ttif.1 son of a st;..:. cn a.w.ixs tcl! .-lu a year aV.c.iu :s to W the u-xt pr-uit. , He is !t"iu-. TALI'S wiia U.e po'.r.K-:u ...-. ' u- on v.:.l.h hi- Ui.-ed ins Ju.lir::. " I . to he snttwl that because a ma.i i on- had an lrlih i-.7-a:ii!niotner, ".Wht t- t.n-; r.vii :'..-, "J ! m;ver I'-ai-d a triluitt uj'lmon about a:iyt.l. h- us uir'C.caM-. And o:tcn he as T- . p-,.!wt!iiual virtues icr a Ions 1,1110 were ehic.lv negative. Of course, very t-.i-'v in our-' history we had some remaru-a:u-' preside!::. In Usui day we r.ad an .-itJileeluai ar-.stueraey. 1; led us to auc-...... auc-...... iM ii e revolutionary war. aim tur- nished our ,.,..!.! leaders for a rtencra-tion rtencra-tion or so a: terw ard. Of this erew "'ere Wartime ion, .vhnus and jei!ers;n. Hut vf.th the s-owih vi che democratic id-a came the demago-ue. and tire medio-ei-if ,- in l':e presidential ci-air. The ru-;i;ed riir-re of .lacksen stands out a reat jeaia-f-sue hut a demasoKUe -.lone the I.-.tfa ad!i:lr:i!)if in his courae.e hut lerrtOle in his iuc.orance. Then came the I lvll war. strangely I'rudu.-iin: its own eenlus in Lincoln, a being unaccountahie and unwuo. After the Civil war, our stramrc national nation-al sport ef presidential politics reachtal its hichesl development. Presidential candidates were nothiim- hut pawns used by the great parties in the same which thev played for the stakes of office and power. Men were chosen because they were -safe." -Mediocrity was a prime, qualification. A man with a marked per-sonaiilv, per-sonaiilv, marked achievement, or marked In any other wav was not wanted. That a bri'liant Individuality like that of Cleveland Cleve-land reached the presidency In spite of this system was an accident which politicians poli-ticians depiored. It is only in the past generation tnnt the presidency- has been rescued from mediocrity. me-diocrity. President Roosevelt tautrlit the people to rettard the president as their personal rr7presentative, and not merely as the mouthpiece of a political party, and of the interests which dominate it, Mr. Wilson has carried this Idea of the president pres-ident as tile official interpreter of the public will still further. Both of them have shown that there is still room in the presidency for a real personality. Another tiling which has perished recently re-cently is political oratory of the old spread etijrle and sentimental school. It is still practiced in the south to some extent, and in back counties generally; but it is no longer, as it once was, a presidential sine qua hon. No man is golntr to win the presidency this lime on the strength of his perorations. Who will get the nominations is a mystery, but certainly neither of them will bo captured by a "cross of gold and crown of thorns" speech. Thus, while It is hard to pick tho individual in-dividual who will be the next president, It is not hard to pick the type. The man will not bo a professional politician, a mediocrity foisted on the public by his fellow professionals. It will not make so much difference where he- lives. A record rec-ord of public office will not help him much, but a record of practical achievement achieve-ment will help him a great deal. And he will not be a sentimentalist, a tear squeezer, one who weeps and bellows and waves tho flag. The type of the next president is well represented In the leading lead-ing candidates, and men mentioned in connection with the candidacy. Two of these men are especially significant. Hoover and McAdoo. Perhaps neither of them will even run, but the mere fact that these two have been widely mentioned men-tioned for the presidency, and have been more or less accepted by the people as men of a type wiio might make good presidents, presi-dents, is tremendously significant. It 18 claimed of McAdoo that he has a brillia.nt record as a political executive, but Hoover has been in no way associated with poll-tics. poll-tics. The fact that a Hoover of unknown politics pol-itics had even been mentioned for the presidency is striking proof that the public pub-lic mind of the United States has changed. Twenty-five years ago, when a Prince Albert Al-bert coat and wide black hat, and ability abil-ity to thunder out platitudes in a baritone bari-tone voice were almost essentials of political poli-tical success, Hoover would have been as out of place in politics as a bricklayer in a cabaret. Here is a man who has wealth and cares nothing for the material success suc-cess involved; who shows no slightest craving for publicity for Its own sake; who does not seem to represent a class or a point of view; who has nothing to recommend him for the job except a capacity ca-pacity for handling large , enterprises and an integrity that seems not to be questioned ques-tioned by anyone. He Is a stranger in our political arena, and the fact that we allow him to be there at all Is proof that we are changing. In the forefront of Republican candidates candi-dates stands General Leonard Wood, of another type, but none the less quite different from the candidate brand of the past. His campaign Is not being made on the basis of his being a military hero, but upon the claim that he is a 'proven executive, a man who gets things done. The American president for the next four years will find his task logically dividing di-viding itself into two great responsibilities responsibil-ities that of meeting the industrial situation situ-ation at home, and of giving America its proper international position in a re-made world. The industrial situation at home is a matter of primary Interest to the public. It is affecting every man, woman wo-man and child because it has to do with the dally supply of food and clothing for each and every one. Upon the handling of that situation depend such issues as the presence of fire in the grate, the operation op-eration of the transportation facilities of the nation, the chance of the individual to work that his children mav live the very continuance of the government Itself. And this is not the only problem. The shelves of the world are emptv. World industry has been paralyzed for half a decade, and will be sorelv handicapped for years to come. The United States, of all nations, has emerged from the war with enormous indtistrial capacities, and with unlimited flnaWial resources. For her the door of opportunity is wide open, and for her there is no bar to entrance Whether or not she makes the best of this, her golden day for gaining a trade foothold in the marts of the world will depend largely upon the administration of her affairs for the next four years The public is coming to an appreciation of these vital facts. The friends one meets at home, the men he talks to on railroad trains, the editorials he reads in newspapers, cause him to realize that there is a knowledge abroad in the land of the responsibilities that will rest upon tne next chief executive. Old fashioned politics are in eclipse. The old issues be- I tween the parties do not hold good Where the Democrats were accustomed to so deport de-port themselves as to be regarded as the party particularly friendly to organized labor, they are today arrayed in a titanic contest with certain groups of that element. ele-ment. While the Republicans were of old the party of expansion, the partv that favored Americas stepping boldlv forth and assuming as-suming its share of world Influence and world responsibility, thev are todav the party advocating the doctrine of maWnlfl cent isolation. The old issues are turned topsy turvy There are no new ones to take their place. Both parties promloo to write platforms based largely on Americanism Ameri-canism and differing little. 60 the situation is developing In such a way that the candidate is the inat'er of dominating Interest. The parties a-e"f0l lowing the public in their expression of desire to find just the right sort of man to handle the big job ahead |