Evening star., 1938-05-20
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

silence induced isapprehensions. Even
after seasoned political reporter piped
up that such reticence is bound to lead
to erroneous interpretations, F. D. r.
intimated that the scribes might 60
ahead and write their heads off without
any risk Of complaint or rebuke from
him.
Capitol Hill is still talking about the
dogged manner in which Secretary
Morgenthau stood his' ground at re-
cent executive inquisition of the Senate
Finance Committee. Under fire of ques-
tions by Senator Bailey, Democrat, of
North Carolina the Treasury chief as
serted that Government credit. despite
a chronic deficit and mounting national
debt. lis as high as or higher than
1t ever has been" Mr.. Morgenthau
insisted on confining his rose-tinted
view to conditions as of today, resolutely
refusing to look into the crystal and
say what may happen tomorrow. All
he knows. he insisted, is that to date
I'VE have been able to finance the
Government at a constantly lower in
terest rate, that we offer Federal Sc
curitieS on q lower investment return
than any other government in the world,
and that we have done it successfully"
Then the chancellor OF the New Deal
exchequer explained. as he has done
often before. that the Treasury is on
q "24-hour basis" and has been ever
since he went on the Job, the principle
being to meet "dinlcult situations as
they arise" Mr.. Morgenthau declined
to be pinned down as to whether the
$45, 900 ,0OO, 900 limit bond-issuing author
ization now sought might within year
or two be raised to $4,000, 100000 or
SEC, ,0O0, 100000. The limit is now $685.
600 000O,0O0
One of the Capitols interesting visitors
this week was Mrs. George P. Meier Of
Indianapolis, noted character analyst,
who diagnoses personality from in
dentations of the palm, after making an
impression of it. Mrs. Meier has thus
X-rayed the hands Of many world cele-
brities, including priests, prophets and
kings and recorded her experiences in
q book entitled Lions Paws" Under the
chaperonage of Senator Van Nuys. Mrs.
Meier. in the v. P.'s Office, took i'm
pressions of a few congressional lions
paws, and later some cabinet paws. She
intends to write book about them,
too, and call it Palms of Victory"
Among the hands she studied were those
of Vice President and Mrs. Garner,
Senators Barkley, Vandenberg and Van
Nuys, and Senate Secretary Ed Halsey.
What's wrong with Washington's taste
in the art of the theater? The only
partially filled houses that have greeted
this weeks engagement Of the world
famous and incompatible Abbey Theater
Players from Dublin are a sad COM
mentary on the National Capitals in
difference to the drama and to the rare
cultural opportunities presented by the
works of Lennox Robinson, Sean
O'Casey, George Shiels. j. M. Synge
and Cormac O'Daly and such inter-
prefers Of them as Barry Fitzgerald,
Eileen Grove. Denis O'Dea. Michael j..
Dolan, Austin Meldon, Maureen Delany
and their brother and sister artists. De-
spite the enchanting brogue In which
they 20 faithfully portray the sadness,
the 10y, the piety and the humor In
digenous to the soil Of Erin, they consti-
tute the most distinguished spokesmen
and spokeswomen of the English word
who have been heard on the local stage
in our time. The box-ofdce returns
which Mr.. Ebert A. Wickes has
achieved here must b measer. CON-