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BALL’S CONTROL OF PATRONAGE IS STILL DOUBTFULOthar Ob«tacl«« May Aria* to Daisy Hit Placing of Paanay.OUTLOOK AT WASHINGTONBpedal Dispatch to Every Evening.By Frank W. Lewis.Washington, Nov. 22.—While tht involuntary retirement of former Senator Coleman du Pont from public life seemed to have cleared up the Federal patronage altuatlon in Delaware, It haa in fact done nothing of the kird, it ia said by thoae who sa-5nme to be on the inside of these 'hinge. It la a widely known fact that Senator Ball and Senator du Pont I ™ tvetd :n disagreement over certain appointments. and that they had not been able to reach any kind of aettle- j ^ ment as to such matters, and It was * ih«* common belief that, with Senator , du rpnt out of the way. Senator Ball T woul|] have easy sailing in securing i whatever Federal appointments ap- i aj ;. | : ' icord- Niing ti talk among the wise ones, the ! situation is attll m grave doubt.When Senator Ball and Senator du Pont were attempting to make an equitable division of Federal patronage between themselves, several disagreements arose, and each was pre-vented by the other from doing certain things. Ball had his heart set on awarding his secretary Thomas E. Feeney a nice job In return for his fidelity to him. but du Pont would not j P' allow Peeney to bo appointed to any 01 important station. Everytlme Ball at- | ^ temped to secure an appointment for : Pt-enay, du Pont blocked It. When 1 «Iu Pont was retired. Peeney*s name. I tJ. with Ball’s recommendation, was in I 0] the hands of the President for nomi- I (1 ration as a member of the District of Jv Columbia Ren: Commission. The ap- Cl pointment had been held up at the j a instance of du Pont. As the Presi- . p dent did not want to be a party to | p a patronage fight between two Repub- 1 tican Senators from the same State, tl he concluded to defer the appoint- p men?. However, as du Pont is out tl of tti| wav. people are wondering if c Ball will win his long flght for *lt; PeeneyThe Krai Reason.f»Ae of the real reasons why Presi- 5 dent tfarding has not yet appointed )' the rew District Rent Commission 9 haa just come to light. soys a story in a Washington newspaper. * It is , involved in a long standing and ^ —strange us «t may seem—a more or ^ lees friendly 0ght ov«r patronage in ‘I Maw are between Senator L. Heialer t. Kali, chairman of the Senate District h Committee, and Senator T. Coleman * dtt Pont.Little difference* sometime* develop into major issue-. i-i *.his case S •he l.ttle difference between *he two friend'y and amiable Delaware senators concerned Thomas R. Peeney * ■who for several year* has been act.ng aa secretary to Senator Rail. s'Senator Ball tried to persuade * Pres.dent Harding to appoint Mr r Peeney collector of interna! revenue of t Wilmington, but Senator du Pont in- v tervened and succeeded in blocking a the appointment. d“This was rather a disappointment f to Senator B%11. but he attributed it main.? to the exigencies of state poli- d • ca in De la wane, and paid no more heed to it. A few months later the c rent extension act waa passed by t i'ongress. Credit for the enactment f w.is given to Senator Ball by both d fr;enda and foes of the law. It was t h.s work that enlisted Presidential l support for the bill and won over the c House at the eleventh hour. f• As soon as the rent extension act i was passed. Senator Ball went to ths t White House and requested President I Hard.ng to appoint Mr. Peeney as one of the new members vf the commis- 1 •ion. The President was anxious to ' please him. but. it is understood, he 1 remembered certain objections that Senator du Pont had previously urg- •• ed against Mr. Peeney. He go: in lt;toucc with Senator du Pont, and 1 Peeney again came in for a discus- *“That is as far as the matter went. 1 President Harding felt that he would 1 be stirring up old patronage troubles by nominating Mr. Peeney for the Pent Commission. At the same time ■ he was determined not to make any move that would offend his old friend. Senator Ball. So matters simply drifted from month to month.In the meantime the White House had discovered there was no urgent 1 necessity for appointing a new Ren*, i Commission; that the old tribunal' was functioning fairly well, and vari- jous real estate men urged upon j PreSidenV-Harding the fact that therant situation in the District was rapidly improving, and that the' added expense of an enlilrged commission might not be necessary after all. 1 * A new angle in the situation de-V“*opeo when Senator du Pont was defeated for re-election in Delaware bv Thomas F. Bayard. That cleared the y. tronage a.r immediately. Senator Ball will take advantage of it i by again discussing Rent Commission affairs with the President, it is qu'te possible that the nominations 1 *18 be made now without more ado.The objections which Senator du Pont urged against Peeney have not^en d ec'.osed *
Newspaper Details
Wilmington Every Evening Wilmington Daily Commercial
Wilmington, Delaware, US
Wed, Nov 22, 1922
Page 9
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 04 Sep 2023
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