The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-06-27
OF TEN CANDIDATES STILL UNSOLVED PROBLEM Many Tickets to Be Put Up and Put Down Before One
 Is Nominated, Is
 Opinion
By Associated Press

ilOVe Q lIltO pOSlIiOH lOI Clc opening Monday there is ap- parently no more definite alignment of strength for va rlous candidates than there has been since the delegates began to assemble.
 William Jennings Bryan eritomized tbe situation today in language with which most observers seemed to agree.
 There win be a lot of tickets put up ard put down before this convention nominates one" he said.
 The closing hours of the pre- -conven- Iion period are much the same as char acterized the last minute proceedings of the republican convention at Chica- sc. There is a marked similarity in many respects.
 Seven hundred and fi'fty-six of the l.092 delegates are uninstructed. Their personal preferences cannot be assem-
 hled in composite review. There are
 ten candidates avowed, unwilling or receptive. l seems certain that some balloting on the convention floor will be necessary to disclose the lines of strength and weaknesss, clear the ground of favorite sons and compliment
 tary votes, and narrow the situation down to the real contenders out in the
 CEen.
 No democratic candidate comes to
 San Francisco with any such showing
 of pledged strength as was brought to
 Chicago by Wood. Lowden or Johnson.
 But, as at Chicago the situation at the
 opening revolves about a rivalry on
 issues rather than for the moment on
 ca nd idates.
 BRYAN'S INFLUENCE
 How much influence William Jen-
 nings Bryan will have in making of
 the party's platform and it's choice of candidate will be shown soon after the
 opening session of the convention Mon- day
 The first evidence of how much of force Mir. Bryan will be will come in the makeup of the resolutions com mittee, which will draft the platform and in the choice of the permanent or ganization of the convention These issues will bring about di- rect contest between the administra-
 tion forces and MT. Bryans forces If
 MT. Bryan finds upon the resolutions committee q majority of men sympa. thetic with his views on prohibition, the Leageu of Nations and other ques.
 tions, the chances of fight at the out set will be minimized
 If the administration men control and insist on declaration in support os the league covenant as brought from Versailles by President Wilson, MT.
 Bryan may oppose bringing the issue into the platform at all. Of course, l f the "wets" attempt to put in plank which runs counter to Mir. Bryan's de- clared views on prohibition, Mir. Bryan certainly will carry the fight to the floor of the convention. In such an event MT. Bryan will not be unan- swered and there are prospects of fire works, which might even eclipse the display which accompanied MT. Bry- a-,s fight at Baltimore, which culmi- reted in the nomination of Woodrow Wilson.
 MERE PRELIMINARY Mondays session will be mere nreliminary in which Chairman Cum mings will deliver his keynote speech the caucus designations for various committees, including resolutions and credentials. will be ratified and the convention will then adjourn so that the committees may work. If a fight within the committees de- laws the completion of their work be- yond Tuesday noon, the session that day may be anothZ routine affair. It is undecided whether the nominating speeches for the nine or ten men who will be presented to the convention will be delivered before the platform is brought in At the Baltimore con yention of 1912 the nominations were made before the platform was adopted but the usual custom is just the re- verse,
 Nobody professes to know what candidate MT. Bryan favors. No one professes to know with any greater degree of certainty what candidate President Wilson and the adminstra- tion forces may favor
 Rut at every turn of the road. as seeker after information searches through the delegations in an at tempt to assess their preferences and leanings Ne elusive McAdoo move ment bobs tD The play of politics is expected to show many shifting align ments as the convention proceeds ir it's discussions of party issues. There are many "wets" who opposing MT Bryan on the prohibition question will be found to be with him in bat fling the administrations desires on the League of Nations. Per contrs there are drys who will leave the Bryan camp as soon as that issue is i closed and join with the administra- lion in what it seeks to do in the making Cl q party PidAioitHt PALMER FORCES BUSY The Palmer people are working hard to get for the Attorney General the heaviest possible showing on the first ballot. They have an eye to the tradition of the party l-unbroken until 1912-that the man who gets a majority gets the necessary two thirds as the logical consequence. The Cox people profess to be satisfied with tEeir prospects on the preliminary ballot 1 ing and claim accessions from the efimi- nations which are sure to come after cer- tain pledges in complimentary votes have been delivered There are out and out McAdoo delegates who disI'>-.rd wholly the former secretary's declaration that he does not wish his name to be pre- scented and claim that the convention will need to take only a few ballots to topple its majority into their column, The claims of adherents of other candidates are full of confidence and hope. There is the same talk of deadlock and compromise candidate that was heard at the republican convention. Tn the compromise talk among the gathering delegates McAdoo generally is | brought out in the end.
 1 His supporters, seeing majority for neither Palmer nor Cox feel that in such m emergency the former secretary would
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