Evening star., 1916-12-11
R. n. HARPER TOLD
Of APPOINTMENT
Banker Notified Personally by
Mccormick He Is to Be
Inaugural Chairman.
is TO GIVE ALL OF HIS TIME

is TO GIVE ALL OF HIS TIME
| Official announcement was made to-
/ day that Robert n. Harper. president
| of the District National Bank, has been
appointed chairman of the inaugural
committee. The appointment Of Mr..
Harper has been forecast in official cir
cles for several weeks. and it was gen.
orally understood throughout the city
that the honor would be given to Mr..
Harper in recognition of many years
devoted service to the democratic
party.
| The official announcement was made
! by John F. Costello. democratic ma
! tionaI committeeman for the District of
Columbia. on whose recommendation to
| the national committee the appoint
ment was made, and by Robert w.
| Wooley, who was in charge campaign
publicity and who is now in charge of
| the democratic headquarters in Wash
! ington. These officials had been noti-
Mccormick. the national chairman, in
! Harrisburg. Pa, to whom the privilege
| of making the inaugural chairman ap-
pointment had been delegated several
/
The official announcement read:
Vance 4. Mccormick, chairman OF the
democratic national committee, au-
thorized Robert w. Woolley. director Of
committee. over the long distance tele-
phone from Harrisburg today. to an
| nounce that he had appointed Robert
n. Harper. president of the District Ma
| tional Bank, chairman of the inaugural
committee"
Notified by Chairman Mccormick.
After the official announcement had
been made Mr.. Harper admitted that he
had received word personally from Mr..
Mccormick
Naturally. I appreciate the honor
very much" said Mr.. Harper. especial
ly as had not been a candidate for the
office. This was not because l did not
esteem very highly the honor and
privilege of performing the duties con-
neeted with inaugural arrangements.
but l wished to leave the President
and the national chairman free to make
any appointment they saw fit without
forcing upon them recognition of what
ever services l have been able to per-
form for the party. During the next
three months l will devote practically
all my time to the duties of the in
augural chairmanship and it will be
my sincere effort to make the celebra-
tion in March the most successful
event OF the kind ever held in the Ma
tional Capital
Il am confident that we can bring
here the largest inaugural gathering
OF history. This will not be purely
.de,nocretje celebration, hut 1t viii be q
Testimonial of the entire people Of the
country TO the President of the United
contests are over, and the will Of the
people having spoken the entire coun-
try stands ready to support him in all
that he does for the welfare of the re-
public"
Prospects for Inaugural Ball.
Prospects for an inaugural ball or
reception were suggested to Mr. Har-
per. but he declined to discuss this
phase of the inaugural ceIebrati ton at
this time. Naturally" he said. I'VE
will wish to defer to the President In
any arrangements for a big social az
fair What the Presidents views are
Oh this subject ] have not yet had an
opportunity to learn. ] know, of course
that the people of Washington are
eager to entertain guests from all over
the country at big reception. The
Presidents wishes will guide our ac-
tion. and VIII make an announcement
on this subject as soon as possible"
National Committeeman Costello, in
announcing the appointment of Mr..
. Harper. showed his own qualification
at the confirmation of his choice for
the office. Mr.. Costello had presented
AIR. Harpers name the unanimous
choice of democrats in the District,
telling the national chairman that this
appointment should be made on the
ground of appreciation of valuable
work done for the democratic party by
Mr.. Harper during many years. and
especially as chairman of the finance
committee. which collected campaign
funds in the District this year. He
also told Mr.. Mccormick that from a
consideration of efficiency Mr.. Harper
| should be named. and it is understood
that ii was on these grounds that the
selection was made.
Mr. Harper was Endorsed for the Of
| fice by the organized legal representa-
tives of the District in the democratic
rarty. Resolutions sent to the national
headquarters in New York were unan-
| imously in favor of Mr.. Harper with
j out compromise.
| Political Leaders Are Pleased.
! The unanimous Endorsement of Mr.
, Harper by the national chairman and the
J entire national committee said Mr.. Cos
tello today. lis most gratifying to me.
especially since it is an indication that
/ the President and his campaign managers
| recognize and appreciate the work of the
| loyal democrats and their friends in the
District"
| Mr.. Wooley also expressed delight at
| the appointment Of Mr. Harper. Person
ally it is very gratifying to me. for have
been warm advocate OF Mr.. Harper's
| appointment All of us who have worked
| during the campaign and been in close
touch with those in charge of the cam
| paign have admired the valued work Mr..
| Harper has been doing for President Will
| son. We knew all along that those in
charge of the campaign appreciated this
| work and had high regard for the per-
! sonality. loyalty and ability of Mr.. Har-
J'er. We felt very confident from the be-
ginning that no other person would be
considered for the inaugural honor until
! il had first been offered to Mr. Harper" "
| All OF the democratic leaders voiced
qualification today at the appointment
and predicted that Mr.. Harper would at
once start after preparations for the
/ the sort of fellow to let the grass grow
under his feet" was stated by one
| prominent democrat and this seemed
! to epitomiZe the view not only of the
democratic leaders, but of business men
and bankers
| Prominent fnanciers. who. have been
waiting for several weeks for the ap-
pointment of the inaugural chairman,
in congratulating Mr.. Harper. told him
that they are ready to contribute lib.
| orally to the guarantee fund which is
! Of the inaugural celebration. The COM
mittee to solicit funds for this purpose
! has not yet been named. but 1t will be
one of the first announced by Mr..
| Harper.