The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-12-28

The fur1OuS U00ercOVer scrap centered around three men-So- licitor General Robert Jackson and Governor Frank Murphy, the. Presidents first and second choices and Assistant Attorney General Brien McMahon, candidate of Jim Farley and retiring Cummings.
 A week ago Roosevelt had de- cided to name Jackson, after be- ing convinced by congressional leaders that Murphy would have hard sledding to be confirmed by the senate. When Farley got wind of this decision he unlimbered his guns and moved in against Jackson
 At the start he was opposed to Jackson and Murphy both, the first because he saw in the rising young New Yorker a men ace to his own 194O political ambi- .tiOns; and the second because of Murphy's strong pro-labOr rec ord, which he considered a pO- lifical disadvantage.
 Jim did not, of course, openly oppose Jackson on personal po- litical grounds. He raised the point of geography. With four New Workers in the Cabinet-himself, Morgenthau, Miss Perkins, and now Harry Hopkins = he told Roosevelt that the addition to still another would be resented by the rest of the country.
 Jim urged McMahon for the vacancy but when he saw that was getting nowhere, he counseled Mur- phy.
 Farley was so confident he had won his point that he tipped off intimates that Murphy would be appointed. When Jackson's friends heard this they in turn, stormed the White House and the battle got hotter than ever.
 The only ones who took no part in it were the three candi- dates themselves. All personal friends and mutual admirers, they kept well out of the fight.
 Christmas Cards
 Republican Christmas card: G. O. P. Chairman John Hamilton's Yule greeting was a rejuvenated elephant emerging from a hut with this caption, "Out of the dOghouse."
 Democratic Christmas card: John E. Kennedy, secretary to Rep. Jerry O'Connell, defeated Montana New Dealer, distributed black -bordered cards with this doleful message: There ain't no Santa Claus" At the bottom in very small type was this dig at the Dies Committee: Not print ed in Moscow or at government expense.
 Garner Advice
 One piece of advice Jack Gar ner handed Roosevelt during their man-to-man confab was to with draw the reappointment of Labor Board Commissioner Donald w. Smith.
 The canny vice president coun- seled this on the ground of "prac- tical politics.. He explained that he didn't know Smith had noth- ing against him personally, but he couldn't be confirmed. The Republicans were against him to man and there were enough hos tile Democrats to insure his re- jection.
 Such defeat coming at the beginning of the new Congress, Garner argued, would be bad strategy. It would play into the hands of the opposition by placing the Administration on the defensive. The wise and practical thing to do, he urged was to shift Smith to another job and name a less contrO- versial choice to the NLRB.
 Roosevelt gave no indication whether he would take this advice, but later he discussed the mat ter with Secretary Frances Per- kins and asked her to submit a list of new names. First choice of the inner circle in the event Smiths name is withdrawn is Rep. David Lewis of Maryland, lifelong liberal.
 Other White House advisers urge the selection of a business man on the theory that such an appointment would strengthen the position of the board in meeting the criticism that is too prO-lab0r.
 NOTE-AM leaders are secretly trying to instigate an inpeach-