Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-20
BY MARK SULLIVAN.

are going to be those of organi
L cation, construction and reor.
SSs12zation. In broad way the
principal requisite Is going to be energy
intelligence and efficiency in the man
agement of the Government and its de-
partmentS.
To illustrate the very different nature
of the tasks that will engage Mr.
Hoover's administration and those con-
fronting Harding's eight years ago, we
can start with the Treasury Depart
ment
In the Treasury, when Harding came
into Office, there was the Job of paying
the public debt and recognizing the
Government finances on a permanent
postwar basis.
It should be said at once that some
OF the work of paying the public debt
and some of the other postwar read
justment had already been done, and
done well. by the Wilson adminiStra-
ton. The Wilson Democratic admins
tration had more than two years of
power and responsibility from the time
of the armiStice, November IL, 1918, to
the beginning of Harding's adminiStra-
ton, March 4, 1921. During those more
than two years the Treasury, under two
of Wilson'S Secretaries-Carter Glass
and David F. HouSton-had made much
evitable chaos of wartime, had liQui-
dated much of the material left over
and had paid off a considerable portion
Of the public debt.
Problems Of the Treasury.
The bulk of the work, however, re-
manned. Not until after Mr.. Mellon be-
came Secretary of the Treasury was it
possible to lay down the permanent
lines of debt reduction. Not until then
could dependable estimate be made
about the quantity of revenue that
could be produced for the Treasury by
american business after it, should be on
- normal, peace-time basis. The re-
funding of large portions of the war
debt, at lower rate of interest, re-
manned to be done. Several successive
new and intricate tax laws remained
10 be written in accordance with ex-
perience gained. The whole mechanism
pr collecting internal revenue and other
taxes remained to be organized on a
permanent basis, since the immense ex-
pansion of this machinery attending the
war could not be put on an orderly
peace-time basis until some time after
the war ended The internal revenue
from intoxicating liquors had ceased
with the coming of prohibition in 1920,
and to take care of the loss of that
source of revenue new arrangements
had to be made. The entire matter of
some $4,000, 600, 900 due us from Euro
nean nations for war loans had to be
managed, and settlements remained to
be negotiated with each of these coun-
tries.
That is the picture Of the task con-
fronting one department of the Govern
ment-the TreaSury-when the Hard
ing administration came in. Substan-
TALLY all this has now been completed.
In the Hoover administration the
tasks of the Treasury Department con-
stitute merely normal peace time job
OF system, organization, efficiency and
energy
What is true of the Treasury Depart
xnent is true of the whole Government.
1t illustrates the difference between the
needs and tasks of the Harding ad-
ministration and, on the other hand,
the needs and tasks of the Hoover ad-
ministration.
State Department Situation.
To turn to the State Department:
That is at all times, of course, a job
for big man. In the most peaceful of
eras the State Department calls for high
ability Also, the State Department is
ever subject to emergency 1t cannot
control the tasks that may at any time
confront it, because those tasks. as a
rule, arise outside of the United States
To merely stand 40 the representative
of the United States in negotiations
with foreign powers; to be the persona
1ication of the integrity strength and
dignity of the United States in the eyes
of the governments of the world-that
Is always a big job for a big man, re-
CARELESS of the specific problems that
arise. Secretary of State is in some
states, next to the presidency itself, the
most exalted honor the country pro-
VideS.
But the same comparison can be
made in the State Department as in the
Treasury. When the Harding admins
tration came in eight years ago we were
half in and half out of the Versailles
treaty between the allies and Germany
with the intricate complexities which
that situation involved. In a sense, we
were still half in and half out of the
League of Nations, though, as a mat
ter of fact, the SenateS formal refusal
to join the League had occurred some
time before the Harding administration
began. Our peace-time relations with
our wartime enemies-Germany Aus.
tria and Turkey-remained to be agreed
upon. The disposition of the colonies
taken from Germany by the allies anc
our interests in those settlements were
still in question. In short, Charles E
Hughes, whom Harding chose to be hi:
Secretary of State, had one of the mos
complex and difficult tasks that evel
faced the holder of that Office.
Relations With Russia.
The task of the Secretary of State
under Mr.. Hoover viii be different, viii
probably be less complex, and yet may
not be simple. One of the obviou;
probable jobs will be the achievement
of a normal relation with Russia. i
would seem probable that within the
next four or eight years the conditions
should arise that will make normal re.
.-tiGnS with Russia possible.
In one respect the next Secretary o.
State will have a help that Harding
had not. Harding knew nothing o
foreign relations and. with charac
teristic modesty, did not pretend II
know anything. Hoover, as President
will know much of foreign relations
Who can doubt, for example, that Mr.
Hoover at this moment has within hi
own head a greater body of informa
ton and Judgment than any other on
man about the relations between tn
S..uGad States and each of the coun
tries of Latin America?
Department of Justice.
In the Department of Justice the cas-
Is similar.
When the Republicans came int
power, in 1897, it is a fair statemen
of the record to say that they believed
at least they said-that one of tn
principal jobs of that department woul
be to put Democrats in jail. The claim
made by the Republicans during tn
campaign of 1920, that the Democrat
administration of the war had bee
wantonly wasteful, and, in part, Grim
inally wasteful, are not now a pleasan
episode to look back upon. The apprc
priations made by the Republican Con
- Ill crr Of