The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-02-26

who was to be one OF tile
strong members of his cabinet.
1t was only a few, days after
March 4, that Washington be-
gan to wonder what had hit the
interior department. Ickes had
begun to clean house. Also he
had begun to- inject a freshness
and virtility unknown since the
days of Clifford Pinchot. He
brought in as his personal as
sistant Harry Slattery, a key fig
ure inv exposing the Teapot
Dome oil scandals. He brought
in as as assistant secretary a
Judge Ben Lindsey protege, o.
car Chapman, who has built UP
a progressive political machine
for Senator Costigan in Colo
RADIO. He brought In as his So
licitor Nathan Margold, forth
right disciple of Felix Frank
furter in the Harvard Law
school. He brought in as his
chief investigator Louis r. CLAW
is, who had once lost a job in
the interior department because
he had exposed his chief in the
Ballinger scandals.
SOON KNEW HIS MAN
1t did not take Roosevelt
long to get acquainted with his
new cabineteer. And the better
he got to know him, the more
jobs he dumped into his lap. He
made him dictator of the oil
fields-one of the most contro-
versial and difficult jobs in the
United States. Then, faced with
the problem of getting $780,
100000 of public works money
into the public's pockets, Roose- /,
welt made Ickes administrator of
public works.
Ickes has been criticized q lot
ON this jOb-criticized for slow
ness, for scrutinizing details, for
being hard-bOiled with contrac-
tors, for thwartipg the pOliti-
clans. In fact no other member
of the cabinet has been SO criti.
cizcd. Congressman have come
down to ask for projects i'm
their commodity and have gone
away raging when Ickes refused
to waive the rules i'm their favor.
Lobbyists, members of the DEM
Ocratic national committee, pow
crful contracting interests have
pulled every conceivable wirc,N
used all possible prcssure-tO no
avail.
Finding Ickes adamant, they
even stopped to the last resort
against any public man. Various
whispers were broadcast. His
days, they said, We're numbered.
They even fixed the exact day
now long overdue when he
would leave the cabinet.
1t will take a lot more than
this, however, to bulge Honest
Harold. The thoroughness with
which he scrutinized public
works contracts, the suspicion
with which he viewed lobbyists,
the strlight-arm he gave to
politicians, have been more than
justified by graft disclosures in
other parts of the government.
A BEAR FOR WORK
Ickes' chief fault is his insist
ence upon working long hours.
Although he delegates RESPONSE
bility, he checks almost every
detail of his subordinates. When
he was laid up in the hospital
with a broken rib, a motor truck
full of correspondence was
brought to his bed daily for sig
nature. et#
Part of this is because his
first Assistant Secretary TheO-
dOrc A. Walters, put into the
job by political pressure over
IckeS' head, has been out of
step with the New Deal. While
the rest of the building is hum
ming with activity, Walters
Office is almost empty. His official
days are probably running out.
Ickes is partial to blue shirts,
always works in his shirt sleeves
though he sometimes wears a
vest. He has a delectable sense
of humor, a rare assortment of
profanity, permits his sons to
keep a collection of pet snakes
in the house, is a great garden. {.
err, has developed a special va
riety of dahlia, and has a great
passion for flowers. Every morn
ming the bureau of parks and
public buildings sends to his desk
a beautiful bunch of crimson
roses.
It is the only piece of graft In
the life of Harold Ickes.
Copyright, 1894, by United