New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-03-29
Openly Arrived At"

herein also are reserved.
Openly Arrived At!'
Attorney General Palmer is about
the only Democratic statesman now
seeking the Presidency who retains
belief in the doctrine of open Pres
idential nominations openly arrived
at. The others have been arguing
for uninstructed delegates and q
convention which will be free to
choose a candidate and draft a plat
form to suit itself. This attitude
marks a strange relapse from the
convictions of the Democratic party
when it returned to power in 1912.
Mr.. Palmer, though f1oeking by
himself, is still in favor of letting
the voters have the controlling voice
in such matters. He said recently in
an address to some of his Pennsyl-
vania supporters:
81 am not in accord with the sug-
gestion that the people shall take no
part in the campaign and that un-
pledged delegates to the national
convention should be left perfectly
free to make such a nomination and
write such a platform as political ex-
pediency or the plans of party lead
ers at the time may dictate. To deny
the people their right Of selection
would be distinctly backward step,
which I would be very sorry to see
our party take"
Mr.. Palmer could have strength
ened his case if he had quoted this
declaration of the Democratic ma
tional platform of 1912:
Eve call attention to the fact that
the Democratic party's demand for
return to the rule of the people, ex
pressed in the national platform four
years ago, has now become the &C.
=. cepted doctrine of large majority
Of the electors. The move
ment toward more popular govern
ment should be promoted through
legislation in each state which will
permit the expression of the pref
crence of the electors for national
candidates at Presidential primaries
We direct that the national commit
tee incorporate in the call for the
next nominating convention a re-
quirement that all expressions of
preference for Presidential candi-
dates shall be given and the selection
of delegates and alternates made
through primary election conducted
by the party organization in each
state where such expression and
election are not provided for by state
law"
When Congress, in the winter of
1913, was about to submit consti-
tutional amendment limiting Pres
ident to a single term, Mr. Wilson
wrote letter to Mr.. Palmer
strongly Directing to such action, in
spite of the fact that the platform
on which he was elected pledged him
to support the principle of single
term. His intervention blocked the
passage of the amendment in the
House. 1t had already passed the
Senate. In that letter Mr.. Wilson
went even further than the Balti-
more platform had gone in support
of popular Presidential nominations.
He wrote:
There ought never to be another
Presidential nominating convention
and> there never need DC another
The nominations should be
made directly at the polls Conven-
tons should determine nothing but
party Platforms and should be made
up OF men who would be expected. il
elected, to carry these platforms into
effect"
Is Mr.. Palmer the only Democrat
whose memory travels back seven OF
eight years? Mr. McAdoo, ex.
Speaker Clark, Mr.. Hoover, Mr.
Underwood and others are keeping
out of the primaries. And President
Wilson, by his continued failure tc
renounce third nomination, is max
ing it extremely difficult for them tc
do anything else.
The pursuit Of the Democratic
nomination has degenerated into a
"still hunt" The great idea of 1920
seems be to arrive at nomination
at San Francisco through the old
fashioned secret methods, so often
held up to reprobation, which were
to be, but have not yet been, elimi-
mated from diplomacy and politics.
Policing the Ruhr
Thu Rnhr district nm ,uhioh 4le