Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1920-06-16

on practically each candidate was re
ferred to as friend and heir of thu
departed ex-presldent.
Battle Of Ballots.
The balloting began on Friday nigh,
and four ballots were taken at tha,
time. On these ballots General Wood
was the leader, with Governor Lowden
fairly close second. After the first
ballot a motion to adjourn was made
but was promptly voted down by a
combination of the Wood and Lowden
delegates who felt that their only
chance to win lay in preventing further
conferences on the part of the leaders.
Another effort to adjourn was made
after the second ballot and a roll call
Of the states demanded. 1t, too, wa
voted down by the same combinatio'
of delegates. At the close Of the fourth
ballot Senator Smoot advanced TO the
front of the speakers stand and moved
an adjournment. A roll call was again
demanded, but the demand was ignored
and an aye and no vote called for.
Both sides In the controversy exerted
all their lung power In an effort to en-
force their will on the chairman, but
after conference of senate leaders
ON the speakers stand, the chair ruled
an adjournment had been voted.
Back to the council rooms went the
leaders, and to these rooms were sum-
moned the men who were directing
the fights of the candidates. Efforts
were made to bring about some sort
Of a compromise that would result In
nomination on Saturday morning.
But threats, promises and appeals in
the interests of party harmony were
all In vain. The three candidates,
Wood, Lowden and Johnson. who
were leaders in the voting, refused to
give place to any one on whom the
senatorial leaders could agree. They
wanted to let the delegates fight 1t
out on the floor of the convention and
continue the balloting until the dele
gates had expressed their choice for
the first place on the ticket without
any influence being exerted On the
part Of the party leaders. and tempo
rarily they won.
When the first 0allos was taken
at the session of Saturday morning
it showed but little change from those
OF Friday night. Through the first
four ballots of Saturday General Wood
and Governor Lowden we're running
neck and neck and on one ballot were
tied with 311h votes each
Again there came a demand for ad-
journment and again the Wood and
LOwden forces combined to prevent it, !
but without result. After another
at the back of the |
speakers stand between half a dozen
senatorial leaders the session was ad-
journed despite the protests of large
part of the delegares.
Leaders Take Control.
Almost instantly there flashed
th"s-..h the great building the rumor
ator naruihs as e. decided on Sen
force his nomination, ana 1sss.-.,,I,
going to try.
Could they do it? Did the leaders
control enough delegates TO name the
leader of the party ticket? The gen.
eral verdict was that they could;
that the uninstructed delegates would
do their bidding. Senator Johnson
and General Wood refused to release
their instructed delegates, and on the
ninth ballot the Illinois delegation
STAYED with Governor LOwden, the
Pennsylvania delegation stayed with
Governor Sproul, and the New York
delegation continued to split among
several candidates. At the end OF
that ballot Senator Harding lacked
100 votes of enough to nominate him
and 1t was thought for time the
leaders were going to fail, until Gov
ernor Sproul was known to have re-
leased the Pennsylvania delegation to
Harding, and with that the effort
to climb into the Harding wagon
started on the tenth and final ballot.
In the end all instructed delegations
were released, but many of them de-
clined to change their last registered
vote, and the final ballot was an
nounced as given at the head of this
account. All through the balloting "a
Wisconsin delegates had persistently
registered their votes for Senator La
Toilette, and when, after the last bal
lot had been announced it was moved
to make the nomination unanimous
these "a delegates voted against the
motion.
II took but short time to select
Governor Harding's running mate
Governor Coolidge, Senator Lenroo'
of Wisconsin, Senator Gronna Of
North Dakota, Governor Allen of Kan
sas, and Colonel Anderson iof Rich
mond, Va, were named as candidates
for the place. There was but ont
ballot, Governor Coolidge receiving
678 votes, and the ticket was com
plete. The Republican convention o
1920 was thug of the past.
Part Played by Women.
One of the features for which tn
convention just closed will long b
remembered was the participation o
| th4women. Ii Is doubtful If they ha
| any decisive part In the actual namln
| of tho candidate other than the fey