Evening star., 1945-11-12

that has not occurred to him but, If
his feeling is correctly reported, re-
signation would not only appear the
decent thing for man to do but in
Mr.. Wallace's case 1t would also ap-
pear the logical course-and one in
conformity with his attitude at the
time of his Senate confirmation.
At that time, Mr.. Wallace's friends
first said that he would not want
to be Secretary of Commerce if the
great powers of the RFC were taken
away. However, after the Senate
had taken away those powers, Mr..
Wallace, did take the job, though
his friends - after the vote - said
that in its emasculated form it did
not interest him and he probably
would give it up when the war was
Now, though Mr.. Wallace is "un-
happy" about Mr.. Truman and the
future of his administration to
"create issues" there is no sugges-
ton Of his giving up the job. On
the contrary, his friends argue that
he must stay on so as to do what he
can from the inside
194S May Be Factor.
But that is not sound argument.
No man should stay in a Presidents
cabinet-and few men would want
to-and who are unhappy" about
his policies or him. Under such
conditions the right thing is to get
out-particularly if there is any
thought of running for the presi-
dency in ones mind. Perhaps Mr..
Wallace has no such thought. Per-
haps he recognizes the inevitability
Of Mr.. Truman's denomination in
1948-but he has friends who think
along these lines and it is no secret
about the CIO and the radical
groups generally prefer him to Mr.
Truman.
The truth is that MIR. Wallace
should never have been Secretary
OF Commerce. His extreme pro-
labor views make him hostile to
business, and for the Secretary of
Commerce to be hostile to business
is an absurdity. One rather expects
such hostility from the Secretary
of Labor but not from the Secre-
tary OF Commerce. His Job is to
promote business interests big and
little.
The Wallace attitude was again
shown the other day in the Labor
Management Conference. His par
ticipation in the conference Is as
an official and he with Mr.. Schwell-
enbach and the presiding officer
Judge Stacy, have been designated
as representatives neither of labor
nor industry but of the public.
On the first day, Mr.. Wallace
showed his idea of how the public
should be represented by making
= a strong speech supporting the. CIO
position that definite wage increases
must be considered by the confer
ence.
A CIO Proposal.
Neither the AFL nor the industrial
representatives are in accord with
this notion. 1t was not on the
agenda. 1t had not been urged by
the President. 1t was opposed by
John L. Lewis, the Railroad Borther-
hoods and William Green. 1t was
entirely a CIO proposal and Mr.
Wallace, in his speech, was playing
the CIO game in the conference and
not that of the President, the other
labor factions, industry or the pub
lie. But no one should be surprised
at that.
The CIO is Mr.. Wallace's labor
faction, Mr.. Wallace is the CLOS
favorite public man. Philip Murray
and Sidney Hillman are his bosom
friends. If there is any issue, meas
ure or proposal on which these three
do not see eye to eye it has not yet
been mentioned. The completeness
with which Mr.. Wallace is pro-CIC
is equaled only by the completeness
with which the CIO is anti-industry
This makes it as silly to have Mr.
Wallace Secretary of Commerce
where he is supposed to promote
the interests of industry, as to
name him delegate to this Labor
Management Conference to repre-
sent the public. Mr.. Wallace may
be, as his friends insist, unhappy
about Mr.. Truman and his inability