National Figure

While Senators were smacking the Administration's face with a negative (see p. 12), Representatives last week smacked it with a positive. Taking control of the Rules Committee right out of the hands of aged Chairman Sabath, they rammed through a new lease of life for the Committee to Investigate Un-American Activities, chairmanned by Texas' large, lucky Martin Dies, then whooped it through the House by a vote of 344-to-35.

Mr. Dies had to be content with an extension of one year and a promised appropriation of $100,000 (to be voted later), instead of two years and $150,000. His victory was otherwise impressive. Starting as a nobody who became head of the seriocomic Demagogs' Club in the House, Martin Dies had been built up by Franklin Roosevelt's enemies to the point where even critics of noisy Mr. Dies and friends of Mr. Roosevelt did not dare vote against the former. From an obscure eight-year man in the House, with more of Washington's shoe-polish than of Texas' alkali on his boots. Martin Dies had, with all his unfairness as a prosecutor and ineptitude as an investigator, become the Opposition's favorite splinter in the Administration's fundament. His continuance as an inquisitor specifically demonstrated other things:

1) The Administration's feeble grip on important Rules, which Messrs. Dies, Dempsey (New Mexico) and Cor (Georgia) ran pretty much to suit themselves during the hearings. At one point poor old Chairman Sabath was nearly in tears as he banged on the table and shouted: "Don't do this! Don't do this! Gentlemen, please!"

2) The country's swing against "radicals." He stated that 2,000 private persons had offered $5,000 apiece to finance his committee's continuance. From their own mail, Representatives knew he was not boasting much.

3) The formidable new political stature of Martin Dies who, explaining why he had attacked Cabinet members (Perkins, Hopkins, Ickes), said it was because, after refusing to cooperate in his Red hunt, they had attacked him, an agent of the Congress !

Representative Cox: "The Cabinet members have done one thing. They've made a national figure out of Martin Dies!"

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