The Wilmington morning star., 1947-03-04
As Pegler Sees 1t
BY WEsTBROOK PEGLER
Downright by King Features Syndicate, Inc

4lClHSAG ~
DANGEROUS and wearying mission to other con-
tinents since Mr.. Truman became President,
is the occasion FOR q discussion OF an act Of
political nastiness now in process OF redress
Senator Albert w. Hawkes., OF New Jersey,
has introduced a bill to restore Mr. Hoover's
name TO the dam on the Colorado River, orig
inally known as the Hoover dam but desig.
mated Boulder Dam by Harold Ickes.
The contrast between the character of Mr..
Hoover and those who attempted to degrade
him has been plain in all incidents, rejecting
his morality and theirs, which provide a basis
for comparison. His worst fault during his
presidency was his obduracy on the subject
of prohibition and popular anger was directed
at him, individually.
He was the target of a great popular up
rising of Indignation. He had been booed by
the crowd who shouted I'VE want beer al a
world series game in Philadelphia. a more
| ominous note than we who heard it realized
at the time.
From election day on to March 4. 1888,
when Roosevelt was first inaugurated, Roose-
welt and his Brain Trust flippantly refused
to cooperate with Hoover. During that inter-
i'm. Hoover being now a lame duck and a
man without a mandate, decay and decline
were rapid both at home and abroad. The
problems of the presidency were his baby,
in the language of the ribald adventures, and
Lie Calculated pQA pO0C was " OH AAAAi1 GP III
the public ina g~ination as a monster who
would be finally responsible for any calami-
ties that might befal by inauguration day.
Hoover certainly was hated when he left
Office and his wise and conscientious counsel
went unheard, and his occasional preaching
of fundamental morality in public life was
sneered AVA by a people whose heirs may
blame them for their susceptibility to phrases
and a voice that put them In a spell.
Throughout his term he had scrupulously
refrained from exploiting the presidency for
his personal enrichment or the profit of mem
bers of his family. He had served without
pay, but hadn't said SO and the secret was
kept until a long time after he had vanished.
Although Mr.. Hoover was renowaed as a
man of great ability in many fields, particu-
larly in problems of the distribution OF food.
he was Ignored throughout the war. Mounte-
banks, drawn to Washington to advertise
themselves as administrators" have since
descended again to their natural level OF
greed and vulgarity. scrambling for easy
money in the movie industry, in radio, in The
modern racket known as labor relations
and in the variations Of the P.A.C. Jim Far
ley, too, another excellent executive, was
snubbed in favor Of draft dodgers. some Of
whom were adorned with brass to keep them
out of danger. Farley wrote Roosevelt On
Pearl Harbor day offering to serve wherever
diQ however lie cUu1Q ana, lOT dDSWA. got a
brush-off.
Mr.. Hoover has never asked that his name
be restored to the dam for which, more than
any other man. he was rCsponsible. He is
without vanity and so fine are his pride and
his dignity that he could not even recognize
Ickes who personally changed the name OF
the dam and wrote to Homer Cummings, then
the new deal Attorney General. in 1895, that
reference to Hoover Dam III government
litigation gives me nothing at all to eheer
about"
Mr.. Hoover did not name the dam for him
sell. 1t was so named by Ray Lyman Wilbur,
as Secretary of the Interior, in 1890. The
Roosevelt Dam, the Wilson Dam and the Cool
ldge Dam all had been named for incunA
bents, the Roosevelt in this case having been
Theodore, and the Norris Dam had been
named for Senator Norris while he was in
office. The honor to Hoover was particularly
appropriate however, because, he had labor
ed faithfully and successfully as Secretary of
Commerce in the early twenties to reconcile
old, conflicting interests of the states involved
and had participated as an engineer.
II support of his bill, Senator Hawkes.
proves that on three separate occasions Con-
gress designated this work, the Hoover Dam.
The change was made, personally, by Ickes
in a memorandum in May, 1888, when the
campaign to degrade Hoover was at its
height.
Later, in the correspondence with Cum
mlngs. he said he had "gone to great lengths
to give Boulder Dam its original and proper
name which my predecessor attempted felon-
lously to take from it, for which praiseworthy
and meritorIous act I have been roundly con-
demned by reactionary republican papers.
Cummings replied that Hoover Dam was
the title used by Congress and in a contract
OF the government for its construction, and
said s'Uhoy, T r, T shall cFyfoad nv no,,o
miseration in person"
AS to the propriety of naming a public
work in honor of a living person, there are
other precedents. In New York, Fiore1lo La
Guardia, who has SO much in common with
Ickes rejected the name of General Mac
Arthur for the East River drive on the ground
that history might give a new judgment on
Macarthur. Macarthur then was regarded as
a political personality by some of the Roose-
welt following. It was promptly noted that
LaGuardia Field had been named FOR the
mayor. This name has been accepted as Pc
culiarly fitting inasnuch as the field was built
on a. city dump, the flashy buildings have
cracked and crunbled and the runWays have
sagged into the water.
Moreover, LaGuardia selected the name OF
Sara D. Roosevelt, while she was alive, for a
series Of Fairgrounds on the East Side Of
New York On land acquired by Jimmy Walk
er for low cost housing. Sara D. Roosevelt
mad nothing to do with tn1S or WIN any other
beneficial public work. 1t was actually built
by Robert Moses, another who was ignored
by Roosevelt notwithstanding his fine. achieve
ments and reputation, because Mr.. Moses
caught Roosevelt trying to plant his private
political secretary, Louie Howe, on the public
payroll at S., 600 a year when Roosevelt was
out of office, and wouldn't let him get away
with it.
After Roosevelt's death, President Truman
availed himself Of Mr.. Hoover's abilities. He
is now u years old and years have passed
since he could be regarded as a candidate
for any office or honors Or for public service
except with the most patriotic motives.
1t would make little difference to M. Hoo
YER that his name were restored, but the
people have here a chance to make an amend