The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-08
COOLIDGE BAND ::WAGON CROWDED
 BY DELEGATES
Politicians COncede Vic tory To President For
 Nomination
JOHNSONS INACTION ON TEAPOT SCANDAL FATAL
Fiery Californian Lost Golden Opportunity To Boost His
 Candidacy
By RAYMOND ctAPPER (teased Wire To The Ags- -Herald.) fcaavriahf iQ1A fap Tka Aas q srs IA,

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 WASHINGTON, Feb. Two strong currents, moving in opposite di rections, have been playing about the political fortunes of President Coolidge and the republican administration dur ing the last 10 days.
 One marks the drift away from Hiram Johnson and toward the nomination oi Coolidge. This has become 50 strong that the majority of political observers now concede the republican nomination to the President on the first ballot.
 The second current, set up by the reverberating scandal rising out of the Teapot Dome exposures, has shaken the administration from top to bottom. It is entirely too early to say whether the republican party can live down the episode by next November.
 . Even the best friends of Hiram Johnson are discouraged at the failure Whether the fault has been Johnson s or whether he has again been the un- lucky victim of the same political fates which have drowned upon him in the past is not for this writer to say. When the Teapot Dome scandal burst over an astonished country, the first thought was that the administration would never be able to extricate itself, and that Johnson's day had come at last, that the fiery Californian would leap into his old role and start out on the trail pf the trickling oil.
 Unexpected Happens
 But the unexpected happened instead Coolidge moved with his usual caution and >shrewdness and Johnson did not move at all. Coolidge has not yet extri- cated his administration from the oil pool, but on the other hand, Johnson has been unable to make any capital out of it.
 Hence after the administration has been immersed two weeks in the great est scandal of the generation, we find Congress debating a resolution to de. mand the removal of Secretary of the Navy Denby. We find a resolution calling for the resignation of Attorney General Daugherty pending. We find that Congress, by almost unanimous vote of both Houses. has ordered the President to undo two of the biggest transactions which feature the internal affairs of the present administration.
 But more amazing than all this, we find Coolidge riding supreme on the republican stream. Johnson is com pelled daily to deny 1umors that he is about to quit out of hneer discourage ment. He has been unable to attract a real national political figure to his organization, except Frank Hitchcock, who continues as his hired manager.
 Delegates FlOcking To Coolidge
 We see republican organizations in one state after another recording them selves in favor of the nomination of Coolidge. At this moment, Coolidge managers count about S75 convention votes, more than 300 above the neces sary majority. So, allowing for plentl of shrinkage in, these claims, it is diff ficult to see how Coolidge can fail tt go over on the first ballot unless some thing upsets the cards.
 In making this claim, the Coolidge managers omit the following states which the class as doubtful: Cali. fornia, Indiana, Illinois, Montana, Ne braska, Wisconsin, Washington, Ari- zona and Arkansas. They claim the solid south, New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and the others moi mentioned as doubtful. In most of these states, party preferences already have been ascertained, either through tht formal action of state committee ol conventions, or through the soundings of political leaders. Neither is Cover nor Pinchot or Senator LaFollettt troubling the Coolidge managers.
 The real worry is not over the nom. ination, but about the effect of the oil scandal. Just when the administration was in the depths of despair, Doheny dragged in the names of William C. McAdoo, Thomas w. Gregory and Franklin K. Lane, all members of the Wilson cabinet, and every republican here frightened up q bit. Coolidge If moving through his special attorney tC right any wrong that may have beer committed in the leaes. But offsettinf this, politically, is his, indorsement oi Denby, who is just now the target oi fire. The situation is entirely too con fused to permit accurate speculation now as to its ultimate political effec on the administration.