Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-03-11
WILL HOOVER MAKE WORK
STYLISH IN WASHINGTON?
His Example Of Hustle Might In Turn
Revive a Taste for Honest Toll
In This Lazy World

His Example Of Hustle Might In Turn
Revive Taste for Honest Toll
In This Lazy World
A LII the prophets of evil who used to say
"A that Mr.. Hoover would he a cause of
turbulence and trouble in Washington ought
to be summoned to the front and applauded.
They deserve toot or two of the trumpPts
for their astonishing perspcncity. The party
Sagcs who to tho very last warned the Re.
publican leaders to have nothing to do with
Hoover may now fill the air with the clank
of triumphant laughter. For Hoover is more
than spirit Of unrest in Washington. He
is an amazemcnt--an incxpiCablc force for
change and the reversal of sacred tradition.
He works
He works steadily and with queer sort
| of enthusiasm in a place where. II half we
read is true. every body else Is forever resting.
Politicians rest in Washington after the
strife and strains of tho campaign. Gov
crnment employees, worn out, as they always
are in hating or defending various admin
| iStrationS, relax as n matter of daily habit.
| The Senate dozcs between battles. The
House tois-vocaly- an hour or two
each day
Almost every great conference called in
Washington for the discussion of labor or
International communications or ntcrna-
tonal relations takes on. sooner or later, the
appearance Of long siesta Against a gen
cral background Of incffablc peace and al
most efortlcSS contcntment the new score
tary of commerce appears as a profoundly
disqui"ting figure. Up town and down he
goes at full speed. He flashes into his office
carly in the morning and he flashes out Of
il late at night.
Anybody who has looked twice at tho cur.
rent photographs of the now cabinet must
hav" observed that the Hoover uf tho pic.
lures invariably wears pcstercd look He
appears like n man who has just glanced i'm
patiently at his watch. Others beam or fall
into attitudes of easy rcposc. But it is clear
that his occasional unwilling ventures into
the spotlight are to Hoover only hated in
tcrruptions Of the grind in which he finds a
sort of ecstasy.
Well. well. Hoover has done some won
dCrful things and. for nll you know. he yet
may achicv" another miracle. He may end
! by making the thing called work fashionable
| in Washington. After that anything might
| happen. The country and the world nt large
might in turn be rrconCiled again to honest
| toll.
lie has rPorganizcd me- moancd the
| d"orkccper at the Department Of Commerce,
who is in n mood to believe the rumor that
| his now boss gets up in the middle of the
! night. "1lC works ~
There was Il note Of pain in that cry ana
| note of aStoniShment. Yet work-whch
! might be defined q wholesome expenditure
| Of mental or muscular effort for Il rational
| ond-wHS once actually fashionable in the
| United States. That long time ago.
| More recently the practice has become de-
tested. It is our of style. Everybody seems
| to hate and avoid it,
\ good many people. fearing death from
| inanition. Slyly and furtivcy work at golf
| or tennis and take infinite pains to max"
| their toll seem like something else. Hatred
Of work. a wild belief that tho world could
get on without it. caused the Soviet rrvolu-
tionS in Russia Wherever there is complete
or partial economic paralysis you will find
vast numbers of people. in all the high and
| low departments nf industry. with new
antipathy To work
Not long ago there good deal of
| talk about II six hour day. Hoover works
eighteen and he appears like a man in pretty
good health.
Gun toting is the present substitute for
work in various parts of Europe. just as
talk is being accepted as n substitute for
! honest creative effort in Il good many parts
| Of the United States. The mood Of inertia
| charged So frequently. and with some Justice.
| against labor i not absent from II pretty
| large class Of business men.
Labor found money easy and 1t expected
! il always to b" easy. business men found
| that contracts and orders came knocking on
| their doors But times have changed end
! there are men in business who ar" not yet
! willing tn get m and hustle. just aS thcre
! are labor men who believe that war wages
! can be confirmed without the attendant hnr
rur and waste Of war. So n rather ayG"
part Of tn" population is resting about as
! Washington rests. and occasionally II tries
IT,. tl
long and lRbored expressions Of self pity or
! high intentions or frustrated effort.
But speeches and controversies and sur
vrvS and claims and counter claims will get
/ nobody anywhere long aS work continues
t. be- for all sorts of people the most un.
| faShinnnblc thing in the world. Will" al
most all "f Europe is still trampnC around
with guns and rattling Sabcrs Italy Is get.
ting down 10 work. and current reports indi
cate that Italy will be tho first allied nation
to got fully on its fc"t and a"hiev" normal
conditions Of life Europ" is filled with men
J who got into official military uniforms and
. hate to get ont of them. b"cauS" that would
mean the necessity of n return to work.
Ilouver in Washington j., therefore. an
Extraordinarily interesting and div"rtiug
figure. lie doesn't work sixteen and eighteen
nour> day because h" has to. IIr likes it,
What will his exampl" mean 10 senators who
have to rest for week after n, speech and
20 members Of the House who often are
thousands of miles awny when important
ioh> ar" waiting to b" done?
Onc T., thrilled ut the possibilities SlG-
gc>tod 10y this thought. And what will be
the effect uf IInuvrr's cXamrl" on III" pSy'
cnulogy of tn" country viii It again b'
respectable to work hard at wholesome
rusIis? Books ar" written about the tech
niuur II golf and great tennis players write
,lu,ir own autobiograph"s and draw large
royalties in return. But did You ever r"a'
anything written to c"lrbrat" the man wh'
harvested the largest wheat crop or r"aC
ANYTHING informing relative to III" technique
applied in getting the most potatoes out I"
tn" groundf
The difference between labor and what i
known ns sporting "xrrciS" is tn" difference
bot,yrru necessary toll and toll brightly vr