Evening star., 1939-12-11

essential requirement for satisfac.
tory adjustment of disputes as to
the appropriate unit Is that the
Government board shall not under
take to pass Judgment on whether
organization of employees along the
lines of an industrial unit is better
than on craft lines, or that craft
or plant units are preferable to
industrial or other units"
Personnel Praised.
Discussing the delay in handling
cases, Mr.. Leiserson said it is per-
haps inevitable that the parties who
suffer should ascribe ulterior mo-
tives to the board and its agents."
They get the idea," he explained,
that the board delays their cases
in order to help other parties. Many
of these charges of partisanship di-
rected against the board stems from
this fact. But as the most recent
ly appointed member of the board
who has no part In selecting the
staff, I want to say that as whole
the personnel of the National Labor
Relations Board is made up of ,ln-
usually intelligent, hard working,
sincere and honest men and women.
They compare most favorably with
the employees of any public or private
organization with which I have been
associated. think great injustice
has been done to a devoted body Of
public servants by the manner In
which blanket charges of partisan
ship and misbehavior have been di-
rected at employees and agents Of
the board.
"Of course, there may be black
sheep among them, and some are
inexperienced and unframed. But
what private or public organization
does not have such employees among
its personnel"
The opening of the committees
hearings resembled somewhat a
Hollywood prev1ew. The spacious
caucus room in which they are being
held was nearly filled with specta-
tors, more than half of them well
dressed women. News reel camera
men flooded the room with light and
ground out a picture version of the
event. A dozen newspaper photog-
raphers milled around. making
shots" of the committee members,
Mr.. Leiserson and some of the more
prominent spectators.
Two Of the five members of the
committee who voted against adop-
ton OF the resolution authorizing
the investigation - Representative
Healey of Massachusetts, and Muir
dock of Utah, both Democrats-Were
absent when the hearing started.
Chairman Smith explained, how
ever, he had received word from
both OF them they would be present
tomorrow.
Long Preparations.
The committee staff, headed by
Mr.. Toland, began preparing for
the hearings in August. Thousands
OF questionnaires were sent to en-
ployers and workers involved in
litigation before the board, dozens
of controversial cases were re-
NAS"Co dilI oCFCldl luIluIcU sup
poenaS were issued for hearings
here and on the West Coast.
More recently, committee aides
seized complete files at the board
offices and later sorted out corre-
spondence which appeared to con-
tain what one described as "ques-
tionable practices"
The committee was reported to
be trying to head off haphazard
amendments to the act when Con-
gress meets next month. It wants
to Withhold debate until its report
is completed and can be used as
a basis for discussion.
Well-informed sources said, how
ever, some of the committeeman had
learned that revisions would be
pressed by others early in the ses-
sion in an attempt to Offset the
committees own inquiry and con-
clusions of Senate and House Labor
Committees which have not fin
ished hearings on the law.
They contended that the amend