2

ΤΙΜΕ

example, 22 states voted, as compared with 48 states and 6 "territories"* at Manhattan. Moreover, at Manhattan, reckoning was prolonged, since many states had more delegates than votes, and many delegates had only fractional votes.† The entire Georgia delegation had only a half vote for each delegate; fortunately, it voted in unit.

Missouri had some

delegates with whole votes, some with two-thirds, some with half, some with one-third of a vote. Connecticut even had tenths.

Over this great jamboree of balloting presided Senator Thomas J. Walsh of Montana, Chairman and Ballotmaster. The proceeding throughout the entire balloting was the

same:

Secretary: "Alabama-24 votes for Underwood. Arizona, six!"

Arizona leader: "Arizona-one vote for John W. Davis, one-and-ahalf votes for Underwood, three-anda-half votes for William Gibbs McAdoo."

And SO on, until Canal Zone answered: "Canal Zone casts six votes for McAdooooo!"

Then the band would begin to play. The Secretaries would hastily compute totals. The Chairman's gavel would rap a few times, reverberating through the microphones. The band would break off abruptly or hurry through a few last bars.

From the platform, Mr. Walsh or another would recite:

"Result of the nth ballot: total number of votes cast, 1,098; necessary for a choice, 732. Totals for

this ballot: McAdoo 4882; Smith 3362; Davis of West Virginia 722; Underwood 46%; Baker 57; Glass 26; Governor Bryan 3; Robinson 21; Ritchie 162; Saulsbury 6; Owen 2; Walsh of Montana 1; Will Rogers 1; M. A. Coolidge 1⁄2 (or perhaps the trailers at the end might be Senator Copeland, Josephus Daniels, the Mayor of New Orleans, of Chicago or of Montpelier). No one having

Alaska, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Philippine Islands, Porto Rico, Canal Zone (six votes each).

† Each State had as many votes as twice the number of its Representatives and Senators in Congress.

July 14, 1

in the entire Nation, and no one wh is accustomed to National Conver tions will fail to appreciate the wis dom of bringing together represen tatives of the Party in all the state and territories. . .

"In the first place I want to say to you that the Democratic Party has candidates in abundance. We could call the roll of states and find in every state a Democrat worthy to be President of the United States [Applause]. I am only going to mention a few..."

Dr. A. A

He mentioned seven: Murphree, President of the University of Florida; Josephus Daniels; Senator Joseph T. Robinson; Senator Samuel Ralston; ex-Secretary of Agriculture Edwin T. Meredith; his own brother, Charles W. Bryan, Governor of Nebraska; William G. McAdoo. His speech lacked the oldtime wonder-working power. The crowd was largely hostile; several times delegates interrupted. After every two or three sentences there was applause or hisses, cheers or heckling -mostly the latter. Shortly after his time expired, Mr. Bryan gave up. As a political speech, his effort was inglorious.

Deadlocked. McAdoo refused to withdraw. Smith refused to withdraw and leave the field to McAdoo. Both gained somewhat. Nobody gained a decision. Like the siege of Troy, the battle wavered back and forth. For McAdoo, for Smith and for John W. Davis (who was most of the time in third place), the following table shows the vote on the initial ballot and on the closing ballot of each following day:

Ballot

McAdoo

15th

479

305.5

61

30th

415.5

323.5

126.5

42nd

503.4

318.6

67

61st

469.5

335.5

60

70th

528.5

334.5

67

513

367

76.5

ma

I

"The Chairman: The gentleman from Florida, Mr. Bryan, asks unanimous consent that he be permitted to explain his vote. Is there objection? [Cries: 'Objection.' 'I object, I object!' 'No, no, no!'] The Chair hears none. Mr. Bryan will come to the platform. [Cheers and applause, mingled with hisses and booes.]"

Said Mr. Bryan: "We have met here as representatives of the Party

77th The only real advance made was from casualties among a few favorite Ferris of Michigan dropped out on the 8th ballot; Silzer of New Jersey, on the 9th; Harrison of Mis sissippi, on the 15th; Brown of New Hampshire, on the 16th; Charles W. Bryan of Nebraska, on the 20th, although he got a handful of votes from the 52nd on; Davis of Kansas dwindled out on the 51st; Cox of Ohio practically disappeared on the 65th; Ralston, after making a brave run in the 50's, dropped out on the 64th. Seventeen states never altered their vote during the entire first six days of balloting: California, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, all

stuck solidly, persistently to McAdoo; Alabama did the same for Underwood; Arkansas, for Robinson; Maryland, for Ritchie; Virginia, for Glass; Delaware, for Saulsbury.

Panaceas. It was apparent that On the something had to be done. 73rd ballot, a crop of mushroom panaceas came up. It was proposed:

1) That by unanimous consent the Convention drop the name of the lowest candidate on each succeeding ballot until only two were left; objection was made and ruled this out.

2) That by two-thirds vote the Convention adopt a resolution that, beginning with the 75th ballot, the lowest candidate on each ballot should withdraw his name until only five were left; defeated, 496 "Ayes" to 5891⁄2 "Noes."

3) That after the 75th ballot, the Convention adjourn to meet on July 21 in Kansas City; defeated, 82.7 "Ayes" to 1,007.3 "Noes."

4) That by two-thirds vote the Convention adopt a resolution to eliminate the lowest candidate at each ballot until two were left, ballot on these for five ballots, then, abolishing the unit rule, choose a candidate by a majority vote; defeated overwhelmingly by acclamation.

Balloting then went on dispiritedly. Governor Smith gained some votes from Ohio (which had first backed Cox, then Baker) which brought him to 364-more than a third. In this state of affairs, even if all the favorite sons were eliminated, there must still have been a deadlock between Smith and McAdoo on account of the twothirds requirement.

The 75th, 76th, 77th ballots were passed with almost no change. The Convention was in a coma. The only diversion was when the entire house joined with Governor Brandon in announcing Alabama's unalterable vote: "Twenty-foah, foah Un-dawood!"

Taggart's Motion. When the 77th was finished, Chairman Walsh recognized Tom Taggart, ex-Senator boss of Indiana. He moved that after the end of that day's balloting, Mr. Walsh and Cordell Hull, Chairman of the National Committee, summon representatives of all the candidates together to work out a solution. Without a dissenting vote, the motion was

It was not until three hours after the day session began that the attitude of the delegates, the tactics of the strategists underwent a change. Lethargic delegates stirred themselves, tiredlooking men became animated, “everywhere was heard a loud chatter of expectancy."

McAdoo's following began to leave him, went to other candidates-Glass, Ralston, John W. Davis. Smith stood practically still. Glass had 721⁄2 votes in the 84th and again on the 86th. Ralston (who had 4 on the 81st) rose to 93 on the 87th. Davis stood at 861⁄2 on the same ballot. At 11:45 on Monday night the Convention adjourned until 10:30 o'clock the next morning in sympathy to President and Mrs. Coolidge on the death of their son.

State organizations of farmers City Central Labor bodies State and Local Cooperatives State Non-Partisan Leagues State organizations of the Women's Committee for Political Action Only Communists, cranks and reactionaries were not wanted-and they were very much not wanted. Alexander Howatt, radical miner leader who attended the Farmer-Labor Convention in St. Paul (TIME, June 30) was at hand but was not welcome. So was William Mahoney, who organized the St. Paul Convention and was a member of the National Committee of the C. P. P. A. So was Jacob Coxey, known in 1894 as leader of Coxey's Army, claiming to be a representative of the Populist Party. As much as possible, these people were ruled out. No one wants less to be confounded with reds than do the pinks.

The day before the Convention assembled, the National Committee sent a telegram to Senator La Follette asking him to become a candidate. The same day Robert M. La Follette, Jr., left Washington for Cleveland as his father's courier. He carried with him his father's reply.

The Convention opened with the Hall, which accommodates 15,000 something better than half full. On the platform was a great American flag. Before it hung four portraitsWashington, Lincoln, Jefferson, LaFollette.

William H. Johnston, President of the International Association of Machinists, played a triple rôle: Chairman of the National Committee of the C. P. P. A., Temporary Chairman of the Convention, Permanent Chairman of the same. As the second of these, he delivered a keynote speech:

"The nation has witnessed the holding of a dull and lifeless convention of political puppets in this very Hall. It has also witnessed the antics of what seemed to be a disorderly mob meeting in New York City, but which responded to boss control quite obediently in its voting. In Cleveland, there was one boss. In New York, there were several. In Cleveland, there was the chill hand of

approaching dissolution upon the party. In New York, the fever of class, religious and sectional hatreds burned in its veins.

"This conference is alive. It may have its moments of enthusiasm. I beg of you that it will always remain an orderly, deliberate assembly. I beg of you that enthusiasm shall not be perverted into silly demonstrations, wherein mature men behave like children and attempt to measure the strength of their convictions by their

"On Feb. 22, 1922, Washington's Birthday, this Conference first met in the city of Chicago and issued a new declaration of independence in which we set forth our grievances and proclaimed our purpose to fight for our rights in the coming Congressional elections. The story of that campaign is now history. It resulted in the greatest defeat of reactionary Senators and Congressmen ever recorded. In place of these 'lame ducks,' we sent to Congress a splendid group of fighting Progressives, who have held the balance of power in the session which has just ended. They have broken through the barrier of the rules of the House of Representatives, slaughtered the Mellon tax plan and other reactionary legislation and forced the exposure through Congressional investigations of the most stupendous graft and corruption that the world has ever known. . . .

"We have a leader, that life-long, faithful servant of the people, whose character, ability and record as a constructive statesman entitle him to take his place with the greatest men this nation has produced-with Washington, with Jefferson and with Lincoln. His name is already on your lips, his service is in your hearts, his vision is in your souls-Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin. . . .

"The great tidal wave of popular enthusiasm that swept out of office the reactionary Governments of England and France and now threatens to destroy Mussolini, the blackshirted Dictator of Italy, will carry Robert M. LaFollette into the Presidency of the United States."

When he had done, young women passed straw hats and collected $2,316.41 to support the campaign.

Other leaders made speeches, among them Senator Hendrik Shipstead, Farmer-Laborite of Minnesota, and Representative John M. Nelson, insurgent Republican from Wisconsin.

The great treat of the day, however, was the reading of Senator LaFollette's message. It was read by Bob, Jr., agressive, meticulous in dress, introduced as "a chip off the old block." He read:

"After long experience in public life and painstaking consideration of the present state of public affairs, I am convinced that the time has come for a militant political movement, in

dependent of the two old party organizations and responsive to the needs and sentiments of the common people.

"I should be unwilling to participate in any political campaign at this time which would imperil the steady advance of the Progressive movement or diminish the number of true Progressives, nominally elected as Republicans and Democrats, who are now serving the public in the House, the Senate and in many of the State Governments. The ground already won must not be abandoned. . . . An analysis of the platforms adopted by the two old parties will show that the real issues have been ignored and that the candidate of either party, if elected, will go into office with no specific pledges whatsoever binding him to the people, while he will be under the most immediate necessity and obligation of serving the party bosses and predatory interests to whom he owes his nomination and upon whom he must rely for election. .

...

"To break the combined power of the private monopoly system over the political and economic life of the American people is the one paramount issue of the 1924 campaign.

"The American people are honest, intelligent, patriotic, industrious and frugal. And yet, in a land of untold wealth, dedicated to the principles of equal opportunity for all, special privileges to none, life has become a desperate struggle for the average man and woman. The millions who work on the farms, in the mines, in transportation, in the factories and shops and stores, with all their industry and saving, find themselves poorer at the end of the year than at the beginning...

...

"The organized banking interests which own the railroads, control credit and dominate the industrial life of the nation, will further oppress labor, rob the consumer, and, by extortionate railroad rates and dictation of the terms of credit, reduce agriculture to the level of the European peasantry, if longer permitted to control this Government.

"The ill-gotten surplus capital acquired by exploiting the resources and the people of our country begets the imperialism which hunts down and exploits the natural resources and the people of foreign countries, erects huge armaments for the protection of its investments, breeds international strife in the markets of the world, and inevitably leads to

in the coöperative principle, as ap plied to both marketing and credit lies the best hope for dealing effec tively with monopoly. . . .

"We are unalterably opposed to any class government, whether it be the existing dictatorship of plutocracy o the dictatorship of the proletariat Both are essentially undemocratic and un-American. Both are destructive of private initiative and individual liberty. . . .

"Upon this issue I am ready to enlist with you to wage increasing warfare until the American people have been restored to the full enjoyment of their political and economic rights.

"I am under no illusion as to the magnitude of the task we have marked out for ourselves. This campaign will call for sacrifice, courage and unsparing activity from every man and woman engaged on the people's side. But so long as the Progressives keep faith with the people and remain steadfastly true to the prin ciples which, are at stake, we can face the vast financial resources and the special arguments of our opponents with full confidence of success.

Throughout the reading, there were frequent bursts of applause, spontaneous little demonstrations, lasting only a minute or two. At the end, the Convention came to its feet, cheering. Herman E. Wills, Assistant Head of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, mounted to the platform and moved that Mr. LaFollette be nominated by acclamation. The delegates roared their approval. This was contrary to the arranged program. The nomination was to be made at 4 p. m. the next day. Opportunely, Chairman Johnston was extricated from his embarrassment by a delegate who made a point of order against the motion.

The second day of the second Cleveland Convention was a continued love feast. To kill time before the "nomination" of Senator La Follette a number of speakers were heard: the venerable poet, Edwin Markham, Andrew Furuseth (fighting leader of the International Seamen's Union), Lynn J. Frazier (non-Partisan Republican U. S. Senator from North Dakota) contributed to the entertainment.

The program submitted by Senator LaFollette was read by Donald A. Richberg, general counsel of the Railway Brotherhoods. Without a dissenting voice, without a word of discussion, the Convention adopted it.

Then on its own account it adopted resolutions favoring: 1) the passage of

July 14, 1924

TIME.

the Postal Salary Bill, vetoed by President Coolidge; 2) immediate and complete independence for the Philippines and laws to improve the distressing situation in the Virgin Islands; 3) deep sympathy with the aspirations of the Irish for freedom; 4) U. S. relief for Germany; 5) denunciation of the use of the Army and Navy for exploiting weaker nations, notably Haiti, Santo Domingo, Nicaragua.

The nomination, or rather endorsement, of Senator LaFollette was speedy. The Committee on Organization presented a resolution:

"RESOLVED, That this Convention endorse the candidacy of Senator Robert M. LaFollette for President of the United States upon the platform submitted by him."

There was no nominating speech. Four "seconding" speeches in favor of the resolution were made. The flow of oratory was cut off and the resolution passed with a howl of delight. The delegates cheered, shouted.

This peculiar form of nomination betokens the idea-plan of the La Follette candidacy. The Senator is not going to abandon his title as a Republican. He, not the C. P. P. A., will enter his name with a list of electors on the ballots of various states. He, not the Convention, wrote the platform. The Convention merely echoed him. It offered itself as an acolyte to serve at his altar. The Convention submitted to his wish to act as a body of his supporters. He avoided the technical embarrassment of appearing as the nominee of the C. P. P. A. Third Party.

The Convention assented to his wish that no third party, no titular entity, be created. Even the choice of a Vice Presidential candidate to run with him was resigned by the Convention to its National Committee, which will doubtless do exactly as Mr. LaFollette orders in making its choice. "Fighting Bob" was out on his own, as an individual. Parties must bow and follow in his wake.

By exiling the Communists hopefully standing outside its fast-closed doors, the Convention aroused the antagonism of William Mahoney, who organized the recent Farmer-Labor Convention in St. Paul, which was captured by the Communists. Mr. Mahoney was actually refused a seat in the C. P. P. A. Convention, although he was a member of the C. P. P. A. National Committee -a most remarkable procedure. William Z. Foster and C. E. Ruthenberg, leaders of the Workers' Party (overground Communist organization), were

in Cleveland and issued a manifesto, declaring:

"This Convention calls itself 'progressive,' but in an economic sense it is the most reactionary political Convention held this year."

Just as the second Cleveland Convention was opening, the July issue of The American Federationist, organ of the American Federation of Labor, appeared. It contained an editorial by Samuel Gompers, evidently aimed at the C. P. P. A. Convention. Said Mr. Gompers:

"Now, as before, the average result of so-called third party adventures will be victory for reaction.

"Practically, this is what happens: The 'third party' draws from the most progressive of the other candidates. The more conservative candidate loses no votes to a 'third party' candidate.

"Thus progressive votes are divided, the progressive cause weakened.

"When Progressives divide among themselves reaction wins. History records altogether too many sad cases of this one foot forward and two feet backward' kind of frog-in-the-well advancement."

The strategy of Mr. LaFollette's individual stand appears significant already as an evasion of Mr. Gompers' attack on third parties.

ernment to crush private monopoly, not to foster it.

2) Unqualified enforcement of the constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech, press and assemblage.

3) Public ownership of the Nation's water power and creation of a public superpower system. Strict public control and permanent conservation of all national resources, including coal, iron and other ores, oil and timber lands, in the interest of the people. Promotion of public works in times of business depression.

4) Retention of surtaxes on swollen incomes; restoration of the tax on excess profits, on Stock dividends, prouts undistributed to evade taxes; rapidly progressive taxes on large estates and inheritances, and repeal of excessive tarit duties, especially on trust-controled necessities of life, and of nuisance taxes on consumption, to relieve the people of tue present unjust burden of taxation and compet those who profited by the War to pay their share of the War costs and to provide tue tunus for adjusted compensation solemniy pieuged to the veterans of the World War.

5) Reconstruction of the Federal Reserve and Federal farm loan systems to provide tor direct public control of the Nation's money and credit, to make it available on fair terms to all, and National and State Legislatures to permit and promote cooperative banking.

6) Adequate laws to guarantee to farmers and industrial workers the right to organize and bargain collectively, through representatives of their own choosing, for the maintenance or improvement of their standards of life.

7) Creation of Government marketing corporation to provide a direct route between farm producer and city consumer, and to assure farmers fair prices for their products and protect consumers from the profiteers in foodstuffs and other necessaries of life. Legislation to conduct the meat-packing industry.

8) Protection and aid of cooperative enter prises by National and State legislation.

9) Common international action to effect the economic recovery of the world from the effects of the World War.

10) Repeal of the Cummins-Esch law. Public ownership of railroads, with democrauc operation, with dennite safeguards against bureaucratic control.

11) Abolition of the tyranny and usurpation of the courts, including the practice of numtying legislation in conflict with the political, social or economic theories of the Judges. Abolition ot injunctions in labor disputes and of the power to punish for contempt wiCALout trial by jury. Election of all Federal Judges without party designation for incu

terms.

12) Prompt ratification of the Child Labor Amendment, and subsequent enactment o a Federal law to protect children in industry. Removal of legal discrimination against women by measures not prejudicial to legislation necessary tor the protection of women and or Lue advancement of social welfare.

13) A deep waterway from the Great Lakes to the sea.

14) We denounce the mercenary system of foreign policy under recent Administrations in the interests of financial imperialists, oil mon opolists and international bankers, which has at times degraded our State Department from its high service as a strong and kindly intermediary of defenseless Governments to a trading outpost for those interests and concession-seekers engaged in the exploitation of weaker nations, as contrary to the will of the American people, destructive of domestic development and provocative of war. We favor an active foreign policy to bring about a revision of the Versailles Treaty in accordance with the terms of the Armistice, and to promote firm treaty agreements with all nations to outlaw wars, abolish conscription, drastically reduce land, air and naval armaments, and guarantee public referendums on peace

and war.

"The Nation may grow rich in the vision of greed. The Nation will grow great in the vision of Service."