Evening star., 1952-02-04

THE OLD CURMUDGEON-na
by one Of his closest advisors
wrapped in q bristling gruffne
marks" He declared he "woule
never take q contingent politica
contribution Of any kind or char
acter."
i During Mr.. Ickes' later testi'
lmony when he read from thu
memoranda, Mr.. Pauley arose tt
! reiterate that Mr.. Ickes was "miS'
TAKEN" whereupon the Secretar!
snapped: well, then I don't un'
Iderstand the English language"
l At a news conference President
Truman said that Mr.. Ickes coulc
have been mistaken, whereupor
the Secretary wrote his letter o1
resignation. In it he told ths
President that my feeling is that
since you were not present at the
hearing and presumably had moi
Tread the record, it was not proper
for you, even though you be the
President of the United States, tt
pass Judgment on a question o1
veracity between Mr.. Pauley ant
myself"
after ALL" he added, II am 6
member of your cabinet at youl
own request and I do not have
a reputation for dealing reckless
lily with the truth"
In his radio address, Mr.. Ickes
said that when he showed the
President a telegram summonine
him to testify before the Senate
COMMITTEE on the Pauley nomina-
ton, Mr.. Truman told him, "O1
course you will have to tell the
truth. but be as gentle as you can
with Ed Pauley."
Resignation Quickly Accepted.
In the light Of succeeding cir
cumstances," Mr.. Ickes continued
II may be permitted to doubt
whether the President was not
speaking in q Pickwickian sense
when he told me to tell the truth. u
The President accepted the res
ignation In a terse note devoid
of any of the usual expressions OF
praise. He emphasized that Mr.
Ickes' resignation from the cab
inett post also meant that he was
out of the Is or more other Gov
ernment positions he held in con-
nection with it.
Thereupon Mr.. Ickes snapped
back with a sarcastic letter refer
ring to the Presidents "generos-
Iity and graciousness" and a bitter
lrejoinder that he had mo secret
design" to hold on to any other
Office under your jurisdiction" :
|. The Secretary had suggested
March 81 as the effective date Of
his resignation. but President
Truman accepted it as of Feb
-ruary IS, or three days after Il
was received. NE. Ickes said thai
was all right with him. adding
sarcastically: "After all, a mar
who has been in his job 13 years
ought to get out In three days"
Becomes . Columnist. u
Mr.. Pauley subsequently asked
that his nomination be with
drawn, in the face of almost GER
tain rejection by the Senate. The
President acceded to the request
with a final vigorous defense OF
his Integrity and ability" Mr.
Pauley had written that he be-
lieved all charges against him had
been shown to be false" but in
view of "hysteria that has been
engendered by these misrepresen-
tations" he said he felt he could
not render "the high order OF
service" required.
Mr.. Ickes served longer than
any other member Of President
Roosevelt's original cabinet,
though he once called himself the
"resigningest man in the Govern
ment" and said that even
'MethuSelah had a successor.
What he termed "at least" his
sixth resignation was submitted
Immediately after Mr.. Roosevelt's
death in April of 1945. Several
months later President Truman
announced that he could remain
in the cabinet as long as he de-
sired.
Recalls Earlier Letter.
In his final letter of reSigna-
ton, Mr.. Ickes recalled to the
President that on July 6, 1s45. he
personally delivered a written
resignation to take effect the fol-
lowing August 81. "You insisted
that you did not want me to re-
sign," the letter set forth, land
that your wish had been that
should continue as Secretary OF
the Interior"
Upon leaving the Department
of Interior, Mr.. Ickes began writ
ing a newspaper column for the
New York Post Syndicate. It was
carried for a time in The Star.
Final Column Discusses Scandals.
In his final column, written last
Tuesday for the next issue Of the
New Republic, Mr.. Ickes spoke OF
scandals in Government. He said:
"The American people are too
sophisticated to be gulled by the
innocent looking committees on
both side of the House which are
clamorously engaged in the whole
sale dissemination of red herrings
frantic in their efforts to lose
themselves in the crowd. Let the
Republicans and Democrats alike
cauterize their noisome sores. lest
each be overcome by the stencil OF
its own corruption. For. however
soiled and shabby may be the
upper crusts, the core Of this peo-
pie is yet sound and good"