Evening star., 1947-05-23

minished. Recently 1t appears to have
been renewed. At the moment the
bleating Is again largely about Mr..
Truman's alleged inability to pick
good men for important posts and
the manner Of his selection.
In view Of the presence in the
administration, by his act, OF
Gen. Marshall and others Of the
highest grade, this complaint has
become as tiresome as 1t is unbiased.
The fact is that the Truman cabi-
net as q whole has q greater per-
centage Of intelligence and charac-
ter than any Roosevelt cabinet.
The elimination Of Henry wallace
alone certainly has raised the level.
The further fact is that, aside from
the cabinet, the personnel of the
Truman selections. abroad as we'll
as at home, compare favorably with
the Roosevelt personnel In the
peacetime periods.
Exploiters Absent.
The jobholders of today or mem
bers Of the so-called "inner circle"
may not be as gaudy as those OF
the Roosevelt regime but neither
are they as greedy. No off1cial close
to the President or attached to
him by ties Of blood appears to be
making money on the side through
the exploitation of his White House
connection.
There are no questionable finan-
cial transactions such as those in
which Elliott Roosevelt involved his
father High. Government officials
are not called on to settle the debts
Of members Of the Presidents
family. No one near the throne
is in the insurance game" There
is an absence around the White
House and departments of any trace
OF hate or malevolence.
Mr.. Truman is not a great man
and does not pretend to be.
Nevertheless, 1t comes with poor
grace and is in bad taste for those
close to the late Mr.. Roosevelt con-
tinually to attempt belittlement of
Mr.. Truman by comparison. At
any rate, If they insist on COMPARE
sons on some counts, they have no
right to object to comparison on
other-or all-counts. If that Is
done, Mr.. Truman will not suffer
very much personally In the eyes
Of disinterested persons. On some
counts it might even be the other
way.
Choice Important.
The present belittling is in con-
rnection with the head Of the Greek
mission to supervise the expenditure
of the rehabilitating loan which has
just been made.
Concededly this is an extreme
ly important place. Selection of
an unworthy or inferior man would
be pretty bad. Asked at his press
conference last week when he in
tended to name the man, Mr.. Tru-
man said: Just as soon as I can
get the one I want to accept"
Asked If the man were reluctant,
Mr.. Truman said yes he was. Then
he proceeded to say that while he
knew 1t was easier to make sacri-
fees to serve the Government dur
ing a shooting war" he wished
more men would feel that 1t Is
just as patriotic in period Of
peace such as this-and that the
need OF the country is just as great.
In other words, he is trying to get
the best available man and having
some trouble. To get the right man,
he finds, takes time and work
Under these conditions, his critics
might wait at least until he an
nounces his selection before insist
ing that he has bungled the job
and that the Roosevelt method was
superior
Critics Might Wait.
Their idea seems to be that it Is
bungling the job if Mr.. Truman
does not name at once one or the
other of the advanced New Dealers