Evening star., 1936-06-15

live up to his pledge. but that was
in the future. For the moment we
felt that q mere imitation Of Mr..
Roosevelt's pledge of four years ago
was, to say the least, not very orig
inal.
But it turned out there was more
of Landons telegram. And the next
paragraph Of it began with the word
however" 1t was q reservation and
Qualification. Landon put the con-
vention on notice as to what was his
Interpretation OF some parts Of the
platform. And, N effect. he said.
If you take me. you must take me
subject to this understanding"
That telegram, the whole incident,
was unique. Persons who pay at
tention to important documents, about
Landon or American history, may
safely emphasize this one. suspect
1t may turn out to be the landmark
of a new development in our mech
anism of democratic Government.
Platforms are going to be written
more carefully, as real pledges. and
are going to be held to more scrupu-
lous performances, with odium as the
punishment for n-compliance. To-
ward this objective. the present Re-
publican platform. coupled with Lam
don's action, Is a considerable step.
Professors Helped In Draft.
The situation which caused Lam
don's action. the story of the writing
of the platform, is told in part by
Frank Kent. In advance of the con-
vention an original draft was written
by a group composed mainly of
liberals. According to the story, the
group included, among others. Prof.
Neil Carothers Of Lehigh University,
Prof. z. w. Kemmerer Of Princeton
and Charles and Robert Taft. This
first draft is said to have been sa its
factory to Gov. Landon and his ad-
visers. The draft was taken to Chicago.
At Chicago the draft was necessarily
turned over to the official Resolutions
Committee of the convention. This
committee Is composed of one delegate
from each State-the delegate Is
chosen by the delegation and is
usually one of the ablest men in 1t.
Within the Resolutions Committee
the draft in turn was given to
subcommittee of IL. On this subcom-
mittee were several longtime Re-
publican leaders. including four
former Senators, Bingham of Con-
necticut, Edge Of New Jersey, Reed Of
Pennsylvania and Moses Of New
Hampshire. These made changes The
changes were not at all in the di-
rection of conservatism, but rather in
the direction of political palatability.
Certain provocative phrases were
taken out, some vote-getting phrases
inserted The words gold and CON
vertible' were taken out presumably
to please Senator Borah. The whole
result was to give the platform to
some extent a vagueness, an omnium
gatherum inconsistency. familiar In
old-time platforms.
Landon's Aides Irked.
When this version OF the platform
became known to friends of Landon,
they were disturbed and indignant
They were disturbed on their own ac-
count, and by vigorous protests from
important persons. Former President
Hoover sent a telegram to the Cali
fornia delegation saying the plank on
currency was unsatisfactory. Infor-
nation about the commotion was con-
veyed to Landon and he promptly
sent the telegram which restored
clarity and frmness to most Of the
platform.
Some of it still remains vague. and
some parts are to some degree
inconsistent with other parts. Never
theless, a long step has been taken
toward the ssnctity of platforms and
the nature Of this step is such as to
compel further steps.
In short. the platform reflects the
present condition of the Republican
party. the phase of transition from
old leadership to new. Some of the
old leadership remains, men who as
officials elected by the public are
obliged to write lex" before their
names, but who still retain their posi-
tions of leadership inside the party,
on committees. delegations and the
like. These are rapidly being dis
placed by men who reflect Landon.
When the transition is complete, plat
| forms will be more clear. perform
! ance will be more punctilious. and
other steps. toward better things will
| appear.
| tCopyriEht 1850