The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-06-06

sentiment. ne Sdlu. was Nho hSNSAi
 na ation of the public to keep America
 at home. That is, however. only one
 side of it. The determination is based
 on the feeling that we have enough
 to do to settle our own social prob
 lems at home without spending our
 energies abroad and involving our
 selves in commitments there.
 NOT A BIG PERSONALITY Wood is less articulste than John son, does not talk so much about him self. and does not say what his candi- dacy represents But it is plain that
 it is the point of view which he rep resents that counts. not the man. It is an accident that he. not someone else. represents it.. It is at the oppo-
 site pole from the Johnson point of view. however guardedly the ex- agencies of politics cause both of them to be expressed.
 Were either of the men big per- sonality, born leader of q worthy cause, inspiring passionate ardor among. his followers, he would win. But neither is. Still. the two antag- onists promise to fight each other to 3 standstill before any use can come out of this convention. This is so because there is no one in the party strong enough to keep the conflict in bounds or to avoid its being carried on to the point of exhaustion by bringing for ward some third personality wso rep resents compromise or who, like Hughes in 1916. typifes a little clear lv the success of one force over the l other.
 The strategic element in the situa- | tion is the Lowden delegates. If there ] were leadership here, if there were a , real old guard, big enough to have it's behests obeyed. it's most powerful fig , ures would already have laid down the ] law to Lowden. They would have said to his managers: We were for yor as the way out, until the rough stuff about Missouri was shown up But 1 now you won't do. No one can be nominated for President who gets | caught giving money to delegates After three or four consolation votes 1 you get out. We shall need your dele l gates for the man we are going to l nominate" And the Lowden forces | would have bowed to the will of the l leaders.
 NO ONE STRONG ENOUGH | But there are no leaders. There is no 1 one strong enough to say this to the l l4owden managers with an assurance that it will be accepted Informal con ferences go on with respect to the Low den delegates. based on the assumption that the Illinois governor now clearly cannot be nominated. These efforts Of the politicians who are trying to eliminate Wood and Johnson will increase when men like Senators Watson and New the strongest surviving representatives of the organzation. arrive here and co-operat to with the rather queer long distance teie- phone leadership of Penrose. which acts through John T. King.
 There are three parties to the contest, the Wood forces the Johnson forces and the organization forces. All are proo- ably thinking up ways to eetting the Lowden delegates when Lowden era cks or when he accepts defeat and seeks a combination. The Lowden deeeates. if 1ghe bulk of them can be believed. would solve the problem before tho convention | if they should combine with Wood. Wood would be nominated If they should go l to Johnson they would start a move ment (Which would probably lead to the nomination of Johnson. If thev should | cooperate with the organization in an ef- ] fort to nominate a dark horse, the band
 waeon would start for that dark horse. l The natural alliance of the Lowdan 1 mana gers is with the old organization. 1 T4owden himself had virtually become the
 oreahization's candidate before the Mis-
 sour revelations. But the organization |
 advantaee of the opportunity created by lthe present weakness of the LowAen car- didacy It must he a ble to find a can l didate and agree upon him. It must he
 able to hold together for him big block | of 1,n;nstrrcted and favoritn votes. | ONLY WAGON MINES EXCEPTED
 Up to the present there is no sign of 1 ca acity for leadership
 1 Nothing is in evidence but the shadow | 1f yar,f an,yi,, tt,n by Mir. John T. King, emerging from
 | the telephone booth and letting it be | known he has just called up Philadelphia l The republicans comfort themselves !, strongly with this knowledge. At least
 Philadelphia is called up. Tn a day o' Iigeneral weakness at least the tradition of Penrose is strong.
 1 The tendency of all units is to hold to-
 eether until something definite is in sight
 People are listening atten.ively for ths
 uproar in the convention that is not ar limitation. that has the spontaneous sound which indicates the arrival of daciiSOp