The Omaha guide., 1945-05-12
Newsletter
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN
| Washington

THE MISSOURI GANG. Ga nick
name you'll hear often; connota-
tons are as yet not unfriendly) is
expected to replace many New York
Roosevelt intimates. Roosevelt Of
ten appointed conservatives to top
places. but Immediately below that
was the subway circuit"-radicals
VINO had direct pipelines to the
White House iinev circle Its pow
er consisted in its ability to pre-
vent conservative superiors from
following natural inclinations. Dis
liked policies were frequently sab
otaged by tips to Washington gos-
sip-columnists. The circuit. thus
extended, formed a very powerful
! clique.
Leftwingers fear that the Sub
way circuit" will give way to sub
O~rdinates who will be loyal to n new
group Of MissOurians and World
War l friends of the President; the
whole framework of government
suffers tremors when a new Presi-
dent takes office.
Leftwing attitude:
NATION: with Truman
labor Will have to fight hard for ev-
erything it gets and be extremely
vigilant about keeping what it has
Noblesse oblige, which labor could
count on with Roosevelt is no more
MAX LERNER, writing in PM
president ruman, some of your so
called friends say you will swing
the country to the right-....-If you do
so now. breaking the understanding
that President Roosevelt had with
labor leaders and rank and file, it
would be a tragic mistake ...-
Going to the right would mean
alternating ourselves from the whole
trend in Europe and strained rela-
lions with Russia.
President Truman, your social
ed friends say you are going to end
the era of personal rule in the
White House---Even before Presi-
den Roosevelt has been buried, IRE
a~ctionaries) begin their campaign
to make a cipher out of the Presi-
dency~--You must have the streng-
tn to show them hat they are
wrong.
president ruman, your social
ed friends are saying that you will
restore the rule of Congress. Per-
haps it is because the reactionaries
kniw that their only chance is to
work through the men in Congress
they control. instead of through
a Presidency they cannot control"
THE NEW REPUBLIC, whose ed
itor says that small-town America
is still living in the 18th century,
Mr.. Truman ome from a small
Midwestern town and bears the Gull
tural inheritance of the American
middle class--.which has not been
culturally attuned to a world in
depression, war, and revolution.
COMMUNISTS. whose worldwide
current attitude is cooperation with
Russia. raise the question: Can
Truman win Stalin's ~confidence?'
NEW DIRECTOR OF RECONVER-
SION: An early appointment of Tru
man Administration elated leftists
Robert Nathan was named director
of reconversion under Assistant
President" Vinson. Nathan's Wash
ington apartment was a favorite
meeting place for the subway cir
suit" W~allace's go Million Job"
program originated in part with
Nathan.
Current belief. however, is that
Nathan was not appointed for his
theology. although the President
was conscious if the value Of this
gesture to the left. Nathan, a
brilliant young economist, while in
charge of WPB planning, demon
strated an unusual grasp of the war
production problem. When others
fumbled. he was decisive. His cap
acity is equal to his new assign
ment. The left is delighted to
have this springboard fir it's Key
nesian propaganda. (Keynes: Don't
vince at deficits. however large, if
required to maintain full employ
ment.)
Nathan's book, 'Mobilizing for
Absndance," (McG1aw-Hill. New
York, SD calls for Intelligent
central direction of the esonomy.
Hsi prigram is basically the Muir