Evening star., 1945-04-23

This, 1t Will be recalled, was an
nounced during and after the
fights over the appointment OF MIR.
Henry Wallace as Secretary OF Com
merce and Mr.. Aubrey Williams as
Rural Identification Administrator.
Long before action was taken,
threats were thickly made by leaders
of the Wallace forces that members
of House and Senate who showed
themselves inimical to him would
be driven out of public life, SINH
lar threats, even more violently,
were made against senators IN the
case of Mr.. Williams.
The first proclamation OF 1946
purge" of those unfriendly to
either Mr.. Wallace or Mr.. Williams
was made in the literature of the
CLOS PAC, of which Mr.. Sidney
Hillman is head. The radical New
York publications enthusiastically
took 1t up.
No stones, it was asserted, would
be left unturned to bring about the
defeat of those who had opposed
the heroic Wallace and the un-
daunted Williams. Similar senti-
ments were voiced at the testi-
monial banquets given the two by
their admiring friends.
The purge" campaign, it was an
nounced, was already launched. The
Hillman PAC proposed to throw its
full weight into the primaries and
general election next year to defeat
these men who had betrayed the
liberal cause"
Practical Politics.
And now the purge" Is off. At
least, that is the view of most of
the practical politicians in both
parties. Reasons for this convic-
ton are clear. For one thing, no
such purge" as has been contem-
plated could get any distance at
all without White House support.
That it had this support was the
claim of the Wallace leaders and
substance was given their claim
not only by the fact that Mr.. Wal
lace was in the Cabinet but by the
presence of Mrs. Roosevelt, Attor-
ney General Biddle and Mr.. Jona-
than Daniels, one of the Roosevelt
secretaries, at the Williams BAN
quet, where all the speakers to some
degree breathed the fire of future
attack upon the Senators and Repre-
sentatives who had refused to fall
in line back of their two heroes.
1t is clear now that the proposed
purge will not have any White House
support whatsoever. This Is not
because Mr.. Truman Is hostile to
Mr.. Wallace. AS a matter of fact
had his vote been needed in tie
he probably would have voted for
him, not because he thought par
ticularly well of Mr.. Wallace for the
post but because to have voted
against him would have been to
break with Mr.. Roosevelt posi-
bility which Mr.. Truman never re-
motely contemplated.
But supporting Mr.. Wallace by
voting for him In a tie is very
different thing to lending him or his
friends even passive support in such
purge of his Senate opponents as
the liberals have been planning
Not only is the purge idea entirely
foreign to Mr.. Truman's nature but
among the 10 anti-Wallace ano
anti-Williams Democratic Senators
on the purge" list are some of Mr.
Truman's closest personal friends.
Hannegan Seen Opposed.
Secondly, there is every reason to
believe that Chairman Hannegan OF
the Democratic National Commit
tee is wholly out of sympathy with
the purge" Mr.. Hannegan is from
Missouri. Mr.. Truman and he are
old friends. He had a good deal
to do with the Truman nomina-
ton at Chicago. The personal re-
lations between him and President
Truman are closer than they were
between him and President Roose-
welt. And he is not regarded as an
advanced New Dealer" by anyone.
Thus 1t would seem that the
drive, beginning next year, of the
CIO and the liberals" to put 19
Democratic Senators and a score or
more Democratic members of the
House out of public life will lack
not only White House acquiescence
but also committee acquiescence.
Finally, there is the change in
the political prospects of Mr.. Wal
lace. The death of Mr.. Roosevelt
and the succession of Mr.. Truman
definitely appear to have put him
out of the 1948 picture as Demo-
cratic presidential candidate. 1t is
by no means certain had Mr.
Roosevelt lived, and himself not
desired fifth term, that Mr.. Wal
lace would have been nominated
But it is entirely certain that a
great effort by the labor leaders
and radical elements within the