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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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least true in Agriculture, in Interior, where they had the conservation of certain natural resources. In a very confidential way we got the heads of operating bureaus into our confidence and said, “Now, we don't know what's going to happen, but we must plan the operations of the Labor Department (and I think they did this in other departments), and each one of you must plan the operations of your bureau or division with this thought in mind: What are the things that will become most necessary in case the European war continues, and, second, in case the United States gets drawn into this European war? Obviously we just can't continue to make time and do all the little folderols. Useful as they may be, we can't make researches into questions that are of sound importance for an understanding of the social conditions of the country for the next fifty years. We will never get the money for that and we can't do it. If the world is at war, and the European war continues into a greater war, the country will be affected by it one way or another. We must decide what's most important. We must get a new order of precedence. When we say first things first, we mean first in point of actual measurable time now. We must make a program in each division that has that in mind.

We must always think of the possibility, since we have the pattern of the First World War before us, that the United





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