The President’s Week, Oct. 23, 1944

The President was busily politicking, but he had his regular chores to do too. Last week he:

¶ Almost—but not officially—recognized the De Gaulle Government in France, referred to it, for the first time, as a de facto “government” (see FOREIGN NEWS).

¶ Saluted China with a 130-word message of good cheer on the 33rd anniversary of the Chinese revolution (see FOREIGN NEWS).

¶ Addressed diplomats of 19 American republics, in celebration of Columbus Day, urging speedy organization for world security.

¶ Praised the Italian people in a second Columbus Day speech.

¶ Assured a group of Polish-American voters that he believes “Poland must be reconstituted as a great nation.” The delegation stayed 55 minutes at the White House, stood around the gadget-cluttered desk to get a discourse on geography from the President (see cut).

¶ Conferred with Denis Cardinal Dougherty, Archbishop of Philadelphia.

¶ Conferred with Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, president of the American Zionist Emergency Council.

¶ Said he was thinking about making some out-of-Washington speeches. (Pundits deduced that he would make three or four major speeches just before Election.)

¶ Was told “no” by James Caesar Petrillo, boss of all U.S. musicians, after he politely asked Mr. Petrillo to stop the two-year-old ban against making phonograph records. (RCA Victor and Columbia, which make two-thirds of U.S. phonograph records, have refused to pay Petrillo’s union a tribute for each record—which for the entire industry would total from $500,000 to $3,000,000 a year to the union treasury.) Some Republicans howled that the President sent troops in to haul out obstinate employers, but was humble before Labor Boss Petrillo. Some suspected that Mr. Roosevelt was readying up a crackdown on Mr. Petrillo, to show that the White House could be tough with labor, too.