Attention has been directed lately to the anomaly in American
political life involved in the curious fact that last week, Mr. Calvin Coolidge attended his first meeting as an ordinary directOr in a Life Insurance Company, and that Mr. Smith, who received 15,000,000 votes for the Presidency, also became a director of another company. American people have not yet solved the problem of what to do with their ex-Presidents. Mr. Coolidge has observed with amuse- ment that the only perquisite of an ex-President is the franking privilege for his private mail. It is certainly one of the great losses of American political life that defeated candidates for high office, even though receiving the votes of millions of their fellow citizens, are relegated_ to private life and have - no opportunity to express officially the - views of the minority opposition. Mr. Coolidge has been very busy writing his autobiography, early instalments of which are presented in a popular magazine with flaming advertisements. There iS widespread feeling that the former President has not increased the dignity of his position by th6 articles which have appeared from his pen since his retirement.
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