Evening star. [volume], September 20, 1946, Page A-6, Image 6

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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- President Supports
Byrnes' Policies,
Ousts Wallace
j : (Continued From First Page.l
ended In agreement—announced by
| the Secretary of Commerce—that he
- would make no more speeches or
■' statements on foreign policy until
• the Paris conference is concluded.
Handicap for Byrnes.
Diplomatic sources on both sides
! of the Atlantic were quick to point
; out that Mr. Byrnes and his aides
were being placed under a severe
handioap by the prospect of having
; Mr. Wallace take the stump to ln
; veigh against their policies, with the
| tacit approval of the President.
, There were strong hints that a
• clarifying statement from the Pres
• ldent to show exactly where he stood
was regarded as absolutely neces
| aary.
It was against this background
! that the weekly news conference
' assembled at 10:50 this morniiig—20
minutes late. The President stood
at. his desk, chatting amiably with
early arrivals, and then lifting a
paper, said he had a statement on
• foreign policy to read. Some one
asked him to go slow, and he said
. he would do that, but. added that
! extra copies of the statement would
be available.
There was a gasp as he reached
the announcement that Mr. Wal
laces resignation had been demand
i ed. and as the President finished
reading, the crowd, not waiting to
ask questions, broke away with the
customary “thank you, Mr. Presi
tient," and raced for telephones.
Friendly Phone Talk.
. .The text indicated that Mr. Tru-!
l man had asked for the resignation!
“in a very friendly" telephone con
j versation earlier in the day which, j
. the President said, confirmed his'
t belief that Mr. Wallace would be j
happier presenting his views as a
• private citizen.
Shortly after 11:30. the Commerce
Department released this brief letter
from Mr. Wallace to the President : !
“Dear Harry:
“As you have requested, here is my i
, resignation. I shall continue to \
fight for peace. I am sure that you j
approve and will join me in that
great endeavor."
In his New York speech. Mr. Wal
‘ lace had been critical of the "firm''
line which Mr. Byrnes’ associates!
. — ■ - -.
White House Aide
Asks News Writers
: To 'Move to Left'
By the Associoted Pre»»
A White House aide drew a
laugh from the press today as
he marshalled scores of news
men into President Truman’s
study for the announcement
that Secretary Wallace is out
of the cabinet.
"Will you move over to the
left just a bit, gentlemen,” he
pleaded.
J say the Secretary of State had been
J following with regard to Russia. Mr.
• Wallace also called for frank recog
nition of "spheres of influence”—a'
principle which Mr. Byrnes has
bluntly opposed.
Mr. Wallace followed up this j
speech by making public on Tues-j
. day over the President’s disapproval
; a letter he had written to the Presi-,
dent in July bespeaking a closer j
relationship with Russia even if it I
1 cast this country in the role of
appeaser.
Teletype Exchange.
It was after that letter had been
made public that Mr. Wallace held
a long conference with the President1
and then announced he would make
no more speeches and statements \
until after the Paris Conference, but.
1 that he hoped to be able to swing
, into action again by the middle of
October and take part in the last
| three weeks of the congressional
campaign.
Republicans had charged that the
j President, in approving Mr. Wal
lace's right to talk, was attempting
t to avoid alienating the Commerce
i Secretary's "liberal” political fol
| lowing.
Tour Was to Start Tuesday.
The Democrats had arranged a
15-State speaking tour for Mr. Wal
; lace, which was to start in Provi
dence, R. I., Tuesday night and this
! was cancelled when he submitted to
the "gag” in Wednesday’s talk with
the President.
That Mr. Truman did not take
the Democratic National Committee
I Into his confidence in removing Mr.
* Wallace was indicated when Rep
resentative Sparkman. Democrat, of
I Alabama, chairman of the com
1 mittee's Speakers’ Bureau, told the
White House reporters that the
President’s statement was "a com
i plete surprise” to him.
1 Mr. Sparkman said, however, that
he thought under the circumstances
“it was the best thing ”
The removal of Mr. Wallace par
allels the circumstances under which
i Secretary of Interior Ickes. another
Roosevelt holdover, went out in Feb
1 ruary when he broke with the Presi
dent over the nomination of Edwin
W. Pauley to be Undersecretary of
the Navy.
Secretary of the Navy Forrestal
Is now the sole survivor of the cab
■ inet Mr. Truman inherited from
Mr Roosevelt.
* Political Career Marked by Storms.
Mr. Wallace’s public career has
■ been punctuated by one political
•torm after another
J The tousle-haired Iowan had hard
* ly settled Into the late President j
* Roosevelt's first-term cabinet before
} the country was seething with ar- j
J gument over his policies as Secretary
« of Agriculture
When the Supreme Court said!
j some of them wouldn't do, Mr. Wal
J lace said some harsh things about!
j the court. The seeds of that dis-,
’ sension grew up into the great court
J battle of 1937, climaxed when Con
; gress rejected Mr. Roosevelt’s plan
* to^revamp the court.
Scars were left on the Democratic
’ party when Mr. Wallace got the
; nomination for Vice President in
1940 amid boos and hisses in the
Chicago convention.
President Roosevelt said In effect
< that he wouldn't run for a third term
unless he could have Mr. Wallace
* for a running mate The grumbling
convention complied but some dele
i gates called it "ramming Wallace
down our throats.”
In Controversy With Jones.
Mr. ^Wallace was a principal in
• top-flight Washington row of the
war years. He and Jesse Jones,
then Secretary of Commerce and
( chairman of the Reconstruction
Finance Corp., slugged it out in a
barrage of news statements.
Mr. Wallace was head of the
Board of Economic Warfare which
bought abroad raw materials this
country needed, or wanted to be
WALLACE AND TRUMAN IN HAPPIER DAYS—President Tru
man and Henry A. Wallace, whom the Chief Executive asked to
leave his cabinet, were good friends and political colleagues
when this picture was taken as they acknowledged the plaudits
of the crowd when they appeared together at a party rally in
New York. Today, they reached the parting of the ways.
;____ —AP Photo.
' sure the enemy would not buy. Mr.
Jones’ RFC financed the purchases.
The Vice President accused Mr.
Jones of being slow with the purse
strings of “delaying the war effort."
Mr. Jones replied that it was Mr.
Wallaces own outfit, not his. which
was responsible for delays. Further
more. Mr. Jones said the BEW
was wasteful.
Mr. Jones won that round. Presi
dent Roosevelt took away Mr. Wal
lace's war job by abolishing BEW
and creating a new agency in other
hands to carry on its functions.
Nudged Into Cabinet.
There were those who said then
that Mr Wallace w»as “dead po
litically” but he proved live enough
to nudge Mr. Jones out of the
cabinet later.
That was after the 1944 Demo
cratic convention and ensuing elec
tion campaign. The convention it
self was another row swirling about1
Mr. Wallace’s head.
Through the early months of that
election year, it became apparent!
that there was bitter-end opposition
in the Democratic party to renomi
nating Mr. Wallace for Vice Presi-:
dent. And there were other partv j
elements, chiefly the CIO-PAC, just:
as determined that he should be.
President Roosevelt, sure of a
fourth-term nomination, gave the
nod for the nomination to Senator i
Truman. Nevertheless. Mr. Wal
lace's name went before the con
vention. He lacked the votes, the
Missouri Senator was nominated
and became President Truman on
his chief's death less than a year
later.,
After such a convention defeat,
many a candidate might have re- j
tired to his own tent and political
obscurity. But Mr. Wallace battled!
vigorously in the campaign for the:
Roosevelt-Truman ticket
His reward was-"appointment as
Secretary of Commerce in the
fourth-term Roosevelt cabinet. That
meant ousting Mr. Jones from the
cabinet post and President Roosevelt
did it with a letter to Mr. Jones
w'hich said frankly he wanted to give
the job to Mr. Wallace as a reward
for faithful campaigning.
Commerce and RFC Separate.
That precipitated another storm— |
this time centered at the Capitol. |
Major opposition was evidenced in
the Senate to confirming Mr. Wal
lace. The Commerce Committee
voted against approving him. The
Democratic leadership cleared the
way for him by getting through leg
islation divorcing the Commerce De
partment and the billion-dollar RFC
When Mr. Roosevelt died, there
was widespread speculation that Mr.
Wallace might soon be out of the
cabinet. But President Truman put -
out the word that he wanted him to
stay on.
For Mr. Wallace, events were quiet
until the storm over foreign policy
broke.
Some of Mr. Wallace's critics have1
said he walks with his head in the*
clouds.
Certainly, he has walked his own !
way with little regard for the fences
of party regularity.
Republican Background.
All his background pointed him to
the Republican party. His father
was Secretary of Agriculture in the
cabinets of two Republican Presi
dents. Harding and Coolidge.
Mr Wallace was a registered Re
publican as late as 1936. Years be
fore, however, he had demonstrated
his disregard for party regularity. 1
As editor of Wallace's Farmer, a
farm journal founded by his grand
father, he frequently criticized the
policies of his father and the Re-1
publican administration.
It was his work as an agricul-1
tural journalist which drew Mr
Roosevelt's attention to Mr. Wal
lace and led to his appointment
as Secretary of Agriculture in 1933
From Mr. Wallace's ideas stemmed
the agricultural adjustment act and
what critics frequently recalled as
the ' kill the little pigs” policy. It
was charged, too, that the law made
Mr. Wallace a "czar” over agricul
tural production.
Mr. Wallace s contention was that
MA. I
voffl ? *ggSs
'SS^S’5"
— . _ ■
j overproduction must be halted if
ruinously low prices were to be pre
vented.
Supreme Court Killed Law.
In a momentous decision, the Su
preme Coutt held the law uncon
stitutional. Mr. Wallace called the
decision the “greatest legalized steal”
in history. Demands were made in
Congress for his impeachment, but
nothing happened. A new law,
meeting the court's objections, was
enacted.
Despite his long tenure in top
Washington posts, Mr. Wallace has
never developed many really inti
mate friends in Congress, as does
j the average high official.
Mr. Wallace presided over the
! Senate for four years as Vice Presi
dent. yet many Senators say frankly
off the record that they can't un
j derstand him. His actions and re
! actions just do not fit into anything
else in their experience.
Even his personal life has added
j to that impression they have of
! him. In one period, for instance,
he devoted his spare time to prac
j ticing throwing an Australian
| boomerang.
He neither smokes nor drinks and
| is virtually a vegetarian.
He speaks Spanish and a smat
tering of Chinese and Russian, but
he never has learned to speak the
regular politician's language.
Meeting Sponsorship Withdrawn.
Before today's development in the
Wallace affair, Mrs. Elizabeth Brite,
secretary to the Washington office
of the American Association lor the
United Nations, had sfcht~ her or*,
ganization had withdrawn sponsor
ship of a meeting here Monday night
which Mr. Wallace had planned to
address on the subject of "World
Trade and Peace.”
Mrs. Brite explained that the'-or
ganization had decided not to spon
sor the meeting jointly with the
East and West Association because
of Mr. Wallace’s decision not to
talk and because four foreign am
bassadors who had been invited to
the meeting had announced they
would be unable to attend. The
ambassadors represented Great I
Britain, France, China and Russia |
* and Mrs. Brite made it clear they*
had refused the invitation prior to
Mr. Wallace's announcement that
he would be unable to speak.
Department of Commerce officials
said they understood the East and
West Association will go ahead with
the meeting, which will be ad
dressed by Arthur Paul, director of
the Office of International Trade.;
The department is taking no active ■
part in the meeting
Whether Mr. Wallace now will
speak at that meeting could not be
learned immediately.
Comment
fContinued From First Page.)
Byrnes’ position in the Parte Peace
Conference.
Representative Sparkman of Ala
bama, head of the Democratic Na
tional Committee's Speakers Bureau
and a caller on President Truman
after the Wallace announcement:
"It came to me as a complete sur
prise. I think under the circum
! stances there was no other altema
i tive.
“I think we must have a very defl
|nite and clear foreign policy state
ment in this country and I think
this is carrying that out.”
Murray Refuses to Comment.
Gov. Chauncey Sparks of Ala
bama, who accompanied Mr. Spark
man to the White House, told re
porters he replied: "Congratula
tions, Mr. President.” when advised
by Mr. Truman of the Wallace ac
tion.
CIO President Philip Murray, who
supported Mr. Wallace for the vice
presidential nomination at the 1944
1
Henry A. Wallace makes a crossed-flnger gesture while
posing for photographers at the department today.
—Star Staff Photo.
Democratic National Convention,
refused any Immediate comment
and told Washington newsmen he
was “not sure" if he would com
ment later.
Senator Hart. Republican, of Con
necticut, termed the President's
move “a very good start'' and added:
“The President might well look
around in other quarters where he
has power and go a little further.”
Need for Teamwork.
Representative Sasscer, Democrat,
of Maryland: "On any team, you
have to have teamwork. You can’t
have the quarterback calling one set
of signals and one of the linemen
another set.”
Senator Brewster, Republican, of
Maine—“The American people will
now realize that only a Republican
administration can offer any hope
of responsible party government.
The defection of the leftwing leaves
the administration grounded. The
bipartisan support of the Byrnes
program is altogether good."
Representative West, Democrat,
of Texas—“I think this should have
happened a long time ago for the
sake of harmony and the best in
terest of the Government.”
Representative Gossett. Democrat,
of Texas—“I think the President is
to be commended for his prompt and
forthright action. He hardly could
have done otherwise.”
Representative Kilday, Democrat,
of Texas—"The President was cor
rect in removing Secretary Wallace
from the cabinet. Secretary Byrnes
has the confidence of the people and
cannot be further embarrassed by i
Mr. Wallace in catering to Russia. "!
NAM Head Sees Respite.
In St. Louis Robert R. Wason
of New York, president of the Na
tional Association of Manufacturers,!
said in a statement “the passing of
Wallace as Secretary of Commerce
Will give industry a breath of fresh
air—at least until his successor is
appointed.
“Will President Truman appoint
a Secretary of Commerce who will
represent Industry or the CIO?”
, Inferring to Mr. Wallace's New
York speech of last week, Mr. Wason
said the Secretary of Commerce
“was sent to New York to make
an appeal for the communistic vote,
for the votes in the ‘lunatic fringe’
and for the votes of the CIO.”
8enator Reed, Republican, of
Kansas, said he ‘‘fully approved”
President Truman's request for the
resignation.
Senator Capper Surprised at Delay.
Senator Capper, Republican, of
Kansas, commented:
“I am surprised that Truman kept
Wallace as long as he did. The
Government will be better without
Wallace than with him.”
Senator Knowland, Republican, of
California: “I think the resignation
will help restore American prestige
and once again get the Government
united behind the policies enunci
ated by Secretary Byrnes."
In Charleston, W. Va., Senator
Revercomb, Republican, of West
Virginia, said: “Either the President
or Wallace had to resign. The Presi
dent had nothing left to do after
this issue was smoked out into the
public view. This does not end the
fact that there is in the Govern
ment and in the country a group
driving hard to establish the prin
ciples of Russianism in this coun
try.”
Politics
''Continued From First Page t
a half ago along with Mr. Wallace
At that time he was retired from
a position of sales manager of the
Ralston-Purina Co.. St. Louis.
Commerce Department aides said,
with a grin, that Mr. Schindler is
now on the West Coast making sev
eral speeches.
Mr. Catton said he was in Mr.
Wallace’s office this morning going
over a stack of letters with the
Secretary when he first found out
that the President had requested
the resignation.
He said his first Intimation that
the Secretary was resigning came
ictiotihf
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when Mrs. Mildred Eaton, Mr. Wal
lace’s secretary, entered the private
office and said:
‘‘It's on the (news> ticker.”
‘‘I never got the slightest inkling
of it,” Mr. Catton said when asked
if Mr. Wallace had told him about
the resignation.
At that time, the information di
rector said, Mr. Wallace already had
discussed the resignation by tele
phone with Mr. Truman.
Mr. Catton said the Secretary
told him that the matter of his re
signing from the cabinet did not
come up during Mr. Wallace’s
lengthy talk with the President on
Wednesday.
"However, I don't suppose any one
was really surprised,” Mr. Catton
continued, "although nothing of the
sort was indicated apparently in the
Wednesday conversation with the
President”
S. Ervin Diehl Dies;
Truck Manufacturer
By the Atiociated Press
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 20.—S.
Ervin Diehl, 91. manufacturer of
Diehl motor trucks from 1920 to
1940, died yesterday.
He was associated with Jay
Cooke <fc Co., bankers, in the 1870s
and later founded a beverage bottle
and supply company before enter
ing the truck manufacturing busi
ness from which he retired six years
ago.
Wallace Crisis
Timetable of His Last
9 Days in Cabinet
ly tho Associated Press
Nine days that shook Secretary of
Commerce Wallace out of the
cabinet:
September 12—Mr. Wallace de
livers controversial speech in New
York following expression of ap
proval from President Truman.
September 13—Aides of Secretary
of State Byrnes in Paris and Wash
ington voice concern.
September 14—Mr. Truman an
nounces he approved Mr. Wallace's
right to speak, but did not approve
it as a statement of policy.
September 15—Mr. Truman goes
to church; Mr. Wallace rests on
farm.
September 16—Mr. Wallace an
nounces he stands on his speech and
will speak again.
September 17—Letter from Mr.
Wallace to Mr. Truman of July 23
is released, bringing Wallace views
into fresh controversy.
September 18—Mr. Wallace agrees
after session with President to keep
silent until Paris Peace Conference
ends; says he stays in cabinet.
September 19—Mr. Truman holds;
teletype "conversation'’ with Mr.!
Byrnes in Paris; American delega
tion at Paris indicates concern
undiminished.
September 20—President fires Mr
Wallace, pledges full support of
Mr. Byrnes.
OPA Issues New Ruling
On Evictions by Veterans
By th« Associated Press
OPA ruled today that veterans
who buy houses for their own use
must wait four months before evict
ing present tenants in cities where
non-veteran owners must wait six
months.
In the few areas where the waiting
period for non-veteran owners is
three months, veterans must wait
two months, OPA directed.
Formerly OPA s area rent direc
tors could waive part or all of the
waiting period for a veteran owner
under special circumstances.
Funeral Rites Scheduled
For Irving E. Courtney
Funeral services for Irving E
Courtney. 68, of 924 Sixth street
S.W., who died Wednesday at his
home after a long illness, were to be
held at 2 pm. today at Chambers'
funeral home. 517 Eleventh street
S.E. Burial will be in Washington
National Cemetery.
A native of Washington, Mr
Courtney attended schools here and
was a retired painter and former
employe of the Navy Yard.
Surviving are a daughter. Mrs
Catherine Day; three sons, Raymond
L.. Frederick J„ and Paul L. Court
ney; a brother, Fred Courtney; and
two grandchildren, all of Washing
ton
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Surplus Probe Counsel
Charges Impropriety
In Electronics Sales
Hugh D. Wise, jr., general
counsel to the House Surplus
Property Committee, charged
"improprieties” in the disposal of
Government electronics equip
ment as he announced plans to
day for at least 10 days of hear
ings, starting at 10 a m. Monday
in the old House Office Building
Asked if the preliminary investi
gation indicated any fraud, Mr. Wise
told a news conference:
"That's a hard question to answer
I think it's safe to say there have
been improprieties or irregularities."
In response to a further question.1
he said the matter affected em
ployes of the War Assets Adminis
tration.
Classifies Complaints.
Estimating that WAA has for dis
posal electronic equipment costing
about *3,000,000, Mr. Wise said the
complaints the committee will in
vestigate fall Into three categories:
1. That, on an over-all basis, the
equipment has not moved fast
enough.
2. That there has been a bottle
neck in getting it into the hands
of those entitled to priority under
the law.
3. That methods used have not
been economical from the Govern
ment's standpoint.
“The investigation has shown a
great deal of inefficiency in the dis
posal, and that the property has not
been getting into the hands of the
people Congress intended it should
reach,” Mr. Wise continued.
Unit to Give Specific Cases.
The investigator explained the
committee will start developing a
general picture of the problem Mon
day, after which it will present spe
cific cases which the committee be
lieves will illustrate the general
problems.
The first group of witnesses Mon
day will include Prank R. Creedon,
a deputy administrator of WAA in
charge of general disposal: Brig.
Gen J. A. Mollison, deputy admin
istrator tn charge of aircraft and.
more recently, of electronics, and
Gustav Schwarz, also an official of
WAA.
Counsel explained that the prior
ity buyers under the law* or Federal
agencies, war veterans, educational
institutions. State and local gov
ernments and small business. The
electronics field covers radio and
radar equipment as well as all types
of communications supplies.
After the WAA officials have pre
sented the general picture, Mr. Wise
said the committee would call man
ufacturers' agents, who have been
disposing of the equipment under
contract for WAA: officials of the
Army and Navy and the general
public.
Two GIs Sentenced to Hang
For Reich Criminal Attacks
By tha Associated Press
FRANKFURT. Germany, Sept. 30
—Two American Air Force soldiers
have been sentenced to be hanged
and three others to life imprison
ment on conviction of criminally at
tacking two German women, head
quarters of United States Air Forces
in Europe announced today.
It listed those sentenced to die as
Corpl. As bury L. Wells, Walaware
Shoals, S. C.. and Pfc. Gonzalo
Salinas, Lincoln. N. Mex.
Sentenced to life imprisonment at
hard labor and dishonorable dis
charge from the Army were Pfc.
Willis L. Daigle. Beaumont, Tex.;
Pfc. Edward B. Hayes, Oak Forest,
111., and Pfc. Clem R. McKenzie,
Minneapolis.
The sentences, handed down Sep
tember 13 by courts-martial, will be
reviewed by the commanding gen
eral of the 9th Air Force Service
Command and must then be con
firmed by the War Department in
Washington before they can be
executed.
Nursery School to Open
The Co-operative Nursery School
at Buckingham. Arlington, will open
October 1 for children from 3
to 6 years old, it was announced
today, Mrs. Gertrude Schure and
Mrs. Louise Patterson are in charge.
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