The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-01-27
TODAY and TOMORROW
BY WALTER LIPPMANN'

In view of what Mr.. Wallace
hopes to accomplish as Secretary
of Commerce, he has, it seems to
me, made a bad mistake in ask
ing to be appointed the Federal
Loan Administrator as we'll.
1t is Mr.. Wallace's idea, and it
is good one, that the Depart
ment of Commerce should become
the place in the government where
the national program of full pro-
duction and employment is devel-
oped. This will have to be done
somewhere, and the Department of
Commerce is the obvious and ma
tural place to do it.
But the program, as it develops
ard is agreed to, will have to be
put into effect by many depart
ments and agencies of the govern
ment-the Treasury, the Federal
Reserve Board, the Department of
the Interior and many, many 9TH
ers. The Federal Loan Agency is
only one among many operating
institutions that will be concerned,
and Mr.. Wallace-just because he
is interested in programs for all
the operating gencies-should not
himself be operating any of them.
The power which he exercised as
Federal Loan Administrator would
undermine and destroy the influ-
ence he might exercise as Secre-
tary of Commerce. For he is seek
ing to be both staff officer and
a field commander, and the two
jobs cannot in large operations be
fused.
The function of the Secretary of
Commerce, given the objective
which Mr.. Wallace lays down, is
to lead in the formation of policy
and not to exercise power. His own
statement proves it. Roughly, the
|job,' he says, "is to promote a
maximum Of national employment
by private business. Soon there
after, he says that in order to do
this Sound government programs
for river authorities, irrigation
works, etc. must be worked
out" Now, he is not proposing to
have the Secretary of Commerce
operate the river authorities or the
construction of t h e irrigation
works. Why then should the Secre-
tary of Commerce operate the loan
agencies, but not, for example, the
taxing agencies in the Treasury,
or the spending agencies in the
Department of Agriculture. The
only reason seems to be that Mr..
Jones operated the loan agencies,
and that therefore Mr.. Wallace,
though he has an altogether diff
ferent purpose in becoming Secre-
tary of Commerce, should inherit
all of Mr.. Jones's power.
Mr.. Wallace has fallen into the
error of not distinguishing, as they
say in the Army, between staff
and line. 1t is as if the head of
CO on the General Staff were to
ask General Marshall to let him
run military intelligence and also
to be the commander of the 9th
Air Force.
If Mr.. Wallace does not think
out clearly mis- place in the scheme
of things, he is not only bound to
fail, but to run afoul of most of
the other departments and of Con-
gress, and to bring discredit upon
the vitality important b u novel
idea of promoting full employ
ment. When he says that govern
ment must accept the duty of Sc
ing that all men in health have
jobs" he is speaking the truth,
and is saying what every respon-
sible public man, including Cover
nor Dewey, has said. But that does
not mean that the Department of
Commerce can see to it that all
able-bodied men have Jobs. What
the Department of Commerce can
do is to provide the government:
and the nation with economic in
telligence about the condition of
Tho national and ir+erp,+;ano1 ooo,