The evening world., 1920-07-28
HARDING DENIES
HE WAS CHOSEN
BY SENATE GROUP
Looks Upon Nomination as a
Reward for Faithful Service
to Party.
By DGUid Laurence.
Special Correspondent Of The Even
Inn WorId

MARION. Ohio, July 2s-CCopy-
right, 1920 Many are the versions
Of the way IN which Senator Hard
ing's nomination for the Presidency
at Chicago was accomplished. Poll
ticians have retold their own part
in the affair with proud boast
But here, where resides the man
himself and has most intimate
friends the true story must be, and II
the details which one gets here are
not conclusive. certainly the most i'm
portant thing Is that Senator Harding
has the impressions which he does
have, and not the impressions which
have hitherto been printed or been
current
For Senator Harding told me he was
honestly convinced that he did not
owe his nomination TO any one man
or group Of men. He said that no
recognized that three or four OF his
friends were perhaps moro influential
than others and he feels deeply CRATE
full TO all, but he Is absolutely liked
in his conviction that certain people.
including his much discussed col
leagues, did not dictate the result.
! The Republican candidate for the
Presidency Is a party man and he
isn't the kind who would dampen the
enthusiasm or nrdor of any party
worker by denying or refuting inn
pressions OF their work at Chicago.
Moreover, he Is the last man in the
party 10 assume he did St all himself.
But what Senator Harding modest
ly refrains from saying there are
others in his headquarters here who
DO not hesitate to say. And they In
slst that several men consplcuously
mentioned and good many others
in the Senatorial group were serious
ly advancing the candidacy OF Will
Hays, the Republican National Chair
man. in the hours between the morn
ing and afternoon session OF the Sat-
urday on which Mr.. Harding was
nominated.
There was not one conference but
a series of conferences during the
small hours OF Saturday morning.
Senator Harding himself went to see
Senator Johnson at o'clock in the
morning TO enlist the latter's aid in
a movement to preserve party har-
mony and keep the Johnson strength
intact. As he left the conference he
met others in the same hotel and fell
into friendly and unexpected meet
ings.
In a previous article the writer er-
roneously mentioned the name of
Thomas w. Lamont of J. =. Morgan
& Co. as present in one Of these
conferences. Mr., Lamont was in
the hotel. but the writer is assured
ne had absolutely nothing to do with
the choice OF Mr.. Harding and such
a general interest as he manifested
IN the doings OF the convention was
not unlike that Of scores OF other OBJ
servers who came to Chicago ito soc
the show"
Even at the very hours of the
morning When 1t was supposed To
have 6een agreed to make a drive for
Harding, the Senator himself gives
the Dowden men credit for still cling
ing TO the belief that they might
possibly put Dowden over the ma
tortty mark when the balloting was
resumed.
t Senator Hardlng's friends point out
. quite convincingly that in the morn
ing session no got only a relatively
4, small number OF votes and by no
means what had been anticipated
There was a tickllsh moment in the
balloting Saturday morning when de-
Q fections to Wood in the Ohio delega-
ton might have been fatal TO his
a chances II help had not come at the
same moment from the New York
delegation so that Harding gains
were consistently maintained.
:. But the interesting factor OF which
y Senator Hardlng's friends speak
S frankly is th)t the recess on Sat
% urday was not asked for by his own
8 managers, but was really sought by
: the Wood and Lowden generals.
y They say there was no objection to
. It, but in the interval there developed
a dangerous opposition to Harding 8
candidacy which for the moment
seemed to threaten its success.
Talk was heard about certain edi-
torials which appeared in Senator
Harding's newspaper attacking Theo-
dore Roosevelt in 1912. But the
drift toward Harding was too strong
{ to be oounteracted. The delegates
had been impressed with the fact that
tno three leaOeTb were QeaOlOCkeO
and that a new man must be chosen
They had watched Harding perform
as permanent Chairman in the 1915
convention and liked his fairness
Many OF them had heard him on
a the stump in the Hughes campaign
Il as he spoke IN nearly every Northern
j State from coast to coast, and mosi
n of them were Impressed with the
n chance OF carrying Ohio 0s argued by
Frank Willis in his speech for Hard
ing earlier in the convention.
! The important thing Is that Sen
q ator Harding looks upon his nomina'
y ton as the reward of faithful Ser
= vice to che Republican Party as q
whole and 70 his middle of the roaC
course In the Senate rather than e
the manoeuvers or schemes of any
=. boss or group of bosses. And slnc'
no thinks 10, the Inference ls plalT
that Senator Harding doesn't fee
II under any obligations OF the pohtica
y sort that embarrass new President
10 at the outset OF their administrations
y Camp Taylor to ne Abandoned.
4. w A AgHYNGTON Tu1y 0R-naClaiOi