Evening star., 1955-01-16
Budqetc chief HuqhesIsReuI'Workh
BY Don Whitehead
Assoriotsd Press stasf Writer

by Don Whifeheoo
Assoeietsd Press stsff Writer
In the last weeks Of 1854. 3,
huge man wearing black patch
over his right eye frequently
strobe into President Eisenhow-
er's ONCE for conferences Affect
ing the future welfare Of every
man, woman and child in
America. This same man turned
up at Cabinet meetings, and at
other gatherings Of the admin
istration inner circle.
But despite his 250-pound bulk.
the unusual eye patch. and the
Importance Of his place in the
management Of government. the
big fellow succeeded In hiding
himself in anonymity. Little was
written about him and he re-
manned tand still Isl one Of the
least known men on the Eisen-
hover team"
Buffer In Money Matters.
he IS Rowland Hughes. S.
year-old director Of the budget
It has been his task to put to-
gether the budget Mr.. Efsen-
hover will send to Congress to-
morrow.
Mr.. Hughes is buffer be-
tween the President and Con-
gress in money matters. He po-
Ices the spending and manage
ment practices Of all the Govern
ment departments. bureaus and
agencies.
Mr.. Hughes probably knows
more about the budget than any
other man. because he spends
almost every waking hour with
It. He's often in his ofice by
8 am. and almost always takes
work home when he leaves
around Z pm.
Before the budget was pat into
final form. Mr.. Hughes had spent
days conferring with the Presi-I
dent and with each Of the de-
partment and bureau heads. In
every case but one. agreement
was reached without taking the
differences to Mr.. Eisenhower
for a final decision.
Mr.. Hughes influence in the
administration doesn't stem pri-
nnarily' from the fact that he's
the budget director. The reason
for his stature Is that Mr.. Eisen-
hover has put heavy emphasis
on budget controls. Old timers
In the bureau say the effort at
control Is greater than it was in
the Roosevelt and Truman ad-
ministrations.
Keeps In BACKGROUND.
Mr.. Hughes philosophy Of
government and his influence
with the President are bound to
have a strong imprint on the
new budget, and yet he has kept
himself so far In the background
and so removed from contacts
with the press that few people
In Washington know him except
by name.
There is little doubt about
one thing that is Mr.. Hughes
belief the Government should
undertake for the citizens only
those things which the people
can't do for themselves, a.
philosophy which he identifies
with the Eisenhower admins
tration.
Mr.. Hughes believes private
industry should be encouraged
to take over a good many Of the
activities now in the hands OF
the Government. His thinking
along this line was well illus
trated in the controversial Dix
on Yates power contract, which
he encouraged and advocated.
Mr.. Hughes appearance on
the Washington scene isn't so
recent as most people have
thought-nor is he newcomer
at trying to cut Government
spending and to shift the direc-
ton of Government toward less
competition with private indus
try.
Shortly after the end Of World
War II, q group OF New York
bankers and executives began
meeting informally To discuss
ways and means Of curbing in
fiation and bringing about q
change in the relationship be-
tween government and business,
Firms Paid Expenses.
One member of the group said
In an interview: I'VE arranged
for q task force Of 40 men--ex-
perts in taxes. accounting. econ-
onics and business-to come to
Washington to work on the PROB
lem. There was no expense to
the Government. The expenses
of these men were paid by their
firms. And Mr.. Hughes was one
Of the group"
Previously. Mr.. Hughes had
earned a reputation in the bank
ing world as q tax expert at