Evening star., 1942-12-18
Lincoln
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initely determined on, and that he
will accept. The substitution of
Senator Brown for Mr.. Henderson
will bring a sigh of relief on the
part of legislators. The OPA, as
run by Mr.. Henderson, has become
the No. headache of the war effort.
1t has antagonized members of
Congress and, more important, it
has antagonized the great mass of
American citizens, including both
businessmen and consumers. 1t has
tied up business of all kinds with
red tape. 1t has irritated the pub
lie with its dictatorial attitude. It
has built up huge organization,
costing a great amount of money.
If the job in intrusted to Senator
Brown, efficiency and simplifcation.
with much of the official red tape
eliminated, will be the order of the
day or he will know the reason why.
While he Is a lame duck" Senator,
having been defeated for reelection
last November by his Republican op-
ponent, Judge Homer Ferguson, his
appointment as head of the OPA
cannot be considered a reward
thrown to a defeated Democrat. The
Michigan Senator Is a man of con-
siderable means. He had no need
for a Government job and he did not
want one.
Opposed Court Measure.
Ever since he has been a member
of Congress, a service which in
cluded four years in the House and
six in the Senate, he has shown both
flrmness and independence. No
more striking example was his lead
ership of some of the liberal Demo-
Gratis in the SH1Ste in the Supreme
Court bill fight. The administra-
ton realized that the Jig was up
when he and his colleagues fatty
declared they would not go along
on that measure. 1t was withdrawn.
Senator Brown will undertake to
make use Of voluntary measures as
far as possible Furthermore, fixing
prices for non-essentials and lux
uries, as has been done by the OPA,
makes no sense to him. The thing
to concentrate on is fixing prices,
and keeping them within reason for
the essential foods, clothing, fuels,
rents, etc.
1t may be expected. also, that
Senator Brown will seek to give the
ordinary citizen a better break than
he has been having There has been
tendency on the part of some
Government agencies to grab great
quantities of materials, on the
theory that they will be needed to
help prosecute the war. In some
cases the amounts demanded are
said to have been far greater than
could be used in long time.
Congress Sharpening Knife.
The present huge setup of the
OPA, with a tremendous personnel
undoubtedly will be given a going
over by the new head of the organi-
zation when he takes Office. It was
no secret at the Capitol that the
new Congress, which comes into
being in January, was sharpening
its pruning knife to cut the appro-
priations for the OPA to the bone.
Had Mr.. Henderson remained as
head Of the OPA there would have
been a major war waged by many
members to get him out. His resig-
nation, accepted by the President,
comes in the nick Of time.
Part of the opposition of Demo-
cratic Senators and Representative
to Mr.. Henderson grew out of the
fact that he would not play politics
for and with them. He made ap-
pointments to the OPA on the rec
concentrations of the Governors OF
States, very largely, whether the
Governors happened to be Republi-
cans or Democrats. This incensed
Democratic members of Congress,
who believed that this political
patronage should have been theirs.
This was a courageous stand for
Mr.. Henderson to take. If he had
stood out against the plans of
myriad Of economists and lawyers,
employed by the OPA, he would
have been subject to far less criti-
cism and the public to far less in
convenience and distress.
Violent Reaction to OPA.
More recently. however. increased
opposition on Capitol Hill to Mr..
Henderson has been due to the vio-
lent reaction of the public to the
OPA, as evidenced, members be-
lieve, In the last elections, when
the Republicans made great gains
in the House and Senate and
OFFICIAL NOTICES.
zONING COMMISSION, WASHINGTON
December 16. 1942-ORDERED: That