Evening star., 1945-01-24

make room for Mr.. Henry Wallace
because of pressure from the CIO
bosses and in order to appease the
screeching New York radicals ought
to cause regret to be mixed with
widespread indignation.
That such has been the general
reaction is attested in various ways.
The truth is that this incident re-
veals Mr.. Roosevelt in a particularly
unpleasant light. He has made no
appointment more wholly political;
none in which there has been so
little consideration of merit; none in
which the qualifications of the
man have been SO wholly ignored
1t is significant that in his letter
asking Mr.. Jones to resign for
Henry" the President, with almost
no pretense, admits that he made
the request in order to reward Mr..
Wallace for his support in the
recent campaign and because he
had asked for it,"
He does not mention the CIO
and its radical allies, but he did
not need to, as, except for those
two groups, Mr.. Wallace has no
personal following and no political
strength and there exists no excuse
for his recognition.
CIamor for Recognition.
These groups, along with Mr..
Wallace himself, have been cIamor-
ing for this recognition" for many
weeks. They have made the
Wallace appointment the test. Their
Journalistic and political spokesmen
made it clear that unless Mr..
Wallace was taken care of" his
left-Wing friends would regard it
as betrayal of the liberal cause"
by Mr.. Roosevelt, whom they had so
ardently - and noisily - supported.
This, of course, is nonsense, but it
was, nevertheless, trumpeted almost
daily.
And Mr.. Roosevelt yielded to the
clamor and the threats. He said in
his letter to Mr.. Jones that this is
a difficult letter to write" 1t is easy
to understand that. He had to ex-
plain to a faithful official and a
loyal friend that he was displacing
him for man immeasurably less
well qualified and for political rea-
sons only.
Neither Mr. Jones nor a very large
number of the American people
regard his explanation as adequate
The fact is no one save the Presi-
dents and Mr.. Wallace's political
friends will so regard it. To offer
Mr.. Jones diplomatic post was
trivial and Mr.. Jones properly re-
jected it. 1t is refreshing, too, that
Mr.. Jones did not take the Presi-
dents action with the unbecoming
meekness with which various others
whom Mr.. Roosevelt has "ditched"
for political reasons, while profess
ing personal friendship, have
taken it.
So far as the business interests of
the country are concerned the ap-
pointment is certainly shock. Mr..
Wallace, of.courSe, is an honest man,
but he is entirely devoid of any sort
of business experience and any
talent for administration.
In addition, his CIO and radical
friends are bitterly hostile to in
dustry and tend, as he does, toward
greater, not less, governmental con-
troll over business. When one con-
siders that the RFC alone has COM
mitmentS of more than so billion
dollars and that it is a revolving
fund over which Congress has no
control, the tremendous power which
the President proposes to place in
Mr.. Wallace's utterly inexperienced
hands can be grasped.
Almost No Experience.
In his whole career Mr.. Wallace
has had almost no experience in
private business except that in
volved in his brief editorship of the
farm journal inherited from his
father and which lost it's identity
before Mr.. Roosevelt became Presi-
dent.
Yet, it is now planned to oust
one of the most capable business
men in the country and put Mr..
Wallace at the head of the depart
ment which deals exclusively with
business and controls an almost in
credible number of billions.
Opposition to his confirmation in
the Senate is based, partly, on his
total unftness for such huge
financial responsibilities partly, on
the undisguiSed use of this impor-
tant post as political reward;
partly, on Mr.. Wallace's own radi-
cal views as expressed in his writ
ings and speeches.
But, mainly, the appointment is
opposed because of the belief that
with him as Secretary of Commerce
the CIO will be definitely in the
governmental saddle with its pro-
feSsionai lobbyists as the closest
advisers to the man controlling the
multibillions of the RFC and allied
agencies.
There is a feeling that the Wal
: lace appointment will present an
opportunity for the CIO to DOM
mate and operate the business of
the country in a way heretofore un-
dreamed, and that, despite his
friendly words about private enter
prise" Mr.. Wallace's whole heart
would be set in this direction.
4 Some Senators believe that his
appointment threatens the whole
economic security of the country
and regard the effort to give him
this gigantic power fully as danger
GUS as the effort to pack the Su-
preme Court.
Not the least distressing feature