The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1920-06-24

member Of the foreign relations COM
mittee which was Systematically
"packed" by the munitions and war
supply interests to defeat or delay
of Nations. He is a reactionary of re-
dictionaries, standpatter of stand
patters, feminist anything and every
thing of a progressive nature what
soever. The record of his votes in
the senate would make Theodore
Roosevelt, if he were still alive, use
language similar to that which he APP
piled to Penrose, Hale, Smoot, Can
non, Sherman and Brandegee, when
he fought them. He called them all
"the faithful representatives of the
malefactors of great wealth." What
ever that means.
Harding had been selected last win
ter by little group of bosses that
run the senate, as the most likely
candidate. They had determined that
emphasize the fact that this is fight
between the senate of the United
interests, and the president of the
United States, representing the for
ward looking sentiment of the people.
Feelers put out, however, showed
that Harding's candidacy did not
arouse particle of enthusiasm in the
country. General Wood got out for
a time it looked like chance for him.
The senate bosses, who did not know
him and did not entirely trust him,
were willing to accept him if he could
WIN. Wood, however, failed to
rouse and wild enthusiasm. Then
Lowden of Illinois got out, and Low
den was acceptable to the bosses, but
in spite of the vast sums he spent in
buying support he failed to get any
where. Whereupon the senate bosses
following a preconceived plan, mere
ly trotted out their erstwhile favorite
and sent peremptory orders to the
convention to put him in nomination.
There was a great deal of hot ar
let loose about "autocracy,'and "boss-
ISM, in reference to the president.
The convention cheered every time
some ten cent politician used the
word. And then it calmly took orders
from one man-Boies Penrose, sick
at his home in Pennsylvania. When
the proper time came, Penrose tele-
graphed his personal ukase to the
other senators who were bossing the
show, and the jig was up. In room
of the Blackstone hotel, at 4:30 Sat
urday morning, a small group of
treatywreckers in receipt of the Pen
rose order decided for a hundred and
ten million people. They left the
hotel spreading the glad word every
where "Name Harding" The conven-
ton began to obey just as soon as it
got settled down to business that
morning. State after state went to
Harding, and finally Pennsylvania
gave him her sixty votes which Pen
rose held in the hallow of his hand,
and the show was over.
In order to judge what sort of
folks sat in the convention it is only
necessary to know that the only men
who were loudly cheered upon APP
pearance were Senator Sherman of
Illinois, who but a few weeks ago
bitterly abused the American Legion
and the labor unons, and who all
through the war did everything he
possibly could do to help the Germans
without committing open treason;
Uncle Je Cannon, whose criminal rec
ord in the older boss days is without
parallel in American congressional
history; Chauncey M. Depew, dead
and buried this many year in the
political cemetery; rSsnator Lodge,
who presided and made the"keynote"
speech. All applause was under ord
err. The name of Boies Penrose, arch
enemy of Theodore Roosevelt and of
all progressive ideas, was likewise
greeted with cheers, and every ref
erence to President Wilson as
"boss" was a sure guarantee of APP
proval.
Of course that kind of a crowd
could be expected to do just what
they did do with the minority report
of the platform committee. This re-
port advocated some of the progress
sive things that Roosevelt believed in
and that have since his time been &C
cepted by everybody, regardless of
politics who looks forward rather
than back. Representative Gross,
who read the report was Kissed and