The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1945-05-25

Former vice president Henry A.
Wallace, new secretary of COM
merce, has been ominously quiet
since he took over from Jesse Jones.
Wallace thrives on action and it's
not like him to remain quiet.
Clipped of his powers over the vast
Reconstruction Finance corporation,
the new commerce boss has been
quietly combing the multi num-
bered bureaus within his depart
ment with the assistance of COM
mittee of three outstanding experts,
in an effort to find out what makes
commerce tick and to draw up
program on what the department
needs for revitalization re-
juvenation along the Wallace ideas
Of government cooperation with
business i. with especial emphasis
on small business.
The rumpled-haired secretary oc-
cupies huge office, walnut paneled,
on the fifth floor of the two-block-
long and block-wide gray stone
building. It is beehive of activ-
ity. Musty, staid, slow-moving Of
fees which line the maze of corri-
doris are being given a thorough
going-over and housekeeping. Wal
lace wants department of COM
merce which can be real help, Of
fer stable program to business,
not just an information and re-
search agency. He is attempting to
streamline the department for post
war action.
One of the first needs of small
business, he Opines, in the post
war era is return to what he
calls character banking that
is, loans on a mans record and
ability, rather than on his col
lateral assets. He declares that,
increasingly since 1913, the
small banks of the nation have
been operating under bank ex-
amining rules which make it i'm
possible for these small banks
to make this type of loan
and he further believes that what
he terms as equity financing 80.
some modification of the govern
ment guaranteed loan plan of
the FILA, should be provided for
small business in this postwar
era.
Closest to Wallace's heart, prob
ably, is his bureau of foreign and
domestic commerce.
81 am going to go about to get
the maximum of usage from what
ever powers may reside in the diff
ficult bureau of foreign and domes-
tic commerce to foster and develop
trade here and abroad" he said.
81 am going to use those powers to
the maximum to get an increased
foreign trade" This means that Mr.
Wallace will have developed pro-
gram based on removal of eariff
barriers because he believes nat
when this nation raised the tariffs
on our exports after World War
| I, shat is when the world tailspin
| really began with vengeance"
Wallace likely will revamp COM
pletely the patent office which is
said to be a year and half behind
in its work. Civil Aeronautics ad-
ministration will play a decidedly
more important role under the Wal
| lace regime. So important does
Wallace believe the air age will be-
| come after the war, he himself has
learned to fly. Ben Stern, blustery,
but efficient public relations di-
rector of CAA, has apparently made
a good impression on Wallace and
may be stepped-up in the reorgani-
cation.
Then May I, Wallace took
over, lock, stock and barrel, the
huge job Of surplus property dis
pOsal, some hundred billion dol
lars worth, from treasury pro-
curement. This will throw him in
closer contact with business, and
| he likely will make some
changes, probably setting up
state offices, instead of the IL
regional branches as operated
by treasury. Maritime commits
sion is another department
which looms important in post
war with our need for ship
bottoms.
Do not let the adverse publicity
received by Wallace as a so-called
''idealist" and a dreamer fool
you. He firmly believes in free en-
terprise for business. He says:
! ''The key to making this Ameri-
can bill of rights part of the
American way of life is the
whole-hearted recognition by all our
people of the simple fact that in
America the future of the American
worker lies in the well-being Of
American private enterprise and
the future of American private en-
terprise lies in the well-being of the
/ American worker"