LATE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 135, 4 March 1929, Page 6

LATE NEWS

INAUGURATION OF MR. HOOVER WASHINGTON CROWDED WITH VISITORS THE SPOILS OF VICTORY (United Press Association.—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) (Rec. Marell 4, 11.15 p.m.) . Washington, March 2. That curious aftermath of the national political campaign—namely, the Presidential inauguration—will occur here on Monday. The outward vagaries or intentional of the ceremonial itself are one thing and the inner political ant( leanings are another, and in the case of Mr. Hoover's induction into office these latter arc by far the most important, and no doubt the most interesting. It cannot be forgotten that Mr. Hoover is not a professional politician, and his choice of a Cabinet was more than faintly disconcerting to the stalwart politicians who inevitably are the backbone of the Republican Party. His choice of an avowed Democrat for At-torney-General, his far searchings for figures, often little known, although perhaps technically competent, create a ferment that bubbles deep within the inauguration events themselves.

Outwardly, Washington is in the thralls of anticipation of the picturesque event. Mr. Curtis, the Vice-Presi-dent elect, will swear the oath on a German Bible 350 years old. The city itself is a mass of bunting interlaced with miles of reviewing stands. It was mooted that Mr. Hoover deprecated the ostentatious display. There will, therefore, during the celebrations, be only a touch of military display, accompanied by an aeroplane stunting. ' Mr. Dawes, the retiring Vice-Presi-dent, to-day received some silver from his Senate associates properly inscribed. It is reported that he was so affected by the speeches of eulogy that he was compelled to leave the reading of his reply to the Senate Clerk. g The Coolidges have packed their belongings, which filled several railway cars, and early on Monday they will return to their house in Northampton, Massachusetts. Mrs. Coolidge has been the recipient of a magnificent diamond brooch from a group of lady admirers. A large supplementary force of prohibition agents has been added to the regular corps to keep the city dry. Tickets for the charity ball on the inaugural eve are now impossible to obtain. The city is jammed with visitors, particularly a large foreign complement, who have come to see the sights. Australia will be well represented by the young Australians, who have been given a prominent place in the reviewing stands, and Mr. Dow, the official secretary, who is the Commonwealth’s official representative. z But what is the political reality behind the picture of outward semi-carnival? The old Congress has been wrangling and filibustering over little scandals involving wholesale frauds in the administration of the national bankruptcy law, find Mr. Coolidge has been signing last-minute resolutions for inquiries into the activities of many well-known Federal Judges. Hundreds of measures have been jammed through in the last hours of the Legislature, and the mill continues to grind. Congress will sit on Sunday and early on Monday to pass hundreds more of similar laws that will never receive too much publicity. There is, moreover, a great crowd in the citv of not merely visitors. There are hordes of office-seekers who are waiting impatiently for March 4 to descend upon White House and demand a share in the spoils of victory. It is all a spectacle of uneven but arresting character, and in the words of one observer, “It’s a strange hippodrome of legislation and politics, of tinsel and traders.”