Evening star., 1932-09-04
BY MARK SULLIVAN.

A NY one who moves among off,
~ cials at Washington finds that
"A the thing they are interested
4 \ in just now is the state of the
country" in a business sense.
Any one who spends half hour in
the company of Secretary Of the Treas
ury Ogden Mills or Governor Eugene
Meyer of the Federal Reserve Board is
likely to observe, as he recalls the eX-
perience, that the campaign. the elec-
tion, was not mentioned. True, Secre-
tary Mills once in SO often goes out
from Washington to somewhere in the
country and makes valiant speech
urging the voters to keep the Repub
lican party in power. And no doubt
Mr.. Mills realizes that what the cleo
tion really depends on mainly is the
state of the country. But the thing
that is acutely to the front of Mr..
Mills mind and of Mr.. Meyers and
of other Government officials of similar
rank actually and genuinely is the
state Of the country.
Reason for Admiration.
Parenthetically, Mr.. Mills and Mr..
Meyer are two among the public Off
excite in the writer of this article
pretty unqualified admiration. At a
time when all of us have suffered a
good deal Of grief, and many of us un-
happily have allowed our troubles to
make us a little bitter for the time
being, 1t is happy thing to find few
enthusiasmS remaining, and to this
writer Mr.. Mills and Mr.. Meyer are
two men who have long supplied the
tonic of faith in the most admirable
part of human nature. Admiration for
them rests on many cause.-the forth
right, deep-chested personalities that
both men have, the extraordinary pow
er and clarity of each mans mind; the
spontaneous courage, courage that flows
from them as naturally and richly as
water from deep spring.
Now the least of their titles to ad-
miration is their willingness to work,
to pour outflowing talent into public
service. to remain at their desks dur
ing long hot Summers. This particu-
lar occasion for admiring them is, of
course, associated with their wealth.
Each Of the two has a fortune with
which he could command any form of
recreation or entertainment, from SAL
mon fishing in Canada or grouse shoot
ing in Scotland, to spending cool after
moons on the porches of country homes.
Each, putting all that sort of thing
aside, prefers to keep his shoulder at
the wheel in Washington.
Handicaps Are Accepted.
1t is not merely that with means to
command leisure they stick to hard
work. They stick to hard work under
trying conditions; they accept, as hard
workers, handicaps which to them are
unnecessary. If either Of them chose
to spend his energy in a private pur-
suit he could do it with freedom from
the daily handicaps and hurdles in
herent in government in which the
wish to preserve balanced powers has
the effect of putting curbs of restraint
and red tape upon individual initiative
and functioning. Both these men must
know, for everybody else knows. that
in private life, as captains of finance
and industry, they could have almost
unlimited achievement. Each must
know that right now, under present
conditions, they could multiply their
private fortunes by turning to the
lines Of business they know well at a
moment when new surge of prosper
ity Is beginning. With all that, both
these men-Mr. Meyer, since 1917, when
he was 43, and Mr.. Mills, since he was
younger-have devoted all their energies
and talents to public careers. The aver
age readsr of this article will admit, If
his human nature is normal, that If he
had the resources of Mr.. Mills and Mr..
Meyer for either leisure or the amassing
Of money he would be unlikely to spend
long hours of day and night as these
men do, in extremely burdensome labor
on behalf Of an ideal public service or
public career.
Change to Offensive.
The two will have, shortly, in their
own understanding, and in the minds
Of a few able to appreciate, perhaps
many, satisfaction analogous to what
Gen. Foch had when after being obliged
to fight on the defensive for three years,
he was able to take the offensive and
go on to victory.
What is said here about the state
OF the country does not pretend to
come directly or privately from either
OF these men or from any one else in
the Government All that is said here,
so far as it comes from any other
source than the writer's observations,
Is to be found in the recent public
utteranceS of these two men and Presi-
dent Hoover and others, especially the
addresses they made last week at the
gathering of banking and industrial
committees from throughout the coun-
try. who met in Washington.
The country is out, completely and
safely out, of the money and credit part
OF the depression 1t is clear of the sew
eral panicS that marked the depression.
and out of the danger of more. This is
somewhat different from saying. as
many loosely do. that the depression is
over.