Evening star., 1937-09-06
- No. 9-Benjamin Victor Cohen -
The Nine Young Men
[. O. Of Running Mate
of Corcoran Is Put
at Top of List of
Roosevelt's Think
0ro
BY BLAIR BOLLES.

Roosevelt's premier thinkers,
- Benjamin Victor Cohen, 43, un-
doubtedly would lead all the rest.
Cohens mind has awed his teachers
and his fellows in Chicago, in Boston,
IN Paris, in London, In New York, in
Washington.
Every one in the University Of
Chicago Law School knew Ben Cohen
because of the brilliant record which
he made as law student" Herman
Ollphant, general counsel Of the
Treasury and a classmate OF Cohen,
recalls.
Cohen was the most brilliant
scholar ever in class of mine" ac-
cording to Harold Moulton, head of
the Brookings Institution, who taught
Cohen economics almost Is years ago.
The name of Ben Cohen is as
familiar as the name Of Tom Corcoran.
The two are always linked. But while
Corcoran has been often described,
most writer's are satisfied to dismiss
Cohen with a mention.
Running Mates FlambOyance
Is Lacked by Cohen.
That may be because Cohen lacks
his running mates f1amboyance. He
is quiet and shy, silent cogitator who
does not sing and who plays only one
piece on the piano.
Cohen is counsel Of the National
Power Policy Committee, an agency
whose few specific duties permit the
lawyer to give his time to contempla-
ton Of the eideas-in-the-raw put forth
by the President as bases for legisla-
ton.
He stepped into the New Deal arena
in March, 1888, at the prompting of
Felix Frankfurter, the Harvard law
professor who for years has been the
chief supplier Of intellectuals to the
White House.
With his glowing mind he brought
to Washington deep wish to improve
the lot of the lesser man and a broad
knowledge and experience to which
We can trace many Roosevelt pro-
grams.
Drafted Securities Bill
With Corcoran and Lands.
Cohen was an expert on the British
companies acts, the English instru-
ment for control of securities and
security exchanges So it is only
natural that his first Job here was to
closet himself with Tom Corcoran and
Jim Lands to draft the truth-in-
securities bill.
Because he preached so ardently the
gospel of John Maynard Keynes, the
British economist, that billon-dollar
public works pump-priming is the
duty OF government in times Of de-
preston, the New Deals spending
reached its Mount Everest proportions.
And because his background includ-
ed success as adviser on labor
problems, Secretary Ickes employed
him to formulate the Public Works
Administration labor policy. The
P w. A. has had no labor trouble, and
every law which Cohen has had
hand in writing for the New Deal has
survived the contest of constitu-
tionality.
In the plush days of 1929 Cohen
played the stock market with great
fortune and withdrew his winnings
before the crash. This gave him
practical experience which he put to
good use in helping write the Stock
Exchange bill
Wrote Model Wage Law
For New York State.
Again, Cohen was the logical man
for the White House to call upon as
a bill-composer when the President
decided he wished to empower the
Federal Government to regulate the
working hours and set the minimum
of Americas workmen. For Cohen
in 1925 wrote the New York State
minimum wage law, model-even
though it was later declared uncon-
stitutional-for similar laws of IA
other States.
Cohen was also an expert on
corporate reorganization, an intricate
business. and legal proceeding in
which he had specialized as a New
York lawyer. Such knowledge was
essential in framing the Public
Utilities Holding Co. act, but before
he could join Corcoran in composing
that bill, he had to master the COM
plications of the power industry. This
he did so well that today he is the
White Houses chief adviser on the
development of its power program.
When he is on the Job of composing
legislation, Cohen sits in deep chair
while he smokes cigarettes by the yard
He listens quietly to the discussions of
his colleagues until they admit they
are baffled by the problem. Then
Cohen produces the solution to the
dilemma
Cohen was born in Indiana He
was educated at Chicago and Harvard
He served as secretary to Julian Will
liam Mack, Circuit Court justice on
the Federal bench in New York He
was in Paris and London after the
World War, helping effect the
Palestine settlement which Great
Britain now seeks to dissolve.
He lives with Corcoran at 1910 K
street. AS they say in the Great
Smckies, Corcoran wasn't behind the
door when the brains was passed out.
But he grants freely that Cohen's
mind is the north star by which the
New Deal steers.
CnMcTIrlITIn cEDlUNc