Evening star., 1932-07-04
The Political Mill
By C. Could Lincoln.


nation of Gov. Franklin d. Roosevelt
of New York for President In early
morning of July /. Together these two
States had SO votes in the convention
the exact number which Roosevelt
lacked for the two-thirds vote to nomi-
nate him on the third ballot of the
convention. They lost their opportu.
nifty. When the fourth ballot was taken
the night of July /. Texas and Califor-
mia turned the trick for Roosevelt. II
was all over but the shouting when
Mayor Cermak of Chicago. head of the
Illinois delegation, arose and announced
that Illinois and Indiana, acting in CO.
operation. wished to cast their SO votes
for the New York Governor William
Gibbs McAdoo, chairman of the Cali
fornia delegation, who made known tc
the convention the determination Of
California and Texas to vote for Rose
velt, was the hero Of the hour.
&&
Now that the convention Is over
Roosevelt supporters are admitting that
the case was extremely serious for their
candidate when the adjournment was
taken early Friday morning, after the
all-night session and the conclusion OF
the third ballot with no choice for
President. They feared break in some
OF the Roosevelt delegations on the
fourth ballot. And undoubtedly such a
break might have occurred, had it not
been for the decision of McAdoo and
the California and Texas delegatinrS
not to let the convention become hone
lessly deadlocked, with perhaps another
week of balloting and dickerinQ until
compromise nomination could be
made. If there was any one thing upon
which the Democrats, with a few ex-
ceptions, were determined at this con-
vention 1t was there should be no rene
tition OF the Madison Square Garden
fiasco.
In private conferences, very private
indeed, the situation was laid before
McAdoo and some of the other Cali
fornia leaders and before the Texans
They were asked whether they were
anxious to play the game of the Smith
Hague-Ely faction of the party. or
whether they were willing to bring the
convention to q close. Quite naturally
the question of second place on the
ticket played its part The Roosevelt
leaders gave assurance to the Texans
and to California that their presiden-
tial candidate. Speaker John N. Garner
could have the place If they would make
it possible for Roosevelt to be nomi-
mated for President. Despite the fact
that there were number of leaders in
the Texas delegation inclined to the
Smith side, Texas finally swung over
particularly when they knew that
Speaker Garner was agreeable to the
plan and was ready to release the dele
gates.
II
When 1t came to the vice presidential
nomination there was nothing further
to be decided After what Garner and
his floor leader. McAdoo, had done for
Roosevelt it was as clear as day that
Mr.. Garner could have the nomination
II he wished 1t. He did. and he got
1t in a big way. The disgruntled Smith
people thought at one time of creating
diversion and were ready to put for
ward Mrs. Mary Norton, Congresswoman
OF New Jersey, as a candidate against
the Speaker. But they abandoned the
idea. Apparently there had been fight
ing enough, with no glory for the Smith
crowd, except that they had won in the
battle over the prohibition plank in the
national platform.
There, II nowhere else, the wet wing
OF the Democratic party in the East
and In Chicago had won. They made
the party declare for repeal Of the
eighteenth amendment and for beer in
the interval before the amendment can
be repealed. 1t Is no secret that the
Roosevelt leaders would have been en-
tireiy satisfied to go along with plank
calling for submission of a repeal reso-
luticn. like the plank proposed by the
wet minority in the Republican Nation
al Convention. But the anti-prohibition
wave became tidal wave during the
early days of the Democratic convention
1t swept aside the opposition in the
Resolutions Committee and wrote a
plank that Al Smith himself might
have penned Seeing the approaching
storm, the Roosevelt leaders, no matter
what their preference, ran for cover
Statements were issued declaring q
hands-of policy in the prohibition
struggle. James NJ Farley, Roosevelt
leader in the convention and now chair.
man Of the Democratic National Com.
mittee, issued statement approving
the majority plank, and Gov. Roosevelt
sent word from Albany that it was al
right with him. 1t was noticeable that
in the platform debate in the conven-
ton the supporters of the minority
submission plank were Roosevelt sup.
wringing wet majority plank were fol
the most part Smith and favorite sor
candidate followers. Smith himseli
leaped into the debate, the only occa.
sion on which he addressed the conven.
ton.
So Smith takes home one victory al
least from this convention. But the
way in which his old enemy. William
Gibbs McAdoo, stuck the knife in him
and turned 1t around in the matter OF
the presidential nomination Is a thing
Mr.. Smith is likely to remember for 3
long time. At last the swing around the
Roosevelt lt-McAdoo-Sm triangle ha.
been completed. Roosevelt and McAdoc
are found togther as they were back In
1920, when Roosevelt favored McAdoo's
nomination out at the San Francisco
Democratic National Convention. In
the dozen years that succeeded, Roose-
velt trained with Smith until this year
Wnen smith and McAdoo were both
aligned against Roosevelt,
X 4
This Democratic National Convention
Just closed saw control of the party
swing TO new group. Not that the
members OF the new group in contro
are not old-timers at the game, but
mercy tnat they have ousted the OLD
control-the Smith-Raskob outfit. Mr.
Smith and Mr.. Raskob are out. There
is still a sizable debt to pay from tht
last convention, something like S40O, 900
! The party still owes Mr.. Raskob himselt
$l25,000. Anti-Smith and Raskol
Democrats are saying that the removal
OF these gentlemen from party contro
is cheap at the price. In that resDaot
therefore, the wet, Eastern wing Of tht
party has been a loser in the conyen.
| tion.
On the platform, directing affairs OF
tne convention were Dill Of Washing
ton. Wheeler of Montana, Kremer ot
Montana, Arthur Mullen of Nebraska
and, of course, Senator Thomas +
Walsh of Montana. the permanent
CHAIRMAN OF the convention. and SEN
ator Barkley of Kentucky. who SOUNDED
the keynote of the convention. james
A. Farley, the Democratic State chair
man of New York during and before the
~ farI