Oberlin College - Hi-O-Hi Yearbook (Oberlin, OH)

Page 15 text:

Now it seems to me if Ohio and New York will only swing to Landon after playing up their favorite . . . You know, I saw the duckiest red . . . Say, who's that talkin' up there now? 3 ' wi. X Here y'are! Getcha roasted, toasted, sugar-coated Califor- nia almonds . . . Getcha bal- loon on a stick, b'loon on a stick! Here y'are! Candy, choon gum, peanuts, popcorn, pop, peanuts . . . Here y'are . . . MOV 8, l936, 7:00 P. M., Carl Helms, national chairman, called the convention to order, National Secretary Richard Aszling issued the Call for the Convention. Mr. William lBilll Seaman extended a welcome to the delegates and 2,000 visitors. The response was made by Mr. Frank A. Stetson, chairman of the Republican Committee of Lorain. Three minutes of sustained cheering and applause greeted the honorable Gifford Pinchot, former governor of Pennsyl- vania, as he mounted the rostrum. Himself an Oberlin Mock Convention nominee for vice-president on the very liberal platform of l924, Pinchot clarioned for a revamped Re- publican party, and with his keynote sounded, speeded to ElYFia accompanied by a screaming motorcycle escort to catch an eastbound train. The remainderof the evening, until l:2O A. M., was devoted to a debate on fourteen of the twenty-two proposed Dlonks of the National Mock Republican platform. With little exception, all of the fourteen planks discussed were adopted with slight changes. Birth Control legislation was the only plank in the preliminary platform draft which failed to pass. Just as it was stricken from the record, a DOwer tube that had been worrying Chief Electrician Harvey Qave out and temporarily put an end to debate. Time and time again after the hour of midnight the Convention tried to adjourn, but the sleepy conventioneers persisted in trying to finish their job . . . at an early morning hour with the amplifying system on the blink, they decided to meet at ten that same morning to finish building 0 platform. The American people need- God knows how much they need -a generation of public rnen whose honor is clear, whose mo- tives are clean, and whose in- telligence is up to the level of their task. -Governor Pinchot.

Page 14 text:

l . The Judging Committee was composed of President and Mrs. E. H. Wilkins, Mayor and Mrs. C. R. Com- ings, Mr. and Mrs. Don Morrison, Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Haylor, and Mr. and Mrs. P. T. Fenn. Mr. Gifford Pinchot was guest of honor. 22 The judges, who sat in a reviewing stand in front of the Art Building, gave first prize to Ohio's delega- tion, which portrayed Brain Trusters stirring alphabet soup of the New Deal. Honorable mention went to Massachusetts with its Tea Party, to Utah with its covered wagon driven by Brigham Young accom- panied by his several wives and an army of children, to Pennsylvania with its funeral of the Nu-Deal, to Kentucky with its Queen of the Bluegrass. According to the Plain Dealer, ln a long line of Mock Con- vention Parades, this was easily the best.

Page 16 text:

The special session of the Mock Convention called for lO A. M. on Saturday, May 9, was adjourned at l2:2O P. M., with the platform completely formulated. The League of Women Voters having rallied, aided in putting the con- vention on record as favoring birth control. Also backed were resolutions on federal anti- lynching legislation, Hawaiian statehood, free speech by students and teachers under the civil liberties clause, and fish conservation. Glen Jorgensen presided at this session, reliev- ing Carl Helms. At 7:00 P. M., National Chairman Carl Helms opened the final session of nineteenth quadriennial Oberlin Mock Con- vention. Attorney-General John W. Bricker, of Ohio, pre- sided as permanent chairman during the balloting for the Party's candidate for president and vice- president of the United States. Alf Landon, Frank Knox, and Senator Borah were among the leaders. A clever strategic campaign by the Vandenberg faction had boosted the unwilling Senator into a first-rate contender. In view of a four-cornered deadlock, a dark horse candidacy loomed strong. Of John G. Winant, said the Elephant, special newspaper of the convention, he is not doped to rate a great deal of support on successive roll- calls, but he is a possibility. The results of vote-trading, double-crossings, and threats, are seen by examining the ballot box. ln the seventh ballot, a dark horse, Winant, received the nomination. The nation's press hailed the choice as wise and indicative of the youth- ful spirit of the times. Among those nominated for Vice-Presi- dent were Gannet, Steiwer, and Mae West. Miss West received a great ovation when she was nominated by the Alaska delega- tion, Senator Steiwer, Oregon's native son, lacked the ovation but received the nomina- tion.