New Britain herald., 1928-01-14

no Madison Square Garden. If there is to be . melee or babel of voices 1t will have to take place under more chaste surroundings. But there is le@ likelihood of . verbal smashup in Houston than there was in New York: conditions have radically changed. and the only question at issue seems to be how quickly Alfred E. Smith is to be nominated.
 Since Governor Dan Moody's declaration at the meeting of the national committee regarding the necessity of the party agreeing on law enforcement, and Governor Smiths pronouncement last week that enforcement of the law is a :sacred duty" sundry folk who re- gard the prohibition issue as one likely to break up another political convention seem rather dazed.
 The New York governor. although he may personally prefer no law about prohibition. has changed ma terially in the last few years in his attitude toward this issue. If law enforcement-inclu the enforce ment of the prohibition law-is a sacred duty" then considerable of the wind has been taken out of the sails of the southern Democrats who have been inclined to oppose him on the score he is identified with the opposition to prohibition.
 And incidentally, how the south erners feel about this matter has much to do with whether he gets the nomination.
 The south has come to the con- clusion,' along with the north, that Smith is the strongest potential can didate in the Democratic ranks. If the south is wooed and won with the sacred duty" principle enunciated by the New York governor there will be slight chance of another Madi- son Square Garden" uproar.
 The Houston civic auditorium, which seats 1000 people, will be the scene of the convention. Without the auditorium the convention in Houston would not have been pos- sible. Thus one sees what a civic auditorium can do for a city, al- though being a factor in bringing such a convention to town is but small item in it's value. The hotel accomm odations there are excellent fully capable of accommodating the throng of camp followers. Lastly, there is the presence of the re- doubtable Jesse Jones, financial angel of the Democratic party, who lives in Houston. One can't blame the national committee for hearken- ing to MT. Jones' sonorous welcome, for it was his name which adorned the notes which paid the deficit for the last convention. Also, believe it or not, MT. Jones had a strong hand in providing the $230,0o0 which talked so eloquently for Houston be- fore the committee.
 The population of Houston by now must be around 100000, considering that it has been gaining at the rate of 75 per cent during the previous decade. Still. this is a small city to defeat Detroit, Cleveland and San Francisco.
 The holding of the convention in southern city-this the first time since 1S6O-ought to have far reaching results in the plan of the 1928 campaign. It means, for one thing, that the southern dry Demo- crats are going to have consider able influence, and Dan Moody all ready is at their head. The Texas delegates, who it is said will favor Smith, will lead the south in the direction of the New York governor. If the party can remain in an atti- tude of sanity and not allow anyone to upset the apple cart and bring in extraneous topics which have no business in a convention, the har- mony, compared with 1924, is likely to be soft, mellow and sweet.