Lubrication of Candidates

Those who climb to high places have a toilsome journey. One slip of the foot, as on a drop of oil, may cause the climber to lose in one day what he has gained in many months of effort. All aspirants for the Presidency were disturbed more or less last week by the slippery climbing.

Calvin Coolidge. There is no doubt that so far as oil is concerned the President is personally a teetotaler. He has, however, the difficulty of an inherited Cabinet, several members of which are, rightly or wrongly, oil-marked in the public eye. The resignation of Mr. Denby, and perhaps of others, will doubtless prove to the President's political advantage.

William G. McAdoo. It was generally believed in Washington that the McAdoo boom had suffered most severely of all Presidential booms because of the disclosure that Mr. McAdoo and his firm had received $150,000 in retainers from Mr. Do-heny. Some Republicans openly celebrated his political funeral. Senator Moses of New Hampshire, asked about McAdoo and oil replied: "De mortuis nil nisi bonum."

Mr. McAdoo resorted to the unusual expedient of calling a conference of his followers in Chicago to determine whether he should quit the race. More than 300 McAdoo supporters assembled from more than 30 states. They passed a resolution:

"Be it resolved, by this conference, that William G. McAdoo is preeminently available as the Democratic candidate for the high office of President of the United States, and is the hope of the progressive thought of the nation. . . .

"We unanimously demand his leadership."

Mr. McAdoo, who had journeyed to Chicago, then appeared before the meeting and declared: "You command me to accept the leadership. I accept the command."

He then outlined his platform:

"progressive Democracy .... a new international [economic] conference at Washington .... to take the grip of Wall Street off the Treasury Department .... prompt railway re-forms .... something instead of talk for agriculture .... to reduce internal revenue taxes .... legislation setting up a labor code .... a sound and just tariff measure .... to put the prohibition force under civil service rules .... adjusted compensation [bonus] for veterans."

A telegram from Senator Walsh of Montana, one of the Senate oil investigators, was read, declaring Mr. McAdoo's character was "untouched by any revelation." Previous to the meeting a caucus of railway labor leaders endorsed Mr. McAdoo just as the larger conference did.

With Mr. McAdoo's endorsement the delegates to the meeting adopted the slogan, "Back to honesty." The McAdoo men gave their leader a clean bill of health. Their unanimous opinion was "Nil nisi bonum."