Life for Lew

Seattle's loud, husky Lewis Schwellenbach chucked a lifetime job as Federal Judge in May 1945 for a traditionally thankless job as U.S. Secretary of Labor. Almost everybody in Washington wondered why. By last week even Lew Schwellenbach had run out of answers.

As soon as Harry Truman had persuaded his pal of Senate days to make the switch, a succession of baffling snubs began:

P: To do the work and reap the credit for settling the steel, coal and railroad strikes the President called in professorial White House Adviser John Steelman, let his Labor Secretary languish in the background.

P: After old friend Schwellenbach warned against "cooling-off" and labor-draft legislation, the President asked Congress to pass both.

P: When the Labor Secretary advised a veto of the Hobbs anti-racketeering bill, Harry Truman signed it.

P: Schwellenbach's pleas for seizure of the strikebound J. I. Case Co. and Allis-Chalmers Corp. were answered this week with a flat White House refusal.

As the stepchild of Truman's official family, life for Lew was embarrassing enough. As the advocate of labor inside the Cabinet, Schwellenbach's existence was frequently made miserable by labor's jealous family quarrel. Latest instance came when Lew let word get out that he planned to appoint a C.I.O. member to the International Labor Organization conference to be held in Montreal in September. Since Sam Gompers helped found the I.L.O. in 1919, the A.F.L. had furnished every delegate to I.L.O. conferences. As soon as he heard of the slight, crusty Bill Green got off a scorching, four-page letter to Harry Truman. Its gist: get rid of Schwellenbach, or else.

The appointment of Keen Johnson, ex-Governor of Kentucky, from a $35,000-a-year public relations job to a $10,000 post as Under Secretary of Labor (TIME, Aug. 12) set the stage for appeasing the A.F.L. The choice, made with Schwellenbach's approval, also appeared to choke off the longtime ambition of White House Adviser Steelman to succeed the hapless Lew.

Last week, while Johnson prepared to take over Labor Department administrative functions, "Lew the Laundryman" seemed ready to wash his hands of the whole distressing business.

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