The Red Cloud chief., 1916-06-15

delegations seeking their seats, no
spontaneous demonstrations when the
notabilities of the party entered.
Senator Warren G. Harding, selected
as the temporary chairman. evoked ap-
plause when he stepped forth to &C.
cept the gavel.
MIR. Harding had been chosen to
sound the %keynotes, and of curse he
did sound several for the party at
preparedness, protective tariff and
straight Americanism. But first and
foremost he sounded what was meant
to be the keynote for the party in con.
vention assembled and for the Bull
Moosers several blocks north I'm the
Auditorium. That keynote was har-
mony.
Harmony fairly radiated from Mr..
Harding's countenance; IL oozed from
his outstretched hands; II flowed in a
stream down among the delegates
but there II seemed to stop. He spoke
no harsh words of the "erring broth.
ers" OF 1912, but exuded enough har.
llOllN w nlhht IL Dtli''lly easy "
them to slip back into the party with.
out a bit of friction. He didn't swat
the Bull Moose with a club, or scOld
It. but stroked its ears and sought to
remove painlessly its horns and mas.
sage its snout into the scmblance Of
an elephants trunk. How well he sue
ceeded the closing event of the two
conventions demonstrated Truth to
tell, there vas every evidence that
Senator Harding had no desire to stir
up anything much with his address,
for the old.line leaders had not yet
discovered Just how they could save
the party by accomplishing the defeat
Of the Democrats next November.
An U~ndercurrent Of Fear.
Beneath the smooth surface of events
in the Coliseum was apparent to the
close observer a distinct u~ndercurrent
of fear-fear Of what the Progressives
would and would not do. The latter
had gone into convention with the
frankly and loudly expressed intention
Of nominating Colonel Roosevelt and
no one else. Moreover. they intended
to force his nomination on the Repub.
leans. The Republicans were split
into two great camps. One, the al.
lies" was made up of the forces sup.
porting the dozen or more ~"favorite
sons" The other included the sea.
soned men whose purpose. seemingly,
was the prevention Of Roosevelt's
nomination. To bring this about. they
were willing to support Charles T.,
Hughes.
The allies" were ready to give each
Of their candidates q fair chance, and
then proposed to combine on one-but
which n they couldn't determine.
Meanwhile. in the Auditorium, the
radical Progressives were clamorins
to nominate the colonel at once and
let the Republicans indorse him or &c
through the experience Of four years
ago. and only the strenuous efforts OF
George w. Perkins and q few other
wise ones held them in check to await
the peace negotiations that were "a
come later. and come in vain.
No wonder that fear ruled. 1t looked
as though the man down at Oyster Bay
held In the hollow Of his hand the
fate Of both parties. and he sat there
nearly as silent as the associate Jus
tice. To be sure he did send WORD
that he would be pleased to come and
address the Republican convention Il
1t desired to hear him. but no such de
sire was manifested.
So the first session moved quietly
to its conclusion. and the only really
spontaneous burst OF enthusiasm wa.
that which greeted the announcement
by Sergeant at Arms Stone that {
thousand automobiles. provided b,
Mayor Thompson's committee, wer,
waiting outside to convey the dele
gates to their hotels.
What the Women Won.
On Thursday. though the rain con
tinued undated, the convention added
a touch of color to It's mourning CARL
state OF mind, I'm recognition of tn
progressive platform that was pre-
sented by the scholarly Senator Lodg,
I'm behalf of the committee on resolu
tions. To be sure there was nothin,
startling In that platform, nor any
thing very unexpected. If you excep
the plank on woman suffrage. Ant
there was where Senator Lodge de
veloped an unexpected vein OF sar
donic humor. The Republican party,
he read. with some flourishes inserted
"favors woman suffrage"-he paused
and many Of his hearers. especial,
the women, cheered loudly for a min
ute-"but recognizes the right Of eacl
state to settle this question for itself.
concluded the senator. Louder thai
ever was the shouting that greete,
this, but It was derisive, and all clut
tered up with laughter.
And yet the women had won a ger
uine victory in obtaining even thi
qualified Endorsement OF their cause
and felt we'll rewarded for their effor
of the day before. That effort, thei
parade down Michigan boulevard, wa