The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1925-06-17
LEADERSB BUSY
WHILECAPITAL
CITY is EMPTY
Real Work Done at Washing
ton While Bosses Are
Away on Vacation
BY CHARLES p. STEWART
NEA Service Writer

Washington, June 17.-Nobody
home. That's the hot weather rule
in Washington-the almost invariable
! rule, so far as persons Of the slight
est Importance are cOncerned-of the
slightest Importance officially or
socially.
There probably isn't another city
in the world which empties itself
so completely during the summer
For one thing, it's mighty hot. For
another, it's the fashion.
To be caught here in June, July or
August is disgraceful-if you amount
to anything.
Not but what government business
goes on as usual, but it's transacted
by assistants.
They understand it better, on an
average, than the department heads.
Many of them have spent lifetimes on
the jobs they handle. Their bosses
are just serving comparatively short
political terms.
AS for actual accomplishment.
there doubtless is more of it right
now than with all the impressive
chiefs on hand to butt into matters
they're unfamiliar with.
But if for some reason or other,
you do want to see one of thes
exalted individuals, his office in
Washington's the last place where
you're likely to find him at present
Try Bar Harbor, Newport, At
lantic City, back home, almost any
place except here. You simply will
be wasting time bothering with the
capital.
According to the papers, about 20
leading universities and colleges
sought to "honor" President Coolidge
on their respective commencement
days by comforting academic degrees
on him
Ii they were so anxious to "honor"
him. why didn't they go ahead and
do their comforting? But it's to be
noted that, in almost every instance,
the degree was contingent on the
presidents appearance in person to
receive it.
Why? We're the universities
afraid they might "honor" the wrong
president unless they had the only
genuine one in the country corpor-
eally on hand, duly identified, mug
ged and thumbprinted
Not bit of it. What they had i'm
mind wasn't so much IGNORING"
anybody as advertising, and not ad-
vertising President Coolidge, either.
The universities wanted the pres
ldent just as each wants crack foot
ball team-to make a splash for itself
with.
The president is half dozen times
a ILL. D." anyway. Evidently he
didn't consider it necessary to have
it rubbed in by an additional score of
universities, for he accepted none
of the latest batch of invitations to
be "honored"
When Secretary of Commerce Hoo
yer called recently for a reorganiza-
ton. reclassification and simplifica-
ton. together with quite an extensive
of the governments
almost innumerable bureaus, boards |
and commissions, "employing several
hundred thousand people. directly un-
der the president, directly under |
Congress, or thrown hodge podge into |
10 different executive departments"
when Secretary Hoover did this, |
he outlined job to make the hard |
lest politician shudder.
The present system just "growed,"
bit by bit, until the war, during which |
and ever since which, it has "growed"
like 100000 horsepower mush- |
room. It's complications are mex
pressible.
Compared with taking it apart,
scrapping lot of it and putting it |
together scientifically, destroying the
whole government and creating a
new one would be easy.
Besides, every stage of the work
would be fought tooth and nail by
officials. fearful of losing their jobs |
or mite of Importance.
However, Hoover so fully made out
his case-duplication, inefficiency,
waste. utter uselessness-that Con-
sress simply will have to do some
hing about it, probably at it's next
session.