Evening star., 1935-12-15
Capital Sidelights
By Will p. Kennedy.

Occasionally the smallest of places
attracts attention ct the seats of the
mighty.
Now and anon a name echoing down
the corridors of slime awakens memories
of historic events. AS witness:
R. Walton Moore, Assistant Secretary
of State, and probably the best Informed
person on the history of his native State,
Virginia, with store Of human interest
anecdotes as SidelightS on great events,
has Just learned that there is such a
small place as Kremlin, Va. 1t is such
a small community that it is not men
toned in the Postal Guide, although
there is a Kremlin in Montana and an
other in Oklahoma. However, Gov.
George c. Peery atteSts that there is
such a place in Westmoreland County.
This is the way in which Kremlin,
Va. has been put on the map" for
national and international attention:
Assistant Secretary Moore, who served
for more than a decade in Congress as
Representative from the Mount Vernon
district, and under whose administration
in the State Department come matters
relative to Russia, was officially advised
that recently Negro man walked into
the consular section Of the United States
Embassy in Moscow with an American
passport which indicated his birthplace
as Kremlin, Va. On the second page
was an insert of the photograph of his
baby. The passport had been amended
to include the baby, whose name was
given as Joseph Stain. Mr.. Moore says
he knows nothing further than that he
has learned there is Kremlin in the
nf which TSoOrOn Wa chin Otnf1
a native OF course, every one knows
about the famous Kremlin Palace in
Moscow and also that the most important
political leader in Russia is Joseph Stain.
What a far cry to a darky baby from
one of the smallest communities in the
Old Dominion.
This insignificant incident, however.
has attracted much attention and
comment in the State Department re-
calling that it is not the first time that
Virginia has been connected with Russia.
In 1880 John Randolph of Roanoke
became our first Minister to Russia and
when he was presented to the Car
something occurred which led to a bitter
dispute between his friends and enemies
at home. 1t was claimed that he knelt
before the Empress, but this was denied
by those who said he lmped in on one
leg and thus gave the impression that
he had bent his knee.
Back of Randolphs time, John Paul
Jones, whose only home in America was
in Fredericksburg, Va, was appointed
by the Empress Catherine a rear admiral
in the Russian Navy and played an i'm
portant part in several successful en-
gagements with the Turkish feet in
the Black Sea. 1t is a curious coinci-
dence that Lewis Littlepage of Fred
ericksburg assisted Jones in a contro-
verSy between the latter and the Admiral
of the Russian feet. Littlepage, bril-
liant young man, was then chamberlain
of StaniSlauS, King of Poland. He re-
turned to this country and died at Fred
erickSburg when 80 years old.
-
Will Postmaster General Farley give
conspicuous evidence to the great army
of postal workers throughout the coun-
try that there is opportunity for ad-
vancement to offices of the highest trust
within the service? He indicated more
than a year ago that he desired to see
ability within the service rewarded by
appointment as postmaster. This has
been done in a number of cases, con-
SpicuouSly in the $4,000 poStmaSterShip
at Springfield, Mass, and even more
conspicuously it was not done in the
$4,000 post at Boston where the veteran
political Office holder. Peter F. Tague,
was appointed, due to pressure by Gov
Curley The Postmaster General has
said he desired to give a promotion
within the service to the $1,000 post
mastership in Washington, where the
term expires on February 5.
There is no candidate for the post
within the Washington office, but album
dant merit that could be rewarded II the
Postmaster General feels he can step
aside from the usual course Of distrib-
uting misunderstanding as political re-
wards and make an appointment to
build up the morale of the entire service.
This has been done in many notable in
stances throughout the entire Govern
ment service where administrative offf<
GERS have risen from the ranks: Assist
ant Secretary of State, Wilbur J. Carr;
chief of the Bureau of Investigations,
Department of Justice, j. Edgar Hoover;
director of personnel, Department of
Agriculture, Dr.. w. w. Stockberger;
budget officer, Department of Agricul-
ture, william A Jump; Special Assist
ant to the Secretary of the Treasury,
Harold N. Graves; chief Of the Secret
Service, w. H. Moran; director of the
Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Alvin
w. Hall.
In the Washington Post Office, the
assistant postmaster for the past l6
years is william H. Haycock, who. during
90 years of service, has worked his way
up from letter carrier.