Evening star., 1950-02-19
Believes Offense
Is Best Defense
For America

| WA AAA AAChAk>AAAAA6 SAAC clIo1 r. GoOlS
put into his hands by scientific re-
search. Perhaps we aren't up to
it. prefer to believe that we are.
But in this case the rewards of
success look so great and the pen
alties of failure are certainly so
terrible that we must rise above
our everyday selves to meet the
challenge of this complex phe-
nomenon which. whether we want
it or not. is from now on ours"
Mr.. Pike was born So years ago
in Lubec. Me-, of seafaring fore
bears. His great grandfather
Moses Pike, did a pretty good
smuggling business in 1872" as
did many others.
ADVISER TO HOPKINS
In the last 81 years an active
life has kept him away from
Maine so much that he estimates
that only on two occasions has he
spent periods as long as six
months there. Despite that his
voice retains down East" twang.
He is graduate of BoWdoin
College and has been an overseer
OF the college since 1888. Bowdoin
gave him an LII. D. degree in 194l.
At college he was elected to Phi
Beta Kappa and to the Delta Up
silon social fraternity. He played
football.
In World War I he became a
captain in the Coast Artillery
Corps. His ambition to get over
seas was frustrated and he was
stuck at Fort Monroe as an in
structor.
After the war he returned to a
job with the public utility firm of
Stone & Webster which he had
Joined on leaving BoWdoin. He
worked for that company in Mas
sachusetts, Georgia and Texas.
Then he left to become a vice
president of two concerns selling
equipment to gasoline filling sta
| tlons.
Biographies of Mr.. Pike say he
made two fortunes, one in oil, the
other in Wall Street. He admits
to the little dough" made in the
Street. But when he left Texas in
1923 he was "as close to broke as
guy can be-" 1t took him until
1928 to pay off his debts.
He did acquire a considerable
knowledge of oil properties, how
ever. In New York he was asso-
ciated with fire insurance COM
panies which had substantial
holdings in oil stocks and it was
his job to look after those prop
critics. Later he became an off,
Ger and director of the investment
firm of Case, Pomeroy & Co., leav-
ing in 1899. presumably to return
TO Maine after his trip around the
world.
He didn't get to Maine. He
came to the Commerce Depart
ment in Washington instead to be
adviser to Mr.. Hopkins.
1t would be idle to ask his judg-
ment on Mr.. Hopkins, still, a con-
troversial figure. 1t was one of
the periods in which Mr.. Hop
klns was seriously i'll.
! Il never saw him." Mr.. Pike
explained, but corrected himself.
Yes, I did. I saw him once
across a dining room. I worked
with Ed Noble. He held the de-
partment together" His refer
ence was to Edward j. Noble, then
Undersecretary of Commerce.
Mr.. Pike was called on to do a
variety of jobs-despite the fact
he is a Republican. In 1941 he
was appointed to the Securities
and Exchange Commission. The
next year he took a furlough from
the SEC to handle a hot potato.
1t was to untangle the crude oil
price controls in the OPA. He
held out against higher crude
prices, and lost some old friends.
VIEWS ON POLITICS
In 1916 he resigned from the
SEC. He told the President he
was getting stale on the job."
Mr.. Pike has been described as
"leftist, as Republicans 60" He
said that is about right. He said
he could go down the line with
Wendell L. Willkie and he spoke
admiringly of liberal Republicans
In Congress and some who might
be described as constructively con-
Servative.
I'VE have to decide whether to
be a club or party" he said of
Republicans. II don't believe a
party can be of much use unless
it can get the confidence of the
majority of the people every now
and then"
Mr.. Pike is bachelor and lives
at 1000 F street NV, where he
mas an apartment. He remarked
he is one of the few people in
Washington who walk to and from
work, "but it's only four blocks"
He does considerable reading
three or four books a week. Re-
Gently he has read Martin Flavin's
book on Africa, BLACK and
White; Vidal's "a Search for the
King" and Overstreet's "The Ma
ture Mind" but mo inspirational
stuff"
He got so much enjoyment out
of Runner Godden's "In Noah's
Ark" which is in verse, that he
gave copies to several friends. He
gave Mr.. Lilienthal one the day
the chairman left the commits
sion.
He mentioned eading first
when asked about his hobbies.
Then bridge and poker every now
and then, on the sedentary side.
He cloves to fish," but claimed he
is not very good fisherman. He
/ l;l,o, ttoorfo;y, ,,ortcD of rorlav,;~n