Evening star., 1924-06-27

representing delegates strength of
400 to 425 were carried in the Smith
procession by men from score or
states. But in state after state, ex-
| cept Smiths own idolatrous common
for him. So the imposing parade Of
Smith states" was deceptive on its
face
Some States Republican.
Moreover, as one convention analyst
today heartlessly points out. there
| were a dozen states represented by
! standards during the Smith hullabaloo
time immemorial, and are not likely
to this year.
Nevertheless, the Smith argument
persists that he must be nominated
managers contend that the indus
trial east" the solid south and a
brace of western states ready to vote
for wet candidate will be more
than sufficient TO give Smith ma
jority in the electoral college.
Smiths "availability," from an
electoral standpoint. is thus empha-
sized as his outstanding merit. No
rival candidate. his enthusiasts as
sort, comes up to his waistline in that
respect.
Walsh as Smiths Heir.
If Smith, as a Roman Catholic,
turns out to be unacceptable to the
convention, Senator Walsh of Mon
tana is being advertised as plaus
ible inheritor of the Smith strength.
The suggestion is that NalSh's Ca
tholicism would be forgotten in pres
ence of his prestige and reputation
as the greatest investigator in the
world"-keynoter Pat HarriSon's in
PRODUCTION of him on Wednesday.
Walsh, it is argued, would drama
tize the issue on which the Demo
Gratis count upon defeating Calvin
Coolidge. That issue is 'Republican
misgovernment and Republican cor
ruption." AS the man who dragged
misgovernment and corruption" to
the light, WalShs friends are con-
fident h> would make an Irresistible
appeal to the people. The senator is
presiding over this turbulent conven-
ton with force and skill. He can be
On Thursday he threatened to take
the convention to some other city if
New York's Smith-craZed mob did not
mend it's manners and give other can
didates a square deal.
Other Dark Horses Restive.
But the original dark horses are
not taking kindly to the eleventh
hour suggestion of Walsh as the
savior of the situation. Ralston,
Davis and Ritchie still rank in the
estimation of most delegates as the
trio from which the deadlock breaker
is destined to emerge. Carter Glass.
with an eye on McAdoo's estate, is
lying low and hoping for the best.
Senator Underwood is still deriving
prestige from the anti-klan demon
stration on Wednesday and his back
ers insist he will grow upon the
convention from the moment ballot
ing begins.
The hopes. and prospects of all
these men depend to a large extent
on the outcome of the platform fight.
Several of them, for reasons already
adduced in these dispatches, would
if a belligerent and specific anti
Khan plank is adopted by the con-
vention. Still others would not be
ideal candidates on any platform that
front as the Democrats 1924 para
mount issue. Still others would be
out of place as the nominee if the
platform calls for anything savoring
of liberalization of the prohibition
laws. It is pretty mix-pp and one
sembled do not see easy extrication.
See klan Plank Futile.
To this writer comes from inside
of the platform committee an expla-
nation of why the opponents of a
strong anti-Klan plank are fighting
1T. They say that a declaration of
warfare on the ku Klux Klan is per-
fectly futile, because there is no ac-
tion the federal government could
ever take to carry out such a decla-
ration. The Constitution, according
to this authority. permits the exist
ence of secret societies. 1t would be
just as impossible, it is argued, to
proceed against the Klan as it would
be to proceed against the knights of
Columbus or the Independent Order
of the B'nai Birth.
Why, in other words" explains the
informant in question, commit a
Democratic administration to a policy
which it never could execute, and
which everybody in this convention
knows perfectly well it cannot ex-
ecute?"
The anti-Klan leaders, apart from
their sentimental objections to the
hooded empire, say a strong opposi-
ton plank is good politics What
they have especially in mind is that
many northern states now have large
negro voting populations. Illinois
and Indiana, for instance, are named
as states in which the colored vote
is big enough, due to migration from
the south, to turn the tide in Neyem-
Der in Democracy's favor.