Evening star., 1928-12-12
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

No matter what modest and self
effacing Presidents may think
about il. Inauguration day still makes
stirring appeal to the average Amer
lean. If it happens to be an average
American boy, the appeal is all the
stronger. Indications reach Washington
from all parts of the country that an
old fashioned March would be widely
approved. In Herbert Hoover's case,
it's well within the range of probabilities
that splendiferous celebration would
evoke extraordinary enthusiasm, for
few men have been elected President
who commanded the sort of genuine
support which will accompany him into
the White House. The size of his elec-
toral college majority testifies to that.
Hoover isn't the kind of man who
arouses emotional fervor, like Roose-
velt did. The President-elect's strangle-
hold on the Nations esteem springs
rather from the peoples confidence in
his capacity There's hardly shadow
of doubt that If Hoover yet DEGREES
a -hip-hurrah Inauguration. the
crowds will stream hither in record
breaking dimensions.
X X II X
Senator Frederick Hale, Republican,
| Of Maine, who bears chief responsibility
| for plotting the cruiser bill through the
Senate, has just introduced resolu-
| ton designed to alter the rules of that
| body in the interest of national defense.
| He proposes that bills relating to the
military and naval establishments
should have precedence over anything
| else except the regular appropriation
| bills. AS soon as the latter are dis
| posed of, it is Hale's view that defense
i rNa "a c1A O Nf
| If such rule had been in existence
during the past year, Uncle Sans ur-
gently needed new cruisers, or batch
| of them, would be under construction
| by this time instead of waiting for
| Boulder Dam to talk itself out in the
| Senate so that the cruiser program
| could be brought up. Senator Hale
nowadays fills not only the senatorial
shoes once occupied by his late father,
Senator Eugene Hale, but, like the lat
ter, heads the Senate naval affairs COM
mittee The elder Hale had a major
hand In developing the semi-modern
feet that won our war with Spain in
1888.
| Herbert Hoover Is mourning the loss
| of close friend and wartime asso-
ciate, Alfred Fletcher, who went down
| with the Vestris. 1t was only recently
brought to the attention of the Presi-
dent-elect's Washington confreres that
| the Fletcher among the VeStris victims
was the one who functioned on Hoover's
Belgian Relief staff on the other side.
Fletcher was an engineer and a globe
| trotter. He roamed the world once
upon time and put his adventures In
a book entitled Round the World on
a job" He had had various commits
1 VI nj
| merce during Hoover'S SecretarySh1p,
| and at the time of the shipwreck was
en- route to Argentina to represent the
manufacturers of a California tractor
| Hoover was very fond OF him.
y x y
Perhaps the outstanding Latin Amer
ican statesman at the Pan-American
Arbitration Conference now IN session
at Washington Is Senor victor M;
| Maurtua of Peru. He heads the special
committee appointed by Secretary Kel-
logg, chairman of the conference, to
induce Bolivia and Paraguay to patch
up their boundary differences and avert
var. SenoF Maurtua introduced the
resolution calling for that action within
a few minutes after the conference
formally swung into action. Few men
in Latin America have had more dis
tinguished careers. Maurtua IS pig
physically, as well as intellectually,
standing 6 feet 3 inches in height and
built in proportion. He Is typical
Inca, being a direct descendant OF the
sturdy race which inhabited Peru az the
time of the Spanish conquest. Senor
Maurtua's present post Is tnat OF
Peruvian Minister to Brazil. In tne
past he has been member OF the
Peruvian Chamber Of Deputies. min
lister of finance and professor OF in
ternational law at San Marcos. Lima,
the oldest university OF the western
Hemisphere At Havana last WINTER
Maurtua was an effective supporter OF
the United States program.
n X "
Senator David A. Reed, Republican,
Of Pennsylvania, has just notified
Princeton University Of his desire to