Evening star., 1928-12-28
POLITICS SECUTED
IN HOOVER return
Florida Omitted Mainly for
Sake of Convenience of
Party, Is View.
BY MARK SULLIVAN.

BY wireless to The Star and the New York
Herald-Tribune.
u. S. S. UTAH, EN- ROUTE TO
HAMPTON ROADS, Va, December 20.
On board the Utah there is some
amusement over the excited inquiries
and speculation by home newspapers
as to the reason for President-elect
Herbert Hoover going direct to Wash
ington and not stopping at Florida on
returning from his goodwill tour Of
South America.
That politicians should assume the
motive to be within the higher reach
of politics reflects the habitual prefer
ence of that fraternity for the mysteri-
Gus rather than the obvious. Without
doubt Mr.. Hoover during his stay in
Washington will attend to matters re-
lated to the selection of his cabinet,
for every experienced person knows that
every PreSident-elect has the picking of
his cabinet well under way by the first
or second week of January, or even
earlier.
Beyond that there is no political rea-
son for Mr.. Hoover'S passing 10 days or
so in Washington before going to Flor
ida. Indeed, while the cabinet is a
good reason, it is doubtful if that is
the primary reason. The most COM
pelling reason readily may not be in
the world of politics, but in the world
Of convenience for members OF the
party.
Explanation of Return.
Speaking for one member of the
party, preference for going. direct to
washington is abundantly explained
by the pressing need in double sense
for getting back to the home base and
to contact with a needle and thread
in the hands of competent wife. Most
of this party Of 47 members left Wash
ington on November without expecta-
ton, except as to a few, of a longer
journey than to California, where Mr.
Hoover was to vote.
The Journey as extended will have
covered almost $4,000 miles by the time
It ends in Washington on January 6
or 7. In time it will have consumed
more than two months. In method of
conveyance it has included three YES
sells of the United States Navy, the
Maryland, Cleveland and Utah, as well
as brief periods on vessels of the navies
of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, to
say nothing of motor cars, launches
and three considerable journeys by rail-
road. The transfers from ship to dock
to hotel to railroad station and to hotel
and ship again have been, or at least
seem in retrospect to have been innu-
merable
Ten Countries Visited.
The number of countries visited has
been four in Central America and six
In South America. The extremes of cli-
mates have included q November trip
across the United States, a crossing Of
the equator, then q journey across the
Andes in a cold snowStorm and final
ly another crossing of the equator
The quantity of clothes and other inn
pedimenta required for such a journey,
the hasty purchase Of things suitable
for varied localities and the wear and
tear on clothes and baggage is suffi-
Cient explanation for period of what
the Navy calls "a home overhaul in
home port"
Moreover, Mr.. and Mrs. Hoover have
. special need for a period at home,
aince March is to be for them a rather
formidable moving day" from their
greSent red-brick house at 1900 S street,
washington, d. c., to the big White
House at 1900 Pennsylvania avenue in
the same city. All of which suffciently
explains the return to Washington
without need Of political explanation.