Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-20

Perhaps the Siamese legation in
Washington, now so luridly in the liquor
| limelight, is laying in an extraordinary
stock of drinkables in view of an i'm
pending change in its command. A new
minister, his royal highness Prince
Amoradhat, cousin of the King of Siam
will shortly be accredited as envoy to
the United States. He will be the only
diplomat of royal blood ever stationed
here in official capacity, though non
royal princes have been attached to le-
| cations and embassies hitherto. The
present Belgian Ambassador is Prince
de Ligne, and the former Italian Am
bassador was Prince Caetani. It Is
Prince Amoradhat may intend to en-
bark upon brilliant social program at
the Siamese legation and that the now
celebrated liquor shipment is its fore
runner. He is one of the wealthieSt
men in Siam, is a distinguished soldier
served as an observer with the allied
armies in France and has been military
attache in both London and Paris. Like
| the new American Secretary of the
Navy, the prince Is an ardent yachts
man. He speaks English like an OK
ford man.
Ienten tea tables are buzzing with a
more or less circumstantial story of a
certain livelineSs at one of the earliest
Hoover cabinet meetings. Secretary
Mellon is its alleged hero. The cause OF
the upheaval, so the story goes, was con-
nected with the plan for future publ
cation Of all Treasury tax refunds In
excess of $4,000. AS all the world
knows, Mr.. Hoover's executive order or
that subject Is complete about-face
from previous Mellon policy. AS the cpl
sode is being described, 1.-The greatest
Secretary of the Treasury since Nc
Adoo"-a Democratic wisecrack--regis-
tered more temperament than any ex-
hibition of the sort heretofore on rec
ord. The cabinet room was at one time
so heavily charged with animation, It's
said, that it looked as If the Pitts
burgher might resign then and there
But calmer counsels prevailed, and II
will not Immediately become necessary
for President Hoover to refill the Treas
ury portfolio. The tale is interesting
| II true.
| Whenever the Department of Justice
uses undercover men as spies in Federal
prisons, college graduates exclusively
are chosen for the job. They are COM
mitted as honest-to-g goodness prisoners
go through every rigmarole of newly
arrived inmates and are never revealed
to the prison authorities as Govern
ment agents until the time comes for
! their release or transfer under reguia-
| ton rules. Obnoxious as the undercover
system may strike many Americans,
! Department of Justice authorities insist
| that results in the past have fully justi-
| fed it, What goes on In the wings
of a big Federal JAIL it Is contended, is
what Washington needs to know, in
GLIDING goings-on among convicts, re-
| lations between guards and convicts
and, especially, treatment of inmates by
| their Warders. In no other way, &C
| cording to advocates Of the spy system
| can Federal prison morale be observed,
lapses detected and abuses rectified.
\ r X \
DR.. Ray Lyman Wilbur, Secretary OF
the Interior is full of stories about war
days In Washington and his own job as
f, chief food conservationist under Herbert
Hoover. "Once upon a time" says Sec
retary Wilbur, II was en- route TO Cali
| fornia on an official trip and was sud-
| denly summoned from the observation
car to the diner There, it appeared, an
obstreperous old gentleman was insist
ing on unlimited supplies from the
sugar bowl for his cup Of coffee. The
waiter and steward had vainly attempt
ed to hold him down to the ration to
which we were trying to accustom the
people. When I reached the diner, 1t
was in an uproar. Angry fellow passen-
gers, hearing that Government ON
| cial was aboard, demanded that he be
sent for and exercise his authority. !
asked them what they expected me to
do. Throw him off the train!" was the
reply. After conference with the sweet
toothed old fellow I found that nothing
SO drastic was necessary But 1t showed
/ the spirit of our people and their readi-
ness to be rough with those who
wouldn't play the game"