Evening star., 1934-01-12

Political Washington is on the tip-toe
OF excitement to see how far President
Roosevelt is disposed to 60, In the first
real test Of his leadership, to fight for
ratification Of the st. Lawrence water
way treaty. While the message he sent
to the Senate is mild in tone, friends
and foes of the pact read between the
lines that F. D. r. means business and
will resort to every resource at his
supporters are confident that the Presi-
dents Nationwide popularity will
eventually bring the Senate to terms
He s so shrewd a politician that
it's difficult to believe he would
risk a contest involving a controversy
with some of his strongest Democratic
supporters. like Senator Wagner of New
York, unless he felt reasonably sure of
final victory His prestige, naturally,
will suffer if he's beaten, although de-
feat would mean far less than If 1t
concerned an issue directly connected
with the new deal-say, an attempted
abolition of N. r. A. Nevertheless. the
White House would not relish a rebuff.
and administration. forces, captained
by Senate Majority Leader Robinson of
Arkansas, will leave no stone unturned
to corral the necessary two-thirds vote.
Meantime. It's a brand-new sensation
for the President to face even the pos.
sibility Of checkmate on Capitol Hill.
X X
Soviet Ambassador Troyanovsky has
survived his baptism Of fire at the
hands of the washington correspond
ents unscathed and uncommunicative.
After recovering consciousness, he re-
marked to Ambassador Bullitt that he
didn't imagine there could be so many
questions in all the world as were
hurled at him by IS scribes In a space
of rs minutes The newsfolk found the
man from Moscow Suave and cordial
but diplomatically and Systematically
evaSive on all important points, such
as the Soviet-JapaneSe conflict. The
outlook is that the Soviet embassy on
Sixteenth street. now being renovated
from top to bottom. will be the scene
of notable official entertainment. Ex-
tensive internal changes, with a view to
expanding its facilities for social pur-
poses, are going forward under the Am
bassador's personal direction. During
Mr.. Troyanovsky's five years at Toxic the
Soviet embassy there was famed for its
hospitality. and Washington Is likely to
find him pursuing a similar policy here.
The Ambassador is expected to 60 in
for a good deal Of quiet. informal en-
tertainment, too. He's fond of bridge
and poker and plays both well, former
Toxic associates say Mr.. Troyanov-
sky conveys the impression Of being
alert and acute. He is likely to become
an outstanding figure in Washington
diplomacy.
A certain washington authority who
opposes reconciliation of silver points
out in a current publication that silver
not the important commodity in the
tied States which its ardent advo-
Gates claim. He says that American
1929 was worth less than our $52, ,00O,-
COO peanut crop, our $50, 900 salmon
catch. or the $38, 8,000,0 900 grass-seed
harvest" The same expert holds that
while the seven Rocky Mountain
States which account for 95 per cent
of American silver production control,
through IA Senators, Is per cent OF the
votes in the Upper House. only 112
per cent of their population, at the
utmost, depends directly or indirectly
on silver for its living, and 1t Is hence.
in a way. misleading to designate these
Commonwealths as silver States"
\ Il y
japanese Charge d'Affaires Toshi-
hiko Taketomi received a mySufying
cablegram the other day from Hirosht
Saito who will soon leave Europe to
become japanese Ambassador at Wash
ington. The message read: What Is
the condition of cave?" Mr.. Take
tomi's first blush impression was that
Cave must be one Of the new WASH
inston alphabet family, standing. per-
hans. for Central Administration,
veterans Emergency" or something Of
the sort. Finally, one of the embassy
secretaries reminded the charge
d'affaires that the word cave" Is
idiomatic French for wine cellar.
Thereupon. Mr.. Taketomi cabled Mr..
Saito: Gave is okay."
u
Representative Loring M. Black. jr,
Democrat. of New York has received