Evening star., 1944-10-04


dates.
Yet he was learning. and in 1920
he was sufficiently seasoned to be
placed in the spotlight of the San
Francisco convention.
Orators Sound Smiths Praises.
In that year w. Bourke Cochran,
whom Mr.. Smith rated as one OF
the greatest orators of his lifetime
had just returned to the Tammany
fold after falling out with Charles
F. Murphy.
1t was Mr.. Cochran, hotly opposed
to Mr.. Bryan, who was designated
to present Mr. Smith as New York s
'favorite son."
In his autobiography, Mr.. Smith
recalls that Mr.. Cochran came to
him and said:
Il am about to achieve the Joy of
my life. For as long as can re-
member, at national conventions,
have been tanning the wind either
against somebody or against some
thing, At last I have an opportunity
to be for somebody" Il
While the convention did not take
Mr.. Smith seriously as presidential
candidate, there did come out of it
something that was to identify Mr..
Smith ever after. 1t was the song,
THE Sidewalks OF New York" The
catchy, lifting tune became not only
the Smith campaign song, but was
played on any and all occasions
when he made public appearances.
It was in 1920. too, that Franklin
D. Roosevelt publicly demonstrated
the bonds of friendship with Mr..
Smith which were to last until Mr..
Roosevelt was nominated for the
presidency. He seconded Mr..
Smiths nomination, the convention
being the first of three national
gatherings at which Mr.. Roosevelt
made nominating speech for Mr..
Smith.
Religion and Prohibition Issues.
In 1924, at New York, Mr.. Roose-
velt applied to Mr.. Smith the title
"the Happy Warrior" which was to
stick as long as Mr.. Smith lived.
Between 1920 and 1924 there got
underway strong forces which were
to have a powerful influence upon
Mr.. Smith in 1928 when he opposed
Mr.. Hoover for the presidency.
Mr.. Smith was Roman Catholic
and a wet" the latter the popular
term for an anti-prchibitionist. In
1924 the Ku Klux Klan was reviving
the issue Of Mr.. Smiths religion
The Anti-Saloon League, at the
height of its power, was active also,
il forming the prohibition issue
which ranked high in 1928.
Mr.. Smith later frankly admitted
that the religious issue was too
strong" in 1924. In the memorable
convention Of that year at Madison
Square Garden in New York City,
the delegates deadlocked for 80 bal
lots. Then Mr.. McAdoo released his
delegates. Mr.. Smith followed suit
and on the 103d ballot John W.
Davis. former solicitor general and
Ambassador to Great Britain, was
nominated.
When He'll Froze and Thawed.
In the midst of the deadlock Mr.
Smith proposed to Mr.. McAdoo that
they both withdraw since it seemed
apparent neither one could win the
nomination.
"Ill stick until hell freezes over"
the former Treasury head is reported
to have said.
Very well, then," retorted Mr..
Smith, "I'n be here when it thaws
out"
After the selection of Mr.. Davis,
Mr.. Smith returned to Albany for
two more terms as Governor.
Mr.. Smith reached the apex of his
political climb in the summer of
1928, when at Houston, Tex, he was
nominated as the Democratic presi-
dental candidate to oppose Mr.,
Hoover.
Faced Four Issues.
Through the accident Of birth
and through the strength Of con-
viction, Mr.. Smith found himself
inyoluntarily the owner of four
ready-made issues, any one of which
normally would be oyerwhelmine
in its political potentialities.
The ready made issues were those
OF his Roman Catholic faith, his
lifelong Tammany political con-
nections, avowed anti-prohibition
convictions in an era when it was
politically right" to be "dry," and
his lower East Side origin.
It was inevitable that the religious
issue would be an important one in
the event of Mr.. Smiths nomina-
ton. It had figured under cover
in the Madison Square Garden fight
of 1924 and was publicly raised by
Charles Marshall, q New York at
torney, in an open letter published
in the Atlantic Monthly Of April
1927. more than . year before the
Houston convention.
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