The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1920-01-21
WESTWARD HOw

at the decision OF the Democratic Ma
tional Committee to hold their Presi-
Dental convention in San Francisco
But to the rest of the country the
announcement will be somewhat start
ling, for most Americans have forgot
ten that it was California which de-
cided the Presidency four years ago.
In planning to journey out to the
Pacific Coast the Democrats are re-
turning a compliment paid them when
the men and women of California
preferred Mr.. Wilson to Mr.. Hughes.
Ever since the first white settlers
stepped ashore on the Atlantic sea-
board the center of population has
been moving West. The census of
1910 placed it in Indiana, and when
we receive the conclusions of the
present counting of noses we will
find that half of the people of the
United States live on either side of
an imaginary line which runs close
to the eastern border of Illinois.
In the first half of the Nations life
no Presidential convention ever got
away from the Eastern Coast Balti-
more, with its contagious gaiety and
unimpeachable cooking, was the ia
vorite meeting place. 1t was not I'M
til 1856 that the Democrats led the
way across the Alleghanies, naming
their candidate in Cincinnati. Four
years later the Republicans gathered
in Chicago and selected Lincoln. By
1876 the Democrats dared to go as far
as the Mississippi, and in 1892 the
Republicans went "out West" to Min
neapols The West continuing to
beckon, in 1904 the Democrats cross
ed the Missouri and reached Kansas
City. Four years later they negotiated
the plains and met in Denver. This
year they are going all the way to the
farther coast.
There will be a certain saving of
car fares for the delegates from the
Philippines, Alaska and Hawaii, but
gentlemen from Maine, not to men,
ton Porto Rico and Florida, will be
obliged to dig deep. However, Cali
fornia is hospitable and enthusiastic
and no doubt the hosts will be glad
to make up any little personal deficit
in order that all may be present.
Considering their training and as
sociations, delegates to a nominating
convention are often strangely emo
tional The place of meeting has more
than once settled the question of cam
didate. The history of the United
States might have been different had
the conventions of 1860 not met where
they did In that year the Democrats
were at Charleston, the citadel of the
slave-holding aristocracy, and the Re-
publicans gathered in Chicago. Mr.,
Lincoln was not the Republican fav-
orite, but Illinois was his own State.
The Western boomers filled the gal
ieries with their persons and the air
with their shouts Abraham Lincoln
became the nominee.
The people of California, whether
native-born, or recent settlers, are
boosters first, last, and all the time.
Whatever may be the intention of the
National Committee in selecting San
Francisco, the meaning which Cali
aNN 30 &c % n
They will be sure that the party has
gathered in their midst in order TO
start a Californian on the way to the
White House To them this can only
mean one name, and that is Hoover.
To be sure he was not born in Cali :
fornia. After all, man is unable to
settle that detail for himself But he
knew enough to be educated at Le-
land Stanford and to make California
his home.
There will be no reticence in the
welcoming delegation which meet the
travel-worn delegates at the station.
Californians awlays require the ears
of all who visit them. AS soon as the
trains stop, members of the conven-
ton will be told that Mr. Hoover is
the first citizen of California and of
the world. 1t will not matter whether
the politicians of both parties decide,
contrary to Mr.. Wilson's Jackson Day
letter, that the treaty and the league
are better out of the campaign than
IN it. the Pacific Coast boosters will
push home the argument for Hoover
as an expert in international relations.
They will have truth behind them,
for the next administration must be
able to deal in a sure way with
Americas relationship to the rest OF
the world
N -