New-York tribune., 1920-01-28
Meredith Is
Appointed to
Houston Post
Selection of Iowa Man
to Head Agricultural
Bureau Called Shrewd
Politics in President
NesC York Tribune
n nshfnOton Bureau

L Ollt1CS IN PRESIDENT
New York Tribune
nnshfn Dton Bureau
WASHINGTON, Jan. 27.-As indi-
Gated by comment in Washington.
PRESIDENT Wilson to-day made a
shrewd political move from the stand
point Of party politics when he shifted
Secretary Houston from the Agricul-
ture Department to the Treasury and
appointed E. T. Meredith, of Iowa, to
succeed him. BY this shift, say the
gosslps, he gets Houston away from
the attention of the farmers of the
country, with whom he admittedly has
been most unpopular, without doing
violence to his persistent loyalty to
members of his official family. and re-
places hih with man who is we'll
and favorably known to the farmers Of
the country, especially in the Middle
west, and is an uncompromising ad-
vocate Of their interests, being also
publisher Of an agricultural paper with
circulation of about 100000.
The wheat raisers, it is said, have
been especially incensed at Mr.. Hous-
ton, as they hold him responsible for
the Presidents veto Of the S2.4O mini
mum wheat price bill in 1918 and also
charge that If he had had his way in
the beginning the price fixed in 1917
would have been about sl.80 instead
Of S2.20. Farmers generally have com
planned that Houston was failure as
an executive, and that the organization
of the Department of Agriculture has
suffered greatly in morale during his
administration.
Marsh's Advice Followed
The net result of the Meredith ap-
promotion of party welfare in the
farming sections, and is believed to
have followed the ADVICE of w. W..
Marsh, treasurer of the Democra tic
National Committee, whose home is
in Iowa.
Democrats express the hope that
this appointment marks an end of the
Presidents neglect of party consider
alton in many of his important ap-
pointments and a new era of rap
prochment with the party leaders, with
most Of whom, they say, he has been
about as intimate during his second
term ter as he is with Senator Lodge. In
this connection they are wondering
whether there is design in the rapidly
accumulating number of vacant Fed
eral appointive Offices.
Some Of the vacant positions of ma
tional Importance, most of which have
been 80 for long time, are:
Interstate Commerce Commissioner.
Federal Trade Commissioner.
Civil Service Commiss soner.
Tariff Commissioner
Minister to Switzerland
Minister to China.
Minister to the Netherlands.
Minister to Siam.
Minister to Denmark
Minister to Costa Rica
Minister to Salvador.
Three Judgeships Also Vacant
The following Federal judgeshps are
vacant: Third Alaska district and two
circuit court judgeships in the Fifth
Texas district
The list would be extended consider
ably by an examination of all the ap-
pointive offices.
VI course tHe Oelay IN ming Such
important offices NAV be attributed en-
trcly to the Presidents long illness,
but some of the Democratic workers
consider that there is a deliberate pur-
pose in accommodating large number
Of vacancies for use where they may do
the most good in building up the or
ganization of whatever Democratic
Presidential asbirant is to be the
residuary legatee of the present Admin
istration.
Another theory is that the open list
is to be kept as large as possible until
the very last days of the Wilson Ad
so that the sort IF
gratitude th"t is based on favors to
come will be a powerful motive among
the Democratic faithful, tending to
keep the present White House regime
powerful and respected until close to
March 4, 1921.