Evening star., 1922-08-17
BOARD
PLUM IN DOUBT
President 50 damned With
Duties Filing of Vacancy
Is Slow.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

President Harding is in mael-
strom his attention 81 intensely that
upon his attentioa 80 intensely that
he is striving in vain to do one thing
at time.
Appointments to the all-important
Federal Reserve Board. the ever
threatening question OF the soldier
bonus bill. the last minute changes
in the tariff bill which will make the
Fordney -McCumber act even harder
for the executive signature. the
regulation of coal prices and half
dozen other problems which wiil
come as an aftermath to the settle-
ment OF the rail and coal strikes are
competing with each other for presi-
dential consideration.
ments to the Federal Reserve Board
to please Ahe farmers. He wants AT
the head of the board also a man
closely in sympathy with his own
ideas of what should be done by the
government Ia the banking world.
Those ideas are largely the inspifa-
tion OF his lifelong friend and bank
ing adviser, d. r. crisslnger OF Mar
ion. Ohio. who at present Is con-
troller OF the currency
May Name successor.
If President Harding had intended
to reappoint W p G. Harding the
chief executive would not have allow
ed the term OF the Federal Reserve
Boards governor to expire. The gen
eral impression is that the President
intends to have Gov. Harding stay on
until a successor is appointed.
Besides Mr.. Crtssinger there Is Eu-
gene Meyer. jr. who as head OF the
War Finance Corporation has per
formed q service which President
Harding considers to have been re-
markably useful to the nation as
growers and livestock men in par
ticuisr. Many western and SOUTH
western business men favor the ap-
pointment Of Mr.. Meyer to the Federal
Reserve Board on the ground that II
the personnel Of the board had been
have made the revival Of the War
Finance Corporation after the war
unnecessary.
Should Mr.. Meyer be moved up to the
Federal Reserve Board. or be made
controller of the currency, which om-
Ger is. by law, a member of the same
board by reason of the Office he holds,
there is a chance that Senator Nc
Cumber of North Dakota. chairman
of the Senate finance committee, might
be given the Meyer place.
NeCunber Out in March.
Mr.. McCumber was defeated for re-
nomination in the republican pri-
rnaries in North Dakota recently, and
his term expires next March. The
resident is said to be anxious to
take care of Mr.. McCumber. and the
lob of managing director of the War
Finance Corporation pays $4,000 a
year, which is more tnan senator
gets.
Vacancies like this do not occur
every day, and If Mr.. McCumber were
to become managing director OF the
War Finance Corporation. in order
to make the shift complete. he would
have to resign from the Senate at
once This, in turn. would make
Senator Smoot of Utah chairman of
the finance committee OF the Senate
a few months sooner than otherwise
would have been the case. and would
give Mr.. Harding the benefit Of Mr..
Smoot's extraordinary familiarity with
republican fiscal and tariff policies in
the short session Of Congress in De-
cember, if not in the all-important
closing days of the present special
session. which may last until mid.
September.
Politically speaking. there would
be no particular significance In the
appointment of Controller CrieGinEer
to take the place of Gov. Harding, a
democrat from Alabama Mr.. Girls
singer is also . democrat, but the
appointment is moro of a personal