Evening star., 1961-01-09
THE KENNEDY, ,eABpyET
HODGES Will Battle Hard for Business
BsWM.LfAMe HINES
star staff writer

@-@.0~@
merce. the American business
man will have Q sympathetic
and effective pleader close TO
the ear Of President Kennedy.
Luther Hodges harbors not
the slightest shadow Of doubt
that what Is good for business
is good for the country. Thus
armed with the knowledge that
his cause is just, the white
haired North Carolinian can
be sexpeeted to DO vigorous
battle for business and against
its enemies, foreign and domes-
tie. No tF {. tJ 'E05
: Specifics Of the Hodges pro-
gram for the next four years
are locked in the breast Of
Secretary-designate for, the
present. But In general It can
be predicted that he viii move
swiftly to improve Americas
position In the rat-race of in
ternational, trade and to try
to curb what looks suspiciously
like . business recession ct
home.
Mr.. Hodges does not believe
the Government can cure the
Nations economic ills 'by way-
ing Q wand In Warrington,
as he put It. The Hodges
formula for q Commerce Sec
retary. rather, is 'to do certain
necessary services for busi-
ness and industry and not 60
throwing rcadbiocks in the
way" y
For s'Risht-to-w
A'r6adbIock." BY Mr..
HODGES standards. undoubtedly
would be any attempt to lib-
eralize the Taft-Hartley Act
BY withdrawing from the States
their present authority to en-.
act "right.t0-work" laws gov
erning industries In interstate
commerce. This Is high on
labor's agenda.
AS the immediate past Gov
ernor Of q right-to-work State,
Mr.. Hodges is convinced that
North Cardinals law has at
tracted business and stabilized
employment there. He would
certainly oppose strongly any
change In the Nations labor
law that would strip this
authority from the States.
Luther Hodges Is not dreamer
enough to think Taft-Hartley
could be strengthened into q
national right-to-work law,
however. AS q matter of fact,
he refuses even to say whether
he thinks such q law would be
Q good thing. tits been good
Tor North Carolina" Is his only
comment.
Ever since he was named to
the Commerce post December 8,
people have been wondering
how Mr.. Hodges would fit into
the Kennedy cabinet. His age
(6O and economic outlook
seemingly put him at variance
with the President and the
other members Of the youthful
official family.
Backed BY Foes
Those who know him best
predict Luther Hodges mot only
viii fit In we'll, but. win make
an excellent Gecretary Of Com!
merce. His close friends and
political debtors understandably
speak Of him In glowing terms.
But . poll Of those who are in
no sense his admirers also re-
veals n belief that Mr.. HODGES
will do q good Job.
Il can't think of Q single
Secretary Of Commerce in my
memory 50 admirably suited to
the job" says Q political foe,
State Senator John Jordan Of
Raleigh. 81. =
II think he has the qualifi-
cations to be q good Secretary, "
says State AFL-CIO President
w. Millard Barbee Of Durham.
who has been persona non
grata at the Governors office
since 1857.
He knows the score-but
Commerce. 10 the only position
in the. cabinet I'd like to see
him In, says Associate Editor
emeritus Robert z. Williams of
the Raleigh News and Observer.
Hes been q pretty good
Governor, and I think he'll
make out fine in Washington, %
says the Rev. Curtis p. Mead.
ows, head Of Raleigh's 1000
member chapter Of the NAACP.
Rags to Riches
One thing that will stand Mr..
Hodges in good stead is his
amazing adaptability. He made
the transition from ig-business
executive to public servant 10
years ago without breaking
stride, and can be relied on now
not to falter as he enters the
Washington arena.
Mr.. Hodges is reputed to be
q millionaire, which If true Gas
1t quite probably Isl makes him
the perfect example Of Rags to
Riches through Pluck and Luck
A poor boy from PittSylvania
County. Va, he played the
whole Horatio Alger bit and
was wen fixed when he retired
from business at the age Of 81.
Mr.. Hodges employment rec
ord ct Marshall Field & Co.,
clearly shows o man Of drive
and ability. Though 1t is best
known rs q Chicago depart
ment store. Marshall Field is q
vast and diversified enterprise
with . large string Of textile
mills. By the time he was 40,
Mr.. Hodges was general man
ager Of those mills.
Young Luther Hodges was
an exemplary citizen from the
start. While working his way
through the University NJ Norfl,