Gunnison news-champion., 1924-08-08
A BOOST FOR JOHN ". DAVIS;
A KNOCK FOR THE CONVENTION
tBy John A Martin in Pueblo Chief

tain)-
John w. Davis is entitled to tho
hearty support Of every Democrat who
WAS n follower Of Woodrow Wilson
He was one Of the most loyal and able
Democratic national leaders who up.
held the great president thru his his.
toric administrations. OF this thers
can be no doubt The cordial and
sincere message from the widow OF
the president to Mr.. Davis will bt
worth more to him in the coming cam
paign than all the speeches Bryan
may make.
Woodrow Wilson did not make John
w. Davis solicitor general Of the
United States, post calling fol-
greater legal ability than that Of the
attorney general. and did not make
him ambassador to England in the try
ing postwar days, without knowing
what he was doing. Davis is an
American who ranks in that respect
with the best Of his predecessors He
Is q statesman. = great lawyer, a
clean, high-minded gentleman Of hne
principles, and in point Of intellect is
above the average Of the men who
have been our presidents.
] heard him make the argument in
favor Of the constitutionality Of the
Clayton act when that much-mooted
question passed the House of Repre-
sentatives, and it was the most bril-
liant legal argument l heard while in
Congress. At that time Davis was
well under 20 years of age and then
living in West Virginia which he rep
resented in Congress. Since then he
has become one of the leaders of the
American bar, which in my judgmnt
is far greater achievement than any
public Office short Of the presidency.
Moreover, as will be thoroly estab-
lished before the end of the cam
paign, and despite what Mr.. Bryan
said in the convention, Davis is q man
whose sympathies and tendencies are
soundly progressive. How Davis
emerged from such a welter rs the
Democratic national convention is a
wonder, but it is a wonder understand
able in part to one who knows some
thing of the man and his record. His
nomination was not hand-pjcked af-
fair, nor can It be said to represent
any Of the conflicting elements Of q
convention which perhaps more than
any other in American history ought
to bring the people seriously to con-
slider whether such method of NOM
mating presidents ought not be abol-
ished. Having said this much about
the candidate, l want to say something
about the convention.
Mr.. Davis was not my choice. My
choice was William Gibbs McAdoo
who is still, in my opinion, the best
equipped man in the country to ad-
minister its affairs under present con.
ditions. Had McAdoo, who was clear.
ly the choice Of nearly one-hak the
delegates OF the convention against Q
whole field Of others. and even mort
clearly the choice of the rank and fils
Of the party; had McAdoo, l say, beer
nominated after two or three days oi
balloting. in all probability LaFolletts
would not now be candidate for pres
ident. Before the time arrived wher
LaFollette must make final decision
it became evident that McAdoo would
not be nominated, with the result that
LaFollette is now in the field. On one
point l agree with Bryan, in fact,
have had this opinion all along, and
that is that LaFollette will take moro
votes away from Davis than from
Coolidge. There can be no disputing
the fact that there is more progress
siveness and radicalism in the Demo.
cratic than in the Republican party
Notwithstanding a certain inclination
of LaFollette's strength in the wheat
belt, he will have q wider appeal Ia
labor, where the strength of Demo
cracy lies.
As the convention developed it looked
to me very much as though the bosses
every one Of whom was against Nc.
Adoo, (but not for Davis), didn't care
what happened to the ticket as long
as they could beat Mr.. McAdoo. The
protracted fights over the clan issue
was extremely harmful, unwise and
Unnecessary. Bryan again was right
on that issue. believe that issue was
forced SO savagely for the primary
| purpose of killing McAdoo of; it was
intended to show that there were Ger.
tain big eastern states which McAdo1
could not carry because of his alleged
support by the Khan.
! have long been an ardent admirel
Of Oscar Underwood and know him tc
be Of presidential stature. but ! car
not accord entire good faith to the bit
ter Klan fight he made against Me-
Adoo. On that issue he was playing
politics. The Ku Klux Klan is not ar
issue which entities it to the primary
consideration given it by the Demo
crate national convention, and can
not help thinking that the main pur.
pose of its use was piece Of political
stragedy directed against Mr.. Nc
Adoo.
| II was q mistake to hold the conven-
tion in New York City in the first
place; the Khan fight was mistake
and it is only in politics that the peo-
pie kill of their first choices and then
nominate dark horses. Some times, as
in the case Of Davis, the dark horse is
q good one and some times he is 9
winner, but in this case he enters the
campaign under bunch Of unneces-
sary handicaps that ought to be suffi-
cient to disgust the party with con-
ventions. The Democratic convention
at Colorado Springs did not represent