The Washington times., 1936-01-21
WALKER SEEN
IN TREASURY
PORTFOLIO
By EARL GOODWIN

RumorS persist that Secretary
of the Treasury Henry Morgen'.
thau will leave the Cabinet for q
diplomatic post and that this
change will simply be one move
among the Presidents close Off.
cial associates, and that it will be
accompanied by other moves to
accommodate the Presidents Off.
cial team to shifting conditions.
Along with the rumor that Sec,
rotary Morgenthau is to leave,
there goes the "hot tip" that
Frank C. Walker. until recently
chairman of the National Emer.
gency Council, is to take the Treas;
ury post.
Kennedy Supported
But, conflicting with this latter
whisper is the strong suggestion
from New York that if the PreSi:
ent is to make any changes at the
Treasury. the money center, Wall.
Street, to be specific, would be en-
tirely pleased if Joseph Kennedy,
late chairman of the Securities
and Exchange Commission, would
be made Secretary of the Treas
ury.
These moves, in a measure, de.
pend on the change which has
been predicted for Claude Bowers
United States Ambassador to
Spain. who is to return to the
United States so that he can take
up a position which will give him.
time and opportunity to engage in
the coming political campaign. =
There has been nothing heard.
of this matter since it became a
matter of official gossip several
months ago; but it is generally
understood that Ambassador Bow.
ers, one of the most forceful ora
tors among the Democrats, will
quite soon be in this country and
closely associated with the Demo
cratic National Committee.
Morgenthau For Spain
Those who base these stories of
change on the assumption that
Secretary Morgenthau would like
to have diplomatic post. believe
he will be appointed to the posi-;
ton to be left vacant in Spain.
In the face of the continued talk
of all or some of these changes
in official and Semi-official circles
here, there is a positive disposi-'
ton to ignore or even deny them
by men close to the President.
The President is closely attached
to Secretary Morgenthau, whose
views on many social problems
are similar to those of the Presi,
dent. The Treasury has under it
many activities that are widely
separated from finance and it is.
undoubtedly because Of these
other activities that Henry Nor
genthau holds the job.
The President is pictured by
many observers as wanting to
have Frank Walker close to him,
because of his hard-boiled bust.
ness attitude. Mr.. Walker has
had considerable political expert
ence, and was at one time treas.
urer of the Democratic National
Committee. This lends color to
the story that he may be induced
tn come back into the official
fold when he has attended to the
private business matters which
forced him to relinquish his post
as chairman of the SEC.
Wall Street Hopes
Throughout Wall Street there
is runor. and almost hope, that
joseph Kennedy will take the
financial post in the Treasury.
Mr.. Kennedy, as chairman OF the
Securities and Exchange Commits
sion. managed to bring a tlmld
Wall Street together with ram
pant reform-laden co m m / sslon
and now that the Securities Elk.
change is operating, many Wall
Street leaders feel that in Joe"
Kennedy they have in Washing.
ton one who speaks their Ian
guage. He left the SEC several
months ago to return to his own
business in New York.
It should be said, however, that
there seems to be no disposition
by the President to make drastic
changes, and if the rumors re
ferred to result in the shifts pre-
dicted, they will be rather excep.
tional. The President has made
few changes in his closer associ-
ates for some time. Recent NOM
nations to the Senate for inn
portant posts that have expired
by law, have been almost uni
formly reappointments. 3