The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1920-06-25
Davis May Emerge the Victim From
Deadlock in the Frisco Convention
Hand-Pick, Hard-Boi|ed
Delegates Compose the
Democratic Convention
BY MARK SULLIVAN.
Special Dispatch to the lntclligenCer.

SAN FRANCISCO. Cat. June "a
There is not enough here Yet to make Il
picture complete enough to do III" read
CT any good in estimating what the
what II is going TO do. All that is here
lS IN" managers Of some of the prrSl-
dental booms and their stafrs. plus the
national chairman and his STAN. Not all
the national committee is her" yet. not
even half. The delegates are not here
yet.
Not that the arrival Of the delegates
will make much difference. except TO
the eye The l.04@ Of thew will III THO
hall and crowd the streets, but they VIII
have less importanC" than tn" dele
gates had at Chicago.
Hand Picked. Hard Boiled.
The delegate to tn" Democratic con-
here and now. hand picked and hard
boiled" The primaries had little /" d"
with tho choice of these pcmocraiic
delegates. Th" recent primaries hay"
had no such relation to tho Dcmocrati"
situation az they had IL the Republican
situation. Only a handful of the Demo
cratic delegates are her" as the result
of primary contests. The delegates do
not come as the result OF contests in
their local communities. nor the result
OF ono strong man lighting another
strong man OF the entlr" l.0i". prob
ably not mgr" than nifty are cases whcr"
q man nNS1 come before thc people Win
an idea or in convention. and has
fought for It. of that sort Of thing
there has been little or nothing. ThCS"
delegates arc Uf the sort that haN" been
picked by men higher up. They viii
come with no strong convictions. wIth
few idees and few preferences a. 10
men. For tho most part trCy Will r"-
gard their function as merely 10 do
what their state leaders ask them TO do.
This convention will he what used to b"
80. ~ NaA 1f
party workers who have little thought
except TO do what Is dcCreed TO be best
by tho leaders. who arc the ruStOdIans
uC party wisdom.
As to tho Leaders.
cor4c then to tho leaders What nf
them The leader OF each Stat" in al
most every case. Is the man who is the
member OF the national committee from
his stat" or territory. Among ih"S"
tifty-two and a few others who haV" uu-
official positions OF power are the men
whose aggregate Of purp"S" will deter
minc what is done Most OF this group
are men nf neutral personality. Only I
few stand out Taggart Of Indiana and
Murphy OF New York are Old-time char
aCterS These two. with one other. were
For nearly generation a triHmvirat"
Of power in Democratic politics, This
other no longer lives. Roger sullivan
the three he was by far tho ablcSt and
tn, hest He was Of the heart Of prac-
'ical politics. In his rise from the hot:
tom hc had travelled all the paths Of
Nan citIes \ man must ho big 10 i'm,
press his will OF his fellows as he did
and keep their loyalty f.-r half n gem
eratlor. but Roger sullivan contributed
more TO Democratic Coun-clS than mere
" success In tho arts Of politics. ilr
had wisdom. breadth. humanity. TIL"
NaCapCy laft by his death will not nc
tlied by snyon" now in sight.
Other than Taggart and Murphy, only
few Of the state leaders are m"n Of
Stin smaller number are aVailabl" for
impcrsonal party counsel. The national
committeeman from fennsIlvania -
Mitchell Palmer. and h" is himself n
candidatc for the presidency. The ma
,ional committeeman from Ohio. l.. II.
Moore OF Youngstown. is ono Of the
most able and resourCcful men IN thc
national committee but h". too. has 4
personal interest which dcprivcs him
OF disiutcrrstcd party counsel. Moore
is the head and front Of tn" Cox presi-
dental boom.
MACK and Bryan.
Norman Mack "f Burial" has cot TO
the last degree ono OF The Qualities
which commend mon 20 leadership. but.
Ike tha others. Mack has an interest
h"rr which impairs his availability for
detached and disint"rcstcd party coun-
s,l Mack Is tho leader Of thos" who
hnlicvo that IN" Convcntio should adopt
n wet plank" and that wet plank
brings us 10 Bryan.
Bryan is not her" vet. Wh"n u"
comCs ne will assert himself. Your
correspondents belief is that Bryan will
have POWER hero. but will have il only
because his enemies make him n present
Of II. II Rryan were coming hcrc moro
" 10 try no mama tho nominee. merely
to try to make tho convention do his
will 7 do not believe there are ono hun
drcd men in tho convention who would
follow him. TIc might wcll meet his
Waterloo. Put Bryan's enemies arc 60
inC to try 10 force wet plank into
th,, platform. The large number of
delegates who are dry will rally around
Bryan as their loader. and Bryan by vir
tue of this gift from his enemies Will
have measurable power in tho conVcn-
tion