Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-14

PreSidentS-elect at this stage OF the
game have their inaugural messages on
their minds, as we'll as the makeup of
their cabinets. 1t may just happen that
one of the things Herbert Hoover talked
about when Elihu Root lunched with
him last week was prohibition. The
country'S most distinguished elder states
man ranks as a wet. Hoover is gen.
orally expected to come to grips with
the enforcement problem, and Root Is
exactly the. sort of "best mind which
the incoming Chief Engineer is fond
of consulting on controversial occasions.
Prohibition is bound to be conspicuous
feature of Hoover'S remarks at the
Capitol on March 4. Hardly any one
Is better qualified to give him the anti
dry end of the argument than the ven-
cradle New Yorker, of whom 1t was
said, when the liquor interests employed
him to argue against the eighteenth
amendment before the Supreme Court,
tary of State and of War was the au-
thor of the proposed New York State
prohibition referendum.
Organized dry interests count conf
IDENTIFY on a new prohibition enforcement
deal under the Hoover administration.
They do not look for anything drastic
at his. hands, for the Californian is not
a fanatic on the subject. The drys
anticipate vigorous, rather than rigor-
Gus, carrying out Of Hoover's prenomi-
nation theory that prohibition lis a
noble experiment, which must be con-
structively enforced" The Volsteadites
are not worried over the prospect of
more Mellon in the Treasury Depart
ment. Their view has always been that
the Pittsburgher is ready. to give all the
enforcement the President of the United
States calls upon him to give. 1t is
an open secret that the extreme drys
are not enamored of the enthusiasm
with which Calvin Coolidge has ap-
preached prohibition. Mellon, they say,
has taken his cue from the White
House If the White House after March
indicates that it wants sitter and
sterner. enforcement, the drys are con-
vinced, that. Mr.. Mellon-or whoever
succeeds him-will deliver the CORE
spending goods.
Mr.. Hoover has just had call from
one of the comrades of his Chinese
DAYS 30 years ago. He Is Oscar King
Davis, veteran newspaper correspond
ent, confidant of Theodore Roosevelt
and now secretary of the National For
eign Trade Council at New York. In
1900, at the time of the Boxer rebellion,
Davis was transferred from Manila to
China by the old New York Sun, which
he was representing in the Far East
Davis arrived at Tientsin at the mo-
ment the Boxers were Smelling the
foreign devils" concessions there
Hoover was living in Tientsin as the
40 f 1oYr nf IN
company, and, with Mrs. Hover was &C.
cupying house in the district i'm
mediateIy under fire. The Californians
invited the American newspaper man
| to live beneath their roof. 1t proved to
be noisy and perilous hospitality, but
beyond some damaged walls nothing
serious happened. Davis pays high
tribute to the nonchalance and courage
of the next First Lady of the Land
under bombardment.
A major Coolidge appointment to the
| foreign service-that of j. Reuben Clark
| jr., Of Utah--to be Undersecretary of
State still awaits confirmation by the
Senate. Some mystery seems to pre-
vail as to why action is delayed. Mr..
| Clark'S appointment dates from August
Ii7, 1928. 1t came to light about the
middle of last year that subcommit-
tee OF the Senate foreign relations COM
mittee-consisting of Messrs. Moses,
Reed (Pennsylvania) and Harrison
was at, work on an investigation of the
foreign service. Later on Senator Moses,
chairman of. the subcommittee, re-
quested that all nominations for ap-
pointments in either the diplomatic or
consular branches Gncluding the State
Department. should be referred to the
subcommittee before confirmation &C.
ton by the Senate. Apparently Under
secretary Clark, who has functioned
ever since his nomination, has not yet
passed muster.
| X X X X
| Lieut. Comdr. j. M. Kenworthy, M P,
who proposes to Representative Britten,
chairman of the House naval affairs
committee, two informal Anglo Ameri-
can pow-wows over naval matters this
year. is one of the stormy petrels of
the House of Commons. He visited the
United States a year ago and talked
navy to many members Of Congress.