The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1924-06-20

Not because there was not story to
be had, but because the story must
have the names of people who were
doing things and the men of the press
did not know by sight the men, and the
women too, If you please. who were the
moving and guiding spirits of this Re
publican gathering.
The old-timers, the men who have
made Republican history for the last
quarter of a century and more, have
either disappeared entirely. or were
with but few exceptions In the back
ground. 1t was new and, In many
cases. strange faces one saw upon the
platform.
"Who is the man in the gray suit
sitting beside the railing?' asked vet
eran New York newspaper writer, a
man who has covered every convention
since the late eighties.
Search me-" said the man next to
him, another veteran. zone of the nu-
merous interlopers who have butted
into the game to make it hard for US.
Ask Jim Preston"
Preston, the superintendent of the
senate press gallery at Washington, the
one man who knew all of them, the
old and the new, was appealed to and
informed the perturbed newspaper men
that the gentleman In question was
William NJ. Butler of Massachusetts,,
the incoming chairman of the party.
And so it went throughout each SEES
sion. The men and the women who,
TO a large extent are doing things were
unknown by sight to the newspaper
men and they were kept busy trying to
catch the names Of those who were
making motions, reporting to the con-
vention as chairmen Of important com
mittees-the names of those who were
running the show, whether 1t be at the
stated performances or about the COM
mittee rooms or the hotel Hobbies.
Old Faces Absent.
The faces Of such men as Senators
Lodge, Smoot, Watson and others of
the senatorial coterie, of Will Hays of
Harry M. Daugherty, of Mrs. Corinne
Roosevelt Robinson, of 7. Coleman Du-
pont, of Charles D. Hilles and long
list of others who filled the speakers
platform at Chicago in 1920, were not
seen on the platform at Cleveland. To
be sure many of them-the majority,
in fact-were present, but they were
merely among those present. They
were not on the platform sitting in the
big, easy, leather-upholstered chairs
provided for the a-distinguished.
Several of them occupied the hard
bottomed seats arranged in long rows
on the floor of the convention hall pro-
vided for delegates and alternates.
Others had seats in the guest sections
far up In the balconies, and others
wandered about the rotunda of the big
building with a look of bewilderment
on their faces.
Prominent among those on the plat
form, and the few who were general
ly known, were those members of the
Presidents cabinet who were attend
ing the convention. These included
Secretary Mellon, Secretary Weeks,
toCClcldIy NOlhy atLOiACy OShCAu l
Stone, Postmaster General New. Aside
from Attorney General Stone, new
conner in the cabinet, these men were
generally known by sight at least, but
aside from the temporary and perma-
nent chairman, and some minor Off
Gals of the convention, they were
about the only ones who were known
to either the audience or the newspa-
per writer's.
It all marked a new deal in the his.
tory of the party, passing of party
government into new hands. The
President and his advisers rather than
the leaders in the legislative branch
are in control. What the result of the
change is to be will be determined
when the votes are counted next No.
vember
1t Was All Coolidge.
It was a strictly Coolidge conven-
ton. Quite as much so as was the
convention of 1908 at Chi
cago a Roosevelt convention. They
did what the President would wish
them to do. they did nothing he
would wish them not to do. 1t was a
that was satisfactory tn