The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-03-23

Washington, March 23.-Cor- dell Hull. the secretary of state, is at one and the same time the most potentially great and the most ineffective man in the Roosevelt cabinet.
 Hull Is man of genuine idcals-but few of them are realized. He has spent q life- time fighting for the underdog. Hts creed, his theories, his phil-, osophy are magnificent. Given his own way, he is always right.
 And yet he never quite con- meets. SOmethlng-eitIlcr bad luck or bad cxecutiOn-always stops him just short of real achievement.
 For years Hull sat as mem Der of the Ways and Means committee watching republican colleagues write Tariff Acts. AL ways they wrote rates higher and higher, while Hull sat by poWerless to check them. And it wag one Of the tragedies of Hull's life that, finally given the opportunity to reduce tariff rates as head of the American Delegation to the London Con- ference, he failed.
 Policies over which he had little control caused the failure. But Hull felt the tragedy just as keenly.
 A TENNESSEE FIGHTER
 Again at the Montevideo Con- ference Hull made great speech on the need of lower tariffs and trade reciprocity. Latin Amer lea nations applauded. Here at last was their friend. Here at last also was Hull's chance to accomplish his life's dream. But, returning to the United States, Hull found that George Peek had been promised the job of pushing foreign trade. To Peek was going Hull's cherished plan of negotiating reciprocal trade agreements.
 The resultant fight has been q bitter one. Peek Is fighting for his personal prcstigc-somc- what In Iurcd since his row with the Brain Trust. Hull Is fight HE TOT tfN uttdi'uiNht VI bho Iifc's ambition. This time he may win.
 Hull comes from the noun tains of Tennessee. And like the fcudal families of those hills, he never forgcts. never for gives, never quits. He is an adroit fighter. At times he appears to be conciliatory and yielding. He can retreat temporarily, but never permanently. In the end he comes back to exactly where he started. His obstinacy is slow and sometimes scarcely tangible, but it never leaves.
 MILD-MANNERED
 Hull is the mildcst- hammered man maginablc-until he gets aroused. Then he Is capable of magnificent displays of anger. One of these was during the lobbying of Cuban Ambassador Cintas to keep President Ma chado in power. Cintas was trying to undermine American Am mbassador Wcllcs, and went to Hull to get Wellcs recalled.
 For two hours the two men were clOsctcd together. Hull had o'clock. That hour came and went. Finally at two, Ambas- sadOr Cintas came out. He is a big man, powerfully built. But he looked as if he had seen n ghost His face was white, his hands trembling.
 For oyer an hour Hull had liatcncd patiently to CintaH. Then he ripped his argument to pieces. He gave him a toneuc-lashing of which only Tennessee noun taineer is capable.
 IN CABINET MEETINGS
 One of Hull's greatest handi- caps is his inability to express himaclf. He talks in circles, fre- qucntly repeating. In press conferences he does this partly to avoid answering direct qucs- tions. But in cabinet meetings 1t has been known to rilo his colleagues.
 Even tho president at times is frctted by his secretary of state. He finds him vague, slow and hard to understand. Hull doesn't come out point-blank and say what he wants. AS a result, Roosevelt would almost prefer to do busincss with Billy Phillips. dapper undcr-sccrcthry of state. Phillips takes orders and carries them out. There Is no lost motion.
 This does not mean there Is bad blood between Roosevelt and his chief cabinet member. The president gets impatient with Hull but always sides with him. Their friendship dates back to the days when Roosevelt, then regarded as q somewhat bump- tious young assistant secretary or the navy, was running for the vice. presidency and Hull helped nnuup1 the CamDn Ign.