Evening star., 1945-01-22

IUIlC lcuu UcVWCCll NIL. OOllCS dliI
Mr.. Wallace in 1943.
Then, Mr. Wallace accused Mr.
Jones of taking too much of eau.
tious, business -as-usual course ir
amassing strategic materials.
Mr.. Wallace was head of the Boarc
of Economic Warfare at the time.
Mr. Jones replied that Mr.. Wal
lace was singing innuendos, halt.
truths and mo truths at ALL" He
added that Mr.. Wallace's own ef-
forts in this field approached the
ridiculous. The upshot was that Mr.
Roosevelt took Mr.. Wallace out o1
this work and the victory was one
for Mr.. Jones.
Mr.. Wallace's background is pre-
dominantly agricultural. He served
previously as Secretary of Agricul-
ture and was known for his scien-
tific experiments in the farm field
notably with corn. He has pub
lished farm publications and written
on many subjects, besides travelling
for Mr.. Roosevelt in South America
Asia and elsewhere.
Murray Indorses Wallace.
Senator Murray, Democrat, of
Montana commented that he re-
CARDS Mr.. Wallace as one of the
ablest men in the country. He said /:
II think he will make a very good
Secretary of Commerce and loan ad-
ministrator, too. He will have men
as his assistants who have been
familiar with details Of the work.
for many years."
Vice President Truman, even be-
fore the letters were disclosed, had
commented that Henry Wallace is
an able man. I have the highest
regard for him"
Incidentally, the tone of critical
comments on the developments I'M
dicased that right at the start, Mr..
Truman will have job cut out for
him in his self assigned role of
keeping relations harmonious be-
tween the White House and the
Senate.
Republicans and conservative
Democrats, who have worked to-
gether to block some previous adj
ministration proposal, had ready
made issue in Mr.. Wallace's known
lack Of. experience in operating
large business enterprises.
There is no doubt that Congress
has granted some extraordinary
powers to the RFC purely on the
ground that Mr.. Jones, a banker,
could be relied on to administer
them conservatively.
Jones Close to Congress.
Mr.. Jones has kept in much closer
touch with both Senators and men,
bers of the House than any other
cabinet officer. He frequently ap-
pears on the floor of the Senate,
and more frequently in the cloak
rooms AND the private Offices of
the members.
On the other hand, it is undeni-
able that Mr.. Wallace, despite his
four years service as the Senate's
presiding officer, has failed to make
many close friends in that body
which now is called to consider his
confirmation to the cabinet.
His friends, who include the CIO
Political Action Committee, believe
that in a top spot like the COM
merce Department, the former Vice
President can build toward the po-
litical campaign of 1948. They
would like to see him nominated for
President and figure that as Secre-
tary he could win the support OF
small business elements.
Fight Taking Shape.
Customarily, the Senate does not
interfere great deal with the
Presidents choices for his cabinet.
But as the full import of Mr.. Wal
lace's knockout victory over MIR
Jones became apparent, plans for
full-f1edged Senate fight on Mr..
Wallace's confirmation began to
take shape. ...
That Senator Connally would be
in the forefront of the opposition
appeared to be a foregone conclu-
sion.
He called at the White House only
last Wednesday to urge the Presi-
dent to take the RFC and other
agencies out from under
the Commerce Department, with
Mr. Jones as administrator, before
bringing Mr.. Wallace into the
Cabinet.
Obviously dismaYed hy the Presi.