“Without Precedent.”

Had Mr. Hoover been elected for a second term, with an obedient Congress, only Republicanism would have had to be reckoned with. But the depression avalanche buried Republicanism beyond even the best hopes of the Democrats, and left in office till March the most enormously defeated President in the world's history, with another man of another colour on the doorstep. Thus there are two men to deal with—until March. It is said that Mr. Hoover created a precedent when he asked Mr. Roosevelt to confer with him on the urgent debts question raised by the Notes. If so, it is a precedent worthy of an honest man. Where the executive authority is with one person and the moral authority with another, co-operation seems to be the best short-cut to decision. Whether it will succeed in this case is still not clear. Democratic party managers may wish to leave Republicanism alone in its embarrassments. Mr. Roosevelt may be man enough to rise above that