Evening star., 1949-07-31
Gen. Vaughan Is Target
Of Roosevelt Liberals
Critical Columnists Indicted For
Silence in New Deal Era
Bv Frank X. Kent

By Frank r. Kent
With no disposition to defend or excuse
Maj. Gen. Harry Vaughan. intimate 1rleno
and favorite companion of President Iru-
man, nevertheless there is something more
than little ridiculous in the righteous In
dignation with which he is being assailed
by the numerous columnists and commenta-
tors who like to refer to themselves as
Roosevelt liberals and certainly were
among the most besotted and extreme fol-
lowers of Mr.. Truman's immediate prede-
cessor.
Gen. Vaughan is a somewhat coarse, un-
couth, gh-and-tumble character with
gift for getting into unpleasant situations
and strange taste for unsavory messes.
The one into which he has gotten this time
is somewhat more odoriferous than usual
but it does not involve any charge of per-
sonal dishonesty or graft on his part. APP
parently he is socially mixed up with a
little five per center" who was using his
personal closeness to Gen. Vaughan. the
Presidents friend. to sell himself to gulible
businessmen seeking Government contracts.
This. of course, is pretty bad stuff from
whatever angle it is viewed and whether or
not Gen. Vaughan profited personally.
which is not alleged. His relations with the
President are such that he deserves to be
severely cenSured and Mr.. Truman'S we'll
known loyalty to his friends" is no excuse
for longer keeping such man around the
White House. After all, the loyalty which he
owes the American people and to his exalted
Office is deeper obligation than that he owes
to his personal friendS-even those who be-
have However the point here sought to be
made is that it i'll becomes the aforemen-
ton Roosevelt liberals" to work themselves
into so terrific lather over Gen. Vaughan.
to look upon him with such complete abhor-
renee and excoriate his conduct with quite
such outraged virtue. Writes one of them.
1T is squalid that this sort of thing should
60 on in the American Government. 1t is
worse than squalid that it should be assisted
by the borrowed authority of the White
House. 1t casts sharp light on the prevail
ing standards of public conduct"
Conceding the truth of this, still one can
not help contrasting the acute sufferings OF
these Roosevelt liberals over the current
use of the White House influence by one
close to the President with their complete
absence of shock, shame, indignation or
even disapproval over various incidents OF
the Roosevelt regime considerably more
squalid and far more reprehensible so far as
exploitation of the White House and use OF
the presidential power were concerned. For
either shock or shame when one of the
Roosevelt boys-James-expa and en-
riched his insurance company through his
White House connections until it became
more or less national scandal? The answer,
or course. is no-not single one of them.
Or, when, through White House influence.
another son-Elliot-borrowed more than
s400 900 from various rich men and then,
due to the direct action of the President,
his father, who used for that purpose high
Government oficial-Jesse Jones-settled
his debts at the absurd rate of cents on
the dollar-did there come from any Of these
liberals so much as a squeak about Squalor
or a suggestion of swindling or any refer
ence to the then prevailing standard OF
public conduct?" Again the answer is no
not even a whisper-not from one Of them.
Or did one of them dare to intimate that
there was anything unethical or slightly
sordid in the way Mrs. Roosevelt used her
White House prestige to roll up sizable
fortune.
Also there is the case of Tommy Corcoran.
the brilliant young Roosevelt speech writer
and White House favorite. who left the
White House service to make few million
practicing law in Washington with his for.
mer presidential closeness as his chief asset.
OF course, Alger Hiss, himself Roosevelt
liberal, has neither been convicted nor
acquitted and perhaps the Roosevelt lib
erals" may be forgiven for not evincing shock
or shame about him. Under the circum-
stances perhaps it Is natural for them to
concentrate upon violent denunciation OF his
accusers, including the House committee
which made the disclosure. But this argu-
ment cannot be made in the case of Edward
Pritchard another Roosevelt liberal, once
in high White House favor, who has recently
been convicted of forging ballots in Ken
lucky election. Concerning these there
comes from the Roosevelt liberals no evil
dence whatever Of shock or shame-quits
the contrary.
Considering these facts-and some others
there is not space to mention-it does seem
that, reprehensible as Gen. Vaughan may
be and deplorable as his conduct undoubtedly
is, it ought not too greatly shock or shame
these Roosevelt liberals" They ought IN
fact, to be impervious to that sort Of thing.
OF course, If they had either sense OF
proportion or a sense of humor they would
keep their mouths shut and let someone else
kick the unfortunate general around and
talk about the prevailing standard Of public
conduct" But, then, if they had sense
either Of proportion or humor they would
hardly be Roosevelt liberals
Fifty Years Ago
From Fort Wayne Ind. there came to
The Star on July a. 1899. dispatch saying
that the Rev. Morice Samp-