Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-23
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

Congress goes into the holiday hud-
die with a record Of three weeks ae-
compliShment which goes far to upset
the theory that the American snail's
habitat is Capitol Hill. Both houses
functioned with neatness, dispatch and
minimum Of hot air. To have speed
ed tax reduction to enactment, pro-
longed the life Of the Federal Radio
Commission, ratified the French debt
settlement and cleared the decks for
eventual passage Of the tariff bill-all
this since the regular session began on
December Is schedule of which
leaders and members alike can be
proud. And they are. There was
marked restraint In partiSanship. There
were relatively few political speeches
or maneuvers in either branch. There
was an unwonted seriousness Of pro-
cedure. Even Senator Jim" Watson
had relatively little trouble In getting
the Republican insurgents to agree to
a Senate program devised for strictly
business purposes.
~ So
With the holiday truce over, the
Democrats will roll up their sleeves and
get ready for the 1880 congressional
campaign with q vengeance. No mat
ter whether President Hoover signs or
vetoes the Hawley-Smoot tariff bill, the
opposition is prepared to assail the
Republicans for their attempt to fasten
higher cost Of living on the American
people by passing a skyscraper protec-
ton law. It would have been better
cunning for the Democrats If they
could have shot at such q law actually
on the statute books. As 1t Is, they ex-
pect to be able to show the country that
It was the Democratic-led Senate coali-
ton which alone thwarted the G. o. P.
tariff raid Grundy and Bingham will
be slogans which the Democrats will
carry into the 1880 campaign in stem
torian tones. Shattuck will be another.
To Just what extent the 1929 stock
panic can be exploited Democratic
leaders have not yet figured out. II the
Hoover prosperity program misses fire,
and the Spring, Summer or Autumn is
marked by q recrudescence of depres-
sion, all hands agree that it would be
a miracle II Republican control of Con-
gress is not lost at the November cleo
tons.
~
It has been decided to house the
American delegation at the London
Naval Conference in the swagger Ritz
Hotel. IL is JUST around the corner IN
Piccadilly from st. James Palace, where
the sessions of the conference will be
held. The delegations rather elaborate
Secretarial and clerical staff will have
its headquarters in the Hotel Mayfair,
on Berkeley street, just on Piccadilly
and within stones throw Of the some
what ritzier Ritz. The Japanese have
leased capacious accommodations In the
Grosvenor House Hotel, across from
Hyde Park and not far from where Sec
rotary Stimson and his colleagues will
be quartered.
Mr.. Yung Kwai, counselor Of the
Chinese legation in Washington, is the
! senior diplomat now on duty in the
United States. He has been in the Chi
nese service at Washington, with only
brief interruption, practically since
he was graduated from Yale with the
class of 1854 period Of roundly 40
years. Mr.. Yung Kwai is married to an
American lady. One Of their sons is a
professor Of Oriental literature at Yale
The counselor is now the trusted ad-
wiser Of the man, Minister C. c. WI,
whose father, WI Ting-fang he also
served when the worlds most famous
living interrogation point was imperial
China'S envoy at Uncle Sans court.
Since then kwai has seen q whole
dynasty Of Chinese Ministers come
and go at Washington. He Is approach
ing 70.
Not all Of the La Toilette genius
runs TO craftsmanship. Senator young
Bobs" second cousin, Suzanne La Fol-