Report on Conference with Jonathan Daniels Regarding Philadelphia Transit and Los Angeles Street Railway

On the above date I met with Mr. Daniels to discuss the status of the Philadelphia Transit case and Los Angeles Street Railway.¹ Mr. Daniels reiterated his pledges given over the telephone to me the day before. These pledges were that the government would not back down in its enforcement of the Executive Order 9346, which led to the upgrading of Negroes in Philadelphia on the transit system.

He showed me a telegram from Mayor Fletcher Bowron of Los Angeles. This wire, which was several pages, urged that the forth-coming hearing be cancelled. The Mayor expressed the view that it would cause possible racial conflict and felt that the police force in Los Angeles would be inadequate to control the situation. Mr. Daniels asked my opinion on what should be done. I informed him that the Los Angeles hearings had been postponed twice at the request of the Mayor. I also stated that in this instance the attention of the Nation had been focused on the Philadelphia situation, if the Government retreated in the Los Angeles Street Railway, it would appear that we had become frightened because of irresponsible opposition. This, I informed him, would greatly weaken our position with employers all over the country and would have a dangerously adverse affect on Negroes throughout the country.

Mr. Daniels suggested that it might be possible to hold a closed hearing in view of the hostile newspapers in the community. I pointed out that closed hearings are reserved for government agencies and that since newspapers are hostile, it would be very advisable to have a public hearing so that from at least one source our story would not be garbled. He then asked whether it would be possible to hold in abeyance the issuance of directives, for a few weeks. I pointed out that directives are never issued immediately after the hearing, and that if the normal course of events takes place, such directives would not be issued immediately after the public hearings. He seemed somewhat reassured at this point and indicated that he would appreciate it if Mr. Ross would communicate with Mayor Bowron for the purpose of letting the latter know what our procedures are.

I agreed to call Mr. Daniels later in the day after he talked with Mr. Ross. I did call him on Saturday, August 5, he stated that he had talked to Mr. Ross and the latter saw Mayor Bowron yesterday. Mr. Daniels said it was his understanding that Mr. Ross was to have a second meeting with Mayor Bowron and representatives of the company, following this meeting Mr. Ross was to call Mr. Daniels.

Again Mr. Daniels assured me that there would be no interference with the Los Angeles hearing, but it was hoped that they would be handled in a careful fashion. He also reiterated his assurance that the government would stand firm in its actions against the strikers in the Philadelphia transit case.