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t"1 The Commonfif
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The Pemocratic Presidential
Candidates
To every political observer two things are ap
earcnt; first, that the contest for the Demo
cratic presidential nomination is proceeding
without acrimony. The Republicans are fight
lag and hairpulling in an arena that is vocal
vith accusation and cries of distress. If the
public can believe what the Republican candi
dates are saying about each other and they are
ail honorable men none of 'them uro lit for the
office to which they aspire.
How different the situation in the Democratic
party! Everything is as peaceful as a pink tea;
the candidates are most ladylike in their treat
ment of each other it is "After you, Alphonso,"
"You first, Gaston." Is it the lull before tho
storm, or is it because tho prospects of success
are not so exciting.
That brings us to tho second obvious charac
teristic of the campaign, viz., the shortago in
Democratic votes, as shown by tho primaries and
by tho various straw votes recently taken. Take
Nebraska, for instance. In 191 G, President Wil
son carried tho state by 41,000 majority; this
year, in spite of the spirited fight over tho liquor
question, the democrats ' polled only about
76,000 votes at the primaries, while tho Repub
licans polled about 130,000. In Michigan, the
Republicans polled more than twice as many
yotes as the Democrats. In Ohio, the Repub
licans polled considerably more than twice as
many votes as the Democrats, although the
Democrats carried Ohio in 191 G. The same rule
holds good or should I say bad? in Indiana,
California, Massachusetts and other states where
a voto has been taken. """
The Literary Digest poll, tho largest ever
taken, reveals lamentable scarcity of Demo
cratic votes. But more astounding than the
scarcity of Democratic votes is tho apparent
landslide of Democratic voters to Republican
candidates. The voters are asked to state their
party affiliations and, up to the publication
irhich appeared on the fifteenth of May, 148,000
Democrats expressed a preference for Repub
lican candidates while the number of Democrats
expressing a choice for Democratic candidates
vas only a little greater, viz,, 197,000. (The pro
portion is as great in the issue of May 22). It is
quite unusual for more than two-fifths of the
members of a party to indicate a leaning toward
the candidates of tho opposite party at tho begin
niQS of a campaign. Of course, the Digest's poll
cannot include all the voters they are count
ing upon only eleven millions out of the total
number of voters, and the votes already in rep
resent only about one-tenth of the total cx
J H would not bo fair, therefore, to ro
w tho Republican trend as conclusive, but it
13 enough to excite alarm among tho Democrats
nough to compel earnest consideration of tho
wowems which must be met in the campaign.
we question which will be asked with increas
es emphasis as the convention approaches is,
7 can the Democratic party Tally to its stand
JJM a sufficient number of votes to win? To
4 W thoueht uppermost in the minds of
nS J? at a aationnl convention, however
J?7 ny differ as to the methods to be
SI , Somo wlu insist on doine anything
that P!?mi,S03 victory, while- others will insist
Wn VKi St Way t0 win fa t0 OBSERVE to
hVv? , two eroups are united in purpose.
tin iiB n view this Primary object of win
tC, l 'Consider tho relative availability of
ttalhfii u.' and u milst be remembered that
merit y uot necessarily proportionate to
edBBlSriWitl1' tbe Pl,eBident need not be con
cave b' Yi Q vague hints an suggestions
inttoS , S0Wn out occasionally, no ono claim
hicx toBVak fr the President, or near enough to
nounon,? iafsuine(1 t0 express his wishes, has
M? Ho 8 candiacy.
lTallabioQ0VeJ,nee(1 uot bo considered among-tho
about aZI Tov a time ho seemed to hdstitate
a8 incEin4s his allegiance to any party. Ho
Written S Wait until" the platforms wore
Cao nUlJ i a. view t0 choosing tho ono which
J not w , to llis ldea But this hesitation
he acted vni ig' For Bome reason- whether
rs-1 cann?tarIly or was Pushed by his back
not say he plunged into tho Repub
lican pool and became a rival nf Qn T ,
iow Mm into the Republican party if h Vr
ELSftatte If naPPear3 Kv b"lt S
srrSssr conventiott and
The most active of tho avowed candidates for
the Democratic nomination is Governor Edwards
he TJ?Ty- Vs pri,nary votG " SS
o? Th?ra Stn US f01 ing amonK tUc KnBht8
of Thirst. Democrats of his variety thrive
luxuriantly in the wet cities. His propaganda!
'however does not take root to any great e7
tent in the agricultural sections and his follow
ing in the convention will not bo suffcient to
make him a serious competitor for tho nomina
tion. Before the convention the Supremo Court
is likely to demolish his platform by affirming
the right of tho people of tho United States to
so amend their constitution as to prohibit tho
manufacture and sale of beverage liquors, and,
second, by denying the right of his and other
states to nullify the national enforcement law by
state statute. His opposition to prohibition is
so violent that he would not bo available except
on a wet platform and a wet platform is an im-'
possibility.
Governor Cox, of Ohio, la likely to be the re
siduary legatee of all the othor we.t candidates
and may be regarded as the final rallying point
for all Democrats who, either because of finan
cial interest in the liquor traffic or because of
their own fondness for intoxicants, regard love
for liquor as the nly legitimate affection and
the 'ight to buy it as tho only inalienable right
guaranteed by the constitution.
Governor Cox's friends will urge him as a com
promise between wets of the Edwards typo and
tho bone-drj's. His supporters will makevtheir
fight under the false flag of party harmony
a harmony in which they would' feel no interest
whatever if they could muster one majority for
a wet plank. But Governor Cox's record is as
malodorous as Governor Edwards, and extends
over a longer period. The New Jersey Governor
began work in tho vineyard, if I may be par
doned the illustration, at the eleventh hour
while Governor Cox entered in tho morning
and perspired under the rays of the rising sun
of prohibition. He can secure letters of rec
ommendation from all tho brewers, 'distillers,
wholesalers, retailers and topers in his state. He
refused to aid in securing an enforcement law
in Ohio AFTER THE VOTERS HAlf WRITTEN
PROHIBITION INTO THE CONSTITUTION BY
25 000 MAJORITY and then he sat silent in tho
governor's office while the representatives of the
liquor traffic, with his knowledge if not with his
aid, waged a bitter fight against every law that
the temperance element had secured during the
Tmstfifty years. He was willing to allow these
tionLK repeal constitutional Pon
nullify the enforcement law, and withdraw Ohio s
Same from the list of ratifying states-erase it
S tie nation's roll of honor! He ; was i even
iiiir n,ot fhP brewers should write into Ohio s
turo criminals for pay ana Qf
the corruption of politics ,. ii
a support should aspire io Dem0Cratic
tion in " f eJft b Zn amendment, and
state ratified the proh mt thrtyf of tj10
in face of tJ'JJJir 0wn individual acts. The '
Btates are dry by their own thfl morQ
absurdity o hi 7n(dma0Vered that at least
apparent when it is ? . blo to vote at
Fifteen million omfln ri e$0 V virtue of
Vice-President Marsnau bampered by m
e K5 f nat,nal
h wotnSS. wl,0hr," aro disgusted by
s invi ? Wfl ",k manner th0 loo-prMldont
of S Sf11.8 r00t 8Upport hy M Pra'
of old fashioned democracy" and by his veiled
uTni n ,t0 th0 lolUatlvo anrt reforl urn. bu
the onthMlaim of tho reactionaries is like y to
n luinf,oncd th0 de remarks which ho oc
casionally makes againut the exploiting clasn.
Attorney Genoral Palmer ontorod tho cam
I lZniU co?8,?orab, advantage. Ho was m
l doal sternly with the profiteer and
n?rt lP mnt pub,,c 8t00d roadr t0 applaud. But.
lwPr0i ?.er 80?ms t0 lmvo th,nC8 all his own
yay and tho attorney general Is now sufforlng
from the reaction, which philosophers toll uk
in ?? xr l!10 ftct,on an(I ,n th0 opposlto di
rection. Ho has nlso roused tho antagonism of
labor and hus thoir opposition to a greator ox
tent than any othor Democratic aspirant.
Ho is unfortunate, too, In having to espouse
tho ratification of tho treaty without reserva
tions. His candidacy is, in this respect, a robuko
to twenty.Bovon of tho Democratic Sonators,
twenty-three of whom voted for ratification with
reservations and four of whom opposed tho
treaty entirely.
The primaries roveal Mr. Palmor's woakness
as a candidate In Michigan, ho polled a llttlo
over eleven thousand votes out of about eighty
thousand votes cast by Democrats. In doorgia,
he polled about one-third of tho votes cast at
tho Democratic primary. In the Literary Digest
poll up to May 22d, ho has secured only seven
teen thousand out of some throo hundred thous
and votes cast for Democratic candidates.
Ex-Secretary McAdoo has, up to this time, led
all the other candidates as far as the sontimont
of tho party can bo gauged by primaries and
polls, although his name has been on tho ballot
in so few places that tho proof Is only prima
facie. He came next to Hoover in Michigan and
has a considerable lead in tho Digest poll. Hit
voto of eighty-six thousand out of somo throo
hundred thousand Democratic votes counted is
quite complimentary to him, coming as they do
from tho whole country, but it is not a vory en
couraging vote of confidence when It is meas
ured against more than nine hundred thousand
votes cast for candidates in tho Itopubllcnn
party.
As Mr. McAdoo has announced no platform,
it is impossible to know what following ho will
have when his position on public questions la
known. It is evident that he has considorablo
strength among the wage earners, especially In
railroad centers; but he is handicapped by
silence on tho treaty question. If lie agrees with
tho President in tho latter's desire to make it
a campaign issue, ho is at variance with tho
sentimont of the voters; if ho favors ratification
with reservations, he is not In position, for
family reasons, to load the opposition to tho
President.-
Ho is even more seriously handicapped by his
close relationship to the President. Without be
ing able to call to his support thoso to whom
the President's candidacy appealed with special
force, ho furnishes an easy mark for all tho
President's enemies. Tho virulence of the hostil
ity which he invites is vory accurately described
in the twenty-first chapter of Matthew, verso
thirty-three to thirty-nine.
The Republicans have indicated the advantage
which they would seek to take of his nomina
tion by frequent reforonco to the marriage tio
which binds him to tho White" House.
SpeakerClark has his own state behind him
and has reason to feel complimented by tbe num
ber of votes he has received in the Literary Di
gest poll.
Judge Gerard's candidacy has South Dakota's
support and ho has many personal friends among
the other delegates.
Senator Owen of Oklahoma, and Secretary
Meredith of Iowa, will bo presented by their re
spective states. They deserve to bo named among
the few available men thus far mentioned. To,
be available this year a candidate must bo known,
to be for woman suffrage, for prohibition and
against Wall street. By this standard, Senator
Owen and Secretary Meredith aro one hundred
per cent available. W. J. BRYAN.
"AIiABASIA 2A NO" "
Alabama comes first on the roll call at San
Francisco. It will give the drys "a grand and
glorious feeling," as Cartoonist Briggs would
say, to hear her shout, "Alabama votes 24 No,"
f Kn,1 I.aaw nlnnlr
on any wiuw uuu uo .i...
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