Evening star., 1945-05-18

his warmer friends and admirers
is pretty generally known. Ac-
tually, it was known before Mr.
Truman succeeded to the presidency
and it has been confirmed in vari-
Gus little ways since. Almost from
the start it has been recognized
that Mr.. Biddle was the one mem
ber of the Roosevelt cabinet most
certain to be replaced.
It is true that Immediately after
he took the oath of Office Mr.. Tru-
man asked all the cabinet officials
to remain, but not many persons
understood that to mean perma-
nently. Nearly everybody recog-
nized that all this meant was that
the new President wanted them to
stick around until he got his bear
tngs.
Will Take Own Time.
Hardly any one failed to under
stand that in the end Mr.. Truman
as is his right-would surround
himself with cabinet of his own
choosing, but that he would take
his time picking his men. Already
he has substituted his friend, Mr..
Hannegan, for Mr.. Roosevelt's
friend, Mr.. Walker, as Postmaster
General.
There is some expectation that he
will replace Miss Perkins with for
mer Senator Schwellenbach of
Washington as Secretary of Labor,
and even greater expectation that
James F. Byrnes will succeed Secre-
tary of State Stettinius
And there likely will be other
substitutions. Mr.. Truman, natural
ly, does not want to give the i'm
preston that he is throwing Mr.
Roosevelt's friends out of Office.
Accordingly, he will make his cab
met changes gradually, and in most
cases it will appear that the initia-
tive has come from the incumbent
and that the President accepts his
or her resignation with the greatest
reluctance.
In some cases that will be true,
but hardly in the case of Mr.. Biddle.
With Mr.. Biddle it is not so much
a question of if he goes; the ques-
ton is when he goes. At least that
is the conviction of those closest to
Mr.. Truman and best informed on
the subject.
Mr.. Biddle, they say, is not Mr..
Truman's idea of an Attorney Gen.
eral at all and no secret is made
that he is looking for his successor.
Until he gets one he, of course,
wants to avoid embarrassment and
nothing is being said to Mr.. Biddle
about his prospective retirement
But if Mr.. Biddle does not know
that it is scheduled, then he is one
Of the very few in the official cir
cles who do not, - ..--,
AS to his successor, there is con-
siderable speculation but no def
mite knowledge. One thing that is
known, however, is that Mr.. Tru-
man regards the attorney general
ship as one of the two most impor-
tant posts in the Government
which it undoubtedly is.
Men who have talked with him
about il say that he does not regard
this as any place for a politician;
that he would like to get for it a man
whose record and reputation will
put him above political suspicion
and whose name will inspire public
confidence that the Department of
Justice awill be administered not
only with competence but with alb
solute impartiality.
Man Has to Be Drafted.
In other words, he wants as good
an Attorney General as is available.
1t may take some time, but that
that is what he has striven for will
be recognized when the announce
ment Is made. 1t is further said
that he hopes to make the an
nouncement soon, but the man he
is after has to be drafted.
Among other things of which Mr..
Truman's friends are certain is that
the new Attorney General will have
no hookup with either the CIO or
the AFL; that he will be Democrat
rather than a New Dealer; that he
will not consider the Democratic
party allied with labor to the ex-
clusion of business.
There will be New Dealers and
there will be politicians in the Tru-
man cabinet, but the Attorney Gen.
eral is not likely to be one of them.
In this connection it is interesting to
note that the one Roosevelt cabinet
member generally regarded as sur
est to stay in is Secretary of Com
merce Henry Wallace. The reasons
are clear. One is that Mr.. Wallace
was Mr.. Truman's chief opponent
for the vice presidential nomination
last June in Chicago and to oust