Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-02-14
Exit Mr.. Ickes

Harold L. Ickes, who burst upon
the Washington scene like a lion
thirteen years ago, has stepped
down from official life in manner
that is anything but lamblike.
Perhaps this was to have been ex-
pected, for it would have been out
of character for Mr.. Ickes, feeling
himself maligned, to have simply
put on his hat and meekly taken his
departure. Nevertheless, and grant
ing that Mr.. Ickes has cause to feel
aggrieved, it is difficult not to con-
clude that he has been less than
fair to the President.
In a parting shot, the reference
being to his testimony on the nomi-
nation OF Edwin w. Pauley as I'm
dersecretary of the Navy, Mr.. Ickes
told reporters: II don't want to stay
in an administration where am ex-
pected to commit perjury for the
sake of the party" When asked if
he meant that the President wanted
him to commit perjury, his reply
was: Il didn't say that" This, to
put it mildly, is equivocal and un-
fair, since it leaves room for the in
ference-which some will draw
that the comment was aimed at the
President, although it is clear from
the context of Mr.. Ickes' letter of
resignation that Mr.. Truman never
said' anything to him which could
possibly be construed as a suggestion
that he should perjure himself in
his testimony before the Senate
committee investigating the Pauley
nomination.
Mr.. Ickes' real grievance is di-
rected to remark by the President
at a press conference that he
Qckes) might have been mistaken
In testifying that Mr.. Pauley had
approached him with a proposition
to tile effect that he could raise sew
eral hundred thousand dollars for
the Democratic party if Mr.. Ickes
would not press a suit to vest title
to tideland oil in the Federal Gov
eminent. Mr.. Pauley, who is person.
ally interested in the tidelands, de-
MED having made this statement,
and that, of course, raised an issue
of veracity between Mr.. Ickes and
himself-an issue which Mr.. Ickes
resented, and properly so, since it
seems most unlikely that he could
have been mistaken in his testi-
mony. Perhaps, in all the circum-
stances, Mr.. Ickes was justified in
feeling that the President had "let
him down" in matter affecting his
Integrity and, if so, there was
nothing for him to do but resign.
But this is quite a different matter
from implying, if that was the
sense of Mr.. Ickes' remark, that the
President wanted him to periure
himself before the Senate commit
tee, and this is the more so since
the record shows, and Mr.. Ickes con-
cedeS, that it was President Truman
who gave the signal for the filing
OF the suit to assert the Federal
claim to the tidelands, which Mr..
Pauley wants left to the States.
All things considered, it may be
that Mr.. Ickes, in a sense, had over
stayed his time in the Cabinet. He
has made an excellent record as
Secretary of the Interior. But the
political climate in Washington has
changed since 1888, and the atmos-
phere of the New Deal, in which
Mr.. Ickes thrived, has long since
ceased to exist. Perhaps, as he looks
around him, the "Old Curmudgeon,"
In his own case, and without regard
to any particular grievance, would
agree with Governor Dewey that
'it's time for a change"