Show A. A f I z J m D MK BIH M Lack of Political Sense 4 Leads Wallace to Oblivion t t S By y BAUKHAGE News and Commentator 7 Service 1616 Eye Street NW Washington D. D C. C WASHINGTON Unless some strange shift In the thc tide of at national affairs takes place between the time these lines l are written and 1 when they appear ap lIPS 1 i pear In print the thc name that once bristled in the thc headlines made i the Paris peace S conference shudder J j d der era and r n d c completely com com- a m- m confounded confound confound- t ed the Truman administration will be filed under under un un- der W IV and forgotten for tor- gotten by most Ii 0 0 S people who arent aren't subscribers to the j New Republic I refer to the name Henry Agar ii k Wallace S 0 I have talked with a gre great t many t men who kne knew Wallace we well Most ost of at them who liked him still like him kf But many who supported him In the 1 past toll follow ow him no longerT longer T One of at them said to me S Henry Wallace has been drowned c at last in a sea of ideas He has c gone down for the third time and andyS I yS there is nobody with a a lifeline hanor han han- or S dy I r I think of two other men one an In 1 r experienced government official a aS S j trained politician another an ardent p New Dealer who happens to be e j equipped with a mathematical mind mindS S sharp as a steel trap trap each each of these j men men followed Henry Wallace a long S way But each man at one point In his career suddenly stopped r aghast at one of Wallaces Wallace's self cre f l misadventures shrugged his I I shoulders and regretfully turned j i I away R One of the first criticisms you hear i from Wallaces Wallace's political friends is I I ii p that he has no political sense p T h. h 5 As head bead of at the department of 01 agriculture ag ago I I iJ 5 1 Wallace according ti tl tir to r r S most disinterested observers was a I I r S S success as a policy-maker policy and anS an administrator Dont Don't bri 1 bring g up the j i i little pigs pigs pigs-he he did that against every ery j I 1 I 4 S one of his natural predilections i i I S As secretary of commerce he was 0 a dismal failure I i I 7 Wallace Vallace did understand SS S ture hire agriculturists farmers and i I agronomy He believed that he hadS had I I S and has the correct formula t S for tor solving the economic business 1 ills of at the country But what he 5 didn't realize was that he was handicapped handicapped handicapped handi handi- capped by what is incorrectly called S an inferiority complex when it comes to dealing with human beIngs beings be be- ings who made the wheels of at busness business busi bus ness go round He had a strange and deep suspicion of the business world Perhaps that wasn't so strange for tor it reflects the natural attitude of the farmer toward the city slicker sUcker Perhaps it was another another another an an- other phase of that shyness which 5 5 characterized Wallace Lets Let's look at this suspicion business business busi bus iness i- i ness On one o a of several occasions Wallace Wallace Wallace Wal Wal- lace as secretary of at commerce addressed adS addressed addressed ad ad- S dressed a Q prominent group of conservative conservative con con- conS conservative S business men His colS colleagues colleagues col col- S leagues watched the event with cons considerable con con- s trepidation They knew the group was unsympathetic to Wallace Wallace Wallace Wal Wal- lace and that Wallace knew it However However How How- However ever it provided an opportunity to create a l friendly atmosphere if nothing more Wallace made a swell S speech His colleagues were agreeably agreeably agree agree- ably surprised His audience wasS was S almost capit In fact as the speech went on one after another S of ot the listeners showed that Wa Wallace's Wallaces Wallaces Wallace's Wal- Wal S laces lace's views were well received received- S were anything but Inimical to bust busi S S ness Many of at the ideas he advanced advanced advanced ad ad- S were accepted as sound sane and sensible So far far so so good Wallace reached the end of his preS prepared prepared pre pre- S pared script and then suddenly S 'S f overcome with this strange defensive l 4 1 sive complex this suspicion said I something to this effect Tonight I I have have probably wast wasted d your time 0 r j and mine mme for foL I realize that you yet couldn't possibly agree with me rae nor noi 1 I with rith you The whole effect wa was ruined nt q Intimates AdmireS Admire S W Wallaces Wallace's Integrity Men who know Wallace best agree agre r J r that he is absolutely honest tha that t tS S he is unselfish that he can cnn be a aIl avery v very very deep deep student of a subject which tI Il tt 5 interests him th that t be he has a powerful power power- 5 ful ambition to be a leader of th the e 0 forces that will preserve old old-fash I- I I ion d American free enterprise an am and U competitive capitalistic endeavor i But he Is willing to adopt strange S methods to achieve achieve this Remember 1 ber the little pigs In making clear to his friends that thai it was his ambition to be secretary of commerce he convinced them of ot othis his belief in five propositions The They S were that 1 lie He believes the capitalistic system cannot survive another war var 2 He believes the capitalistic system cannot survive another financial depression such as we went through In the early 3 3 lie He Is convinced that th country Is headed for lor another such depression 4 Re He believes that this Catastrophe catastrophe catastrophe Ca- Ca ca ca- can be avoided if certain certaIn tam tain simple me measures are arc taken 5 lie believes that this end end end- the perpetuation of 01 free Iree enterprise enterprise enterprise enter enter- prise justifies almost any means As soon as Wallace became secretary secretary sec see of commerce he attempted to reorganize the department along lines which had made the department department depart depart- ment meat of agriculture so successful insofar in insofar in in- solar as operation co-operation between government government gov gov- and farmers Is concerned One of the first steps was to try to establish a system of field agents similar to agricultures agriculture's county i agents Good men were hard to 1 find it takes time to build such a system The personnel recruited under such conditions and within so short a time would be bound to include in include in in- II clude elude many incompetents and thus open the system to immediate at attack I at-I attack at- at ta tack k by an unfriendly congress Nevertheless Nevertheless Nev Nev- Wallace pushed the idea as far as he could during his tenure of office This his critics say showed his inability to perform in a afield afield afield field with which he was unfamiliar showed his lack of political sense or if you ou will his failure to grasp the complexities of personal inter-personal relations I I 1 i j I 1 I i I I I i Like many othet men who have I b been een thrust into high hig government ent offices of of- I fl fi ees es without sufficient poll political experience exI ex ex- of-I of p he attempted to absorb tha that t experience vicariously The Tho very fact that he lacked an under- under s standing of political and personal r relations caused him to accept adI ad- ad y ors and counsellors who frequent- frequent i l ly y led him astray Perhaps if he had been less advised his conduct would have been less ill Nations Keep Jealous Eye lye on Antarctica Adm Richard Byrd is about to take ake of off again agnin for Antarctica with witha a hoMe of anxious nations worried to o death lest he run away with the five million square miles of ice- ice capped rock which covers the south polar solar regions as the dew covers Dixie but d different The foreign claims are legitimate enough for daring explorers have been een nibbling at nt that piece of frostbitten frostbitten frostbitten frost frost- bitten plateau bigger than Europe ever since John Briscoe actually discovered discovered discovered dis dis- covered what was given the name of Enderby land in the early nineteenth century Man Many others followed but few took the keen keer interest In the Antarctic waste that Admiral Byrd did although he didn't turn in that direction until after he had flown over the North Pole Which reminds me of a dull dun Sunday Sunday Sun Sun- day May 9 9 1926 I was keeping watch in the Washington office of a feature syndicate which had the rights to Byrds Byrd's adventures We knew he was going to hop of off for the pole from rom Spitzbergen with Floyd Bennett soon but we didn't know when Messenger boys had a habit of f dropping unimportant messages on the particular desk which I occupied and I hardly glanced up when one still soggy was tossed within my reach I finished the last episode of the comic strip I was studying and opened the envelope I envelope It contained con- con tamed one word polaris I That was the code word that meant that Byrd had flown over the North Pole and was back alive On November 29 29 three years later later later lat lat- lat lat- I er he flew over the South Pole The flight was only a small part of extended ex ex- tended explorations made on two separate expeditions I Now Byrd is of off again with jealous jealous jeal jeal- ous competitors watching him with jealous concern His expedition probably will be met with mixed emotions emotion by the penguins who are the only looking human inhabitants of Antarctica Byrds Byrd's first visit was wasa a novelty to those decorous birds who never go out except in formal even evening ng attire but I imagine homo home sapiens has become to them just another another another an an- other sap who has bas to go in when it snows I I |