Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-18
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS

The prospects of Washington con-
ference under administration auspices
OF operators and miners of the bitumi-
nous coal industry ito effect some So
luton" Of the dire troubles of that over
produced and underpriced, overmanned
and underpaid. strike and lockout rid
den industry have not advanced much
during these past so days. John L.
Lewis, chief Of the United Mine Work
ers, has been the spearhead of the de-
mand for conference. The President,
mindful OF the economic breakdown of
this industry and anxious to relieve
conditions and forestall impending
riots, critical to miners and operators
alike, has been flirting with the idea of
a conference. The operators, for the
most part, are determinedly opposed to
q conference, on the ground that no
one concerned has any feasible plan of
relief to offer Secretaries Doak and
Lamont. at Mr.. Hoovers direction, vari-
ously conferred with representatives Of
both groups without tangible result.
Then, at the behest of Mr.. Lewis, the
Commerce Department dispatched cir
eular letter TO list of nearly 200 oper-
ators, in the nature Of referendum
on the desirahility of a conference.
Most Of the replies are now in, and.
though the Commerce Department is
mum about the showing. 1t is known
that the operators numerically register
opposition by a large majority and that,
computed on a tonnage basis, the In
dustry is overwhelmingly on record as
dead set against a Washington confer
ence.
When Marcus Aurelius Coolidge,
Democrat, of Massachusetts,, takes his
cath as Senator of the United States on
December next, it will be exactly 40
years 10 the very day Of the swearing
in of his father as Democratic mem
Der of the House from the Bay State.
The new Senator is entering upon the
national political scene a little late In
life; nevertheless the magic OF the
Coolidge name and the luck which Is
supposed to attach to 1t are things to
coniure with He has had occasion re-
Gently TO contemplate the alluring,
though obviously exceedingly remote,
possibility that the Democrats might
decide to put a Coolidge on their pres
idential ticket as well as a Roosevelt.
Roosevelt and Coolidgei What a sure
FIRE name combination. It's advantages
might even outweigh the geographical
disabilities Of the combination. Then If
by some political cataclysm Calvin
Coolidge was the Republican standard
bearer and the Republicans rung in
Theodore Roosevelt. ir., for second place
and made Il Coolidge and Roosevelt,
what a merry party 1t would be.
The uersistency Of the whispering"
campaign for calling Calvin Coolidge to
the colors in 1882 and the continuous
publicity spotlight focused on Silent
Cal" is an outstanding political phe-
nomenon. It is admittedly without the
slightest countenance Of Mr.. Coolidge
himself. The White House has recently
received the most definite assurances
on that score 1t Is difficult to trace
the talk to any particular source. But
that IL is IN the air, here, there and
everywhere. is self-evident. 1t annoys
the White House. Despite his "do-not-
choose-to-riIn" statement. the Specter
of a convention stampeded to Coolidge
haunted the Hoover forces up TO the
last moment at Kansas City in 1928. 1t
now looks as If this anxiety would be
duplicated up to the nominating zero
hour in 1882, Yet in the colo reaItieS
Of affairs 1t would seem that only death
can rob Mr.. Hoover Of denomination.
-
with talk so rife of various schemes
of governmental unemployment insur-
ance, and recurring speculation that
the administration may evolve some
plan of its own along that line, it is
| timely to turn back g short two months
TO Mr.. Hoover's address at Indianapolis
on June is. On that particular sub
| iect he took q clear and uneQuivoca
stand. He is unalterably opposed TO it
then and now and always. He said
I'VE have had one proposal after an
other which amounts to dole from the
Federal Treasury. The largest Is thai
Of unemployment insurance. I have
long advocated such insurance as ar
additional measure Of safety against
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