The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-03-15

put the Blue Eagle ruled the 'roost.
 And therein lies the story of
 Daniel (. Roper, cabinet nem-
 bcr. Everything he has done in
 the year he sat in his great, wall
 nut panelled. air conditioned
 office has been GOmniated by this
 sad quirk of fate, and his cease-
 less struggle against 1t. One con- suming urge has controlled him,
 to give a core of reality to his
 mantle of cTninence.
 To date the results have been
 negligible. But not because Of
 lack of effort or desire.
 SIDE-SHOW
 With endless press releases and
 honeyed words, Roper has sought to woo the Washington press
 corps. But overwhelmed with a day-and-night -ringed merry go-round of recovery experiments they remained indifferent t o mere sideshows.
 When the MIRA was first set in motion, Roper quietly edged into the picture. General Johnson hit the ceiling. He told Roper to
 keep hands off. threatened to move his quarters to the old patents office.
 Roper ceased his frontal att tack, but organized an industrial advisory council, made up of po- tent big business figures, to pro- pound suggestions for economic recovery.
 At its first conference Gerard Swope, willy head of General Electric, uncorked a scheme to turn the MIRA over entirely to the tender mercies of industry. Roper smiled. But the president did not. The idea was brushed aside. CAN TAKE IT
 And so it has gone. Roper has had to stand by, hands folded, while the hectic, historic New Deal marched by. It has been tragic; all the more so because Roper is an excellent organizer, one of the best executives in the administration.
 He has many excellent quali- ties. One of them-rare in the Roosevelt cabinet-is his ability to take it. He can stand up un- der criticism with smile. In reply to General Johnson's sav- age statement that he would not work under Roper, tue latter put his arm around the irate cav airy officer. and before a public press conference announced:
 General Hugh Johnson, na- tiOnal recovery administrator, under the president"
 HUMOROUS
 Roper has d real sense of humor and his stories about the difficulties of getting along with General Johnson at times have convulsed the cabinet.
 Essentially conservative, Roper has bent his views somewhat to meet those of the New Deal. When hard hitting members of his New Deal shipping board nave waged war against high shipping salaries paid out of mail contracts, and fought the lobbying of shipping interests, Roper has backed them to the limit. As commissioner of inter- nal revenue he established an enviable record in collecting in- come taxes and left his bureau clean of the mess which Morgen- thau recently inherited.
 Personally charming, gra- ciOus southern gentleman, Roper Is one of the most .likeable mem. bers of the cabinet. His large. family of children are following devotedly in their fathers foot steps: two sons being officers in the army and navy, 8 daughter holding position in a government department, and another son be- ing an executive in the demo- cratic national committee. ASSISTANTS
 That Ropers chief assistant should also be a McAdoo man was to be expected. In politics one good turn deserves another.
 John Dickensen, assistant sec. rotary of commerce. was con nected with the law firm of Me Adoo, Cotton and Franklin, of New York city, in 1921 and a law partner of McAdoo in Los Angeles from 1922 to 1925. Later he was professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania, with a side connection with the great Wall street legal firm of Sullivan and Cromwell. Pompous and con- GarVotiyn TfnIyirco., i,r4 New Deal picture even less than his chief. He has repeatedly an- tagonized the liberal counsellors of the president by his pronounce ed big business views. Appointed chairman of the special commit tee to draw up recommendations for stock exchange regulation he brought in 8 namby-pamby re- port, promptly junked by the president and the senate banking committee. Later, Dickinson ap- peared before the committee and attacked the heart of the bill, the provision placing regulatory power in the hands of the fed eral trade mission.
 In his selection of Professor William l.. Thorp. as director of the bureau of foreign and domes- tic commerce, Roper chose -an aide who in spirit. youth, and views is a fit associate for the New Deal. Thirty-five years old. a brilliant economist, and an able executive, Thorp has done much to retrieve this agency from the petty politics playing repute to which it had sunk un- der the e prosperity ty-around- the- corner blurbling of Dr Julius Klein.
 Copyright, 1884, by United