Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-06-07

New Court Choice
Left Bench in 1913
To Direct Sterilization


terrupted In 1913 If the Senate an.
proves his nomination to the post Of
Chief Justice.
In May of that year, President
Roosevelt drafted him from a life
time Job as a justice of the United
States Court of Appeals here to be.
come director Of economic stabilize
ton. At that time, Mr.. Vinson had
completed five years as member oil
the court.
In moving from the judicial to the
executive branch of the Federal
Government, the Kentuckian was
destined to play series of impor-
tant roles in the momentous drama
OF guiding the Nations economy in
the difficult times of war and recon-
version.
Capital Watched Career.
When he assumed the sterilization
post, Washington observers looked
to his career for indications of his
ability to cope with the pressurcs of
labor, farmers, professors, retailers
and consumers which would be his
daily task.
They found him an effective
mediator on occasion and vigorous
fighter for his own viewpoint on
others.
He already had proved himself q
firm supporter Of price control as an
emergency economic measure in a
decision handed down while chief
judge of the Emergency Court OF
Appeals for Price-Fixing, to which
he was named by Chief Justice
Stone.
While calling the Price Control
Act "a breath-taking departure from
our peacetime economic policy" he
commented:
"A substantial price increase of
any commodity will not, in itself
add appreciably to the living cost of
the general public. Its weight is
milligramic. But the combined ef-
fects of these minute quanta, which
singly would not shake the scales,
could be catastrophic."
Dealt Firmly With Blocs.
AS economic stabilizer, Mr.. Vinson
was viewed as a firm dealer with
pressure groups in every quarter.
When Congress refused to permit
Henry Wallace to take over the loan
agency functions of Jesse Jones
when he became Secretary of Com
merce, President Roosevelt turned
to Mr.. Vinson and shifted him to
the post of Federal Loan Admins
traitor. That was in March, 1945.
He was to labor but briefly there,
however. Less than a month later,
James F. Byrnes, now Secretary of
State, resigned as director of war
mobilization and reconversion,
President Roosevelt named Mr.. Vim
son to succeed him.
When President Truman took Of
flee at the death of President
Roosevelt, he looked at once to Mr.
Vinson for counsel in economic mat
tiers. Seeing ese-to-eye on tax mat
tiers, the President and Mr.. Vinson
urged that no overall tax reduc-
lions be enacted until after the de-
feat of Japan.
In July of 1945, Henry Morgen-
THAI, jr., resigned as Secretary of
the Treasury. and President Tru-
man sent the name OF Mr.. Vinson
to the Senate as his choice to fill
the vacancy.
Now, the Senate willing, he will
move "up and over" again, to the
highest appointive position in the
Federal Government.
Experience, Varied.
Few public servants have had
such varied experience in respon-
sible posts as has Mr.. Vinson in his
Sc years.
AS member of the House of
Representatives, from which he re-
signed to become justice of the
Court Of Appeals, he developed a
reputation as an expert on taxation
which was recognized on both sides
of the chamber. While chairman
OF the taxation subcommittee of the
House Ways and Means Committee
he found himself in the center of
many controversies. He championed
the undistributed profits tax provi-
sion OF the 1886 revenue act. In
1887 he began urging a pay-as-you-
go taxation policy.
For years after he left Congress
members of the Ways and Means
Committee referred to his statements
and writings habitually in arriving
at their decisions on complex tax
problems.
Mr.. Vinson was born January o.
1890, in the front part of the Louisa
tKyo Jail, of which his father was
jailer.
Went to Normal School.
After his fathers death, young
Fred's mother took in boarders to
help finance his education for o
place in the teaching profession. He
was sent to a State normal school
in Eastern Kentucky from which he
graduated in 1908.
The student decided he did not
want to be a teacher, however, and
transferred to Center College, Dan
vile, KY. He received his bachelor
OF arts degree there in 1909 and his
law degree two years later.
Thereafter, he returned to his
home town to practice law and, in
1913, became city attorney OF Louisa
Mr.. Vinson held this post for eight
years and then became Common
wealthis attorney for the district.
He entered the House after a'vic-
tory in a special election in 1928 and
was returned regularly except in
1928, when the Hoover landslide
pushed him out Of Congress for one
term.
He is married to the former
Roberta Dixon Of Ashland, KY. They
have two sons, Fred, jr., and James
Robert.
Snyder Served for Year
As Reconversion Director
John w. Snyder, who succeeds
Fred M. Vinson as Secretary of the
Treasury, was Reconversion Direc.
tor for almost a year after serving
three months as Federal Loan ad-
ministrator
II