Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-10-01
NATIONAL TOPLINERS


w ging and the good ship did staircase
waltz from wave to wave. the President and
his friends exclaimed, Its a dark and
stormy night in the history of the Grand Old
Party! Oil! Give us oil! We must have oil
TO pour on the troubled waters!'
That was the trouble,-to find man who
would shine in the smooth role of Oil on the
Waters, one who would be a constant bene-
diction, lasting calm. The difficulty was
met by the selection of Charles d. Hllles to
be Secretary to the President. He was not
anxious for the job, and had already COM
pleted arrangements to loosen his clnCh hold
on the Government payroll as assistant
Secretary of the Treasury and to spring
with a whoop into the maelstrom of business
life in New York. But they got him, handed
him the Job, showed him the tempestuous
sea of Republican politics, and howled:
slump in!"
Hilles jumped, finding himself in the
midst of factionalism, storm, and strife.
Taking his seat in the White House, the
center of the political disturbance, he began
Immediately to pull the multitude of wires
that control the big affairs of the country.
And he made good, very good.
1t is of record that, when Minerva sprang
full grown and fully armed from the brow
of Jove without giving the old monarch a
headache, the gods and goddesses of Mount
Olympus celebrated the event in wine and
song; but the Minerva performance was a
trif1ing incident compared to what Hilles
has done Trained in private business and
never a factor in politics, he doomed out Of
the obscurity of the masses, and right off the
bat became towering castle of strength on
the Republican horizon. That was last
spring when the Office Ct Secretary to the
President was vacated by Charles Dyer
Norton.
Friends of Hilles approached him with
such remarks as would have done credit to
the comforters of Job.
ats good Job they said sadly; "but
you're crazy when you take it. The party's
shot all to pieces. Taft can't be renominated,
and there's no hope"
But Hilles went to work AS worker he
has the busy bee and the frugal ant looking
very languid. He made peace where peace
had not been, and he waged war where war
was desirable. His good advice to the Presi-
dent and to many OF the party leaders was
worth while-so something that can rarely be
said about good advice. And, strangest of
all, it was followed, and is being followed.
This, in nutshell, is the story of Hilles
being made Secretary to the President and
the fruits thereof. Back of it is the person
atty of the man. First of ALL he is gentle
man. Many men have achieved success in
politics by crafty system of bluff and DOM
ineering, inconsiderate strength. Hilles is
courteous in all his operations against the
enemy, and diplomatic even in victory. In
every sense of the word he is the Oil on the
Waters. If he had entered the diplomatic
service, he would soon have had the Zulus
and the Hottentots studying the spring
styles of Paris and New York, so far reach
ing and influential is his power for promot-
ing the niceties and amenities of life.
Combined with his diplomacy and gifts as
maker of peace, IS the thoroughness he
displays in doing his work. He thinks
nothing of putting in eighteen hours day
at his desk when the occasion demands it.
He can receive and talk to politicians hour
after hour, his ability for taking in details
and Strengthening out tangleS never becom-
ing lessened or ineffective. His good hurnor
he keeps keyed up to high above normal, and
he's a stranger to nervousness or Eighty
moments.
Such men as Crane, Cummins, and the
President himself extol the value of Hilles
to the party and the partys future. This is
the marvellous part of the story,-that this
young man, trained in business, suddenly
and without warning leaped to the top of the
breastworks and, like the orihamme of Ma