The Literary Digest of the current week completes its poll of popular opinion with a showing of the final standing of the Democratic candidates. Mr. McAdoo, as was to have been expected, heads the list with 102,709 ballots for first choice and 38,840 for second. But, what was hardly to have been expected, in view of his persistent reticence as to his intentions, President Wilson comes next in the list, 67,558 Democratic voters recording him as their first choice and 12,506 as their second choice. Mr. Wilson leads Governor Edwards of New Jersey, the ardent champion of the "wet" interests, by more than 6000 votes--the Edwards poll being 61,393. A good many Democrats seem to have acquired what might be described as the William-Jennings-Bryan habit, for 46,448 ballots register him as first choice, and 29,906 as second choice, though 2524 of these are Republican votes.

Perhaps the most surprising feature of this final poll is the low rating of Attorney-General Palmer. Mr. Palmer threw his hat in the ring in early March, and he has not been wanting since then in activities tending to advance his aspirations. But the Digest's poll records only 19,003 first choice and 30,532 second choice for him; and the Digest, in its summary, says: "Attorney-General Palmer has throughout run a close race with Debs, the Socialist candidate, for whose incarceration in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary Mr. Palmer's Department of Justice is responsible. Mr. Palmer leads the convict by 19,003 votes to 16,424 in the final tabulation."

Altogether, the Digest's returns of over a million and a half votes have been a feature of no little interest in the pre-convention weeks; and have been in some ways fully as illuminating as to the course of public sentiment as some of the lightly attended official primaries. --Boston Herald