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Show Plans Reorganization Of Labor Department New Secretary Undertakes Task to Knit Activities of Over 20 Agencies; Seeks To Avert Vet-Union Row. By BAUKHAGE News Analyst and Commentator. WNU Service, Union Trust Building, Washington, I). C. It took Hercules Just one day to clean the stables where one wealthy but not too sanitary man had kept 10,000 oxen. At least that is the way I heard it at my father's knee. Since my father pioneered in Washington state in the early '90s, I wish he were here now to witness another Washingtonian doing a Herculean Job which he hopes to finish by September Sep-tember 1. I refer to Secretary Schwellen-bach, Schwellen-bach, whose assignment is to put the department of labor in order. He Isn't going to have to do much cleaning clean-ing out, but he has been tidying up so that he can bring back under his aegis most of a score of prodigal agencies, all having to do with labor, la-bor, which are scattered all over the District of Columbia and points horth and west. Most of the labors of Hercules were decidedly thankless ones and were given him for spite because his stepmother, Juno, didn't like her husband's extra-curricular children. Schwellenbach's Job is thankless enough, but it wasn't given to man's desk by the first of September. Septem-ber. Reorganization Toachy Problem The next step would logically be an executive order from the President Presi-dent embodying the Schwellenbach report to make the suggested changes. With his war powers, the President wouldn't have to ask the pleasure of congress. But President Truman doesn't want the changes he makes to be temporary alfairs. Like every other president since Grover Cleveland, he has requested powers to reorganize the government govern-ment and never has congress offered of-fered a carte-blanche go-ahead. Such a bill is pending in congress now. However, If the suggestions made by Secretary Schwellenbach were considered reasonable, they might be put into a bill and passed. In any case they will probably be presented before the other measure authorizing wider presidential authority au-thority is considered. In the meantime, labor itself Is tending to cloud the atmosphere insofar in-sofar as acceptance of any efforts to restore full, free, collective bargaining, bar-gaining, which the no-strike pledge and various wartime restrictions have virtually suspended. The public pub-lic is getting very irritated with violations vio-lations of the no-strike pledge and what many feel to be union demands which, whether or not they appear fair as between labor and management, manage-ment, do not take the consumer into consideration. Much of the antagonism is due to the feeling of the men who resented strikes while they were in the service. serv-ice. Schwellenbach managed to smooth out one of the toughest veterans vet-erans versus unions troubles the country ever witnessed back in his home state of Washington after the last war. He admits there is no douht that such antagonism exists now. "We may as well face it," he says. But he thinks he can handle it. One habit which Schwellenbach wants to break up, and It Is assumed as-sumed the President wants him to break up, is having labor disputes leap-frog right into the lap of the White House. Some of the old-line labor department officials used to writhe every time a long, hot telegram tele-gram went out such as some of those addressed to John Lewis while the coal strike was going on, which were signed by President Roosevelt, but dictated by the War Labor board, which labor and management had snubbed. These old-timers felt that many of the questions could have been settled with the machinery ma-chinery which already existed within with-in the department. Of course, the War Labor board, which has had all the tasks complicated com-plicated by the war to perform, will die with V-J Day. I Secretary Sehwellenbaeh him for spite. It was given to him by his old friend, Harry Truman, because the President believed that, like Hercules, Schwellenbach could deliver. He was a popular, hardworking hard-working senator. He was a popular, hard-working Judge. The requests of goddesses and presidents are commands, com-mands, so the judge laid aside his robe, rolled up his sleeves and started in. ' The first thing he found out when he reached the palatial "stables" on Constitution avenue was that taking tak-ing care of administrative matters would keep any labor secretary as busy as Augeas should have been with his 3,000 oxen. No wonder no- body quite dared to try to corral the 20-some agencies, rightly under the authority of the department. To administer ad-minister them would under the present set-up be an impossible Job. And so they grew up with their own public relations departments, their own statistical services and legal le-gal advisors, separate entities all gding their own sweet, if sometimes conflicting, way. So the first thing that Schwellenbach Schwellen-bach did was to get together a small group who knew the department, who knew organization and who knew Washington, to find out if something couldn't be done to knit the functions of the department more closely together so the head man wouldn't have to sign all the travel orders and decide whether there was enough ice in the Iced tea in the cafeteria; and attend to other trivia which might better be delegated This was the first step In preparing prepar-ing the old home to absorb its prodigal prodi-gal children. When the new secretary secre-tary arrived in his panneled office, he called the staff of the department depart-ment together and said he knew that everyone agreed that there had to be a reorganization and that each division head also probably agreed that his own group didn't need to be tampered with. Then he went ahead. As this is written it is hoped that the report of the crew of investigators investiga-tors and a similar study of the extra-mural activities will be completed com-pleted soon so that a comprehensive report will be laid on President Tru- Vows Impartial Labor Department Other separate agencies dealing with labor will continue. The United States Employment service ami the apprenticeship and training program pro-gram are now part of the War Manpower Man-power commission. Socialt security Is run by the social security board. If the movement to create a new department of welfare succeeds, this new set-up might conceivably absorb ab-sorb social security and also the children's bureau, now under the labor la-bor department. The National Labor Relations board, which administers its quasi-judicial quasi-judicial functions under the Wagner act. now independent, would have its "housekeeping" done by the department de-partment that is, its financing, personnel per-sonnel and such matters would be under the secretary of labor. Since Schwellenbach has been in office he has talked to a whole string of labor men and a whole string of management men, too. "I am not a labor official," he says. "I am a public official." That pretty well sets up his position posi-tion and, as I said, it makes his job, so far as the lobbies of labor end management go, about as thankless as the labors of Hercules. Congress feels that the labor department is supposed to look after labor interests inter-ests and what Judge Schwellenbach is shooting at is to have it operate with the impartiality of a court. But his chief concern now is to consolidate con-solidate under one head all government govern-ment activities pertaining to labor. |