The Wilmington morning star., 1946-01-09
Fair Enough
~ WEsTBRoOK PEGLER



shooting stopped and the pretext Of security
ceased to shield the selfishness and self-im-
portance of the selfless protectors Of the COM
mon man, we are learning astounding facts
OF their conduct in contrast to the preaching
Of the new deal.
We have learned that President Roosevelt
used his influence to promote loan OF $780,
600 for his son Elliott, and then engineered
coup by which the lender was whipsawed
out Of his collateral, with the President, him
self, as the receiver and transmitter OF the
certificates, We have learned that he procured
the R.F.C. to buy up baronial estate ad-
Joining his own, operating through three hold
ing corporations. ostensib1y to acquire an ex-
perimental station for the Department OF Agri-
culture but actually to provide that 'unde-
sirab1e' neighbors should not move in next
door. Only after security was no longer 20
be invoked, we learned that household gar
rison Of 300 soldiers was maintained at Hyde
Park and provided with distinctive uniform,
to patrol and guard the Presidents private
premises. and, when he happened to be I'm
residence" to protect his person.
Now it can be revealed also that during the
time when the docile, gullible dolt, the com
mon man, was drawing gasoline ration OF
two and one-hah gallons Of low.grade fuel
week for the family car, when spies were
noting the license numbers Of cars parked at
the movies, when even service men on leave
were warned not to use their little supply on
frivolous errands-
During those days, Henry Morgenthau, then
Secretary Of the Treasury, had a Lockheed
Lodestar and, before that, a Lockheed
Twelve, the property Of the Coast Guard
and manned by Coast Guard officers and blue
jackets, all at public expense, to fly him from
Washington to his home at Beacon, near the
Roosevelt estate, and fetch him back to his
office. Mr.. Morgenthau is reticent regarding
the actual number Of such flights He really
doesn't know how many times he whipped up
from Washington in so minutes to rest little
at his home while civilians below crowded into
buses or slept or perched on suit-cases in the
aisles Of day coaches, and ration boards re-
fused extra allowance of fuel for sick civil
lians to visit their doctors His only impress
sion is that the number Of trips was mot too
many
Mr.. Morgenthau's first response was that he
used Coast Guard plane at times on official
business, largely on war bond trips, but he
conceded that he did use the ship occasional
ly'' to fly to the airport at New Hackensack to
visit his home.
II really had no other way to get home"
he said and added that he thought govern
ment officer was entitled to such visits, re-
vealing, again, that feeling Of preciousness
which Harold Ickes betrayed when he explain
ed that he put himself away in the Naval Hos
pital in Washington, at q purely nominal ex-
pense, ard without the slightest legal right,
because the civilian hospitals in Washin. ton
were overcrowded and not good enough for
him.
Meanwhile hundreds OF thousands Of gov
eminent employees in Washington. to say
nothing of the many other millions elsewhere,
also wished they might 60 home but, not be-
ing princes and princesses OF privilege, either
couldn't make 1t at all or made it the hard
way.
Mr.. Mcrgenthau says these ships were not
assigned exclusively to him but that he could
use them If they were not otherwise engaged.
Other informants disagree, insisting that first
the Lockheed Twelve and then the Lodestar
were set aside for his exclusive use, with
crews standing by at all times to hy him,
and that the cost to taxpayers was about
$40, 900 a month. The Lodestar used about 800
gallons on each round trip
Inasmuch as Mr.. Morgenthau served about
II years in the cabinet, permanent job as
such matters are reckoned, it might have been
appropriate to make Washington his home. He
nterposes that the Washington climate is not
always comfortable, a point that may be
granted only with the stipulation that is is
equally unpleasant to those who cannot es-
cape merely by causing a secretary to LIT
phone snd conjuring magic carpet.
He flew home, how many times we do
not know although the logs and the testimony
Of the crews might establish the exact truth.
while thousands Of other men, no less weary
from work and strain and no less anxious
about Illness in their families, spent many
wretched nights in frozen Pullmans, commut-
ing on essential war business between plants
and their headquarters with only occasional
nights in their own beds.
Mr.. Morgenthau seemed sad discussing the
matter. He said he did not recall that he had
ever received due credit for his feats OF law
enforcement against tax dodgers and other
offenders 1t is my impression that he did re-
ceive generous recognition from time to time.
He said it was all done quite openly, where
at I disagree because it was forbidden then
to publish the movements, business and 1den-
tity of such ships. And he must have known
what the reaction would have been had the
public known that any number OF Amerlca an
Young men, taken from their homes to de-
fend the nation, were flying cabinet officer
to and from his home and that during the
gasoline shortage there was nevertheless 1uei
to spare for a fast, two-engine ship engaged IN
this purely personal service. It seems PROD
able that Mr. Morgentfrau should at least re-
imburse the Treasury this cost.
QUOTATIONS