Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-06-26
THE CRACK IN THE BELL
A STORY OF POLITICS IN PHILADELPHIA

available space remaining in the hall.
balcony en- balcony, and those unable TO
the building like some vast human stam-
pede. for a new thing was being born
in Philadelphia.
Reform conventions had been held be-
fore in the City of Brotherly Love. but
here was an organization that was dif-
ferent. Its program of reform was
limited and definite. 1t did not under
take to reconstruct the nation nor the
i ssapy snd so os
diateiy to reform the Republican man
agement Of the Republican city Of Phil
adelphia, and there was appeal in this
appeal and the promise of success be-
cause the aim was SO direct.
In the enforced absence of the chair
man of the executive committee, Victor
Robinson. as vice chairman, presided.
ness of his hand upon the rein, and 1t
liked It because It was stout. Every
body knew that Robinson never courted
crate, reasoned way. and e people
went with him. well and good II they
did not, Robinson went on just the same.
But everybody was going with him
on the platform. to the last division
leader in the hall. everybody thought he
knew what was going to happen.
its first frs thri,l IN the low of selfdiscovery.
These delegates had worked in ioneii.
ness in their respective divisions. for
more than a year. plodding patiently in
perate feeling that he was solitary
navigator on unknown seas Sometimes
a man in a division had gathered In the
Of open adherents of his cause; and al
though he had seen some other division
leaders of his ward. he had never seen
the other division leaders of the city.
L.. hi. t,A~ ~1Alx ftaA
word of others; and he had come out
almost timidly to this vast meeting
place. half wondering IL he and a few
others were not to make themselves abb
Surd by an exposure OF the smallneSS
and insignifcance of their numbers.
When such men discovered the great
hall filling rapidly; when they stood up
faces, acc each Of which had a few minutes
before been as anxious as their own,
and when they. recognized. moreover.
that this was not a mere mass-meeting.
enced vote-getters--and that there were
SO many, many of them-their spirits
scared swiftly. Hearts leaped. eyes
were shouted Songs began to rise. rail-
lying, manly. fighting songs. They sang
Marching Through Georgia" and "Over
There" when the band led them they
shouted their very lungs out with the
Star Spangled BANNER"
And the citizens on the platform ex-
perienced the same kind of a thrill as
the humber division workers when they
looked down and saw for the first time
the men whom they were to lead, and
who. in turn were to lead the voters Of
the city to the polls, 1t was like huge
training camp of political officers. and
not a little Of the inspiration afforded
came from the fact that men of every
stripe in the city's life were represented.
There, for instance. in the orchestra
seats was the head of chain of retail
drug stores, who had flare for people
and was the leader of division out in
the suburbs. where he had rallied mil
lionaires and small shopkeepers alike to
the slogan of a better city. Beside him
was a well-known music teacher of the
city, a man of Polish extraction and
Polish enthusiasms. His division was
the block downtown.in which his studio
was located.
And there, all around them. were hun
dreds of men, some of them Of the hum
blest type. mere unskilled workers. but
with certain instinct for ne:ghborli-
ness. moderate capacity for leadership
and a yearning for better government
in the city of Philadelphia.
The Hants of the mass Of these people
were very simple, but very definite. An
honest administration of gas and water,
of police. fire and street departments,
the magistrates courts and the division
Of housing and sanitation. would have
were the parts of the city's government
that touched them nearest. For them
they had come out to fight.
But. IL the men on the platform got
inspiration from looking at the men on
the floor, the men on the floor got in
spiration from looking into the faces of
| their ward leaders and financial sup
porters. and the volume of this inspira-
tion was increased as one by one these
men were identified and pointed out
prominent banker, two great manufac-
turers, a score of professional men, and
here and there a citizen whose name
| connected him with families which had
been prominent in the city's life since
| the days of the founder. And all stood.
today. on the democratic level, all were
united by common desire to make their
home town better place to live in.
! Everybody vibrated to the recognition
| Of this fact, Victor Robinson with the
others. Standing up, he lifted his gavel
I for quiet. In the hush that grew gradu-
ally until silence was complete, the gavel
fell and the convention was in session.