Evening star., 1920-03-01
mr.. LANE AROUSES
! GREATER INTEREST
! IN PUBLIC SERVICE
Description of Topsy-Turvy
Condition Based on Twenty
/ Years Experience.
ny DAVID LAWRENCE.

franklin Lanes farewell address
sxritten to President Wilson, but in
sa.l;tv intended for the American
neople-is being variously interpreted
ss a criticism of the Wilson admins
tration in which he served seven
Years. but mostly as an indlctmenl oi
the public service ltselI' III "hieh nv
spent twenty years Under repuoilcah
as we'll as democratic ADMINISTRATIONS.
When the departing Secretary of the
Interior, however, characterlzes OIL
fetal Washington as "a combination
of political caucus. drawing room ana
civil service bureau. containing
statesmen who are politicians and
politicians who are not statesiileh,
he expresses himself with lreedoth
from restraint which a good many oi-
fcials still in service "oulu imds i, of
exercise For there are two xmas OF
mon in the government-those VINO
realize present methods are lnaue-
auate and inefficient and those VINO
don't want to realize IT. because II
might disturb personal or party as
pirations.
Nay Focus Public Attention.
MIR. Lane is ineligible for the presi-
dency He happens to have been born
in Canada He can't go higher in the
ladder of politics. He IS retlrinS 70
private business. He carries with MIN
no grudges. no resentments, no oi..e sl,
ness or disappointment. What ne says
therefore, can't be taken as personal,
but impersonal. Yet he has started
something that may get to be personal
before this presidential year Is out.
For his statement may focus publlc
attention on the topsy-turvy condltlon
of the public service today and start
people thinking about better types or
men for the next electoral contests.
If Mr.. Lane had been disposed TO De
personal, indeed. he might have put
his finger on the handspring OF the
trouble-presidentia politics. The
government is fairly seeping with it.
Here is the situation in nutshell
In the Department of Justice is a
presidential candidate. A. Mitchell
Palmer, Attorney General. He may be
giving little thought to it, as the bust
ness of his office demands attention,
but his subordinateS are working
tooth and nail for the support of dele
gates to the democratic national con-
vention.
In the War Department are many
friends of Gen. Leonard Wood who
are by no means asleep at the switch.
Moreover. there are officers in the War
Department, eager to keep on good
terms with the republican Congress,
who literally fear Investigations and
are therefore proceeding with su-
perabundance of caution in matters
of claims, which is holding up the
bills of legitimate business interests
Every one seems to be afraid of
every one" was Mr.. Lanes way of
expressing the broad principle of eX-
cessive timidity in public service.
In the Treasury Department Secre-
tary Houston is not himself candi-
date or versed in the ways of politics.
But his department is honeycombed
with politics. Here are big organiza-
tions of federal officeholders who can
have a great deal to do with the get
ting of delegates to the democratic
national convention. Many friends~of
former Secretary McAdoo are still in
the Treasury Department, and they
are playing the presidential game just
as hard as the friends of any other
candidate in other departments.
Mr.. BurlesOn's Power.
In the Post Office Department is the
master politician. Albert Sidney Burle-
son. AS for presidential politics. MIR.
Burleson has enough power to make or
break would-be candidates.
In the White House itself, the atmos-
phere of politics is scarcely less dis
guised, though admittedly it doesn't
turn so much upon whether OF not Mr..
Wilson Will be candidate for a third
term as upon the desire to retain lead
ership of the democratic party during
the next few months, while the treaty
fight is on. The selection of cambridge
Colby to be Secretary of State was
bid for the support of independent
voters: that of Edward I. Meredith to
be Secretary of Agriculture was skill
full approach to the discontented farm
er. with whom Mr.. Meredith is not at
all unpopular.
Candidates in Congress.
But it isn't all in the executive de-
partments by any means. The supply
OF presidential candidates is even
greater in Congress. There are the
active and passive kind Senator Poin-
dexter. republican, of Washington, is
away, speaking most of the time in the
promotion of his own candidacy for
President. Senator Hirman johnson.
republican, is another presidential
candidate. active in the race. So is
Senator Harding, republican, of Ohio.
In this class should be included, TOO.
Senator Sutherland. republican. of
West Virginia. Senator Pomerene,
democrat. has withdrawn from the
race. Senator Hitchcock. democrat.
leader Of the Presidents forces in the
senate, is receptive candidate. His
friends are working hard for him
Other democratic and republican
senators are busying themselves in
the interests of candidates to whose
booms they are more or less tightly
attached. Some are working for demo-
cratic aspirants. others for republican
choices. Senator Borah is friendly TO
the Johnson boom. Senator Lodge
has expressed no preference, but upon
him falls the duty of keeping the
republican party together. He has
the difficult job of keeping the
Borah-Johnson wing on friendly
terms with the Penrose-K Brande-
gee combination, and then again hold
ing in hand the middle west progress
sives, like Lenroot, Kenyon Nelson
and Cummins. It's politics in the SEN
ate and plenty more of il in the House
Of Representatives
The self-pi elective sense" rema rk 8
Mr.. Lane. rs developed abnormally.
Ability is not la cking. but it is
pressed to the point of paralysis be-
cause of an unwillingness on the part
of the great body of public servants
10 take responsibility"
Politics is the answer. Franklin
Lane uncovered some vital truths in
his swan song. People familiar with
Washington life looked upon his own
statement as confirmation of the
points he made.
Copyright, 1920
VICTORY E0R MERCHANTS