Maryland suffrage news., October 16, 1920, Page 230, Image 6

About Maryland suffrage news. (Baltimore, Md.) 1912-1920

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230
suffrage. Also he declared that he was held by party conditions in his
State.
In April, 1918, Harding gave a public pledge to vote for suffrage. A
Senate vote was definitely planned for May 10 and June 29, 1918, and on
both occasions Harding had promised his vote to the women.
On April 28, 1918, Senator Harding said that he had given his pledge
to vote as his State decided, and as it had voted twice against suffrage,
he felt that he must also do so. But —and this again shows the sure
touch of the politician— l am not sure but that I shall vote contrary to
their vote. I feel that many things have changed since their vote was cast.
Among others, the House had passed the suffrage amendment.
Harding, the politician, had been waiting for three years, as these
quotations show, to see which way the cat would jump. He waited for
more able men to give the signal for positive action one way or the other.
He was absent when the amendment came to a vote in October of 1918,
but was paired in favor of the amendment, and by December he was able
to claim the House vote for suffrage as a Republican victory. When
the final victorious ballot in the Senate came on June 4, 1919, he voted
yea (C. R., 635).
As Presidential candidate, Senator Harding received a delegation of
suffrage workers on June 22 last. I need not tell you, he said, of my
interest in the consummation of woman suffrage. I voted for it in the
Senate, and a vote records a Senator’s purpose quite as faithfully as any
thing he may do.
Notwithstanding his late-developed interest in the suffrage cause, the
candidate declared that he “could not, with propriety, attempt to force
any State Executive to hasten action in violation of his own sense of
duty.” In other words, he would not bring pressure to bear on recalci
trant Governors to obtain the one added ratification necessary.
It is not strange that the suffragists declared Harding’s position a
“complete disappointment.”
So far as his suffrage record goes, it illustrates three important char
acteristics :
1. Lack of conviction on a fundamental issue.
2. Want of leadership, and reliance on party dictation.
3. Determination of a course of action by its immediate political effect.
Students of Harding’s career will find it marked with the same char
acteristics with other questions.
Harding For the Cummins Bill
The Esch-Cummins bill, returning the railroads to private ownership,
is without doubt the most pronounced special-interest legislation that
ever come out of Congress. It will operate to legalize perhaps eight
billions of watered stock. It means vastly increased rates, probably
amounting to $250 a year for every average family in America. It binds
labor in iron chains of compulsory arbitration. It subsidizes the rail
roads, assuring to them the special privilege of guaranteed profits paid by
the public.
During most of the discussion of the Cummins bill Harding was
absent, but he turned up long enough to vote:
Against the La Follette substitute continuing Federal control for two
years (December 20, 1919; C. R., 972).
For the Cummins bill (C. R., 972).
Harding For the Shields Bill
Next to the railroad issue in economic importance to all the people,
come great conservation questions, like water-power legislation. The
special interests in that field were behind the Shields bill, which was forced
through the Senate several times with the support of reactionaries like
Harding.
Flarding voted for the Shields bill in two separate sessions—March 8,
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1916 (C. R., 3758), and January 15, 1920 (C. R., 1648). On December
14, 1917, he did not vote (C. R., 287).
Harding*s Military Record
Speaking on April 28, 1917, on his proposal to authorize a Roosevelt
volunteer army, Harding said:
I am a believer in universal and compulsory service, ofttimes alluded
to as conscription (C. R., 1437).
It is rarely that the Republican candidate has made direct and un
equivocal statements like this one. His voting record is consistent with
this declaration.
He voted for the draft law (April 28, 1917; C. R., 1500), and against
Senator La Follette’s amendment to the Army bill requiring a referendum
on the question of sending drafted men to fight in Europe (May 1, 1917;
C. R., 1624). He did, however, vote against Senator McCumber’s
amendment, which would have refused exemption from the draft even to
religious objectors (May 1, 1917; C. R., 1625).
Harding on the League of Nations
Throughout the long controversy over the League of Nations, the
Senate was divided into three groups: (1) the irreconcilables, who op
posed the treaty and covenant unless it could be changed by vital anti-war
reservations; (2) the mild reservationists, led by Lodge, whose reserva
tions did not materially alter its imperialistic character; and (3) those
who stood with President Wilson for ratification without reservations or
amendments of any kind. Harding took his stand with Lodge in the mid
dle group. When voted at all, it was for the Lodge reservations.
Harding Summed Up
The Senate today stands at the lowest ebb of statesmanship ever
known. The average ability of its members is below that of any other
period. Yet, undoubtedly, Harding is at the very bottom of the list.
He is a reactionary through and through.
He is not himself a leader in that old school. He depends upon him
self for no big decision. Penrose, Lodge and Smoot typify the leader
ship to which he responds. Obviously, if he were elected, such politicians
would control his administration.
He has shown no comprehension of any vital problem now demanding
solution.
The sum total of his positive constructive ideas is limited to a pro
tective tariff. His comprehension of that issue can be expressed by
quoting what he himself said in arguing for a high tariff:
You know, there is no more fallacious thing in the world than thg
assumption that a duty is added to the cost of an article, and is, therefore,
a burden on the American consumer.
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If the antis were right in claiming that “women did not want to vote”
and “would not use the franchise even if it were given them,” why was it
necessary to call that extra session to afford extra registration days and
additional polling places?
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