The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1924-05-08
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER

Washington, D. c., May 6-More
than majority of the delegates to
the Republican National Convention
have been instructed for or pledged
to Coolidge. Theodore E. Burton, of
Ohio, has been selected by the Presi-
dent as temporary chairman and VIM.
NJ. Butler of Massachusetts has been
chosen for chairman of the Republi-
can National Committee. Interest
here naturally turns now to the
Democratic convention. At this writ
ing there promises to be free for all
race, but the favorites now are John
w. Davis, attorney for ]. P Morgan
& Co., and, strange as it may seem,
Senator Copeland of New York. Sena-
tor Ralston of Indiana, a recent favo-
rite, does not seem to stand the test.
1t is argued that he won both the
governorship and the senatorship
practically by default-that is, as the
result of splits in the Republican
ranks and that, while he has done
nothing and made no enemies, he is
too old to be elected to the presidency
with reasonable hope that he would
live out his term. To the outsider the
boom of Al Smith, Governor of New
York, looks vigorous just now-but
not to the insider. Governor Smith
is both a Roman Catholic and a
'wet." Either qualification, it must
be recognized, would be handicap;
but the two together would, in the
judgment of the wisest Democrats,
insure defeat. There are other reas-
ons for the activity of the Smith
boom just now, however. One is the
anxiety of the New York Democrats
to cinch the elimination of McAdoo.
The other is the determination of
Tammany to exercise sufficient in
fiuence in the convention to enable
it to dictate to the successful candi-
date.
That Senator Borah will play a
conspicuous part in the Republican
convention seems assured. The best
Judgment just now is that he will
either be chosen permanent chairman,
in which event he would make the
keynote speech, or that he will be
selected to nominate Mr.. Coolidge
The fact that he is a progressive, al
belt a sane one, is pretty certain to
make him at least an important fac
tor. Mr.. Coolidge is working assidu-
ously on the draft platform and there
is every reason to expect that he will
be nominated very much on his own
platform, whether it is entirely pleas
ing to the other leaders or not.
sit is incredible that a system of
taxation which permits man with
an income of $1,000,00O to pay not a
cent to the support of his Government
should remain unaltered," declares
Secretary. Mellon in his new book, on
taxation, but that is precisely the
situation which the Democratic min
ority declared in their report that
"the value of all tax-eXempt securi-
ties held by these decedents with
gross estates of S2,S79,372, 1857 was
not sufficient to pay the funeral and
administrative expenses" Mr.. Mel
Ion comes back with the official rec
ord of the estate tax of the late Will
liam Rockefeller. His estate COM
prised S44,000,000 of tax-exempt Sc
curities and only S7,000,000 of Stan
dard Oil stock While alive he paid
taxes on an income of perhaps S426,-
600 from his Standard Oil stock, but
did not pay one penny of taxation on
an income of probably $1,76O,OOO in
vested in tax-exempt securities. This
is what Secretary Mellon would have
corrected, but which the Democrats
and the insurgents are fighting to
perpetuate.
After bringing Mrs. Hamon-Rohr-
er, widow of the late Jake Hamon, all
the way to Washington at the ex-
pense of the taxpayers, to testify in
his oil investigation" Senator
Walsh declined to question her and
she was allowed to return to Okla
homa Expenses again paid by tax
payersD unquestioned. The commit
tee had listened to all sorts of hear
say evidence as to what the late Jake
Hamon had said, as to what someone
heard that Hamon had said, ETC., but
when his widow, who probably knew
something absolutely first hand about
lannon's financial affairs, came to
testify the Montana statesman sent
her away unquestioned. She probably
would have exploded his beautiful
fairy story about Jake lannon's al
legged buying of the Harding's nomi-
nation. She might-and probably
would-have told Senator Walsh that