Evening star., 1938-12-24
Secretary Hopkins

1t is quite apparent that there
are a great many people who look
askance at Harry Hopkins, the new
Secretary of Commerce. Presumably
their antipathy is not toward him as
an individual, but toward the atti-
tude of the administration that is
reflected by his promotion: To a
greater extent, perhaps, than any
other member Of the official family,
he personifies the New Deal. He is
essentially reformer, but he is also
an intelligent and indefatigable work.
er, and there is not the slightest basis
for any suggestion that he has been
less than scrupulously honest in his
personal conduct as head of the
Works Progress Administration.
There have been charges that
W. P. A. funds have been used to
buy the votes of relief clients. but
there has been no evidence to date
that Mr.. Hopkins approved such tao
tics. He injected himself into the
last political campaign, with dis
sstrous results, but he will be ex-
pected to take an active part in poll
tics in his new position. In short,
MIR Hopkins is nothing worse than
a jealous partisan of the New Deal,
He has spent lot of money, but that
was his job. He has used intemperate
language at times, but so have others
on both sides of the political fence.
For some time, he has been one of
the Presidents principal advisers, and
his advancement will only put the
stamp of official recognition on that
fact.
The real cause for concern in the
appointment of Mr.. Hopkins grows
out OF the bearing it may have on
the course the President intends to
follow during the next two years.
Mr. Hopkins has no business ex-
perlence and it is not likely the
majority of businessmen will well
come him as Secretary of Commerce.
There have been suggestions that,
because the new Secretary enjoys
the confidence of Mr.. Roosevelt.
business will have reader access
to the White House than has been
the case in the past That line of
reasoning, however, is not convinc-
Ing. Mr.. Hopkins and the business
men of the country do not see eve
to eye on the social and economic
problems of the day and it is not
likely that he, as member of the
cabinet, will alter his mental proc
esses. The greater probability is
that the Hopkins appointment was
influenced by two wholly different
considerations
One is that Mr.. Roosevelt has
concluded that the results of the
November elections did not reflect
dissatisfaction with his policies and
that the majority of the voters de-
Sire continuance of his New Deal.
II that Is the case, it may we'll be
That he wants Mr.. Hopkins as his
successor and has decided to make
the 1910 fight on the issue of reten-
ton OF the New Deal, regardless of
how the business interests and the
conservative members of his partv
may feel about it. The develop
ments of the next few months should
reveal whether that is the direction
In which the administration is
moving. a
The other probability is that Mr..
Roosevelt wanted to do what he
could to head off the threatened
congressional investigation of the
W. P. A. With Mr. Hopkins and his
militant assistant, Aubrey Williams,
out of the picture, the edge has been
taken off any such investigation.
And the designation of Colonel F. C.
Harrington, an Army officer, as the
acting director of the relief agency
may be expected to mollify many
members of Congress who were thor
oughly dissatisfied with the func-
tioning of the w. P. A. under Mr..
Hopkins.