No more crucial instant than the present could be imagined, at which might come a national election. Almost every question upon which it is the duty of the Congress of the United States to pass, and the decision of which it is the prerogative of the president to execute, is under discussion. The determination of an American foreign policy, the revision of tariff regulations, the solution of labor problems, the extent to which the government shall control public utilities, the difficulty of adjusting the prices of necessaries to the requirements of the citizenry, all at one time are up for consideration. Upon such a variety of points will the electorate base its choice of a president.

Whether the course be justified or no, it seems evident that the majority of the voters in this country will take the cost of living to be the paramount issue of the November elections. The average man is a selfish beast, and holds his material comfort at home above the welfare of his more distant neighbors. Self-interest is a natural instinct, and by more than one token is it apparent that the hopes of business prosperity, more nearly equable tariff adjustments, trade stimulation and national economy which the election of a Republican ticket seems to insure, will prevail over the continuation of a Democratic administration with its attendant ills, and the promise of "going in" to the League of Nations without reservation.

To that minority which holds the foreign relations of America above mere material prosperity, which cherishes international good will beyond the gratification of national prejudice, the selection of a chief executive is not easy. The essential differences between the rival nominees are few. The question resolves itself into one of parties and principles.

The CRIMSON believes that the principles for which the Republican nominee stands may better be applied to the solution of America's problems than may those for which the Democratic choice is advanced; it believes that the internal well-being of the country is in large measure dependent upon a change in national administration; it sees in Senator Harding's later utterances hope of our entrance into the community of nations with such restraining stipulations as will be at the same time agreeable to the majority of Americans and provocative of the more efficient working of the League.

The CRIMSON believes, moreover, that the lasting establishment of the League of Nations is more safely assured under the guidance of a Republican administration supported by such leaders as Root, Hughes, Taft, Hoover, and Wickersham, than it could possibly be under the Democratic hegemony of Murphy, Brennan, Taggart, Nugent, and the powers that lurk in Tammany Hall. Accordingly, therefore, the CRIMSON pledges its support to the election of Senator Harding and Governor Coolidge.