The Wilmington morning star., 1946-10-09
Growing Impression
Bv ARTHUR kROCK

BY ARTHUR kROCK
WASHINGTON The inability OF B.. M.
Rar1ch to induce Henry A. Wallace to publish
the uneouivocal confession be made privately
of errors concerning United States policy on
the control of atomic energy WILL conllrln dh
impression Of the former Secretary OF Com
merce which has long existed IN some quar-
tiers. This is that, in his zeal for causes ana
FOR programs he does not fully compreheno'
he first is indisposed to check data that ap-
pear to make his point, and, when this data Is
proved incorrect, cannot bring hlnseH 10 Is
sue a clear-cut retraction.
Critics have concluded that Mr.. Wallace has
fallen into bad hands. Some are still willing
to call him ''sincere,' in the sense that ne
believes deeply in the ends he thinks ne is
pursuing. But, especially after the Baruch
episode, they feel less willing to subscribe to
the statement with which his apologists lnvarl-
/ ably begin such mild reproofs as they have
administered to Mr.. Wallace: that he is very
courageous and a model of intellectual
honesty.
The chronology Of events that impelled Mr..
Baruch to publish his recent dealings with
Mr.. Wallace lends weight to the contrary
opinion, and certainly to the belize that the
former Secretary is sWayed by bad advisers.
For example, as Mr.. Baruch's and Mr.. Wal
lace's subsequent documents reveal, he con-
fessed very grave errors, which surely have
"created confusion and division among our
people, and are dangerous to the delicate
negotiations now under way" on international
control Of atomic energy. He helped to per-
suade Soviet Ambassador Gromyko that, as
associates of Mr.. Baruch recall Mr.. Gromyko
said on at least three occasions, American
public opinion does not support our u. N. plan
in anything like the degree the government
ro1;ae m Vat in hic cfotnmenf tadav lightly
dismissing his mistakes as relating to points
purely procedural," Mr.. Wallace continued
those per suas ions.
The misstatements of the Baruch plan were
made by Mr.. Wallace in his letter to the
President of July %, published Sept. 10. He
was not responsible for the Fact that this letter
became public property, but so it became and
its grave errors were spread on the record.
Mr.. Baruch was in Washington on the day Of
publication, having had no knowledge it was
coming when he made an engagement with
the President to review the U. N. deliberations
on atomic energy. But he pointed out the mis-
statements to Mr.. Truman and was authorized
to put them in the form of a memorandum
for the Presidents inspection.
When this memorandum rea ched the Presi-
dent it was suggested to Mr.. Baruch that he
review the contents personally and privately
with Mr.. Wallace and attempt to agree on a
public correction; also that he use his own
Judgment when and whether to publish the
memorandum. On Sept. 10, Mr.. Wallace
| a agreed to meet with Mr.. Baruch on Sept. %.
The next day, Sept. 20, he was dismissed from
the Cabinet. He then suggested to Mr.. Baruch
by telephone that there was no longer any
point in the meeting. But on Mr.. Baruch's
insistence that the record should be cleared,
and also that he still desired Mr.. Wallace's
good opinion of his plan, the former Secre-
tary chose 9 a. M, Sept. %, FOR the meeting
in New York City.
There were present Mr.. Wallace and Philip
Hauser (his literary COUNSEL, and Mr.. Baruch
and his associates CMessrs Hancock, Eber-
stadt and SWope). 1t was decided, after Mr..
Wallace admitted the mistakes he had made
in his letter to the President. that Mr.. Hauser
and Mr.. SWope should draw up a statement
for him rectifying these errors. The former
Secretary said that the author of his letter to
Mr.. Truman was then abroad on an UNRRA
mission, and Mr.. Hauser would do the draft
ing for HIM.
Mr.. Wallace departed at 1870 for luncheon,
saying nothing about the CIO-PAC and
ICCASP conference in Chicago which was
about to be held and which was by resolution
to repeat the very misstatements the former
Secretary had made and conceded. About z
p. m. M. Swope and Mr.. Hauser finished the
draft as proposed by Mr.. Hauser, and then
everyone set about to locate Mr.. Wallace.
They could not find him Saturday or Sunday,
but on Monday he telephoned. That was after
the repetition of his erroneous statement by
his supporters at Chicago, which drew from
Mr.. Ba1uch his first public attack on these
representations.
The rest Of the time before Mr.. Baruch re-
leased The documents yesterday was spent as
described in them. Mr.. Wallace declined to
father the statement his own Representative
had drawn up and sought the agreement of
Mr.. Baruch to releases in which he argued
wholly extraneous issues and twisted his con-
fession of error into a mere expression of
pleasure that the pair are in accord on a
procedural point" Nor did he acknowledge
that he had made no effort at the time to
check with our u. N. atomic commission the
statements in his letter to the President.
This is the background of the press CONFER
ence and the releases by lIr. Baruch and Mr..
Wallace. It is not a background anyone can
be proud Of, especially a public man who
constantly asserts his own high-mindedness
and attributes much less 20 most of those who