Evening star., 1934-06-10
Mr.. Tugwell's Beliefs.

A Senate Committee finally is 60
ing to do what the House Special
Committee appointed to inquire into
the Writ charges failed to do. The
Writ charges alleged that some of the
brain truSters" of the adminiStra-
ton were intent upon undermining
American principles of government.
Rexford G. Tugwell, Assistant Secre-
tary Of Agriculture, generally credited
with being leader of the brain trust,
whose nomination to be Undersecre-
tary Of Agriculture has raised rum
pus in the Senate, will be called be-
fore the Senate Committee on Agri-
culture for Interrogation tomorrow. 1t
is quite clear from the debate in the
Senate when this course was decided
upon that Senator Harry Flood Byrd
OF Virginia and some of the other Sen
ators will ask Mr.. Tugwell to explain
just what he has in mind regarding the
Constitution of the United States and
whether it should be upheld as it is
written.
The real meat of the charges made
by Dr. William A. Writ, Gary edu-
Gator, was never investigated by the
House Committee, despite the fact that
the minority members of that COM
mittee demanded again and again that
Mr.. Tugwell and other members of
the brain trust be summoned. The
Democratic majority stuck to its
determination to inquire only into the
statement made by DR.. Writ that he
had heard members or satellites of the
brain trust declare that social revo-
luton was under way and that Presi-
dent Roosevelt was merely the Ike
rensky of this revolution" But now
the Senate Committee is calling Mr..
T1lgwell to explain to the committee
and to the world-for it is expected
that the hearing will be public-just
what his ideas regarding government
are.
the Senate who by no means like
what the Department Of Agriculture
is doing, and what the high officials
of that department are planning to
do, to the American farmers. One
of these is Senator Byrd of Virginia.
When the Democratic leader of the
Senate, Senator Robinson of Arkansas,
demanded on Friday that the Tugwell
nomination be taken away from the
Senate Committee on Agriculture and
laid before the Senate for action
forthwith, the Virginia Senator said
that he would vote against the
Robinson motion because he believed
that Mr. Tugwell has not the proper
conceptions of the principles of our
Government" Later in his address
to the Senate Mr.. Byrd made the
suggestion that the nomination
should be discussed in committee and
that open hearings be held with
respect to it.
A great deal has been said and
written regarding what Mr.. Tugwell
does and does not believe. Here is
an opportunity to ventilate the whole
matter. But whatever his beliefs
regarding the theories of government,
the amendments to the agricultural
adjustment act proposed by the De-
partment of Agriculture. presumably
with Mr.. Tugwell's approval. are
enough to convince any unbiased
person that plans are afoot to "regi-
ment" the farmers and to place in
the hands of the bureaucrats a con-
troll of the farmers so drastic that
they will have little to say about what
they shall or shall not raise. The
proposed amendments have been so
ooAcA1SAy OPpOoCo O1ldl ~ oCCl1lS llhcly
they will be dropped, at least for the
present session of Congress.
The fight against the confirmation
Of Mr.. Tugwell's nomination is all
part and parcel of this dislike for
what the administration is trying to
do with regard to the farmer. What
is finally done by the Senate in con-
nection with the Tugwell nomination
will be interpreted as showing the
tendencies Of the administration. The
President is standing back of Mr..
Tugwell at present. 1t would seem
that his influence would be strong
enough to assure final confirmation
of the so-called head of the brain
trust. But this may only be accom-
plished over serious Democratic as
well as Republican opposition.