Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-08-29
Letters to The Star
Differs With MIR. Ickes' Views
On Political Purees

VII OIitAChI urges
To the Editor OF The Star:
l want to register a protest against
the views and sentiments expressed by
Harold L. Ickes in recent column
appearing in The Star regarding the
results in the Democratic primary in
the 5th congressional district of Mis-
souri,.
In my opinion, it was not "salutary''
for such fine Congressman as Roger
Slaughter to be defeated for renomi-
nation when it was necessary for Presi-
dent Truman to invoke the aid OF the
corrupt Pendergast machine to bring 1t
about. The vote in the wards controlled
by the machine tells its own story, and
1t is not to the credit of Kansas City
nor to the President
According to the views expoundet by
Mr.. Ickes, a Congressman has no right
to think and vote as his conscience
dictates. He should be a mere auto
maton and take his orders from the
man in the White House. What rot!
Again, Mr.. Ickes tries to justify the
late President Roosevelt's attempt to
purge the Senators of his own party
who refused to 60 along with his plan
to pack the Supreme Court in 1887.
Mr.. Ickes declares that the Presidents
program had been Endorsed again and
again by the voters and the inference
is that the members Of the Senate had
no moral right to interfere with the
carrying out of that program
Just to keep the record straight, it
should be kept in mind that the Presi-
dent said nothing about his plans for
packing the Supreme Court until some
months after the election of 1896, and
the voters had no opportunity to pass
judgment on that part of the Presi-
dents program.
The late Senator Carter Glass, who
was a good Democrat, stigmatized the
Presidents plan for packing the court
as constitutional immortality" That is
what the majority OF the people of the
Nation thought about 1t, too. And now
Mr.. Ickes comes along and tries to
make his readers believe that this
scheme was perfectly harmless and
regular
If he really believes that himself, he
must have big blind spot in his brain
and conscience. AMERICAN.
Wright Field Problem Again
To the Editor OF The Star:
Since coming to Washington, I have
been constant reader of your very
good newspaper. Your editorials gen.
orally appear to be well written and
based on facts. That probably accounts
for my noting in the August "A edition
the editorial "Penny-Wise and Pound
Foolish" which, fortunately, is not a
good example of editorials appearing in
your newspaper.
was the statement of one man. 1t also
was obvious that whoever wrote the
article did not attempt to get the facts.
some of which are the following:
/. That a very large percentage of
the employees at Wright Field are
engaged in procurement, supply and
inspection activities, which activities
decreased to about 10 per cent of the
volume handled during an equivalent
period Of time during the war.
2. That the amount of development
work done at Wright Field is not great.
This fact may be poor policy, but it
nonetheless is a fact.
g. That the facility is greatly over
stated with literally thousands of en-
ployes not being utilized. A cursory
survey or talks with any of the con-
scientious employees would reveal these
facts.
I'm sure your newspaper doesn't
intend to advocate keeping large num-
bers OF employees on Federal payrolls
when these employees are not being
utilized. But that is exactly what the
editorial proposes in the suggestion to
the War Department that it ask the
Budget Bureau for an exception in the
case of the Army Air Forces.
The presence of large numbers of
employees not being utilized not only is
wasteful, but it is harmful to the morale
and prestige of all Federal employees.
Very likely, the Budget Bureau has the
facts. So, let's get behind it in its
attempts to make government more
efficient and more economical.
Nothing will tend to raise the stand
ard of living more quickly than the
better utilization of our manpower both
in and out Of government. That would
be real objective for a newspaper to
promote. A SUBSCRIBER.
Condemns Scare Headlines
To the Editor OF The Star:
Yesterdays main head page y in
one Washington paper read: 300
Women Rioting Over Sugar" or words to
that effect. remember wondering when
I read the headline just how much it
was based on. Then found stick
at the bottom Of Page in The Star,
relating that one woman had been
jostled in a single store.
vvyicL - pT,l.