Evening star., 1934-11-25
BY OWEN L. SCOTT

Strange and mysterious changes are
taking place in Washington. One of
them discloses the New Deal away on
a honeymoon with bankers and busi-
ness men. Already the gossips have
it that this affair won't last very
long.
Then you hear whispers about
breath-taking plans Of many kinds
taking shape for presidential con-
sideration, only to be advised in an
other whisper not to believe a thing
you hear for the next six weeks, or
until Congress arrives. Too many
deals are in the fire, too many trial
balloons are going up, too many plans
are being concocted just for study.
But the strangest OF strange
changes concern two once famed New
Deal institutions. One Is the now
mysterious National Recovery Admin
istration. The other Is the equally
mysterious-and probably soon to be
orgotten-"brain trust" There are
those who contend that the brain
trust" really never did exist except IN
imagination, and consequently can
not now be resurrected for observa-
ton. Still, enough hullaballoo was
raised about its one-time members
to Justify wonder about their fate
in this period when onicials are think
ing up ways and means to keep Con-
gress absorbed and out Of trouble.
That formerly was the brain trust"
Job.
Similarly, at this time, when a Con-
gress Is coming to decide the future
Of N. r. A., you would expect to
find that organization all hustle and
energy. As a matter Of fact, there
probably Is no more bewildered and
bedraggled bird in the country to-
day than the Blue Eagle. Its own
custodians are having a hard time
deciding what should be done to save
the life Of this New Deal creature that
was offered to the people as depres-
sion breaker. Their prescription prob
ably will depend on diagnosis OF the
place that N. r. A. can flll IN the
country's industrial system. Ideas
on this score vary greatly. To Gen.
Hugh johnson, now retired, the Blue
Eagle was all-powerful and sacred.
He said in taking leave of his staff:
"You can treasure in your hearts
your part in as great a social ad-
vance as has occurred on this earth
since gaunt and dusty Jew in Pal
estine declared. as a new principle
in human relationships, The king
dom of heaven is within you, the
Sermon on the Mount and the Golden
Rule"
But to the more realistic economists
who analyzed N. r. A. for the Ma
tional Planning Board that organiza-
ton Is "best understood as the faint
beginnings of new economic order
III the United States" They said OF
it, in preparing q report Tor the
President:
ITO what end it will evolve will
depend upon the alignment OF social
forces in the United States, even as
today it reflects the domination of
organized business seeking profit.
Far more likely than its repeal
is its evolution into center of social
struggle In which all groups attempt
not to kill, but to control, this pow
erful agency"
In the quiet of the offices once
kept in turmoil by Gen. johnson, as
he drove ahead frantically to get all
industry under codes, there now Is
taking place the preliminary skirmish
in this struggle. What comes out
must first 60 to the President and
then to Congress for consideration
and approval or rejection. But, in
any event, the best judgment Is that
the secrecy and the calm and the
evasiveness of officials are not pre-
Eagle. Rather, they are part Of the
effort to shape something consistent
and practical out Of q mass Of con-
tradictions.
Just what is back of all this? What
has happened to upset both the
brain trust" and Its principal brain
child? Where are those members
of the trust" now, and what are
they doing that differs from what
they have done in the past?
The trouble, apparently, with
N. r. A. and with the brain trusters"
as well, is that they did not produce
expected results. Both had the fur
ther unfortunate faculty of offering
a conspicuous target for those who
opposed what was going on in Wash
ington. The combination proved too
much.
So Congress is coming again, and
this time the Chamber of Commerce
Of the United States and the National
Association of Manufacturers are get
ting official attention for their legis-
lative proposals, while DR.. Rexford
Guy Tugwell, DIR. James M. Lands,
DR.. Mordecai Ezekial and other one
time shapers of New Deal legislation
are kept in the background.