The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1912-07-12
uNDERwooo's PART m WILSON
TRlUnPH

raiFn managers made possible the
mnninafiun of Woodrow Wilson on
sac ioFty.alxth ballot In the Baltimore
eanFeuiion. upsettlng plans made by
che haanes within less than an hour
before the dramatic release of the
Underwood delegates.
The strategy which finally swept
che Sullivan. Murphy contingent off
theiF feet and which gives Underwood
: triumph even in defeat was as fol-
inus
Illinois. with It's s. votes. had prom
laed Co swing from Wilson to Under
Noad during the day New York had
expected "a follow suit. the promise
being % give Mr. Underwood a try
ouL lust as CLARK and Wilson had
been tried
ki fhe end Of the forty-ffth ballot
. Nroup 81 Underwood supporters de-
handed q showdown from Illinois
Roaer sullivan. with the delegation
in eharse. said he proposed to switch
back 60 Speaker Clark on the forty
aiKth ballot throwing Wilson and do
ina CLARK little good
sullivan Fails
when sullivan failed 10 make good
els promise TO come 10 Underwood,
Senator Baukhead turned on his heel,
walked 20 lhe platform and released
enc Underwood delegates. Sullivan
uns told by Underwoods faction that
I've 90 NOT propose to see the Under
wood strength used as a mere buffer
90 prevent the nomination of Wood
ros Wilson or any other man. We are
noi ia the trading business"
Al ihe end 81 the forty-fifth ballot
Wiluon vas within l00 votes of the
nomination. bat had been making
slow progress on the preceding two
ballots
underwood's normal strength was
about 1919 delegates. and nearly all
81 them preferred Wilson as second
choice
The release OF Underwood dele
gates assured Wilson the nomination,
Tor The outgeneraled Illinois delega-
tiun dared not knife the Princetonian
after the Underwood states of Ala
bamn. Florida and Georgia voted for
him on the forty-siNth ballot. with
Missouri ready 10 follow with its IN
derwood votes.
sullivan, Murphy a Co, had moth
ina 20 - except climb aboard the
handwagon. and they did. Murphy,
realizing his efforts TO further dead
lock the convention had failed. smiled
Erlmly as he voted New York for
Wilson.
Neither Sullivan nor Murphy. how
ever. have any claim to the Wilson
nomination. for the Underwood vote
gave the Wilson movement an ire
slsiible momentum that meant the
breaking of all lines.
Ready TO Return to Clark
Before Senator Bankhead made his
sudden announcement Withdrawing
the name of Underwood a Tammany
lieutenant hurried to the platform and
whispered TO the inner circle that IL
linols was ready to switch back to
Speaker Clark.
Meanwhile the Underwood mana
gers were on the floor asking Sullivan
when he proposed to vote for Under
wood, as he had been promising to do
from ballot TO ballot. When Sullivan
announced the delegation would go
back to Clark for a while the Under
woodites decided the manipulators
were attempting to hold the Alabam-
fans vote for deadlock purposes and
TO thwart Wilson's nomination
Il required about a minute for Sen
ator Bankhead, Congressman Clayton.
Heflin and others to agree that the
moment had come to pull down the
name of Mr.. Underwood and to per-
NIT his delegates to vote for whom
they pleased. Senator Bankhead, to
the CONSERVATION of the machine
politicians, released the approximate
100 Underwood delegates, telling
them he had no suggestion to offer
as to the recipient of their votes.
II is possible, if this had not trans
pired in this rapid-fre manner. the
convention would have dragged on
for hours, as the balloting had be-
come an endurance test between
Clark and Wilson, with the latter far
in the lead and slowly gaining.
Illinois might have come to Under
wood eventually. The Underwood
people undoubtedly had assurances
that they were in line for the Illinois
votes. Impatient over the delay,
they naturally asked for something
tangible on the forty-sixth ballot,