Political Inventory

Political Inventory

On the fourth of March, when Congress adjourned, a nine months' period began in which the President is destined to be the cynosure of political eyes. The first of these nine months he has already utilized in taking a much needed vacation, free from political cares. His vacation was planned to terminate with his return to Washington on April 7, after a final week of rest at Augusta, Ga. To be sure, the mirror-like tranquility of the vacation was disturbed momentarily by Attorney General Daugherty's announcement that Mr. Harding would again be a candidate in 1924. But the ripples died quickly away. Secretary Weeks since made a similar announcement--as Secretary Hoover had done previously-- without arousing much comment. When the President really attracts the country's undivided attention, which he may do with Congress on vacation, it will doubtless be in his own person. The occasion on which he will take the center of the stage is becoming more and more apparent--his speaking tour of the country next summer. Then, if ever, will Mr. Harding face the American people with an inventory of his accomplishments and his failures. As yet there has been no formal announcement that such a tour will occur, but inasmuch as certain details of it are becoming known--that it will contain 20 chief speeches, that it will cover the entire country from coast to coast, that it will include a trip to Alaska--it is considered a virtual certainty. The impression which Mr. Harding makes on that tour will be an important factor in the election of 1924. The speeches he will deliver are being heralded as the basis of the Republican platform for 1924. Announcements by three members of his cabi- cabinet that he will run in that year certainly will make him appear as a prospective candidate campaigning for reelection. It is doubtful, however, whether Mr. Harding would not prefer to appear as the President of the United States explaining to the people the problems and needs of the country.