Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-08-19

Victor Murdock is with us once again /;
this time as q memlDr OF the Federal
Trade Commission. Welcome to victor's
tawny head and twinkling smile and
insistent demands for an audience for
his stories. Washington has dragged
on without the progressive Kansan for
long time. but now he has been
chosen by the President to illumine the
dark and murky fastnesses of the Fed
eral Trade Commission. the old town
seems to have perked up. Yes, Victor
Is purveyor of oxygen. Sometimes the
oxygen is a bit warm, but. on the whole.
he's good fellow and had lots of
washington neighbors who will shake
hands with him and welcome him back.
The last we saw of Victor was in
Chicago; a group of Washington cor
respondents who had gone to the two
hinged circus In Juno and July a year
ago watched Murdock's spirits rise and
fall as the bull moose convention met
and convened. Victor was one of those
rampant, never-say-die Rooseveltians
who protested against an alliance with
the robbers up the street Chat is. the
republican party. He shook himself
loose from the audience. leaped to the
platform and in several thousand well
chosen words defied life, death. battle
murder and sudden dissolution. and
Olympus to kick Col. Roosevelt in the
stats and awaken him to the possibili-
ties that lay before him. OF course, all
this time Roosevelts secretary in a
green hat was on the platform with
Roosevelts firm declination in his
pocket. He didn't present 1t then, be-
cause there would have been too many
sudden deaths in the Coliseum. He just
let 'em rave.
At the end of that week Victor MUIR
LA orI Not
let It out that he was about to take
trip to Climate get as far away as
he could. He wanted to find out wheth-
er that stand-pat country was any
lack of progress. Perhaps he thought
he might have q chance to become
president in Picking. Perhaps-who
knows?
40
Now that Victor has returned, there
will be a renewal Of the old stories
about him and his upheaval in the
House OF Representatives. Folks will
say that he learned to eat out OF Uncle
Joe's hand and then turned on that
hand and bit at II, only to be properly
cuffed in the ear in the last analysis.
They will say that Uncle Joe placed the
cub congressman from Kansas on q
oiR CoihuillNcC duu all mat D0l ShSic
Joe didn't. It was L. White Busbey. who
was then and is. now Uncle Joe's Sec
rotary.
| Here's that end of the story:
Victor went up to Chicago q long time
ago to become reporter on the Inter
Ocean. Busbey was on the paper then.
and the two became friends. Also the
cub became acquainted with Jim Mann
who was then a member of the Chicago
city counsel and with other stars who
have since grown up to be real men.
Then a long time later Victor ran for
Congress and broke into national lime
light. When he reached Washington
Uncle Joe was Speaker. the old-timt
Republican machine was going fine. and
L. White Busbey. the former star re-
porter for the Chicago Inter Ocean, was
Uncle Joe's secretary.
Now, like all cub congressman, Victor
Murdoch aimed high when 1t came to
his wishes respecting committee as
signments. Most of them want to &c
| on the judiciary. or the ways and
means, Interstate commerce, post Office
or rules, and none Of them cares to be
slighted by receiving the last place or
some inactive committee. Victor Muir
| dock was no exception. He looked
about him and saw the post office
committee and declared that would be
his choice.
He went to Mr.. Busbey and told him So
II want that committee" he said
land you can get II for me-"
He did not see the Speaker at all. He
did not get his own state colleagues to