The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1946-02-21
NEWS AND
VIEWS
BY ALEXANDER S. LIPSETT
Can ILNS Feature)

The hot fight raging around the
nomination of Edwin w. Pauley to
the position of Undersecretary of the
Navy reveals aspects disquieting
both to the foreign and domestic poll
cies of the United States. Regard
less of the action of the Senate in re-
jecting or affirming President Tru-
mans latest appointment, the affair
has decidedly oily smell. The OBJ
servers mind shifts inevitably back
to the years after the first world war
when he same laxity of public morals
and a prevalence of dubious practices
in the circles of the politically mighty
opened the way to the Harding era
and the Teapot Dome scandal.
4
While Mr.. Pauley's contention that
he cannot be charged with any wrong
doing may be perfectly justified, that
fact remains that his position as a
big oil man and a heavy contributor
to the Democratic party chest dis
qualify him once and for all from be-
ing seriously considered for that i'm
portant cabinet post. When these
lines appear in print, the issue will
have been decided one or the other
way. Confirmation of Pauley will
simply mean that Congress, and with
it public opinion, has decided to give
the green light to a man who is not
only an active opponent of federal
control of tidewater oil deposits, but
whose very actions are open to sus-
picion and mistrust, to say the least.
Still another point needs to be aired
fully, lest the damage to our foreign
relations becomes truly irreparable.
Speaking from <he witness stand, the
former petroleum advisor to the State
Department, Max Thornburg, charged
that Mr.. Pauley had commission OF
$4,000 on the contemplated sale of an
American oil tanked to the Mexican
government coming to him, which
sum was to go to the Democratic
party campaign fund. 49,.
According to the witness, the deal
was stopped Notwithstanding threats
by Pauley to have him, Thornburg,
"liquidated' for his opposition.
Mr.. Truman's appointee, in turn,
branded the charge "a deliberate,
premeditated lie" and followed it up
with the curious statement that
Thornburg "never at any time wanted
anybody to fool with Mexico, except
his company and affiliated companies,
Standard of New Jersey and the Shell
group" He added that the witness
was opposed to anything being done
in and for Mexico until the Mexican
government returned property appro-
priated under Mexican law to the af-
fected American oil companies.
This issue, in the opinion of this
writer, deserves more publics atten-
tion and discussion than a mere brief
paragraph buried in an inner page of
our great dailies. Here is case
which is bound to do greater harm to
pan-American relations than dozen
Hitler disciples. 1t will play into the
hands of those who profess to believe
that the essence of our pan-American
policy and interests is determined by
Big Business, and not by the Ameri-
can people.
Anvone acquainted with the
thoughts and temper of Latin Amer
lea knows only too we'll that the mo-
tives and actions of the United States
are deeply mistrusted. To confirm
by silence that Mexican-American af
fairs are the favorite play ground of
opposing oil interests is to confirm
precisely what the enemies of the
United States and of democracy have
been saying for long time.
1t is time for President Truman
and his palitical friends and advisers
to bury Mr.. Pauley's ambitions as
quickly as possible. Beyond that, it
is their duty to stand up before the
American people, tell us all there is
to know, and let the chips fall where
theV may.