Evening star., 1927-04-27
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS

The Presidents New York address
at the United Press Association din
ner fulfilled the predictions that Mr..
Coolidge would be apt to seize the oc-
casion to restate his policies IN deai
ing with Mexico, Nicaragua ana
China, He indulged in no platltuaes.
His words were specific and pointed.
He insists that Mexico keep it's prom
ise to respect American property
rights. Marines are in Nicaragua 10
'nerform a. policeman's duty In pro-
tecting American lives and properly
and for no other purpose. Inc Ma-
rines are in China on similar HllS-
sion The President voiced en-
phatic disavowal of any policy or ag-
gression against China. He offered a
refutation of the pleas of Borah ana
other Senators for resort to arbitra-
ton with Mexico. This Coohdge
speech marks a high spot in his ad-
ministration to date. 1t Is slgnlncant
also in that it again reveals the
President as his own spokesman IN
matters of foreign policy. Often IN
times past American Secretaries OF
State have framed foreign policies
and the world has looked to them
rather than to the President for llght
on them. Not so with Woodrow VIII
son and not so with Mr.. Coolidge.
Since the departure from the cabinet
of Secretary Hughes the President
has taken the reins into his own
hands. 1t is no secret that he is
keenly engrossed in American for
eign problems and has never relished
the criticism that he had neither
knowledge nor interest in affairs be-
yond our own borders. Secretary keI-
logg has been made clearly to under
stand that it is Coolidge policies and
not Kellogg policies which the coun-
try is interested in hearing about, and
that the President will do the talk
ing when any talking is to be done.
X X X
There are plenty of woman post
| mistresses, but only one woman regu-
larly enrolled as letter carrier in the
employ of Uncle Sam at present. She
is Miss Jessie McCaa of Franklin
vile, n. Y, a holdover from the World
| War, when she was made an emer-
gency carrier. She did her work so
well that the Post Office Department
was prevailed upon to make special
ruling in her case and she was ap-
| pointed a permanent carrier at sal
| ary of $1,700. Now she is drawing the
maximum carriers pay of $2,1O0. The
Post Office Department has been re-
/ peatedly urged to permit women to
| qualify as carriers, but so far has
kept the bars up.
| Political Washington has been
| greatly diverted, but the conservative
drys much disturbed, over the amaz-
| ing charge by DR.. Clarence True VIII
son that Frank w. Stearns, the orig
inal Coolidge champion, is sinister
| influence" behind the President, hos
| tile to prohibition. Dr. Wilson Is sec
retary of the Methodist Board of Tenn
perance, and made his illusions to
Mr.. Stearns in the course of a speech
| in Boston last week Wayne B.
| Wheeler and other notable dry chief
tains branded DIR. Wilson'S charge as
wholly unwarranted. This incident has
served to emphasize again how
strongly intrenched in the public
mind is the notion that because Mr.
| Stearns enjoys an exceptional per-
sonal friendship with the President,
and because he figured so prominently
in the chain of circumstances which
projected Mr.. Coolidge into national
prominence. and place, the Boston
merchant is a person of large inf1u-
| ence at the White House. Nothing
could be further from the truth. The
| fact is that Mr.. Stearns rarely talks
and never asks a favor of Mr.. Cool
idge. He is neither confidant nor adj
wiser; just a family friend beloved by
| the President because he minds his
own business, which is neither poll
| tics nor government.
|
Cabinet officers come and cabinet
officers 'go, but Edward Augustine Sa-
voy, the 72-year-old colored messenger
to the Secretary of State, goes on for
ever. At least he has been on the job
at the State Department for 5S years,
with no sign of retiring now For
three decades he has been familiar
! figure at his post" Eddie to two
! dozen Secretaries Of State. He has