If there is any truth in the old proverb about the success of the early bird in the quest of the wily norm, Tammany should have its way in the National Democratic Convention of 1928: for already, long before the dawn of the next presidential campaign, that organization's representatives are beginning to flit about and chirp noisily. The first flight, of course, has been southward. where the game is biggest, although most elusive.

Mayor-elect James A. Walker of New York, who may certainly be classified as a Tammany bird, is among the earliest and perhaps most tactful. Last Tuesday in Atlanta, Georgia, he made a speech. Which is reported to have had a political flavor, as one might well have suspected. It is said that he eulogized his own little nest in New York and lamented that the other Democrats of the country had been so reluctant to accept an invitation to share it with him and his fellows. Reference was made, in the course of his speech, to a certain member of the Tammany species at present ensconced in a rather ornate rookery in Albany, but who is reputed to be not averse to a migration towards the District of Columbia. It is true, the reference was very slight, but not in the least slighting; and, no doubt, the speaker again had this individual in mind when he said, "Sometimes it is very disconcerting to find that we Democrats can succeed locally and yet fail nationally." "Disconcerting," to be sure.