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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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was so much world opposition to communism was because of this.

I think that was the Trotskyite end of the pattern, and the whole situation was very hot here in New York. By the early thirties there were beginning to be people who were called Communists. I don't remember any specific names, but when there was a demonstration, there would be talk that it was a Communist demonstration. During the early days of the depression when poverty was very sudden and very terrible there would be demonstrations here and there and you would hear that they were Communist demonstrations.

It was in that period that I got onto the Communists and their tactics. We would have a delegation of people coming to the Labor Department to see the Industrial Commissioner, or any other person there. They would be politely received, as any delegation is. They claimed they represented some workers and that they had a grievance. Those delegations were always politely received. It was the duty of the people in the Labor Department to hear what their grievance was.

They would come in, and they looked just like other working people. You couldn't tell the difference. You would say, “I'm here to hear what you have to say. Will you present your case please. Who's speaks for you?”





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