Show washington letter by NATIONAL PRESS SERVICE washington agton D C july 18 the battle among american cities lor for the republican national convention of 1928 is still going ging on apace crocker of california bo bearing ring aloft the san francisco banner has made the most systematic campaign before he left the east cast he told his friends that he had already secured a majority of the republican national committee and that the states of washington oregon utah and colorado favored the golden gate are also showing considerable vim governor green has already made one visit to Washl ngon ot at the head bead of a delegation which urged the claims of that city and a new delegation Is in the making canal thompson between times has been urging cleveland it was largely through I 1 his activities that the republicans went chis there in 1924 and mr thompsons Thomp sons argument Is that one good turn deserves an I 1 1 other I 1 bo boston S ton has retired from the list of ap PI I 1 ants for the republican convention lb but ut thele are indications that the democrats ar are e seriously considering the city wilh th the e idea a foolish one it would seem of hitting coolidge at the source omaha kansas city st louis chicago and minneapolis are also in the running the kansas city boom being apparently the most r substantial it may be only a sign of th the e times but it Is worth noting that the competition is mainly tor for the republican gathering the democratic convention apparently Is going to be of ithe the orphan annie variety the actual selection of the republican convention city will not be made before december next at the meeting of the republican national committee Is 00 0 T V oconnor head bead of the TT S shipping board was a stevedore before he became head of this government activity he still has calloused cal louses from handling ol of bale hooks and he has lost finger anger nails and the tops ot of his fingers angers through work on blocks and tackles he has learned his book to in a hard but effective school for that reason it Is not surprising that he is steadily frowning on any program tor for spending additional millions of 0 the taxpayers tai tak payers money for the purpose of building a government fleet flee to compete with private owners la arx 1924 the republicans in their national platform at cleveland adopted a plank which provided for the sale of government owned vessels to private owners at the earliest possible moment when the price to be paid and the conditions of the service warranted the sale oconnor Is standing by that policy and in that determination he is entitled to the support of the public at large america Is rich enough it Is true to run a thousand ships over the seven seas with a pound of eiderdown eider down as the individual cargo but this can never make tor for prosperity it if the lag flag Is again to have its place on the oceans ot of the world that result can only be achieved on the initiative of american seamen and can never be achieved by the addition of governmental nursing bottles lor for each and every craft afloat ac C 0 16 0 the new york world has suddenly awakened to the fact that the lame duck blight has vanished from american political life the discovery Is about two years bear S overdue directly following the last election when so many republican stalwarts stal warts tell fell by the wayside the world worked itself into a hysteria over the possibility that all these fallen warriors would be at once transferred to the publio public pay roll it now discovers that its fears are unfounded senator sterling ol of south dakota was it is true put on the washington bicentennial commission but only a few months ago he be was released the work tor for which he was appointed having been concluded this was the one striking lame duck activity 1 in arx the old days it was not so the so ac 1 cepter apted program was to pick the ablest of those who had fallen by the wayside politically liti cally and plant them in government berths and it may as well be said that there was a little element of charity in these selections public lle life of any length inevitably weakens a man for the br bread d and butter struggle for exi existence a the le c hange change has not come about because of an any y shift in our political morals but because of economic conditions in the old days when was the topnotch top notch of public service compensation the senator or representative tipped out ot of his seat found this a godsend and with the salary proceeded to maintain himself and his family in reasonable comfort today in washington the man with Js Is lucky to possess a two room kitchenette apartment meanwhile the sea scale lo 10 of private compensation has gone up the result Is that even the sorriest of congressional lame ducks finds himself unable to live on the compensation provided and thus has been forced to go to work this Is the real explanation aw 40 0 the capital city is easily one of the greatest whispering galleries in the world Off official iclal and social washington lives largely on what she said and he said what they said have you heard and do you believe it if these whispers and innuendoes were confined to the backyards during monday washday wash day conferences they would be of small moment unfortunately unfortunate ay iy however they furnish the chief topics of conversation in drawing rooms dining rooms and in the homes of the seats seas of the mighty one washington woman of some brilliancy and understanding der remarked not long since that the only way to correct this phase ot of washington life was by the introduction of the new england ducking stool happily the social broadcasters are now out of the city so washington Is temporarily having a spell of relief from this form of activity gossiping Is an old human tailing failing it had its share in the downfall ot of the greek and roman nations and it has caus caused its full share of disturbances disturbance in our own american political life now that it Is over it can be said that six months ago the versatile and continuous gossipers gossi pere were fast creating an actual state of unrest in the cabinet using the accepted formula they had mellon resigning as secretary of the treasury hoover plotting for kelloggs seat work casting at the presidency and davis and wllbur wilbur and jardine intensively engaged at activities outside their own departments the situation became so serious that definite steps had to be taken to curb and counteract this hood flood of malicious gossip happily it is over now and it Is to be hoped that the pr promoters 0 have learned their lesson it 1 is too much to expect that the art of gossiping will vanish entirely but it may be the cabinet at least will be held immune 0 norman 11 davis Is a wilson democrat who was an assistant secretary of the treasury during the last democratic administration ministration he is agile active alert and a primary worshiper at the low tariff shrine it must be confessed however that it has been a shock to some people to find him functioning as the spokes man for the american people at th i meeting of the worlds chambers of commeree commerce in europe w and leading a program for the abolition of what they call the high tariff harri barriers ers in european countries its impossible at tilis tune time to formulate an I 1 ingenious ngen tous answer to the natural question of our european friends as to why if we believe high tariff barriers should be abolished in europe we persist in maintaining the same on our own frontier lines |