U.S. PRESIDENT

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 14 June 1924, Page 7

U.S. PRESIDENT

REPUBLICAN’S CHOICE. BIG MAJORITY FOR COOLIDGE. NOMINEE FOR VICE-PRESIDENCY. BV CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRISH'I. NEW YORK, June 12. A message nom Cleveland says the vote at tn© Repuoheau convemmn ior t/ie cnoiee of a Presidential candidate aesulted : —President Calvin Coohuge lOdo, Senator L,a Collette i<4, Senator o onnson to. general Charles G. Dawes, of Chicago, was nominated as Vice-President. lifter the nominating speeen of Representative .burton (temporary chaninan of tlie. convention) on t,.e thud day's session of tn© convention, tnere occurred a so-called good feeling demonstration, which, comprised a sort of song, cheering and tumult.

Mrs Porter (a Californian delegate), a silver-haired old lady, made the seconding .speech, rekit ng California’s confidence in President Coo.idge. bhe is the first woman to be accorded this honour. There other nominating speeches, chieny of broad eulogy, before the balloting Degan. The inevitable result was the quick nomination of Mr Coolidge for the Presidency. Mr Coolidge-s nomination, however, was not unanimous. A little expected unpleasantness occurred when North Dakota gave Senator La Eolette six votes, South. Dakota cast ten for Senator Johnson, of California, and Wisconsin cast twenty-eight for Senator La Folette. Mr Oooliuge’s majority, therefore, in the first ballot, amounted 'to 1065 votes. The recalcitrants were highly unpopular, being violently shouted down by Mr Cooudge’s partisans, who made their displeasure known in a lengthy carnival of booing. The chairman (Mr Monde!) then asked that the vote be made unanimous, but the small minority had strident voices and Mr Mondel concluded with the following contradictory remark: ‘‘l therefore declare the nomination of Mr Coolidge unanimous with the exception of a few votes.” The convention has adojurned for the recess. President Coolidge, seated before a radio in White House, Washington, heard the swelling chorus nominating him. To-day was the first really warm day since the Republican convention foregathered, and enthusiasm was therefore always at the expense of the comfort cf those who displayed it. The auditorium, however, always presented a remarkable spectacle with every seat filled. Emotional changes passed with great speed over the spectators and the delegates alike. Cheers and jeers alternated. The convention managers continued to employ every mechanical means to heighten the psychological effect, constantly flooding the- auditorium With coloured lights. The oratory was endless and of uniform quality, and the old familiar phrases and worn slogans punctuated all the remarks.

Although only eight candidates for the. Vice-Presidency achieved a place in the nominations, being chiefly those mentioned in the earlier cables, the first ballot recorded scattered votes. Of the sixteen names a prominent manufacturer of chewing gum received a single vote, and the names of H. C. Hoover and Senator Borah were not mentioned. Senator Lowden led with 222 votes, despite the fact that the chairman of the Illinois delegation an< n.ounced that Senator Lowden still declined the honour. The second ballot found twenty names mentioned, but Senator Lowden and Congressman” Burton divided the bulk of the votes, Senator Lowden receiving 413, and, amidst a dull reverberation of voices the States began to announce the change in the vote, delegates going over to- Senator Lowden. Ten thousand throats roared: “Make it Lowden.” Thus when the New York State, with its large delegation of 91 persons, went over to Senator Lowden a so-called stampede occurred. The chairmen of the delegations released their adherents, who immediately shouted “Lowden.” It was no simple confusion reigning now, but absolutely a pandemonium. People were jumping the seats and cinema lamps filled the auditorium with blue light. The chairman’s gavel was ineffective as the clerks, in a horse whisper, were attempting to announce the changing vote.

Senator Lowden’s nomination unanimously was an accomplished fact, but Senator Lowden immediately declined, and Mr moved that the balloting be resumed. With Senator Lowden’s refusal still ringing in the delegates’ ears, the convention reconvened. It was an open secret that his refusal was punishment for the party leaders’ perfidy in 1920, when they compelled him to relinquish his chances of winning the Presidency in order to give the late President Harding an open road. The recess was employed by President Coolidge’s managers to arrange who should be chosen as Vice-Presidential nominee. Congressman Burton was eliminated, chiefly because he represents the remnant- of the old senatorial faction, which is now considered anathema to President Coolidge, whose managers decided upon either Mr H. C. Hoover (Secretary for Commerce) or General C. G. Dawes, and when the third ballot began Mr Hoover, whose name was not even mentioned during the first two ballots, sprang majestically into prominence, and the whole of the State delegations cast their votes for him en masse. The clerk had earlier announced, when the various railway trains were leaving Cleveland, that the convention had been sitting over a period of fifteen hours, and the delegates more readily accepted the leaders’ dictates, especially since the delegates were ostensibly not required to think independently. General Dawes’ name then began spontaneously to gather votes. The Republican party machine showed itself in perfect working order, and General Dawes was the victor when the third ballot ended. A motion to make it unanimous was adopted on the voices. There was only a mild hubbub, curiously enough as the convention had completed its last important act and stood permanently adojurned. Brigadier - General Charles Gates Dawes, the Republican nominee as Vice-President, was born in Ohio in 1.860. He has led a life of picturesque activity, which has included many years as a lawyer, specialising as counsellor for public utility corporations, and he developed extensive gas-plant projects. General Dawes later entered the hanking business, gaining the appointment of comptroller of currency under President McKinley’s administration in 1898, after which he resumed private hanking until America’s entry into the world war. He served in France as chairman of the General Purchasing Board, which furnished supplies to the American forces. His fame became world-wide, following on the publication of the reparations report.