The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-08-03
Bv THOMAS R. srARsHALI


 Former Vice President of the United States Y HAD hoped that the campaign of 1924 \ might be a real-for-sure contest between 4 parties, an actual conflict oyer principles in which the personality of candidates would play only minor part. The wish, however, must have been fnther of the thought, for each day I run across men who are interested apparently only in the men on the tickets. They reveal by their talk that they care little or nothing about parties or the principles that the parties are supposed to stand for. Scores of men in my presence have condemned the Republicans party in unmeasured terms, get announced their purpose of voting for Pres ident Coolidge. I have heard an equal num- Der lambast the Democratic party, while sounding the praises of Mir. Davis.
 The tendency seems to be to idealize tho candidates. to separate them from their or ganizntions, to consider them as individuals running for high office rather than as the Representatives of great parties founded on great and opposing principles of government.
 It was not so in the old days and l can't bring myself to believe that the change is for the better. do not say that modern politics is not better than the politics of my youth, but the attitude of the public toward politics is different, and I do not hesitate to say that deplore the change. I can appreciate the objection of a certain Hoosier to his wife. He was willing to admit that she was the best wife, best mother and best home-maker in the state, but he complained, "she doesn't suit me-"
 My mind runs back to those political days when we lined up in support of certain prin- ciples which we believed to be vitaL It made slight difference then who led. We did not try to cater to local interests or special con- ditions or certain classes. With equal zeal we fell fin behind Mcclellan, Seymour or Gree ley. The play was the thing; the leading players were not at all important, The bi. ennial recollectiops of my boyhood are of a country doctor father who would come home at dusk from arl afternoons round of dis pensing calomel and Quinine to the mala rially afflicted people of his county, eat Q nasty supper, jump into his buggy and drive perhaps 20 miles to a political meeting where he would advocate the cause of Democracy with certain knowledge beforehand that his party was going to be beaten In the county by not fewer than 1900 votes. Yet for a decade he kept this up. But times have changed. The political outlook of the people is not toward principles of government but very largely toward men.
 The delegates in the New York convention were divided over men. The faith of each group in it's preferred candidate was greater than it's faith in the platform which the con yention adopted before the, balloting began. As the deadlock continued day after day I came to the near conclusion that it would not be bad idea to carry the platform to the people and make the fight on it alone, to postpone selection of the candidate until the Democratic electors should assemble in the electoral college This would have been in keeping with the original idea upon which the electoral college was founded It was several years after the adoption of the Constitution that the nominating convention became factor in American politics.
 I yentured to suggest to one of the ablest Democrats of the nation that 1t might be