THE COWPUNCHER CANDIDATE

With Colonel Lindbergh eliminated because of his years, public opinion gives definite indications of making Will Rogers its choice for the next president. Favorite son of Oklahoma, mayor of Claremont, California, the humorist has been so long an important critic of politics that his qualifications as a practitioner are worthy of consideration. True he is a humorist, but he is a serious humorist. His comic spirit is no capricious tease, or polished wit, or jovial scholar, but the ghost of a shrewd, observant Yankee with twinkling eyes and pursed lips. It is the spirit of Mark Twain, or Josh Billings, or even Abraham Lincoln, people are saying. And his wit is surpassed only by his esoteric knowledge of his chosen field.

The man himself is, of course, as American as his humour, aboriginal in fact by the addition of a touch of Cherokee blood to remove the race prejudice. "Rogers is a statesman experienced, courageous, and safe and sound," said representative Howard in Congress in advocating his election. Certainly there is material in that body for the constructive wit of an enlivened Presidential spokesman. The Nation has honored his trip to Mexico. Liberty should endorse his grammatical standards, and his friend of Mayor Thompson his non-deference to ceremonial. In fact the only amusing thing about this projected campaign is the fact that it is not taken seriously.