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Show BRUCE BARTONWere 20s Better or Worse?little spunk here and there. But nothing like the guts of Coolidge. Political corruption. The famous Walsh investigation of the oil scandals, which began in Hardings administration, continued under Coolidge. He issued orders to every government department that every record and paper the investigating committee wanted should be made instantly available.Harrys attitude is If you investigate one of my pals, I not only wont help you, but Ill do everything I can to protect him and smear you.Held Presidents DutyPressure groups. Coolidge felt it was part of the Presidents constitutional duty to stand between the Congress and the selfish pressure groups.Truman, following the pattern of his predecessor, has too often said to the pressure groups If Congress wont give it to you, boys, come to me and Ill make them. Waste and taxes. Coolidge hated waste, extravagance and taxes. In less than two full terms he reduced the national debt from 22 to 17 billion dollars, and cut the tax burden of every citizen.Truman will end his second term with a debt of more than 300 billions, and with taxes that will take most of the joy out of living.It is now the fashion to sneer at the 1920s. They are supposed to have been very bad days. But politically speaking, are we better or worse than we were then?Superficially, Harry S Truman, 32nd President of the U. S., has a good deal in common with Calvin Coolidge, the 29th.P h y s ically Harry is, and Calvin was, small. They were born in small towns of the traditional poor but honest parents. Coolidge ran Mr. Barton a country law office, Truman a gents furnishing store. Each came up the political ladder a rung at a time, and arrived at the Presidency from the Vice Presidency via death.In the following respects they differ decidedly.Political courage. While Coolidge was Governor of Massachusetts the police of Boston, who were unionized, went out on strike, leaving the city defenseless. For a few hours chaos reigned. Then Coolidge called out the state militia, recruited a force of citizen volunteers, restored law and order, and broke the strike. Samuel Gompers, President of the A. F. of L., wired him demanding that the strikers be restored to their jobs. Coolidge refused, sending Gompers a message that thrilled the nation There is no right to strike against the public safety by anyone anywhere at any time. Shows Some SpunkTruman, inheriting from F D R a policy of surrender to labors threats, has shown a |
