OCR Text |
Show ! To Get Out The Vote ' " The National Civic Federation looks tor a hot campaign, dating from about mid-September, and a good turnout at the November, though this is. not a presidential year. Stirred by John Hays Hammond to do its utmost toward inducing I every, qualified elector to cast his balrot, the federation will j soon launch a series of 11,000. meetings against vote, slack-i slack-i in tr. No part of the country, wjll be overlooked. 1 It is a non-partisan organisation "How you. vote doeen't matter," ia its motto, "but, vote." With the backing of the ' American Legion, all the: leading women's clubs,, the chamber cham-ber of commerce of the United States and dozens of assorted societies, the federation management is confident of getting ; real results. Light votes are the rule in "off years," but there never lias been a drive of the proportions this one is expected to be. The primaries, too, have promised well. In spots there have been complaints of lavish use of money, but at least there were evidences of interest on the public's part in the choice of candidates. The voters may not consider that they have much choice between parties, but they do have a choice among candidates. The very lack of a vital national issue has forced the latter to concentrate on those which seemed likely to have the maximum appeal in their various communities, and the voters know what they are voting for and against. Prohibition probably has the broadest general appeal, pro and con. The dominant question in a score of states, it is at least an important secondary issue in most of the rest. Farm relief is paramount in the corn belt. State rights, somewhat mixed with prohibition, and the tariff, complicated compli-cated with farm relief, loom largely in their respective territories. ter-ritories. The world court has been "played" sectionally. Just What the world court and the league of nations mean may hot be understood in detail, but, as "foreign entanglements," they play their part in the campaign. In some places war debt settlement has been emphasized. Primary election expenses will be a factor in two or three states. i The vital issue is one corner of the country is not the Vital issue in another corner, but each has its vital issue, calculated to bring its voters to the polls. In the issues, the National Civic Federation, s a body, Is not concerned. Its concern is in having issues sufficiently Interesting to the electorate to bring out the vote. If it gets a record vote in an "off year," its work will have been well done, so far as this campaign is concerned. |