Evening star., 1926-04-23

What price oratory? The four
horsemen of the opposition-Borah.
Johnson, Walsh and Reed (of Missouri
rode full tilt into the Italian debt
settlement. They swung their eloquent
lances with more than accustomed
fury, yet no spears were ever thrust
less effectively. 1t is doubtful if the
speeches of any one of the Senate's
warrior chiefs undermined a view or
switched a vote. A good many au-
thorities think congressional politics
has become so cut-and-dried a PROPOSE
ton that oratory is divested of its
power, though it has not lost its
! charm. On highly controversial occa-
sions like the World Court and the
| Italian debt, with an administration s
prestige at stake, noses can usually
| be counted in advance with fair ac-
curacy. Insiders never keep doubt
| full column for men who, beguiled by
an argument, may vote their convic-
| tions. 1t may not have been like that
| in the days of Webster and Clay. But
these are hard-boiled times.
** X X
Party lines went completely to
smash on the Italian debt ratification
vote. Special reasons account for
nearly every vote pro and con.
Senators from States with big Italo-
American constituencies, for instance.
lined up for ratification, irrespective
of politics. Thus, New York and New
Jersey, with gigantic Italian colonies" "
were recorded solidly for Benito, even
though two of their four Senators are
Republicans, and two Democrats.
| Take Wisconsin: Lenroot and La
Toilette seldom see eye to eye on any
thing. But they voted together like
brothers against ratification. Wis
consin has a respect-commandi Ger
man vote, and Italian stock is not
| high in those quarters. The Southern
Democrats, who were pretty solidly
against ratification, with the party
| leader, Senator Robinson of Arkansas
at their head, also had a reason.
+, Mussolini IS at war with Free Masonry,
and Dixie is a Scottish Rite strong
hold. The ablest speeches on the
Italian settlement were made by
Howell, Republican, of Nebraska, in
opposition, and by Reed, Republican,
| of Pennsylvania, in support While
| they shot off no gallery fireworks. and
stuck to facts and figures. it's highly
improbable that they changed the
mind of a single colleague.
X X X X
| Bucky Harris, Napoleon of Washing
| ton base ball, has an unmistakable
| double, as eminent in his own line
| as Bucky is on the diamond. He Is
| Floyd Blair, brilliant young Treasury
| official and handy man of the World
War Foreign Debt Commission.
Throughout the ratification debates,
Blair was on the Senate floor, adjacent
to Reed Smoot of Utah. the Senate S
debt-funding representative. Blair is
Bucky all over-in size, complexion,
demeanor and looks. He is taken for
Harris time and again. Like the
Senators " leader, he is an. athlete,
too. Recently the second baseman of
the Debt Commission posed for a pho
| tograph with a squash racquets team.
| A camera man breeZed UP to Blair
and said: "Bucky, I never knew you
played this game, too!'
|. X Il X X
Controller General John r. Nc
Carl, watchdog of the Nations ex-
pense accounts, has a cousin, New
York lawyer, named McCarl, who re-
Gently visited China. He had occasion
to present himself aboard the flagship
| of our Asiatic cruiser squadron, which
was anchored off Tien-tsin. Having
mounted the gangplank, he was greet
ed at the rail by a spick-and-span young
officer in whites, who courteously pro-
claimed that he was Lieut.. Pitcairn.