The Washington times., 1920-06-08
bOSSESF|ND
LITTLE TO Do
Fifteen Brands Of Republican
Delegates All Doing Their
!, Own Heavy Thinking.
~ WILLIAM q. sHEPhnnD.
.IstsrHatienaI News Service.

ITS nne to come TO q convention uu :
bossed and be your own mans man. !"
He said \ Coliseumfull. "F
The proudest delegates at this con-
vention are the uninstructed ones and
there are lots OF them.
1--WE didn't come, here with any In
.stTuctions. only TO do the best We
can for the folks that sent us" 10
the boast of every uninstructed dele
IEate who has appeared on the scene
an Chicago.
One reason this convention 10 SO
little bossed is that there are too
many different kinds of Republicans
lin the United States. And It's why In
sali probability IL won't be bossed. to
any dangerous extent.
Just as we Americans discovered
after the war that we had different
sorts OF Americans with different
aeaninss and beliefs due TO birth. en-
'vironment, eduaction, size or lean
mess of pocketbook. etc. so the Re-
publican leaders of the old days. who
were accustomed to think of the rank
and nle OF their party as one certain
type of man, have discovered within
these past two weeks that there 10
more than one kind of a Republican
and that they won't all take orders
from the, same boss.
'' All Kinds Of Republicans.
looking over the convention hall
TO-DAY with it's 9S4 delegates you had
only to know a little about your
country. its geographical divisions
and a few other things. to discover
why the voices of the bosses are
weaker than usual this year, also,
why SO many candidates are seeking
the Presidential nomination. The only
wonder is that there are not more
candidates, that these 300 or more
delegates could all sit down together
In the same great hall.
The scale of Republicanism In this
convention hall runs the gamut from
Nicholas Murray Butler. aristocratic
president Of Columbia University, pet
tof millionaires, conservative to the
point OF Toryism. along to Hiram
johnson, from the far West, where
Roosevelt progressiveism was rever-
icnced and where liberalism finds a
hearing. -
!, There are Republicans who stand
Tor both these men. And there are
iother Republicans who stand in be-
tween, in scattering, separated
patches, for all the candidates. There
ARE fourteen candidates who have
been seriously mentioned, and, in con-
sequence, there are at least fifteen
different kinds of Republicans sitting
nn The convention hall, when Chair
Anan Hays gavel fell this morning.
The fifteen. the brand is the South
ern Republican. creature Of Republi-
hcan party holders in the South. relic
.of the old days, many Of whom have
come to the convention not knowing
how their little bosses will finally
tell them how to vote. .,.-- ..,..
They have been sauntering around
from headquarters during the past
few days, and they will wind up by
giving their votes to some few candi-
dates who think they need them badly.
The end of this great gathering. how
ever, will md them all on the band
wagon as usual. ...
Plenty Of Figuring.
What would happen at the Colise um
this year IL the bosses could COM
pletely control? On which candidate
would the bosses turn their guns!
Would 1t be on Nicholas Murray But
Ter. Eastern political exquisite. favor
Ste of Eastern aristorcrats? Or
would it be on the candidates who
stand next to him in line, men, who
have shown how friendly the Repub-
licans of fat pocketbooks really are
to them? Not at all.
What brand of Republicans would
lose their cause II the bosses had
their way? The answer is clear to
one who is here on the ground and
who knows past convention history
1t would be the liberal Republican
who could not have his way, the In
land Republican. the midwest Repub
licsn of the smaller cities and farm
| country, the Republican Of the far
west. These would be helpless be-
fore the bosses Of the old days.
Sympathy for Many.
Tho candidate who gains the most
from the absence of the bosses most
a perhaps Hiram johnson. In a con-
trolled convention the. bosses might
ston him at all hazards, even to a
split IN the party, like Rooseveit's in
The outstanding fact at the open
ting OF this convention, with the dele
gates all in their places and with the
session under way. is that no bosses
have yet appeared strong enough to
stop Johnson and that II he is head
ed offcit will be by the sheer, will ot
the massed convention. And this does
not mean, from what I have heard in
talking with scores Of delegates thai
he might not be chosen by an un
bossed ballot, beneficiary of this same
massed will
You can become almost tearfull,
sympathetic for some Of the candi
dates who have turned up in Chica
GO. Their. discovery that there wer'
too many different kinds of Repub
licans for any one man to control ant
that they had not chosen the strong
est brands upset their plans. A
least thirteen of our energetic can
didatcs are. soon going to see months
OF hard work and thousands OF hun
drcds of, thousands Of dollars throw
away Some of these thirteen know
even at tho opening Of tho conven
zion this morning that their caus'
was lost. .
Must Play Their Hand.
The bitter momeht OF a realisation
Of defeat has come and gone alread!
for some Of them. Now they viii
only 60 through the forms, rathe
than being called cutters by the few
delegates they have secured at sucl
cost.
There will be some bossins, o
txN g.