Evening star., 1920-06-15
BUTLER TELLS HOW
NEWYORKBL0CKED
EFFORTS FOR WOOD
Claims General Was Placed
in "Unhappy Position" by
Stock Gamblers.
b. the Associated Press.


NEW YORK. June 15.-Charges
that, "a motley group OF stock gam.
olers. oil and mining promoters, nu.
milton makers and other like person:
seized upon SO good q. man as Gen
Wood and with reckless audacity
started out to buy for him the presi-
Dental nomination" were made in a
statement here by Nicholas Murray
6utler, an unsuccessful candidate for
the republican nomination
IT was the cause OF genuine sor-
row TO me. as to many others Of Gen.
see him put in this unhappy position.
There was nothing to do IN order to
save the republican party but to de-
feat the band Of men thar were be-
hind him with their bark accounts
and and their great financial influence.
Gen Wood himself.
The forces that were defeated in
'nelr lnsolent attempts to buv the
nomination he added represent all
that Is worse in America business
and American political life 1t is
reahs 100 bad that they hit upon
Gen. Wood as their choice. They
should have found some one to sun
por1 TOT whom the country has less
respect and less regard"
To Prevent Auction Salc.
The chief task Of the convention :"
the statement said. was to prevent
the sale of presidential nominations
az auction to the highest bidder. Had
ms NOT been done. the party faced
not only certain defeat. but crushing
aishonor. The sixty-eight New York
first ballot were the chief factor in
stopping the 'Hindenburg drive to
oVerwhelm the convention by the
power OF unlimited money and by
s'rong arm methods in preferential
primaries" 'i'iai
The story of New. York's sixty
eight votes for Butler shows. the
statement said, how Gen. Wood was
heIeated 1t points out that the first
oallot gave Gen. Wood a substantial
,ead and that the first task. there
lore. was to bring the vote Of his
nearest rival. Gov. Lowden. at least
up to Woods vote"
Owing to local and state complica-
tons. the statement explains, there
were very few sources from which
new strength for Lowden could be
Drawn SO early in the balloting.
pennsylvania. Massachusetts,. Michi :
gan and Ohio could not help. it added,
because the release Of delegates in
those states probably would give
Wood more votes than Lowden.
Would Protect Honor.
TT was clearly necessary. there
fore" the statement continues, for
New York to become the Belgium Of
the war. and cheerfully gave my ap-
proval for the plan to turn New
York's vote to Lowden in increasing
volume on the second. third. fourth,
NTH. sixth and seventh ballots.
sent word to the New York delega-
ton by James r. Sheffield that with
me party success and party honor
came first I also said that no per-
sonal interest of mine should be con-
sidered until party success and party
honor had been protected.
1t was this New York vote for
Lowden. taken from the sixty eight
votes that had been cast for me. that
ballot and that enabled him substan-
TALLY to equal the Wood vote on the
ballot Immediately following. When.
after the seventh ballot. 1t was clear
that Lowden could not be nominated.
we helped the drift toward Harding.
and on the ninth ballot became the
decisive. psychological factor by CIV
ing Harding sixty-six votes.
Harding and Coolidge" the state
ment closes. ARE. first Of all. patri-
otic Americans, and. next. republicans
20 the core. We are to have the sat
.sfaction Of supporting and electing a
real republican ticket. We may now
look forward with complete confidence
to the restoration Of the national gov
ernment to its old foundations. which
are love and reverence for the Con-
stitution OF the United States"