Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-05-11
WILSON PUTS POLICY
BEFORE CANDIDATE
Nav Law Down Series OF Specifi-
cations to be Met With WINE
and Beer to the Fore

Washington. Alay ll.-Now that frcsi-
H., Wilson has reasscrted his leadership
~f tbe Democratic party IN the matter
of nlatform pledges, leaders OF both
rarties Yesterday are wondering ne
LII ,,roceed one step further and un-
'Iartote IN name the candidate whose
business il will bc to defend the platform.
Ernn sources as nearly authoritative
a. tbcv can we'll he the information
,on,cs that Mr.. Wilson will not make
>bo;cc between the candidates as per-
s,,al;,ies hut that he will lay down q
sor;cs III specifications in the course oil
his nolitical addresses to his party to
which all those who aspire to carry 'he
marty banner must conform II theN are
ia he given the administration stamp
oi approval. - : IN
fnitelv more Interested IN the success o'
his policies than he IS IN selecting i'is
own successor. lie wants inc r''piu -
b;s administ ration, with both ITS doiileS-
RE and its foreign programs. mdorsed'
dofepdod and yindicatcd. moro passion,
atciv than he wants the nomination ana
slont;on of any fayoritc whom he may
secretly cherish. ~
And for that reason, If not tor others'
bc ;s not exnccted hy those who Know
his mind to even name an lhdiEluuai y,
,,hon, he regards as worthlcst 10 loiio"
him much less start out with the dtlio-
nrate n,,rnosc of debating the nomlna-
,,on of such n candidate. Insofar as
those Who seek the partY,s highest honor
kcen the faith, all will be equally ac-
ccntablc to the President. ,,
Rut there is no longer any doubt ina,
Mr. Wilson. the titular and the ac'uai
leader of his party, means 70 set ioi'p
certain qualifications, III the mat'c. -
policv. bv which the candidates Inust ~
measured. Already he has deait WIN
the neace treaty and the Dodge Ics,i Va
tlons. In his letter to the oregon l'e1h-
ocrats he called for the uneq,uNocai vi
dorecment of the Versailles Treaty and
CO. tba Conformation of the Lodge Res
rryations But it is significant that he
madc M mention Of other reservations
ri a milder nature and It IS known, rs
nointcd ont hy Senator Hitchcock TODAY
that he will accept some reservations y
there arc merely interprctatIvo lnstead
IT devitalizing in their erect
a. least four Of the Democratic can
didatcs for the presidency arc IN accord
with the treaty specification. ileE ar
: Mitchell Palmer, William q. McAdoo;,
senator Hitchcock and Governor 1oN q
Ohio. MIR. BRYAN is out Of tune ~ thal
direction and is the only party leader oi
the first magnitude who Is
There Is reason TO believe that IN tinc
the President will lay down second
qualification. lie will, il IS believed, ~
press once more his conviction that the
country should have legalized beer ana
light wines. This, Of course. IS no new
.dea Of his. He called upon Congress e
,rpepd the wartime Prohibition act C
allow wine and beer He later vetoed the
NoIstead act because it was too drastic
and if he champions some liberalization
Il nrohjbition prior to the assembling Of
the conventions he Will tie following :
very consistent line of action.
Three Of the Democratic Presidential
candidates are known 10 be IN accor6
with the President upon tins specihca
flor. They are MIR. McAdoo governor 60,
and Senator Hitchcock MIR. Bryan, q
every body knows. IS dead against It
Senator Owens Is dead against i and Mr.
Palmer has lined up with the rigid drys 4
such an extent that it might be difficult
for him to square himself with . light Uln'
and beer proposition.
As previously pointed out IN thes,
disnatcheS, most Democratic leaders hest
tate to adont a beer and VINE plank II
the platform They take the view that 4
do sowould he To invite a lot Of unnecessary
fighting within the party and call Tor :
great deal Of difficult explaining in thC
course OF the campaign. They hold /,
the view that the Democratic party al
ready is the liberal party Of the country
upon this question and that the very mos
that need be done Is nominate candidate