Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-17
HOOVER HAS OWN METHOD
OF FILLING PUBLIC POSTS
President-Elect Disregards Geographical
Boundaries, BlOcs and Deserving
Party Workers." Writer Declares.

method is the only method any prop
erly trained engineer or business man
could possibly follow. For a President
having Mr.. Hoover's background and
training to weakly accept the old
method would be a sin against his con-
science and against his intellectual
ideals.
His Method Is Hard Work.
The Hoover method is hard work.
But it is hard work Of the kind he has
done all his life.
1t is the other method, the older
method, that is the hardest work. Lis
tening to long lines of politicians recon-
mending and arguing broke the health
of even the rugged Grover Cleveland.
A recent President. Woodrow Wilson,
told the writer that listening to talk
about patronage was his hardest task
He said that often long day of 1t sent
him to bed late in the afternoon liter
ally sick
The old method has been dying for
several years. The new method began
with Theodore Roosevelt and has been
growing ever since.
The old way really put a frightful
burden on a President To let 1t be
known that an ONCE is likely to be
awarded on the political basis is to in
vite deluge. Applications come from
whole army of the fit and the unit.
Each aspirant musters his Senators and
Representative and everything else he
can command in the shape Of what
politicians call political backing" A
spirit of competition arises and grows
tense. 1t comes to be felt that the
man who will win will ne the one who
can get the largest number Of persons
tc call on the President In his behalf.
Old Tradition Lingers.
The old tradition fingers longest In
the diplomatic service. That is where
the system once was strongest Nearly
all the classic stories in Washington
about place seeking in the old days
have the diplomatic and consular serv-
ice as their scene. There is the story
of the man from Indiana who wanted
a foreign consulate anywhere who,
after long weeks Of begging. was APP
pointed to Bucharest; who went home
and spent the hardest days work Of his
lifetime in minute search of the map
of South America and returned to the
State Department to report that he
could not find the darn place There
Is the story of the President who,
plagued by persistent applicant, asked
the State Department to. give him the
name of the one spot on the face of the
globe that took the longest time to
reach. and bestowed the applicant there,
with the comfort OF feeling 1t would
take him at least six weeks to get back
There is the jest about appointing q
particularly peStiferous seeker to that
spot on the earth's surface where yell
low fever or other deadly disease was
most prevalent. There Is the story
which Is not old and happened In Presi-
dent Hardings time-of the man who
was rendered an appointment TO q tiny
country In Central America, and ac-
cepted with profuse gratitude, under the
impression that he was being made Min
lister to one Of the largest countries In
South America. The geographical mis-
understanding was discovered before the
appointment was actually made.
Congress- Act Stops Much Of This.
Much of this sort of thing has ceased
recently because OF the passage by
Congress of an admirable measure
which put the whole diplomatic and
consular service on a merit basis, with
assurance Of promotion and a career
for every one who does well BY the
passage OF that act much Of the excuse
for crowding applications at the begin
ming of each administration has diSap-
peared. Nevertheless. already an APP
plicant for an important diplomatic
post has come to Washington. bringing
with him. in accordance with the old
method, the Endorsement of an army
OF politicians. business men and per-
sons of social Importance In his home
State. As it happens. the man here
alluded to is well equipped and might
perfectly well be given a post on merit.
1t probably win turn out to be, how
Of h. L.
use OF this method, method fast be-
coming as obsolete as horse drawn
vehicles.
Every President. to some degree. puts
the mark of his personality on the Cow
eminent and leaves it a different thing
from what he found Probably a per-
sonality so vital as Mr.. Hoover's will
AFFECT the traditions and even the mech
anism OF the Federal Government more
strongly than most Presidents. The
change dealt with in this article Is al
ready underway-the Stiffening of the
Ideal OF character and fitness as the
requisite for office.
Mechanism Modification Seen.
Quite likely another effect of four
years OF Mr.. Hoover in the White House
VIII be corresponding modification In
the mechanism of the Government. At
various times he has made illusions
sometimes serious, sometimes humor-
ous-to the Anticipated, haphazard,
chaotic distribution of Government bu-
reaus. 1t is easy to guess that his en-
gineers eye longs to rearrange these
SPRAYING bureaus and Government
agencies, according to the dictates of
modern administrative system.
The plan is not new with Mr. Hoover
though the need for it must appeal to
MIN more powerfully than to any Presi-
dent OF the usual type. Harding. when
he entered office, meant that rearrange.
ment OF the Governments administra-
tive framework should be the first O,
MS accomplishments. He appointed a
commission to devise and plan. In duo
course the plan was concluded and met
the approval of those who most UNDER
stood the problem. Harding sent the
plan 10 Congress for action. and II Is In
Congress Vpt-uithOitf action