Evening star., 1946-01-04

MI. 1IullldIl ny I$s3:::3::I
comparing him
with the ex- Frank. R. Kent.
ceedingly dramatic Mr.. Roosevelt;
to refer to him as "just an average
man" and complain about the cali
bsr of his cabinet and counselors.
1t Is not necessary to become Mr..
Truman's champion nor to admire
his taste in personal friends in
order to note the unfairneSs OF
these comparisons and comments.
So far as the cabinet is con-
cerned, the Truman cabinet does
not suffer in comparison. Certainly,
neither individually nor collectively
are it's members anything to rush
up on the roof and cheer about.
But, leave out the four Roosevelt
selections retained or promoted by
Mr.. Truman-Henry A. Wallace,
Harold L. Ickes, James Forrestal
and Robert P. Patterson-and the
rest are distinctly not on lower
level.
Improvements Seen.
None of them is great man but
most persons would regard Tom c.
Clark as an Improvement over
Francis Biddle as Attorney Cen
eral and Fred M. Vinson somewhat
better than Henry Morgenthau, jr.,
as Secretary of the Treasury. Feel
ing was rather overwhelming at the
time he was named that James F.
Byrnes is better equipped than Ed
ward r. Stettinius, jr., for the Sec
retary of Stateship.
The present Secretary Of Agri-
culture, Clinton p. Anderson, un-
questionably is a real step up over
his predecessor, who had become
joke. AS to whether Lewis B.
Schwellenbach is better than Fran
ces Perkins as Labor Secretary and
Robert E. Hannegan better than
Frank Walker as Postmaster Cen
eral, that is a matter of opinion
But certainly no one would claim
they were worse.
So much for the cabinet. Now,
as to the Truman Inner circle"
True, this leaves much to be de-
sired. 1t would be fine if he had
around him men of more informa-
ton, ripper judgment, better brains.
True, too, it is a little appalling
when one considers some of the
gentlemen with whom Mr.. Truman
regularly confers On great national
problems
Nevertheless, though Mr.. Truman
has kept two of the old Roosevelt
sdvisers-former Judge Rosenman
and David Niles-it is little absurd
to Have the late Presidents friends
lamenting the absence of the type
of brilliant young men" with whom
Mr.. Roosevelt surrounded himself, |
only to discover that they chiefly
mean Harry Hopkins and Tommy
Corcoran.
Not MaIevolent.
When one considers that the for
mer was one of the worlds greatest |
yes men and then thinks about how
Mr.. Corcoran has turned out, the
disposition is to feel a trifle more
tolerant toward the lack Of such |
brilliance around Mr.. Truman and
to believe, perhaps, that there can
be worse things than an average
man in the presidency. The Tru-
man group of close friends may be
distinguished for mediocrity, but at
least they are not malevolent. At
any rate, 1t Is not easy to see the
reason for, nor grasp the point of,
the present presidential disparage-
ment by the professional liberals.
1t is not clear that Mr.. Truman
has given them any real cause for
dissatisfaction. Certainly, he has
carried out his pledge to support
the Roosevelt policies. He put him
self back of the original and dan
gerously unsound so-called full-em-
ployment bill and several times has
demonstrated the sincerity Of his
belief in the Fair Employment
Practices Act. Devotion to these
two measures seems the acid test
Of the true liberal" and Mr.. Tru-
man has met them both.
Hazy Hostility.
Also, he has advocated Govern
ment retrenchment without doing
any retrenching and he has talked
about useless employees without re-
ducing them all, all of which is in
the true Roosevelt tradition.
In addition, to her great delight, |
he has appointed Mrs. Roosevelt a
delegate to the General Assembly
of the UNO, which, though the
appointment seemed to many citi-
zens an utterly unnecessary and
unhelpful piece of sentimentality,
should please the racial and radical
groups to which she especially ap-
peals.
Take 1t all in all, except for
resentment that an average man"
who surrounds himself with average
men should follow as President their
colorful hero and his brilliant"
young men, and the basis for the
present liberal hostility to Mr.
Truman is quite hazy. 1t seems to
rest mostly on the fact that he
dared to offer his mild fact-fnding
proposal for settling the General |
Motors strike without first obtain
ing approval of the CIO leaders. In
that, to be sure, he did not follow
Roosevelt policy-but only in that.
In all else he has gone along the