Evening star., 1932-02-05

The promotion Of Undersecretary
ogden l.. Mills to be Secretary of the
treasury and the transfer Of Secretary
Mellon to the post of Ambassador at
the Court Of st. James. succeeding Gen.
Dawes, who was drafted to head the
Reconstruction Finance Corporation,
rounds out to the great satisfaction Of
all concerned several difficult situations.
From the White House standpoint the
President has scored three ten strikes
in row. The Dawes appointment
made an instantaneous hit with the
country. The resulting London ambas-
sadorship vacancy just at this time
presented problem Of peculiar diffi-
Guilty. First, because Of the host OF
international questions, especially finan-
cial questions, crowding for settlement;
second, because If Mr. Hoover fails of
reelection whoever goes to London
now must be prepared to pack up and
come home year hence, and third
because of the heavy drain upon the
private pocketbook Of the Ambassador
and fat private pocketbookS at the mo-
ment are few and far between. So
the sending of Mr.. Mellon to London
is one Of those rarities in politics, the
ideal appointment. the one that exactly
fits all the diverse requirements. The
promotion Of Undersecretary Mills to
full cabinet rank as head of the Treas
ury Department Is another felicitouS
solution of what otherwise might have
been an Immensely troublesome ques-
ton. Mr.. Mills enjoys Mr.. Hooyer's
confidence to an unusual degree. He
enjoys the confidence of his associates
and subordinates in the Treasury De-
partment. Everything will go along
there without ripple. He has the
confidence of the financial interests
Of the Nation. He has the place he
long has wanted and has long been
promised. 1t is understood that Ar
thur A. Ballantine OF New York, As
sistant Secretary, and a former mem
Der of the old law firm that included
FIihu Root. will succeed Mr.. Mills as
Undersecretary.
The White House press conference
last Tuesday, when the war CLOUDS III
China were hanging the heaviest, was
unique. in that practically the entire
cabinet were in attendance, ranging
themselves about the President during
the latter's discussion OF the subject
with the newspaper correspondents.
The administration wanted 1t mace
clear that the United States Is not
using the big stick" on Japan TO COM
pei a settlement of the Sino-Japanese
controversy. American policy IN tne
Far East has but two objectiVeS, accord
ing to Mr.. Hoover. First ana foremost
the protection Of the lives OF American
nationals in China-not IN protec1lhs
American property interests tneTe. me
omission Of any such declared objective
was studied and significant. Second,
peaceful settlement by mediation OF the
ouarrels of the belligerents The latter
objective is more diplomatically de-
scribed as "the tender Of our good OIL
fees. at the request Of the Chinese and
the Japanese governments, to secure IL
possible, an adjustment OF outstanding
differences"
Mai. Gen. Frank r. Mccoy, accom-
panying the international commission
dispatched by the League OF Nations
to the Far East to investigate at hrSt
hand the Manchurian question, Is by
wav of becoming Americas foremost
professional soldier diplomat. His
Army career since his graduation from
West Point in 1897 has been distin-
guished. He saw service In Cuba dur
ing the war with Spain, and later IN
the Philippine campaigns and IN the
Mexican border troubles and during
the World War, among other assign
msnts, he was director general OF trans
port. But in the past Is years MS 1orte
has been the heading Of special mis-
sions. Thus he was chief Of staff OF
the military mission to Armenia in 1919
and of the special mission to the
Philippines in 1921. He was COM
mander of the American Relief Mission
to Japan in 1923. He was appointed
by Mr.. Coolidge in 1928 to supervise the
Nicaragua elections.
x :;
The proponents of the Costigan-La
Follette bill for Federal aid to the
States for emergency relict have started
the ball a-rolling with vengeance:
Senator La Toilette has this week held