Blunt & Unvarnished

Capitol Hill was buzzing last week with reports of a two-hour conference between Secretary of State George Marshall and two of the 80th Congress' toughest characters. They were New Hampshire's Senator Styles Bridges and New York's Congressman John Taber, chairmen, respectively, of the Senate and the House Appropriations Committees. Their chat touched on such combustible topics as the administering of Greek aid, State Department housecleaning, Assistant Secretary of State Spruille Braden, OIC's Voice of America broadcasts. The language was blunt and unvarnished.

As for OIC--"I'm going to houseclean that department," Marshall said, in effect. "But I've got to have time to do it. And you've got to remember I inherited this mess. I didn't create it. It will take time--but I'm going to have my time in getting things righted up."

Marshall insisted that the Senate restore funds for the Voice of America broadcasts, wiped out by Taber's committee last month. Bridges agreed to give Assistant Secretary of State Bill Benton some money for propaganda. Taber would not commit himself, but he has hinted that the House might restore something--not much.

Nothing Doing. Taber hinted at cutting down Greek-Turkish aid. Said Marshall: Nothing doing. He wanted the whole $400 million. Russia must be made to understand that the U.S. is not backing down one inch. Who would administer the funds? Said the Secretary: "I'll name that man or men, and not the White House."

Incidentally, whom would Congress like appointed? "Name him. I'll consider him. I don't say I'll appoint him, but I'll give him every consideration. . . ." Offhand, neither legislator could name a candidate.

Congress, Marshall made plain, was not going to run the State Department so long as he was Secretary. Nor were the Appropriations Committees going to run it. Cooperation, yes--he wanted to get along with Congress. But he wanted them to understand that the Secretary of State, just as much as they, was working for the good of the country. Bridges and Taber, blunt men themselves, departed, impressed.

Arms & the Man. One of the questions the legislators had raised was about Spruille Braden, onetime mastermind of the U.S. get-tough-with-Argentina policy. Marshall said he expected to settle that one within ten days. He soon gave evidence of what he meant. The Secretaries of War & Navy had advocated that the U.S. transfer a lot of its military equipment to Canada and Latin America, with the object of 1) nailing down the arms market; 2) standardizing and modernizing equipment throughout the Western Hemisphere; 3) thus bolstering hemispheric defenses.

Braden had objected. Such action, he said, would start an arms race and would put small, democratic Latin American nations at the mercy of bigger, nondemocratic ones.

Last week Secretary Marshall settled the dispute. He backed the War & Navy Departments' recommendations, which were put up to Congress this week. For Spruille Braden, whose Latin American policy has been discredited and abandoned, it was a pointed hint.

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