The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-08-18
By DAVID LAWRENCE
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s. w ASl1tNGlON. aug. 1S.--HEeSlueHL
Harding is in a maelstrom of problems
each erowding upon his attention so in
tensely that he is striving in vain to do
one thing at time.
Appointments to the all-important
federal reserve board, the ever threat
ening question of the soldier bonus BILL
the last minute changes in the tariff bill
which viii make the Fordney- Met umber
act even harder for the executive sigma
ture, the regulation of coal prices and
a half dozen other problems which will
come as an aftermath to the settlement
of the rail and coal strikes. are Compel
ing with each other for presidential con-
sideration.
Mr. Harding wants his appointments
to the federal reserve BOARD TO please
the farmers. He wants at the head of
the board also a man closely in sym
pathy with his own ideas of what should
be done by the government in the bank
ing world. Those ideas are largely the
inspiration OF his life long friend and
banking adviser, ID. r. Crissinger Of
Marion, Ohio, who at present is comp
troller of the currency
III President Harding had intended to
executive would not have allowed the
term of the federal reserve boards gov
ernor TO expire. The general impress
sion is that the President Intends to
have Governor Harding stay on until
a successor Is appointed.
Eugene Meyer, Jr. Also Mentioned
Besides Mr. Crissinger there is Eu-
gene Never, jr., who as head of the war
finance corporation has performed a
L., To-.
siders to have been remarkably useful
TO the nation as a whole, the farmers,
cattle growers and live stock men in
particular. Many western and south
western business men favor the appoint
nent of Mr.. Meyer to the federal re-
serve board on the ground that IL the
personnel of the board had been alive
to its opportunities it would have made
the revival of the war finance corpora
tiOn after the war unnecessary.
Should MIR. Meyer be moved up TO the
federal reserve board. or be made comp
troiler of the currency, which officer Is
by law a member of the same board by
reason of the office he holds, there IS a
chance that Senator Met umber of North
Dakota, chairman OF the senate finance
committee. might be given the place
Mr.. AIcCumber WAS defeated for re-
nomination in the Republican primaries
in North Dakota recently and his term
expires next March. The President Is
said to be anxious to take care of Mr..
McCumber and the Job of managing dl-
rector of the war finance corporation
pays $4,000 a year, which Is more than
a senator gets.
Would Aid Harding In Senate.
Vacancies like this do not occur every
! day and if MIR. McCumber were TO be-
come managing director of the war n
nance corporation in order to make the
shift complete, he would have to resign
from the senate at once. This IN turn
would make Senator Smont 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
MIR. Shoots extraordinary familiarity
with Republican financial and tariff pol
icies in the short session of congress IN
December. if not in the ali-important
closing days of the present special ses-
sion which may last until mid-SeptSm-
Der.
Politically speaking there would be
no particular significance in the appoint
ment of Comptroller Crissinger to take
the place of Governor Harding, a Dem
ocrat from Alabama. MIR. Crissinger Is
also Democrat but the appointment is
more of personal one than political as
the intimacy of the two men dates back
to Marion. Ohio. the Presidents home.
1t is being recalled today that Presl-
dent Wilson's first choice for governor
of the federal IRE board was also a
personal friend. Thomas d. Jones of
Chicaro, whose nomination was sent to
the senate but defeated because of the
latter's connection with the Interna-
tional Harvester Co.
Mr. Crissinger was regarded as
'small town banker" when he first came
to Washington but he has grown in the
esteem of official Washington as he has
handled the lob of comptroller of the
currency. Mr.. Crissinger is one of those
who believes international exchange can
be stabilized by the right kind OF inter
national cooperation. Incidentally, 1t
is not apparent that Governor Harding
is looked upon with disfavor by the
President There is every reason to be-
lfeve that the President in the ordinary
course az events would have nominated
Governor Harding Although they have
the same surname they are not kinsmen.
The President probably has been in
fuenced to choose new men for the led
eral reserve board because of the contro-
yersies with the farming interests which
have developed under Governor Hard
ing's rule. -,
personnel would suffer because of the
painful but necessary. processes of de-
Aation undertaken two years ago.
Whether the dehation could have been
handled in better. fashion is a subject
on Which MANY speeches have been made
I in congress. The President dislikes con
lftr0yersy and likes a new deal. The Sc
lection Of Mr. Crissinger would be IN
limo with the latter policy.
b. &. A. FOREMAN BEATEN.