Evening star., 1936-03-25
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

If somebody were to stage q revue of
current life and times along the lately
palpitating Potomac it could suitably be
called 1.-THE Inquiries Of 1886" Seldom
has Washington been the arena Of so
many simultaneous investigations, pend
ing or prospective. They include the
Senate Lobby Committees probe, the
Federal Communications Commissions
investigation of the American Telephone
& Telegraph Co., the economy" inquiry
into surplus Government agencies by the
committee headed by Senator Byrd,
Democrat, Of Virginia; the Townsend
plan investigation by House committee,
and the Senate relief investigation. In
addition, there now comes the study"
to be undertaken by President Roose-
velt's committee with view to co-ordi-
mating old executive establishments with
such New Deal concerns as are to be
perpetuated. The President proposes
that the task of research" in govern
mental reorganization be tackled by
House and Senate committees in con-
junction with his Investigators. Some,
If not all. of these inquiries will doubt
less still be under way when Congress
adjourns and may be doing business after
the sessions end.
Just before he left Washington Presi-
dent Roosevelt hinted that in order to
break the monotony of fish stories from
the South, he might spring some Federal
appointments which have been hanging
fire. Among them are successor to the
late Henry L. Roosevelt as Assistant
Secretary of the Navy. the farm-region
membership on the Board of Governors
of the Federal Reserve system and the
dictatorship of the Reconstruction
Finance Corp. vacated by the resignation
of former Senator Stephens Of Missis-
sippi. No inkling escapes the White
House as to the prospective recipients of
these various plums, for which there is
no dearth of candidates.
In presenting Gov. Landon," as John
Hamilton, the KanSan's campaign man
ager, labeled his recent broadcast. there
were several barbs indicating that If
Landon is President Roosevelt's oppo-
nent the 1896 contest will not be lacking
in punch. Hamilton's address briStled
with pugnacious references to the New
Deal and some of its outstanding mani
festations, personal and otherwise.
There were sharp hints, too, that If
Borah or any other pre-convention rival
goes cunning for Landon on the ground
that he is the fair-haired boy of the "in-
terests which have controlled the Re.
publican party in the past" the Gov
ernor and his friends are prepared bel
ligerently to resent such aspersions.
According to q recent compilation,
there are now 80 streets, squares and
parks in Poland named after Woodrow
wilson, scattered through as many diff
ferent cities. In one place there is
Wilson Monument. Another boasts q
Wilson colony" and the Wieliczka Salt
Mines have Wilson shaft. Five towns
have streets named after Herbert Hoo
yer. Warsaw Municipal Park contains
q statue of Col. Edward M. House. Paris.
Rome and Geneva named important
highways after the World War President.
- -
There has Just been issued Senate
document entitled "A Constitutional
Catechisrn." 1t is an article prepared
by Nathan Boone williams of the Dis
trict of Columbia bar and presented in
the Senate by Senator Fletcher, Demo-
crat, of Florida. The catechism answers
IN simple language several dozen ques-
tions comprehending the constitutional
points on which popular misconceptions
or doubts prevail It winds up with the
question: "How does the Supreme Court
its mandates and it, declarations?" The