Atlanta Tri Weekly Journal

G. O. P. IS IN THROES
OF EVOLUTION, SAYS
POLITICAL AUTHORITY
BY ROBERT T. SMALL
(Copyright, 1924, by the Consolidated Press
Association-Special Leased Wire
to The Atlanta Journal.)
CLEVELAND, Ohio, June 14.-
The old pilots have been dropped,
there is a new captain at the helm,
a new crew aboard, and the ship of
the Grand Old Party has set forth
on the restless sea of politics with
Calvin Coolidge and "Charlie" Dawes
in the first and second cabins. Al-
most from the beginning to the end,
the management of the machinery
of the Republican party has been
placed in the hands of what the sea-
soned politicians call "amateurs."
New England has furnished the
chairman, but an effort has been
made to give broad character to the
organized forces by selecting a sec-
retary from Chicago and a treasurer
from the Rocky Mountain states.
Chairman W. M. Butler, of Mas-
sachusetts, is to lead his first na-
tional fight. He has been a mem-
ber of the national committee only
a comparatively short time, but as
President Coolidge has faith in Mas-
sachusetts, so has he faith in the
new man from Massachusetts.
It has been forecast from Wash-
ington that the coming campaign
on the part of the Republicans would
be conducted differently from most
of the battles of the past. The form
of the new organization would show
that to be true. The first idea that
the individual states were to be au-
tonomous, even to the extent of rais-
ing and spending their own funds.
however, has been cast aside.
Centralized direction
The campaign direction unques-
tionably would be more centralized
than it has been in years and there
will be a national campaign chest
from which moneys will be distribut-
ed to the points where the need ap-
pears greatest.
The main Coolidge headquarters is
to be in Chicago, but Chairman But-
ler does not expect to be immobile.
He will travel frequently to the
east and to the west and at all times
will be in telephonic connection with
the White House. Mr. Butler will
gather about him in Chicago a se-
lect coterie from the national com-
mittee to help conduct the campaign.
The addition of a woman member
from each state and territory makes
the general committee an unwieldy
affair and it probably will be called
together but seldom during the pre-
election period.
It would be idle to suppose that
the complete reorganization of the
party machinery has been accom-
plished without some friction or
without some misgivings, some heart
burnings. Some of the older com-
mitteemen are in a sullen mood.
They were opposed to sharing their
state honors with women members
of the committee. Today they are
saying that they who have borne the
brunt of the battle for so long, may
take but a quiet part in the coming
campaign and let the ladies, or pos-
sibly "the administration crowd" run
the fight to suit themselves. There
have ever been some half concealed,
half expressed threats of resigna-
tion.
Party Is Evolving
All of these have been inevitable in
the bringing about of a new deal
When the Democrats have named
their ticket at New York and the
fight is really on, the old war horses,
scenting the battle from afar, may
come around to the usual good feel-
ing and good spirit and go to the
bat for the Coolidge ticket with all
their might and main.
There is no need, however, for
even the most staunch Republican
to blink the fact that his party is
in the throes of an evolution. This
applies not alone to the national ma-
chinery but to the personnel. The
differences between the president
and the congress at Washington are
but a single phase of the many dif-
ferent situations which must be met
and resolved between now and the
casting of the votes in November.
The internal affairs of some of the
states are far from satisfactory.
Chairman Butler has had a real
task thrust upon him. Bringing
about the nomination of President
Coolidge on the first ballot here in
Cleveland was child's play. That
was settled before Mr. Butler was
made the Coolidge manager, but
welding the great party machine into
a new cohesive and perfectly func-
tioning force is a full man-sized job
which will test the character and
the capabilities of the new political
Moses from the old Bay State to
the extreme limit. Mr. Coolidge
will have to take a hand more than
once in the impending situations.
Mr. Butler had a foretaste here of
the vicissitudes of the coming cam-
paign. The convention ran "hog
wild" on the vice presidency. It
were pure perverseness on the part
of the delegates to nominate former
Governor Frank O. Lowden, of Illi-
nois, in the face of the positive state-
ment made from the convention ros-
trum that under no circumstances
would he or could he accept the hon-
or. Yet the Coolidge leaders were
unprepared and unable to meet the
embarrassing situation which en-
sued. Then the delegates, still per-
verse, turned to General Dawes, who
had been passed up as temporary
chairman of the convention because
the party leaders having the power
of selection, feared both his record
in opposition to organized labor and
the free manner in which he is like-
ly to express his views on any sub-
ject at any time. They have never
forgotten the "bawling out" he gave
a Republican congressional commit-
tee which was endeavoring to inves-
tigate the conduct of the World war.
That was when the expletive "Hell
and Maria" became internationally
famous
Breaches Not Sealed
The Cleveland convention did not
go a long way toward effecting a
reconciliation among the warring
factions within the party. There
was, on the contrary, an evident bel-
ligerent spirit which favored the
throwing out of the so-called pro-
gressives and radicals. The conven-
tion seemed to regard Republicans
of the type of Senator LaFollette,
of Wisconsin; Senator Brookhart
of Iowa; Representative Henry Al-
len Cooper, of Wisconsin, and even
Senator Hiram Johnson, of Califor-
nia, as aliens in the house and they
were laughed at, flouted, and in some
instances, hissed. Senator Johnson
drew the laugh when ten delegates
from South Dakota insisted on carry-
ing out their primary instructions
and voted for him for president.
There was no disposition in Cleve-
land to temporize with the insur-
gents.