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VdE'20, NO. 7
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to the general public. as well as' justice to em
ployers and employes?
:' . COMHZTTBE ON BKSOLUIHONS OPBKS
HEAItmGS ON PLATFORM PLANICS
v8an Francisco, Juno 30. Tho second day ot
.tho convention is oolddm exciting. The ac
cumulated enthusiasm expends itself in the first
ptnonstration. Tho"" noise comes when the
bottle is uncorked, so to speak, and the second
day is largely a matter of routine, PomVanent
.Chairman Robinson gave in his own language,
, w,hlch Is always well chosen, a rovoiw of the
party's splendid . economic record, following
much tho same line of Chairman CummJng's
gpboch.. His remarks about the senato elicited
one of the most enthusiastic of tho outbursts of
applause Ho disappointed the drys by not mak
ing any reference to tho subject of prohibition,
,a matter tlo more surprising bocauso he comes
v from. a bono dry state and represents a constit
uency that has grovn more nd more firm in
)la opposition to intoxicants.
t Tho session, was entirely formal beyond the
delivery of tho speech, there being no volunteor
,or .called out speeches. The second day is usual
ly, lemploye.d as a sort of gala day; prbminent '
Democrats are called out to stir enthusiasm by
a recital of the glorious deeds of tho party and
'by prophecies as to what we are going to do to
" the enemy. There is no time in. a politician's
life when victory and the oflicos that como with
tit loom larger than they do on the second day
.,pf .a, convention. The set speeches being
tjpuched In language more or loss cautioiiB, the
audience has to rely upon tho extemporaneous
..spoalqqra to wave the flag and pull the tail
vfe,atfyeijs out of tho eagle with real abandon.
Too bad that such a splendid opportunity is
.wasted for it must bo remembered that, those
present hove boon lighting for tickets for weeks.
-oCApX uaye Deon writing to everybody they knew
tiaha.d a push or a pull. ffher convention gives
.&? man with influence a great opportunity" to
demonstrate to his friends how near he ifj to the
r .thronp. It isn't fair for a convention to have a
?short ; session on the sbcond day withaq many t
etoFal flowers blooming in, tho prepared
,(speqcnes that are already delivered extempor
aneously. .While tho convention was proceeding in the
auditorium tho resolutions committee was af
fording to quite a promiscuous group of peti
...uoners an opportunity to lay before the commit- '
.too in. opon session tho subject on their hearts.
Samuel, J3ompors, the veteran president of the
mpi;Ican Moderation of Labpr, presented tho
jahnsof those for whom "h'e has. so long'spofcen.
yJapTspoke earnestly as hOvajways does and made
' JiJyey'.favorablo Impression on .the committee.
.Jfcje, v$li have -more reason to" rejoice here than
' he had in Chicago.
fejt Prohibition was the second qubjpct taken up
3 and: nq one who was present will be beguilod
,ny longer by those who have been predicting
,,tnat the subject will be ignored. It Was very
apparent from tho first moment that this Is the
tites$iQn. upon which there is most feeling. I
V&afl. the honor of apportioning .the., time among
4 .those who spoke in favor of a dry .plank and was
v stls'f Ipd with tho showing madp. Bishop Can
,noii of tho Methodist Church Sputh, a typical
Virginia Democrat, dwelt upon the party's part
in,thia great moral victory and appealed to the
' committee to gratify those who had made this
; long' and successful fight by an assurance that
N hore would be no return to alcoholic drinks. Mr.
Hall spoke for the Presbyterians and other
phurch boardsr'"Mr. Sllsby presented an appeal
from the boe dry organization, and Mr. Need-
tfa'm presented a formidable package of petitions
t rom the prohibition party. Mrs, Yost, the NaV
, tipnal Legislative representative of the Women's
.Christian Temperance Union spoke earnestly for
nearly one million women in that organization.
Jibe-Congressman Hobson (Richmond Pearson)
vniado an eloquent arraignment of alcohol and
begged the Democratic party to1 do its duty to
the nation and give hope to the world by a
strong declaration In favor of the enforcement
of the amendment. Honorable Wayne B,
Wheeler, representing- 22 national prohibition
'organisations, concluded the arguments for our
side'. As. general counsel of the Anti-SaiPon
League he has defended prohibition legislation
:Jp all of the hignor courts and, if a lawyer's
'reputation standi upon hfs success, ho has no
superior as a "constitutional lawyer. Ho. pre-
'kanted a terrific arraignment of the liquor tfaf
lie and marshalled such an array of facts to
provo the success of prohibition at to over whelm
the opposition.
Tho liqupr side was in charge of Congressman
Sabath of Chicago. Ho introduced as tho first
'speaker on their side Honorable Theodore Boll
who made tho usual argument in favor of per
sonal liberty. As his speech was directed
against all prohibitory laws it weakened rather
than strengthened the arguments of those who
had been trying to mpke it , appear that tho
wot side accepted the saloon issue as closed andi
Urged only a modification of tho law for lheN
benefit of home drinkers. As the press dis
patches wiM probably carry, the colloquy be
twe6n hiin and myself I need not dwell upon It
further than to express my satisfaction at hav- .
ing an opportunity to answer .publicly. a misrep
resentation that has been circulated privately.
Mr..0ompers was called upon -to deny a pub
lished report to the effect that the labor meet
ing at Montreal had turned down ja, wine and
beer proposition. The committee was assured
that the subject was not mentioned at Montreal.
Now York's great orator, JBourke Cockran,
closed tho debate for the wets by inveighing his
customary vehemence against any attempt to
promote temperance by law. As did Mr. Bell
he made his assault against the amendment, as
well as against its enforcement and thus con
firmed tho opinion of those who insist that a
question cannot be dismissed as settled so long
as the opponents of the law assail it so vigor
ously. Taken all in all the hearing very much
encouraged the drys and increases tho probabil
ity of a dry plank in tho platform. There are
probably 300 delegates in the convention who
would trade their views onvwery other question
for a wet plank and go home happy in the' be
lief that the Democratic party ban carry the
election by an appeal to the throats "of the drink
ers and the pockets of those Who want to' go
into the business rather than by arguments that
appeal to the heart and the conscience. 'But
with woman suffrage in sight the delegates know
that a wet plank would be suicidal. The' real
contest is between the drys and the dodgersf
'A number of other subjects weie presented,
amongfthe'm agriculture,' education and tfiFlrtsh
question. And I might add in this connection
that here, as at Chicago, the women have sure
ty justified their claim to equal consideration.
Last night the League of Women Voters pre
sented a battery of speakers that would ba hard
to match. ,
Senator Phelan and Mr. McCIatchy of Sacra
mento appeared before the committee in behalf
of moro rigid Japanese exclusion, the latter with
statistics and the former with a masterful' digest
of the situation. Those who have heard tho
senator before say that this is the most power
ful address he has made on tho subject, it
showed him to bo an effective speaker as well
as acquainted with the subject.
Tho greatest personal victory yet won In this
convention was scored by a young Filipino by
the name of Jose T. Melencia. He has charge
of the Phillipine Publicity Bureau at Washing
ton. He is only 28 years old and received his
education in the pubjie solools of the Phillipines
under American teachers as he proudly
boasted and at Georgetown, (D. C,. He 4s a
remarkably promising young man. Speaking
with grace, using the best language and without
a trace of embarrassment he presented the claim
of the Filipinos to Independence. The$audience
was astonished at the strength of his argument,
tho skill with which he marshalled his facts and
the high tone ;ot his speech. He captivated
everyone and committeemen and visitors paid
him tho compliment of rising and cheering when
he. concluded his plea. When tne of the com
mittee nslfed him some question he returned to
the platform and answered them with as much
logicand precision as if he had taken weeks
to prepare his answer. It was a' remarkable
triumph, Aa one wh6' began 22 yeafg ago-to
fight-tor the promise tof independence 1 was
proud of this illustration; of what the Filipino
is capable.
One" of the committeemen expressed some
irritation at the amount of time that had been
devoted td the hearings. I explained to him
that wo who wore not' on the -subcommittee
charged with the preparation, or at least with
the reporting, or the formal draft -of the plat
form, had nothing, else to do f6r the present
and conld ejathor a, good deal of Information
while awaiting the action of our superiors, add
ing that our position was 'illustrated" by a story
An agricultural college instructor was enllght-
enfng rural audience aa to scientific farming
In the courae ot his Temark he explained thai
raw corn. When this fmiiortnnf tr 1
mado clear the professor was somewhat disced
certddjby a question put to him by a farmor on
mo iruui row, wai s a nog's time worth1
aiiyuuir
Dominating day brings Ann ax of
PRESIDENTIAI CANDIDATES
San Francisco. JhTv 1 . VaatttiiiA . .5
t 17, f, Z . " oi.wuijr was an inn
.teresting; day for the spectators; in one respect!
uommauou uay laicea tne leaa over all the
otuors. 'mere is more chance for speaking
and the demonstrations are snoctacninr on,.
fouit; big demonstrations were those that fol3
jowou tup presentation of the names of Palm
er, Cox, Smith of New York, and McArinn a
demonstration when properly staged, as most!
of the demonstrations for the leadinc nun fit J
dat,es are, includes several features. The ora-
tor wno presents tne name reserves it for the
last. ' Sometimes they have been known to
forget the name, whereupon the audienco fl-
mandsJrts name. More frequently, however,'
me cans,, "namp mmi.'-'come earlier. In fact;
the -spealcer is very likely to be reminrW
of the eagerness of the audience if he is either!
prosy or long, and he doesn't do his candidate
any good by, continuing after he has received
such, an admonition from thp. audience. I have
known tho -contest between the audienno nmi
..the speaker to, continue for sometime, but I
nave never Known tne speaser to get the best
of the controversy.
Tho Palmer demonstration came first and was
very creditable. Next game the Cox demonstra-J
ton, It seemed id be the best organized of any!
of thembm it was nearly all organization. His
supporters attempted the usual parade. En
courage, by a splendid band the,, procession was
Jormed with ,.,a .beautiful Ohio, banner at the
-front. Jh:e--0hio delegation followed with en-
thusjasnvbut to the surprise of the audience
.;;pnlyjthre.l,other, states, .joined; in, .and it soonj
Decame apparent tnat tiie.DuiK ot tne marcnera
were drawn from tho uniformed club that came
from, Ohio. Groups had , been planted around
through the galleries ana they ' made all thp
noises that they possibly could, and the yell
leader mounted the platform and gave an ex-,
hibition of the athletics which can be mingled
with a colloge yell.. There was no general
participation- either on the part of the dele
gates or the audienceand it soon transformed
itself from demonstration to general confusion.
TJie Smith demonstration .was as surprising
as the Cox demonstration was disappointing
t Bourke Cockran presented the name of the
New York governor with all the force at his
command, and that is very considerable and tho
audience quite generally rose with NeW York
and yelled as if they seemed to- mean it. Spon
the standards, ot the states began to fall in
after New York and New Jersey for Nes
Jersey was scarcely less enthusiastic than the
Empire State. Soon practically every state
standard was in Ifne, andthe delegates mai-chetf
anq -sang until tne aisles were so crowaeu i""
the marchers fell into the lock step and tne
line swayed to and fro as It moved its ser-1
penime length along. I do not know how tc
explain tho difference between the Smith demon
stration and that given to Palmer and Cox un
less it is that the latter beine active candi
dates, the friends of other aspirants feared that
,a demonstration might bo hurtful to their own.
choice whereas in tho .case of Governor bmiu
they thought irvould compliment him without
aiding his .chances.'
. The McAdoo demonstration surpassed all the
others -in extent and heartiness. It was more
-ren oral and. was annarentlv snontaneous. There
were no evidences of nrearrangement. Mr.l
. Jenkins of Kansas City made no speeoh in pre-j
sentlnghim. ;He simply announced the mieu,
finrl nf.MV MoArtnn'fi ftimnnrtorfl to vote fOf
him. This was a disappqintfrient to the audi-;
pnee for-they had been keyed up ,to a mgu i
of expectation and were -looking for a greai
speech. . -
"A-mnnm- fhh nVim iftTrtfl rtrfiSfinted. With ap'
plause "more locaj were' Senator Owen of 0Kla1
liAino1 QnAVntoi.. TTAvifn nf .Tnwfl, Chairman
Cummlitgs of 'Connecticut and Senator Hitch
nfK.lr'ftf'MolifnDtra Tarnna W. Oflrard and uO
Edwards of New'jprspy. The last named haii
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