Evening star., 1933-08-28
The Political Mill
BY C. Could Lincoln.

| 0taIe, however, Qao been fOreShad-
owed. 1t had become increasingly
| apparent that If he was to remain in
the Government service it would have
to be in some other position. since he
| and Secretary Cordell Hull of the
state Department did not see eye to
eye Mr.. Hull returned to Washington
| from London with an increased reputa
tlon as public man. Mr.. Moley who
was frequently referred to in the past
| as IN the process of being groomed to
become Secretary of State, made a
nylng trip to the Economic Conference
and found that he had better have
remained at home.
Probably it was unfortunate that Mr.
| Moley was given such wide publicity
as chief adviser to the President on
many subjects. Either it would have
peen more advisable to remain in the
playground or 1t would have been wiser
10 give him a place in the cabinet
Immediately. President Roosevelt has
turned to members of the faculties Of
the American universities and colleges
Ior men to fill public office to a far
| greater extent than any other President
IWoscore or more of them have been
appointed to many varied posts. When
the appointment of so many of the
so-called brain trust" was used az a
subject to twit the President. Mr.
Roosevelt said that he preferred To
trust brains" and that if trusting
brains constituted a brain trust, he
was satisfied.
Inevitably "favorite" of snv r,,er
king, president or dictator, has his d.
tractors. When it was generally snread
about that Mr. Moley was the Poose-
velt favorite, there spang up here and
there many persons ready to tear down
the favorite. He had q bad press into
Liie bargain. IL seems quite clear now
lilat III thlS great game of politics Presi-
oenC roosevelt would nave made an
error mad he undertaken to senarate
lioin tne service, directly or indirectly.
Secretary Hull and to put in his nIace
the former Columbia University mo
lessor. There is no evidenca to s,Inno-t
a theory that the Presider ever had
Such an idea in his head Ne took Mr.
Hun from the Senate to make him Sec
retary OF State. Mr. Hull is not the kind
OF man TO seek position for himself On
the other hand, Mr. Hull, once having
oeen given high position of trust IS
not the kind of a man to have ht an
thority usurped by an assistant. that
may have been something that Ar
Moley did not recognize when he ar
cepted the place of Assistant Secretar,
OF State. But had the President eased
MI. HUH out of the picture and sup
planted hlm with Moley as some thought
ne would DO, he would have aroused
great resentment among the Democrats
Of the South, where Mr.. Hull is exceed :
ingly popular.
When Secretary Hull and Mr.. Moley
returned TO this country-Mr. Molev
much III advance of the Secretarv-it
was. apparent that something would
nave 10 be done. The President de-
tacneo Mr.. Moley from his State De-
partment duties and set him to WorI, on
crime Investigations. 1t looked to be a
way out of the difficult situation. De-
mails were made frequently at the White
House and Hyde Park that Mr.. Moley
was going to resign But the breach
was ALREADY there. which ended in the
resignation yesterday OF the Assistant
Secretary Of State.
Prof. Moley is to become associated
with Vincent Astor in the publication
OF new national magazine IAN ad-
venture in Independent political Jour
nalism," as Mr.. Astor describes it. Mr.
Moley Is to be editor. and it is to be
presumed that Mr.. Astor will be the
angel, in this case the publisher. Mr.
Molcy In his letter of resignation n
| the President declared that he felt he
could serve the President and the coun-
try 10 good purpose through the editing
| OF the new magazine This magazine
business stands a chance, however, of
Delng somewhat overdone An eminent
Democrat. one of the most eminent
Alfred E. Smith, is the editor of a po,iti-
cal magazine today, The New Outlook
Mr.. smith has not hesitated to say
When he disagreed with the New
Deal of the Roosevelt administration
whether Mr. Moley and Mr.. Astor in
their independent magazine soon to be
published will undertake solely to sun
port the President and what he is doing
remains to be seen.
4 x
Mr.. Moley's resignation marks the
flrSt break in the Roosevelt administra-
tlon. He was rated more influential
than members of the cabinet. Yet he
Is out and Secretary Woodin of the
treasury. for example continues in
once despite the many reports that he
was on the verge of resigning. Whether
the going Of Mr.. Moley is a forerunner
OF other designations remains to be
seen. Certainly it rcuoves from the ad-
mlnlstration circles the most noticeablv
Irritating situation that has so far
arisen. Mr.. Moley was one of the
PRESIDENTS chief advisers during the
campaign of last year on many SUBJ
Jects: He made the swing about the
country with the President He has been
hoy
forgotten man and making him an
important figure in the Roosevelt cam
paign.
Texas voted on Saturday for the re-
peal of the eighteenth amendment by a
VIDE margin. as it was expected to do
despite the efforts of the drys to hold it
IN line for national prohibition. 1t also
voted Tor 30 per cent beer without
further delay. The Lone Star State is
the 23d to vote for repeal. and still not
a single State has voted against repeal.
Thirteen more States are needed to
ratlfy the tWenty-firSt amendment to
the Constitution. wiping out the eight
eenth. A recapitulation of the States
which have voted and those which are
TO vote before long does not hold out
much hope for the cause of national
prohibition. The popular vote in the
various States in favor of repeal has
been overwhelming. Those States which
have voted repeal, electing delegates to
State constitutional conventions. 10 of
which already have met and ratified, y
are Michigan, Wisconsin, Rhode Island,
wyoming, New Jersey, Delaware, In
diana, Massachusetts, New York. I'LL
nois, Iowa, Connecticut, New Hamp-
shire. California, West Virginia, Arkan-
sas. Oregon. Alabama, Tennessee. Ne
vada. Arizona, Missouri and Texas.
There is no section of the country not
represented in the list.
x
Fifteen more States have set their
elections of delegates to constitutional
conventions. They and the dates on
which they will vote are as follows
Washington, August 90, October 3:
Vermont. September 5. September 18;
Maine, September IL, December 6: Colo
RADIO, September u. September 26;