| OCR Text |
Show I NEWS BEHIND THE NEWS . , Written for The Telegram By Ray Tucker. I WASHINGTON Jim Farley's unconditional announcement of his presidential candidacy was preceded by numerous conferences confer-ences In which he and his allies tried to analyze the president's position snd purpose in the 1940 race. The conclusion! they reached help to explain a lot about the national chairman's new political aggressiveness. The Fsrleyites started with the assumption thst F. D. R. does' not want a third term for himself; him-self; they based that finding on his recent behaviour snd private conversations. They also agreed that his fsvorlte Is not Secretary Secre-tary Hull, contrary to overwhelming over-whelming public opinion. Their second most important conclusion conclu-sion was that he wants to creste a state of confusion at thevn-vention, thevn-vention, but a confusion which hs can control and use for his own purposes. At the proper time. In their 1 opinion, he will serve notice thst ' the convention must renominate him or name Attorney General Jackson as the standard-bearer. All F. D. R.a other favorites Messrs. Hopkins, Douglas and Murphy have fallen by the wayside way-side or been ditched, and only Bob remains. Rightly or wrong-' ly, that is the Farley fsction's conviction. And they regard Mr. Jackson as an interloper also as a man who cannot be built up Into a winning candidate between be-tween now and November. And, of course, the nomination of the A. G. would mean that another New Yorker namely, Mr. Farleycould Far-leycould not be chosen for second place. - Henry Morgenthau has lined up with the administrations sharpest financial critic Henry Byrd to prevent congressional raids on the treasury. He hss also confirmed the senstor's as- 1 sertlon that without taking his senste sides Into confidence, F. D. R. will use a billion of the treasury's 'working balance for payment of current expenditures. Uncle Sam's petty cash will amount to only 11,011,000,000 on June 30 of this year, Mr. Morgenthau Morgen-thau admitted in a letter to Sena-tor Sena-tor Byrd. But from that amount he added, there must be deducted J400.000.000 owing to various government corporations and held by the treasury only as a depository. Henry can look at It longingly, but he can't touch it Therefore, the actual balance will be about $600,000,000. In Mr. Morgenthau's opinion, this is too small for safety. He fixes a billion dollars as the minimum needed In these disturbed times. So did Senate Leaden Berkley and Byrnes before the Virginian tipped them off to this bit of budget manipulation. They haven't yet caught their breath or found any answer. Mr. Morgenthau's candid admission ad-mission has tremendous political significance. It will be used against his boss F. D. R st the proper time. It means that Capitol Capi-tol Hill blocs, especially the farm group, cannot tap the balance to finance preelection handouts. More important, it enables Republicans Re-publicans and anti-Roosevelt Democrats, before the convention and election, to lambaste new deal handling of federal finances. Personal clashes between two bosses of booze may eventually precipitate a congressional Inquiry In-quiry into the liquor business In the United States. The two czars of alcohol are W. S. Alexander, federal alcohol administrator, and Wesley A. Sturges, executive director of the Distilled Spirits Institute. Mr. Sturges was drafted for his present post because the distillers realized that conditions of the traffic were bad and constantly getting worse. He wss given the assignment of cleaning up lest the ever-ready prohibitionists prohibition-ists take advantage of the situation situa-tion or the government -clamp down. His first act was te institute insti-tute a system under which the Industry would police itself from the distillery to the barroom snd cocktail lounge. Elaborate rules and regulations are promulgated in this purity movement. Last week, however, Mr. Alexander Alex-ander summoned the distillers to his office for a severe lecture. The only policing they need, he told them. Is to obey the laws. He Intimated that he regarded the Sturges system as nothing more than a self-admiration society. soci-ety. And If there is any policing to be done, he warned. Uncle Sam will do It. Meanwhile, even wets on Capitol HIU begin to think it might be a swell Idea to have a look at the way repeal has worked. District Attorney Dewey or his managers are running his campaign In accord with military mili-tary precision. A few days before be-fore he visits a city, the local politicos receive orders of the day from his headquarters In New York. They have subjected Tom to some Joshing In the free-snd-easy hinterland. Here are a few excerpts: . "Morning conferences Press conference first thing after breakfast 30-minute period. Mr. Lockwood to be present Morning Morn-ing and afternoon conferences will have to be divided among the following groups: Politicians, business men. women, farm labor. la-bor. Young Republicans (covering (cover-ing a period of three hours. Press Included). "Luncheon to be arranged to meet business men, about 33 guests, with distinct understanding understand-ing that Mr. Dewey will make no speech. He prefers round table gossip . . . "Rest period for Mr. Dewey from 4:45 p. m. until 9:08 p. m." But the order to end ail orders and disorders sets for thst during Tom's night address, "Mr. Simpson la to control all applause." ap-plause." Copyright. 1940, McClure 1 Syndicate i |
