Evening star., 1935-01-29
||CKES HITS CRITICS
| AT CIVIC MEETING
Secretary Renews Plea for
Unity in Conservation
Activities.

Echoes Of the Wallace-Ickes con.
troversy over the United States For
estry Service, which Ickes is trying to
bring under his control, were heard
last night at the annual dinner
meeting Of the American Civic Asso-
citation when Secretary Ickes reiter-
ated his demand that all conservation
activities Of the Federal Government
be unified in single department
Speaking before friendly audience,
Secretary Ickes served notice that he
was going to ''try to get back some Of
the stolen sheep" meaning the For
estry Service. Pureau of Fisheries and
other agencies formerly under the De-
partment Of the Interior. He implied,
also, in vigorous language. that tho
Interior Department, under a conseri
vationist like himself and a conserve
tion-minded President. was no longti
the black sheep" Of the adminiStrs.
ton, nor was it to be kicked about
as In the past
Ickes Ridicules Critics.
For critics of his frequent denial r.
public works applications, the Secre.
tary unleaShed ridicule.
If I would only give what haven't
got TO everybody who asks for it. /
would be a jolly good fellow" he said
At the risk. he said, Of getting in
bad" Secretary Ickes injected into his
address reference to his recent New
York speech. in which he declared
that all conservation activities should
be centered in the Interior Depart
ment. Secretary Wallace later Joined
in the fight to retain control over his
conservation AGENCIES, and F. A. Sill
cox. chief Of the forestry service. who
spoke from the same platform with
Ickes. took direct issue with him.
Avoiding personalities or specific
mention Of his own department, Ickes
told the audience:
Il don't care under which depart
ment conservation activities are CEN
tered. Put them under the Army or
the Navy il you want to. but let's tie
them all together. 1t is the only wav
to avoid overlapping and misumder-
standing.
And if we can't do that. let us at
least forbear from criticism of each
other. of one bureau of the Govern
ment by another"
Changes Are Cited.
In rendering an account of his two
year stewardship the Secretary said
that under the reorganization "the
Forestry Service had gone to Agricul-
ture and the Bureau of Fisheries to
Commerce" and other agencies had
been taken away until there was mot
much left" The Bureau of Mines is
now back where it belongs" and the
Department of Interior, he declared,
has now added other agencies.
THE idea of conservation has taken
a f1rmer grip on the imagination of
the American people in these two
years" he declared. "A real conserva-
zionist is in the White House"
The dinner, given at the Cosmos
Club, was in honor of the members
Of the National Resources Board Of
which Ickes is chairman and Frederic
A. Delano, president of the American
Civic Association, is a member.
The Secretary said he was glad to
be introduced as the Secretary of
the Interior" because II read in the
papers the other day another man
by my name has been masquerading
as the administrator Of Public Works.
He must be a hard-boiled man"
Ickes said. He is certainly one un-
popular guy. He may have my family
name, but I disown him utterly"
Mr.. Delano presided at the dinner
which followed the annual board
meeting of the association earlier in
the day, attended by Mrs. Roosevelt
as a member. Rt. Rev. James E.
Freeman, Bishop of Washington, de-
livered the invocation.
About 225 persons. including many
heads of conservation bureaus, at
tended the dinner.