Evening Star Newspaper, March 4, 1929, Page 34

HOOVER VERSED IN BUSINESS; CUR THE EVENING IDEALISM IS APPEALING TO MASSES OF WORLD President’s Versatil ity Shown by Ease in Turning From Engineering to Aid S uffering Humanit Milestones in President’s Life Born at West Branch, Iowa, August 10, 1874, of Quaker parents, his mother being a Quaker preacher and his father a village blacksmith; left an orphan at 9 yeors. Lived with relatives in Towa and Oregon, earning his own living at 13, working to enter college at night. Graduated by Leland Stanford University with A. B. degree in engineering in 1895, entering at once upon his career of mining engineer in the Far East. Returned in 1899 on flying t rip and married Miss Lou Henry of Monterey, Calif.. who had been a fellow student. Worked at his professional career and became an authority on engineering and financial op Europe when the World War st: and since the war. pointed four yvears later by Pre: factor than ever before in advai and abroad. Became chairman of the Mi the Colorado River Commission. than any man before him. Wrote various books and Considered for President of #ad nominated overwhelmingly Flected thirty-first President € 1928, carrying 40 of the 48 States and breaking the “solid” Snuth for the first time since the Civil War. Broke all precedents by mal A‘nerican countries, as far South as Chile and Argentina, as Prasident-elect. ‘Took the oath of office of President of the United States Mdrch 4, 1929. Received more degrees from colleges, at home and abroad, cealing chiefly with the technical side of his profession. erations, known the world over. Took charge of getting stranded Americans home from arted and became chairman of the commission for the relief of Belgium in 1915. President Wilson called him home when the United States entered the war and made him food administrator; filled numer- ous other relief and economic positions here and abroad during Appointed by President Harding March 5, 1921, and re-ap- sident Coolidge 2s Secretary of Commerce, reorganized his department and made it a greater ncing American trade at home ssissippi quod Commission and magazine articles, the former the United States since 1920, at Kansas City in June, 1928. of the United States, November king a good-will tour of Latin STAR. WASHINGTOXN. D. €., MONDAY. MARCH. {, TIS NOTED FOR ACUMEN| 1929. v BY DONALD A. CRAIG. 71 nas been sald that the ideal raier—or leader—of a nation is a| man who embodies its ideals and unhderstands also the practical side of the people’s life. .That ¥ a large order, as most persons will admit. Nevertheless, the man who becomes President of the United States today does both of these things in large measu-e, according to the opinion of those who know him most intimately and of millions who voted for him last November. Herbert Clark Hoover is a new kind of President of this republic. We have never had one just like him, nor one ve% n;‘cr llk)e1 a‘};r.m * ; ‘e have lawyers—a galaxy of them-—soldiers, judges, farmers, profes- sional politicians and one famous Presi- dent whose principal career had been that of college professor. But we have never had for President a man who has been chiefly a business man, who at the same time is many things that a mere business man is not. The new President is a' man whose life_has been spent, not only in the professional career of engineering— closely allied with modern business and typilying present-day development of the natural resources of this earth—but. as a Jleader in financial, erganization. He has. been withal an eminently prac- tical sort of man, putting on hip boots. wading into the mud and water, if need be, and judging from the.evidence fur- nished by his own eyes of ‘the truth of a thing, be it a mining property, the relief of thousands of human- sufferers from a disastrous Mississippi flood, or saving millions from starvation in war- torn Europe. “ It is this dual quality of President Hoover that distinguishes him. He is practical, versed in the actual things of life through sceing them and touch- ing them for himself, and at the same time he is blessed with an idealism that has made him known and loved the masses of the “people the world over and won for him the name of the agrld'u greatest helper of his genera- n. There is no intention here of recount- ing the events of the remarkable cam- paign of 1928 which ‘resulted in the election of Hoover. In many respects it has been called the most remarkable in American history. Certain things hap- pened on election day in November that have not happened for some 130 years. ‘The spectacle of 120,000,000 people every four years electing their President—a man who is to hold for a four-year term | the highest elective office—and now | doubtless the most responsible public office of any kind—in our modern world. always staggers the imagination of men and women everywhere. It has become a regularly recurring world event of the first magnitude. Victory Unprecedented. Not since party strife began in the United States during the term of our second President, John Adams, has man come out of bitterly fought pres- idential battle against.a strong single opponent with a victory more, remark- able. Not ce the Republican party was organized, a few years prior to the Civil War, has a candidate of that party for President won the electoral votes of any State of the so-called “solid” South. Hoover did that, not in one instance, nor in a single locality, but in four States, scattercd from Virginia to ‘Texas, and at the same time he carried cvery Northern and Western State but two. Explanations of this electoral sweep have been given and will be given, but it is not the purpose of this article to discuss them. They have already been discussed superficially and more or less profoundly and doubtless will continue to be discussed so long as any of us live, and longer. It is the fact and its immediate consequences that confront and interest us. J Nor will an attempt be made here to recount in detail the life history’ of Hoover, That has been done so many times and so recently that it may be regarded as scarcely necessary, except in so far as certain évents of his life | form a background for the point in his, and his Nation's history to which time has now brought us. If no unexpected event occurs, the “Life of Hoover” is just beginning to be written on the ! pages of time and will be later trans- ferred by scribblers to the pages of written history. What has happened up to this moment will probably be hereafter compressed into & compara- tively few lines. What Hoover has done is not the thing that the people of this and other nations are interested in knowing now. They want to know, or if they cannot know, to have in some way, however dimly. foreshadowed for them what he will do. Only time can discover what Hoover is to write on the pages of American— or world—history. Yet, perhaps, some things may be foreseen in their broader outlines. As coming events cast thelr shadows before, so the substance of things to come may often be read, if the Teader be ‘I.Sf.;.lr';! C‘hntlgh, in what happened in the past. ' ll”g:phtsymg is a_fascinaiing art, but a dangerous one. It is best and safest to prophesy after the event has occur- red. #P‘ what is more amusing to the mind than speculation with regard to future events? Everybody indulges in it, and already, with regard to the Hoo- a(Ing with the whole Congress of the has | to care whether he made friends or deavor to rid himself of the temptation to be a prophet, and will leave that to | writers who are already busy at it all over this and other lands. Yet certain | fagts and conditions and their natural corsquences may . be stated without | ovestepping the bounds. Prospects Are Bright. That Hoover comes into the White | House with very bright prospects ‘most | every one admits. There are many per- sons who believe that his administration of four, or perhaps eight, years will be one of the most successful and notable | in our history. They can point to rea- sons for their belief. But, lest this article become a mere hymn of praise of a man whose record as President has only this day begun, some of the difficulties or pitfalls in his path may be considered first, leaving the brighter side until later. Every one, or nearly every one—with the possible exception of Jim Reed of Missouri—seems to regard Hoover as an honest, sincere, straightforward, red- tapeless and gnctlnlly efficient execu- tive, even though many who voted against him do not agree with his po- litical policies, so far as they have been disclosed. iy | During the recent clmp(fla Hoover’s closest friends declared—nay, urged in his favor—that he was not a| politician. Today many of them will | tell you the same thing, and some who are wisest in the ways of Washington see a possibility of danger ghead in this fact. ‘They realize that to be a success- ful President of this u})ubllc a man must be more or less of a politician. ‘The best Presidents have been the best gamwhns—usm that word in its roader and higher sense. They have known how to reward ju- diciously those who helped them into the White House, how to weld “their garty into a compact, working body, some of perience that all legislation is the re- sult of compromise. Some of the best and most enthusi- astic friends of the new President are wondering whether he realizes this suf- ficlently to avoid clashes and congre: sional entanglements. They want Hoove! to be the leader. of his party, to domi- nate , as all our great Presi- dents have done, but they want him ‘to know when to yield as well as when to, hold fast. “This is the great hurdle that Presi- dent Hoover must get over to make a success of his administration,” said one of his friends and admirers to the pres- ent writer a few days ago. He was re- ferring to the relationship between the President and Congress. Those who take an optimistic view will tell you that Hoover has had much experience with Congress as Secreta of Commerce, but the croakers wiil come right back with the statement that dealing with congressional com- mittees as a cabinet member and deal- United States as President are two en- tirely different things—so different that lhe)’:“cnn scarcely be compared with any profit. ‘The supporters of the new adminis- tration and the intimate friends of the new President point to another thing in Hoover’s character, often' demonstrated in _the past, to which they pin their chief hoge. Many of them are so sure that this trait will pull him through safely that they are not worrying in the least about the future. This is Hoover's re- markable capacity to learn how to do every job that has had to be done. ‘When Hoover was first mentioned for President at the close of the World War he knew nothing whatever about poli- tics. His presidential boom for eight years or more made no progress, or vir- tually none. Then, according to his friends, Hoover began to take the thing seriously and decided to find out what was the matter. They say he soon found out that he must learn the “po- litical game” as it is played in these United States or he never would have a chance to be nominated for President. So_he undertook the task of learning politics. He set to work at it, his friends say, in just the same way that he would set to work to solve a problem in en- gineering or finance. He may not have enjoyed working out the problem, and doing many of the things he found it necessary to do, but he had an end in| view and he kept driving for it, doing what was needed to achieve it. How he did achieve it all the world knows. His friends and well-wishers hope that he will bring to bear upon | the present problem of dealing l'\lh! Congress the same “Hoover common sense” which has served him so well in the past. i It is no secret among those on the | “Inside” in Washington that Hoover, | when he first became Secretary of Com- | merce under President Harding and be- | fore he got the presidential “bee in his bonnet,” was not very popular on Cap- itol Hill. He was inclined to be the somewhat distant and the curt busi- ness man, who could not be swerved from his course by political appeals by {'this man or that. - He did not ‘seem not, - He cared only about doing his duty as he saw it: But he' changed in this respect. Not that he became more pliable or willing to swerve from the line of duty, but his friends say he discovered that a ggguciun may often be granted some n_ without danger to the Republic, or, if he must be turned down. there newspaper correspondents and editorfal | y, ow to “give and take” in dealing with | who by | Congress. They have-learned from ex- | Lives of Washington And Hoover in Early Days Much Alike President Hoover, our ‘latest President, and George Washing- ton, our first President, led much the same kind- of life in their early days. Hoover, graduating with an A. B. in’ engineering, spent his time for many years, traveling over the world practicing that profession. ‘Washington, as a young man studied mathematics, became 2 surveyor and spent many years in surveying and investigating the land that was then as much of a wilderness as anything Hoover entered—the frontier of the American colonies, especiall; Virginia, i1 the Shenandoal Valley and on the Ohio River, where no white foot had ever trod. broadened in ‘this respect, say his friends, much as Charles Evans Hughes has done since he ran for President and was defeated, largely because he did not know how to make and keep po- litical friendships while at the same time steering a true course. i Never a “Mixer.” Hoover has never been a “mixer” in the ordinary sense of that wdrd. :But the men and women who have kitown him best and worked closely with him speak in the highest terms of him. It seems that he has the sort of personal magnetism that cements to Mini those come in close contact wigh; him, but that he has yet to develop that sort of magnetism that draws the crowds. He is not a Roosevelt. snor an Al Smith in this respect. Sqme think he never will be, But, they say, neither was Coolidge, and yet see how successful Coolidge was as President. There is this difference, too, namely, that Hoover undsubtedly has-and. always has had morer loyal and intimate personal frie than Coolidge. He never has beefi s much of a “lone wolf” as his prédecessor. Hogver has always been a man of ac- complishment, ever since he worked his way through college and started on his career as mining engineer. It has been things done that have counted with him. His friends are confident: that he may be depended upon to get things done as President, no matter what dif- ficulties he may encounter in the shape of a recalcitrant Congress or otherwise. Some of the most famous American Presidents have ended up in quarreling with Congress. Roosevelt and ' Wilson are recent examples. They have re- tained their popularity with the people, who usually take the side of a President against Congress in such eircumstances. But' they have falled to dccomplish their purposes when that situation has arisen. For, after all, Congress and the President are co-ordinate powers in our Government. One cannot act without the other in any matter of real con- cern to the people. If for no other reason than to make certain that he will be able to accom- plish his purposes, Hoover will not quar- rel with Congress, in the opinion of his friends. Hoover’s record of doing things began when he was a mere boy—an orphan boy, 8 years old, at West Branch, Iowa, where he was born August 10, 1874, His father oefore him was a sturdy doer, a blacksmith, who combined with that trade the selling of farm implements. His mother was fu'l of energy, a woman preacher in Quaker churches. The or- phan boy worked on a farm for his Quaker relatives and finally went to Oregon with an uncle. At the age of 13 he began to earn his own living. He studied at night and was admiited to the then new Leland Stanford Univer- sity, in California. Working his way through the university, he managed to attract the attention of his instructors by _his industry. Upon his graduation with an A. B. degree in engineering in 1895, he plunged at once into his profession. His work took him all over the world. He soon became known not merely as an engineer who could manage a job on |the spot, but as a man who had busi- ness and financial genius—an organ-| izer and executive of a high type. Soon his activities and interests spread into many countries, and he hi headquarters in New York and London. his home in California. He became a director of Stanford University and came back from the ends of the earth to attend directors; meetings. Has Made Money. Such has been Hoover's business and professional career in a nutshell. It might be inferred—and correctly—that ‘'self, every penny of which he earned by his h’ldust\";'e of hand or brain. The companies and syndicates with which he was connected when the World War broke out in 1914 were loath to let him go, but at the call of American Ambas- sador Page he severed his business con- nections and went to work in a new ver adminisceeon, the optimists and the peesimists are busy with their pre- dieting. The is a way to do it that softens the blow role. First he took charge of getting stranded Americans back from Europe. present writer ‘m. en- land leaves no hard feelings. Hoover He was chairma® of the American Re- financial | Never did he lose touch, however, with! he made money for others and for him- . THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. —Sketched From Underwood & Underwood Photographs. HOOVER 30TH TO TAKE OFFICE AS OCCUPANT OF WHITE HOUSE Herbert Clark Hoover became the thirty-first President of the United States at noon today. He is, however, the thirtieth man to hold that high office. This apparent discrepancy is explained by the fact that Grover Cleveland’s two terms as President were separated by a four-year interval and he is counted officially as the twenty-second and twenty-fourth President. There is no similar instance in American history. The Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States, with their terms of service, are as follows: President 1—George Washington 2—John Adams 3—Thomas Jefferson 4—James Madison 5—James Monroe 6—John Quincy Adams T—Andrew Jackson 8—Martin Van Buren 9—William Henry Harrison 10—John Tyler 11—James K. Polk 12—Zachary Taylor 13—Millard Fillmore 14—Franklin Pierce 15—James Buchanan 16—Abraham Lincoln “ 17—Andrew Johnson 18—Ulysses 8. Grant 19—Rutherford B. Hayes 20—James A. Garfleld 21—Chester A. Arthur 22—Grover Cleveland 23—Benjamin Harrison 24—Grover Cleveland 25—William McKinley 26—Theodore Roosevelt 27—William H. Taft 28—Woodrow Wilson 29—Warren G. Harding 30—Calvin Coolidge w 31—Herbert Clark Hoover Vice President John Adams ‘Thomas Jefferson Aaron Burr George Clinton George Clinton Elbridge Gerry Daniel D. Tompkins John C. Calhoun John C. Calhoun Martin Van Buren Richard M. Johnson John Tyler William R. King John C. Breckinridge Hannibal Hamlin Andrew Johnson . Schuyler Colfax Henry Wilson William A. Wheeler Chester A. Arthur Thomas A. Hendricks Levi P, Morton Adlai E. Stevenson Garret A. Hobart Theodore Roosevelt Charles W. Fairbanks James S. Sherman Thomas R. Marshall Calvin Coolldge Charles G. Dawes Charles Curtis Service April 30, 1789, to March 3, 1797. March 4, 1797, to March 3, 1801. March 4, 1801, to March 3, 1825. March 4, 1825, to March 3, 1829. March 4, 1829, to March 3, 1833. March 4, 1833, to March 3, 1837. March 4, 1837, to George M. Dallas Millard Fillmore March 3, 1849. March 5, 1849, to July 9, 1850. July 10, 1850, to March 3, 1853. March 4, 1853, to March 3, 1857. March 4, 1881, to September 19, 1881. September 20, 1881, to March 3, 1885. March 4, 1885, to March 3. 1889. March 4, 1889, to March 3, 1893. March 4, 1893, to March 3, 1897. March 4, 1897, to 3, 1901. March 4, 1901, to September 14, 1901. September 14, 1901, to March 3, 1905, August 2, 1923. August 3, 1923, to March 3, 1925. March 4, 1925, to March 3, 1929, March 4, 1929, to——+—— Vice Presidents Who Became Presidents How Chosen. John Adams ‘Thomas Jefferson Martin Van Buren Elected Elected’ Elected Term Expired. March 3, 1801 March 3, 1809 March 3, 1841 Re-elected? No Yes No Succeeded at death of John Tyler Willlam Henry rrison No March 3, 1845 Succeeded at death of Millard Filmore Zachary Taylor No March 3, 1853 Succeeded at death of Andrew Johnson Abraham Lincoln No March 3, 1869 Succeeded at death of Chester A. Arthur James A. Garfield No March 3, 1885 Succeeded at death of Theodore Roosevelt Willlam McKinley Yes March 3, 1009 Succeeded at death of Calvin Coolidge lief Committee and next of the Com- mission for the Relief of Belgium. In the latter capacity he received and dis- bursed millions of dollars for this and other governments, and never a breath of criticism has been raised against him, even though France has sent checks for millions of francs, made out simply to “Herbert Hoover,” and never even sought an accounting. Seldom in the world’s history has a man handled so much money and been so high above suspicion. It is little wonder that when the United States entered the war in 1917 President Wilson called him home and made him Food Adminisrator, a which he filled to the eviaent satisfac- tion of the people and most of the pol- iticlans until after the war was won. Hoover's reputation was made. He was world-famous now outside of his fession, as he had been before inside t. From that time to the present he has held so many chairmanships, di- Warren G. Harding t | Balkan March 3, 1929 rectorships or memberships on relief and other helpful commissions and councils that his activities, if adequately told, would flll volumes. He served on some of the greatest of the war agencies, such as the Interallied Food Council and the United States War Trade Coun- cil. Wherever there was a difficult job —a real job—to dbel{ done you ::re pretty sure to find Hoover somewhere around, lending a shoulder to the wheel or it. After the war he directed various eco- nomic measures in Europe and at home. He organized the food supply for Ger- many and her allies, for Poland, the states, Russia and Armenia, again receiving and spending untold millions. No one was surprised when President Harding made him his Secretary of Commerce and President Coolidge re- appointed him to that cabinet office. Eight Presidents Were Members of Episcopal Church Eight American: . Presidents were memg;n ok{ the Protestant Episcopal urcl X g Seven were Presbyterfails. Four were Methodists. Four were Unitarians. ‘Two belonged to Dutch Re- formed .Church. One was a Baptist, one a Con- gregationalist and one belonged to the Church of the Disciples of Christ. President Hoover is_the first Quaker who has been President. some persons might regard as more im- portant, but Hoover always preferred the Department of Commerce. ‘Taking his job seriously, he has made of that department a machine for the development and assistance of Ameri- can commerce at home and abroad such as it has never been before. His work of enlargement and nfzation in the department and his “helpfulness— concrete moneymaking Melpfulness—to American businéss during his service as Secretary of Cammerce will Jong be re- membered by American business men. Beginning with the A. B. in engineer- ing, for which he worked so hard as a young man at Leland Stanford Uni- versity, he has received so many collej degrees that they will fill almost a col- umn in the finé print of “Who's Who in America.” Thé number ‘and variety is bewildering. Theéy have been bestowed by colleges and universities all over the world. It is safd no other man has re- ceived so many. 1t seemed inévitable that such a'man should be considered: as a presidential possibility. His boom started in-a small way in 1920, and had grown but'little when 1924 rolled around. But in 1928 the Hoover sentiment had become irre- sistible. The rest is recent hsitory. It is this life of industry, of’ practical, hard work and almost unvarying suc- cess that foreshadows, if anything can, what sort of a man he will be in the ‘White House. Large Practical Experience. Most of our Presidents, when it has come to solving & business problem for the Nation, ot a problem involving the present use .and future of our great natural resources, have had to depend upon the advice of experts called in to advise them. Most of them have been learned in their own professions, but theiy‘ have not had experience in dealing with such things. President Hoover is not the sort of man who declines advice, but in these matters he is able to bring to bear upon the problems his own thorough, practi- cal knowledge and actual experience. In this day, when the future develop- ment, as well as the present-day prob- lemfi of the Ul;lted States dng:sddw such a great degree upon ri le- cisions in mntun‘;l thlsp‘iknd. it is re- rrfled by many persons as peculiarly ortunate that rtlivle new President is this sort of man. Again, Mr. Hoover In the past has shown an almost uncanny ability in selecting the right men to fill positions of responsibility. There is no reason to believe, his friends declare, that he has suddenly lost the keenness developed through a lifetime of expeeience In this respect. They believe that he can “think out” most of the questions that will come before him as President all by himself, but insist that if one con- fronts him that is outside his experi- ence he may be depended upon to get the right man or woman to advise him and to take the right advice. Born poor, left an orphan before he was 10 years old, earning his own living when he was barely in his 'teens, working his way through college and then fighting his way upward, year by year, to the very top of his profession and a comfortable fortune of his own making, Herbert Clark Hoover is a typical American. In his life every man or woman in this broad land. who is not born in the lap of luxury. may see something of himself and his own life. Hoover may well be his ideal. PRESIDENT’S AGE 55. Nearly Hits Average of American Executives at Inauguration. The average age of American Presi- dents at the time of their inauguration Is 54 7-30 years. - Herbert Hoover, taking office at 55 years of age, almost exactly hits the average. ‘Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest President, having been inaugurated at 42 years of age. Willlam Henry Harrl- son, taking :gm at 68, was the oldest. Washington was 57 when he was in- ugurated. So were Jeffersbn. Madison and gohn Quincy Adams. Mr. Coolidge was 51. Grant, Polk, Pierce, Garfleld, Cleve- land and Roosevelt were the American EPPOIEN INAUGURAD = SREPTOW" FIRST FLOOR LEADER MADE VICE PRESIDENT Presiding Officer Knows Modus Oper- andi of Senate Which Will Be Under Sway of His Gavel. Born January 25, i860, at the Kaw Indians. Lived as a boy in a tepee grandmother, an exciting life. Became a professional joc! an exciting place to live. vention and elected county &Elr) ng his term of office. and to the United States Senat: can floor leader of the Senate States, March 4, 1929. - High Spots in Curtis’ Career | Curtis, whose American ancestry went back to 1621, and Helen Granville, daughter of a Frenchman and White Plume, chief of races in the days when Jesse and Frank James made the plains Entered politics in 1884 as delegate to a Kansas county con- ka) in 1885, making a record for closing saloons in Topeka Elected to House of Representatives in Washington in 1892 Topeka, Kans., son of William on the plains with his Indlan key in Kansas, winning many attorney of Shawnee County e in 1907. Succeeded Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts as Republi- in 1924. Nominated for Vice President of the United States, June 15, 1928, and elected with Herbert Hoover, as President, by an overwhelming majority, November 6, 1928. | Took the oath of office as Vice President of the United HARLES CURTIS of Kansas is the first man holding the im- portant position of the regularly chosen floor leader of the Senate who has been elected Vice Presi- dent of the United States, in which ca- pacity he will be the premiding offiger of that body, but voteless—virtually powerless—except in the case of a tie vote. When Curtis was sworn in as Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate tousy, he shed most of his official authority. But Charles Curtis is not the sort of man to sit idle, listen to endless and tiresome Senate debates and twiddle his thumbs. He knows too much about the job of running the Senate from the floor to do that. He says he is going to be a “working” Vice President, whatever that may be, but in any event he is sure to be consulted by his colleagues in leg- islative and parliamentary tangles, as few, if any, Vice Presidents have ever been before his day. ‘The members of the Senate know that Curtls is wise in the ways of legislation | In Congress, and especially in the ways | of the Senate, which can become the | most troublesome body on_earth at | times. He is different from Vice Presi- | dents who have gone before him in that particular. There have been other Vice Presidents who have been elevated to that position from the Senate, but not from the im- portant position of the leader of the majority party in that body. Some per- | sons have intimated that it is a “come- down” for Curtis. He does not think so. Many of his former colleagues on the floor, who have benefited by his advice, whether they have belonged to his own or ktl:a opposition party, are of the same mind. Should President Hoover invite Vice President Curtis to meet with the cab- inet, he will be able to throw consid- erable light upon the legislation situa- tion‘ on Capitol Hill and thereby be of real help to the President and ad- visers. It is scarcely conceivable that anything of importance can go on there without his knowing and fully under- :standing the purport of it. Accomplishes Resalts. Curtis is noted for his acumen, his thorough knowledge of the rules and of the foibles of individual Senators and Representatives. He has had long ex- perience at the Capitol, and he has made the most of it. Quiet, unassum- ing in his ordinary habits, one would not st that he held the Senate “in the hollow of his hand,” so far as any- hodi;‘cm do that in these parlous days. Perhaps that is putting it too stron; it would be more correct to say that I tle or nothing that on at the Caj itol escapes him an better than most men in his po sition to accomplish results, and with no fuss about it, either. Most Vice Presidents have not been members of that body theretofore. Many of them have never had experience in either branch of Congress; some, like Dawes. have never been members of any long-winded legislature. The ad- Jective is doubtless superfluous; for was there ever a legislature or national as- sembly that was not given to lengthy ug:echu and spending more time at that than transacting business? Prob- ablv not. To give 8 few exa of Vice Presidents and their g:!d training: been in the Theodore Roosevelt New York State Legislature and gov- ernor of that State, but he knew nothing of the Senate; Thomas Riley Marshall had never been a member of the Senate. nor had Coolidge. They not only had to learn to preside over & body with parliamentary rules of the most complicated form, but even to learn the names and States of most of the men whom it fell to their lot to recognize when they rose to speak many times a day. True, the presiding officer of the Senate has a prompter, who occupies & position just below him on the next tier of desks, and, by turning his head and talking in a whisper. often keeps him from going wrong. But even then new Vice Presidents—and old ones who have not mastered the rules—are con- tinually getting into difficulties. There isn't much danger of.that in Curtis’ case. He could prompt the prompter. Sherman Efficient. “Sunny Jim” Sherman of Utica, :’. dY.. when %lw.:oog‘u President, le an_especially one, because he had been one of the leaders of the House of Representatives. The rules of that body are different from those of the Senate, but Sherman had grown wise in the ways of Senators and the Senate during years of association at the Capitol, and it did not take him long to catch on. Besides, the faces of “Senators from this and that” were not new to him. He was an “old dog” In congressional and party politics, to whom it was not necessary to teach many new tricks. Curtis is too wise in the ways of the Senate to lecture it about its own shortcomings. as Dawes did at the beginning of his term of office, thereby setting every member of that body by the ears, and failing to improve his own position with them one whit. Silence and efficiency are the princi- pal characteristics of the new Vice President. He was one of the ablest leaders the Senate ever had, and freely recognized as such by men of all parties. It was sald, and never contradicted, that if all Curtis’ speeches in the Sen- ate during one session of Congress were printed in a single document: it would ! probably not cost more than $10 to do the job. This is truly remarkable when it is remembered that he has had to be present and take part in every serious parliamentary or legislative tangle that has arisen and straighten it out. That was why he was chosen mgubflnn r leader. urtis’ habit has been to let the others talk. He is an excellent listener. ‘When everything has been said that in his opinion can or should be sald, and he has succeeded In quietly lining up his forces for action, he arises in his place—usually at the extreme rear of the chamber, in the center aisle—and says a few simple words. Almost be- | for> the press gallery or the maio chafr of the President of the Senate he cannot act in that manner. But | there is nothing to prevent Senators from walking up to the rostrum and having a few minutes’ whispered con- versation with Curtis, nor is there any- thing to prevent him from temporarily turning over the chair to some other Senator—and, if he is a new one, ple: ing him greatly—and withdrawing for an hour or two into his private office, | just across the Senators’ private lobby | and almost immediately behind the ros- trum, from which it is hardly 25 steps, and there behind closed doors holding any conference he pleases. Rules Not Absolute. ‘The new Republican floor leader will lead. Nobody is denying that. But it would surprise no one if even he should often consult such an old hand at the business as Curtis. Whatever influence Curtis has will not be wielded by rea- son of any official authority, for he will have none. He can rule a motion out of order under the rules, for sure, but the Senate in a tight pinch has never let its rules interfere with anything it really wanted to do. The method of procedurs | is simple enough. Somebody merely ap- peals from the decision of the chair- man, and the ruling is reversed prompt- 1y and on the spot, rules or no rules. The influence that Curtis will wield will be personal and come from his great knowledge of the subject. No man in either branch of Con- gress has more friends than the new Vice President. After the death of Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts he presided—from the floor—over the des- tinies of his party in that body with a breadth of view and sureness of pur- that have been the admiration of mubllelns and Democrats alike. It is a long trail that he has trav- eled since he was born, January 25, 1860, a boy of part Indian blood. who was brought through his early boyhood by an Indian grandmother and lived in a tepee on the plains. In his veins runs Alglo-Saxon and French blood and the proud blood of Indian chieftains of more than one tribe. Before he entered upon the law career that eventually led to the Senate he was a jockey and rode in horse races in the then wild and woolly West—a romantic and fascinat- career that is hard to match, but it all been told many times over dur- the presidential campaign. Curtis was and is presidential timber. His State delegation was solidly back of him for that office at the Kansas City convention, and many of his colleagues in the Senate hoped he would be nomi- nated. But he is a good “party man,” realizing that only by the party system can a great republic like ours hope to be_successfully governed. When it became certain that the delegates wanted to nominate Hoover and were just as overwhelmingly in fa- vor of @urtis for Vice President, the nomination being given to him on the first ballot, he accepted with the best of grace and heartfelt thanks and went to work as hard as he could to help elect the Republican national ticket, with the result that everybody now knows and is wondering why he did not know sooner. One thing is certain about Vice Pres- ident Curtis: He has not been placed on a shelf by being made Vice President, even though he never succeeds to the | presidency. 'PRESIDENT'S POWERS AND DUTIES SKETCHED | Constitution Outlines Chief Exeau- | tive's Task in Time of Peace” and War. ing has ing What are the powers and duties— the atest held by any public official in the world—that President Cool- idge surrendered and Herbert Hoover assumed today? As provided by and stated in the | Constitution, the President: | Is commander in chief of the Army | and Navy of the United States and of | the Militia of the several States when called into the actual service of the United States. . He shall make treaties with foreign governments, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. These treaties become the law of the land when concurred in by two-thirds - of the Senate present when the Senate votes on them. « He shall nominate and. with the advice and consent of the Senate, ap- point ambassadors, public ministers and consuls, and all other officers of the United States whose appointments are not otherwise provided for by ‘the Constitution or statutes of the United States. He signs commissions for all « officers of the United States. % He receives forelign ambassadors an other public ministers. He may grant reprieves and pardons and commute sentences for offenses committed against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. He may call special sessions of Con- gress or of either house of Congress and may adjourn Congress if the two houses cannot agree upon a time of adjournment. He shall inform Congress from time to time of the state of the Union and recommend measures for the considera- tion of Congress. He shall receive, sign, veto or return without signature all bills passed by Congress. _(Bills not returned to Con- Sreu by the President within 10 days. jundays excepted, unless Congress by adjournment ~ prevents _their return, become law without the President': signature.) (Bills vetoed by the Presi- dent become law without his signature it again passed by a two-thirds vote in_both Houses of Congress. This is “over-riding the President's veto.") He shall take care that all laws of of the Senators know what it is aboui, it is over and settled to the sat- It was frequently rumored that he could | Presidents who took the office under the | isfaction of Curtis. have other cabinet positions, which age of 50, That is the way it has been. In the S me.dunncd States are faithfully exe- cuted. He holds all the power to enforce the will of a self-governing people,