Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-16
Continued from First page.l


hope. Others, who retain q certain
amount of political Elasticity, are trying
to evolve a new technique to govern
relations with the White House. At the
moment, with the older methods suffer
ing obsolescence and suspended ANNA
ton and the new technique not effec-
lively developed, the President is en-,
Joying himself working at his job, ano
politics of the kind which usually OBJ
tains sustenance at the White House Is
going hungry.
The writer is not attempting to glorify
Hoover. A dozen years of close obServa-
ton and some personal association
makes that sort of thing not only dis
tasteful but seem unnecessary. More
over, the President is just now emery
ing somewhat abashed from that period
OF White House incumbency during
which the public demands that he be
treated as a bridegroom. However, al
ready things have happened which
afford some indication of the character
of imprint President Hoover Is likely to
make on American public 1fe--n the
gods of fortune are reasonably kind to
him-and 1t appears worth while to pre-
sent some hitherto unpublished obServa-
tons about the manner in which he
works, with, perhaps. G hint regarding
his views toward politics.
One of our leading educators once
wrote that work without interest and
unaccompanied by pleasurable reactions
is drudgery. Such work Is non-educa-
tive. he added and 1t is deadening. The
converse, work in which there is an In
terest and which induces agreeable re-
actions, he stated, is really play.
Works Hard, Plays Diligently.
II this philosophical thesis is tenable,
Then President Hoover works harder and
plays more diligently than any man In
the country. Judged by the customary
standards, with divisions Of time for
work, recreation and recuperatton,
Hoover is phenomenon. Unless driven
to 1t, the President would indulge in
less of those activities we call recrea-
tional than he does now, and no one can
accuse him of being pleasure seeker.
Some of his intimates suspect that he
would much prefer to wrestle with a
problem In economics, administration or
statecraft at the end of q busy week
than 60 for a days fishing. Left to his
own devices. he probably would. Ac-
cording to the accepted standards, this
would be a health breaking schedule.
But not with Hoover. The accepted
standards Just don't work. That which
to most people would be drudgery falls
And for years he has been so fortuitous-
ly placed that he has been able to dele
gate that modicum of distasteful work
to subordinates for preparation, plan or
report.
Hoover, fast accommodating the repu-
tation of the Understanding Pres1-
dent" is therefore an anomaly. On any
five or eight hour basis he has no COM
petitors for the title. The fallacy lies
- l1Ny
which throws his 1abors largely outside
the usual category of work. 1t Is no
exaggeration to say that he derived
more fun out of estimating how much
the wheat carry-over in Minnesota
would likely be reduced by the IL II cent
curt in freight rates to the seaboard
than most men get out OF a month OF
golf.
RigidIy Analyses Problems.
The Presidents engineering back
ground and the precise habits OF
thought which that background has de-
veloped causes him to apply automatic
ally the processes of rigid analysis ana
painstaking synthesis to most problems
that come before him. He likes 10 get
at the raw material Of fact. Though
In his earlier days this may have been
A laborious process, now 1t Is easy and
natural. His broad experience and great
fund of correlated information enable
him to discover a good many elements
which would escape the supernclal
ANALYST. and similarly he has usually
more blocks with which to build when
it comes to reconstruction. This ex-
plains why the conclusions he reaches
occasionally jar and sometimes shock
more casually-minded gentlemen.
Has Great Concentration.
While dealing with an important
nroblem the President has habit OF
concentration that approaches feroclty
In its intensity. II the matter IN hand
Is complicated and calls for early ac-
ton, it would take something In the
nature Of q cataclysm to get him on
the track. The ordinary run OF things
and even the preferred run of personal
friends just don't figure for him at
such times. One cannot observe the
mental wheels 60 round. There Is
neither smoke nor that high-pressure
commotion so familiar in some buSi-
ness circles. But try to get him oil
that particular mental track. Every
once in q while an important person.
age, ignoring the counsel OF the Presi-
dents assistants, tries it. He just
doesn't get anywhere and altnougn
there has been no incivility, he suspects
that he hasn't gotten anywhere, and 10
seconds after he has departed the Presi-
dent is back on that track. :.
There are those who will find fault
with this. Obviously, 1t has some dis
advantages for a man in public ONCE
who has to deal with many people who
have convinced themselves that their
personal projects are vital TO all prog
ress. At the same time, the Presidents
habit of concentration and his tenaclty
in sticking to a problem until he has
IL straigntened out in his own mind
have been important factors in his
success as an administrator.
Works in Evening.
For the most part, however, the
President has been compelled by reason
of unavoidable claims upon his time to
postpone these concentrated attacks on
the executive business until the late
afternoon or early evening. In ordinary
high gear during the mornings, the
Presidents desire to give considerate
attention to the wide variety OF minor
questions which come to the White
House for attention cause him fire.
quently to extend many scheduled
five-minute conference long beyond the
allotted period, much to the dismay OF
his executive assistants and with gen.
eral havoc to the carefully arranged
appointment calendar.
The most exasperating experience
which the President has to endure Is
the common practice of cautious APP
proach to the business in hand en-
ployed by many White House visitors
The situation in China may be the
prologue to an eloquent appeal for an
Increase in the tariff on toothbrushes
This Washington convention is not only
me-consuming, but 1t is particularly
grating to one whose habits of thought
and of action are so simple and direct
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