Imperial Valley press., 1941-09-12
MR. ICKES GETS
A PUSH IN THE FACE

n FUSH TN t1E TANE
If the Rt Hon. Harold l.. Ickes, secre-
tary of interior, oil coordinator, admin
istration trial balloon sender-upper, were
different sort of a duffer he would be
very subdued gentleman today.
A United States senate committee has
discovered after a thoroughly exhaustive
investigation that there Is no gasoline
shortage on the eastern front.
If we know our Mr.. lckes, however,
we confidently venture the prediction
that he is anything but subdued. He
probably will have proved our predlc-
tion by the time this sees print. The most
lenient thing he may say Is that the sem
ate committee was inspired by politics.
1t is not at all impossible, in view Of Mr..
Ickes' past popping off, that he will
merely dispense with the matter by dub
bing the whole United States senate
bunch of saboteurS.
Along with other administration stall
warts, he unquestionably will look upon
the senate committees findings as an un-
happy blow at American public morale
in a time of crisis.
If the kind of censorship Mr.. lckes has
so often championed had prevailed this
week, no newspaper would have been al
lowed to print the story Of the senate
committees declaration that there is no
actual shortage Of transportation faclll-
ties, and that the only shortage Is
shortage of the desired surplus. The
censors would have argued, as Mr.. Ickes
undoubtedly argues, that such story IS
a severe blow to American faith IN those
directing the defense effort.
The censors would be right. Mr.. Ickes
is right in regarding the senate findings
as a blow to public morale. Of course
toi1 orb
in public leaders who shout wolf! wolff"
every time a pink nosed rabbit wiggles
his ears outside the window. Of course
we question the sincerity, the ability and
even the intellectual honesty of cabinet
member who wields brush of falsehood
to paint a nightmare picture which, un-
der the bright light of facts turns out
to be something resembling a futurist's
version of the soul Of an egg-and bad
egg, at that.
But whose fault is all that?
In our own naive way, We somehow
believe it is the fault of the person who
makes the original mistake-not the fault
of the ones who discover the mistake. If
anybody has sabotaged the morale of
the country, it is the official who has
demonstrated beyond argument that his
statements cannot be trusted.
If morale has been damaged, it has
been damaged by bad leadership, not by
criticism of the leaders. The American
people have been used to knowing the
truth so long that it will fake more than
Mr.. 1ckes' horror-coated pills to induce
hysteria founded upon untruth.
MR.. ICKES UNDERTAKES
AMERICAN INTELLIGENCE
Mr.. Ickes is like so many people whose
heads are so high in the rosy clouds of
ego that they cannot see their own clay
feet-he has taken it for granted that
the average American is an unintelligent
lout who will swallow every official pro-
nouncement without question. Thus Mr..
Ickes was no end startled to discover,
when his office announced with great
clamor that there was "only ten days sup
ply" of gasoline stirred on the east coast,
that anybody would think to do little
research and find out that there never
has been more than ten days supply stor-
ed at one time.
The secretary could have achieved his
purpose-if increasing the gasoline sur
plus was his purpOse-by calm explain
alton of why it is necessary to increase
the surplus. But, the way he looks at it.
that would have been giving the average
American credit for too much intelli
gence. SO Mr.. Ickes tried to scare the
average American with a fanciful ghost
story Of nOn-eXistent shortage. The re-
suit: chaos.