Evening star., 1935-03-05
BY GARDNER JACKSON.

The UPS ana downs OF Lne emOLlOHdl
drive behind the New Deal are as
noticeable to one working on the in
tide as are the changes in the weather
The hundreds Of young people, new
to Government, who accepted the
challenge in his inaugural
at its face value, follow every woro
and action not only Of their own i'm
superiors but of every promi'
nent official in the New Deal. A
these words and actions seem to be-
token a genuine step in the direction
Of alleviating the plight of the for
gotten men-the mass Of the unem-
ployed and of the middle class-they
redouble their pace. When the con-
trary evidence appears they grouch
and wonder whether they ought to
stick on the Job, even as meal ticket.
HAS Harry Hopkins sold out?''
Many Of the Federal Emergency Re
lief Administration workers ask one
another If he shifts his policy a bit.
They asked the question frequently
when the dynamic, straightforward
his Civil Works Administration policy
Of paying "the prevailing wage" on
relief work after conducting a long
and bitter struggle to maintain 1t.
They did not like the way political
operated in such States as
Tennessee and New Mexico, for ex-
ample, to replace efficient, disinter-
ested relief administrators with poll
tical appointees.
Loyalty to Hopkins.
But, by and large. the Harry Hop
kins crowd in F. E. r. A. is still
willing to give him a loyalty and de-
votion which are scarcely equaled by
any other organization in Washing
ton. Sometimes these workers are
to wonder whether ambition
for place and power is making him
pull his punches" They talk much
Of this possibility and Of the way 1t
has got hold Of dozens OF lesser men
in the administration. They discuss
episodes which seemed to indicate
Mr.. Hopkins was jealous of Secretary
Ickes or Secretary Perkins or some
other official.
All of such discussions usually end
with the conclusion that Harry Hop
kins, the idealistic man of action, can
do nothing more than he Is doing.
Hes about the only one Of our crowd
left that's close to the President" is
the way they put it. Hes got to
watch his step, so that when the time
comes he can influence F. D. in the
right direction"
Frances Perkins advent into the
cabinet caused a multitude OF young
people to feel that the New Deal really
was new deal and brought them
into Government service for the first
time. But today she is regarded with
far more skepticism by many young
New Dealers than is Mr.. Hopkins.
She's nothing but glorif1ed So
cial worker" some Of them say. "She
has no basic economic philosophy. she
has no broad, fundamental labor pro-
gram and consequently is unable OF
to give labor leadership
Labor Board Troubles.
More particularly. many young
hopefuls in the New Deal are trou-
bled by Miss Perkins jealousy of the
National Labor Relations Board, by
her insistence on trying to keep II
under her thumb, so that it cannot
develop the independence and ef-
fectiveness visioned for 1t in the Wag-
ner bill Much of the disgruntled
feeling about Miss Perkins springs
from her fnaccessibility. from the tac-
tics Of her watchdog" secretary. Miss
Kay. and from the self-confident
brusque manner of one of her closest
coVnselors. Charles WyZanSki, the so.
licitor of the Department of Labor.
All through these two years Of tn.
New Deal there have been intense
rivalries and struggles for powel
which have not gone on without ef'
feet upon the young New Dealers
The tugging and hauling between
Secretary of Commerce Roper anC
Gen. johnson for dominance in tn,
early days Of the National Recover,
Administration was one of the first
And 1t is interesting to find at thi
stage in the New Deal that one O
the developments which gives tn,
young New Dealers most alarm Is tn,
emergence of the honey-Voiced MI
Roper into greater prominence ans
authority.
The rivalry between Secretary Icke
and Administrator Moffett Of tn,
Federal Housing Administration wa
one which caused the young New
Dealers most merriment. And, in
cidentally. the Housing Administra
ton Is the last place the youn.
idealists would 60 to look for a job
Those who have worked with Mr.
Moffett and have been transferred
elsewhere tell astounding tales of tht
unscientific nature of many of the
proposals taken seriously by the Hous'
ing Administration. Mr.. Moffett him.
self, they say. is wont to inform hi:
young assistants that the contacts
they make while working with him
will prove of more value to them
than a college education and will en-.
able them to 60 out into well-paid
positions when the New Deal ends.
Ickes dependable"
Secretary Ickes, with his vast re-
sponsibilities in lis own department
and in the Public Works Administra-
ton, and seeming ever eager to reach
out for more responsibilities wherever
he can find them, has run afoul OF
Secretary Wallace and Undersecretary
Tugwell over the Forestry Service and
land policy in general. There is con-
siderable jealousy and irritation
among the Soil Erosion Service in
the Interior Department, the Bureau
of Agricultural Engineering in the
Department, the Forestry
Service and the National Parks Serv-
ice. and Secretary Ickes would like
to consolidate the whole business un-
der him.
. Despite this yearning for more and
more fields to conquer. and although
he has kept in the Interior Depart
ment many from the old regime, it
Is fair to say that Mr.. Ickes is re-
garded by the New Dealers as the
most dependable member Of the cabi-
net. Over and over again his friends
in the New Deal have said, while
commiserating over the purge" at