Evening star., 1920-06-26
PROLONGED FIGHT
To PICK PARTY
CAND|DATESEEN
Wet Sentiment Evident-Cox
Managers ShreWd Bid.
McAdoo Growing.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

SAN FRANCISCO, June 26.-Plenty
of ballots will be taken before
the democratic national convention
chooses it's candidates for President
and Vice President. 1t looks like a
prolonged fight, not perhaps as long
as the tedious struggle at Baltimore
in 1912, but with many of the very
same characteristics and alignments.
Outwardly. the Wilson forces, mean
ing thereby coalition of the Palmer
and McAdoo delegates and goodly
proportion of the Cox delegates, are
in control of this convention. There
is a more or less influential but
hardly powerful enough minority
which differs with the Wilson admin
istration. This minority fuctuates
between interest in the candidates.
of Vice President Marshall, former
Speaker Champ Clark, Senator Robert
L. Owen, and a pronounced sentiment
for wetness in the platform. no mat
ter who the candidate may be.
Bryan in Class by Himself.
In class by himself is William
Jennings Bryan, who. can control a
big vote on platform. planks on the
prohibition question, but who cannot
dictate the nomination either for him
self or anybody else. He can veto any
candidate whose record on the wet
and dry issue is inconsistent with
such platform planks as may be
adopted That is as far as he can go.
and assuming that the platform will
have been adopted when the balloting
for candidates begins, Mr.. Bryan's ca
pacity for mischief really ends there.
Now the big delegations from New
York, Massachusetts,. New Jersey and
Illinois are far more interested in a
10 in a. ri
because they believe their state tickets
can thus be led to victory. There is,
moreover, considerable anti-Wilson
sentiment in some Of these deiega-
tions The Cox managers have very
shrewdly made a bid for this support
on the ground that by naming Cox.
| whose reputation is that of wet. it
would be unnecessary to refer to the
prohibition question at all. thus
avoiding any quarrel with Bryan.
They have insisted. too. that Cox
wasn't a member of the Wilson cab
| met and would not be held RESPONSE
BILE for the errors of the administra-
| tion.
| Various Lines Of Strategy.
Speaking of strategy, however, each
camp has it's own ideas of how the
battle of the ballots will be fought.
Quietly it is whispered by the Cox
men that Palmer and McAdoo will get
| into q deadlock and Cox will be
slipped in as the logical choice. Over
| in the Palmer headquarters they talk
about making a drive for the attorney
general, taking the lead. and then
! forcing the issue through the prestige
Of the long lead that Palmer VIII be
Shown to have above his competitors.
Now the McAdoo strategists figure it
out that the deadlock will be between
! Cox and Palmer and that both will
appear as unable to get two-thirds.
/ Then. it is reasoned, wils be the time
for the forces behind McAdoo TO come come
out in the open. One would infer
from this that McAdoo delegates
would, on the first few ballots. sup
port Palmer or Cox as the case may
be and perhaps give scattering votes
to favorite sons only to shift at the
psychological moment and stampede
| the convention for McAdoo when the
drive does begin.
Out of this kind of business may, of
course, come the same thing that hap
pened in Chicago, namely elimination
of the main contenders in favor of a
dark horse. Among those reserve or
compromise candidates the names OF
Carter Glass. Homer Cummings and
Secretary Meredith have been men,
toned.
McAdoo Momentum Growing.
But at the present writing the
momentum behind McAdoo is grow
ing. He is hailed as the friend OF
labor, a business executive who has
demonstrated his ability in the big Of
flee, Of the Treasury Department and
in managing the transportation sys-
TENS of the country during the war
The democrats generally believe him
their most capable man. but the pos
sible use by The republicans of the
son-in-law argument is advanced by
| nf
-zxs---r:----...---l -. o., az,