American Notes of the Week
(By Cable)
THE PRESIDENT l'erSUS PATRONAGE.
PRESIDENT HOOVER has been widely commended for reiterating in a letter to an official of the Republican State Conunittee of Florida his view that merit and not political patronage must determine appointments to public offices. It is a sore subject and one in respect of which the President and some Republican Party leaders are not at all in harmony. President Hoover has been particularly anxious, for example, in pursuance of his desire for stricter law enforcement, to keep Federal judicial appointments free from political influence. But the pressure of politicians has been too strong for him in several instances. Against his wishes the nominees of local political leaders have just been recommended for vacant judgeships in Kansas and Pennsylvania. Claudius Huston, the new Chairman of the Republican National Committee, has recently held private conferences with regular Republicans in the Senate who are dissatisfied with the President's failure to consult them before recommending for appointments. An effort is being made to reach a compromise which, while recognizing legitimate local claims, will not violate the general principle upon which President Hoover insists.
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