A reversal of the recent ruling by Comptroller General Lindsay Warren which stated that President Roosevelt’s order against racial discrimination in war jobs is not compulsory for firms obtaining government contracts, was foreshadowed today in a letter addressed by the White House secretary Stephen T. Early to the Pittsburgh Courier, a Negro newspaper. The case is now in the hands of Attorney General Francis Biddle.
The letter indicated White House displeasure with the ruling by saying that no White House official had asked Warren for a ruling on the issue. It also denied that a ruling was asked by the Office of War Mobilization. It assured the Courier that steps are being taken to investigate the impact of the ruling on the activities of the Fair Employment Practice Committee.
A delegation representing eight liberal groups yesterday urged Attorney General Biddle to investigate anti-Semitism in Boston, New York and in other cities and to prosecute those responsible for the disturbances. Biddle promised to “seriously consider” the request. “We wish to urge,” the statement to Mr. Biddle said, “that you use the full powers of the Department of Justice to ferret out and bring to justice all groups and individuals responsible for creating national disunity and interrupting the war production program by inciting violence against and hatred of racial minorities.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
