The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-10-03
At The National Capitol
 DAILY WASHINGTON LETTER A Biggest of Who's Who and Whats What ~ By RODNEY BUTCHER
DAILY WASHINGTON LETTER
By RODNEY BUTCHER

Washington. - The department of commerce is charged with pro- noting business and it also has to compile and publish the cold, hard figures and charts which show ex- actly how business is getting along. Perhaps that is why there have lately been some seeming evidences of unrest, not to say frayed nerves, in the ranks of the department. Quite few of the boys and girls there have been speaking or acting out of turn, which is always dan- gerous for a federal employe.
 Secretary of Commerce Lamont and young George Pass share the distinction of having made public boners without being punished for it. George J. Elder and Dr Ray Ovid Hall lost their jobs and a couple of other valued employees lost a substantial amount of pay.
 George Pass is 25 years old, a $1400-a-year minor clerk in the commercial intelligence division. George had a great yen for a for eign assignment. But he saw a great host on the waiting list ahead of him. He realized that to jump over so many heads would be a master stroke. Someone told him-or perhaps it was his own idea-that he could write articles which would call his talents to the attention of his superiors. Without consulting any superiors or any ex- perts on the subject he waded into the rather delicate subject of Rus- sian trade and credits.
 George Pass advised American manufacturers to insist on cash when they dealt with Russia. His article appeared, signed By G. l.. Pass, Commercial Intelligence Di- vision, Department of Commerce" in two columns on the first page of the United States Daily. which spe- cializes on delivering news and in- formation from the government straight to business men.
 Georges solemn warning to the financiers and industrialists of America caused considerable com motion and the department began to get a lot of telegrams and let ters about it. Those interested in Russian trade defied Lamont to show a single instance where Rus sia had defaulted on obligations to manufacturers in this country. La- mont had to write back that the article was prepared by a minor clerk" without anybody's approval. He didn't say it wouldn't happen again, but it won't. George spent an anxious week and then was told the incident would be ignored if not forgiven. The departmental attitude appeared to be that 1t was all too funny to take seriously. An older man probably would have been fired.
 Lamont's own slip was made in the midst of summer heat when he wrote a congressman that some wage cuts were justified, meaning such as might be necessary to keep plants open. Democrats and labor leaders hooted and before the ex- citement died down no one could figure out whether President Hoo- yer and Secretary of Labor Doak were trying to repudiate Lamont without seeming to or only trying to seem to repudiate him without repudiating him.
 Elder was head of the Latin American division and Hall was one of the departments outstand- ing financial experts.
 Elder was fired after writing an exhaustive study of British and American export trade for the Car negie Endowment for International Peace. He had charged that British statesmen, diplomats and business leaders in the Argentine were pro- noting anti-American propaganda which was bound to have a bad effect on international relations.
 Hall 1was fired after he had charged a superior officer with