Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-09-23

r,eke the CIO Lowell MeIlett.
unhappy. Which seems to leave
John L. Lewis, and that would make
both the CLIO and the AFL I'M
happy-to say nothing of a lot OF
other folks.
All labor people. and some others,
understand this. They understand
also that the candidate was merely
Joining in the pleasant indoor pas
time OF panning Frances Perkins.
It's a great sport, if you have MOTH
ing else to do. 1t appeals to the
same sort of people who enjoy bull
fighting or bear-baiting and is even
less dangerous, because the lady
doesn't strike back.
The Governor was not exactly
brave or gallant in that Seattle
speech, but, worse than that, he was
guilty of ingratitude, as l hope to
demonstrate in a moment.
Outright Misrepresentation.
First, however, a passing refer
ence to the Smith Connally Act, the
antistrike law. Mr.. Dewey called
this New Deal legislation. There Is
no one in the ranks of labor and
no one familiar with wartime leg
islation who will not recognize this
as outright Misrepresentation. The
fact is that the President opposed
this legislation, that he vetoed 1t
and that it was passed over his veto
by a preponderance of Republican
votes.
The Governor made an important
point of the fact that strikes in
creased after this law was passed.
He failed to say that this is eX-
actly what the President warned
would happen when he sent his veto
message to Congress.
All this is so we'll known that one
wonders whether the Governor
should be forgiven for some of the
- other things he said, particularly
his insinuations concerning. Secre-
tarv Perkins: whether he should be
forgiven on the ground that he SIM
ply didn't know what he was talk
ing about and that he was only
echoing what he considers a popular
demand for a different kind of Sec
rotary of Labor. That would as
sumo that he doesn't know that this
demand comes chiefly from employ
ers who think the Secretary should
spend her time batting labor's ears
down, that he doesn't understand
that the Labor Department bears
the same relation to labor that the
Commerce Department bears to
business.
But the New York Governor can
not be excused on the ground of
ignorance. His brief experience as
Governor has taug ut him the nature
Of the Secretary's job. That no
doubt Is why he didn't 60 to the
ranks of labor" to find a man to
head his State Department of Labor,
why instead he named Edward
Corsi, an Italian immigrant. whose
experience had been largely in well
fare work. incidentally. by ELL &C
counts, Mr.. Corsi is doing an ex-
cellent lob.
Frances Perkins cannot expect
any fair appraisal Of her public
service while she remains in office,
but she has made a record un-
equaled by any of her predecessors,
She has to her credit the present
minimum wage law and the Walsh
Healy Act, She was very largely
responsible for the Social Security
Act. She made of the Concilia ton
Service a quiet, efficient operation
that has killed off thousands of
strikes in their infancy OF caused
them to be stillborn. She estab-
lished the United States Employ
ment Service.
His Ingratitude.
The chief charge against her
seems to be that she has not been
a strong and arrogant bureaucrat
Now for Gov. DeWey's ingrati-
tude. He has in New York a good
Labor Department. 1t is called
the State Industrial Board and Is
headed by the excellent lMr. Corsi,
industrial commissioner. Miss Per-
kins was a member of that State
board for six years, appointed by
Gov. Al Smith. She was industrial
commissioner for four years, ap-
pointed by Gov. F. D. Roosevelt.
As commissioner she put this New
York Labor Department on an eff
ficient working basis. with vigorous