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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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ridiculous happen. The most preposterous, the most terrible..! You know what this fellow Harold Ickes has done?”

“Well, he's the Secretary of the Interior.”

“He has written me the most scandalous letter, the most terrible letter!!! I wrote him a perfectly plain, straight-forward letter from the War Labor Board, telling him what he had to do.”

I remember saying to him laughingly, “Don't you know you can't tell Ickes what he has to do?” That didn't make any impression at all on Mr. Morse. He was too angry. He walked up and down my office, using all kinds of language.

He finally said, “I brought you down his letter to hear.”

At this moment I had the great temptation to say, “Oh, never mind, I've seen it.” But I thought, “That's not the way to treat men when they're angry. Keep still and cooperate.” So I took the letter that he gave me and read it. I said, “Oh, mercy me, Mr. Morse, what did you write him that brought forth this? This is quite a letter, isn't it?”

Morse said, “Well, here is a copy of the letter I wrote him. A perfectly proper letter from the War Labor Board.”

Well, it was pretty strong, but still it was within the bounds of propriety, which Ickes' was not.

I said, “What are you going to do?”

“Well, I have written him a letter,” said Morse, reaching into his other pocket. “I have written a reply and I want to show it to you. I want you to know what's going on.”





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