Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-23
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

Somebody in the particular outfit to
which u. s. s. Dupont, destroyer, be-
longs is headed for bad quarter of an
hour, and then some, over her amazing
failure to keep her conjunction" date
with the presidential battleship, u. S. S.
Arizona, on Saturday. 1t would be DIFF
ficult to imagine q tougher break for
the Navy than such a slip-up under
the very nose of the Commander in
Chief. Mr.. Hoover was actually kept
cooling his heels On the Arizona's quar-
terdeck while the Dupont turned up
couple of hours behind schedule, and
delayed a programmed review. Secre-
tary Adams first job at the Navy De-
partment today, on his return from the
feet msneuvers In the Canal Zone, will
be to order a full-dressA investigation
Of the Dupont-Ari MBhap. Any
one of a number of possibilities may
turn out to have been responsible for
an incident the Navy would have given
a months pay to avoid. If there were
thick weather and heavy rains, "visi-
bility' is sure to have been limited, and
establishment of contact with the
Presidents ship would be correspond
ingly difficult. Something may have
gone wrong with communications, re-
sulting in faulty position-flnding.
+ X 4
Probably nobody in Washington or
elsewhere in the country noticed any
creaking in the ship of state during the
late week end; but, as a matter of fact,
that sturdy old craft for a long time
has not been so undermined. Round
ly half of the executive branch of the
Government was away from the Capt.
tal-the President, the Secretary of
State, the Secretary Of War, the Secre--
tary of the Navy and the Secretary Of
the Interior. With Congress in adj
journment, Uncle Sam was bereft of that
prop, too. If Washington ito borrow
famous Irish wisecrack in the British
House Of Commons) continues to
swarm with abssntaes," the pan
people may get it into tfeir heads that
the United States Government is Dig
enough and strong enough to run by
itself.
The Right Hon. Montagu Collet Nor
man, governor of the Bank of England,
who appears to be pussy-footiIg his way
across the Atlantic this week, is no
stranger in Washington. He was Stan
ley Baldwin's right bower when the
then chancellor of the exchequer came
here in 1923 to negotiate the celebrated
Baldwin Mellon British debt settlement.
Mr.. Norman has q passion for travelling
incognito. He can be easily recognized
by his Van Dyke beard and generally
Shakespearean physiognomy. Before ne
took charge Of the "Old Lady of Thread
needle Street" Norman was a profess
sional soldier and officer of the famous
Bedfordshire infantry Eton boy ana
Cambridge graduate, ne fought with
distinction in the South African War.
Norman has visited the United States
1u nj nf ENGLAND
ness, but usually in gurn-shoes.
X
Charles s. Hamlin Of Massachusetts,,
who has been vice governor OF the
Federal Reserve Board since its founda-
ton II years ago, broadcast COM
memorative address on Grover Cleve-
land the other night. Hamlin was AS
sistant Secretary of the Treasury dur
ing the second Cleveland administra-
ton Speaking of the great Demo-
cratic Presidents gift for making the
right kind of enemies, Hamlin told OF
having a call from one of them on
some highly controversial occasion.
"Hamlin," said the visitor, II hate
Cleveland so much that won't even
admit his wife Is pretty!"
y
Senator Norris told the recent Pro-
gressive Conference at Washington that
what the country needs is another
Roosevelt in the White House" Well,
they've got half their wish. Another
Theodore has just gone there-Joslin,
President Hoovers new secretary.
X X
Sir Ronald Lindsay, British Ambas-
sador to the United States, may have
been writing his folks about radio over
here. At least the Earl of Crawford,
the elder brother of the envoy and
head of the house Of Lindsay. has been
saying things in London which reflect
unfaVorably on the American broad
casting game The noble earl, speak
ing in the House of Lords, referred
to "the grotesque, deplorable and
laughable state Of broadcasting in the
United States" compared to the service
rendered listeners by the government