Evening star., 1936-11-19


pacity should ever have wanted to
be a bureaucrat. tied down to the
detail of Government red tape and
routine. was a mystery from the out
set. The so-called brain trusters"
can be more useful to Government in
the role of advisers than administra-
tors. anyway.
The trouble about an adviser ac-
eepting an administrative position Is
that seniority, Government custom as
to prececence and all sorts of tradi-
tional barriers hem in the of1icial in
question For instance, it isn't good
form for an Undersecretary of Agri-
culture to be seeing the President
unless the matter is first talked over
and arranged with his superior officer,
the Secretary of Agriculture. 1t is
easy to see why a man of Tugwells
range Of interests would prefer to be
foot loose, and able to 60 and come
at the White House without the offi-
cial restraints OF Washington custom.
Man of Originality.
One does not have to accept Rex
TugWell's ideas or to subscribe to his
philosophy to say that Of all the men
in the New Deal. not excepting Presi-
dent Roosevelt himself, he has bet
ter idea Of a co-ordinated or controlled
economy for America than anybody
else in Washington. His books, writ
ten as early as 1888, foreshadowed not
only many of the legislative proposals
Of the first Roosevelt administration,
but a re-reading of his books and
speeches will furnish clue to the
activities Of the second Roosevelt ad-
ministration.
Such man as Rex Tugwell naturally
doesn't get on too well with the others
in the administration. Some Of the
ofYicials are quite humanity envious Of
his intellectual attainments and the
newspapers have emphasized Tugwell
to such an extent that he has no doubt
found 1t embarrassing to be as active
an adviser from his post as Under
secretary Of Agriculture as he could be
on the outside Of the Government.
Then there k always the question
OF income. DR.. Tugwell is not q man
OF means. Outside the Government he
can earn more than in the Govern
. nnent, and with the Nationwide ad-
vertisement that has been given him
he doubtless will be sought as a con-
tributor to magazines and periodicals
generally.
DR.. Tugwell has rendered excellent
service to Mr.. Roosevelt and 1t is
clear from the text of the letters ex-
changed in connection with the
resignation that the President Is
anxious to convey the impression that
his trusted friend and adviser isn't
being kicked out of the New Deal, but
that the latchstring is always out. Mr..
Roosevelt says specifically: II want
you to know that later on I fully ex-
!" pect to ask you to come back to
render additional service"
Vehicles of Politeness.
Sometimes these expressions are
merely vehicles of politeness to avoid
O contrary impression. 1t will be re-
called that the President said virtually
the same thing to Gen. Hugh johnson
when he resigned as head OF the
N. r. A. But in this instance it does
mean that Mr.. Roosevelt will continue
to seek the advice and aid of Rex Tug
well on some of the broad problems
Of social legislation, and particularly
economic planning.
So far rs the critics are concerned
they probably will not be deprived of
one of their targets Of attack. For as
long as the Tugwell doctrine and the
New Deal philosophy are intertwined
there will be opposition from more or
less conservative quarters. Connection
necessary in order for Mr.. Roosevelt
TO get ideas on social planning and
the problems of his administration
generally. Thus Raymond Moley con-
tinued for a long while after he left
the Department of State to be an ad-
wiser. Likewise Prof. Felix Frankfurter
Of the Harvard Law School has never
held any position under the New Deal.
but he is regarded as one Of the most
influential of Mr.. Roosevelt's advisers.
Rex Tugwell has moved out Of q
bureaucrat's chair. but his role as ad-
wiser to President Roosevelt may be
even more influential in the future
than heretofore
tCopyright. 1850