Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-08-09
COX AND HARDING
CEREMONIES SEEN
IN SHARP CONTRAST
Staging, Psychological e.
fects and Political Signifi-
canoe Analysed.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

| son of the Cox and Harding notifica-
| ton ceremonies would be as valueless
as an attempt to compare the respec-
| tive qualities of the two candidates
themselves. They can be contrasted
but not compared. And just as each
candidate is a different type of man
! SO was the notification ceremony IN
each case a different type of affair
! The Harding exercises were har-
monious with the small town celebra-
ton idea. The Cox notification was
distinctly big city function-lndeeo
very much like a state fair with DIE
| crowds, plenty of bands. marching
| clubs and cheers
| The republican managers depended
| for their stage effects on simplicity
and solemnity and publicity opportu-
mites outside of Ohio. The democratic
managers depended for their stage
| effects on jazz and concentrated theii
attention on ONO.
! Making Il Contrast.
| Delivery of the speech by Gov Cox
| was secondary to the instilling OF en-
i thusiasm into thousands OF party
| workers, who went back to all parts
| of Ohio with plenty of ginger and
fighting spirit. The speech itself mao
been printed in the newspapers OF
the country when the governor start
ed speaking. The parade was about
| the biggest thing of its kind in TWEEN
lty years. If one could close his eyes
for a moment and forget the names OF
the parties which had nominated Cox
and Harding the contrast involuntarily
would mean that Cox was the repub-
lican nominee, the business man. the
aggressive defender of the league of
nations on the basis of economic adj
vantages and the foe of high taxation
with splendid political organization
and lots of street parade. while Hard
ing would normally At in with the
democratic style of campaigning. with
its Jeffersonian simplicity, with the
appeal to the mass as an unpreten-
tlous citizen who wants common
counserr:in government. and with the
ti-expansion cries voiced by Bryan
in 1900. when America got the Philip
pines and became a world power.
Really. leaving the party labels
aside, the notification ceremonies
they reminded one of republican
functions of bygone days. Gov. Cox
himself stood in the reviewing stand
and waved his hat, as Roosevelt used
to do, at every marcher in the parade.
The same affection came up out Of
yelled for Jimmy" Cox, and he would
yell back first names galore.
Anybody who sat and watched the
parade go by for two hours could
not but have observed the deep-root-
ed loyalty Of the marchers to Cox.
They threw up their hats as they
went by. they cheered him again and
again as IL he were some military
hero rather than q mere candidate.
Even the coal miners. who came with
their torches on their hats, tried by
their banners to express their graft
lation benefting their working con-
ditions.
A special effort was made to bring
folks from Marion, Senator Hard
ings home town. and about fifteen
mostly laborers and their families.
marched in the parade-for normally
the town of Marion is about evenly
divided as between republican and
democratic victories. All this
astounded this correspondent. who in
the past week tried hard to find a
single window in Marion without a
Harding picture in it.
One Defect In Ceremony.
The one big defect in the cere-
mony was the long speech of intro
duction by Senator Joseph Robinson
OF Arkansas, permanent chairman of
the democratic national convention.
who took long while to tell the
governor he had been nominated. In
deed, after Mr.. Robinson had spent
considerable time denouncing the
Senate rules for permitting unlimited
debate and filibustering, he managed
to hlibuster the crowd into WEAKNESS
while it waited patiently for the main
speaker of the day. The Harding
managers did much better. They cur
tailed Senator Lodges speech and
gave Harding all the time he needed.
But the latter spoke in a small
pavilion where oratory and eloquence
feet. while Gov. Cox stood in the
open air under skies that sprinkled
shower of rain intermittently or
else poured hot rays of sunlight on g.
sweltering crowd.
The parade Of democratic strength
was the thing. the speech of accept
ance was secondary. In fact. the Cox
managers must have realized that the
delivery OF the address could not be
impressively, for they
nad copies OF the speech printed and
distributed in the crowd so that folks
could take them home to read or per
haps could follow the remarks easier
as the governor spoke. Only the
small crowd Of a few thousand who
had seats in the covered stand could
really enjoy the spoken words. They
evidently liked the speech, for, after
several hours Of speaking they shout
ed for more" and almost compelled q
speech from Franklin Roosevelt, vice
presidential candidate, after Gov. Cox
had concluded.
Features Applauded.
Applause came frequently and with
unquestioned spontaneity AS the
governor compared President Wilson
with the soldier who was wounded in
the world war. declaring that one fell
in the trenches while the other broke
down with the overwhelming labors
of the war, there was an unmistak-
able response from the crowd. The
! league OF nations. too. got as much
applause as any part of the speech.
especially as the governor outlined
his two vital reservations and then
said he was in favor Of going in the
league.
high taxes was cheered and if the atti-
tude of this crowd is an index of what
Ohio folks like, it is apparent that they
want to hear more about reducing taxes.
From political point of view. the affair
was success. The speech satisfied the
tee women. who had come from many
different states, and it stimulated the
Ohio democrats to redoubled effort II
! was more of jollification and political
| festival than the Harding ceremony.
But there again comparisons are diff
cult Tho Cox managers used the oppor-
| tunity to open the campaign in this, a
doubtful state Of twenty-four electoral
votes The Harding affair was staged
for psychological effect everywhere as
repetition Of tina Mckinley style of
campaigning. And the notification cere-
monies in each case reflect exactly the
type of campaign that is coming, with
Harding mostly on the front-porch in a.