The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1941-05-15
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WiCkard's Policies Studied
By Farmers, Consumers
Both Groups Decry Price Fixing Program;
Wayne Coy Appointed to ~'Chaperon'
Federal Defense Budget.
By BAUKHAGE
National Farm, and Home Hour Commentator.


Today. former assistant Federal
Security Administrator Wayne Coy
is executive assistant to the Presi-
dent Of the United States with the
job OF chaperoning the biggest
peacetime defense budget in history.
He was recently made liaison Of
ficer for the Office Of Emergency
Management.
Mr.. Coy has just moved from his
office in the Federal Security ad-
ministration building into a corner
Of the bureau Of the budget office
in the state department., with one
end Of the hall screened off for a
secretary. But his quarters do not
concern him. He is used to max
ing himself at home where he can
hang his hat.
Just what a Presidents executive
assistant does is not easy to de-
scribe. He is supposed to have "a
passion for anonymity" and likewise
a passion for keeping quiet. His
function is to take as many details
of the Presidents mind as possible,
to carry messages and give other
officials as many right answers as
possible. In other words, help them
settle problems about which other
wise they would insist on talking to
the President.
Before a budget is accepted there
must first be hearings before the
bureau Of the budget where the vari-
Gus departments present their
needs. Then there are the congress
sional committee hearings. Today,
with a whole new layer of defense
agencies spread over the regular de-
partments and divisions and Sec
tons it is easy to see that Mr.. Coy,
as liaison man for the whole Office
Of Emergency Management which is
the overall holding company for de-
tense has plenty on his hands. He
knows his budgets for he worked in
the bureau of the budget himself and
he had already had plenty Of ad-
ministrative experience before he
reached Washington.
Supported McNutt.
Everybody in Indiana knows that
Wayne Coy was the man behind
McNutt. He left the Delphi Citizen
to become McNutt's secretary when
Handsome Paul. was governor of
Indiana in 1888.
When the governor became high
commissioner of the Philippines, Coy
went along. He returned to run
the presidential campaign for his
boss. Earlier, when he was state
relief administrator. he had met
Harry Hopkins. At the Democratic
convention in Chicago last summer
he met him again. This time Harry
was engineering the third-term NOM
nation and Coy and his boss had to
step back. But Coy and Hopkins
are still close friends. That helps in
the present job with Hopkins. vir-
tual first assistant to the President.
Harry can answer a lot Of Wayne's
questions without bothering the
Chief.
Wayne Coy started out when he
was in high school to be a news
paper man. He was a reporter on
the local paper in Franklin before
he became a publisher in his own
right in Delphi.
talked with him as he sat in his
temporary office in the stately Fed
eral Reserve building with its
marble panels and its indirect light
ing-quite a contrast to the Office of
a weekly newspaper. Naturally I
asked him if his editorial experience
had been any help in his present
job.
He paused a moment and then
said, II know this sounds like orat-
ing, but there is nothing mor valu-
able than having to live with people.
That's what you do on a weekly
newspaper. You live the lives Of
your subscribers.
Here in Washington too many
people forget the people 1 n coun-
try seats. My experience has
helped me to visualize programs in
terms of people. That helped me
especially when I was in the Social
Security administration. It helps
you to see that your administration
is carried on the county level. The
tendency in the federal government
is to carry on at the state level"
At this point a secretary popped
in.
"Brigadier General Watson on the
phone" she said.
Hello. Pop" said Coy.
knew this was going to be a very
private conversation. Presidential
Assistant Coy was going to talk with
Presidential aide Watson (known to
his intimates as ''pop'') about at
fairs of state. I left the ex-editor
' to his new job.