Evening star., 1936-06-26

are too long. It is proceeding
in the usual convention manner as to
its scheduled operations, but the slow
pace of it is having a somewhat sopo-
rife effect on the delegates as well as
on the crowd. The great clashing cli-
max is too long on its way.
It win be great climax, no doubt:
an extraordinary demonstration. with
the renominated President appearing
before a vast number of cheering peo-
pie to accept his nomination and make
his professions of faith. However,
there Is apparent now q feeling that
the showmanship has been too elab-
crate, too sedulously arranged. too
greatly blue-printed and planned.
Five days and nights of patterned
ballyhoo is a heavy dose of ballyhoo to
assimilate, even by such enthusiasts
as the Democrats are.
Spectacular as the Presidents ap-
pearance undoubtedly will be tomor-
row night. 1t will not have tenth Of
the stirring drama in it that marked
his flying to Chicago four years ago to
accept his first nomination, with Is
minute bulletins of his progress key
ing up the convention to the tremend-
Gus welcome he got when he dropped
from the air to make his speech.
Produce Little Stale.
That was great showmanship. He
is still great Snowman, but the stage
mas been set for him out at Franklin
1 a11 fNv fR
siderable time to wait for a climax
that has been press agented so ex-
tenSively as this has been. The Demo-
cratic publicity churns are working
necessarily, but the butter hasn't the
flavor it had few days ago and the
appetites of the consumers are some
what dulled.
1t was an apathetic day yesterday.
The Rules Committee had its will as
to the two-thirds rule. The South had
its treasured veto prerogative taken
away, politely, of course. and all in
the spirit of progress. That was in
evitable. Also, it was good political
sense. 1t should have been done years
ago.
Although this two-thirds tradition
was thus expunged from Democratic
procedure, another great political ira
dition had its inning The Platform
Committee put on the usual perform
ance. Not change in that hugger-
mugger since We began to hold ma
tional conventions. Always the same
hocus- -pocus. The members of the COM
mittee met in secret session, very secret,
to wrestle with the nouns and verbs
and pronouns and commas and semi
colons and staggeringly important SEN
tences that must make up platform.
Bask in Limelight.
AS always, they toiled all night,
emerging in the gray of the early
morning, weary, haggard, red-eyed and
worn with their enormous labors. Vast
quantities of platform guesses, predic-
tions, inferences, rumors and prognos-
! tications were written, printed. spoken
over the air, and circulated about The
hotel lobbies. 1t was exciting. The
Platform Committee was having its bit
Of the limelight and enjoying it greatly,
as all Platform Committees always do.
Meanwhile, the platform the conven-
ton adopted arrived in Philadelphia
some time ago. 1t came from No. 1900
Pennsylvania avenue, washington,
which, of course, was the place it
should come from. because the present
resident of that house has a greater
and more essential interest in it than
any other person whatsoever.
Yesterday, also, was field day for
the trend-finders, those earnest stu
dents, eXpounders and interpreters Of
the psychology of politics who probe
into the slants, divergences, divigations
and disturbances in the minds of the
delegates in order to determine whittier
we are drifting And why. Trends were
sought from morn to dewy eve. Any
delegate suspected Of harboring even
the most tenuous sort of trend was
pounced upon, put through the stand
ard trend clinical tests, and the results
analyZed in sonorous, erudite, and
sapient prose.
Trend Proves Elusive.
The results were interesting, even If
not very conclusive. There is trend
undoubtedly and, while the seekers for
it sensed it, they did not locate it,
either analytically or with any una
nimity of conclusion. The results
ranged all the way from collectivism,
GENERALIZATION, RECOMMENDATION and reg
ulation, to the puzzled inquiry of what
q trend is and Is it catching.
These dull days inspire the academic
in convention discussion for the pub
lie prints, and this trend business Is
entirely academic, because this con-
vention has but one trend and that is
to renominate Roosevelt and Garner
on any sort Of a platform the Presi-
dent desired and get away from here.
The idea that, officially, in con-
vention and delegate sense, there is
anything to this convention except
President Roosevelt, that, officially
and in q delegate and convention
sense, there is any party but the
Roosevelt party represented here, that
anything will happen in this conven-
ton that the President does not want
to happen, whatever the inner con-
victions Of the delegates may be, Is
entirely erroneous. This convention
is highly mechanical, vastly pub
licized, slow, but precisely, moving
enterprise. 1t knows where it must
60. and it Is cumbersomely on its way.
However, the idea that all these
amenable and hand-picked "yes-men"
will perform as complaisantly and as
unanimously at the polls next Novem-
Der as they have so far, and will per-
form here until the show Is over, Is
also mistaken. In fact, 1t is mac
curate to degree that will astonish a
considerable section of our political
pundits and population.
| (Copyright, 1886. by the North American
Newspaper Alliance. Inc)
speech and platform, and the whole
program, has been modified by two
events that took place just as the con-