The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1949-01-20
Labor Man Finds
New Congress Post
Complex Challenge
BY BETSY LEVINSON

House Office Building on Capito
Hill smelled Of wet paint last week
And the new Congressman, will
I Offices there, were even freshel
than the paint.
It's a big job organizing new
Congress and in the confusion a
the beginning most Of the first
termers, who do not yet know thu
ropes, find that they have to RELY
on the newspapers for most Of theil
information. They throw in theil
names for committee assignment
and then frantically pressure
everyone they know to find out
what assignment they'll get. Us
ually it isn't the one they askeC
for.
Rep. George Rhodes Cd, Pa
was in the customary beginner
state when we went up to see hin
this week. Rhodes, sbespectaclet
Harry Truman type, sat behind &
desk piled high with literature sent
by various pressure groups anc
temporarily desparied of getting
thru to all the people with whom
he wanted to consult.
His first committee choice is
Education & Labor, second is For.
eign Affairs and third is Post Of
fee & Civil Service because they're
the things know most about. >
He's keeping his fingers crossed
about where he'll land. Coming Il
Congress direct from labor's ranks
the Reading Representative coulC
hardly be considered impartial OF
matters that might come befor'
the labor committee.
This, he points out, should no
be count against him. "You ough
to have people on the COMMITTEE
who understand labor problems,
Rhodes asserts, sand if you wan
to arrive at middle course yol
do it by getting people from boil
sides. Anyone with an intelligen
understanding will have an opin
ion."
Rhodes has done better thai
most of the new Congressman OF
the Washington housing problem
He succeeded in finding a moder
ate-priced apartment in Alex
andria, just Is minutes from th'
Capitol. Several of his friends anC
union buddies drove down from
Reading to see him installed in hii
new job.
For 20 years now he has beer
president of the Central Labor I'm,
ion in Reading. He is president Of
the Conference of Eastern Pennsy.
lvania Central Labor Unions ano
has been a delegate to six national
AFL conventions. The 50-year ole
unionist started his labor activities
as a member of the Int'l Typo
graphical Union. When he ran fol
Congress, he was editor of the
AFL weekly paper "New Era" and
is the first labor editor in Congress
since Edward Keating, editor of
the railroad unions newspaper
Labor"
AS a labor journalist, Rhodes is
not optimistic about the publica-
tion of labor daily in this coun-
try in the near future. at would
cost an awful lot," he points out,
"and a successful paper usually
has to carry local news" A more
effective thing for labor right now,
he thinks, would be to put a daily
radio commentator on the air with
a nationwide hookup supported on
local basis. Something like Full
ton Lewis in reverse" he says,
adding that such a program could
eventually supplement a paper"
Among the pile of unsolicited
free reading on Rhodes desk was
a book on iva, which judging by
the jacket looks as tho it was pub
lished by the electric utilities lob
by. Rhodes hasn't read the book
yet but he has definite opinions on
the subject. He hopes there will be
a Missouri Valley Authority bill
passed during the coming session
as well as many other power pro-
jects which are vitally needed.
When we left he was on his way
to confer with another labor con-
gresham on the problems of life
on the Hill and the ways and means
of getting constructive action ou;
of the turmoil up there.