Detroit evening times., 1945-12-01
BEHIND
4.
NEWS
BY auf
MaIIon
WASHINGTON. Nov. 30 -
w What Pat Hurley SAID was

For many months, evidence q
has been leaking from the state
department suggesting the per-
mancnt underlying clique was
un>ympathetiC with top policy.
and undermining II IN subtle
little ways. Yet there was moth
lng sufficiently prOVa a b ! Q 10
warrant printing
The men within the depart
mepl Wha have noticed the con-
diuon have been so frightened
they dared not speak K, even
privately, outside of the depart
ment
Because of the stands they
have taken within the depart
ment they knew they were Sus-
pect 10 the relgnlng group, and
occasionally thought they were
being followed or their tele =
phone conversation tapped.
Even businessmen d | ! n &
there have noticed the condition,
compared notes about II among
themselves. and wondered about
It's extent. But until the retiring
ambassador to China spoke out
with direct charges, the matter
never reached the public eye.
STATE Secretary ByrneS, my
y nlormantS say. does not
know the facts. nor did his pre-
dcceSSor. Mr.. StettlnluS. Byrnes
promised a departmental reor-
ganlzation and brought IN few
top men, but this was as far as
his reorganization went
The clique was strengthened
under StettiniuS, who functioned
largely as personal repre-
sentative of the President. allow
ing the department 10 run itself.
And today. more men are be-
ing taken into the clique than
are leaving it The various
bureaucratic holdoVers Of the
Roosevelt regime. losing their
war jobs in other departments.
have been seeking couches in
state,
1t is a peculiar condition and
has never been accurately de-
fined. not even by Mr.. Hurley
in his restricted charges.
The men Of the clique do not
hold meetings and agree 10 unr
dermine this or that They are
merely of one mind on some
basic IDEAS.
NOR one thing, they are un-
Il sympathetic with American
foreign policy today.
For another. they agree IN
their dIStruSt of any one who
would question Russia IN the
slightest upon any subject.
They are not Communists but
their minds are guided by the
Communist grooves of thought
Objectionable things are 10
them "faSciStiC." Hence Chang
Kai-Shek is a FaScfst; Russia, a
democracy. But they branch
off from Communist grooves 10
others strangely enough.
The British have the best
diplomacy, they think; hence
Britain likewise can do no
wrong. They are known also as
the striped trousers set, az
fecting the uniform Of the
Downing Street diplomatic be-
yOnd necessities.
To define what specific under
mining they do is difficult. They
are an invisible wall of roslSt-
ance. Hurley had two men in
the Far Eastern division IN mind
in his charges.
THESE two, he apparently
L caught. telling the Chinese 10
pay no attention 10 him, and
spreading around at cocktail
parties the notion that the
American foreign policy was
temporary. that il would not
back ChunGking in postwar. Be
yond tins apparently he had no
convincing evidence.
His purpose in reversing HIM
self abruptly and deciding 10
quit with challenging public
statement, was 10 force a con-
greSsional investigation.
A thorough one no doubt
would force a reorganization
which not even a secretary Of
state has been able TO effect in
his own department
Before ByrncS and Stottlnius.
~ Mr. Hull knew very well what
was going on. He could read
I'm the papers. daily. the planted
news leaked from his depart
mcnt against him. and he
thought Sumner WelleS his as
SiStant was doing II. but Welles
was only the temporary outlet
for the clique within. Not even
Hull could do much
Mr. ByrneS has indicated hlS
intention 10 smile away the mat
ter. and there IS danger that tho
Democratic administration VIII
treat il politically Hurley IS a
Republican. and his efforts for A
congressional inquiry may be
Shunted off as q political attack,
II THE inquiry fails 10 de-
L velop. the AmcriCani2ation Of
the state department may await
a future generation
There is talk that ByrneS viii
quietly start housekeeping TO
forcStall an inquiry, but he must
necessarily Use whiskbrOOm
whore DOT is called for.
Unless something is done. Mr..