Evening star., 1934-09-21

One of the New Dealers who prob
ably is shedding no tears over the
defeat for denomination Of Senator
Hubert D. Stephens, Democrat, OF
Mississippi is DR.. Willard l.. Thorp,
former director of the Bureau OF For
eign and Domestic Commerce. II
was the refusal of the Senate Com
merce Committee, of which Stephens
Is chairman, to recommend Thorp
confirmation that finally led to his
resignation and to President RooSe-
yelt's withdrawal of his nomination.
The current explanation was that
DIR. Thorp's Democratic pedigree did
not seem to be 100 per cent pure.
and that ON the eve of a senatorial
urinary In rock-ribbed Democratic
Mississippi it might not look good Tor
Stephens to be on record as having
supported an. alleged Republican 1or
high Federal Office. DR.. Thorp has
recently been on duty with the Fed
eral Emergency Relief Administra-
ton.
Senator Stephens disappearance
from Congress will, by the seniority
rule. make Senator Duncan U.
Fletcher. Democrat, of Florida chair
man of the Senate Commerce Com
mittee. AS Mr.. Fletcher is now chair
man of the Banking and Currency
Committee, he will prospectlvely nave
the choice between that post and
the Commerce Craftsmanship. In case
he renounces the latter, Sheppard
of Texas would be next in line for IT.
But, as the father of the eighteenth
amendment is chairman OF the Mill
tary Affairs, another complication
would arise if he prefers to keep
that Job rather than accept promo
ton on the Commerce Committee.
No one Is sadder over the burning
of Nome than Senator Key Pittman,
Democrat, of Nevada, who began his
colorful political career there in 1897,
at the time of the gold rush, as a
youngster of Is. Pittman lived In
Alaska until 1901 and was a member
of the committee that formulated
the consent" form of government
for Nome. Later he became its first
prosecuting attorney. Although identi-
fed with Nevada for the past 33
years, the chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee is a
Mississippian by birth. Before he
was 81 he commenced the practice
of law at Seattle, whence he mi
grated to the Northwest Territory.
II
Apropos the A. A. AS coming hog
corn referendum, Secretary Wallace
was asked the other day if he ex-
poets the agricultural democracy" to
give q creditable account of itself on
that occasion. He replied that a
democracy always reaches more in
telligent decisions when it thinks dn
economic terms. Its principal
troubles are due, he contends, to the
fact that it is customarily swayed
by political rather than economic
considerations. One of Secretary
Wallace's constant inspirations Is a
life-size oil portrait of his father, the
late Henry Cantwell Wallace, Secre-
tary of Agriculture from 1921 to 1924
which hangs directly opposite the
present Agriculture chiefs desk in the
department.
X X X X
It's not generally known that Sec
retary Morgenthaus drive against
pernicious political activities by
Treasury officials and employees
ramifies from an Executive order
issued by President Grant on jan
uary II, 1873, barring persons in Fed
eral jobs from holding any State, Ter
ritorial or municipal office. The
Offices Of justices Of the peace
notaries public. commissioners au-
thorized to administer oaths, deputy
United States marshak and minoI