Evening star., 1946-09-07
Letters to The Star
Ickes Held Completely Inaccu.
rate in Factual Matters


1ckes Held Completely Inaccu.
rate in Factual Matters
To the Editor Of The Star:
Mr.. Ickes' column Of last Friday,
headed Congress Should Not Allow It
self to Be By-passed BY Military Junta, !"
contains too many misstatements to be
permitted to pass unchallenged
The former Secretary Of the Interior
is alarmed over the circumstance that
the four generals of the Army and the
four fleet admirals have been set up
by the President as an informal con-
sultative body, calling the act "revo-
lutionary"; he states that he had noted
with concern the number of military
men who were penetrating into our
civilian Government" men who, in Mr..
1ckes' words, 'are accustomed to being
saluted"; he processes surprised alarm
that the new National Intelligence Au-
thority will interpret foreign intelli-
gence in the light of military consid-
erations; and he ends by accusing the
President Of setting precedent at vari-
ance with the intent OF the founders to
have the Government operated by civil
lans and not by professional soldiers.
AS to the consultative board of FIVE
star generals and admirals, Mr.. Ickes is
on more than usually weak ground. The
gentlemen in question>are experts, and
it would seem only common sense to
utilize their advice in their specialized
field. Mr.. Ickes' outburst does not make
1t clear whether he objects to having an
advisory body at all, or whether he
thinks that the Presidents mistake lay
In failing to select as his military ad-
wiser that eminent publicist, his ex-
Secretary Of the Interior. But in either
event 1t would seem to the outsider
that Mr.. Truman's course in this respect
was eminently sensible, and that it was
equally sensible to staff with experts the
newly created intelligence agency.
The criticism that military men are
being called In to fill essentially civilian
jobs stands on different footing. Even
so, the course pursued can easily be de-
Tended, because the appointments in
question make available to the Govern
ment men with unique administrative
experience and proven executive ability,
and-extremely important-men who
are disinterested, who have no outside
business associations, and who have de-
voted their lives to the service of their
country. 1t was undoubtedly for this
reason that Mr.. Ickes himself, when he
was Public Works Administrator, en-
ployed professional soldiers in the early
stages Of PWA, and later asked for and
got more Of the same.
1t was only much later, as Petroleum
Administrator for War, that Mr.. Ickes
turned exclusively to industry for help.
The result was that while the Public
Works Administration was run with an
eye to the public interest, the Petroleum
Administration for War seemed very
perceptibly slanted in the interests of
the oil industry.
AS to men who are accustomed to
being saluted"-well, such gentlemen
generally carry their perquisites more
lightly than Mr.. Ickes ever did; he, poor
fellow, had never been saluted by any
one prior to 1888.
The intensity of Mr.. Ickes' animus
toward the uniform leads him to make
numerous factually inaccurate state
ments-a not uncharacteristic position
for MIR. Ickes. The recently replaced
Ambassador to Italy was Mr.. Alexander
Kirk, not Admiral Kirk. The Office of
director of selective service, held by
Gen. Hershey, can scarcely be said to
be "traditionally a civilian post" except
IN Mr.. Ickes' imagination; in the Civil
War 1t was occupied by Gen. Fry,
professional soldier; in World War
by Gen. Crowder, also a professional
soldier, and Dr. Dykstra had the office
only for very few months in 1940- 1941.
Mr.. Ickes also points, as evidence of
the dangerous trend, to Commodore
James X. Vardaman, jr., also a Mis-
sourian, a member of the Federal Re-
serve Board" This seems to let the cat
out OF the bag, for Commodore Varda-
man, Mississippian by birth and
Missourian by adoption, is not a profess
sional military man at all; he is civil
ian who wore uniforms in two wars.
Here again, it is not clear whether Mr..
Ickes' dislike stems from that circum-
stance (Which so sharply contrasts with
his own career), or simply from the fact
that the commodore is one OF Mr.. Tru-
mans friends.
In any event, the use in Government
service OF citizens who have attained
military eminence in time Of war is q
precedent as old as the Republic itself
witness-to mention only persons still in
Mr.. Ickes' good books-George Wash
ington, Andrew Jackson. Carl Schurz,
and Theodore Roosevelt.
I appreciate that Mr.. Ickes' syndicate
arrangement precludes your censoring
his columns, but perhaps the arrange
ment made may still permit you to add
a parallel column containing editorial
corrections of Mr.. Ickes' statements of
fact. No doubt many other readers OF
The Star share my admiration for the
ex-secretary's powers Of invective, but
probably only very few of them have
had the opportunity to learn how COM
pletely inaccurate he can be in factual
matters when his own drafts are not
most carefully checked by others.
FREDERICK BERNAYs WIENER.
Doubtful of Good Results
To the Editor Of The Star:
1t Is impossible to solve any problem
until facts are faced. The beautiful idea
suggested by report to the Council OF
Social Agencies that religious and race