The Washington times., 1912-10-03

In Drhnt1mR une mFut Oh Inc TImeg
canspaign stories ~ famous authors.
II r. scarcely necessary to introduce
Richard Harding Davis 70 AmerieaA
readers. since, ~ . CUB reporter n
New YORK; hs jumped Ante fame with
his classic "Gallegher5 asA "van Bib-
Der" stories. be hes alleA the msgs.
sines snd kept the book presses busy.
He II our Hsgician Of words, the
man, above any other now writing n
EngiisA, who ean string together Q
plain noun. IN uncensiAersA adjective,
sad common verb snd make then Q
picture or . message.
Besides his long and notable list Of
short and long Actior, he has done
enough reporting n twenty years 10
satisfy one ordinary career. He has
followed three great world wars. He
has gone to the bottom Of the Cengs
situation. He has reported the West
from . car window and England from
the seat Of . trap. Into all that work
-the reporting which Il literature--
he las Put the same vtsien ana the
same magic OF words. HIS last big
Job was the reportiRg Of the national
sad state conventions. and this IL the
account Of that incisent. wSieh he re-
gards ~ the NEST sisniAesnt one in
the political history Of the strs,se
year 1919.
The story Of "Suspender Jack" and
Of how he saved the day at the Bull
Moose convention at Syracuse no
longer 10 Of news interest"
But the moral Of the story to
everybody who has q vote will con-
tinue to be of interest up to the 9Th
Of November.
Long before the Syracuse conven-
ton the Progressive party had been
promising the voters Of New Yorh
State that the man who Joined that
party would be Embossed" would
be free to vote a. he wanted, would
be free to choose the men who were
to represent him. would be his owr
master. To voters who for yeari
had been herded and driven BY
Barnes or Murphy, or by Barnes and
Murphy working as a team, thai
sounded like a fine promise. But al
ready they had heard 1t many times
Before they answered the call Of tn,
Bull Moose. they wanted to be sur,
the Progressive party could delive,
them from bondage. They were no
content to swap old bosses for new
They did not want to hear them
selves crying to Roosevelt. "Yo,
have rid US Of kings, be thou king!
The convention at Syracuse an
swered their doubt. It proved tina
to the people of that State in tn,
Union in which lived the most peo
pie, the leaders Of the Progressiv
party hold to their promises.
! Free to Choose.
The leaders kept their hands OF
that convention. Probably never |,
our political history has there bee
one so entirely Embossed, SO unrule
by one man or bv a team Of mer
never one in which the delegate
were left SO free to make their ow
choice, nor one in which they ohos
with greater wisdom. But who the
chose, and that they chose wisely.
, not the point The one point q
5 greatest value is that they wer
5 tFREE TO CHOOSE.
As 1t unfolded, the drama Of th
: convention was told by telegraph
| all the country. But, In q more leii
|, urely fashion the story always wi
4 be worth retelling.
!, For five hectic hours the delegate
had listened to speakers secondin
: the nomination of the two candidate
for governor. The delegates wei
e willing to listen. Each wanted tin
: In which to make up his mind. B.
Il fore him was an embarrassment ,
q riches. Between the two candidat,
4 It was a hard choice. The troub
with each was that no one could fir
anything to say against him. Al
> so, each delegate, like small bt
n in front of candy shop windo'