Home
Search transcripts:    Advanced Search
Notable New     Yorkers
Select     Notable New Yorker

Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
Photo Gallery
Transcript

Part:         Session:         Page of 915

is, Houston reasoned it this way, as he said when he came to see me about it, “The Democrats passed the Labor Relations Act and I'm not going to amend it because I'm a Democrat. I'm not going to stand by and recommend its amendment. If Senator Wagner introduced it and the Democrats put it through, it's got to be right. It's a Democratic measure.” Reilly had welcomed Houston's appointment on the theory that a little political savvy wouldn't hurt the Board, but this was too much. I must say that I assented to the idea that political savvy would be helpful. Neither Millis nor Leiserson had any political savvy. They always were flying in the face of obvious political prejudices. Anyway, Houston's attitude was just a little too political for Reilly.

The result was that Houston and Millis thought that Reilly was a traitor. I know Reilly to be a man of good will. I know him to have believed, and still to believe, that his recommendations were absolutely essential. However, Senator Ball's bill was not passed, but a bill drafted by Taft and Harley was passed, incorporating a good many of the things that had been in Senator Ball's bill which Reilly helped to draft. On the other hand, a number of things were put into





© 2006 Columbia University Libraries | Oral History Research Office | Rights and Permissions | Help