Evening star., 1925-05-06

Along with their other troubles, the
leaders of the quinquennial OF the In
ternational Council of Women are not
a little perturbed over President
Coolidge's failure To address them. IL
is not due to any lack of persuasion
on their part. For a good many
weeks pressure in that direction has
been brought TO bear on the White
House. To the last the council hoped
that the President would see his way
TO delivering a speech of welcome. 1t
felt that the foreign delegates were
entitled to such a distinction as spe-
cial mark of respect from the chief
of the American Nation. Council Of
ficials suggest that Mr. 'Coohdge un-
willingly fell under the influence OF
those who have been depicting the
ouinouennial as a diabolical plot TO-
mented by pacifists and communists.
Particular disappointment over the
nonappearance of the President on
the councils platform is aroused by
the fact that he is speaking IN the
Auditorium, in the very midst OF the
sessions, but under other auspices.
namely. on the occasion of the hnaI
meeting of the National Oratorlcal
Contest this week.
Washington in its day has read and
reviewed the maiden speech OF many
a new American Ambassador to Great
Rritain but none ever evoked hlSner
praise than the address Mr.. Houghton
has lust made in London. 1t IS re
garded as saying exactly the rlght
thing at exactly the right time IN eA-
actly the right place. London IS not
the capital at which HouShton re-
marks were primarily aimed, but 1t is
fvNIp CCl0n
rome. and when the United States en-
vow to Britain speaks, it is with well
understood authority. There is a
charm of diction about Houghton'
speech that ranks him worthlly among
the masters of English whom we nave
traditionally stationed at the Court OF
Ct James. Ambassador Houghton is
a glass manufacturer by occupation,
but he has an uncommonly f1ne cul-
tural background, with b. A. from
Harvard to his credit, supplemented
by postgraduate work at Goettlngen,
Berlin and Paris Universities. AT Har-
ward he was famed as poet. Hough-
ton went to London with a reputation
for dislilling speeches. But after his
triumphant debut before the Pilgrims,
he is not likely to be permitted TO hide
his oratorical light under a bushel.
); !: x
One of the first things the Sixty
ninth Congress will have to do Will be
to vote more money to carry on the
Government prosecution of the DO
heny and Sinclair oil cases. The
500 900 appropriated in February,
1924, which was to include remunera-
ton for the special Government coun-
sci, Messrs., Pomerene and Roberts,
has already been used up, without
any of it going to the lawyers. The
money has gone for travelling ex-
penses, gathering of evidence, procur-
ing of witnesses, preparation of briefs
and transcribing of voluminous rec
ords. Before the litigation is out of
the way, prospectively in 1927, 1T is
probable that the legal bill Uncle Sam
will have to foot in the oil business
will not be far from S250,000.
x x x i;
Charles C. Hart, Washington news
paper correspondent, who has been
appointed American Minister to Alba
nia once was a private in the Regu-
lar Army. 1t will remind him of his
barrack days when he strikes Tirana,
the Albanian capital, which has a
population of II, 900 and no santa
ton. This observer last Summer in
Paris. ran across Ulysses S. Grant
Smith, who was then serving a sen
tence as American Minister to Alba
mia, and who deposed that most of
| his time to date had been spent in
trying to locate a bathtub somewhere
: In the country. Mr.. Hart, as a pro-