Members of the House, Senators, and other officials should, at the very least, pay particular attention to the directions from which influences against further inquiry come.
Now, as to Mr. Bernard M. Baruch, who for some as yet undefined reason was made head and front of the United States at war, we have his own word on several occasions that he was the most important man in the war.
“I probably had more power than perhaps any other man did in the war; doubtless that is true,” he told Representative Jefferis.
And again: “We had the power of priority, which was the greatest power in the war * * * Exactly; there is no question about that. I assumed that responsibility, sir, and that final determination rested within me.”
And when Representative Jefferis said “What?” to that startling statement, Mr. Baruch repeated it:
“That final determination, as the President said, rested within me.”
Representative Graham said to him: “In other words, I am right about this, Mr. Baruch, that yours was the guiding mind * * * ”
And Mr. Baruch replied: “That is partly correct —I think you are entirely correct * * * ”
Now, in what did Baruch’s power consist? Briefly, in this—in the dictatorship of the United States. He once expressed the opinion that the United States could have been managed that way in time of peace, but he explained that it was easier in war time, was made easy because of the patriotic mood of the people.