FOLLOW THE LEADER

The voices of candidates, possible and impossible, sound only very faintly through the din of investigations, charges, and counter-charges now filling Washington. Whoever the next President may be, he surely has an aversion to standing with both feet on his own platform.

Those ambitious for the Presidency have discovered two very effective means of avoiding the unpleasantness of declaring themselves plainly. One method is that of silence, in the manner of President Coolidge and Mayor Lodge of Detroit: effective where the field is small, and the opposition has stated its platform. Some candidates are pussyfooting in this way; others have found a more subtle scheme, in which the procedure is, first, the careful study of the issues raised and supported by the few who have been audacious enough to speak, and second, the choice of an issue not yet covered by any candidates. Recently Mr. Lowden effected a rather neat move by Method two, when he inscribed "Farm Relief" on his banner, and ignored such trifles as Prohibition, Corruption, and Foreign Policy.

The result of this dodging is the dovetailing together of candidates and issues, instead of a head-on collision between the opposing factions. The parties stand in a peculiar position. If they desire to take a definite stand, they must choose from the men who have followed the method of issue inventing. A really complete platform would require half a dozen presidential nominees of this lik for its support. It looks as if the silent man will carry the convention: the old game of hushing up the real questions will be played again, and the people will be allowed to choose between two men, neither of whom is willing to compromise himself on any issue.