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Show NEWS BEHIND THE NEWS By Alan Barth Substituting for Ray Tucker WASHINGTON The corps of ardent new dealers who used to counsel the president on domestic domes-tic policies and purges haven't had much place in the White House picture during these crucial cru-cial days. There's a revised brain trust now that F. D. R-'s attention is focused exclusively on defense and foreign policy. It consists of Just four men Secretary Secre-tary of State Cordell Hull, his undersecretary. Sumner Welles; Assistant Secretary of State Adolph A. Berle. and Assistant Secretary of War Louis Johnson. It's not a homogeneous group. The four men have sharply different dif-ferent personalities and outlooks. But taken together they give the president a check and balance system of guidance. None of them could conceivably be called a "yes man." And If he were, at least one of the others would be sure to say "No" to his opinion. The secretary of state is a gentleman and a diplomat of the old school. His knowledge of foreign affairs was gleaned from his service as chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the house. Sumner Welles, by contrast. con-trast. Is a career diplomat very decidedly of the new school, urbane ur-bane and astute, versed In the intricacies of contemporary international in-ternational politics. A. A. Berle differs from both his suiierinrs. Less experienced, he's generally rated more brilliant and original in his thinking. The older men serve as checkrelns upon his fresh and novel points of view. Louis Johnson is no diplomat at all. On the contrary, he's a hard-headed lawyer, accustomed to dealing with businessmen and possessed of an enormous capacity ca-pacity for getting things done. All of the industrial aspects of national defense are In his hands. His practical outlook leavens the theorizing. The four men together give F. D. R. the kind rif stimulus and aid he wants. He's the final arbiter ar-biter of their differences in out-' out-' look, but gives weight and respect re-spect to what they think. In the last analysis, of course, he's his own minister of foreign affairs. Top men In the aviation Industry In-dustry foresee that the war in Europe will make the U. S. the world's chief source of supply for aircraft to the peaceful nations na-tions as well as to the belligerents. belliger-ents. Our principal competitors will be busy making planes to be shot down by their enemies. South America, tor whose business busi-ness we've competed with them In particular, will now turn exclusively ex-clusively to us. It's a great chance, the aviation avia-tion leaders declare if it's cultivated culti-vated properly. The chance won't last forever. It demands, in their opinion, a careful study of South America's air transport needs, together with financial aid for fulfillment of them. The' Latinos will want military ships. But it's of even more importance "to see that they buy high capacity ca-pacity cargo planes for commercial commer-cial use. The man who will have the most powerful voice In directing V. S. aviation activities in South America is Colonel John Jouett, president of the aeronautical chamber of commerce. Jouett is the man who developed and trained China's air corps. He sees the need for extensive U. S. training of South American pilots to fit them for flying the ships our airplane manufacturers hope to sell them. He works closely with the Latin-American wing of the state department. The purge spirit is by no means dead among new dealers. The chances for doing much about it now seem slim. But they'd still like to divorce the Democratic party from the southern conservatives conser-vatives whom they designate Re-publocrats. Re-publocrats. If the war In Europe continues Into 1940, chances are the president presi-dent may frown on their ambitions. ambi-tions. National unity will seem more Important than a party pogrom. But you can get an accurate line on how the new dealers feel about some of their southern colleagues from a book due for publication some time next month Dixie Demagogues, by a pair ot extremely new deal-ish deal-ish Washington correspondents, Frank Ryhlick and Allan A. Mirhie. It's a vivisection of southern politicos which will bark as the opening gun in the 1940 campaign of the 100 per cent new dealers for party purificationif puri-ficationif the White House gives the nod. Copyright, McClure Syndicate. |
