UNITED STATES of functions; declares the President's refusal to sign The Dem- eral. The Democratic National Convention began its opening session at San Francisco, June 28 with a show of great enthusiasm for President Wilson, declaring him the unquestioned leader of his party and praising the achievements of his administration. The "keynote speech" Mr. was made by the chairman, Senator Cummings. The voting began, July 2, and the first vote a forty-fourth ballot Cox received the nomination. For Vice-President Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York, Assistant-Secretary of the Navy was chosen by acclamation. The main features of the platform as summarized by the Political Science Quarterly were as follows: UNITED STATES It hails "with patriotic pride the great achievements for the country and the world" wrought by the Democratic Administration of President Wilson; declares "the League of Nations . . the surest, if not the only, practical means of maintaining the permanent peace of the world and terminating the insufferable burden of great military and naval establishments" and advocates "the immediate ratification of the treaty without reservations which would impair its essential integrity," but does not "oppose the acceptance of any reservations making clearer or more specific the obligations of the United States to the League associates"; praises the Administration's conduct of the war; extols the federal reserve system and the financing of the war and condemns the attempt of the Republican party "to drag our public finance and our banking and currency system back into the arena of party politics"; condemns the failure of the Republican Congress to respond to the President's demand for the readjustment of the tax laws to peace conditions and denies Republican claims of economies; holds the Republican party responsible for the failure to restore peace and peace conditions in Europe, "which is a principal cause of post-armistice inflation the world over,' "declares that "the high cost of living can only be remedied by increased production, strict governmental economy and a relentless pursuit of those who take advantage of post-war conditions and are demanding and receiving outrageous profits," and condemns the waste of money by Congress "in vain and extravagant investigations" which revealed nothing "beyond the incapacity of Republican politicians to cope with the problems"; reaffirms Democratic tariff doctrines and declares for the policy of basing tariff revisions upon the intelligent research of a non-partisan commission rather than upon the demands of selfish interests, temporarily held in abeyance"; favors the creation of an effective budget system to function "in accord with the principles of the constitution"; praises the Democratic record n establishing farm-loan banks and other farm legislation and endorses collective bargaining and researches into production costs; declares the Democratic record in establishing farm-loan banks witnessed by the creation of a Department of Labor, the passage of child-labor acts, workingmen's compensation laws, the eight-hour law, etc., affirms that labor is not a commodity, that it should participate in the formulation of sound laws and regulations governing the conditions under which labor is performed, that labor and capital alike "have the indefeasible right of organi zation, of collective bargaining and of speaking through representatives of their own selection," that neither should at any time take action that would jeopardize the public welfare, that in private industrial disputes compulsory arbitration, though plausible in theory, has been a failure in fact, that with resepect to government service, the rights of the people are paramount to the right to strike, and that instant inquiry into the pay of government employees and equally speedy regulations designed to bring salaries to a just and proper level should be made; endorses the equal suffrage amendment and urges the Democratic governors and legislatures of Tennessee, North Carolina and Florida to complete the process of ratification in time to enable all the women to participate in the fall election; declares against child labor, in favor of child welfare, maternity care, vocational education, better conditions for working women and the reclassification of the civil service with a view to equality of the sexes; advocates generosity to disabled soldiers and declares in favor of the enactment of soldier-settlements and home-aid legislation; commends federal administration of the railroads during the war, declaring it efficient and economical despite inadequate and outworn equipment, and criticizes the Transportation Act, which the President was forced to sign upon pain of throwing the railroad situation into chaos; favors the continuance of federal aid in road building; claims credit for the restoration of the American merchant marine and pledges the party to a policy of its continued improvement; pledges ample appropriation for the continuation and extension of reclamation; endorses the creation and the work of the Federal Trade Commission; pledges itself to enact legislation for the supervision of livestock markets; upholds the President's Mexican policy and advocates the recognition of the new Mexican government when it has shown its ability to maintain order; declares that the United States should render every possible and proper aid to the people of Armenia in their efforts to maintain a government of their own; expresses its sympathy with the people of China, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Poland, Persia and others who have recently established representative government, and "within the limitations of international comity and usage" repeats previous expressions of sympathy for Ireland in its aspirations for self-government; favors the granting of independence to the Philippines without unnecessary delay; favors the granting to Porto Rico of the traditional territorial form of government, with a view to ultimate statehood; supports the policy of non-admission of Asiatic immigrants; defends the Post Office Depart ment "against a malicious and designing assault" and favors the fair and just treatment of all government employees; denies the alleged interference of the Administration with the freedom of the press and freedom of speech; and finally pledges iself to the enactment of laws strengthening the present statutes against corrupt practices, in view of the "shocking disclosures of the lavish use of money by aspirants for the Republican nomination" and the recent conviction of a Republican Senator from Michigan, upon whose seat "the present organization of the Senate with a Republican majority was made possible" by the criminal transgression of the law limiting expenditures on behalf of a candidate for the United States Senate. The nom SOCIALIST NATIONAL CONVENTION. inating convention of the Socialist party was held in New York City May 8-14. The platform was framed by Mr. Morris Hillquitt of New York and was criticised by the extreme radicals as too conservative. The Convention voted the majority report of its committee on foreign relations, May 14th, declaring that the Socialist party of America adhered to the "Third International," but on the understanding that its international delegates should not be bound to the acceptance of any special means of attaining the Socialist commonwealth, as for example, by a dictatorship of the proletariat. Its adherence to the International was not to be subject to such a condition and delegates to the International were also to be instructed to take part in movements for the unifying of Socialist bodies throughout the world into a single international organization. A radical substitute offered by the minority of the committee, which merely declared the adherence of the party to the Third International without any qualifications, was voted down by 90 to 40. The Convention nominated for Presi A dent, Eugene V. Debs, who was serving a ten years' sentence in the Federal penitentiary at Atlanta for violation of the Espionage Act. His name was received with great enthusiasm. committee was appointed to present a petition to Attorney-General Palmer for the release of Debs, declaring that the practice of condemning citizens for the expression of views opposed to the party in power was repugnant to the spirit of democracy and that all the other Powers that had taken part in the war had pardoned their political offenders. It added that the plea that the United States was still at war was merely a quibble. The Convention debated for a long time the question whether the Socialist party should retain its declaration that it did not purpose to interfere with the internal affairs of labor unions and it finally decided to retain it but added a statement to the effect that it approved the organization of workingmen into a single workingclass body, in other words, the One Big Union programme. After a debate in which churches and religion were alternately attacked and defended, it decided against any references to capitalist control of churches. FARMER-LABOR CONVENTION. Representatives of the Committee of Forty-Eight, the Non-Partisan League, and other dissident groups met in convention at Chicago, July 11. Senator R. M. La Follette of Wisconsin refused to stand on a national ticket and the convention nominated for President Parley P. Christensen of Salt Lake City, Utah, and for Vice-President Max S. Hayes of Cleveland, O., Meanwhile several factions including the Single Tax group had withdrawn from the meeting. The platform was based in general upon the principles for which the Committee of Forty-Eight had for two years been |