Ohio History Journal

192                                                        OHIO HISTORY

 

38. "The United States Renews Relations with Mexico," State Department Announce-

ment, August 31, 1923, 711.1211/154; and William Phillips, Under Secretary of State,

to Coolidge. Case File 146, Coolidge Papers. See also Hughes to Payne, September 11,

1923. Box 38, Hughes Papers. See also Hughes to Warren, September 11, 1923, ibid.,

Box 47.

 

PRESIDENT HARDING AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION

1. The Marion Star, March 2, 1921. See also New York Times, March 3, 1921.

2. Cited in "Tremendous Problems That Face Harding," Literary Digest, March 5,

1921, p. 8.

3. New York Times, March 3, 1921; editorial, "Mr. Harding's Administration,"

March 4, 1921.

4. The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover: The Cabinet and the Presidency, 1920-1923

(New York, 1952), 13.

5. Various items, Box 421, Warren G. Harding Papers, Ohio Historical Society. This

general impression was concretely established by taking twenty-four letters for the period

November 3, 1920 to February 1, 1921 and discovering that eighteen were against, six

for the Versailles League. Quite interestingly to note, Harding received human nature

arguments against ending war and racial arguments for not entering the world organiza-

tion, see Daniel Moreau Barringer to W. G. Harding, December 7, 1920 with enclosure

dated March 19, 1919. Ibid., Box 119.

6. Ibid., Frank Brandegee to Harding, December 28, 1920 (typed copy), Box 694; for

a Harding rejoinder to one of his prominent petitioners, see Harding to Henry Cabot

Lodge, December 29, 1920, Box 655.

7. Ibid., C. B. Miller to Harding, December 13, 1920.

8. Ibid., J. E. Todd to H. D. Mannington, December 27, 1920.

9. Ibid., Myron H. Bent to Harding, December 1, 1920, Box 421.

10. Ibid., William E. Anderson to Harding, January 22, 1921 (typed copy), Box 693.

Another clergyman, Dr. James L. Barton, on January 14, 1921, wrote in his three

powerful capacities as National Chairman of the Near East Relief, Senior Foreign

Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and Moderator

of the International Decennial Congregational Council, ibid.

11. Hamilton Holt to Harding, December 10, 1920; Harding to Holt, December 22,

1920, Holt Papers, cited in Warren F. Kuehl, Hamilton Holt: Journalist, Internationalist,

Educator (Gainesville, 1960), 155. Kuehl also has a perceptive synthesis of Holt's

relationship to Harding on the League of Nations issue, 151-175. One reader of The

Independent sent clippings of Holt's editorial criticism of Harding's evasiveness on the

League to the future President, see O. L. Deming to Harding, December 24, 1921. Box

119, Harding Papers.

12. New York Times, March 4, 1921.

13. Ibid., March 3, 1921.

14. Samuel Hopkins Adams, The Incredible Era: The Life and Times of Warren

Gamaliel Harding (Boston, 1939), 35.

15. Hiram Johnson to Harding, August 9, 1921; Harding to Johnson, September 6,

1920. Box 502, Harding Papers. The exchange showed that the two Senators were

professionally proud of their skills at verbal imprecision. This ignorance of Harding's

deliberate vagueness on touching political matters let the vitriolic Henry L. Menckin to

assert that the Ohioan's muddled sentences in political writing or speaking were

occasioned by ignorance. Sometimes they were. Often, they were not. The Baltimore

Sun cynic went on to state that he overheard the former editor of the Marion Star

deliver a speech to the Elks which was "clear, logical, forceful" with even "a touch of

wild, romantic beauty." But the Elks speech was on a simple subject--hence Harding's

clarity. It is strange that the clever Menckin did not go deeper into wondering why

the politician could write so clearly on matters that were unimportant while the real

concerns of the day involving consequences for America and himself were dealt with

so vaguely. Surely Menckin, so clever in the use of words himself and a serious writer

on the American Language, should have suspected another clever writer was at work.

The quotations from Menckin are cited in David Shannon, ed., Progressivism and

Postwar Disillusionment: 1898-1928 (New York, 1966), 280.

16. For an impressive demonstration of how precisely and clearly Harding could

write, see Harding to Richard Washburn Child, letters of December 12, 1921; July 24,

1922; and April 16, 1923. Box 694, Harding Papers.

17. Ibid., Harding to Lodge, December 29, 1920. Box 655.

18. Ibid., Harding to Miss Mollie Conners, May 17, 1919. Box 757.

19. Shannon, Progressivism and Postwar Disillusionment, 280.

20. New York Times, March 5, 1921.

21. Kuehl, Hamilton Holt, 155.

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NOTES                                                                      193

 

22. New York Times, March 5, 1921.

23. Ibid.

24. Ibid., March 19, 1921.

25. Ibid.

26. Ibid.

27. Ibid., March 17, 1921. See also, ibid., April 3, 1921.

28. Ibid., March 6, 1921.

29. The successive issues of the New York Times beginning March 3, 1921 and lasting

to the end of the Viviani visit are so full of information and comments that it is obvious

great hopes for the mission were entertained by the pro-League newspaper. Ibid., March

11, 1921.

30. Ibid., April 4, 1921; see also the editorial on p. 4.

31. Ibid.

32. On April 2, 1921, Knox conferred with Harding for two hours. Conferences such

as this showed the anti-League leaders were also close to the President. Ibid., April 3,

1921.

33. Ibid., April 4, 1921.

34. "Hughes and the League," The Independent, March 12, 1921, p. 265.

35. S. W. Boggs to Harding, March 22, 1921. Box 44, Harding Papers.

36. Ibid., Samuel Colcord to Harry M. Daugherty, March 28, 1921.

37. President Warren G. Harding, "Messages of the President of the United States

to Congress, April 12, 1921," Foreign Relations of the United States, 1921, Vol. I,

xvii-xviii.

38. Ibid., xviii.

39. Ibid.

40. Ibid., xviii-xx.

41. "Workability of the Harding Peace Plans," Literary Digest, April 23, 1921, p. 5.

42. Ibid., 6.

43. Ibid., "Mr. Harding's New 'Foreign Entanglements,'" May 28, 1921, p. 10.

44. Ibid., See also, editorial, "Our Policy Is Unchanged," Marion Star, May 13, 1921.

45. New York Times, May 20 1921. See also "Harveyized Diplomacy," Literary

Digest, June 18, 1921, p. 10.

46. New York Times, June 16, 1921. See also Harding to Harvey, June 3, 1921. Box

697, Harding Papers. For Harding's speech see New York Times, May 30, 1921.

47. Harvey to Harding, May 24, 1921. Box 697, Harding Papers.

48. Ibid., David J. Hill to Charles Evans Hughes, June 22, 1921. Box 42.

49. Ibid., Nicholas Murray Butler to Harding, August 31, 1919. Box 693.

50. Ibid. Perhaps no where better than in a Boston speech, October 30, 1922 did

Hughes better pull together his thinking on the subject. Box 44. See also Hoover,

Memoirs, 36-37, and Merlo J. Pusey, Charles Evans Hughes (New York, 1951), II, 432.

51. See, for example, these letters: Hughes to Harding October 26, 1921; James E.

Freeman to Hughes, November 9, 1922; Hughes to Harding, December 7, 1922. Box 45,

Harding Papers. This particular part of the Harding Papers is a real find for anyone

seeking to (1) understand the Hughes' position on the League of Nations and (2) trace

the relationship of Hughes to Harding from the start to the end of the Administration.

Papers in Box 171 of the Hughes' Papers in the Library of Congress also help explain

the Hughes approach. See also "The League of Nations and the World Court," ibid.

52. Ibid. By 1922, Hughes was sending Harding personal letters about vacation trips.

The formal, austere and correct Secretary was beginning to unbend, Hughes to Harding,

August 28, 1922. For the episode with respect to the Presidential timidity, see Hoover,

Memoirs, 36.

53. At Baltimore, March 4, 1918, the Ohio Senator had proclaimed "America First."

Box 753, Harding Papers. Harding wanted to "put the lid on immigration" because it

was defeating "Americanism," Harding to Thomas F. Logan, November 13, 1918. Ibid.,

Box 755. See also, ibid., May 13, 1919, Box 757; Harding to Cornelius Cole August 21,

1919, Box 758.

54. For Denna Fleming's estimation, see Treaty Veto of the American Senate (New

York, 1930), 173.

55. Samuel Colcord, The Great Deception (New York, 1921), 77-99. That the Irish-

Americans who did so much to defeat Wilson's Great Crusade were still active may be

seen in these letters: F. G. Gilbert to Harding, April 2, 1921; J. W. Bracken to Harding,

March 18, 1921. Box 161, Harding Papers.

56. "The Peace of Raritan--and After," Literary Digest, July 16, 1921, p. 12.

57. Telegram, Hughes to Harvey, August 26, 1921, 711.62119/53a. Micro-filmed State

Department Records.

58 Hughes to George B. Christian Jr., July 11, 1921; Christian to Hughes, July 11,

1921; Hughes to Christian, July 12, 1921; Christian to Hughes, July 12, 1921; Hughes

to Harding, July 15, 1921; Woodrow Wilson to Hughes, July 15, 1921; Harding to

Hughes July 15, 1921; Hughes to Harding (2 more letters), July 15, 1921. Box 42,

Harding Papers.

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194                                                        OHIO HISTORY

 

59. Box 194, Borah Papers, Library of Congress.

60. John Chalmers Vinson, William E. Borah and the Outlawry of War (Athens,

Georgia, 1957), 31-47.

61. Glenn Frank, "The Tide of Affairs," The Century, CII (May 1921), 153-158.

62. Hamilton Holt, "The President's First Message," The Independent, April 25, 1921,

p. 423; "Hughes, Harding or Harvey," ibid., June 4, 1921, p. 586; "An Open Letter to the

President," ibid., June 25, 1921, p. 663.

63. Hamilton, Holt, "A Memorial Day Editorial," ibid., May 28, 1921, p. 560.

64. Hamilton, Holt, "Future of the Conference Idea, ibid. December 3, 1921, p. 227.

65. W. N. Gallinger to Harding, November 26, 1921. Box 696 Harding Papers. To

Gallinger's carefully sketched plan for "A Naval World Police Force," Harding replied

on November 29 that even though the fine idea was ahead of its time, "I am transmitting

your suggestions to the American delegates," ibid. Holt, on December 10, 1921, revived

the plan to enforce peace with his article, "A League to Keep the Peace," The Independ-

ent, 256.

66. See "The Arms Parley and the League as Rivals," Literary Digest, October 1,

1921, p. 7.

67. "Why the League Marks Time," ibid., October 8, 1921, p. 12.

68. John Chalmers Vinson, The Parchment Peace: The United States Senate and

the Washington Conference, 1921-1922 (Athens, Georgia, 1955), 162.

69. In addition to his many public pronouncements on an association of nations made

during the campaign of 1920, in his inaugural address, and first message to Congress,

Harding conducted private exchanges with prominent and less important Americans on

this subject. See William N. Allen to Harding, December 8, 1920. Box 119, Harding

Papers. Walter Clyde Jones to Harding, December 10, 1920, ibid.; George E. Bounelle to

Harding, [n.d.], ibid.; Senator Walter E. Edge to Harding, April 21, 1921, ibid., Box 695;

Robert C. Stuart, Jr., to Harding May 31, 1921, ibid., Box 119; N. M. Butler to Harding,

July 13, 1921, ibid. Box 693; Harding to Butler July 28, 1921, ibid.

70. Ibid., Collins to Harding, November 12, 1921, Box 694; see also, Chauncey Depew

to Harding, November 14, 1921, Box 695; Butler to Harding, November 15, 1921, Box 693.

71. New York Times, November 26, 1921; "What the Harding Plan Means to the

League," Literary Digest, December 10, 1921, p. 5.

72. Cited in "One Year of Republican Rule," Literary Digest, March 18, 1922, p. 9.

73. Henry P. Fletcher to Hughes, August 21, 1922; Fletcher to Harding, September

4, 1922; Harding to Fletcher, September 6, 1922. Author's capitalizations. Box 696,

Harding Papers.

74. Ibid., September 19, 1922.

75. New York Times, March 10, 1922.

76. Pusey, Charles Evans Hughes, II, 435-536. See also note 69 above.

77. Hoyt Landon Warner, The Life of Mr. Justice Clarke: A Testament to the Power

of Liberal Dissent in America (Cleveland, 1959), 116.

78. Quoted in ibid., 112.

79. Ibid., 127-133.

80. John D. Hicks, Republican Ascendancy: 1921-1933, The New American Series,

Henry Steele Commager and Richard B. Morris, eds. (New York, 1960), 85-90.

81. "The Democratic Tidal Wave," Literary Digest, November 18, 1922, p. 11.

82. Pusey, Charles Evans Hughes, II, 594-603. See also Hicks, Republican Ascend-

ancy. Hicks writes, "Hughes, who strongly favored American adherence, persuaded the

President to advocate such a course in a message to the Senate, February 24, 1923," 145.

83. Harding to Malcolm Jennings, January 6, 1922. Malcolm Jennings Papers,

1914-1923, Ohio Historical Society. See also Harding to Richard Washburn Child, March

30, 1923. Box 694, Harding Papers. See also "Harding's Fight to Keep the Reins,"

Literary Digest, December 23, 1922, p. 5.

84. Ibid., 5-7. "There will never again be precisely the old order; indeed, I know no

one who thinks it is desirable," he had said.

85. Congressional Digest, II (October, 1922-September, 1923), 230.

86. Hughes to Harding, April 5, 1923. Box 44, Harding Papers.

87. Ibid., Harding to Thomas F. Gailor (Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church,

Tennessee), May 25, 1923, Box 696; Harding to William A. Jones, June 7, 1923, Box 699.

88. "Harding's Chances for Another Term," Literary Digest, March 31, 1923, pp. 5-7.

See also Charles G. Dawes to Harding, April 25, 1923. Box 695, Harding Papers.

89. That most newspaper editors favored American entrance in the World Court may

be seen by a study of the weekly press summaries in the Literary Digest from March to

August, 1923. For reference to Federal Council of Churches, see ibid., "A Prayer for the

World Court," June 23, 1923, p. 34.

90. Ibid., "The Republican Rumpus," June 9, 1923, pp. 10-11.

91. Ibid.

92. Harding to Jennings, April 16, 1923. Jennings Papers.

93. New York Times, June 22, 1923.

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NOTES                                                                     195

 

94. G. W. Wichersham, E. Colby, and William H. Short to Harding, June 14, 1923.

Box 119, Harding Papers.

95. "Hiram Johnson's Opening Gun," Literary Digest, August 4, 1923, p. 16.

96. Hoover, Memoirs, 50.

97. Some of Adams' errors are, of course, accountable to the fact that he lacked

access to the Harding Papers. Yet a major one could have been avoided. The fact that

the President urged conscription of wealth in wartime on his 1923 tour, led the author

of The Incredible Era to exclaim: "At the outset of his term a thought so heretical

would have never occurred in his mind." Obviously, Adams had not read or had for-

gotten the inaugural address when the President said: "Not one penny for war profit

shall inure to the benefit of private individual, corporation, or combination." For Adams'

statement, see The Incredible Era, 368.

98. Warren G. Harding, Our Common Country: Mutual Good Will In America,

Frederick E. Schortemeier, ed. (Indianapolis, 1921), 287.

99. Harding to Dawes, May 8, 1923; Harding to Harvey, March 22, 1923; and other

miscellaneous materials. Box 697, Harding Papers.

100. Harding to Jennings, October 30, 1922. Jennings Papers.

101. Harding to Harvey, March 22, 1922. Box 697, Harding Papers.

102. Harding to Jennings, January 6, 1922. Jennings Papers.

103. Ibid.

104. Ibid.

105. Harding, Our Common Country, 160. The sentence was this: "But we do ask

all immigrants to think of 'America First,' to defend 'America First,' and plight an

unalterable faith in 'America First'."

106. Harding to Jennings, June 11, 1923. Jennings Papers.

107. Harding to Dawes, April 28, 1923. Box 695, Harding Papers.

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