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Show WALL STREET VIEWS By Jama. McMuKiif," Financial Obsrvr NEW YORK New Yorkers who know Frank Murphy will ssy that tha new attorney gen-rml gen-rml is one of tha moat unusual character In publie lift. Tha red-haired Irlih ax-governor, who la only In hla middle forties, la a devout Catholic, an ajcetlc, an Ideallet whoee burnlnf concern for the problems of the underprivileged under-privileged la deep and genuine. In hla youth, Mr. Murphy atudied at Trinity college, Dublin, and Ineldera aay that he once serl-ouely serl-ouely coneldered entering tha prteethood. Hla deaire to correct cor-rect social and economic lnjuaticea la almost religioua in ita fervor. After a brief career as an as-aiitant as-aiitant U. ft. attorney, he became Judge of the recorder! court In Detroit at the age of 30. Aa mayor of Detroit, from 193C-S3, he did a great deal lo focue national na-tional attention on the urgency of the relief problem. In 1033 Preiident Rooaevelt aent him to the Philippine! aa governor general and he remained there aa the first U. S. high corn, mieaioner under the Philippine independence in-dependence law. He handled aoma extremely delicate aituationa during dur-ing hia atay In Manila with tact, discretion and skill. will get much out of It axrept newspaper apace, but admit that ha has real talent aa an organiser and a flair for forceful'aetion that might lead to surprising results. . Harry la expected te team ap nicely with Assistant Secretary of War Louis Johnson In promoting promot-ing Industrial mobilisation. Ha Isn't likely to get .along aa well with Henry Wallace. Ha evidently evident-ly takea hia ewa presidential aspirations as-pirations seriously, but na realistic realis-tic analyst concedes him even a ghost of a chanca for 1M0. Gar-, ner and F arley are against him and that will be that. In appraising the ranks of new deal heirs apparent, don't overlook over-look "Stormy Petrel" Harold Ickes. He hasn't been mentioned much In that connection, but he's a great favorite with the Corcoran "inner circle" and for that mat-ter mat-ter with Preaident Roosevelt himself. him-self. Being a left-wing Republican Repub-lican In a Democratic administration administra-tion complicate hla political prospects, but hia career will none tha leaa be worth watching from this angle. Informed New Yorkers Insist that Ickes' Oain-raising prockvl-ties prockvl-ties are not as spontaneous as they appear. Circumstantial evidence evi-dence Indicates that F. D. R. uses hla secretary of tha interior to get ideas across in lively language that he cannot, for reasons of prudent statesmanship, express on his own account Ickes' skill at invective has been valuable to his chief mora than once. Early in tha Roosevelt regime, someone asked the lata Louis Howe a shrewd political observer. observ-er. If aver there was one: "Who la this fellow Ickes, anyhow? Nobody No-body ever heard of him." "Ickea." replied Mr. Howe, "is the next preaident of tha United States." Mr. Murphy Is best known to the publie for his refusal to send In the Michigan national guard to chase strikers out of General Motors and Chrysler plants In tha sit-down epidemic of early '37. Bitter criticism of his alleged failure to uphold law and order was undoubtedly a major factor in his defeat at tha polls last fall. Murphy has always maintained that the course ha followed was the only one that would hava averted wholesale bloodshed. Dispassionate Dis-passionate observers are inclined in-clined to arrea with him. In any event, his shouldering ot the sit-down sit-down burden spared the Roosevelt Roose-velt administration a load of grief, and there Is reason to believe be-lieve that F. D. R. has always been grateful for that. The new attorney general will be confirmed in the senate by a substantial margin. He isn't as unpopular with Capitol Hill conservatives con-servatives as is generally assumed. as-sumed. His experience as a trial lawyer is limited, but that isn't necessarily a handicap. The attorney at-torney generalship is essentially a policy-making office. One thing is certain: Mr. Murphy will be a colorful addition to F. D. R.'s official of-ficial family. New York friends of Secretary of Commerce Hopkins prophesy that Harry will do his darndest to make a reputation for himself him-self as a broad-gauge executive with a real understanding of business problems. They say he is thoroughly fed up with "social worker" connotations and is eager to prove his . abilities In other directions. Hopkins is shaping, up private plans to organize the business demerits who want to play ball with the administration for a new recovery drive In conjunction with labor unions. Metropolitan skeptics frankly doubt that he It was announced last week that Charles E. Mitchell, chairman chair-man of the National City bank in the balmy 'JO's, had made a satisfactory settlement of hia Income In-come tax argument with Uncle Sam. Neither party is giving exit any figures, but Mitchell must have paid a substantial sum. Tha claim against him ran ta more than a million dollars. Mitchell's comeback la one of the most remarkable In Wail Street history. In 1933 he was broke, miles deep in debt, apparently appar-ently discredits. Today he is one of the ftyltjcial district's most prosperous and influential citizens. Though out of the limelight, lime-light, he is riding high again as chairman of Blyth A Co., inveet-ment inveet-ment bankers. Mitchell is known as one f the greatest salesmen and organizers organ-izers of sales forces in "tha Street." He no longer displays .the arrogance that used to make him many enemies. He haa been helped up the ladder by his friends, by people he aided In his heyday (such as Floyd Carlisle, whom he put Into United corporation) corpora-tion) and by his creditors, whose only hope of repayment Ilea In his financial rehabilitation. Copyright, 1939, for The Telegram |