MERRY-GO-ROUND L Jj O by Drew Pearson, Noted Capitol Columnist P .AV Truman Forgets His Senate Days; v Now He Kicks Senators in Pants - l WASHINGTON, D. C When President Truman was Senator Harry Truman, he sometimes entered the senate chamber and sat down at his desk grumbling. "Just got another kick in the pants from the White House," he would tell colleagues. "They've just appointed another Stark man to a good job." "Stark man" referred to support-1 ers of Gov. Lloyd Stark, leader of "It was a great shock to tis to an anti-Truman Democratic faction learn that such details of business in Missouri. Today, however, senators wish ! that the ex-senator from Missouri had a better memory and would think back to those by-gone days. One senator who especially wishes it is Jim Tunnell of Delaware, who has just received the most resounding kick in the pants recently given by the White House to any alleged friend. tt a Senator Tunnell has been one of the most loyal of all the Roosevelt-Truman supporters. He has slaved night and day for their program. He is one senator who can be absolutely depended upon. Partly because of his loyalty he faces a difficult re-election fight this fall, with the DuPont Republicans preparing to put a tough candidate in the field against him. Until recently, they had been planning to pass over ex-Senator John Townsend, a staunch friend of the DuPonts, but considered a bit out-of-date because of his isola tionist record. However, Townsend will now be their candidate thanks to Harry Truman. For the president has just appointed Townsend as alternate U. S. delegate to the United Nations. This automatically takes away the taint of isolation, elevates him to a position of prominence, and remakes his political future. It was the most crushing blow faithful Jim Tunnell could have received. nan At first, politicians blamed Secretary Byrnes for the appointment. He. however, had nothing to do with it. Then they blamed Townsend's son-in-law, Prew Savoy, who was among the group which helped invite Truman to the Jefferson island party last summer. Replied Savoy: "I only wish I rould plead guilty. It Mould have put me in right with my father in law." Now, however. President Truman has confessed that he did the job himself. He is the sorriest man in the world and has said so to Senator Tunnell. But the appointment can t be changed. He did exactly the same thing he once cussed out Roosevelt for making an appointment without consulting the senator concerned, it tt a EUROPEAN REFUGEES Some of Jimmy Byrnes' expediters have really pepped up old-line state department diplomats when it comes to admitting European refugees. When President Truman first proposed filling unused U. S. immigra tion quotas by admitting homeless refugees from Europe, state department diplomats said they had neither funds, nor the personnel nor perhaps even the disposition. However, some of the South Carolina blood which Byrnes has injected into the state department (men who drink Coca-Cola instead of tea) decided that presidential orders should not be kissed off so airily. Though no money was available. they finally went to the bureau of the budget and squeezed out enough cash money to hire new consular personnel. Already they have started flying supplies to Europe to set up special offices to screen refugees and give them visas. Old-line diplomats are leaning back in amazement. They have never seen so much speed before. a a tt DOES BRITISH AGENCY SLANT NEWS? Last week the state department and Reuters, the British news agency, engaged in a controversy as to whether or not Reuters slanted its news to favor British interests. Apropos of this, certain Japanese files, seized since the war, are re vealing. In 1939 the Japanese sold their entire salmon catch, partly taken off the shores of Canada and Alaska, to British firms. This was announced in Tokyo and started to cause a furore in the Canadian and English press. However, the Mitsubishi firm in London stepped in and used its influence with Reuters to kill the story. n - m m Here Is an interesting Jap letter from the London office of the Mitsubishi firm, telling their head office in Tokyo how they got Reuters in London to lay off the story. Dated June 22, 1939, the letter states: were disclosed in Tokyo-; and as we were certain that this would cause a great deal of difficulty in various points if published m the papers, we tried hard to persuade Reuter not to publish same. They first insisted that they al ways maintained a neutral attitude as regards the handling of news and they were not in a position to create or ignore any news in the interests of the parties concerned. "We stated that their information was incorrect. Fortunately we could insist that their new was actually incorrect although in minor points. "Finally with the kind assistance of Mr. Hasagawa, the head of the Domei news agency here, Reiiter agreed to kill this news so far as they were concerned. m a a "We immediately arranged with Mitsui that they would take a similar attitude if approached by Reuter, and in fact, Mitsui were later asked a like question by Reuter, which they handled accordingly. "Our Mr. Kawamura and Mr. Matsumoto, manager of Mitsui, jointly invited Mr. May, commercial editor of Reuter, and Mr. Hasagawa to lunch on the 12th. when a friendly discussion took place and Mr. May fully appreciated our position and agreed that he would first refer to us whenever he received important news on business with Japan, not only salmon but other commodities." The letter went on to complain, however, that the Sunday Dispatch of London did not suppress the news, nor did the Daily Express and various other papers. a a a FBI BATTLE Simmering beneath the surface In Washington is a hot battle of bureaus which concerns one of the most important jobs inside the government foreign intelligence. Some people use an uglier word espionage. Call it what you please, it Is an important fact that almost any nation today has to keep its eyes open as to what other nations are doing. Especially in these days of atomic bombs, when the nation which gets the first jump may rule the world, is it necessary to know what others are doing. Present controversy revolves round the proposal to create a super-duper detective agency in the state department. a a a Before the war, most foreign In telligence was carried on by the army and navy, with the FBI operating inside the USA and on certain specific missions abroad. During the war. the office of strategic services, which did a great job behind enemy lines, was recused of messing up the entire intelligence picture by enlisting a lot of amateur detectives and social sleuths in Washington. Big question Is: Who should do this delicate but Important job now that the war Is over? In the opinion of this columnist, who has watched the merry-go-round of Washington for many years, the only agency which has the confidence of both congress and the public is the FBI. They had a superb though little publicized record in Latin America 8S well as the USA.- a a a To do a good intelligence job you have to get congressional funds and you can't always tell congress pub-hcly how you are spending undercover money. The FBI. far more than the staU. department, has the public confidence and can get the appropriations. Furthermore, the state department should not be put In a position where it must both pour oil on diplomatic waters and at the same time stir them up by planting secret agents inside foreign countries. The FBI should get the Information on its own and then hand it over to the state department. However, certain ambitious gentlemen, transferred from the army to diplomacy, think otherwise. Result is one of the hottest battles of the bureaus raging backstage in Washington. A royal sturgeon five feet long and weighing 45 pounds was caught recently in County Down, Northern Ireland, and as the royal sturgeon is seldom seen in that country the event was celebrated by sending portions of it to hospital.