A PUBLIC VOTARY

Calvin Coolidge has his thousands and Al Smith his tens of thousands. That one is an enigmatic Yankee and the other a simple Irishman is far more important to their followers than the issues which they personify. In the not too distant past these men held of flee. They were symbols of the beliefs of two great parties, a fact which now means little to the cheering multitudes it is enough that they were something.

Today Massachusetts is electing a governor and a senator. Perhaps thirty per cent of the electorate will go to the polls that their will be done, but fifty thousand in Boston alone saluted the honor and glory of Smith last week. To pay homage is a public privilege. To vote has become a duty. With a business depression, which has affected millions, and prohibition, which has staggered the country, as the vital issues of the campaign men harkened to the words of two who in the past were great, while they were deaf to the men who in time will shoulder the responsibilities of the state.

Today the newspapers urge every citizen to declare his will. Cars are sent to carry voters to the polls. One hundred and fifty years ago a man in Virginia cried out for liberty or death.