Evening star., 1951-04-15

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has been spectacular. But the
nightmarish when this hot issue
tops the revelations of in
lf1uence on the Reconstruction
Finance Corp. exposures of high
lups and tieups in organized
crime, and other unIragrant ma
terial recently unearthed mostly
by Democratic diggers.
Still More to Come
/ Congressional observers note
that the picture is still in motion
They view it as a probably pro-
Ilonged serial in which the hero is
'Ileft dangling over a cliff or tied to
the tracks at the fadeout of each
.Iinstallment.
1 In the case OF the following
features the ''to-be-continued'
Isign hangs out for next week or
next month, or perhaps until the
next election:
i The Senate subcommittee in
lquiry into RFC, another subcom-
mittee's overhauling of surplus
ship deals, a third groups exam
lination of ethics in Government,
Ia watchdog committees search
ing over the broad field of defense
production certificates, and other
probes of patronage, elections,
possible perjury and contempt of
Congress. So"
At the same time, some seasoned
spectators or wishful watchers
caution opponents of the Presi-
dent. They warn that "vaulting
ambition" to take advantage OF
the sings and arrows of Demo-
cratic fortune could lead the
G.. o. P. to overreach itself.
The Truman administration has
been no stranger to such things
as aides trying to keep cool when
Congress turned the heat on deep
freezes, five-percenters, dabbling
in the grain market, mixing i'll
Missouri politics and more or less
related operations.
The President also has seen
some ''red herrings" grow well be-
lyond the legal limit.
But this springs crop of dis
closures-denounced as scandals
jor described as smoke screens
has given food for considerably
Igraver thought than was evident
lin those earlier brushes between
1.-THE Capitol and the White House.
The legislative branch holds no
monopoly on the manufacture of
headaches for the President. His
Secretary of Commerce and sew
Ieral high-ranking Justice Depart
Iment officials face a real and pres
Ient danger of being found in con-
tempt of the judiciary.
The Presidents propensity for
letter -Writing-lately turned to
t(recorded) telephone conversa-
Itions in connection with congress
Isional correspondence concerning
RFC loans-had a part in the
court record of that case.
His letter. while defended as a
proper exercise of executive con-
,cern for the public interest, got a
reserved reception in the United
States Court of Appeals that is
considering the legal battle be-
tween the Government and the
Dollar shipping interests for con-
troll of the American President
Lines.
The woes of the White House
in the administrative field are
still more numerous and bother
some. The roll of designations,
ranging from the White House
employe who had a mink coat
to top-flight administrators in
the defense mobilization estab-
lishment, is too lengthy to recall.
Consultant Available
But at least one aspect of the
governmental anxieties was en-
Iphasized last week when former
Gov. M. E. Thompson of Georgia
quit as an Office of Price Stabili-
zation consultant because he said
nobody ever consulted him.
Official Washington" he ex-
claimed in his valedictory, sis
drifting in sea of confusion, in
efficiency, waste and extrava-
gance. While the price spiral
continues to rise, the bottom is
dropping out of moral values"
The moral ISSUE has prompted
some action as well as hundreds
of thousands of words in tran
scripts of congressional commit
tee hearings in recent weeks.
Among the bequests handed on
by the Fulbright subcommittee on
RFC is scheduled study of the,
basic standards of propriety''I
for Government officials.
A Senate Labor and Education
subcommittee, headed by Senator
Douglas. Democrat, of Illinois.
who also serves on the Fulbrightl
subcommittee, is arranging toI
hear an imposing list of person.
ages.
Far from being dead, the sub
committee on RFC is making a.
lively effort to persuade" Donald
Dawson, an aide to President Tru-
man, to answer testimony that he !
had quite bit to say about RFC
men and moves. It also expects
TO invite David K. Niles, another
presidential aide, and perhaps
Democratic National Chairman
William NJ. Boyle, jr.
Committee Overlooked
The Fulbright subcommittee'sI
support of its Jasmine" report of /
February 2 touched off a terrific
chain reaction. It didn't stretch
all the headlines and it took none |
OF the teleViSion.