Evening star., 1944-03-15
Eastman
Continued From First Page.)

native of Katonah, N. Y. He was
the son of clergyman. AS young
man he began his public career in
Massachusetts,, where he attracted
the attention of the late Justice
Louis D. Brandeis. 1t was as a
protege of the renowned jurist that
Mr.. Eastman was appointed to the
ICC in 1919 by President Wilson
While at the outset of his work
there he was looked on as radical,
he grew in the esteem of those with
whom his labors threw him in con-
tact, and in his long service on the
commission he enjoyed the con-
fldence of management as we'll as
labor.
Honored Last Month.
Only last month, several hundred
representatives of the transporta-
ton industry, as we'll as friends
from throughout the Capital, joined
in honoring him at a testimonial
banquet commemorating his Is
years on the commission. He had
only recently been named for an
other term by President Roosevelt
In 1888 Mr.. Eastman was named
OF transportation by
President Roosevelt, when a com
prehensive plan was formulated fol
consolidating and co-ordinatine
railroad operations to bring about
economies.
In 1912 he was named director
of the Office of Defense Transpor-
tation and given the tremendous
task of bossing the movement o1
everything that poured through do
mestic channels into the war effort
Always prodigious worker, he
usually arrived at his Office about
$3.50 am. and could be found there
late at night. Friends blamed his
last illness on overwork.
Independent in Politics.
Mr.. Eastman listed himself as an
independent" in politics and his
independence of thought was we'll
recognized attribute.
Despite his closeness to the ad-
ministration, President Roosevelt's
plan, broached early in his admin
istration, to put all independent
agencies under the control of de-
partments, had no sharper critic
than the transplanted New Eng
lander.
He never hesitated to oppose what
he regarded as short-sighted policies
by rail labor in opposing economies
that might mean the displacement
OF employees, and he was equally
sharp with the carriers if occasion
demanded. On one notable occasion
he vigorously opposed Reconstruc.
ton Finance Corp. loan to permit
the Wabash and Missouri Pacific
lines to discharge certain indebted
ness, dissenting from commission
approval of the grant with the
pungent comment that it was not
up to the Government "to bail out
the bankers.
Mr.. Eastman, who would have
been 62 on June 26. was graduated
from Amherst in 1904, and the mex
year received the Amherst Fellow.
ship in South End House, a socia
settlement in Boston. There hi
worked seven years.
Was Walsh Appointee.
At the same time he became secre.
tary of the Public Franchise League
Of Boston, and in 1914 he first cam,
into public notice by representa-,
the. workers in wage dispute with
the Boston street railways. Thi!
task brought him under the eye O
Senator David l. Walsh-then Gov.
ernor of Massachusetts-a an ap
pointment to the State Public Serv.
ice Commission in 1915 followed.
1t was in these years that he at
tracted Justice Brandeis' attention
and the appointment to the Inter
state Commerce Commission re
suited.
The principles which guided Mr.
EaStman's work were we'll summed
up in the speech of appreciation he
made at the testimonial banquet
last month, when he said:
"Zealots, evangelists and crusaders
have their value before an admin
istrative tribunal, but not on it."
Mr.. Eastman made his home al
2266 Cathedral avenue NV. with his
sister, Miss Elizabeth Eastman.
Temporarily, his deputy. Brig
Gen. Charles D. Young, will take
over as head of the ODT.
Funeral services will be held at {
m. Friday at All Souls Memoria
Episcopal Church, with the Rev
H. H. D. Sterrett, the rector, offici.
ating. Burial will be private.
Space will be reserved in the
church for delegations designated
by the various agencies to repre-.
sent them at the rites.
There are 80 Red Cross servic
I