Evening star. [volume], May 29, 1950, Page A-7, Image 7

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

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
Economic Advisers
Have Lost Prestige
Because of Politics
Any Future Reports
By Truman Council
Will Be Discredited
By David Lawrence
After a brief period of existence
the so-called Council of Economic
Advisers is doomed to extinction.
It may continue to exist in name,
but its prestige will be gone.
It was killed by the Administra
tion and by overzealous members
of the council itself who somehow
became confused as to the mean
ing of the words “economic ad
vice” and began to regard the
main function of the council as
the giving of “political advice.”
The agency will continue to get
funds, but its usefulness has about
terminated. Its report will be sus
pect in the future—as merely
ghost written for a political ad
ministration.
The council started out to be a
disinterested agency. It collected
important information and gave a
scientific evaluation of the data.
But this was too much for the
^ministration. It didn’t want any
economic information that might
possibly cast doubt on the political
proposals or objectives of the party
in power.
Necessity Pointed Out.
It was Dr. Edwin G. Nourse
who, during his term as chairman,
pointed out the necessity of avoid
ing political entanglements. He
Insisted that the members of the
council should not go before Con
gressional committees to advocate
“causes.” Unquestionably Congress
has a right to elicit information
and to ask for interpretation of
economic conditions, but the
council members who differed with
Dr. Nourse took the view that open
advocacy of economic “causes”
was Justified.
Dr. Nourse resigned and Presi
dent Truman has made Leon
Keyserling chairman of the coun
cil. He is an able, keen-minded
student of public policies, but he
is not considered an objective
economist. He recently spoke at
the meeting in Chicago which the
Democratic National Committee
sponsored. He was known as a
New Dealer and now as a Fair
Dealer. While individual views and
political beliefs naturally can vary
among council members, it is al
ways difficult to have faith in
economic treatises put out by poli
ticians or politcally active officials.
Congress has before it, to fill
the Nourse vacancy, the nomina
tion of Dr. Roy Blough, another
New Dealer, who has been at
tached to the Economics Depart
ment of the University of Chicago
and who previously worked for
the Treasury Department in its
contacts with the Senate and
House on tax legislation.
Ives Expressed Doubt.
In his testimony before a Sen
ate committee which is consider
ing whether or not to confirm
him, Dr. Blough said he does not
favor "clothing political objectives
in the garments of finances.” Sen
ator Ives at the time expressed
doubt as to whether or not he
would vote for Dr. Blough’s con
firmation. Senatdr Taft has said
that the appointment of Dr.
. Blough gives Mr. Truman “three
left fielders” on the council, and
Senator Flanders thinks appoint
ment of Dr. Blough "raises the
average.”
It doesn’t make much difference
whether or not Dr. Blough is con
firmed. If he is not confirmed,
some other “left wing” economist
would surely be appointed. Presi
dent Truman and his supporters
may wonder why morale in the
country is low and why the people
are so suspicious of the Adminis
tration. There were already two
"left wingers” on the council, but
the President was not willing to
appoint anyone with an opposite
viewpoint. That’s why its future
reports will be discredited and the
agency will cease to exercise any
influence with thoughtful people
who had heretofore cherished the
hope that in these confused times
at least one commission in the
Government dealing with eco
nomic problems would remain free
from political bias.
(Reproduction rights reserved.)
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PURCHASE PLAN
This Changing World
Lie to Give Truman and Acheson
His Plan for Ending U. N. Impasse
By Constantine Brown
United Nations Secretary Gen
eral Trygve Lie is expected in
Washington this week. He has
asked fo» appointments with
President Tru-_
man and Sec
retary of State
Acheson, to
whom he will
present his
plan, devised in
Moscow, to end
the present
deadlock in the
U. N.
According to
those who have
talked with Mr.
Lie, he has no
suggestion on ' ,
how to end the Br.w».
cold war. His main concern is to
seat the Chinese Communists in
the world peaee organization and
thus persuade the Soviet Union
and its satellites not to engage
in so many walkouts from the
Security Council and the General
Assembly.
The U. N. secretary believes
that the Chinese question can be
solved in the next two months.
This belief is based on informa
tion, which he is reported to have
received in Moscow, that by the
end of July the Chinese Com
munists will be in full physical
control of Formosa and that
Chiang Kai-shek, and what re
mains of his armies an# govern
ment, either will be exiled to
foreign countries, killed or taken
prisoner.
As soon as this last refuge of
the Nationalists has fallen there
should be no legitimate objection
on the part of any nation, Mr.
Lie thinks, to acceptance of the
new conquerors in the world peace
organization, particularly since
Egypt, one of the Council mem
bers, now is willing to vote for
seating the Peiping regime.
The only difficulity would be
an American veto. And Mr. Lie
will employ all his eloquence and
persuasive powers to show Presi
dent Truman and Mr. Acheson
that such an action would con
firm Russia’s charge that America
truh- is a warmongering country.
"Silver Bullets” Were Used.
Under the pressure of develop
ments in Indo-China and of in
sistence by a number of Senators,
who do not want to see Formosa
go by default, the Secretary of
State is reported to be willing to
recommend the sending of a
limited quantity of military aid
to the last Nationalist bastion.
On Formosa there are some
450,000 good, reliable combat
troops, against whom the “silver
bullets” of the Chinese Commu
nists cannot have serious effect.
These “silver bullets” played an
important role in the conquest
of Hainan last month, when top
Nationalist military leaders ac
cepted heavy bribes, according to
reports from Taipei, and surrend
ered after putting up a per
functory fight.
The Nationalist forces in For
mosa cannot be expected, however,
to offer long resistance to Com
munist invasion when their air
force is depleted and they are
short of ammunition. In amphib
ious operations the air urhbrella is
of vital importance. The great
success of our invasion of Nor
mandy in 1944 was due principally
to the fact that we possessed a
powerful air force while the Ger
man Luftwaffe was declining in
strength.
A similar condition on a smaller
scale is expected to exist in For
mosa. The Nationalist air force,
lacking replacements, spare parts
and high octane gas, will not be
able to resist the Soviet planes,
including jet fighters, unless it is
reinforced by this country.
Skepticism in Evidence.
In spite of reports, however, that
the State Department may no
longer oppose the strengthening of
the Nationalists in their island
fortress, there is a good deal of
skepticism in Congressional and
military quarters as to the extent
of such assistance. It is feared
that “too little and too late” once
more will be the theme, even if
the Secretary of State does show
an interest in keeping Formosa out
of “enemy” hands.
All reports from our military
observers in the Far East agree
that the Chinese Communist
forces, considerably strengthened
by the arrival of Soviet air and
naval equipment and of Russian
military experts, are putting the
finishing touches on their inva
sion plans.
The main attack can be ex
pected in the next two or three
weeks. And once the rump Na
tionalist government has ceased
to exist, Mr Lie is convinced that
there can be no further reason for
opposition to seating Stalin’s new
est puppet in the U. N„ not as a
new member, but as a substitute
for a government which no longer
exists.
Chip on the Shoulder
Chilly Reaction to Lie’s Peace Mission
Out bf Keeping With U. S. Tradition
By Lhomas L. Stokes
The timid, stand-offish, chip
on-the-shoulder attitude of our
Government in what approaches
an International crisis is drama
tize d in our
chilly official
reaction to the
current peace
mission of
Trygve Lie,
United Nations
General Secre
tary,
Mr. Lie has
talked with
Russian offi
cials in his at
tempt to bring
about some ar
rangement
whereby Russia Thom” L stok«
will return to full partnership in
the U. N. so that agency can fulfill
its function of settling disputed
matters about the conference
table as it was intended to do.
He recognizes it will take time
and patience. There is no quick
answer to the problems involved,
including Russia's insistence on
the seating of Communist China
in place of Nationalist China in
the Security Council. But his idea
is to get the major nations, in
cluding United States and Russia,
to talking again, negotiating again,
in order to break the stalemate
that has produced the tense and
dread psychology of "cold war.”
Europe Open-Minded.
The U. N.’s self-appointed emis
sary was well received after his
Moscow visit by French and Brit
ish officials who apparently see
some possible bases of eventual
adjustment. He returned to New
York optimistic.
The open-minded attitude he
found in Europe is a contrast, to
the negative, distrustful reaction
at our State Department which
was exemplified further by Presi
dent Truman’s refusal to discuss
the Lie mission until he talks to
Secretary of State Acheson on his
return here and his brusque reply
at his press conference that he did
not know whether he would see
Mr. Lie or not.
Undoubtedly he will in the near
future. But the “brush-off” atti
tude is somehow hot in keeping
with our role and influence in
the troubled world of today nor
with our traditions as a great free
democracy.
Nor do the attempts to discredit
Mr. Lie by the whispers that he is
"pro-Russian.”
It is sadly true that this new
peace adventufe comes in the
'midst of an emotional upheaval
in this country, with the very at
mosphere suffused with suspicions
and fears generated by such things
as Senator Joe McCarthy’s reck
less attacks on the State Depart
ment, by the revelations of more
atomic spies, by Russia’s continued
tactics of confusion abroad and
here, by her childish and churlish
walk-outs in the U. N.
Will Settle Nothing.
But it is also true that, with
continued “cold war,” such things
will only continue and multiply
until the tension suddenly snaps
on one side or the other, and then
we will be right up against a "hot
war.” Arming more and more
heavily on each side will settle
nothing and it is not likely, more
over, to scare either one of the
two giants as each presumably
hopes.
Each has got to “give” or there
will be such an explosion as the
world never saw before.
We have had two in this cen
tury since 1914. The world could
hardly stand another.
A hundred and fifty years ago
there was an explosion that rocked
all Europe comparable—for those
times and the world of that day—
to those in our time, the era of
revolution and the Napoleonic
dictatorships and conquests. After
that, the diplomats of that era sat
down in the Congress of Vienna
in 1815 and determined that it
should not happen again and made
adjustments that prevented an
other such general European ca
tastrophe for a hundred years.
Nor did they have any general
organization, only the will to keep
the peace and brains ready to ac
complish that purpose. We do
have machinery in the T7. N. It
will be tragic if we do not use it.
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LOUIE
•By Harry Hananl
A Blow to Labor
Barden’s Accession to Chairmanship
Of Committee Is Setback for Unions
By Doris Fleeson
Representative Barden’s acces
sion to the chairmanship of the
House Committee on Education
and Labor is a severe blow to
unions which
have marked
him “wrong” on
most labor
issues.
The injury
extends beyond
the mere fact
of his individ
ual vote. A
committee
chairman has
great power to
promote or to
thwart bills and
_ • .. Representative
Don* Fleeion. - , , ,
Barden, an able
and aggressive legislator, will be
a strong chairman.
Nor is relief in sight. The Con
gressman is only 53. His North
Carolina district is a safe one and
he has probably strengthened
himself in it by successfully dis
puting with Cardinal Spellman on
the issue of appropriating Federal
funds for parochial school buses.
What labor will do is (1) press
for a firm friend’s appointment to
the existing vacancy on the Bar
den committee and (2) redouble
its efforts to defeat its committee
foes this fall. In this it will have
the co-operation of the Demo
cratic National Committee.
One of the major achievements
of President Truman’s hand
picked national chairman, the
very practical William M. Boyle,
jr„ is the cementing of Adminis
tration relations with its labor
allies. In the early Truman days
these were very much a personal
matter between the President and
labor’s prima donnas. The result
was some notorious public con
flicts and much private distrust.
Has Cleared Channels.
Mr. Boyle, who thinks in terms
of organization, has cleared the
channels between headquarters
and the political action arms of
the three major labor groups. He
regularly sees Jack Kroll of CIO
PAC, Joe Keenan of the AFL
Labor League and George Harri
son of the Brotherhoods, or their
lieutenants. Their views on people
and issues are then transmitted
by him to the White House in his
regular weekly meeting with the
President.
The result is that matters are
well ironed out in advance of Mr.
Truman’s contacts with CIO
President Philip Murray and
others.
Labor has found Mr. Boyle co
operative in other ways. For ex
ample he spent two days in Ohio
last spring helping labor leaders
pressure various Democrats to
withdraw from the Senate pri
mary so a strong farm leader
could oppose Senator Taft. This
venture faded, but Mr. Boyle,
having done his part, is now get
ting maximum labor support for
the Democratic nominee, Joseph
Ferguson.
In the legislative Held labor
looks upon Mr. Boyle as a good
listener. Labor advocated the con
sumer point of view in opposition
to the Kerr bill to exempt natural
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gas producers from Federal regu
lation. Mr. Boyle was then found
working against it and the Presi- |
dent vetoed it. It is probable that i
labor’s support for the Brannan!
farm plan, which promises lower
consumer prices, helps keep it on
the Truman agenda.
Two Arguments Seen.
Not all Democrats, of course,!
look upon these close connections
as an unmitigated blessing. But
the chairman sees two powerful
arguments in their favor.
The unions have got the or
ganization that can get out the
big vote on which Democratic
success hinges. They have also
got the treasure chests which re
lieve the party of the whole bur
den of financing campaigns.
The question is being asked
here whether Walter Reuther
with his unprecedented five-year
contract for his United Auto
Workers will become increasingly
important in national politics.
The UAW president’s contacts
with the Administration are
friendly enough, but distant;
Reuther has put much more of
himself into the quasi-indepen
dent Americans for Democratic
Action. Democrats are informed
that Reuther thinks more of a
real labor party and /or Reuther
for President than he does of
cementing his ties with the Fair
Deal. But there is a light in the
White House window for him any
time.
(Rtl«n?d by Bell grndlctt*. Inc.) I
McLemore—
Regrets Missing
Thrill of Hobby
By Henry McLemore
As I approach the twilight of
life I know that I have missed
something.
Thank goodness!
To let you in
on what I
missed. I will
tell you that I
missed having
a hobby.
To be a well
rounded man
in the world of
today, you
must have a
hobby. Men
hurry from
work to get to
their hobbies.
Women speak
a f f e ctionately H'Br* MrL,“*r*
of their husbands’ hobbies. Books
are written about hobbies and how
to get one. It's hard to pick up a
magazine that doesn’t have a page
or two devoted to hobbies. If you
want to build a house, you’ll have
to wrestle with the architect to
keep him from planning a little
corner of your own for your hobby.
As I said earlier, I know I’ve
missed something. I can't talk on
equal terms with a man who runs
from his brokerage office to his
little machine shop, where he
turns out things that can be
bought at any hardware store for
half of what it cost him to make.
I’m equally ill at ease with a
man who turns his dining room
into a dark room for the develop
ment of pictures he takes. It would
be my guess that women who are
married to men who use space for
such a purpose are often tempted
to kill such husbands. After all,
the average American home, de
spite our high standard of living,
is quite small, and none of it
should be turned over to gratify
a man’s odd whim.
Hobby of Wondering.
To get in the general swim,
which is another way of saying
“keeping up with the Cabots and
the Lodges,” I guess I’ll have to
take up a hobby. I think it was
Robert Benchley who said that he
didn't have a hobby, but if he had*
one it would be collecting $10 bills.
I don’t aim quite that high. I
think I’ll make a hobby of won
dering why the people of the
United States worry about spend
ing 50 cents of every dollar for
defense. It seems to me that the
people of the United States have
no realization of what it would be
to be citizens of a conquered
country.
I was in Washington yesterday
and as I drove from the airport
I looked at signs that said, “To
Lincoln Memorial,” “To the Wash
ington Monument,” and as I
loqked at those signs I tried to*
picture what it would mean If a
man from another country stood
there telling Americans where to
go. No White House. No Lincoln
Memorial. No saying what you
feel. No right to do anything that
came from your heart. Nothing
to be done unless it be stamped
and approved.
Nothing Has Hurt Us.
I thought then how foolish we
Americans are. I understand why
we are foolish, too. Nothing has
ever really hurt us. No American
has had to walk back to his house
that wasn’t there. No American
husband has ever had to wonder
| if his wife was being kicked in the
face. None of us has ever suffered
the real horrors of war. -We've
sent armies and they have won.
Those who lost loved ones suf
fered. But let me repeat once
more that everything this country
has ever done has come from a
sense of duty and not a sense of
desperation.
And just as sure as I'm writing
this little article there* a time
coming when America will have
to face it, unless it does one thing
—looks not at the past, not at the
future, but at the one thing that
is with us right now. the present.
This country must do one thing,
whether it wants to or not, and
that one thing is to put on its back
the problems of a decent world.
If this country doesn't do that, it
will find itself in the place where
release cant be bought with
money.
So. you see my new hobby. Our
country is the only one that can
buy freedom. What a lovely way
to spend a dollar!
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