The daily independent., 1937-07-09
Mn ulah

If Recognized; Waive Demand
Presidents Mother Still Plans
His Days As If He Were Small
Boy.
Washington-A new plan to
settle the steel strike has been
laid before the President by DR..
j. R. Steelman, recently appoint
ed head of the U. S. Cancellation
Service.
1t specifics that the President
should ask the Governors Of 1lll-
nois, Ohio and Pennsylvania to
propose to the Bethlehem, Repub-
lie and Youngstown steel compan-
les that they accept the settle
ment arrangement negotiated by
Governor M. C. Townsend of In
diana between Inland Steel and
the c. I. o.
Under this formula. there was
no agreement directly between
the employer and the striking un-
ion. Instead, both wrote letters
to Governor Townsend accepting
certain terms.
These provide that Inland will
bargain collectively with the G. l.
O., for the workers which it re-
presents in the company'S plants,
and will not discriminate against
employees because of their G. l.
o. membership. Beyond this the
company agreed to nothing. The
settlement is a distinct defeat for
the c. I. O. since it represents a
complete backdoWn from the un-
ions demands for a contract.
Despite this trouncing, Steel
man will accept similar terms
with the other three obdurate in
dependent steel firms. Privately,
government labor officials are Of
the opinion that c. l. o. leaders
now are anxious to make "Strate-
gic retreat" and that any pro-
position enabling them to wind up
the steel controversy with a SEM
blance of recognition will be ac-
CeptCd.
This does not mean that the
union is giving up hope Of forcing
the independents to sign a con-
tract eventually, but merely that
it is retiring from the field of the
present in order to reorganize and
strengthen its forces in prepara-
ton for another drive later.
Note. AS successor TO the late
Hugh L. Kerwin, DR.. Steelman
brought to his difficult post a
wide and varied background.
Tall, a drawing Southerner, he
worked as a youth in the wheat
fields and lumber camps, served
in the army during the World
War and worked his way through
college to a Phi. D. degree. Before
joining the Cancellation Service in
1888 he was Professor of Econo-
mics at Alabama College. .,...
No SnOb
Governor George Earle of Pen
nsylvania is a Harvard man and
is fond of telling stories about the
school. One of his favoriteS is a
bout the reputed SnobbishneSS of
Harvard students.
Earle says this is grossly eXag-
gerated and to prove it relates
this yarn:
A member Of one of Harvard'S
exclusive clubs was accused Of be-
ing a snob, to which he retorted:
Not at all. Why, 1 was a men,
ber of the crew for three years
and 1 knew every single oarSman
to speak to except two fellows
way up in the bow
Et Tu, Brute
Government press agents have
taken a lot of pummeling in the
last few years, but their own
ranks has just come the CrueleSt
blow of all.
Writing in the Public Opinion
Quarterly, Arch A. Mercy, assist
ant information director of the
ReSettlement Administration, Civ
es New Deal publicity men the
works, and he leaves little to the
imagination.
1T may be a necessity of mod
ern bureaucracy" he writes, but
1 am yet to be persuaded that re-
SponSible officials are incapable
of speaking for themselves. If a
policy is adverse TO public inter-
est. the sooner it is revealed and
critically examined, the Better will
be the ultimate results to taxpay-
erS and the agency itself.
Too often buffing becomes
blEffing' he declared, "and i'm
pairs too confidence of newspap-
Crmcn in government press repre-
SentatiVeS."
Mercy characicrizcS the var
ious technical services of the
press bureaus, such as movies,
photographs, posters and printed
publications, as "muddled," and
asserts they are in urgent need Of
improved craftsmanship. He holds
in fact, that the entire system of
government press agentry should
be drastically overhauled.
Duplication that costs taxpay-
ers tens of thousands of dollars,
Mercy declares, is rampant. As
an Illustration, he cites thirteen
agencies that pour out a stream
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