Evening star., 1948-06-10
District fudge in the State Of WASH
infton to jotfa the Preeident's cabt-

TO become q Federal Judge In
December, 1910, he had given up
his seat in the senate.
Survived BY Widow and Mother.
Besides his widow. the former
Anne Josephine Duffy Of Seattle,
Mr.. Schwellenbach Is survived BY
his mother, Mrs. Martha Baxter)
schwellenbach of Seattle, and two
brothers, Justice E. w. Schwellen-
bach OF the Washington State Su-
preme Court and c. H. Schwellen.
bach OF Olympia, Wash.
He also had three nephews, Bax-
ter Schwellenbach, law student
and radio announcer here, and
Capt. Thomas Schwellenbach and
1t. G. B. Schwellenbach, both Of
the Air Force.
AFL President William Green
expressed deep regret" He said
Secretary Schwellenbach through
out his public career "evinced keen
sympathy with the cause of the
underprivileeed and warm support
for the interests Of American work.
ers."
"As Secretary of Labor" Mr..
Green continued, Mr.. Schwellen-
bach strove couras seously to bring
about better relations between man
agement and labor. His efforts to
prevent passage Of anti-labor legis-
latien and to advance social justice
were thwarted by a re-
Congress which retaliated
by amputatine the scope and au-
thority Of the Department Of Labor.
The public career and personal
preferences of Secretary Schwellen.
bach had more than their share
OF contrasts. During his six years
in the Senate he apparently en-
joyed a label as one OF the New
Deals Young Turks" In private
life as well in most official appear
ances he leaned toward conservA-
tive, unspectacular pursuits.
Insisted on Fairness.
He conceded he was labor mind
ed" but insisted he was fair minded
in appreciating the problems of man
agement. AS practicing attorney
for many years he represented cor
porations As well as labor organiza-
tions.
His associates and others some
times cited his temper" but they
usually commended his judicial tenn i
perment.
Mr.. Schwellenbach went to the
Labor Department at time Of par
ticularly dificult transition, but not
with any pronounced opposition by
Ia Dor or management. Although top
labor leaders had not been consulted
in advance, they accepted the ap-
pointment without protest and, in
some instances, with praise because
a man was replacing Miss Frances
Perkins in the Secretary's office.
His troubles as Secretary de-
veloped along a somewhat different
line than he had anticipated. On
taking Office he looked for great
problems of postwar employment
and industrial reconversion. His
difficulties and &etbacks came
rather from his efforts to reorganize
and expand the Labor Department
and to improve labor management
relations.
BOIstered COncilia ton Service.
He Immediately advocated Labor
control over all Fed
eral labor agencies except the Labor
Board for railroad labor
controversies. He said he hoped to
make the Cancellation Service the
backbone" of the department. He
named Edgar L. Warren. then Chi
cago regional War Labor Board
chairman, as Cancellation Service
chief. .s.,. X * -. :.
~ His reorganization plans appar-
emily hit snags in the White House
as well as in Congress. When Presi-
dent Truman appointed John r.
Steelman as a special assistant on
labor and similar matters, there
were widespread comments that
Secretary Schwellenbach's star was
setting. The President, however,
frequently affirmed his faith in
Secretary Schwellenbach and there
was no sign of break in their close
personal friendship.
In the General Motors, General
Electric and the telephone walkouts
OF 1946, and to a lesser extent in the
Government Services, Inc. cafeteria
strike here this year. Mr.. Schwellen-
bach worked energetically for con-
ciliation processes. But he COM
planned that his official wings had
been so greatly clipped that he could
do little.
Opposed Taft Hartley Act.
Opposed to the Taft t-Hartley Act
and earlier legislative measures he
believed were unduly restrictive Of
labor, Mr.. Schwellenbach warned
employees not to ignore or circum-
vent the laws with which they dis
agreed. Last September he directed
ofilcials not to "engage
in public discussion of the Taft
Hartley Act, lest the public believe
the administration would not give
the law sympathetic treatment"
While the Attorney General and
the Secretary Of the Interior rather
than the Secretary of Labor have
figured most prominently in the
Governments handling Of certain
major labor issues, Secretary
Schwellenbach did not escape criti-
cism OF labor leaders. The Amer
ican Federation Of Labor pointedly
refused to invite him to address It's
annual convention in l946.
Mr.. Schwellenbach nevertheless
championed moves to strengthen
unions. In March, 1947, he de-
tended the closed shop and kindred
forms Of union security as the only
alternative to prolonged Industrial
strife" In May, 1916, he voiced
approval of political action by labor
Was Foe Of Communism.
A foe Of communism, Mr.. Schwel-
lenbach told the Senate Labor Com
mittee in February, l947, that Con-
gress should outlaw the Commun.
ist Party in the United States
When he became Secretary of La.