Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-04-29
LOlDden or Dark
Horse May Win

Continued from Page Ono
third ballot observers generally in
Washington believe that his strength
will begin to disintegrate. He will gain
some votes. He will probablyl lose
more votes.
Wood May Weaken
Wood has made the running in the
primaries, and, as often happens to
the man who goes out in front, the
general opinion is that he has run him
self of his legs. He has no reserve
strength to call upon. His maximum
possibilities are pretty clearly known.
He has tested himself everywhere.
His great offensive was like the great
German offensive Of 1918. When IL was
through the Allies knew that Germany
was through. That Woods position is
similar is the view of everybody except
the Wood people themselves. They in
sist that their strength will not be-
gin 70 disintegrate after two ballots,
Lowden, 1t is declared, will stand sec
ond to Wood on the first ballot and he
will not be so very far behind Wood.
He will have nearly all the delegates
from Illinois, Iowa. Missouri and Ar
kansas. He will have rather more Of
the southern delegates than Wood. ,
The Lowden delegates have not for
the most part been picked in popular
primaries. They are not instructed for
Lowden by preferential vote, while
being really for some one else. Many
of the Who'd delegates in Kansas want
to vote for Lowden. The same is true
in Minnesota. Not few of Johnson's s
delegates want to vote for some one
else.
TRAINED. Seal'' Delegates
But the Lowden delegates are mostly
of the trained seal" variety. They
are machine people. They believe in the
machine. They know that the machine
hopes to put LowdeB-over. While that
belief lasts they will stay with Lowden.
That insures their support beyond the
second ballot. Lowden has the forces
that make the nominating combinations
behind him. In the chemistry of the
the chemists are just now
for Lowden.
Wood and johnson can only be, nom
mated by a combination or by stamped
ing the convention. The men who make
the combinations are against them both.
Both Wood and johnson failed to
hold back their stampede until the con-
vcntion was reached. Each tried to
stampede the country instead. The
Wood stampede broke in Michigan. The
Johnson stampede broke in New Jersey.
New Jersey strengthened Johnson. but
not enough to nominate him. Neither
of them will have any stampede left in
them when the convention assemblies.
The weakness of Lowden is that he
represented only the hopes of faction,
perhaps, Of the more powerful faction.
But the faction is still chasing rain
bows. 1t has dug up all the ground
around one end of the Harding rain
bow and found no pot of gold there. 1t
likes the looks of the Lowdcn rainbow
now. IL is a very bright month be-
fore the convention rainbow.
Machine. Made Rainbow
Another trouble with Lowden is that
his rainbow is distinctly a machine
made rainbow. 1t is painted by hand
on blue canvas sky. The painters
when they went away left their pots of
colOrs standing down at one end of the
rainbow.
If Lowden is nominated we have had
Il very elaborate popular primaries, only
to choose the man who got the least
votes. The people have been consulted.
4 good many of them have said that
they wanted Wood, a good many others
have said that they wanted Johnson.
very few outside of his own state have
said that they wanted Lowden.
The primaries have done one thing.
They have made Johnson a power. If
Johnson plays ball" he can say
whether Lowden will be nominated or
rot. He may say whether Sproul will
be nominated. He may say whether AL
len will be nominated.
lis idea of the middle of the road
will differ very much from
the Old Guard idea of the middle of the
road. He may think the middle of
the road is about where Senator Ken
yon stands Or he may be more in
tcrested in the defeat of the treaty than
in the economic issues, and he may think
his friend, Senator Knox, stands ex-
actly in the middle of the road.
Johnson will have few delegates in
the convention, and those few he can
hardly deliver. His strength will be-
outside. The Republican party needs
him to elect its candidate. 1t will need
him on the stump. 1t may tell him
to 'go to thunder" But it probably |
wont.