Evening star., 1933-02-27

Dazed and disappointed by the alb
sence from it Of 'supermen,' Wash
ington is still trying to divine the why
and wherefore of the kind of cabinet
President ELECT Roosevelt finally picked
out for himself. At least half of the
designations continue to be ineXplicable
to the politicians, Democratic and Re
publican alike. That F. D. K. has
fashioned an official household in which
his dominating personality Will be su-
preme is an appraiSement which finds
wide belief Opinion is crystalliZing, too,
that Gov. Roosevelt's choices at least
comprise an average cabinet and one
that needn't fear comparison with its
immediate predecessor, portfolio for
portfolio. The Woodin. Perkins, Roper
and Ickes selections come under critical
fire. Labor spokesmen aSsail the new
Secretary of the Treasury as dyed
in-the-wool open-shopper." Wallace for
Agriculture is hammered not only be-
cause he makes the third Republican,
in the cabinet. but also because he's
suspected of harboring money views
that shiver the spines of men like Car
ter Glass. Nothing but commentator
is heard with respect to Hull, Walsh,
Swanson, Farley and Dern.
Dan" Ropers Secretaryship of Com
merce caused many eyebrows to be
raised. The South Carolinian, who is
understood to have surrendered his OH
cial domicile in South Carolina for resi-
dence in voteless Washington, isn't a
business man, though he chalked up an
efficient record as Wilson's internal
revenue commissioner Men are say
ing that Ropers real assignment Is to
become the Roosevelt AK man, with the
special duty of chopping down super
fluous bureaus agencies. commissions
and other Federal appendages. includ-
ing even ma jor departments. For sew
eral weeks Mr. Roper, together with
former Representative Swager Sherley
of Kentucky and Budget Director-to-be
Lewis Douglas, has been Matching the
reorganization scheme which the new
President wants to carry out with all
possible dispatch. When Gov. Roosevelt
first visited Washington after election,
he took witty after-dinner shot at the
monumental dimensions of the Depart
ment of Commerce Building: Suose-
ouent events convinced insiders there
was more in that quip than met the ear.
They are sure the President-elect plans
major surgical operations all over de-
partmental Washington, even to the
point OF abolishing executive branches.
The Department of Commerce itself
Herbert Hocver's particular pet and
pride-if certain reports are ver1ned-
may wake up some day to ind Itself
merged into, say, the Interior Depart
menr.
Extraordinary powers which Congress
last week voted the President did not
specifically grant authority to wind up
or amalgamate executive departments.
But the story now is that If the Roper
Sher!ey-Douglas recommendations go
that far and earn the approval OF Mr
Roosevelt, he will not shrink from ask
ing Congress for their adoption. House
and Senate, on their part, traditlonally
eager to dodge responsibilities loaded
with political dynamite, would not, 1t
is believed deny the President the
privilege of running the executive es-
tablishment through the wringer. If he
thought it should be done. Generally
speaking, F. D. R. can get about any
thing he wants from Congress if he
doesn't wait too long to ask for it.
After the honeymoon stage of his ad-
ministration Is over-Say, next Fall
the course of true love may not be SO
smooth.
Organized labor would take sullenly
to Miss Frances Perkins appointment
to the Secretaryship of Labor. Not be-
cause she is woman, but for the
underlying purpose her selection would
signify She would become the first
head of the Labor Department since
its creation who didn't come from the
ranks of the labor movement. The
unions have been prone to look upon
the department as their own private
playground. Hence, the American Fed
Grafton of Labor's stern land continu-
ing) opposition to Miss Perkins. As
Secretary Of Labor. she would typify
the theory that the department is no
longer to be regarded as an institution
maintained exclusively in the workers
interests. II there Is any eleventh
hSur change in the Roosevelt cabinet
s4-up, odds are laid it will involve the
FLA