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and see me. Ickes said, “I think we've got something here. I believe that Lewis will act as we described. I think he will put it up to the United Mine Workers. I think the United Mine Workers will say yes, they'll go to work for the Government, and that they will then work for the Government, and that I will be the boss.”
“Well,” I said, “did you have a talk about your attitudes towards Labor?”
“Oh yes, we went into all that.”
Anyhow, Lewis telephoned and came over to my office to see me. He reported that he had had a very satisfactory talk with Ickes. He didn't come over, he telephoned this, because he wanted to take the next train back to New York. He telephoned it from a public telephone booth somewhere or other. He told me that he'd had a very satisfactory talk; that he was assured that Ickes' attitude towards Labor was correct. It was just the right attitude for a Government officer to have. He believed that he would be honorable, and I believed that he would be honorable, and Lewis believed that everything would be all right. He would go back and he would call in his Committee and try to sell them the idea that if the Government made this proposal, they would agree.
Well, now then, my next duty was to explain all this that had happened to the President. I then proceeded to get the President. I don't remember where he was, whether he
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