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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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was. I asked him over and over again to interpose through his connection, never publicly, and nobody ever knew that I did it. He never made it known that I had asked him. He was a good sport that way. He didn't tell what he had done for you. He would call up somebody in Texas for instance who was a good scout on the Democratic side, who was willing to be a good Democrat and see that the Party was important, and say to him, “This oil strike is terrible. These employer fellows should listen to reason. They should meet with the union. I'm reliably informed that that's all that's necessary.” He got the Ohio politicians to come around and help out on the Akron Strike, quietly, to bring the employers around. He was really wonderful in things like that.

He was always very shrewd in asking me questions about the details of the strike, about the details of who was who in the strike, about the demands, and what I thought it would take to settle it. Many a time the person I piped my information through to the employer as to what it would take to settle a strike would not be one of our regular conciliators, but Jim Farley. He would pipe it to a Democratic colleague of his who would pipe it to the appropriate employer. He was willing to do that and a good sport at it too.





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