Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-06-10

tions and the po- @
| liticak Slants of 3$s
| the paper which ~ 3:%3$*
prints my little S sS
! pieces. 1t, there #
fore, results that s
l, as the reporter, 3E$$$$s$$# % $Ss$:$#
| may let my fancy &$$ $50 $ $$
rove wild and S $%s% $ a$$$s8
free on the news ~ %#
page say n
things about the
affair which the editor on the editor
ial page may coincidentally or sub
sequently take deep joy in refuting
as utter heresy. At the same time,
one advantage remains to me-the
stuff I write goes to the reader be-
fore the stuff he writes does
shall now proceed for a brief space
to make full use Of that advantage.
Let us take, for example, the sub
ject of a national convention. You
may take almost any national con-
vention of almost any party, practl-
cally all of them share certain com
mon characteristics. PERSONAL pre-
fer to lake the one which started here
today as offering present and
timely and a typical case.
Take the delegates. Most of them
en- route the well-known Pullman or
canned ptomaine of the dining car
and the rigors of the Pullman berth,
in order to get here. They have
come freighted with a sense of re-
sponsibility. They are wearing their
best clothes. Their bosoms bravely
CLEAN with grand badges. A favor
ed few among them will get places
as dummy members of hand-plcked
committees.
Whisper But Have NO Voice
They are weighted beneath the
burden Of the obligation which rests
upon their, shoulders; They confer
portentous and concerned demeanor
And yet not one delegate in fifty act
ually has any voice, however puny
and piping, in the real deliberations.
unless, following deadlock the con-
vention should be swept off its feet
by a burst of oratory from some un-
expected source; unless some un-
broken and unbranded Maverick colt
of a prevalent darkish complexion
should lead a stampede, the pros
poets are that not one delegate in
fifty will have an opportunity, to ex-
press and to record his individual
preference for any candidate other
than the candidate selected by some
one else and for whom, by order
from on high, he will obediently cast
his vote.
He is here to sit in the show win
dow with the rest of the wax works,
He is not expected to do anything
on his own personal account. To
permit him individually, to indulge in
any miscellaneous and independent
thinking would be dangerous to the
plans of the hidden powers and
might entail a perilous strain upon
his mentality. The thinking is in
the hands of competent experts and
does not concern him.
I inscribe these words on the
subject of the Republican national
convention. With equal truth may
pen them three weeks hence with re-
gard to the Democratic national con-
vention.
Let us take the dramatic aspects
of the matter. The carefully pre-
pared and rehearsed theatricalism
which the spectator beholds spread
before his vision in a convention city
| is merely a standard device of the
concealed stage managers. Planned
beforehand to furnish popular
spectacle, any national convention
run on Isiness principles would do
| it's work ad name it's ticket and,
barring unforeseen and unlikely con-
tingencies, could adjourn in eighteen
| hours.
| Behind the Scenes
The real drama goes on behind the
scenes. 1t is going on now behind
| the scenes where Uncle Murray
! Crane, the most noiseless thing that
has come out of New England since
| the Maxim silencer was invented, was
| comforting with Senator Reed
Smooth, who laugh the tabby cats
of Utah, how to stalk mice, and
| where over the long distance telephone
wires, the cautious voice Of Senator
Boies Penrose is at intervals saying
Hush, hush.''
So far as the public ear is con,
cerned the audible effects of these
invisible and unpicturesque of coun-
ciIlings is about as noisy as the
| sound produced by a streak of moon
| light. Failing upon the surface o1
| cup custard, and yet therefrom
sooner or later, the actual fruitage 81
the convention will almost inevitably
| issue.
Take the scene when convention
gets under way for it's opening SEES
| sion. Pursuing my right of choice
I shall take the scene presented to-
day at the coliseum.
There was comedy aplenty but Il
was of the unconscious variety main
ly. To some it may have appeared
cornetist of the official brass bant
struck such sour note that -four
bars of America, the Gem of the
Ocean," clabbered as solid as {
smearkase. Some may think that thu
| funniest spectacle was unWittingl4
| O11ereQ by a long line OIL SuII laQleS
who stood on the sunny side of ;
hot street patiently cooking theil
compilations to a rich golden oal
tone. But to my way of speaking
Mr. William Jennings Bryan's littl'
boys hat struck the first and fore
most note of hilarity.
Bryan's Boy-Size Eat
Mr.. Bryan must have been pass
ing a place where they were adver
Using a cut sale of seasonable wear
ing apparel for the tiny tots ant
having an eye ever for a bargain h
dropped in and picked himself GU
a rollo lid that had been left owe
from last season. Perhaps he wa
trying to recall the happy days whe1
he was a boy orator of the Platte
or was it the boy profligate? Other
wise his costume, as is customar.
with him, was chaStely that of
prosperous peasant. Constant wear
ing of halo has worn his back hal
away somewhat: Otherwise he look
just as he did four years ago whel
I last saw him sitting in the sam
press row where today he sat-
Mr.. Bryan, as you know, goes t
all national conventions. He goe
to Republican conventions as a re
porter and to Democratic convention
as a candidate. It is believed b,
his friends that he may eventuall
succeed at one of these two profes
sions. But if 1 were him 1 shoul
drop candidating as calling and be
l.