The McDowell times. [volume] (Keystone, W. Va.) 1904-1941, 1941-04-04


Bernard M. Baruch said he would
indulge himself from then on by be-
Roc. PL T. ing a sort Of
doctor or dl-
DriUer of u. S. agnostician
Defense Machine OF polltlcs,
and finance, rather than a self
interested participant Although he
did gather few more millions, as a
Spectator, as he has frankly said,
1t was in the same mood of detach-
ment with which he has appraised
the social scene, and it is in this
mood that he has been the adviser
of every President since Taft.
Each day in the news brings
some new demand that the tall,
pleasant, snowy-haired Mr.. Ba-
ruch, surely our elder statesman
Of such bottleneck urgency as
that Of today, be given a free
hand, In the chartroom, or per-
haps the wheel-house, to steer
our emergency defense course.
Some Of these nominations come
from the established school of
Baruch men, such as Gen. Hugh
8. Johnson, Herbert Bayard
Swope and George N. Peek;
others from those who remem-
Der Mr.. Baruch's achievements
as head Of the War Industries
board, and his alert, specula-
tors awareness OF what has
been going on in Europe for the
last few years.
AS to this business of being a spec
ulator, Mr.. Baruch says, II make no
apologies. l am a Spectator. The
word comes from the Latin word
'speculari,' meaning to observe /
observe"
Like all seasoned spectators, he
never pounds his desk or runs a tenn
perature or inclines to high blood
pressure, although he is 70. He
keeps fit by his own system of calls
themes, pragmatically arrived at,
like his financial operations.
AS head of the War Industries
board, he fooled the 20-mule team of
labor, industry, raw-materials and
government deity through many a
narrow defile and hazardous pas
sage, and large section of his pub
lie would like to see him again in
the drivers seat.
Naturally skeptic as to the
grand solution, like most specu-
latOrS, he has stood at few, if
any false dawns. He was a
prophet of doom for the Dawes
plan, from the first. In 1927, he
predicted that it would be
scrapped within two years. "a
demand might be morally rea-
sOnable as a business PROPOSE
tiOn," he said.
AS a foe of paternalism in bust
ness and a stanch states rights
Democrat, he has insisted that a
means must be found to mobilize
Prdgmatic, NeUer n nra;os u,i eh-
Emotional, as the out taking on
Good Spectator the crushing
overhead of
a Gripping and sef-destroying bu-
reaucracy. He has expounded these
and kindred subjects in many eco
nomic treaties in dry-as-dust jour
nails, for here is a Wall Street specu-
lator who also wears the golden key
of Phi Beta Kappa. He is an able
evangelist of the school of prag-
matism in government and bust
neSs-again the speculator, whose
judgments, if he is a good specula-
tor, are never emotional.
His early definition of his att
tude as that of a diagnOStician
might have denoted a sympa-
thetic identification with his dis
tinguished father, DIR. Simon Ba-
ruch of South Carolina, a widely
known surgeon and health author
ity who took a leading part in
developing the Saratoga spa.
Born in South Carolina, Bernard
M. Baruch took an earned de
gree at the College of the City of
New York in 1889 and subse-
quently six honorary degrees
from various other colleges.
For the last few years he has beer
calmly, but earnestly prescribing
preparedness. Returning from Eu
rope in 1887, he said, Europe is
hopeless" In January, 1899, he
offered to supply from his own funds
So, 300 900 which the army lacked foI
certain equipment An adjustment
OF an appropriation bill made thi;
unnecessary. He has been friendly
20 the New Deal, but has chided anc
warned it on many occasions.
THIS reporter, on occasional trips
TO Washington, has noted tha
some of the heaviest hitters there
are the least publicized. Here
today is the amiable Harold N
Graves in charge Of the new defense
loan drive, which will start May
Mr.. Graves, in his 80 years in tn,
government service, has showed
singular ability in getting thing.
done without a lot of fuss and feath