THE PRESIDENCY: Anabasis

“We spent this Sabbath day, I believe, quite as close to God Almighty as though we worshipped in temples erected by man, for we spent the day amidst the grandeur, the majesty and the inspirations of the great Yellowstone National Park.” So said President Harding at Livingston, Mont., shortly after leaving the Park.

There he and his party had rested for two days. He had found the wild animals tame, had fed bears sweet rolls out of his hand, had witnessed “one of the finest impulses that animates the heart of man” when the driver of the Presidential automobile had brought it to a stop to avoid running over two baby grouse, “no bigger than hickory nuts.” The President had likewise committed himself to the plan of local boosters to add 400,000 acres to the Park by annexing the Jackson Hole country and part of the Teton Range.

Next day the President bad the pleasure of driving the electric locomotive of his train for twelve miles— down the steep grade of the St. Joseph River and the fire-charred slopes of the Bitter Root Mountains.

The party’s following stop was at Spokane. There the President was taken on an automobile trip by the Governor and the state’s two Senators and shown motion pictures of the region, the reason being that Washingtonians desire the Federal Government to undertake an irrigation project there, costing about $250,000,000. That evening at Spokane, Mr. Harding delivered an address on “unlocking the treasure house of our national resources.” Without committing himself to the Columbia Basin plan, he advocated a gradual development of national resources.

Onward — during the night — to Meacham, Ore., went the Presidential party. There in the hamlet on the old Oregon Trail, high up in the Blue Mountains, the President was treated to a pageant in honor of the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Trail. Oregon would like the Federal Government to make the Trail a great highway. The state has also a $50,-000,000 irrigation plan for the Government, known as the Umadillo project.

The party got off the Special, and the President and Mrs. Harding, with the Governors of Washington and Oregon, drove in an old Concord stage coach. Mrs. Harding, who could not see the crowd well enough, mounted to the driver’s seat. In a j pine grove the party reviewed a pageant of Indians and pioneers — men with their trousers tucked in high boots, soldiers of half a century ago, representations of John Jacob Astor, General Fremont, Kit Carson, Buffalo Bill and others. To add to the local color there were log cabins, specially built for the occasion, and one correspondent recorded that the Indians employed were released from jail where they had been imprisoned for violating the Volstead Act. There the President delivered an address on the opening of the Oregon Trail, telling the dramatic story of the missionary, Marcus Whitman, and adding, “If it isn’t true, it ought to be!”

Next day, as the special train crossed the Willamette River into Portland, the British cruiser Curlew, lying at anchor, fired a Presidential salute. Later, by Mr. Harding’s special permission, British tars and marines marched in the Independence Day parade. (Armed foreign troops are not allowed on American soil without Government consent.) Twentythree I. W. W.’s in the crow.d were arrested for agitating for the release of “political” prisoners. President Harding spoke on immigration, advocating “quality, not quantity” to relieve our labor shortage. He also added, as an oblique reference to “political” prisoners:

“I would like to acclaim the day when there is no room in America, anywhere, for those who defy the law, and those who seek our hospitality for the purpose of destroying our institutions should be deported or held securely behind prison walls.”

At Tacoma, for the first time, rain fell on the Presidential party.

Umbrella -ed crowds on the streets watched for the President’s car to pass. Mr. Harding spoke at the stadium in justification of the Government’s handling of its shipping problem, and the necessity of having a merchant marine. When he finished, his car whisked him off directly to the transport Henderson, which was lying in the harbor. Two more days of rest. The President sat on deck and smoked his pipe as the Henderson steamed up the coast of British Columbia between the islands and the mainland. Two destroyers, the Hull and Corry, acted as escort, equipped with sounding apparatus to protect the President from shipwreck on the numerous submerged crags which dot the channel. The first stop in Alaska was at Metlakahtla, where the President spoke to a group of Indians and expressed sympathy with their desire for citizenship. Later in the day the Henderson docked at Ketchikan. Governor Bone and Dan Sutherland (Alaskan delegate to Congress) accompanied the President to his speaking stand. Mr. Harding told the assemblage that Alaska was “already a source of wonder” to his party and added that he knew of no place in the United States where one could find a better looking group than those people, right there. At Ketchikan, also, for the first time, Secretaries Wallace, Hoover and Work, who accompany the President, made short speeches. Nor was Mrs. Harding forgotten; the Women’s Club gave her a chain and locket of gold nuggets. Towards evening the Henderson set out once more—for Wrangell.