Evening star., 1947-07-18
Fight Seen 10 Confirm
|Murdock and Others
Named 10 New NLRB
By jones Y. Newton

that some of President Tru-
mans appointments to the new
National Labor Relations Board
will face a tough battle when
they come up for confirmation
by the Senate.
Administration advisers feared op-
position to Abe Murdock, the former
New Deal Senator from Utah, who
was named to the expanded board,
and to one and possibly two men,
bers of the present board reap
pointed by the President.
Meanwhile, Robert N. Denham of
Chevy Chase. Md, selected for the
powerful post of NLRB general
counsel, declared that the new Taft
Hartley Act. which the board will
administer, will do a great deal to
benefit both labor and industry"
Mr.. Denham, 62-year-old Repub-
hcan and now a NLRB trial exam
iner, said that he had no intention
Of using the broad powers given the
Office of general counsel under the
laDOT ACC 10 dictate LABOR relaLlOnS.
Opposes Labor "Czar."
II don't think labor needs czar,"
he said. Neither does industry. I
believe the labor situation will clear
itself up much more rapidly than
some people believed"
Besides Mr.. Denham and former
Senator Murdock, the President
named j. Copeland Gray, labor re-
lations counsel of Buffalo, N. Y, as
the other member of the board
which the Taft-Hartley Act ex-
panded to five members from three.
However, since the President be-
lieved it necessary to reappoint the
three incumbent members of the
board formally 1t is presumed they.
too, will be subject to confirmation
by the Senate. The three members
are Paul M. Herzog, chairman; John
Houston and James j. Reynolds.
All members of the board and the
general counsel will receive $4,000
a year.
Republicans Refuse Comment.
Republican Senate Leaders re-
fused immediate comment on the
new appointments. Senator Ives OF
New York, remarked that he did
not know of the appolntees. He is
a member of the Senate Labor
Committee.
Senator Morse of Oregon had high
praise for Mr.. Murdock, saying, 81
have the highest regard for him. ]
consider it an excellent appoint
ment."
Mr.. Murdock was defeated for re-
election last fall after serving one
term in the Senate. Before that he
had served four terms in the House
The ranking Democratic member
Of the Labor Committee, Senator
Thomas of Utah, said he thinks
the President has appointed a
fine board and a fine general
counsel"
Mr.. Denham said that he had
not discussed the new job with
the President although he had
talked at length with John r. Steel
man, assistant to the President.
Sees Wagner Act Preserved.
Il think the new act CTaft-Hart-
ley) is not nearly as bad as those
in opposition said it was" he de-
clared. "All of the rights under the
old Wagner Act are preserved
There are some restrictions and
new responsibilities on labor Or
ganizations, but I think close ex-
animation of the boards decisions
will show that the board has more
or less approached the same things
in recent months.
when the smoke has settled an6
we get clear, fair and dispassionate
view, I am confident we will fine
that it will not be nearly as HARD
to get along with as some people
feared"
Mr.. Denham, under the new labor
relations act, will have the job o.
investigating, processing and prose
cutting all complaints made to the
board by employers and unions. He
will also direct NLRB field Offices
1t will be impossible for a case te
get to the board without his
approval.
Provisions Effective August u.
Provisions of the act affecting the
NLRB become effective August %.
Mr.. Gray, who was labor rela'
tions director for the Houdaille.
Hershey Co. in Buffalo for Is years
and reported no loss of time due tt
labor disputes in the whole period
was an industry member of the
Wage Sterilization Board.
Although a fellow Missourian by
birth-in st. Louis in 1885-Mr
Denham has never met Mr.. Truman
He was educated at the Univer'
sity of Missouri and received hi
law degree at the University o.
Michigan. Then his health failed
and he went to West Texas as {
cowhand, at $40 a month and grub
Bossed Lumberiacks.
Mr.. Denham enlisted in the All
Force in World War but lost out
as a pilot because he was past 80
Still in service, he was made boss o.
$50 lumberjacks in the Washington
woods, cutting spruce for airplanes
After the war he got into lega
practice for banking houses, and wa!
hired to "sit in a back room in &
Miami bank and say No" after ths
Florida real estate boom had beer
Debated. Later he represented busi.
ness firms in Europe and South
America.
In 1888, he aided in the bank re.
organization program after Presi.
dent RooseveIt's bank holiday.
He has been an NLRB trial ex.
aminer since 1888, and is head of thu
Federal Trial Examiners Confer.
ence.
Joun Fontoine Injured
HOLLYWOOD, July 1s (P.-Joar