The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-10-23

The debonair Flynn expects to resign from the Democratic Com mittee shortly after the November elections, and wants an ambas- sadorial post within committing distance of the U. s. A.
 This would mean replacement of the sitting Ambassador, George Messersmith, who, although not particularly popular around the State Department, is doing a good war job in Mexico. Messersmith once held the tough jobs of con- Sul general in Germany and Amer ican Minister in Austria, glares over his spectacles, talks turkey, mixes tact with vinegar, and gen. orally gets things done.
 He now has a war staff of U. s. diplomats in Mexico 200 strong, who, even when making the rounds of night clubs to 3 a. m., gets to work at g a. m.-or incur the wrath of Messersmith.
 Because Mexico is so import
 ant, State Department officials
 are hoping they can defect Boss
 Flynn to some other country.
 Since he wants to be within
 committing distance, there is
 Cuba, which is accustomed to
 calamity, and where Spruille
 Braden, since he became an ann
 bassador, has forgotten that he
 was just a common millionaire.
 Also there is Brazil, where the people understand politics, and where nervous Ambassador Jef- ferson Gafffrey has bitten his own ankle so frequently that even Ed Flynn might be welcome.
 NOTE: An anonymous letter writing campaign has been start- ed to the State Department be- cause Ambassador Messersmith plays bridge with King Carol of Rumania and Madame Lupescu. STRIKES AND TRANSPORTS
 It hasn't been announced, but Undersecretary of War Patterson has ordered a survey of seamen's and longshoremen's working con- ditions on merchant ships which carry vital war supplies overseas.
 Douglas Brown, industrial re-
 IatiOns expert of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Is con-
 ducting the survey. Inside req
 son for it is the serious con- flict between the Army and the
 War Shipping Administration
 over handling of ships for the
 transport of troops and supplies
 aboard. As a result of this conflict some ships are manned
 by green crews, and there is a
 general state of dissatisfaction
 on the part of maritime labor.
 Friction began when the Army Transport Service began taking over ships from the War Ship ping Administration. Now the friction has become so sharp that Admiral Emory Land, head of War Shipping, has written strong letter to the War Depart ment, saying he will release no more ships for transfer to the Army until working conditions for seamen are improved.
 Army Transport Service re- gards maritime labor in the same class as soldiers-they should obey orders, with no thought of overtime pay or peacetime conditions of cOm- fort. But the seamen have 8 different idea, and walk out to be replaced by green crews.
 The seamen also resent the fact that Army Transport has for its executive officer their former foe, John Franklin, now a col States Lines, and a mfwypetaoin onel, formerly head of United States Lines, and a man who has a consistent record of opposing the demands of maritime labor. COAL DUMPED ON SHORE
 The conflict came to a head at a meeting held in the office of Ed McGrady, labor adviser to the Un- dersecretary of War. Stories were told at that meeting which, though discounted by War Transport Ser- vice, were still tough enough to be disturbing.
 One story, told by Harry Lund- berg, head of the Seafarer's In- ternatiOnaI .lAFLls dealt with