The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-10-16

PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS.
XXIlI.-The Follie. Of 1912.

cial point in the campai,r
together with Armageddos ~
singing OF Onward, Christs. 4
diess" insured q suficienf ~.
the Republican vote to mshs ri!
ocratic victory a dead cerfss.
Dramatic Conveutiess
The dramatic quality Of Il. &, /,
events began with the copS..s
and ended only with the ans.
ment Of the final result. -. y
publican convention with n 81
over contested delegates
Of the bitterest in the hia,sa
the country. One excited ~
declared that il . peraon,s D.,
lision should occur on tia e.
hundred men would be kil,ss !.
fore order could be restors1
was 30 confident of this ~
that he refused to allow NJ. =.
to attend the convention ~ ~
day. The event was much IL.
citing than that. In fact ~.
SO much as slapped anybody ~
face; but the contests were ~ ~
contested and Taft won On, -
hundred Of them while ROM
won about nineteen. tn n
Roosevelt bolted, with ~ .
nouncement that the fight =, 4
between the "peepul" and IN; q
rupt politicians. Came then 4.
Bull Moose meeting in Chtns
with its marathon cheers, liz -
plete harmony, and its cruni,.
spirit, marred only by the a.sl
ton in some minds as to just NJ
and why Mr.. LaFollette had ~
ditched.
The Democratic convention i,
Baltimore was hardly less e,et
ing, and here again the reason n
that intense and conflicting ~
sonal interests were jnyclN
Everyone saw that a Democntl
nomination was very likely b
amount to an election. Both n
Wilson and Mr.. Clark had 3.
porters who were ready to veil nj
vote to the last for their herus
The situation became truly dn|
matte as Clark forced his mi
slowly to within a few votes q tk|
coveted goal, and then slowly Nil
away again until the charge II
the Illinois delegation. under nns|
er Sullivan, settled the battle n
favor Of the New Jersey protesea|
West and East.
The three-cornered vote Of lslI
shed some interesting light on Vi
political complexion of various "
tons of the country. It shovd|
that the widest cleavage in Anal
lea is that between the west oil
the northeast. 1t was the val
that voted for Roosevelt, Hr|
marched to Armageddon singing
hymns-that. in a word. took n
iously to itself the hope Of ar
juvenation of American polifc
and OF an effective program Of liA
eral reform. 1t was the northeis
which stood fast behind Mr.. nut
unaffected by the winds OF chlit
and change. 1t was the solid soati
that elected Woodrow Wilson, ssle
" because he was Democrat \
was no more carried away by b!
moral .fervor Of the occasion tn
was the northeast. In a word, tAn
vote demonstrated what has b
come vastly more apparent sine
then. that the west is the tn
home Of liberalism and radical
ism in America. The west belisve'
in change. The west has natufi
resources and it wants them con
served. The east wants the stals
quo. Pie east has money misss
in private ownership and wants
keep it there. The fact that y
south is Democratic by habit Oh
the north Republican for the sam
reason has lost its signihcancs
The sectional line of political cles'
age in the United States. SO iaf y
there is one. has turned at rllb
angles and now approximately Co
innidas with the MiSSiSSinpi flvel