The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-07-27
Has Been Teacher, Law. yer, Legislator And
 Ambassador

NEW YORK, July 26-John Will servAd s..,- as- a member of Congress for two terms,1 solicitor general ?. lne United States,i representative oI tAe United States on the prison exchahge commission in Switzerland and amDas- sador to Great Britain, says the New. York Times. !.
 MT. Davis stood high in the regard of Woodrow Wilson, who appointed him as snliciF6r. general and ambassador. Though not so we'll known to the gen. eral nublic as some of the candIdares whom he defeated for the nomination. he enjoys the respect and admiration of the entire legal profession, as well as those who have followed his career in public office.
 In tbe early days of the convention, when. he mustered only handful Of votes and there seemed no chance Tor his nomination. men of every faction ooreed that his personal and profess s;onaI qualifications probably fitted him for the office. of President to oegEee that no other candidate before the coh- yention could exceed.
 Mir. Davis refusal prior to the con yention to give, up his connection with a New York law firm which represents the Morgans and other big financial in terests. while it was first used against him. is now believed to have become point in his. favor in the negotiations which led up to the decision to break the deadlock by his nomination. His dl- rect statement that he had never had client who had controlled, or even tried to control, his personal and professional actions. and his refusal to desert his clients won Mir. Davis an amount or public admiration which, coupled with his record Of public service, finally out weighed the antagonism of those who fixed the '.W allstreet" label to him in its ugliest connotatiOns.
 Counsel For ssNEOtheF" Jones And Debs
 Efforts to portray MT. Davis as re- actionary and a puppet of Wall street were met by references to some Of his other clients. At the time of the West Virginia coal strike Mir. Davis appeared as counsel for "Mother" Jones and Flu gene V. Debs when they were charged with sedition and melting to riot
 One of his clients since his return to
 
 "VYalI street., law firm has been the National Window Class Workers, whom be defended successfully in the supreme court against the, efforts of the govern ment to condemn contract between the workers and the manufacturers as be- ing a combination in restraint of trade.
 MT. Davis record in Congress was also. cited as evidence of his fairness In controversies between liberals and com servaties. 1t was recalled that he served as a member of the judiciary committee which wrote the Clayton act exempting labor unions from the opera tiOn of the Sherman antitrust law, and that he had been credited with having written the act himself. :.
 The fact that Mir. Davis as solicitor general had made the argument in favor of the constitutionality of the AdamsOn eight-hOur law for railroad employees also was used in his favor, as was the fact that some years ago he acted as chairman of the democratic state con vention in. West Virginia which put the first woman suffrage plank in any democratic platform in that state.
 Since his return from London Mir. Davis has acted as counsel for the Irish Free State, fact that has been used to controyert the inevitable charge in the case of n man who had enjoyed the esteem of the English while ambassador at London that he was under English influence,
 Regarded As Progressive
 Another point of availability put for ward by friends of Mir. Davis and which probably will be emphasized in the cam paign, is the fact that while sMr. Davis was progressive enough to gain the in- timacy of Woodrow Wilson, and while he has. always adhered to the. funda- mental principles of the democratic party, he also stands for the coaisery- ative element of. that party, and for that reason should be much more like ly to profit by republican dissa atisfac- ti0n with the republican administration than any radical democratic, candidate.
 Knowledge Gained By Experience
 The. knowledge of foreign affairs which Mir. Davis gained as ambassador to Great Britain and from his studies in international law, in which he has spe-