Evening star., 1933-03-31
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

President Roosevelt paid a pretty
compliment to Huston Thompson of
Colorado and the District OF Columbia
by letting him deliver on Capital Hill
this week the administrator Federal
securities act" Thompson was drafted
for messenger service for two reasons.
In the first place, he wrote the plank
in the 1882 Democratic national plat
form providing for the now proposed
Government supervision of investment
securities. Thirteen years earlier, in 1919,
when Thompson was chairman of the
Federal Trade Commission, its "blue
sky division" was considering ways and
means for accomplishing the precise
purposes contemplated by the legislation
for which President Roosevelt has just
asked. Carter Glass, who was Secre-
tary of the Treasury at the time, was
experiencing some difficulty in floating
the Victory loan and sought the aid of
the Federal Trade Commission in con-
trolling the issuance of securities which
might initiate against the success Of
the Government bond issue. Secretary
of Commerce Roper has had active
charge of preparing the Federal securi-
ties act" and, knowing Huston Thomp-
sons long time connection with the
project, enlisted his cooperation in
drafting the bill 1t follows similar
legislation in Great Britain and Bel
gium and recommendations approved
by the American Bar Association, as
well as by 36 of the States.
X
Vice President Garner, at the instiga-
tion of his secretarial wife, has been
cajoled into breaking a Sunday habit
of a political lifetime. He stays abed
the entire Sabbath forenoon, reading
the papers and taking things easy, and
the rest OF the day just loafs. Mrs
Garner hopes eventually to persuade the
Vice President to take afternoon drives
into the country. He Is not a golf ad-
dict. Throughout his long congressional
career Jack has insisted on going to
his offices on Capitol Hill on Sundays
to see political cronies, catch up on the
weeks correspondence and in other
ways make a working holiday of it.
Mrs. Garner is gratified that she's at
last Wheedled him into slowing down.
They are both Christian folk, but not
church-goers.
BLACK jack Elliott of Los Angeles.
leader of the militant independent oil
producers now Waging fight at Wash
ington against the major" operators
and the conservation policy of the In
terror Department, is a picturesque,
two-fsted politician with a militant
Democratic background. At the head
of his group, entitled the Independent
Petroleum Association Opposed to Mo-
nopoly," Elliott had full hours con-
ference with President Roosevelt this
week. In the course of it he pleaded
eloquently for the independents, claim
ing that, contrary to the representa-
tions of the majors" there is an un-
Reproduction, not an overproductlon,
of oil In the United States. Arbitrary
curtailment of output, Elliott holds,
would about ruin the independents.
BLACK Jack" was the man who stood
guard over the ballot boxes in CAN
fornia during the hectic hours OF NO
vember 1916, while the presidency was
in doubt as between Wilson and Hughes.
He was field marshal of the wilson
forces out there that year In 1882 he
led the fight for ner-for-President
delegates in California and subsequent
Iv managed the triumphant Roosevelt
McAdo0 campaign.
DRY leaders are watching with elgle
eve the feud between Gov. Lehman O!
New york and the Republican and
Democratic politicians who want to re-
tain county control of liquor licenses
after April 7. The Governor is bat
| tling for a State board Of control con-
| tending that county control means
handing over the booze traffic to the
same old local political influences
which ran the saloons and thereby con-
tributed largely to the enactment of
National prohibition. If the political
bosses get their way in New York, dry
ORGANIZATIONS are confident the anti
repeal cause will be immensely strength
ened. Gov. Lehman publicly warns this
will be the inevitable result. All the
organized elements working for repeal
ratification in the States feel the same
way about it, They are concerned, too,
over the possibility that the country
may overindulge in beer to such an ex-
tent that popular reaction in favor of
the eighteenth amendment may set in
on a scale easily capable Of generating