Evening star., 1943-04-25
Elliott Will Retire Friday
AS Assistant Controller General
indiunon Has Been
In Federal Service
For 26 Years
Nv =. A. FOX

NlCNaTQ N. EluOLt-'OlCK 10 his
former associates in Congress and
The Judge" to the staff of the Gen.
eral Accounting Off1ce-is retiring
Friday as assistant controller gen.
eral, ending 26 years in the Govern
ment. He is 10 today.
His outstanding impression Of
this long service?
That no man is indispensable.
Propped back at the desk in his
high -ceilinged Office in the ram
bling old Pension Office Building,
the Indiana born Elliott, whose
speech still is tinctured with the
friendly drawl of the Hoosier farm
lands, talked over his years in the
Capital and philosophical on the
impermanence Of political eminence.
1T didn't take me long to discover
how unimportant the individual is
here" he mused when I came to
the House there were good men
there-able men. I'd wonder how
things would get along without
them. Well, after time. they'd 20,
and in little while it didn't seem
to make any difference. That's the
way 1t was always"
Went to Congress in 1917.
Mr.. Elliott, a Republican from
ConnerSville, came to the Sixty-fifth
Congress from the old 9Th District
OF Indiana on July 3, 1917, victor in
special election after the death of
Representative Daniel w. Comstock.
He was defeated for reelection
more than 13 years later, in Novem-
ber, 1880, when the Democrats cap
tured the House midway in Presi-
dent Hoover's term. Leaving the
House the following March 4. he
was sworn in few days later as
assistant controller general, under
an appointment by Mr.. Hoover. The
term is for Is years, but the statu-
tory retirement age intervenes.
In his years in Congress, which
covered the first World War period
and witnessed the bitter fights over
woman suffrage and prohibition (he
voted for both), Mr.. Elliott became
closely identified with the modern
development of the Capital, serv-
ing as chairman of the Commit
tee on Public Buildings and Grounds
which directed the Pennsylvania
avenue triangle building program.
He was also one of those re-
sponsible for the erection of the
Supreme Court Building. although,
as he says. there might not have
been a court building even today
had it not been for the interest
displayed by Chief Justice Taft,
his successor: Chief Justice Hughes
and Justice Willis Van Devanter.
Acted as Controller General.
As it happened, Mr.. Elliott acted
as Controller General for much of
his term in the General Account
ing Office. When the tough mind
ed John R. McCarl relinquished Of
flce on July l, 1886, it was con-
fldently expected that President
Roosevelt quickly would name
successor, for the Controller Gen.
erals Office had become a battle
ground, Mr.. McCarl's ideas as to
the legitimacy of many New Deal
expenditures differing radically from
those OF the administration.
It. was three years, however, be-
fore former Senator Fred H. Brown
Of New Hampshire became Control
ler General, and in that time Mr..
Elliott passed judgment on ex-
penditures, contemplated and made,
running high into the hundreds of
millions. He didn't hunt trouble,
and neither did he evade any re-
sponsibility, and while there were
few clashes, the relationship be-
tween the General Accounting Of
flee and the administration became
much less strained. Illness short
ened Mr.. Browns tenure, and again
The Judge" took over, conducting
| the Office until his old congressional
friend, Lindsay C. Warren of North
Carolina, became Controller Gen.
erai
Despite his stanch Republicanism,
Mr.. Elliott has had a weakness for
Democrats, that is. some Demo-
Gratis. Champ Clark of Missouri,
Speaker of the World War Con-
gress; Senator Oscar W. Under
wood of Alabama; his fellow In
dianan, Thomas R. Marshal, Wood
row Wilson's Vice President, and
John Nance Garner, former Speak
er and Vice President, were those
OF the opposite political faith whose
friendship he has cherished
But he still thinks that the out
BUY WAR SAVINGS