Evening star., 1945-01-25


vast lending agencies over which
Secretary. Jesse Jones has had au-
thority.
Nobody expects Wallace to run
from the fight. On past perform
ance, he will put on his bashful
grin, tuck in his chin, and stay in
there smuggling until the count OF
10-for himself or the other fellow.
The other fellow, of course, is Jones,
out to prove his power on the Hill.
On the other hand, the battle
may amount to much less than its
promoters would have us believe.
This is due to the possibility that
defeating Wallace now would
further his ambition to be President
on the accepted assumption that
he harbors such ambition. Many
believe his defeat at Chicago made
Wallace the outstanding contender
for the presidential nomination in
1948. There are those among his
enemies, therefore, who doubt the
wisdom of helping along Henry's
political career with another such
defeat.
Successful Businessman.
As for his friends, they seem to
feel that Wallace cannot lose po-
litically in the present situation.
If the Senate does not deny him
the opportunity, they say, he will
demonstrate every capacity required
of a Secretary of Commerce and
Federal Loan Administrator. The
notion that he Is dreamy idealiSt
without understanding of business
they say, is nonsense, and there is
much in his record to support their
contention
If knowing how to borrow money
and use it to make money and
knowing how to borrow more and
use it to make more is an indication
of business sense, Henry apparently
has it. He may or may not be a
millionaire, as he is sometimes said
to be, but he Is not poor man.
Those familiar with the Pioneer
Hy-Bred Seedcorn Co. say the mil
nonaire tag does not fit Wallace
too badly. And the story of his
business success Is in the very best
American tradition.
It seems that back In the early
'20s Henry decided to prove what
he had been preaching in the FAM
ily's farm paper, the virtues of a
corn-breeding method that would
produce a sturdier stalk of corn
capable of greater yield. BY using
mis- own savings and his wife's-
definitely in the best American ira
dition-persuading others in the
family and friends to join with
him. and by borrowing at the bank,
he launched the Pioneer Company.
Tt was completely competitive
field. since there was no secret or
patent formula. AS president and
manager of the enterprise, Wallace
developed the plant methods now
used by all concerns in the same
business. Continually expanding,
financed cheerfully by the banks,
the Pioneer Company today has 10
plants in four States, Iowa, Illinois,
Indiana and Ohio, and does busi-
ness of more than $4,000, 900 a year.
Boon. to Agriculture.
AS for the consequences of Wal
lace's business enterprise, apart
from making him wealthy, it has
given this country a greatly in
creased production of corn. Iowa
alone last year, producing go bushels
to the acre, 95 per cent of it hybrid,
had a total production double that
Of all Argentina and more than that
Of Russia, Romania and Hungary
combined. Another consequence,
figured by Wallace himself recently,
is the saving of 300,000,000 man
hours in agricultural labor thus far
during the war, or more than has
been lost, according to the La
Dor Department, through industrial
strikes in the same period.
Wallace has had experience not
only as borrower, but as lender
of Government money. His ever
normal granary plan, in the sue
cess of which he takes great pride
1t made immediate help to the Al
lies possible in 1940-functions on
loans from the Commodity Credit
Corp, organized under his admins
tration of the Agriculture Depart
ment. incidentally, one of the
first, If not the first, of the clashes
between Wallace and Jones was
over the interest to be charged on
these loans. Jones wanted 5 per