Evening star., 1943-07-06

page Ala. Tert of Milo Perkins
St0temen on page A-2.)
The Jones' Wallace feud hit a
new high today, with the Secre-
tary of Commerce tossing NAL
ice," "innuendo" and "falsehood"
at the Vice President, and a
spokesman for the latter retort-
ing with the accusation that Mr..
Jones was attempting to hide his
reputed shortcomings as head of
the Reconstruction Finance
Corp. with a smoke screen" OF
rough language
The fight. in which the White
House already has intervened un-
successfully, flared anew last night
when Mr.. Jones sent 1900 word
statement to the Senate Appropria-
tions Committee hitting back at Mr..
Wallace's charges that the latters
Board of Economic Warfare had
been hindered in the acquisition OF
a stockpile of vital war materials by
the tactics of the RFC.
II anybody is guilty of delaying
the stockpiling of strategic mate
rials. Mr.. Jones asserted. it is the
BEW.
Milo Perkins Hits Back.
In Mr.. Wallace's absence Milo
Perkins, executive director of the
BEW, said the RFC and Mr.. Jones
had acted like the tabled sleeper.
Rip Van Wrinkle.
He has not proved and he can
not prove that he bought what the
Vice President charged him with
not buying" Mr.. Perkins said
There was prompt reaction In the
Senate. Senator Bridges, Republ-
can, New Hampshire. declared he
was renewing his demand for an in
vestigation of the exchanges. to be
handled by the Military Affairs
Committee.
Congress ought to f1nd out who
is right" he said.
Resolution in Committee.
Senator Bridges resolution for an
inquiry lies in the Banking Commit
tee which has indicated little desire
to get into the ruckuS.
The Senate Committee on Post
war Planning may make an ex-
haustive investigation of the BEWs
operations, however.
The House Rules Committee de-
ferred until later in the day action
on a resolution authorizing an in
vestigation into the controversy. It
heard Representative Wigglesworth.
Republican, of Massachusetts. spon-
sor of the resolution, declare BEW
has been in almost continuous fric-
tion since its inception. with the
State Department, the RFC. the I'M
port and Export Bank and. it is
my impression, the War Production
Board
Representative Cox, Democrat. of
Georgia, member of the Rules
Committee, predicted three -fourths
of the House would approve such a
resolution. adding Il can find nei-
ther wisdom nor wit in Wallaceis
attack on Jones
Jones Charges Malice.
Mr.. Jones spoke in this vein:
His Mr.. Wallace's) TRADE is SO
filled with malice, innuendo. half
truths. and no truths at all, that
considerations of Self-respect and OF
common justice to my associates
force me to expose his unScrupulous
tactics"
He took up one by one the Vice
Presidents complaints that RFC
had held up BEW purchases Of
beryllium, cobalt. corundum, tanta-
lum. chromium and quartz crystal
and he denied them all. RFC, in
fact. is purchasing 81 different
metals and the % not mentioned
by Mr.. Wallace account for 81 per
cent of its dollar commitments and
SO per cent by weight. Mr.. Jones
said
Mr. Wallaces statement that Mr..
Jones had 'harassed' BEW's ad-
ministrative employees. lis as silly
and ridiculous as it is false" the
white -thatched Texan added.
BEW Methods Called HystericaI.
Mr.. Jones lobbed back at Mr..
Wallace the very charge aimed at
him. declaring BEW had been run.
ming around in circles in its pur-
chasing program and resorted "to
methods bordering on the hyster-
ical,' without getting anywhere. He
said the board had sent 100 men to
Brazil on one assignment alone and
added that he believed it would have
been handled better if all had stayed
home
Mr.. Jones said he was glad tc
plead guilty to a charge OF safe
guarding the taxpayers money,
asserting:
The RFC does not pay 81 for
something it can buy for 81. Some
men know when you can buy it for
81. some don't know and some don't
care as long as they are spending
other peoples money
Mr.. Jones also took a shot at the
Vice President on another count
postwar misunderstanding that
"our immediate efforts in the foreign
field should be concentrated on war
procurement needs, and not post
war ideolosies
| When the trouble between the two
officials broke last week, James F.
Byrnes. President Roosevelt's "tron-
BILE shooter" brought them together.
but the conference did nothing TO
compose their differences.