The New President
MR. HOOVER'S overwhelming victory in the American Presidential Election shows how little cause there was for the eleventh hour alarm of the Republican Party. Those whom the event has made wise are no doubt pointing out now that the Republican position was always as safe as houses. Nevertheless, there was alarm among the Republicans, and the reason for it was very interesting. The oozing away of confidence was due to the fact that as there were no strong dividing issues between the two Parties the battle had become a conflict of personalities. And who can reckon up the value in votes of a personality ?
It may be said that although no political issue received strong official emphasis there were as a matter of fact many dividing issues of importance. That, of course, is true : even though the Democrats had accepted the Tariff the Prohibition question must have transferred many votes from the Democrat to the Republican, and then there was the significant religious controversy. As it turned out, the anti-Roman feeling of a predominantly Protestant country had a vast influence on the voting. This could not have been exactly foreseen in advance, particularly as Mr. Hoover, to his great credit, did all that he could to quench the slanderous intolerance of the "whispering campaign." Probably the election will leave behind it a religious question.
About one American in six or seven is a Roman Catholic. In a total electorate of about forty-three millions the Roman Catholics amount to a large number and they are entitled to be told whether they are to be ruled out from the highest office, and perhaps from other offices, on the ground that the Roman Catholic faith requires a man to divide his allegiance between his country and the Pope. The new President might be well advised if he appointed a Roman Catholic to some important position. He is strong enough to do that and it would be an excellent thing for American life that th2 unprecedented religious bitterness of the last few months should be brought to an end. . "Nobody," said the witty Governor of Maryland, "is voting for Hoover. Everybody is voting for or against Smith." But now that Mr. Smith's engaging personality has utterly failed to win the day it is seen how powerful is the spell that an era of vast prosperity has laid upon the American voter. It has become almost a superstition. "Do nothing to upset the run of good luck. The Republicans built up the prosperity. We must keep our Republican mascot." One of the great advantages of a smashing majority is that it creates confidence by removing the possibility of recrimination and intrigue. We sincerely wish good fortune to the President and to the great country under his rule. Mr. Hoover has a considerable knowledge of Europe from personal experience, and no European is likely to forget his relief work in the War. He is, we believe, a convinced friend of English-speaking co-operation. We look to him unquestioningly to work for disarmament and the peace of the world.
One other hope we may venture to express. Politics receives too few men of business, who are the best Ameri- can type. Mr. Hoover is himself a great industrialist. The cant argument that business men, just because they are business men, could teach politicians the art of ruling is ridiculous. Politics is, or ought to be, a profession by itself, requiring a life-time of study. Mr. Hoover could do no great-3r service to his country than to try to build up a tradition that none of the great business brains of America is too good for- the -House of Representatives.
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