Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-08-10
-rHE MrRRoRs OF WASHINGTON.

/
largely of social climbers and official
poseurs. called Washington society,"
has been stirred to its opaque depths
by "rhe Mirrors OF Washington" a
volume of political sketches. issued
anonymously. which has ripped the
veil that has hidden some of tho faults
of the great and the ncar-great from
u.s.
This book, which takes its idea from
"The Mirrors of Downing Street"
which caused more than one grouchy
English bureaucrat to lie awake o.
nights, deals none too gently with tho
men who have been accustomed to re-
eeive the fulsome and misleading
fiattery of the partisan press. While
in some parts 1t is bit crude. yet
taken as whole IL successfully tears
the mantle of sham from the .charac-
ters discussed.
The authors--and judging by the
style one would say that at least two
political observers had a hand in sill
vcring "rhe Mirrors, pay their re-
spects to Wilson, Harding, Borah.
Lodge, Penrose. johnson. Knox. Hoov-
er. House, Hughes, Root. Baruch, Har-
vey and Lansing. More frequently
man, and several of them have the
crown of laurel ruthlessly torn from
their classic brows.
Mr.. Wilson is not dealt with as hi.
fiercest partisans would desire. But
an obvious effort was made 10 do him
justice--and he really appears in a
better light than any OF the other
thirteen. 1t is Wilson the man, and
not Wilson the political idol, who is
Photographed.
President Harding receives several
jolts which would fracture even a
marble statue. About the best phrase
written of him is a friends character
ization: "the best fellow in the world
to play poker with all Saturday night
In stating why he was chosen by his
party for the Presidency, Senator
Brandegee is quoted: There aint
any frst-raters this year. This aint
any 1850 or 1894. We haven't any
John Shermans or Theodore Roose-
velts. We've got a lot of second-raters.
and Warren Harding is tho best OF
the second-raters."
George Harvey is spanked satiricaliy
on more than one page. and the ego
tism and egoisnl-a rare combination
-of the man is fulsomely displayed.
The rapier again flashes when Hughes
is compared with others. especially
with his superior in power: His is
the best mind. for minds are not COM
mon in the Government.
Mr.. Harding has not a remarkable
one, the people having decided by
= nm mn x.-zs.,-.+.. 49, I. ,.-a. hx.t -.
to have one in the White House.
choosing instead good heart, excel
lent intentions. and reasonable common
sense
Mr.. Hoover is described as one who
has suffered too much from skillful
press-agentry. While fulsome credit
is given him. for past feats of organ
ization, the suggestion is made that
less beating of the bass drum today
would be pleasing 10 a public which
viii give him more praise when he
finally succeeds in making something
of the Department of Commerce.
Senator Lodge. than whom there is
no more self-important Back Bay
Rrahnin, is figuratiyely turned upside
down and spanked on a delicate portion
of the anatomy where it hurts most.
Henry Cabot Lodge always creates
the impression that il is a .condescen-
sion on his part TO God to have allowed
him to create a world which is not
exclusively possessed by the Cabots
and the Lodges and their connections"
The others received the rapier thrust
more frequently than the battle-ax,
though on occasion, when a man
really possesses good qualities. he is
given praise which truly comes from
Caesar. That the characterizations
have hit home in more than one case
is shown by the ili-tempered manner
in which several Of the subjects re-
ceived them. Hoover's Washington
Herald gave THE Mirrors" what was
probably the most caustic review ever
written for that sheet.
we are glad TO see the appearance
of such a book as this. For too long
the opinion has prevailed that when