Evening star., 1936-06-11


fits it, or is will
ing to accept it. Mark Sullivan.
Convention rou-
tine proceeds on that theory. The
platform is written first; choosing the
presidential nominee comes afterward.
Actually, on this occasion, it is prac-
tlcally assumed that the presidential
nominee will be Mr.. Landon. He is
chosen first, hence the platform must
be written to At him and to suit him.
This will be done, for the committee
that writes the platform is headed by
and controlled by Gov. Landon's
friends.
What has been happening about the
platform has had elements Of humor.
Completely defeated candidates for
the presidential nomination have been
undertaking to say what the victorious
candidate. Gov. Landon. must stand
for. 1t did not occur to Gov. Lam
don's managers and friends to tell
the defeated ones that if they wanted
to dictate a platform, let them first
go out and get presidential nomina-
ton.
my PIanks or Else"
Some of the defeated candidates
and their friends, knowing they would
not have the responsibility of either
presidential nominee or a Presi-
dent, were debating planks of very
dogmatic kind-planks which. one
suspects, they would not have cared
to have in the platform If they were
the nominee.
Col. Knox announced four planks
which he said must be adopted-"or
else" The "or else" was that if Gov.
Landon would not accept Col. Knox's
planks, Col. Knox would retire from
the race for the presidential nomina-
ton. A huge newspaper headline put
it Knox threatens to retire" Just
how Gov. Landon could be menaced by
the retirement of a rival, and a rival
already apparently defeated, was not
made clear.
BOrah a Case in Point.
Senator Borahs position was similar
but more extreme. He had run for
the presidential nomination and he
had not won enough delegates to come
anywhere near victory. Thereafter,
Senator Borah, as a defeated candi-
date, said to Gov. Landon, as a VIC
toriouS candidate, You must accept
my platform planks." In other words,
Gov. Landon must run, not on his
own platform, but on that of his
rivals. Senator Borah has been quite
imperious in his demand. He i'm
piled that if his planks were not
accepted he might not support Gov.
Landon in the coming campaign
against the Democrats.
In addition to the defeated candi-
dates, there has been another prolific
source of platform planks. Eager
persons outside politics or on the
fringes Of it were quite dogmatic
They declared that Gov. Landon could
not be elected unless there was in
corporated in the platform, word for
word, something which the eager ones
had accomodatingly written out
something or other which would in
fallibly get the votes of the fifteenth
ward in Chicago, or of the Amalga-
mated Association of Manufacturers
of Metal Typed Floor Polishers. Other
confident persons had the particular
farm planks which alone would win
the farmerS-there were a dozen such,
each irreconcilable with the others
Yet other persons, completely wise
and sensible, demanded planks which
may be desirable but are at this time
impracticable.
Crazy Quilt of "isms."
Had the platform been made up Of
the suggestions which were rife at
the early stage, it would have looked
like a carry quilt of ideal obiectives
combined with bizarre "isns" Had
it been made of compromises between
contradictory views tenaciously held
by miscellaneous zealots, as well as
by many straight thinking men who
opposed each other violently, the
resolute would have looked like cam
brio tea diluted with orange juice.
Much of the confusion ended when
the Committee on Resolutions Or
ganized. The committee was in the
hands of Gov. Landon's friends and
they proceeded to try to write a plat
form to fit Gov Landon, one that
as candidate he could conscientiously
and prudentially run on and one
that as President he could reasonably
hope to carry out.
True, the ideal is that a convention
should be deliberative body and that
the platform should be hammered out
on the anvil of debate. But it would
be difficult to make an adequately
deliberative body out of convention
which is planned to meet Tuesday,
adjourn not later than Saturday, and
within the four days nominate a
presidential candidate and a vice presi-
dental candidate and also adopt q
platform.
(Copyright, 1891