Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-27
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC EILLIAN VILE.

It was Talleyrand, or somebody. who
said that language was invented for
the purpose Of concealing thought. To
the Right Hon. Sir Ronald Lindsay,
P. c.. G. C. NJ. G.. K. c. B., C. o,
British Ambassador at Washington.
this observer awards the Order of the
Sphinx as one of the worlds great ex-
ponentS of the Talleyrand theory. For
the past few weeks the high spot OF
Anglo American relations = tnougnt
wholly unofficial-has been the ques-
ton of including or deleting the Sur
! render of CORVALLIS from next Octo-
ber's Yorktown Sesquicentennlal cele-
bration. The compiler of this columnar
contribution to current history asked
Sir Ronald Lindsay whether Great
Britain would, or would not. be ag-
grieved by pageant depicting the
capitulation of CORVALLIS. Let any
one who thinks his Britannia majesty
is not represented over here by dip
lomat ponder the reply-each WORD
nugget: II am not sorry to have been
away at Bar Harbor while the contro-
versy was in progress. for it is mat
ter in which 1 could hardly express an
opinion. and, indeed, on which my opin-
ion is worth no more than that of any
one else. But think that no one who
| knows me would have any difficulty in
guessing what think.
X
Few Of Henry P. Fletcher's cronies
are surprised by his resignation from
the Craftsmanship of the United States
Tariff Commission. They were far
more surprised when he took the job.
To ask a Pennsylvania Republican to
preside over a body whose duty is to
reduce tariff rates is like inviting ar
undertaken to lead better-health drive.
Fletcher probably realized, when he
agreed to serve for a year only, that
this would be about as long as he could
stand it. For man who has spent
most of his mature life hobnobbing with
kings and queens, prime ministers and
| foreign diplomats, 1t isn't easy to
generate enthusiasm over Italian cheese,
Spanish onions, Australian wool. Ar
gentinian corn, Canadian hides and
| skins, CzechosloVakian shoes or the
other paramount issues the Tariff
| Commission deals with. Fletcher is too
young, too able and too ambitious to
remain very long among the Federal
bassy probably is what he'd like most.
Miriam B. Wolf of Washington, bril-
| liant clubwoman and member of the
Women's Joint Legislative Committee
sent Al Smith an ode ITO the Empire
State Building" as the result of a
recent ascent to its dizzy top. Here
| it is:
Giant of granite and stone
Looming Skyward!
And at your feet, those pygmies called
men,
In whose brain you were conceived.
And by whose labor you were brought
| forth
What is the soul of your being2
| Solid, four square, earth rooted,
Ever climbing, and ever retreating
Into yourself as you climb,
Until at the end you stand
A towering turret,
A perfect pointed pinnacle,
Hailing the heavens,
Gazing at God!
Has man not created you in His own
image?
In the current number of The
Philippine Republic, the independence
partys Washington official organ, for
mer Gov. Gen. Francis Burton Harrison,
now living the life of retired country
| gentleman in Northern Scotland, is the
object of extensive Qualification Hilario
Moncado, president of the Filipino
Federation of America" who Is in the
midst of a European propaganda tour,
narrates that Mr.. Harrison, waiting
quietly on the side lines at his mansion
in far-off Scotland is eagerly watching
the contest for Filipino independence
and hoping against hope to receive soon
the glad tidings that the movement. to
which he contributed so much, has at
last ended in success" During his
seven years at Manila under the Wilson
administration, Harrison's tacticse put
serious crimps in American prestige
Gen. Leonard Woods principal Job,
when he went to the Philippines in
1921. was to repair the damage caused
by Harrison's flirtations with the poll
ticos.