Evening star., 1944-12-06

the third is because he takes kindly
to advice: does not resent being ad-
vised; seems, In fact, to be grateful
to his advisers.
Perhaps this is good thing and
certainly he is getting an extremely
large dose at the moment But 1t has
its disadvantages, too. For one, it
is impossible to assimilate all the
advice Mr.. Stettinius is getting now
Much of it is contradictory, and toe
much docility toward his advisers is
sure to lead to confusion.
Editors, radio commentators, COL
umnists, diplomats, professional lib
erals and the practical politicians
are all trying to tell Mr.. Stettinius
what he ought to do and how to dc
1t. The friends of Mr.. Sumner Welles
insist that he listen to that not alto
gether admirable gentleman. Others
point out that there could be no
surer way of alternating the support
of those who respect and like Mr.
Hull, He regarded Mr.. Welles as
thoroughly disloyal to him and
forced his retirement as Under
secretary.
Following the shifts, changes and
new appointments announced on
Monday (Which obviously were not
entirely determined by Mr.. Stet-
tinius), still further reorganization
is being pressed upon him.
g. In a Tough Spot.
Tt is a tough spot for friendly
poung fellow like Mr. StettiniuS, who
dislikes controversy and wants every
body to like him. The general COM
mendation of his elevation is certain
to measurably diminish as a result of
the decisions soon to be forced on
him.
In brief, he is not going to be able
to please everybody. On the con-
trary, pretty soon he is certain to
make a lot of personal enemies,
which will be a new experience for
him. 1t is the cost of his sudden
eminence, the price q man has to
pay for power and Importance.
While Mr. Stettinius' individual
advisers are quite numerous and
there are many small feudists among
them, in the main they can be di-
vided into two classes.
First, there is the class which
thinks Mr.. Stettinius should recog-
nize that he has become Secretary
OF State, just as he became Under
secretary, not because of his own
ability or charm, but because Mr..
Harry Hopkins, presidential adviser
and friend, preferred him over
other aspirants.
He should recognize that Mr..
Roosevelt, as has been often said,
intends to be his own Secretary of
State; that Mr.. Hopkins, as Mr..
Roosevelt's most devoted friend,
speaks for the President; that what
Mr.. Stettinius is expected to do is
what Mr.. Hopkins or the President
himself tells him to do; that he will
get along fine If he does just that
and avoids the notion that it is his
prerogative to- make foreign policy
or State Department selections.
These are distinctly White House
prerogatives and will be exercised
more freely and fully with him as
Secretary of State than they were
with Mr.. Hull The recent changes
seem proof of that.
There is feeling that Mr.. Stet-
tinius will be in full accord with
this view: that he will look upon
Mr.. Hopkins as his guide and take
his orders from the White House
Second Class of Advisers.
On the other hand, there is q sec
ond class of advisers who urge
that Mr.. Stettinius play a very diff
ferent role indeed. These include
those upon whom the great cause
of world peace weighs heavily, who
talk. and. write always in global
terms
These declare that an oppor-
tunity such as few men have now
lies before Mr.. Stettinius. If he
fully grasps this opportunity, he
may immortalize his name in his
tory. Upon him largely rests the
duty of seeing that this country
does not throw away the fruits of
victory.
He is urged not to sink into
the role Of Wilson's Secretary of
State, Mr.. Lansing, but himself
to exercise leadership in forcing
full American participation in a
collective security organization that
will insure permanent peace This,
they assert, is what Mr.. Hull wanted
to do and would have done. Mr..
stettinius has solemnly pledged
himself to carry on Mr.. Hull's
work and carry out Mr.. Hulls pol
icies
Without, OF course. antagonizing
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES,