Saturday,
HONGKONG TELEGRAPH
ROOSEVELT'S EXTRA EYES,
In the State Department offices in Washington of the five inen pletured on this page are direct-wire telephones labelled White House. Those phones are going to be ringing a lot in coming months.
For with the $7,000,000,000 arsenal programme under way, President Roosevelt--álready known as "the world's busi- And that will mean est man"-is going to be busier than ever. more work for his five executive assistants, Sherman T. Minton, James H. Rowe, Lowell Mellett, William H. McReynolds and Lauchlin Curric.
These are the men with "a passion for anonymity" who sorve as additional eyes, ears and legs for the President.
The positions they hold as White House aides were created by the Reorganisation Act of 1939. The President's normal work schedule was then often running 12 and 13 hours a day.
This is what the five assistants (the act authorises ap- But their jobs have pointment of a sixth) started out to do. broadened since then until to-day they work nearly 12 and 13 hours a day themselves. In addition to their own specialised duties, here are some of the jobs they handle:
(1) The ideas, suggestions and plans which don't fall within the scope of any government department or agency and
WILLIAM H. McREYNOLDS, 61 and oldest of FDR's assistants, was appointed in 1939 to handle civil service problems. But now he's giving full time to his job as Seere- tary of the National Defence Council. Ile acts as a sort of clearing house for its bus- iness. The tall, angular Kansan' has been in federal civil service since 1906, was former Assistant Director of the Budget and administrative assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury.
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therefore are not readily assignable to a cabinet officer or agency head for report or action. (2) The plans that affect several different departments. (3) The plans or suggestions for inter- departmental co-operation. `
The five aides also handle a great mass of White House work that the President must either attend to himself or dele- gate to persons in whom he has complete trust and confidence.
The President's need for a permanent staff of assistants -first time in United States history-is a measure of the in- creasing complexity of government business. To-day's war adds to that complexity.
President Harding had time for long poker games at night. President Coolidge had time
а
for afternoon naps. But of President. Roosevelt Washington corres- pondent recently wrote:
"Work is almost his whole life."
LAUCHLIN CURRIE has just made a quick, fact-finding trip to China for FDR. His report determines the extent of future U. S. financial aid to Chiang Kai-shek. The Nova Scotia-born, 38-year-old economist was appointed White House assistant in charge of finance, taxes and other economic pro- blems in 1939. Prior to that he served on the Federal Reserve Board as assistant chief in the Division of Research and Statistics.
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JAMES H. ROWE, youngest of the five assistants, handles government legal matters. and digests departmental memoranda for the President. Only 31,-he studied law under Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter ut Barvard, first went to Washington as law. clerk for the late Justice Holmes. He went into government service with the Security Exchange Commission and later was as- sistant to James Roosevelt when he was. FDR's secretary. He's big, carelessly dressed and from Montana.
LOWELL MELLETT, a slight, genial man of 57, was editor of the "Washington News", then head of the National Emer- gency Council. In 1939 FDR appointed him executive assistant in charge of public re- lations and head of the Office of Government Reports, a clearing house for government information. This office has been accused of making plans for a war-dictated press cen- sorship. Mr Mellett says the. New Deal has "absolutely no plans" for a war censorship.
SHERMAN T. MINTON, 51-year-old former Senator from Indiana, was appointed a White House assistant. Jan. 7. His speci- fic duties haven't become clear yet but he's expected to be an eye, ear and leg man for FDR in political and legislative matters. Well dressed, tough-talking, the ex-lawyer served in the Senate from 1935 to 1941, was a member of the Senate Military Affairs Committee and was Democratic whip during its last session.
HAS THE CHURCH LOST INFLUENCE?
HERE are two beliefs which
By the Rev. L. B. ASHBY thoughts all the time; and he is beginning to see that he will never realise his hopes unless he is going to call in God to help him to find the way. The Christian Church has therefore
pent, or what kind of behaviour (e.g., in the conduct of his bu- siness). is required of him in the future.
Tthe ordinary man of to-day may be said to have discarded. The first of these is popular atheism. Its day is long past. Modern science is steadily des troying the idea of a purely materialistic and mechanical a universe, and in daily showing more clearly that the real basis of all that exists is something spiritual.
very great religious oppor- 'tunity set before it at this pre-
sent time..
The position is that there exists an enormous number of right-minded and well-disposed The other discarded belief is people who are desperately an- his almost blind faith in the es- xious to see this better world sential goodness of humanity brought about, and who are an- xious also to take a hand in and the inevitability of progress creating it; but they are utterly towards an ultimate utopian at a loss what to do. They state of society, in which ganised religion will have be- come a superfluity.
or-
have an almost pathetic desire for spiritual guidance to be given to them, and they realise that if over their hopes of sec- The almost bestial barbarism ing something like the Kingdom of which men have shown of God" taking shape in the themselves capable in recent world are to be realised (after years has disposed finally of the this war is over) they will need a sound basis of religion on comfortable idea that the pro-which to build it. gress of civilisation can be taken for granted, or that,
Call In God
Just Society
without some fresh spiritual In this search for a just or- impulse and guidance, man will der of society, in which the ever be able to construct an freedom and basic rights of individual shall be ideal world by his own unaided every
secured, it is to the Christinn powers,
Church that the people should naturally turn for the guidance which they need. But it is just hero, unfortunately, that the average man is conscious neute disappointment.
The trumpet gives an uncer- tain sound.
It is, however just precisely this better world which fills his
PEPSODENT
TOOTH PASTE
and POWDER
CONTAIN TRIUM
'FOR GREATER CLEANSING
POWER
of
"Calls to prayer," summonses to "national repentance", and "recalls to religion" carry very littlo weight with the nverngo man, and he pays slight atten- tion to them. He finds no help whatever in. these abstract ex- hortations to repentance and righteousness, which leave him without any kind of guldance as to what are the particular social aina of which he ought to re-
Unchristian Practice
Ordinary folk, in short, will give no serious attention to the Church, or to the claims of re- ligion, until they find it pro- claiming, in season and out of senson, a gospel of practical re- form, and saying to them with no uncertain voice, "Thus saith the Lord."
He looks to the Church to
It is to this that the Christian speak out plainly in condemna- tion of unchristian principles Church must give its whole at- and practices, and in support tention if it is not going to lose of every kind of reform which one of the very greatest spiri- may help to promote both social tual opportunities which "has and international justice.
ever been set before it.
WARS ARE WON BY WEIGHT
By Philip Guedalla
Wars, in the lunt analysis, are won by weight. That is not to say that the heavier of two combatants wins of neces sily. For if this were true, the name of Primo Carnern would be more honourably remember- ed in the prize-ring than the truo masters of the craft. The simple fact is that a fighter's weight must be brought to bear upon his adversary; and if this is to be achieved, mere weight must be supplemented by skill, courage, quickness of oye, clevar foot-work, and all the gifts that. go to the make-up of a succoss- ful boxer.
The same is true of nations, when they confront one another in the prize-ring of history. Weight alone is not enough to ensure victory. For the iron sealer of war welth other factors in the balance which, no less visible, ore the Imponderables of history W When Mussolint matched his not too Roman legions nguinst the relatively tiny forces of the Greeks, something went into the op- Jesing scale which tilted it
aguist un. This factor was not listed in the inventory of the armed forre
another on the
enks,
borders of Albanin. The. Invading mies of the aggressor had more
mere
bombers, more machine- uns than the opposing Greeks. But Tad they
the skill and will to une them with more effect? The dis- etrous months of war that followed dove the answer. For in the scales f history the soul of Greece weighs ore than the Inflated ego at an autocrat.
As the war unfolds, It Is as well to watch the sentes. For they fore- tell its result Inevitably, On one side of the balance we can see the weight of Germany, What Is there in the opposing scale? Even the most hopeful disciples of Dr Gorbbels must admit that the United States weigh something. The will of a free people affects the balunce, even when
sinal nation without resources
in equipment and in capacity to
produce it. Mussolini has already madic that discovery in Greece. But when the free nation one hundred and twenty millions strong and lis Industrial copacity is the greatest in "throws the world, President who that weight into the scales of war inclines the balance to some purpose. That is the simple meaning of the news from Washington. It cannot be exaggerated, beenuse it is the largest factor in the world situation. There is no denying it. It has happened; and the scales tlit steadily against the lesser weight of Germany.
What can the enemy Aling into the opposing scale to tilt the inevitable balance? The husk of emply France, sullen and soulless and already enten hollow by the busy locusts of the Occupation; the empty shell of Hol- Innid; the silent detestation of in- dignant Norway
These weigh True,
hile in the scales of his 10+
there has been a swift endeavour to nut the weight of Jugoslavin in the German scale. But the soul of Jugo- Ger slavia revolted at the thought. For when two of its neighbour states were already gagged and bound in the gangster's automobile, Jugoslavia displayed no enthusiasm for being
taken for a ride in their silent com- pany.
Survey the scales again. On one side the whole weight of the free world, and on the other the dwind- ling resources of a single continent in chains; on one side friends and allies, on the other a silent row of victims. History is not so imjust na to make crime prevail; and even if it were minded to, the silent force of gravitation would incline the scales.
Good Whisky-
JOHNNIE WALKER
Born 1820-still going strong
Sole Agents for China:", CALDBECK," MACGREGOR & CO., LTD, SHANGHUN HONGKONG.THENTEIN