Evening star., 1932-11-28
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

1t would be fiattering to believe that
the American people in times like these
are thinking of life in terms Of its eco
nomic, spiritual and international val
ues. As a matter Of cold fact. over
whelming proportions OF the people are
Just now concerned with nothing more
economic, spiritual or international than
beer and repeal. Go where you please
into the grandstand of foot ball
stadium, club lounge, hotel lobby.
an average home, a business Office CT
Pullman smoking compartment
and when do we get beer?" and How
far Of Is repeal?" are found to be the
questions, and the incessant questions,
Of the thirsty hour. War debts for the
moment command passing attention.
The makeup Of the Roosevelt cabinet
Is provocative of some interest and dis
cussion. But when beer" and when
repeal are the paramount issues. Prob
ably no session Of Congress since the
World War absorbed more public at
tention than that which the country
will rivet upon proceedings setting In
on December S. Speaker Gamers de-
termination to speed the repeal resolu-
ton to early passage in the House has
immensely strengthened his prestige IN
quarters that not so long ago raised
their eyebrows at the mere mention OF
Jacks name. If the Vice President-
elect isn't careful, he'll take his new
Office In March the most popular man
in the United States.
4 4
Anybody who missed President Glenn
Franks radio talk SATURDAY night on
Now That the Election Is Over" failed
To hear one Of the finest addresses the
wave lengths ever carried. The head
of the University Of Wisconsin, an cpl
grammatist of genius, submitted an q
Ia carte menu Of the economic, hnan-
cial and political troubles which Presi-
dent-elect Roosevelt confronts at WASH
ington. DR.. Frank tilted pointedly at
the beer psychology now dominating
American public thought. He declared
that both the people and many OF their
political leaders, instead Of graphing
with the genuine problems OF the day,
"are shadow-boxing in the suburbs OF
reality" Much Of President Frank s
discourse concerned itself with what
"the machine age" Is doing to Amer.
tca-the theme Of widely discussed
article in Al Smiths November New
outlook" entitled What Is Technoc-
racy?" One of Franks arresting state
ments was that If pre-depresslon pros
perity were to return today. machines
have displaced SO many human hands
that the country could not aDsorn
more than half of the l2,000,O0O or
Il, ,00o,0 900 now out of work.
X II X
Homer s. Cummings of Connecticut,
former Democratic national chairman,
booms into the picture as one OF the
latest Roosevelt cabinet possibilities. A
class-A lawyer, the Department oil
Justice is mentioned as the portfolio
he would most adorn. In pre-conven-
ton DAYS, as far back as 1881, Cum
mings was in the inner Roosevelt group
that set out to prevent New England
from capture by AL Smiths forces.
Despite Smiths wide popularity in the
Nutmeg State, its delegation swung
solidly into the Roosevelt column, and
Cummings received main credit for
that achievement. The Connecticut
Yankee fits into the Roosevelt picture
as an old Wilsonian. Cummings KEY
note speech at the San Francisco con-
vention Of 1920, from which Franklin
Roosevelt emerged az sv,cc presidential
nominee, is still re- embered as one Of
the classic Democ- attic orations OF our
time. Connecticut hasn't had cabinet
place for 10 years-since Gideon Welles
was Lincoln's Sec .ary of the Navy.
y \
Copies have jdSt been received at
Washington Of a paper, the existence
Of which Is not widely known in the
United States. It Is the Moscow Daily
News, printed entirely in English. and
evidently intended to be the Soviet's
principal propaganda organ in our Ian
guage. The edition of November Is
an anniversary number commemorating
the fifteenth birthday Of Communist
Russia. It contains some effusive con-
gratulatory letters from American sym
pathizers, including Lincoln Steffens,