Evening star., 1944-11-29
New Secretary of Stote

NeW SeCretory or St0te
The spectacular public career OF
Edward r. Stettinius, jr, who is to
become Secretary of State at the age
of forty-four, may be summed up
as the story of the rich boy who
made good.
It was only four years ago that
Mr.. Stettinius resigned his $100, ,000-
a-year job as chairman of the board
Of the United States Steel Corpora
ton to enter Government service
with the National Defense Commis-
sion. On it's face, at least, his back
ground was not conducive to rapid
advancement in the councils of the
New Deal. He went to United States
Steel in 1894, succeeding Myron c.
Taylor as chairman of the board in
1888. Thus, during the greater part
of the Roosevelt administration, he
had been a key figure in the inner
circles of big business, and his father
had been a member of the banking
firm of J. P. Morgan.
But young Mr.. Stettinius, as a
public official, was able to surmount
these "handicaps" He served first
as chairman of the War Resources
Board, whose report on the state Of
national preparedness has not yet
seen the light of day. Undisturbed
by this, Mr.. Stettinius next went to
the old Office of Production Man
agement. In that post his business
background made him the target Of
some New Deal and labor critics,
who contended that he was being
unduly slow in converting industry
from a peace to war basis. Mr..
Stettinius took this in good grace,
however, and his vindication came
when, on the recommendation of
Harry Hopkins, he was named to the
highly important post of lease-lend
administrator. He served there with
great ability, and little more than
a year ago he succeeded Sumner
Welles as Undersecretary of State.
1t is from that post that he now
moves up to the secretaryship,
taking over the duties of the dis
tinguished Mr.. Cordell Hull, who has
been obliged to resign because of
poor health.
1t is only natural that in Wash
ington, as well as in other capitals
OF the world, men have been asking
how the relatively youthful new
Secretary of State will measure up
to the enormous responsibilities that
he must assume. Already, there
have been some murmurs Of pro-
test from those who profess to see
in this appointment a sign that
President Roosevelt will be his own
Secretary of State. But this does
not reflect mature appraisal. OF
course, the President, in sense, will
be his own Secretary Of State. That
would be true, and 1t also would be
necessary, regardless OF who might
have been selected to head up the
State Department. Mr.. Roosevelt,
as the Official primarily responsible
for the conduct Of our relations with
other countries, will determine the
major policies in the future, as he
has done in the past. And that will
be entirely satisfactory to Mr.. Stet-
tinius, who understands the basic
principle OF good management;
namely, that subordinates must be
willing and able to work within the
framework of policies established by
their superiors.
1t does not follow from this, how
ever, that he will serve any rubber
stamp function in the State Depart
ment. On the contrary, he will have
duties to perform that would tax
the resourcefulness, skill and tact
of any man. But he has come long
way in a very short time on the basis
Of his own abilities, and there is
every reason to believe that he will
acquit himself with distinction In
his most recent and most important
undertaking.