Evening star., 1938-06-09

"s'FNFN--~''"
the war m h OF n,u,s,
personal sympa-
thy. Thus Mr.. Hopkins has been for
the last two or three years very close
to the President. The friendship that
has grown up through official contact
has been remarked upon generally in
the Capital, as Mr.. Hopkins Is often
at the White House for dinner and
In the evening.
When, therefore, after the Works
Progress administrator had come out
with a statement saying that if he
were now a resident of Iowa he would
vote for Representative Wearin in
stead of Senator Gillette, and had
brought down on himself a fierce at
tack, Mr.. Roosevelt, with character
istic fidelity, didn't like to see Mr..
Hopkins suffer the ignominy of politi-
cal defeat. The first rule Of post
primary strategy is to let bygones be
bygones. Instead of letting Chairman
Farley speak for him in congratulating
Senator Gillette, or instead of keep
ing silent about the "indiscretion" Of
Mr.. Hopkins, which is what even
Majority Leader Barkley termed it last
week in the Senate debate-Mr. Roose-
welt nevertheless felt constrained to
defend his intimate friend, Mr.. Hop
kins.
Inquiries Are Pertinent.
The defense consisted of remark
TO the press to the effect that, since
Mr.. Hopkins had been born in Iowa
and had gone to school with Mr..
Wearin, it was natural and proper for
Mr.. Hopkins to express his opinion
about the primary contest. But this
sort of defense leaves the President
open to some pertinent inquiries from
the public
Why, for instance, did James
Roosevelt, son Of the President, send
a telegram which. though worded in
rather adroit fashion, was neverthe-
less construed in Iowa as an indorse-
ment of Mr.. Wearin? Surely Jimmy
Roosevelt wasn't born in Iowa and
didn't go to school with Mr.. Wearin.
Likewise, why did the "elimination
committee" headed by the Presidents
trusted adviser, Tommy Corcoran,
select Senator Gillette for attack?
Was there no consultation with the
w. p. A. administrator or planning
by the elimination committee" to
inspire the Hopkins statement? Sure
.ly Tommy Corcoran wasn't born in
Iowa and didn't go to school with
Mr.. Wearin.
There's another question, also un-
answered thus far. Why did the head
of the Governments humanitarian
agency, which dispenses relief to mil
lions of persons, and which has been
under fire for political activity, feel
that his having been born in Iowa
and having gone to school with Mr..
Wearin were considerations so strong
as to outweigh the known desire Of
the American people to have the W.
P. A. kept free from any suspicion
of political manipulation?
Local Administrator Is Key.
Mr.. Hopkins, on the day after the
Iowa primary, made the point that,
since Senator Gillette had won, 1t
must have been mistake for critics
to assume during the last 10 days
that the w. P. A. vote would be
wrongly used. But Mr.. Hopkins Is
too realistic to overlook the fact that
the W. P. AS activity in politics
depends on how the local admins
TRAITOR is lined up. In most instances
the local w. P. A. man is virtually an
appointee of the Senator who Is In
Office. What the Iowa result con-
ceivably could mean Is that the local
w. P. A. executives, feeling they had
the backing of Senator Gillette, could
afford to defy Mr.. Hopkins wishes.
But this is hard to determine ac-
curately at present, because Mr.. Hop
kins and the Roosevelt administra-
tion have consistently blocked all
efforts to investigate through Inn
partial channels the charges Of po-
litical activity frequently leveled at
the w. P. A. The Pennsylvania vot-.
ers, for example, have clamored In
vain for investigation, and the Roose-
welt administration went so far on
one occasion as to send attorneys
from the Department of Justice to
help prevent by court injunction a
State legislative investigating COM
mittee from inquiring into relief mat
80 .ters in. the keystone State on the
ground that it was federal" mat
ter. Senator Tydings, Democrat, is
this very week sponsoring congress
sional inquiry into charges of poll
tics in relief, and. it remains to. be
seen if the administration will let it
pass the Senate.
Gillette 80 Per Cent New Dealer.
Last and by no means least, why,
on purely party loyalty basis, does
tne TACT that MIR. Hopkins was born
IN Iowa and went to school with Mr..
Wearin justify him in urging the
defeat of a Democratic Senator who
has been 80 per cent supporter Of
the New Deal, in fact supporter Of
everything of Importance except the
Presidents bill to pack" the Supreme
Court with six extra justices so as to
bring about change In judicial de-
ctsions?
1t Is not logical to suppose that Mr..
Hopkins would make a move of this
importance-the unprecedented move
Of w. P. A. administrator inter-
vening publicly in party primary
unless the President know about It
in advance. And If Mr.. Roosevelt
didn't, then why did the White House
remain silent afterwards and allow
so many of the voters of Iowa to
believe that Mr.. Hopkins spoke for
the President himself2
The Presidents defense of Mr.. Hop
kins could mean that the heads OF
all agencies and departments, whether
political or not, are to be upheld by
the White House hereafter in making
public statements about their politi-
cal predictions without q word oi
restraint from the Chief Executive
The inference that Mr.. Roosevelt ap-
proves political activity even by the
heads Of supposedly non-partisau
I