Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-03-31
CAN POPULAR SENTIMENT
NOMINATE Mr.. HOovE2f
It viii Have to Be Overwhelming Il
the Professional pdltieians
Are to Yie,sto II

II viii Have to Be Overwhelming II
the Professional aTItieians
Are to Yle,sfo II
Nov that Liver has announced
~ himself L.begins to look as il the
most ims6rtant question before the Re.
puhtean party in the first week in June
might be whether its national leaders
have learned anything since 1912.
We say might be-" for the reason
that the issue is still framing itself, and
no one can tell what the outcome will
be.
There are already signs Of a ground
swell for Hoover. Clubs urging his nom
ination for the presidency are being
formed in all parts Of the country. Men
who worked with him in the food ad
ministration are taking active part in
the campaign to capitalize Hoover senti
ment. In New York city Hoover meet
ings are being held in private houses and
public halls. They are attended by
earnest and enthusiastic men and
women. Hoover clubs are being formed
in various colleges by members of the
faculties and by the students. Men of all
trades and professions are writing let
ters to the newspapers urging his nom
ination. And many men and women
who have not yet become vocal are
thinking Hoover day and night, and
hoping that events will SO frame them
selves as to force the Chicago convention
to nominate him.
But nominations are not made by men
who write letters to the editors, nor are
they made by college students or pro-
fessors. br by the people who attend
meetings in the parlOrs of private
houses.
The professional politicians at pres
ent are looking at the activity of these
people with an amused tolerance. They
know that delegates to conventions are
not elected by such activities and that
nominations are made by delegates. The
party organizations put up their tickets
to be voted for at the primaries, and
their workers get out the vote and the
organization voters vote with the or
ganization, and the delegates elected in
this way take their orders from the
leaders.
The weakness of Hoover from their
point of view lies in the fact that he has
never been a party worker. So far from
being a party leader is he that the other
leaders are not acquainted with him. He
is a rank outsider whose friends are try
ing to force him upon an organization
that has no use for such as he.
IL the leaders have their way they will
nominate some one who has trained with
them in the past, and whom they can
trust to train with them when he gets in
the White House. This is their view of
party government as practiced in the
United States.
Mr.. Hoover cannot be nominated un-
less this view of party government is
upset The men urging his nomination
are hoping to be able to upset it and
to set up in it's place government by the
voters of the party instead of by its
leaders. If their plans carry they will
organize the sentiment of the rank and
file in favor of Hoover, and where pos
sibIe elect Hoover delegates TO Chi
Cago over the opposition of the machine
and trust to the demand of the voters
to convert other delegates TO their
cause.
1t is a big undertaking. Under or
dinary circumstances and with diff
ferent kind of a candidate it would be
impossible. But they believe that with
Hoover the thing can be done. They are
aware that Mr.. Hoover is the one man
who came out of the war with a bigger
reputation than he had when he en-
tered it. They are aware also that Mr..
Hoover's fame is due not to military
achievement, but to successful organi-
cation of humanitarianism 10 mitigate
the ravages of war. And they do not
ignore the fact that he is more familiar
with the world problems growing out
of the war than any other man seriously
mentioned for the presidency in either
party. These are the selling points in
their campaign, and their pertinency
and force cannot be disregarded.
1t is conceivable that this campaign
will succeed and that more Republican
voters will desire the nomination of
Hoover than any other candidate. 1t is
possible also that a majority of the
party would be bitterly disappointed if
any other man should be named IN
Chicago.
Under these conceivable circum-
stances it will be up to the leaders to
decide whether they will profit by the
lesson of 1912.
Ia that year the demand for the uomi-
nation of Roosevelt was strong. His
friends insisted that he had a majority
of the delegates legally elected and that
enough Roosevelt delegates were un-
>eated TO give the nomination TO Taft.
This was disputed by the machine leaders,
but the result in November vindicated
the claims of the Roosevelt supporters,
for Roosevelt polled 900, 900 more votes
than Taft and he got eighty eight eec-
toral votes, while the candidate acai-
mated by the organization leaders against
the oppOsition.of the progressive wing of
the party got only eight. And as a re-
suit we have had a Democratic Presi-
dent for the last seven years.
The lesson of 1912 is that the senti-
ment Of the voters cannot be ignored
with lmpun.ty.
We shall know in a few weeks how
widespread the Hoover sentiment is
That the demand for his nomination is
becoming louder every day is evident to
the most casual readers of the news
papers. But it must increase in some
thing more than loudness, for a few
mon can mako a hig noise pSnpcialIy 10