Evening star., 1953-11-29
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Continued From First Page.)
in blocking the bill by raising
fears in the President of a fight
that might have serious political
repercussionS." Mr.. IckeS added:
"I do not know whether the
President really believes that the
result would be serious or wheth-
er he is just rationalizing. do
know that once again he has
broken faith with me. He did it
with respect to soil erosion; he
has done it on other occasions,
and now he has done it in a
manner that affects me very
deeply
Il can only regret that nv
resignation was not accepted last
week" (Mr. Ickes had tried to
resign over the asserted scuttling
of his public works program, but
had been talked out of it by the
President). II would like to be
IN a position to let off a little
steam at the expense of the
Department of Agriculture, and
l would not be averSe to telling
how I have been double-crossed
at the White House. DEMPSEY
Representative Dempsey, Demo-
crat. OF New Mexico) talked quite
frankly to me. He said that the
1eeIlng is growing among mem
bers of Congress that the Presi-
dent cannot be relied upon after
he has given his word"
Mr.. Dempsey recalled that
after Senator Huey Long of
Louisiana on the floor of the Sen
ate had practically accused the
PRESIDENT of being a liar" and
an unnamed Representative said
Senator Long ought to be i'm
peached, Mr.. Dempsey "cau-
uoned him that an impeach-
ment meant a trial and that at
9 trial it might not be possible
to prove the case against Long"
Mr.. IckeS went on:
IL is pretty tough when things
like this can be said about the
President of the United States
and when members of his own
official family and of his own
party in Congress feel that his
word cannot be relied upon. It
hurts me to set down such a fact.
put 1t is a fact, as I have had
occasion to know more than
once. For a long time I refused
to admit even to myself that it
was fact, but there is no use
fooling myself any longer"
Feud With Hopkins.
The diary shows that in the
early years Of the New Deal.
Secretary Ickes carried on a
running feud with Harry L. Hop
kinS, then head of the Works
Progress Administration, later to
direct lend-leaSe, to be Sec
retary Of Commerce, confidential
White House adviser and the
man closest to the President.
The trouble was over the respec-
tive allocationS of funds for the
Works Progress Administration
and Mr.. Ickes' Public Works Ad-
ministration. Mr.. Ickes charged
Mr.. Hopkins with undermining
PWA at every turn. Mr.. Ickes'
opinion of the White House ia
vorite did not improve as time
went on.
In the summer of 1885, Mr..
1ckes remarked.that Mr.. Hopkins
apparently wants no rules that
will prevent him from grabbing
everything in sight" In an en-
try about month later Mr..
Ickes added:
MY own feeling is that Hop
kins is playing the game of a
desperate gambler. I really feel
that he knows in his heart that
he can't put over his program
(WPA) and he is becoming more
and more reckless and desperate.
If I am right in this surmise,
great trouble is ahead of the ad-
miniStration, and the President
cannot escape involvement.
Hopkins is intolerant and i'm
petuous. I never knew any one
more sure of his own judgment.
In effect, he said today that we
must take at their face value all
projects brought in by his organ
iZation."
In another entry Mr.. Ickes
wrote Of Mr.. Hopkins: 1--WE vote
him money by the carload and
he spends it at his own sweet
pleasure. It is apparent now that
instead of allocating for specific
projects from here he will give
lump sums of money to his local
administrators to spend as they
see fit. I can see all sorts of
scandals ahead"
MOrgenthau Accused.
Mr.. Ickes accused Henry Nor
genthau, jr., Secretary of the
Treasury, of joining with Mr..
Hopkins in trying to scuttle
PWA. which. according to the
diarist, was held in high esteem
on Capitol Hill because of the
care with which it was admin
iStered.
He didn't mind working like
a dray horse day and night, Mr.
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