Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-22

WOuIu EeCSlhS dHOWdHCeS IIOIH Tic NOF-
eminent.
Revamped Power Board.
With the cooperation of Congress
the President obtained the highly I'M
portant and far-reaching authority to
reoTganiZe the Federal Power Com
mission and the Federal Radio Commits
sion.
In his passion for effective machinery
in government the President has struck
heavily at the traffic in Federal an
pointments in the Eouth. IN fact, mis-
determination to raise the standard of
the personnel in public service is a
most important item in Mr.. Hoover's
term of Office. even with the limitations
imposed by politics. He has attracted
strong men not only into high ofhces
but into relatively minor positions, and
the publication Of names of indorsers Of
men recommended for judicial appoint
nientS and the publication of all tax
settlements are not only accurate ex-
pressions Of Mr.. Hoover's public policy
but wholly in line with American prin-
ciple.
If the so-called flexible" Smoot-
Hawley tariff act remains a matter Of
jealous contention. it is, when all is
said, also absolutely a party measure.
and II did include important power to
the President for reorganization of the
Tariff Commission 1t was partnered in
the special session by the Presidents
plan for Federal Farm Board. which
is functioning, and the development of
cooperative marketing. which, If it
languishes now, is always longtime
program on which the Republican party
may realize a decade hence.
| A striking demonstration of Mr.. Hoo
Z lN1fcf &c
of funds into useful channels without
substantial additions to the budget. A
| typical move was his determination TO
take the Government out of the steam
ship operating business, and at the
same time stimulate the expansion by
| private concerns of the American mer-
/ chant marine. BY quite inconsider-
able bait of few million dollars for
mail contracts he obtained agreements
| for the construction by private COM
panies of approximately half million
/ tons Of new merchant ships.
Acts on Public Lands.
! Many of the administrator acts pass
| unnoticed by millions who seem to be
not directly concerned, and in the hustle
of political conflict become lost or for
! gotten. Yet there is a measurable i'm
! portance in the committee established
!
| conservation policies of the Far West
and an incalculable advantage to the
Nation in Mr.. Hoover's definite refusal
to issue further permits for oil drilling
on public lands, as we'll as instituting q
scrupulous scrutiny of existing permits
Nor can it be overlooked that the
activity in highway construction and
! the tremendous impetus given to water
way development belongs constructively
| to the expanding needs of the Nation.
These were problems into which he
could throw unhesitatingly the deter
mining direction of an engineer The
! reorganization of the engineering staff
working on the great Mississippi River
| system and the intruSting of the direc-
1 ton to O single responsible engineer is
the Hoover method and clear example
! Of how he thinks the Government
should be handled That constitutional
provisions dictate a balanced authority
and so delay the hands of President
who believes in swift, centralized direc-
ton is fact justified by historical ex-
perience. But that does not bring solace
to the heart Of Hoover, whose working
and waking hours are more or less iden-
tical, who knows quite well what he
would do If left alone, and who has
been accustomed most of his working
lne to translating uncriticized Judgment
into action as swiftly as possible.
The heart of the actual Mississippi
River development program is the posi-
tive abandonment of wasteful develop
ment of unrelated sections and the
gradual extension upward and outward
OF channels already in USE, until the
| 9,CO0-mlle barge system is completed.
Studies Social Problems.
With all these material preoccupa-
| tons, 1r. Hoover'S vision was broad
enough to embrace, with fact-finding
| commissions. such vital social problems
as child health and protection, social
trends in education, home ownership
and prison reforms, some of which have
been put into effect, together with O
new parole and probation system based
on the principle of rehabilitation and
manual training for prisoners. But the
I outstanding social question of Mr..
| Hoover'S time remains in more vex-
atious form than ever When Mr..
Hoover entered the White House he
looked askance at the prohibition riddle
and wished il off his back, not wholly
for the political conflict involved, but
| also because the prohibition question
has an Unsuitable appetite for attention
! and voraciously devours more time
and energy than any other issue or
task.
President Hoover accepted the matter
as it stood. and determined to try as
much enforcement as possible. No one
| yet has been able to determine how
much enforcement prohibition can alb
serb or how much the public will
| tolerate.
Champions Dry Law.
But Mr.. Hoover, to the CONSERVATION
of his friends, and. as it seems, in an
/ uneasy moment of political speculation,
has reaSSerted an emphatic dry stand
and will go before the public, If he is
! candidate for denomination, as the
champion of prohibition.
Yet his distinguished commission on
| law enforcement and prohibition has
| labored hard enough in the vineyards,
even if the public finds the grapes q
trifle small and sour. In the case Of
prohibition Mr. Hoover was able to
| demonstrate what every one knew, that
there is profound disagreement about
1t, but he did not feel sufficiently con-
| tident of himself to propose any solu-
ton other than a further assertion of
| further enforcement.
AS far as the White House is con-
cerned, prohibition has nothing to COM
plain about for Mr.. Hoover has dealt
! faithfully about it. He removed the
Prohibition Enforcement Bureau from
the Treasury to the Department of
! Justice and he has consistently
/ strengthened by moral force the efforts
of the bureau to fulfill its desperate
| functions. His prohibition position is
| his own, and may be considered expert
mental politics on his part, little
tiutter of his own in the gaming room
where elections are won and lost.
There is nothing uncertain or equiv
| ocal about Mr.. Hoover's attitude in
world affairs There he is quite posi-
tive that the reconciliation of nations
| is the only basis of international pros
perity, and has given such positive proof
| of his authority to express that hopeful