Evening star., 1934-02-16
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

President Roosevelt, as he always
does In times Of stress, registers COM
plete equanimity in the presence Of
criticism OF his policy In connection
with cancellation Of airmail contracts.
He Is all the more unruff1ed on the
present occasion because he is Serenely
confident that he and Postmaster Gen
eral Farley have an unaSSailably good
case. The administration awaits the
arbitrament Of the courts with COM
poSure, assured that from the stand
point of both law and public interest
the Presidents action, dramatic and
unorthodox as it was, will stand every
test. Col. Lindbergh's counsel, Col.
Henry Breckenridge, was Wilson '1it-
tie cabinet" colleague of F. D. r. when
the President was Assistant Secretary
Of the Navy. From 1918 until he re-
signed in 1915, Breckinridge was As
sistant Secretary of War. His latest
Who's Who" autobiography lists him
rs q director In the TranScontinental
Air Transport Co., Inc, and the Trans
continental 81 Western Air, Inc. Col
Breckenridge is close friend of Sena-
tor Harry F. Byrd Of Virginia. He Is
q Harvard law man.
Plans Of Representative Edward A.
Kenney, Democrat, of New Jersey to
end Uncle Sans money troubles by
authorizing the Veterans Adminstra-
ton to raise mot more than 1,000,-
600 900 q year" through q national
lottery, have Just received Endorsement
from cultured New England. The
mayor and Board of Aldermen of
Chelsea, Mass, approve the scheme as
designed to ease tax burdens and re-
store war veterans compensation"
They cite as precedent the lottery
organized by New York City in 1870,
to raise funds for making the City
Hall suitable for meetings Of Congress.
The Chelsea resolution favoring the
veterans lottery was submitted to the
Senate by Senator Barbour, Republi-
can, Of New Jersey.
-
It will mainly devolve upon Repre-
sentative Chester C. Bolton of Ohio to
organize victory for the G. o. P. this
year, as far as elections to the House
are concerned. He Is chairman of the
Republican Congressional Campaign
Committee and his job is to whittle
down the enormous majority by which
the Democrats now rule the lower
branch. Representative Bolton, who
occupies the old Theodore E. Burton
seat in the Cleveland district, was at
Harvard during Mr.. Roosevelt's days,
although graduated a year later. The
Republicans think there are at least
100 debatable House districts this
year, and they expect the pendulum
to swing substantially in their direc-
ton. They hardly count on captur-
ing a majority, although with few ex-
ceptions the party In power has al
ways bled profusely in of-year cleo
tions.
There's going to be an election at
the executive Offices on February 26,
when the White House Correspond
entS' Association chooses officers for
the ensuing year. A spirited contest
is on for the presidency between two
of the Capital news corps cleverest
and most popular members-FTancis
M. Stephenson, who covers the White
House for the Associated Press, and
Albert L. Warner Of the New York
Herald Tribune. "Stevie," as PreSi-
dent Roosevelt affectionately calls him
at press conferences, is one of the
bright particular stars of the numer-
GUS Indiana newspaper contingent in
Washington. Warner Is an acknowl-
edged authority on the finance and
economies Of the new deal. He