THE CABINET: A Champion Sails

Andrew W. Mellon as Secretary of the United States might be said to be the richest man in the country. It is also said (and probably truly) that in respect to his own private purse he is the third richest man in the United States. He is a power in the oil business, the steel car business and the aluminum business. Yet, as E. G. Lowry (Editor of the Philadelphia Public Ledger) once said: “He looks like a tired double-entry bookkeeper who is afraid of losing his job.”

Many years ago he studied at the Western University of Pennsylvania (now the University of Pittsburgh). Later it gave him an M.A. degree, and in 1921 an L.L.D. In June of last year Dartmouth honored him with the same doctorate. Mr. Mellon’s real success as a degree-taker did not come till recently, when, within a few days he annexed degrees from Rutgers, New York University, Princeton and Pennsylvania Military College. With the possible exception of a few of our foreign visitors, he has probably established a world’s record. Quietly pocketing his honors, however, and leaving a handsome balance in the Government Treasury with which to end the fiscal year, he sailed for Europe on the Majestic. Abroad his arrival is anticipated with no little speculation. The United States is Europe’s great creditor. Of all the European nations only England and Finland have made agreements for paying their debts to this country. “What now?”; asks Europe. And the Dusseldorfer Mittag headlined: “Mellon — The Savior?”