AMERICAN PRESIDENCY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19198, 14 June 1924, Page 9

AMERICAN PRESIDENCY

THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION MR COOLIDGE NOMINATED. REMARKABLE UNANIMITY. Press Association —By Telegraph—Copyright. NEW IGIIK, June 12. Mr Coolidge has been nominated for the Presidency. Not for many years has the Republican (invention come so near unanimity in the selection of the Presidential candidate. The call of the States was scarcely half over when the necessary majority to nominate had been recorded in Mr Coolidge s favour. Throughout the demonstration for rur Coolidge, the Wisconsin delegates remained silent, ignoring the cat-calls, hisses, jeers, and shouts directed towards them from the marching throng and the galleries. The Coolidge marchers were determined, and finally succeeded in getting the Wisconsin delegation on their feet by circling them and singing “The Starspangled Banner.” The La Follette delegates stood to attention during the singing, and then stolidly resumed their seats.-—Reuter. DETAILS OF THE VOTING. AN IRRECONCILABLE MINORITY. NEW YORK, June 12. (Received June 13, at 8.5 p.m.) A message from Cleveland says that the voting was as follows; Mr Coolidge „ ... 1065 Senator La Follette 34 Senator Johnson „. 10 After Mr Burton’s nominating speech there occurred a so-called “ good "feeling ” demonstration—a sort of political deification of the President in long cheering and tumult. Mrs Porter, the Californian delegate, a silver-haired old lady, made the seconding speech, in the course of which she related California’s confidence in Mr Coolidge. She is the first woman who has been accorded this honour. There were five other nominating speeches, chiefly of broad eulogy, before the balloting began, resulting inevitably in 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 Follette six votes and South Dakota cast 10 votes for Senator Johnson, of and Wisconsin cast 28 votes for Senator La’ Follette. Mr Coolidge’s majority, therefore, in the first ballot amounted to 1065 votes. The recalcitrants were highly unpopular, being violently shouted down by the Coolidge partisans, who made their displeasure known in a lengthv carnival of boo-ing. The chairman (Mr F. W. Mondell) then asked that the vote should be made unanimous, but a small minority had strident voices, and Mr Mondell concluded with the following contradictory remark: “ I therefore declare the nomination of Mr Coolidge unanimous with the exception of a few votes.” The convention then adjourned for the recess.—Reuter. MR COOLIDGE LISTENS-IN. WASHINGTON, June 12. (Received June 13, at 8.5 p.m.) Mr Coolidge at the radio in White House heard the swelling chorus nominating him.—Reuter. THE VICE-PRESIDENCY. MR F. 0. LOWDEN NOMINATED. NEW YORK, June 12. Mr F. O. Lowden, formerly Governor of Illinois, has been nominated as VicePresident bv the Republican Convention. —A. and NE. Cable. GENERAL DAWES NOMINATED. AN UNPRECEDENTED SITUATION. GENERAL DAWES ACCEPTS NOMINATION. NEW YORK, June 12. (Received June 13, at 8.5 p.m.) Mr Charles Dawes, of Chicago, was nominated for the Vice-Presidency. Faced by a situation unparalleled in party history, the Republican Convention, after nominating Mr Lowden as VicePresident, re-assembled to-night to choose someone else because Mr Lowden refused to accept. He had previously declared that he would refuse to accept. Brigadier-General Charles Dawes, banker, of Chicago, has accepted nomination. —A. and N.Z. Cable. CAREER OF GENERAL DAWES. A LIFE OF ACTIVITY. AUTHOR OF REPARATIONS REPORT. NEW YORK, June 12. (Received June 13, at 11.20 p.m.) General Charles Gates Dawes, the Republican nominee for Vice-President, was born at Ohio in 1865. Ho has led a life of picturesque activity, which has included many years as a lawyer, specialising as counsellor to public utility corporations. He has also developed extensive gas-plant projects. General Dawes later entered the banking business, gaining appointment as Comptroller of Currency under the M’Kinlay administration in 1898, after which ho resumed private banking 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 worldwide following the publication of the recent reparations report.—A. and N.Z. Cable. PROGRESS OF THE BALLOTING. REMARKABLE SCENES ENACTED. NEW YORK, June 12. (Received June 13, at 10.50 p.m.) To-day was the first really warm day since the convention foregathered, and the enthusiasms were therefore always at the expense of the comfort of those who displayed them. The auditorium, however, always presented a remarkable spectacle, with every seat filled. Emotional changes passed, with great speed over the spectators and delegates alike, and cheers and jeers alternated. The convention managers continued to employ every mechanical means to heighten psychological effect, constantly flooding the auditorium with coloured lights. The oratory was endless and of uniform quality, the old familiar phrases and worn slogans punctuating all the speeches. Although only eight Vice-Presidents achieved a place in nomination—chiefly those mentioned in earlier cablegrams—the first ballot recorded scattered votes for sixteen names. A prominent manufacturer of chewing gum received a single vote, and Mr Hoover and Senator Borah’s names were not mentioned, while Mr Lowden led with 222 votes, despite the fact that the chairman of the Illinois delegation announced that Mr Lowden still declined the honour. The second ballot found 20

names mentioned, but Mr Lowden and Congressman Burton divided the bulk of the votes, Mr Lowden receiving 413. Amidst a dull reverberation of voices the States began to announce the change in vote, the delegates going over to Mr Lowden, ten thousand throats roared, “ Make it Lowden.” Thus, when New York State with its large delegation of 91 persons went over to Mr Lowden a so-called stampede occurred. The delegation chairmen released their adherents, who immediately shouted, “ Lowden.” It was not simply confusion that was reigning now, but absolute pandemonium. People were jumping, on their seats, and the kinema lamps filled the auditorium with a blue light. The chairman’s gavel was ineffective as the clerk’s hoarse whisper attempted to announce the changing of the vote. Mr Lowden’s nomination was unanimously accomplished, but It immediately declined again, and Mr Mondell then moved that the balloting be resumed.—A. and N.Z. Cable.