Evening star., 1939-03-27

anybody, perhaps, but when the
President promoted the chairman
OF the Securities and Exchange
Commission he sent a thrill of
satisfaction throughout the entire
body of younger men who have
come here under his administra-
ton and worked far beyond the
maximum hour provisions of mod
ern labor laws, late at night and
on holidays and week ends trying
to perform public service.
One does not have to agree with
economic philosophy or the tenets
of political doctrine which these
young men hold to concede that in
their zeal for work they give bound
less energy and unfailing loyalty to
thei respective jobs To be the head
OF the Securities and Exchange
Commission in times like these is
one of the biggest tasks of both
an administrative and judicial sort
that the Government nowadays
possesses. Mr.. Douglas earned the
right to be considered. His pro-
motion was a reward for faithful
service.
Who Will Succeed Douglas?
And now that the question arises
as to who shall fill the place vacated
by Chairman Douglas, the same
principle comes up again. The pres
ent members of the commission
have given of their time and ener-
gies without stint. From among
them a successor doubtless will be
chosen rather than from the outside
world because they have earned the
right to be considered, and besides
they know the work. On each
separate occasion heretofore, the
President has promoted a member of
the commission.
1t is natural that as between Re-
publicans and Democrats on the
commission, the President should
give first consideration to Jerome
Frank, Democrat. Mr.. Frank is an
indefatigable worker. He had ex-
perience with the laws of corpora
ton finance before he came here
and while an ardent New Dealer, he
enjoys In Wall Street the reputation
Of being fair and considerate to
those with whom he may disagree.
Not long ago, Mr.. Frank was being
prominently mentioned for a va
Cancy which existed on the Court
of Appeals of the District of Co.
lumbia and it has been suspected
for some time that Mr.. Roosevelt
might wish to appoint him to the
judiciary.
Likely to Be Retained.
But at the moment with the vital
Importance of continuity of admin
istration in the Securities and Ex-
change Commission, the services of
Jerome Frank are much more likely
to be retained by the President for
Craftsmanship of the commission. 1t
would be in line with the policy
of promotion which the President
has himself developed. Thus, for
instance, two out of the last three
appointments to the Supreme Court
of the United States were given to
men who had served the admins
tration in official positions here
Messrs. Reed and Douglas. In the
case of Mr.. Reed he served as gen.
eral counsel of the Reconstruction
Finance Corp. under the Hoover
regime, as well as under the Roose-
velt administration and served, too,
as solicitor general.
Every one of these men, includ-
Ing Jerome Frank, could be earning
many times the salary paid by the
Government if engaged in the prac-
tice of law or in some position with
large corporations. The fact that
these men without large incomes
prefer to give themselves to the
Government service, emphasizing
the service motive instead of the
profit motive. is an essential coun-
terpart of the demand that has
been growing for some time con-
corning the Importance of a highly
trained personnel in Government.
Prerequisite, of course, to the sue
cess of such a system is that there
shall be adequate promotions and
rewards and that's why President
Roosevelt in watching for oppor-
tunltles to give promotions to the
men who render honorable service
at relatively little pay is blazing a
new trail which is giving incal-
culable encouragement to the young
er men in Government.