Evening star., 1927-11-28
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

Has President Coolidge broken will,
Big Business? That's the question
many will ask in light Of his terrific
roast" of the Chamber Of Commerce
Of the United States in connection
with the impending tax cut. Never
since he entered the White House four
years ago have the Presidents callers
been ear.witnesses of such a scoldine
as he gave the chamber on November
25. Mr.. Coolidge made no attempt tC
conceal his impatience with that
body's absurd" theory that increased
Government expenditure Is compatible
with decreased tax reduction. The
presidential charge that the great ma
tiOnal business organization has run
ners" all over Washington, fomenting
Federal expenditure in all directions
was delivered with a fierceness not
commonly associated with the calm
and cautious Vermonter. The Presi
dent was red hot, and apparently
didn't care who knew 1t. 1t was his
second thrust at the chamber within
a fortnight. The other was a disap
proval of it's tariff reduction propose
for farm relief.
Although the Chamber Of Commerce
VI tuS CIhlCu oldtCS Ilt1o 1yoVV Va
ganiZation members" with an under
lying membership of $4,000 corpora
tions, firms and individuals scattered
throughout the 48 States. it doesn't
popularity stand for Big Business ir
the same sense that wall Street
does. Out in the sticks, the proletariat
looks upon the lower end Of Manhat
tan Island as the abode of 1.-The In
terests." AS long as Andrew w. Mel
ion, Secretary of the Treasury, re
mains intrenched in the Coolidge
graces, the "home folks" will continue
to believe--as they have been educated
by Mr.. Melons detractors to believe
that all's we'll on the Potomac as far
as high finance, is concerned. Politl
cally minded Washington, which is al
ways looking for straws to show how
the wind is blowing. Is gossiping that
the White House, with its crack al
the Chamber of Commerce, means
that the President sides with Mellon
as against Hoover. The thought be
hind this rather far-fetched argument
is that the Secretary Of Commerce Is
closely identified with chamber inter
ests and chamber leaders. Nobody
suggests that Hoover sympathiZes
with the tax policy which Coolidge
has just bludgeoned.
X X y X
When President Green Of the Amer
lean Federation Of Labor and Presi
ers called at the White House the
other day to intercede for Federal in
tervention in the bituminous strike
they were referred to the Department
Of Labor. There's more than meets
the eye in that circumstance. Mr.
Coolidge has systematically detoured
DELEGATIONS Of either capital or labor
to the office Of James j. Davis when
ever they'd sought administration aio
in composing industrial disputes. The
President believes in a minimum OF
interference with a Government de
partment charged with clearly defined
duties. During the great anthracite
strike Of 1925, it's related that Secre
tary Davis sent to the Summer White
House in Swampscott a detailed re
port Of the Labor Departments me-
diatory steps to date. The report was
returned with the following memoran
dunn: Good. c. c."
The Anti-Saloon League of America
has come to the conclusion that it
takes two men to fill the late Wayne
3 Wheeler's shoes. During his long
reign on the dry throne Wheeler oc
cupied both the positions OF league
attorney and Legislative agent. It's
intended at the next months biennial
convention in Washington to put indi
yidual officials in those two jobs.
X
Dispatches from Cambridge, Mass
state that Vice President Dawes is
billed to speak at the Republican Clut
Of Harvard some time next month
There's an implied suggestion that the
Dawes presidential boom will be slid