Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-20

Prohibition holds the spotlight in
washington, the London Disarmament
| Conference is presumed to dominate the
| larger horizon, but If newspaper columns
| measure the degree of public interest,
| prohibition is paramount. Mr.. Coolidge
! is said to have once aVerred that, in MS
| opinion, prohibition was question
| which it would take so years to settle.
| At all events there is scant prospect
| that the present moves and counter
moves in Congress and at the White
House will materially contribute to any
| settlement. At the moment the cynlcs
! are saying that Congress will seize
| upon the Blaine proposal to resubmlt
| the eighteenth amendment as an oppor-
| tunity to record its devotion to prohl-
| bition on the eve of the congressional
election. Then having rejected the
| Blaine resolution by nearly unanimous
vote, Congress will proceed to scuttle
Mr.. Hoover's current proposals for tight
ening up prohibition enforcement. Be
| that as it may, the Wickersham sug-
geStion for relieving court congestion
| by authorizing United States marshals
to convict and punish petty offenders"
seems destined to encounter hard sled
ding on Capitol Hill. Already Senator
Borah has sounded the tocsin, Preserve
the rights to trial by jury"
While the politically minded are
awaiting the selection of new Assist
ant Secretary of War to fill the vacancy
occasioned by the promotion of Col.
| Hurley to the headship of the DEPART
ment. the Army itself has its eyes
| turned toward the present and ensuing
| changes in bureau chiefs. of which an
exceptionally large number impend.
| The inspector general, Maj. Gen. Will
| liam G. Rivers, retired for age early
| this month. The four-year tour of duty
of Mai. Gen. B. F. Cheatham as quar-
| termaster general expires this week.
| The chief of Field Artillery, Maj. Gen.
| Fred T. Austin, now on leave, will be
March the chief of Coast Artillery, Maj.
Gen. Andrew Hero, jr., and the chief
| of Cavalry, Mai. Gen. Herbert B. Cros-
| by, will have completed their four-year
| terms, and by the rotation policy now
| in vogue will be replaced. Here are five
coveted posts to be filled within the
next go days. Changes in the recent
past have included the elevation of Mai.
Gen. Lyle Brown to be chief OF En-
+, and the selection of Maj. Gen. William
| G. Everson of Indiana to be chief Of
the Militia Bureau.
II X \
William K. Henderson, the vitriolic
proprietor of, and broadcaster over,
| station KWKH of Shreveport, La, has
promised the Radio Commission that, in
Difference to protests which finally
reached the floor of the Senate, he will
hereafter refrain from language on the
air which his critics characterized as
"profane and obscene" specifically
emitting 'hell and damn" but that he
will continue in full force and effect
his denunciation of chain stores and
disposed to let the matter rest there
| for the present. 1t is mindful OF the
fact that twice in the past it has had
| Henderson on the carpet to review pro-
tests and pleas from opponents that
his license be Cancelled or abridged, and
| that on one such occasion Henderson
produced no less than $1,000 separate
signatures to afhdavits OF approval and
| Endorsement from his radio listeners
which seemed to show that Henderson
was providing just the sort OF radio
entertainment that "his public" liked.
| Robert j. Allen, ousted Washington
police private, publicity sleuth and
stormy petrol of the ructions which
started with the now celebrated Nc
Pherson suicide-murder controversy
and engulfed the local Police Depart
ment grand juries, prosecutors office
and the District Commissioners, turned
| up in Boston recently. He was pro-
duced a. surprise" witness before an
! investigating committee OF the Massa-
chusetts Legislature. In characteristic
| fashion he offered TO blow the lid off
! of the staid Bay State capital, pro-
vided he was given free hand. 1t
was insinuated that Allen was now an
under-coyer agent for the Department
| of Justice investigating Boston under
orders from Washington. The Justice
Department knocked such claim in the
head quickly and emphatically when 1t
reached here. ALLEN is not Govern
ment agent He has not now, and
never has had, any connection, direct
or indirect, near or remote, with the
Department of Justice, in any capacity
whatever" declared the ordinarily
silent j. Edgar Hoover, chief Of the
Bureau Of Investigation.
| X X X
y Ambassador Claudel will shortly pre-
sent to the State Department formal
invitation for official participation by