Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-05-12
Appointments
Cause Mild
House Revolt
Really Frozen
Into Permanent job
BY PAUL MtLL0N

Congressman Cox said he
wanted to freeze Mr.. StettiniuS
in solid as director of defense
priorities. but he froze him into
a cube in the refrigerator of the
army and navy munitions con-
troll board.
The Cox amendment was de-
signed to give Mr.. StettiniuS an
independent legal status, whereas
he has been functioning under
the uncertainty of a retrievable
presidential executive order
That was what Mr. Cox told
the House when his amendment
was UNANIMOUSLY adopted as an
amendment TO the Vlnson bill.
LIE DID not need 10 tell the
IL House a bigger and better
reason why this should be done.
In the corridors nearly every
one had heard how the defense
price cudgeler. Leon Henderson,
had installed man in the Stet-
tiniuS division to take over half
the priorities. dealing with civil
ian needs.
Another story. true or not,
was afloat in the House before
the vote implying that Harry
Hopkins might be installed in
Mr.. Stettinius' position before
long.
So the unanimous decision of
the House really represented a
mild revolt against the continu-
ance of unreserved presidential
discretion in shifting the defense
setHp.
1t was in fact a move TO get
some power back into the hands
of Congress by requiring any
future presidential appointees TO
the prioritieS office to get Sem
ate approval (Mr. Hopk in s
probably could not get it,
DUT in working toward this
- laudable democratic pur-
pose. the Cox amendment added
a final sentence reading:
"Such powers (of Mr. Stct-
tinius) shall he exercised by the
director only after prior APP
prevail of such exercise by the
joint army and navy munitions
board"
This would freeze Mr.. Stet-
tinius not only rhctoriCally
but also literally.
His screaming associates in
the priorities division inmedi-
ately contended it would make
him nothing more than an office
boy for the adnirals and gen.
erals.
Where this strange sentence
came from was something of a
congressional mystery, as the
board has had nothing TO do
with Mr.. Stettinius before.
The sentence was not men,
toned in the House debate.
Some of Mr. Cox's friends
say he got the whole idea from
the Baruch report on war in
duStrleS IN 1918.
Apparently he took too much
OF the old report, or the legiSla-
tive drafting service did, when
it drew up the amendment at
his request.
To correct the mistake House
Naval Chairman Vinson~ intends
10 go before a Senate committee
asking ii to thaw out this part
of the over-frozen Mr.. Stettinius.
A SECRET Axis freight plane
"A service has been started
across the South Atlantic.
Reports picked up within this
government indicate it operates
from some African point near
Dakar, with Italian planes car
rying German products.
The shipments are restricted
TO valuable products of small
bulk in the pharmaceutical and
chemical lines.
The Axis is apparently work.
ing 1t for propaganda effect in
South America.
Operations cannot be extern
sive. but the effect is about the
same as when the kaiser sent
over dyes in large submarines.
like the Deutschland. 10 the
United States before we entered
the last war.
4 DMIRAL s. NJ ROBINSON.
"A chief of the bureau of
ships. has told the House naval
affairs committee steel will
have to be rationcd as strictly
as aluminium.
This is the first official con-
firmation of a disputed predic-
ton in this column February %
that steel would be rationed be-
fore July ID.
The story appeared stimuli
taneously with White House
publication Of the Gano Dunn
report stating steel had plenty
of capacity and its condition
would be satisfactory indefi-
nitely.
Distributed by King Features synd., Inc
Reproduction IN whole or in par,
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