The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-07-31


 one night, pointing to the lighted windows where oharWpinen were cleaning tip the debris of the bankers and brokers of Wall Street, Corcoran raised his glass and proposed his toast;
 ITO the day." he said, "wheh we stop them from bleeding the COuntryi"
 Corcoran was then 30. And in the six years which followed, he has come very near the tulfilment of his toast. He helped put through the Securities Act regu- lating the sale of stocks and bonds to the public. He helped dratt the Stock Exchange Act which at- tempted to protect the public from the raiders of Wall street. He was the brains behind the Holding Company Act, is helping to plug LID the holes in the income tax law, and now is waging Q cam- paign for passage of the Wages and Hours Act.
 All of which explains why, next to the President himself, he Is the man most hated by Big Business and most unpopular with conservative senators of any man in the Roosevelt Ad- minlstratlOn.
 Real Human Being
 To anyone who did not know Tom Corcoran, the recitation of his achievements would make him out to be a scheming, vlndictive radical, bent upon revenge against the interests with which he once worked. But he Is just the op- posite.
 He is one of the most charming and delightful individuals in Washington. He has Q fund Uf stories which keeps any dinner party in an uproar. He can play the plano and the accordion, and sing American folk-songs like . professional. And he has a sense of loyalty to his friends which has won him far more friends than enemies-though he has plenty of the latter, too.
 He has all the loyeable emotions of the Irish, and despite his cru- sade for less profits and more honesty in business, actually he Is more enamored of human being than of principles. He has gone to the rescue of many e friend who sinned grievously against the things Corcoran Is fighting for. Once, when upbraided for making such e rescue, he replied:
 "Yes, they are lice. But dammit, they're my llce."
 Many Teachers
 Tom Corcoran was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, of c mother who was the daughter of Q sea- a-captain, c very strong -willed woman. Tom goes home to visit her frequently. His father is e small town lawyer, and sometimes comes down to visit his son in the Nations Capital.
 Tenn has studied under three remarkable teachers. At Har- yard Law School he was Q dls- ciple of Felix Frankfurter. Af- ter graduation, he became the secretary to Oliver Wendell Holmes, beginning . close friendship which lasted until the Justices death. simuI- taneously he also became the friend of Justice Brandeis, for whom he has done . great deal of research.
 After leaving Holmes, Corcoran joined the law firm of Cotton and Franklin, where he worked with Joseph P. Cotton, later un- der secretary of state, and got to know oil the tricks of Wall Street. When chided on his past as c Wall Street lawyer, Cor coran replies:
 "Of course. Where did you think I got wise to the stock market-at . tea party?"
 Worked for Hoover
 
 It was not the New Deal but Eugene Meyer, then REC chair man, who first brought Tom to Washington. During the first year or SO of the Roosevelt Ad- ministration he was the RFC's key man in recognizing banks and putting across c hundred and one jobs similar to what he Is doing today, but which no ono then ever heard about.
 One thing he accomplished was getting REC money for the school teachers of Chicago, whose pay was months overdue. It was Q praiseworthy job, and he man. aged it very quietly. Today, the mention of Corcoran's name in connection with the transaction AwMWA 6aaa aWA aAGA~AAR