Evening star., 1924-07-10
DEMOCRATIC RULES
ARE FACING CHANGE
'Instructions" and Unit Bal
Ioting Barriers to- Func-
tioning of Delegates.
McADoO SUPPORT STANcH
Baokers Stand Firmly Until
Break Up-Women Are
Detected.
McADoO SUPPORT STANcH
BIZ. ROBERT T. SMALL.
BY Consolidated Press.

, hx, HUHEhT II. SMALLs
BY Consolidated Press. -sF+
NEW YORK, July 10.-The meta.
morptosis which came over the DEM.
ocratic national convention the last
day of it's sitting will go down in,
history as one of the strangest pi1e-
numena- in American politics. All
of a. sudden it became. a convention
in fact instead of a. convention in
name. Delegates were galvanized
into action and quickly accomplished
the main thing they were sent here
to accomplish. It was as If hand
cuffs had been unlocked. shackles
taken off.
And. Of course. that is exactly what
occurred. They were the handcuffs
of tradition. in the Democratic party;
handcuffs of INSTRUCTIONS: hand
cuffs of the unit rule. which per-
emitted twenty-one members of a
delegation to force twenty other
members of the same delegation to
vote against their will and desire.
These things are likely to be changed
and it. would NOT be: surprising to-
find John w. Davis leading in such a
move. 1t will require vigorous work
to effect the change. for. in politics
there always Is tendency TO let
things drag along as they arc. 1t is
SO much easier.
Delegates Are Joyful.
In any event. from the moment Mr.
McAdoo released his delegates the
convention began to hum. Its char
acter changed as completely as DR..
JekyII differed. from Mr.. Hyde. The
joy of the delegates when they final
ly agreed upon Mr. Davis az the
nominee was as genuine as the
writer ever has seen in political
gathering during the last twenty Ave
years. For once and once only dur
ing the convention, all the state stand
ards were carried in the parade of fnd
triumph.
Whatever of bitterness his vain ef-.
fort for the presidential nomination
may have left in his soul. Mr.. Will
liam Gibbs McAdoo must be proud to-
day of the fidelity of the men and
women who made up the delegations
which were pledged or instructed
for him.
When the convention was assem-
hing, the opponents of the Californian
were as one in declaring that so soon
as two or three ballots had been
taken there would be nothing left of
the McAdoo hoom. They said he had
won most of his delegates by default;
that there had been no opposition to
principal states. and that the favor
of the delegates was but perfume
tory thing. They would desert him
speedily and leave him in the lurch.
McAdOo Supported StaunchIy.
How mistaken they were has been
amply proved. The McAdoo delegates
stuck to him until he gave them the
souri,, Kansas and Oklahoma which
seemed to be playing fast and loose
with Mr.. McAdoo, were always willing
to swing again into his column when
ever 'they' saw a chance of putting
him over.
But Mr.. McAdoo never reached
ma jority in the convention. This was
the great aim of. his managers With
a majority attained, he would have had
a position of dominance which would
have been difficult TO overcome. But
all. the McAdoo drives stopped short
OF the coveted figures, $50. and in that
fact lay the certainty of his final de-
feat
There was sadness as well as great
JOY In the final breakup of the conven-
ton 1t was literally true that out OF
the fighting and the bitter feeling
which characterized the earlier ses-
sions great many lasting friendships
were formed. Men cannot be thrown
together for three weeks in daily init
iii6ho SSuLoAsL IOIuluS dLC3CQ-
menfs which mean a great deal In
after life When all of the turmoil
and strife and struggle of the conven-
ton OF 1924 are forgotten, many bonds
of friendship will remain as a heritage
OF ths momentous gathering.
Cnquestionably. the saddest picture
OF tfs convention was the detection
of the McAdoo supporters in the Cali
forn1a delegation. This was particu-
iarly hy true true OF the women They had
They would never listen to any hint
of compromise.
From the moment Mr.. McAdoo's
name was placed before the conven-
ton the woman delegates of Califor-
mia had unfur1ed flags and streamers,
and these they had waved constantly
every Tins his name. was mentioned
in the long days and nights of the
balloting, California was always a
fash of cpIor in the convention. The
women never tired They were brave
to the end
But i'm the final nominating ses-
sion there was not flag among the
It seenned Like a different convention
The West Virginia women. who had
been sitting more or less quietly dur
ing the convention, broke into full
activity in the final session At the
heisht of the increasing Davis wave
one of the West V1rg1nlanS cilmDeo
to her chair and shouted.
stDavis is the only man to save u.s."
Unconsciously, she struck the clos
ing keynote of the convention. There
were many other keynofes nrst ana
last, but this was the supreme one Of
tfe final moments. All the delegates
felt the san1e way about IT
Mr.. William Jennings Bryan's Per
sonaIIy selected and conducted can
didate for the presidential nomination
f,1aIIy received four votes on one of the
closing ballots. When the chairman
Of the Florida delegation called out:
-Four for Or. A A. Murphree, the
yelled tsWho?' The name had to be
repeated three times for their benefit.
Then some one whispered IN their
..Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old
KIt Bag was the favorite song Of
the convention during the demon.
stration which followed the naming