Evening star., 1941-09-14
Price Control Director
Growing in Importance
By OUen L. Scott.

under way among the personalities who
make up the New Deal. This shift is
moving Leon Henderson to the top of
the list of those who occupy positions of
greatest influence inside the Govern
ment.
Mr.. Henderson is administrator of
price control machinery and of ma
chinery to assure supplies to civilian
industry. But more than that he is
the man who really inspired and brought
about the recent reorganization of this
country's defense machinery. Within
the New Deal he is coming TO hold the
status held at various times by Raymond
Moley. Rexford Tugwell, Tom Corcoran
and Harry Hopkins.
This time, however. the role of New
Deal leader differs from that of the
past. There is less emphasis on theory
and more on accomplishment, less
thought of reform and more thought of
results.
The story of what happened to bring
Leon Henderson into his present role
goes back more than year
At that time. President Roosevelt
called businessmen back into the Gov
ernment to help mobilize the Nations
budding defense forces He had created
a Defense Advisory Commission made
up of businessmen and New Dealers and
labor leaders. Mr.. Henderson was a
New Deal member of the commission.
But that unwieldly organization soon
begged down and there was created the
o. P M. This time New Dealers were
pushed out into the cold and business
men pretty generally took over.
But it very soon became apparent to
many people that the dollar-a-year
group of officials was primarily inter-
ested in using the defense emergency TO
scuttle New Deal reforms. Some of these
officials, in unguarded moments, ad-
mitted as much. They pooh-poohed the
reports of Mr.. Henderson and his group
that shortages were ahead. They baked
at Mr.. Henderson's insiStent pleas that
/ large scale expansion of steel capacity
and electric power capacity and alumni
! mum capacity, among others, was essen
tial if the country wanted TO avoid a
crisis.
Furthermore, Mr.. Henderson led the
argument for those who insisted that
the Government must determine exactly
what would be its needs for basic in
dustrial materials and then must get set
to gear industry to fill those needs with
the least shock to that part Of private
industry that was not receiving defense
orders.
AS reward for his pains. Leon Hen
derson was kicked downstairs by Presi-
dent Roosevelt The President sided
with businessmen who said that there
was enough of everything.
Then time got in its work.
Acute shortages appeared and infla-
ton started, as demand increased at
| time when industry faced shutdown of
production of many types Of goods. Many
small industries were confronted with
ruin as one source OF supply after an
other began to dry up. Mr.. Henderson
and Chester Davis of the Federal Re-
serve Board had argued that every ef-
! fort should be made To spread defense
work among small as well as large pro-
ducers They were overruled.
Today, all of the dire things that Mr..
Henderson said would come true are
coming true. Now as IN 1887 when he
predicted the collapse of the boomlet IN
business that had started last In 1886,
and again as in 1884 when he predicted
a crack-up in N. r. A because OF its
price policies. Leon Henderson had seen
his predictions come true.
/ This time President Roosevelt was duly
impressed Confronted with an obvious
| crisis. the Chief Executive, through Harry
| Hopkins and Judge Samuel Rosenman,
| sought Mr.. Henderson's advice. The re-
! organization that has just taken place in
| defense machinery is largely the result
! of that advice.
/ There is demotion or transfer for some
/ of the businessmen who had held key
/ Jobs, and who had insisted right up to
the last that everything was going fine.
! There was elevation of Donald Nelson, a
! businessman, who sees eve to eye with
MIR. Henderson on most policies, TO the
key post as director of priorities. There
was new and important job for Floyd
! Oolum, another businessman friend Of
! Mr.. Henderson, who is charged now with
/ the job of trying at this late date to save
| the economic lives of small businessmen
| who face disaster because of defense de-
mands for material. There was place
I for Mr. Henderson himself at the coun-
/ Gil table of those who will determine
overall defense policy as it affects in
| duStry.
This is a very sizable victory for a
young man whose career within the New
Deal has been rather checkered
| Leon Henderson entered the Govern
ment service by telling Gen. Hugh john
son. back in the blue eagle days of N.
| r. A, that his whole ambitious structure
was going to crack up because of its
faulty policy in relation to prices. Gen.
Johnson asked Mr.. Henderson to come in
| and try out his ideas, but there wasn't
! time or power to do that before the whole
experiment blew up. After the blowup,
Harry Hopkins employed Mr.. Henderson
as economist for w. P. A In that job he
forecast the depression that started late
in 1887 and that led to demand for a
study of the economic setup to discover
whether or not there might be some
means to prevent these periodic break
! downs.
This led to the two-year study of the
economic system by joint committee of
Congressman and administration Off
cials that Mr.. Henderson directed. He
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