The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1920-06-28
SEES LONG FIGHT
/ AT SAN FRANCISCO
Lawrence Thinks. Many Bal
lots Necessary to Make
Final Choice
COX MANAGERS
BID FOR WET VOTE
May Create Deadlock With the Palmer
Forces, Who Will Lead at the Start
Then Convention May Swing to
McAdoo and Nominate Him.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
Especial to The Reformer J

4
| SAN FRANCISCO, June 2s-Plenty of
ballots will be taken before the Demo.
cratic national convention chooses its can
| dldates for president and vice president
| 1t looks like a prolonged fight, not per
| haps as long as the tedious struggle at Balti-
more in 1912, but with many of the very
same characteristics and alignments.
| Outwardly, the Wilson forces, meaning
thereby coalition of the Palmer and Nc.
Adoo delegates and goodly proportion
| of the Cox delegates, are in control Of this
| convention. There is a more or less in
| tfuential but hardly powerful enough mi
norlty which differs with the Wilson adj
ministration. This minority fuctuates be-
tween interest i'll the candidates. of Vice
President Marshall, former Speaker Champ
Clark, Senator Robert l.. Owen and a pro-
nounced sentiment for wetness in the plat
| form no matter who the candidates may
| be.
! In class by himself is William Jen-
nlngs Bryan, who can control big vote
on platform planks on the prohibition
question, but who cannot dictate the
nation either for himself 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 capacity for mischief
really ends there
| Now the big delegations from New
Y ork, Massachusetts,, New Jersey and H.
| linois are far more interested in a wet
plank than in candidates, chiefly because
they believe their state tickets can thus
be led to victory There is, moreover,
considerable anti-Wilson sentiment in some
lof these delegations The Cox man
layers have very shrewdly made bid for
this support on the ground that by nam.
| ing Cox, whose reputation is that Of
fwet, it would be unnecessary to- refeP-t-'
the prohibition question at all, thus avoid.
! ing any quarrel with Bryan. They have
insisted, too, that Cox wasn't a member
of the Wilson cabinet and would not be
held responsible for the errors of the ad
administration.
Speaking of strategy, however, each
camp has its own idea Of how the battle
of the ballots will be fought. Quietly
/ IL Is NulSEtt Nv tuC 1OA ulen iildl 1 dl-
mer and McAdoo will get into a deadlock
and Cox will be slipped in as the logical
choice Over in the Palmer headquarters
they talk about making drive for the
attorney general, taking the lead, and
then forcing the issue through the nres-
tige of the long lead that Palmer win be
shown to have above his competitors.
Now the McAdoo strategists figure it out
fba+ tho IaaIInnl- will 10 lot, -
and Palmer and that both will appear as
unable to get two-thirds Then, it is
reasoned, will be the time for the forces
behind McAdoo to come out in the open
One would infer from this that MeAdoc
delegates would, on the first few bal
lots, support Palmer or Cox as the case
may be and perhaps give scattering votes
to favorite sons only to shift at the psy
Geological moment and stampede the con
/ vention for McAdoo when the drive doe,
begin
Out of this kind of business may, o
| course, come the same thing that happened
in Chicago, namely elimination of tn
main contenders in favor of dark horse
| | Among those. reserve or compromise cand
| dates, the names of Carter Glass, Home
| Cummings and Secretary Meredith hav
/ been mentioned.
4 But at the present writing the momer
Il tum behind McAdoo is growing. He
Il hailed as the friend of labor. a bushes
Il executive who has demonstrated his abb
II Iity in the big Office of the treasury d.
Il apartment and in managing the transports
II ton systems of the country during til
II war The Democrats generally believ
H him their most capable man, but the pc
H sible use by the Republicans of the sol
II in-law argument is advanced by opponent
II of MeAdoo as reason for turning t
:. other candidates. The men behind NJ