| Show wallace s job program U packs political TNT reorganization of commerce department first stop step forward in formulation of full employment policy by news analyst and commentator service 1618 1010 eye street NW washington n D 0 the recent ope operating and organization 9 aniza tion program tor for the department of commerce created very little it elc excitement in washington or elsewhere when it was released I 1 think it ina made de page 15 of the new york times time the times gave much more p prominence romi nence recently to another document from the pen of henry agard wallace his new bool book sixty million jobs of which I 1 shall speak later ater I 1 congress may slumber on the reorganization report for yet a little but when washington wakes to the real significance of this 10 page mimeographed document it will find between the lines much upon which to ponder maybe that Is why it was double spaced to me this is a three ln in one instrument ment just as its author henry wallace revealed himself as a three ln in one personality when I 1 ca called ed on him just before the publication li C cation of his program his first a approach P I 1 to the governmental limelight broach ight since the change in administration tra tion the report on what mr wallace in his capacity as secretary of commerce hopes will mean the revitalizing and expanding of his department envisions the metamorphosis of that somewhat turgid and impotent institution into a vigorous and h human uman organization which will reach out ut and touch millions of individuals j just as s the governments most virile depa department r ament agriculture does secretary wallace said frankly at his pre press conference and also in more delai detail 11 ll eriv privately a tely to me that he th thought aught that the department of commerce should do for the business man big and little what the department part ment of agriculture does for the far farmer T er big and little and it will if he has his way active department Secre goal wipe out of your mind if you will that onetime one time problem child of the new deal the agricultural adjustment administration now weigh the testimony of observers including anti and I 1 think you will learn that as secretary of agriculture cu iture the author of sixty million jobs did a good job in revitalizing his department how much it will cost to do as m much e h for commerce we get mul him to estimate but he finally told u us s that it would be less lees than one sixth of the cost of one days war at VE V E day by a series of calculations we arrived at the figure of 40 million dollars since the commerce department spent about million dollars last year mr wallaces changes would make a total cost for his revitalized department of million dollars th those be who cry economy will shudder at that figure but they will hear this a answer it if business big and little wants help similar to that which agriculture demands and gets it will cost something the department of agriculture cost approximately million dollars to run last year and the tanners farmers want it to do less there will also be another explanation of the figures which will attempt to show that part of the expansion of the reorganized department is really contraction and that brings us to the second integer of the three in one composition of mr wallaces plan the plan Is more than a blueprint for changes in a single governmental institution it Is definitely a part of president tru mans reorganization plan which it Is fair to assume would bring back under the commerce rooftree root trea the horde of agencies and commissions which have to do with industry and business and now we come to part three of the tri function of the wallace program it is b by y his own aci implication a part of his recipe for full employment included in his book sixty million jobs and mention of that brings me to an examination of mr wallace himself I 1 said that like the program of reorganization for his department mr wallace seemed to me when I 1 called upon him he came down the great cavernous room which herbert hoover planned tor for his successor and we sat in chairs about a little table that made a hos pliable oasis in the midst ot of the desert vastness ot of high walls and lofty L eiling A prest presidential dennial dent ial ghost emerges I 1 had really came come to see henry wallace the author of sixty million jobs which had just been reported a best seller in two new york stores we discoursed at some length on that opus and gradually 1 I found myself also talking to henry wit wallace ilace secretary of commerce tor for as I 1 suggested earlier many a strand from sixty million jobs may be discovered in the warp and woof of the department reorganization plan As the conversation moved from book boo k to report and back to book again never getting tar far from the theme of full employment I 1 thought I 1 could make out an form arising from what had been up until then my two part author secretary host the third being although not yet completely materialized zed little by little became translucently visible to the naked eye this party of the third part I 1 thought I 1 recognized as henry wallace presidential candidate 1948 1918 0 or r at least 1652 1952 perhaps I 1 would not have believed my eyes if it had not been tor for ii a statement which a stout supporter of mr wallace had made to me sixty million jobs comes pretty ne near or to being just about the best political platform the democratic party can run on in the next election in one place author wallace says there are a few of course who think that any government servant who uses the phrase full employment m ent Is engaged in some deep dark plot but they are the elc exceptions edtl ons that prove the peoples sanity and soundness as a w whole hoie senator mcclellan ilan might be considered one of the exceptions from his remarks in the debate on the full employment bill he said that the measure says a great deal and actually means nothing ex except cc pt to create an erroneous impression in th the a minds of the people he later described it as soft soap sixty million jobs draws commendations whatever the lawmakers think the reviewers certainly are full of praise for wallaces book the new york times calls it a thoughtful and thought provoking discussion of american political economy and the saturday review of literature agreeing with the times limes adds that more than any recent work on economics or politics it can serve as a moral testament and intellectual guide in the eventful difficult days ahead the work appeared first in a busl ness letter sheet size with paper cover it followed in orthodox book form later the auth author or hopes he told me that it will be printed in a cheap pocket size edition when mr wallace said that I 1 thought I 1 caught his bis triplet nodding emphatic approval while hile ghostly ups lips formed the words for every voters pocket much water will pass beneath the potomac bridges between now and 1948 or 1952 we have with us at present a conservative congress and the political veterans say that no matter which way the wind may blow abroad it is blowing to the right on capitol hill and they add hopefully perhaps not too leftward at the other end of pennsylvania avenue secretary author candidate wallaces full employment program re quires much more legislation than the full employment bill that is only the first step the expansion and reorientation orientation re of his bis and other departments will be required then there will be special taxation there will be at least the blueprinting blue printing of public works there will have to be a settled policy providing tor for foreign loans the bretton woods program and other stimulants ot of world trade and tourist traffic it a too conservative congress did not grant the minimum legislative implementation the sixty million jobs plan could not be carried out that however mr wallaces supporters insist will simply make 60 million people who want jobs plus their families vote tor for the man who believes they can be produced BARBS by b y baukhage two tw hundred thousand of berlins three million population are members of trade unions but what have they got to trade it if anybody asks you dont you know theres a war on the answer is yes and whether you like it or not it will be tor for six months alter after a ormal formal declaration of 0 peace which even in sight yet the white house had its first real paint job since the war began and looks like a new place the scaffolds were up before J surrender day I 1 wonder if the painters had a tip we have 20 million less horses and mules to feed than we once had la in this country but the land used to raise food tor for them Is now feeding human beings |
