Evening star., 1926-05-19
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

If President Coolidge were asked to
name two of his most irksome worries
the chances are he'd mention the
United States Shipping Board and
Alaska. In accents that Savored a bit
of despair, he discussed both subjects
with White House callers yesterday.
Not long ago, when it fired Admiral
Leigh G. Palmer from the presidency
OF the Emergency Fleet Corporation
the shipping Board sent Mr.. Coolidge
a. document that it described as its
declaration of independence In so
many words, the board said it was its
own boss, was responsible only TO the
Congress, which created it, and would
put up with no interference from the
White House. The President cordially
and completely disagrees with that
view. He holds that any Fedora!
agency charged with executive and
administrative duties is manifestly
part and parcel of the presidential
| system and that nothing but chaos
and confusion can result from any
other conception of it's functions.
It's the eternal patronage muddle in
| Alaska that bobS up to plague the
! President whenever there's a Federal
| job to be filled. Being inhabited by
| several thousand Americans, politics
| is, of course, one of the Territory S
| favorite paStimeS. Whenever a United
| States Judge. district attorney or mar.
| shall is to be appointed. parties. fac
| tionS and local bosses clear for action
! and cause as much trouble at Wash
| ington as human ingenuity and parti-
! san rancor are capable of churning
up. Mr.. Coolidge indicates that unless
| Alaskan factionists can bury their diff.
: ferences and unite on Americans resi-
/ dent in the Territory for appoint
ment to high Federal posts. he will
| take the bull by the horns and fill the
| places with non-residents from the
| United States. But the President is
| by no means persuaded that such a
| recourse will calm the partisan wa
tiers. Indeed, from everything he can
| gather about Alaskan politics any
perfectly good American pitchforked
| into it finds himself allied to one of
the Territorial factions within three
| months of arrival
| x x x
William c. Redfeld of New York is
probably ready to emblazon "Sic tran
sit gloria mundi"' on his coat of arms
| after recent experience in Washing
| ton. The Secretary of Commerce in
| the Wilson cabinet conducted an ac
tive campaign to be elected director
of the United States Chamber Of Com
merce at the election held during its
annual convention. There were Red
field ballots, Redfield badges and Red
| field buttons in omnipresent evidence
and a we'll organized brigade Of Red
| field buttonholers and boosters. But
Redfield found himself outside the
breastworks when the votes were
counted. His friends were confident
that Redfield's prestige as the former
chief of the Federal business depart
ment would carry him to victory with
| flying colors.
| X X X X
Chain Bialik, the Hebrew poet, OF
Jerusalem, will shortly do tour OF
duty in the Library of Congress al
! Washington. He wants to acquaint
| himself with the Library's entire sys
tenn, with a view to adopting such OF
| its features as may prove feasible ir
the new library Of the Hebrew ma
| tional university in Palestine. Before
the war the sweet singer of Judea was
a publisher of Hebrew literature al
| Odessa. When the bolsheviks seized
power in Russia he was exiled, and
| has since that time devoted his time
! anu CdleIlI u CIcdtlHS lAC iiS" oC"Aoi
national home in Palestine. Israel
Schapiro, chief of the Semitic division
of the Congressional Library, himself
an accomplished Hebrew scholar. will
be Bfalik's guide through the Nations
| treasure house of books and manu-
| scripts.
X !: X !;
Suggestions that Westover. the OLD
family home of the Byrds in Virginia
be bought by Congress and presented
Ito the airplane conqueror of the North