STARS AND STRIPES

When the Boston papers headlined the rumored appointment-to-be of ex-Mayor Curley to the Secretaryship of the Navy the other evening, we were glad to see that they had not lost, however grim, their sense of humor. While that cabinet position assumed somewhat of an honorary nature with its last Republican incumbent, it has always been a vital cog in the administration, especially today with war a good deal closer around the corner than prosperity. It has also been one of the few secretaryships about which there have risen no wraiths of corruption. Let us examine genial Mr. Curley's qualifications for the job.

In the first place he is a close friend of Jimmy Roosevelt, eminent point for the aspiring Massachusetts politician. Secondly, he is an able manipulator of all manner of backstage wires--we won't say what they lead to, but he is indubitably good at getting things done when other people are not looking. Perhaps that is why he was convicted of impersonating another candidate in a Civil Service examination some years ago and put behind the bars to think it over. His administration as Mayor of Boston was a huge success; his friends were never happier. Even the taxpayer knew where the municipal funds were being spent.

Mr. Curley wished to represent the United States at Rome, Mr. Curley wished to represent the United States at Dublin, for one reason or another. But he felt that the ambassadorship to Poland was a trifle remote and declined President Roosevelt's appointment. This would be pretty choosy for most people, yet the ex-mayor seems to know what he is after. If he intends to heel for a cabinet sinecure, he no doubt looks forward to a prosperous four years in Washington. But it might he well to draw to his attention the fact that several secretaries of the not so distant past are still in notorious retirement after their residence at the Capital.