Evening star., 1944-12-06
More Power for Aides
Of President Seen
Hopkins Called Most Valuable
Of Advisers by Writer

AAOPAAiS NulC0 Nv1OSl aludDlS
Of Advisers by Writer
By David Laurence
President Roosevelt's fourth term will
be different from his preceding terms in
at least one important respect-there
will be a tendency to delegate power. to
subordinates.
Mr.. Roosevelt has already indicated
since election that he is going to rely
on some Of his close advisers to do
more and more of the work which he
previously has been trying to do himself.
OF all the advisers and oficials sur
rounding the President. the most valu-
able to him probably will be Harry
Hopkins
To rather unprecedented extent Mr..
Hopkins combines many of the func-
| tions performed by combination of all
previous presidential advisers Because
he spends SO much time in the living
quarters of the White House, he is in
position to do some of the things
which presidential secretaries used to
do in the past. Because he has been a
cabinet ofncer, he is in a position to
render advice on the cabinet level.
Also, because he has been abroad and
attended practically all the conferences
which the President has had with
Messrs. Churchill and Stain, Mr.. Hop
kins is on intimate terms with the ON
cials of Great Britain and Russia and
therefore is able to relay instructions
or ideas from the President to the State
Department or even to our officials
across the seas.
| Mr.. Hopkins is more than q handy
man, however He understands the
Presidents mind and knows what Mr..
| Roosevelt's reactions would be to given
situations as they arise He is often
able, therefore, to indicate a line of ac-
ton to other governmental officials,
knowing full well what the President
really would want done.
Difficult Role.
| Any one who occupies such an intimate
and yet delicate relationship with the
President of the United States has .
| difficult role, because he must be care
| full not to usurp power or to overstep
the bounds of presidential instruction.
! And yet governmental problems have
| grown SO big and multifarious that 1t
is impossible for any one man to deal
with them all, and hence reliance on
some one like Harry Hopkins to carry
out the Presidents wishes in certain
fields Of policy is an inevitable counter
part Of present-day government.
| There are other governmental advisers
who take a similarly intimate part in
various policies, as, for instance, former
Justice Byrnes and former Judge Rosen-
man, but the latter two are more con-
cerned with domestic than with foreign
questions. Mr.. Hopkins position cor
responds to large extent to that oc.
cupied by Col House in the Wilson
administration. That was confidential
relationship, but Col House was abroad
most OF the time. Yet he did act for
the President and he was accepted in
Europe as the spokesman of the White
House
Mr.. Hopkins does not see many callers,
but representatives of foreign govern
ments know that his assent to a public
policy Is valuable and they endeavor
from time to time to get his acouies-
cence. Now that Edward Stettinius-a
man strongly recommended by Mr.. Hop
kins-has been appointed Secretary of
State 1t Is apparent that the President
will have a working team of advisers
around him who will try to take much of
the burden from his shoulders.
Leahy Advice Valued.
| There is another presidential adviser
who does not appear in the limelight
very much, but who occupies a position
of transcendent importance. And that
is Admiral Leahy, who holds the title OF
chief Of staff to the President. This
position has never existed before, but
it, too, was an inevitable development
because, while the President is Com
mander in Chief of the Army and Navy,
he does not have as intimate q knowl-
edge of military affairs from day to day
as military man can give him. In a
sense Admiral Leahy acts as presidential
secretary for military and naval matters
| ohu hCCPS tilC IlCSluCilt WIN
the United States Joint Chiefs Of Staff,
relaying messages to them and trans
mitting to the President their messages
as well as attending all military and
naval conferences
Gradually Mr.. Roosevelt is parcelina
out the work of the presidency so that
he can depend on q group Of advisers
each of whom takes care of particular
fields of governmental action and policy.
But 1t is Harry Hopkins whose fidelity
and whose unceasing labors despite his
frail health have given him a prestige
both inside and outside the White House
that comes to very few men. He has
progressed long way since the DAYS
when he was a social welfare worker
IL, New York State. He has served As
head of the WPA and as Secretary Of
Commerce, but now, sitting close to the
throne, so to speak, his work is little
known to the general public. 1t is,
nevertheless work of great importance
to the President and no man at the
moment stands higher in Mr.. Roosevelt 3
esteem
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An Ordeal at Best
From the Topeka Capital