Chicago, Ill., June 8.--The spirit of compromise was the key-note of the Convention session this afternoon, and the feature of the official activities was the appointment by Chairman Harding of a committee of five to confer with a similar committee of Progressives for the direct purpose of finding some common grounds for action. Vital importance was attached to this appointment by the delegates.

On paper, Hughes is far in the lead, and it is the opinion of many prominent "Old Guard" Republicans that he will be nominated on the second ballot. Governor Samuel W. McCall being one of these. There is, however, a strong undercurrent of Roosevelt feeling, and although the Convention seems unusually staid and difficult to stampede, there is sure to be a great fight tomorrow, with Senator Lodge as a probable compromise candidate. The Weeks headquarters are still confident, but it is unlikely that he will last beyond the first ballot.

It is freely thought that in case Colonel Roosevelt be defeated there will be another break such as occurred in 1912, and the "Old Guard" Republicans are spending much time in uneasy speculation as to whether or not Justice Hughes may prove acceptable to the Progressives.

In the morning session, great pleas were made for party harmony, and for decisive action. Chauncy Depew held up the present Democratic administration as an excellent example of a shifting, vacillating policy, and called upon the delegates to vote with the thought ever present in mind that the country does, and will need badly "the guidance of a firm hand".

When interviewed by the CRIMSON'S representative on the train to Chicago yesterday afternoon, Governor McCall of Massachusetts expressed the view that Justice Hughes would certainly be the Republican choice in the first few ballots, and that the choice of a dead-lock was very slight