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Show WILSON THE CRAFTY. President Wilson emerges from the smoke and din of the convention ae the craftiest politician tvIio has run for the presidential office in a generation with the possible exception of Roosevelt. The president, fearing that the convention con-vention might injure his chances by some independent move, seized the reiug as dictator even .before the convention met. Tt would have been courteous on his part to refrain from issuing commands com-mands at loast until nominated, but be paw that if ho adopted his favorite policy pol-icy of "watchful waiting" the convention conven-tion might take the bit in its teeth and run away with him. Therefore he issued is-sued a ukase like the czar and autocrat of all the Russias, declaring that a certain cer-tain man must be made chairman of the national committee and a certain other man vice chairman, and at the same time he promulgated certain planks which must be adopted by the convention. conven-tion. We see the hand of craft particularly particu-larly in the suffrage and Americanism planks. The convention Tras unfavorable unfavor-able oven to the mild pronouncement of the president on the suffrage question. ques-tion. It wanted to throw the entire question overboard and it yielded only when Senotor Walsh pleaded in the most brazen terms of practical politics for the president's plank. He told the convention that the president considered consid-ered this plank essential to the success of the party. He pointed out that because be-cause the other parties had doclared for suffrage the Democratic party must not antagonize the suffrage states by remaining silent on suffrage or approving approv-ing an unfriendly plank. Seeing that the president had taken the practical view the convention decided not to handicap han-dicap the candidate by any adhesion to ancient Democratic principles of state rights. In criticizing the American' plank we do not wish to be understood as condemning con-demning any of its sentiments. Intrinsically In-trinsically it is sound; it is only ,by considering the circumstances that we arrive at a true understanding of the cunning politics bound up in it. It is another of the Wilson planks and presumably pre-sumably was formulated by him. Its purpose is to take advantage of a situation situ-ation over -which Mr. Hughes had no control. In order to intensify tho issue President Presi-dent Wilson insisted upon a plank, that would surpass at least in volume the Republican declaration and would make so much din upon the subject that Mr. Hughes 's unmistakable words would seem weak by comparison. Back of the generous sentiments of unity and loyalty loy-alty which all must indorse is the personality per-sonality of a president who has become our most conspicuous politician. The Republican party was founded on the principlo of national unity, a union, one and inseparable, now and forever. ' ' It was founded upon loyalty loy-alty to that union and as a result of the great war of the states the very fact that we have a unified country wMch appeals to tho most exalted sentiments sen-timents of patriotism, is due to the triumph of the Republican party's principles. prin-ciples. Those familiar with their nation's na-tion's history must be pardoned, therefore, there-fore, if they see something intensely grotesque in the attempt of President Wilson to make loyalty the dominant issue of tho Democratic party. His chief excuse is his desire to avail himself him-self of every practical means of being re-elected. |