Evening star., 1933-03-12
BY WILLIAM HARD.


Office now for q week; and the i'm
preston produced by 1t upon Washing
ton has already become quite definite.
Specifically, and nevertheless high
ly Importantly, the chief officials of the
new administration seem almost unani-
mously to be of CHEEKY and even sunny
dispositions. They radiate good will and
good humor to all the throngs of news
paper correspondents who wait upon
them. Even Secretary Of State Cordell
Hull, who Is q great scholar and whose
demeanor carries with 1t a good deal
Of the profundity and solemnity ap-
propriate to scholarship. has tempera-
ment which, II not jovial. Is at any rate
serene and equable. Like all Of his
colleagues in the cabinet, he faces per-
plexities almost unsurmountable and
anxieties akin to despairs; but his po:se
Is unshaken.
As for Jim" Farley, the new Post
master General Is already Jim" to
virtually all Washingtonians and the
time Is thought not far distant when
he will be able to address virtually all
inhabitants of the United States as
"Tom," or Dick" or Harry, or al
gernon," or Augustus" as the need may
be. Mr.. Farley endures with fortitude
even the discovery that he cannot ap-
point all the inhabitants of the United
States to Offices. He faces with unde-
feated pleaSantneSs the vast multitudeS
for whom Offices cannot be found. He
pleases with jest even those Office
seekers whom he cannot please with
Job.
It is the destiny of most grand dis
tributors of Federal patronage to be
hardened and soured by the plants Of
the unsuccessful candidates for public
honors and emoluments. Mr.. Farley
midst Of his noes" as in the midst OF
his 'yesses."
Mr. Noodin. however, the new Secre-
tar Of the Treasury. is the largest
as' onishment and amazement of them
all. He Is q great industrialist; and
Washington expected to see in him the
oracular image Of proud and possibly
out to be an unaffected, spontaneous,
whimsical little man who perches on
the edge of his big official desk and
twitters notes of cheer like a canary.
He writes music; and he is also, on the
whole, the most exuberant songster in
the whole Rooseveltian political aviary.
We never before-in the memory Of
present-day Washington-have had a
Secretary Of the Treasury so lyric and
lifting.
And even those members Of the cab
met who cannot quite reach Mr.. Woo
din's righteousness of optimism or Mr..
Farley's robustness Of jocularity are at
any rate companionable and communi-
cative. They do not seem destined to
become bloated and stuffy with an in
ternal accumulation of undivulged al
legged state secrets. They seem to regard
the peoples business; and they seem
inclined to be willing to convey the de-
velopments to such Of the people as
may inquisitively inquire.
The consequence In general is that
the Washington press gallery, basking-
as 1t were-in the rays Of an ultra
violet bath of official ozone, has become
itself bit less cynical and q bit more
inspirited about the concerns Of its be-
loved (or, at any rate, distressed) coun-
try. The first aim Of any new admin
istration is to be impressive. The good
fortune of this new Administration
ministrative programs that 1t has
been able to be impressive through
being simply blithe and buoyant and
talkative and natural.
The tone of 1t all Is set, Of course,
by the White House. On that point,
however, there Is q certain precaution-
ary observation to be made. It is true
that President Roosevelt retains in
Washington the full famous smile that
he had in Albany.
1t is true that Mr.. Roosevelt con-
tinueS to be not merely negatively
agreeable, but also positively and in
tensely welcoming to whatever of
amusement there may be in the round
of his problems and burdens. It is also
true. nevertheless, that his smile begins
to yield priority now-in the eyes of
many ohServerS-to q certain other
notable feature Of his appearance. His
smile begins to seem less important
than his powerful jutting jaw, which
he thrusts out with commanding force
as he suddenly-with gesture which is
habitual with him-throws his head
the faces Of those who are talking with
him.
i y
WASHINGTON Is learning that 1t Is the
Presidents smile that listens, but It is
his jaw that decides. The smile, WASH
ington now concludes, means nothing at
all as to what will happen when the
visitor has finished saying his say to 1t.
The smile Is simply hosp.t, ,,ity, con-
willingness to lean and
even scriptural willingness to suffer
fools gladly. The decision Is afterward
made, wholly without reference to the
smile, except that subsequently the
smile will shine upon those against
whom the decision was made as ap-
parently amiably and comprehensively
as upon those whom the decision ia
vored.
In q word, this President arrives at
his resoluteness through processes Of
conversational accommodatingness, but
\. .r~,,,n. ~ a.. end Il, %hs ,,.idst ~ tina