Evening star., 1936-03-08

A/ this? Here is Gen. Hugh
wv johnson; for half the pres
ent administration, while
the Blue Eagle scared high, he was
"No. man" in the Government. That
description was not far-fetched. He
was next to the President, and very
close next As head of N. r. A., Gen.
johnson wrote or approved hundreds
Of documents which were turned over
to the President for signature, and
which, after the President signed them,
became what Gen. johnson sonorously
used to call "the law of the land"-
until the Supreme Court decided that
was no way to make the laws of
America.
(Some of those documents which
Gen. johnson sent to the President,
and which the President signed with
out, one must assume, reading them
carefully-some of those documents
contained strange passages and strange
omissions; some day they will be
literary and legal curiosities. envy
the historian who, some future day,
with all the documents before him, and
all the obscuring fogs of emotion
evaporated, will write the history of
that extraordinary American episode,
the genesis and flight of the Blue
Eagle. It will be a fascinating job.
hope the historian who does it will
have a sense of humor and an appre-
ciation of the picturesque)
Gen. johnson was, subject only to
the President, administrator over all
the business of America, almost literal
ly czar over American industry And
business, in the ramif1cations that
Gen. Johnson's ambitious reach took
in must be fully half of all the concern
OF this country. The general was more
than head of N. r. A.: acting for the
President he dealt with many of the
Governments major affairs. He
originated policies.
But why take space to enumerate
the generals functions. prerogatives
and miscellaneous activities official
and extraofficial? Newspapers some
times called him Assistant President"
and that informal designation was
not inappropriate.
Conflicting Judgments.
After some year and half of that
the general ceased to be the Presi-
dents No. man. He ceased to
be a member of the administration,
ceased to be public official He be-
came private citizen. AS a private
citizen. he became newspaper COL
umniSt, a commentator on public af-
fairs. In this present capacity the
general has frequent occasion to eX-
press his judgment about the admin
tstration-the head of it, the members
Of it, the things it does
The judgment which Gen. john
son now expresses about the President
and his policies, about members of the
cabinet and "ace" New Dealers-this
Is the same judgment that the gen.
eral once exercised officially and au-
thoritatively, upon the people of the
United States. 1t is the same judg-
ment that aforetime issued orders, de-
crees, fiats-the judgment which
all of us were required to accept and
obey, under pain of imprisonment or
other criminal penalty
Let us assume, as a tentative postu-
late, that the judgment is good If
the judgment Is good. then, in the
light of what the general now says
from day to day, there would be oc-
casion for serious thought about the
way the affairs of the United States
are being administered.
About the President himself, Gen.
johnson tries to leave better impress
sion than, think, the generals real
feeling would be if the general felt
wholly unrestrained. A major portion
of his illusions to Mr.. Roosevelt are
friendly. He describes things that are
very wrong-and then adds, in effect,
but the President himself is all right" !"
i suspect that Hugh johnson the
newspaper commentator sometimes
remembers that he is also Hugh John
son the former West Pointer and
Army man, and that the West Pointer
remembers the military virtue of
loyalty. Some of the generals passages
about Mr.. Roosevelt have a manner
of saying. unconsciously, After all,
he's the only President we have"
Blames Sub0rdinates.
Frequently, exculpating the Presi-
dent, the general blames his subordi-
mates. On November last, the gen.
eral wrote: He (the President) is
being pulled and hauled into imprac-
ticable paths by visionary associates"
December the general makes what
is, for military man and rather
heavy-footed one, supreme achieve
ment in tact. He says the condition
he calls it "the mess"-is caused
by failure of coordination or-to
put 1t another way-the Presidents
kindly and considerate inability to
take a flgurative base ball bat and
teach a chorus of marcelled and
highly perfumed prima donnas :"
That seems gracious way of saying
the President Is not a good admin
1strator. January /, looking forward
to the November election and warning
the President, the general specifically
lays all blame on the subordinates:
He (Mr. Roosevelt) would win in
walk If he'd get rid of some satellites
who never did him any good and who
are now as much of a handicap as
Snowshoes in foot race"
Sometimes, about the President and
on some other points, the general con-
tradicts himself. On one occasion
indeed, on several occasions-he says
the President is not dictator. Then
on December 27 he recites what the
administration has Characterization
processing taxes, limitation of farm
crops, trade treaties made by admin
istrative action alone, and divers other
administration actions and powers.