Evening star., 1940-01-22
Unframed Cohen Kin
Got n. |. R. B. Post,
House Group Told
Nephew of New Dealer
Made an Attorney Despite
Officials Judgment
By CARTER BROOKE JONES.

BY CARTER BROOKE JONES.
A nephew of Benjamin v. Cohen,
New Deal adviser. was appointed
review attorney for the National
Labor Relations Board, although a
field executive of the board did not
consider him qualified, House
committee was informed today.
The nephew, Bernard William
Freund, 27, was on the witness stand
when the circumstances of his ap-
pointment were brought out by Ed
mund M. Toland, counsel for the
Smith committee investigating the
Labor Board.
Mr. Toland disclosed from Mr..
Freund's personnel record that
when Mr.. Cohen's relative applied
for the N. L. r. B. post, Towne
Nylander, then regional director at
Los Angeles, was detailed to inter-
view Mr.. Freund, who had been
practicing law there for short time.
The regional director did not
recommend Mr.. Freund. Instead Mr..
Nylander wrote Charles Fahy, gen.
eral counsel of the Labor Board,
that the young attorney, in his
opinion, was not sufficiently out
standing to become regional at
torney for the board and probably
would require considerable training
before qualifying for any lagal post
with the agency. Mr.. Nylander
doubted whether Mr.. Freund was
worth much more at the present
than he had been getting as a law
clerk and later as beginning at
torney-about $50 a month.
Another field officer of the board
reported that Mr.. Freund was sin
cerely, though cautiously, liberal"
and had no labor experience.
Appointed at $500.
Mr.. Fahy identified for the COM
mittee notation he had written
under these comments concerning
Mr.. Freund's qualifications:
Nephew of Ben Cohen"
Mr.. Freund was appointed an as
sistant attorney in the Review Di-
vision in November, 1887, at $4,000
a year and now receives $4,000, he
told the committee.
Asked Mr.. Cohen's position, Mr..
Freund said his uncle was general
counsel for the National Power
Policy Board.
isn't he Junior partner in the
firm of Corcoran e. Cohen?" sug-
gested Chairman Smith, referring
to Tom Corcoran, generally credited
as collaborating with Mr.. Cohen in
Major New Deal policies.
Il think they are both senior
partners" said Mr.. Toland
Mr.. Freund told the committee he
was native of Chicago and received
academic and law degrees at the
University of Michigan, the latter
in 1885.
He then went to Los Angeles, he
said, and was admitted to the bar.
After serving as a law clerk, he
began the general practice of law.
He said he tried three cases before
he went to work for the Government.
In his application to the N. L.
r. B., he said his uncle, Mr. Cohen,
had told him that, since the Supreme
Court had upheld the constitu-
tionality of the Wagner Act, the
board should need more attorneys.
Highly" Recommended.
Board files showed General Coun-
sci Fahy telegraphed Regional Di-
rector Nylander saying Mr.. Freund
had been highly recommended"
and asking Mr.. Nylander to inter-
view the applicant.
Mr.. Toland elected from the wit
ness that as an attorney in the
review division his duty was to read
transcripts of testimony taken at
labor hearings conducted by the
boards trail examiners He then
drafted summaries of evidence for
the board, he explained.
Asked if he passed on his impress
sion of the credibility of witnesses,
Mr.. Freund said he left that to the
board. He confined himself to di-
gesting all the evidence he consid-
cred material.
John L. Lewis and William Green,
rival labor leaders, personally will
carry their fight over the Wagner
National Labor Relations Act to
congressional committees.
The Smith committee announced
yesterday that Mr.. Green, president
of the American Federation of Labor,
would testify next Thursday and the
House Labor Committee said it
would hear Mr.. Lewis, president of
the Congress of Industrial Organ
izations, soon after February l.
Mr.. Lewis and Mr.. Green have
each contended that the National
Labor Relations Board has favored
the others organization.