The New York herald., 1922-10-15
SUNDAY, OCTOBER is. 1922.


Since the day Brigadier-General
CHARLES G. DAWES came back from
the war, where he did brilliantly
successful organizing work with our
military machinery, equipment, sup
plies and forces behind the lighting
lines in France, this business man,
banker, soldier, budget director, gen.
ius has handled all public questions
without gloves. He has been an
amazingly frank critic Of antiquated
Government methods and of self
seeking Government officials who use
their great Offices to play politics
with the business affairs of the Amer
lean people. General DAWES never
was more frank, and sensationally
frank, than he was in his address on
Friday evening at the dinner given
in his honor at the Waldorf-Astoria
by the National Budget Committee.
When General DAWES declared, as
he. did declare, that Congress is a
nest of towards under the COM
mands and threats Of organized mi
rorities like the labor union bloc, the
bonus bloc, the agricultural bloc, &C.;
when he declared that heads of de-
partments are for themselves before
they are for anything else; when he
declared that even the great Cabinet
members are the enemies of the uni
fed business control of the Govern
ment"; when he declared that the
trouble with the Government is 'the
men in Office who would barter the
interests of their country in order to
stay in office"-when General DAWES
stood up and uttered these and other
uncomplimentary things Of the Gov
ernment service he simply spoke out
plain truths that other distinguished
public leaders always have known to
be plain truths but never were will
ing to lay bare on the public record.
And when General DAWES set forth,
as he did set forth, that in all the
great reforms and improvements
President HANDING has achieved in
putting the United States Govern
ment on business basis there was
vigorous opposition even in his own
Cabinet, and he was opposed by bu-
reau heads, opposed by army and
navy chiefs, opposed by powerful
Congress leaders, and always opposed
purely for political or other selfish
reasons, General DAWES showed how
it had remained for the present Chief
Executive of the nation to compel all
his subordinates and ell the other
Government officials to give the busi-
ness OF the Government business
treatment and to give the American
taxpayers square deal.
Perhaps President HARDgNG did not
literally, as General DAWES pictur-
esquely describes, achieve his great
results by swinging the AK over even
= his own Cabinet members and let
ting them know that those who did
not coordinate would have their
heads Topped off," Perhaps the Pres
ident did not have to go to such
lengths with anybody OF high impor-
tance in the Government service.
But the fact remains that President
HARDING achieved his purpose in the
teeth OF an almost solid opposition
among his own party leaders and
within his own Administration, and
that it remained for him to be the
first President of the United States
actually TO do what all the others
must have known ought to be done,
what the business men of the coun-
try knew ought to be done and what
the American people now know has
been done, TO the shining credit of
WARREN G.. HARDING.