Evening star., 1947-06-09
Armour Nominated
10 Suceeed Braden
In Expanded Post
By 6ornett D. Horner

AGCi oApiCilde. W eto A1oiiiiAaotOo bS
President Truman today to be
an Assistant Secretary of State.
He viii replace Assistant Secretary
Spruilfe Braden, whose resignation
was announced last week, but will
be charged with direction of Euro
pean. Far Eastern and Near Eastern
political affairs as well as the Latin
American affairs which were Mr..
Braden's sole responsibility
1t also was learned today that
Ellis O. Briggs, top aide to Mr..
Braden for the last 20 months as
director of the Office of American
Republic Affairs, soon will be named
Ambassador to Uruguay.
Mr.. Briggs appointment will re-
move from a key position here a
man who was closely associated
with Mr.. Braden's tough" policy
toward Argentina. Mr.. Braden re-
signed after settlement of differences
with that country on basis un-
satisfactory to him.
Had Been in Retirement.
Mr.. Armour, one of Americas
widely experienced career diplo-
mats, has been in retirement since
December, 1945, when he resigned
as Ambassador to Spain. He pre-
viously had served as Ambassador to
Argentina and Chile and Minister
to Haiti and Canada and had filled
numerous assignments in Europe
and the Far East.
In announcing Mr.. Armour's
nomination. the White House made
no mention of the extended duties
of the post he will fill in the State
Department. The plan was dis
closed in The Star last Thursday.
In the Argentine controversy Mr..
Braden believed that the Peron
government had not yet taken suf-
ficiently strong action in compliance
with anti-Nazi pledges to justify her
participation in a projected new
inter American defense treaty. He
was overruled last week when Pres
ldent Truman agreed to renew con-
sultatlons with other American re-
publics looking toward negotiation
of the treaty. ..
Braden Warns of Communists.
AS these developments came In
the Latin American. scene in the
State Department, testimony was
released showing that Mr.. Braden
believes Communists in Latin Amer
lea are a greater peril to democracy
than even the Nazi columnists.
Their whole program is to create
chaos at every turn" he told
House Appropriations Subcommit-
tee. They are in on every poten-
tial revolution, and it does not mat
ter who is behind it."
Mr.. Braden testified during COM
mittee consideration of funds for
the Institute of Inter-American At
fairs and the Inter American Edu-
cational Foundation, Inc, which
engage in social and economic pro-
grams in Latin America.
He told the subcommittee that
Germans in Latin America did not
get into the national life in the
same way as the Communists get
in"
Would Join Any Revolution.
THE Communists" he said, get
the nationals of the country into
their organizations and they partic-
ularly get at the labor classes, which
the Nazis we're never able to do, so
as to try to influence them, just as
we have seen in this country, even
though they are a small minority"
Even if revolution is started
by an ultraconservative." he said,
''the Communists will join up with
it, because that is part of their
system of creating chaos.
"Of course, they ridicule and criti-
size our system of democracy
Mr.. Braden expressed the opinion
that when you come to this Com
munist thing the only way to
hit that is by raising their stand
ard of living. and that is going to
take decades before it can be finally
worked out"
Selection for the Uruguay post
is considered a promotion for Mr.
Briggs, a veteran career diplomat
known as an outstanding specialist
on Latin American affairs.
The assignment will be the Sec
ond for Mr.. Briggs as an AmbasSa-
dof in Latin America. He served as
Ambassador to the Dominican Re-
public in 1914 He was transferred
from there to China as counselor OF
Embassy before taking over the
Office Of American Republic Affairs
here in October, 1945.
Mr., Briggs, At, a native of Water
town, Mass. entered the Foreign
Service in 1925. He served in vari-
GUS capacities in Peru, Liberia,
Cuba, Chile and the State Depart
ment before his first ambassador
appointment.
/ Williamson S. Howell, jr., of
Texas, nominated for Ambassador to
Uruguay in March, died before he
could assume his duties
n