| Show Merry R Merry Go und nd By DREW PEARSON EARSON and ROBERT S. S ALLEN Editors Editor's Note Note ith With the Brass Ring goes oes one free ride on the Washington ashington Merry Go Round This week th the ring has been captured by Charles Edison assistant secretary of the navy You WASHINGTON You dont don't h hear ar much about the navy during these days of European crises but probably it is in better shape than at any anytime anytime time since the World war Also you dont don't hear much about th the men responsible for putting it in that condition There are two of them one being Franklin D. D Roosevelt once assistant secretary of the navy who as president has kept his finger on the navy as on no other government department The other is Charles Edison who has the title of assistant secretary of the na flaw na Y but because because be be- cause his chief is old and ailing actually is secretary of the navy in everything but name I never should have taken fen this job says Edison I dont don't know the Dow boW of a ship from the stern In peacetime however the backbone of the navy is not so much the officers and enlisted men of the line but the civilian em em- most most- of them workmen in the navy yards They are under the supervision of the assistant secretary He must be an industrial executive an employer of labor a coordinator of supplies Most of all he must understand la labor labor labor la- la bor for no amount of gold braid on the shoulder of an admiral will help build battleships if unionized naval go out on strike Famous Fath Father r rCharles Charles Edison got his industrial experience ence once in the he factories of the famed Thomas Edison Edison Edison Edi Edi- son his father Someone once asked if he WI vs following in his fathers father's footsteps which brought the reply No I 1 looked at the size of his shoes And for a time young Edison made a valiant effort to avoid those footsteps Graduating from froth colle college e he went to live in New Yorks York's bohemian Greenwich Village established an experimental experimental ex ex- theater took up music and poetry was interested in almost everything except in in- Disapproving but indulgent his father waited waited waited wait wait- ed finally indicated that Charles should put away childish things So today Charley Edison is head of Thomas A. A Edison Inc the holding company for the vast Edison empire which in includes includes in- in eludes the corporation Thomas A. A Edison of Canada Ltd Edison corporation corporation corporation cor cor- Edison Storage Battery Supply company company com corn pany Edison Wood Products Edison Cement corporation and so on Still a Poet While his younger brother carries on the thc research research re re- re- re search earch work of his father Charley has been the administrator of the Edison factories and f family mily fortunes Neither the driving of rivets nor the blowing blowing blowing blow blow- ing of light bulbs however nor even the routine of government red tape has driven all the poetry from Edison's soul Walk into the dining room of the Hay Adams house any evening and glance through the compositions the organist i is is' playing and you will probably find listed River Stay Away From My Door written by bythe bythe the assistant secret secretary ry of the navy Once when a friend saw a newspaper picture pic picture pie pic ture of Edison at a navy ball patronizing a beautiful beautiful beautiful beau beau- girl he wrote the assistant secretary secretary secre secre- tary a twitting note signed Wm S. S Edison replied in verse the last stanza reading But if one night I go high hat Put on the dog and rent a suit And by the way dont don't I look cute And caper up and down a hall hallAt hallAt hallAt At every Navys Navy's Better Ball Do not begrudge it if I 1 get 1 An EYEFUL with m my my He signed it Admiral M Milton ton Br Browning Robert Robert Robert Rob Rob- I ert Brooke Naval Politics Edison has held office under the new deal del delfor for some time having been regional administrator administrator administrator adminis adminis- for the N R It A in New Jersey However he is not a Democrat and used to be listed in Who's Who as a Republican Edison hates politics twice has turned down downa a chance to be a United States senator Where Edison hates politics most is in the navy and when he first joined up he found the remnants remnants remnants rem rem- nants of an old system which thrived under Harding Hoover and Coolidge whereby the navy was a political plum tr tree e dominated bythe bythe by bythe the private shipbuilders through their uniformed uniformed uni urn formed stooges the admirals Edison has not hesitated to clamp down on the admirals Once he was asked at a press conference about private bids for two naval tenders which were far above the bids of government yards Usually the admirals rush to the defense of the private yards every time they are accused of profiteering and this was no exception Before Edison could answer Rear Admiral William G. G DuBose chief of the bureau of construction and repair intervened I dont don't think we should discuss that here Mr Secretary observed the admiral Its too complicated for a casual discussion and it might result in in a wrong impression getting abroad Oh Oh I dont don't see why we wa cant can't talk about it replied Edison Lets have your questions gen tIemen DuBose lapsed into red faced silence Edison dison is not a big navy man but he does believe a a big navy essential to the United States at present Copyright 1938 1938 for The T Telegram 4 II tt f |
