LABOR, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND WORLD AFFAIRS
The Papers of David A Morse (1907-1990), Director-General of the International Labour Organisation, 1948-1970, from the Seeley G Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University

Part 2: Subject Files A-Z

The David A. Morse Papers document the life and times of David Abner Morse (1907-1990), American lawyer, soldier, and public official. While he distinguished himself in legal, military, and governmental circles, the most fruitful years of his life were spent at the helm of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the oldest member of the United Nation's family of specialised agencies. As Director-General of the International Labour Office in Geneva from 1948 to 1970, Morse guided the increasingly complex activities of this tripartite organisation, which unites in one body the representatives of workers, governments, and employers. No one has had a longer tenure as its head, and no one has presided over such far-reaching changes in its composition and orientation. Drawing on a variety of experiences in the field of domestic and international labor, including appointments as Assistant, Under, and Acting Secretary of Labor in the Truman administration, Morse gave practical meaning in a post-war context to the ILO's underlying philosophy, namely that "universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice." The pursuit of this object won for the ILO the Nobel Peace Prize in 1969. The David Morse Papers contain correspondence, reports, memoranda, subject files, speeches, articles, and interviews that document this long, productive career.

Part 2 focuses on his A-Z alphabetically arranged sequence of General Subject Files (Boxes 46-66). The bulk of this material covers the period 1939 to 1970, although there are a significant number of later items as well. These subject files are the most diverse component of the Morse Papers, ranging from highly personal matters to relatively inconsequential ones and touching on innumerable aspects of Morse's life.

This material is also the broadest of any in terms of time span, for while most of it postdates the Second World War, it includes documents held by Morse's family prior to his birth. The bulk of its folders are identified by the name of the individual or organization to whom or to which their contents relate, but a number are constituted on a broader basis, as in Morse's Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts requests or in the obituaries and tributes which followed his death. Much of the material, be it personal correspondence or organisational documents, is routine, though at various junctures an issue of particular moment manifests itself. Considered collectively, this material provides a multidimensional picture of Morse's interests and involvements.

That Morse was seldom idle, even after his departure from the ILO, is readily apparent on the basis of this material. His close association with institutions and organisations such as Rutgers University, the World Rehabilitation Fund, and the Council on Foreign Relations is well-documented. So, too, are his relationships with individuals the world over.

The Millard Cass folder attests to the sometimes troubled nature of Morse's ties with George Meany, the pugnacious head of the AFL-CIO, and to the broader issue underlying this tension, namely, "whether," in Morse's words, "the U. S. Government and other governments want to continue to maintain the I.L.O. as a universal organization within the framework of the United Nations family, or to reduce it to a small, tightly knit group of countries which have the objective of carrying on political warfare with the Communists."

The prevailing sentiment in this material, however, reflecting the tenor of Morse's life, is one of mutual respect and, frequently, affection. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's folder, for instance, contains a note in her hand to Morse which can only be described as heartfelt. Morse's relationship with Francis Blanchard, the second man to succeed him as Director-General, is another case in point. Blanchard's folder demonstrates that Morse fulfilled the role of an eminence grise, ever ready with words of counsel and comfort. Perhaps the most arresting example of Morse's concern for others, even at one step's remove, can be found in Alain Rens's folder. Rens, the son of Morse's deputy, Jef Rens, joined the French Foreign Legion, an entanglement which he soon came to regret and which Morse went to great lengths to undo. That all was not irenic in Morse's life is evidenced by such folders as Herman Coopers, Westbrook Peglers, and George Shaw Wheelers. They relate in one way or another to the anticommunist fears, sometimes justifiable and sometimes not, which gripped the United States at the height of the Cold War. Also included here are the censored photocopies of the Morse files collected by such government organisations as the FBI and CIA.

The legacy of David Abner Morse, who died on December 1, 1990 at the age of 83, was global. As Director-General of the ILO, a specialised agency of the United Nations, for an unprecedented 22 years, he dedicated himself to improving the lot of workers throughout the world. A man of high ideals and exceptional acumen, he upheld the universality of workers' socio-economic rights amid the conflicting claims of communist and non-communist systems and have and have-not nations. In 1969 he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the ILO, a recognition of the organisation's contribution to international harmony and prosperity under his leadership.

For Javier Perez de Cuellar, Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1982 to 1991, "Flair for leadership and diplomacy, dynamism, charm, dignity - these were among his many radiant qualities. But above them all was the compassion and the care for the vulnerable of the earth, and the love of social justice which inspired all his endeavours."

For George Shultz, Secretary of Labor in the Nixon administration and Secretary of State in the Reagan administration, Morse possessed an innate, instinctive understanding of the need for standards of behaviour. "He saw the human side of enterprise. . . . He stood, it seemed to me, always for a blend of power and principle, not simply interest and power, but principle and power."

Morse, the son of immigrants Morris Moscovitz and Sara Werblin, was born in New York on May 31, 1907. He grew up in Somerville, New Jersey, and attended Rutgers University, graduating in 1929. Deciding on a legal career, he studied law at Harvard University and was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1933. In 1937 he married Mildred E. Hockstader, daughter of Leonard Hockstader and Aline Straus and granddaughter of Oscar S. Straus, Secretary of Commerce and Labor in the cabinet of President Theodore Roosevelt. The union, which spanned 53 years, could not have been happier.

Morse's interest in and commitment to the public welfare in general and labor concerns in particular were evidenced by his involvement in the New Deal of the Roosevelt administration. Between 1933 and 1939 he held a number of governmental posts, including Chief Counsel for the Petroleum Labor Policy Board of the Department of Interior, Special Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States, and Regional Attorney for the Second Region of the National Labor Relations Board. The objectivity he would be called on to exhibit as head of the ILO was apparent in his appointment in 1941 as Impartial Chairman of the milk industry of metropolitan New York. On leaving the public service, Morse became a named partner in the law firm of Coult, Satz, Tomlinson and Morse. He also found time to lecture on labor relations, labor law, and administrative law at various educational institutions.

Shortly after the United States entered the Second World War, Morse joined the Army. From 1943 to 1944 he served as head of the Labor Division of the Allied Military Government in Sicily and Italy, where he formulated and implemented labor policies and programs for the American and British liberators. He filled a similar role from 1944 to 1945 as head of the Manpower Division of the United States Group Control Council for Germany. One of his tasks was to work with representatives of Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States to harmonise their approach to labor matters in occupied Germany, an involvement which undoubtedly helped to prepare him for his work at the ILO. At the war's end, he held the rank of lieutenant-colonel and, in 1946, was awarded the Legion of Merit.

On his return to the United States, Morse re-entered civilian life as General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, a post he held from 1945 to 1946 when President Harry Truman named him Assistant Secretary of Labor. In this capacity, he focused his attention on the creation of the Department's Program of International Affairs. Named Under Secretary of Labor in 1947, he briefly filled the position of Acting Secretary on the death of Lewis Schwellenbach in 1948.

It was in this year, too, that Morse embarked on the most significant phase of his career, that of Director-General of the ILO. He was no stranger to this organisation, having represented the government of the United States as a member of its Governing Body and as a delegate to its annual International Labor Conference. His election to the post of Director-General, which entailed a move to Geneva, brought with it many challenges. It is a measure of his success in facing them that the ILO changed the regulations which would have limited his tenure to a single ten-year term, renewable for three years, to allow for his re- election, which occurred in 1957, 1962, and 1967. (In 1961, he resigned but was persuaded to reconsider.)

Morse brought to his new position a broad and vigorous vision of the potentiality of his office and the ILO as a whole. He exercised a leadership which was at once impartial and engaged and which incorporated three fundamental principles: the need for socio-economic reform, the importance of the rule of law, and integrity. Integrity was a quality he demanded of everyone who worked with him, and he was equally protective of the integrity of the ILO, deftly resisting political pressure, whether it stemmed from the rivalries of the superpowers or the process of decolonisation. As an American, he was particularly vulnerable to the animus of McCarthyism, but he weathered this storm with firmness and dignity.

According to Gullmar Bergenstrom, Vice Chairman of the Governing Body from 1969 to 1979, "Morse was both Director and General. As Director [he was] a most skilful administrator. He appointed the right people to the various top posts in the Office, which was, of course, a policy decision of highest importance. As General he aggressively defended the ILO's sphere of competence against various young mushrooming and sometimes self-propelling agencies with ambitions to encroach on the ILO field." There was a manifest need for each of these functions. The organisation Morse inherited was a product of the Treaty of Versailles, and, amid the burgeoning international bodies of the time, its relevance was under threat. He immediately set out to revitalise the ILO along three lines.

First, Morse believed that the ILO could not be a static entity but, rather, would have to adapt to new circumstances if it was to be an effective force for good in the world. He therefore expanded its sights and its reach beyond its traditional role as a setter of international labor standards. Under his leadership, sweeping organisational changes took place. The membership of the ILO grew from 52 to 121 nations, giving it a universal character. Its staff increased fivefold, from some 600 to some 3000 men and women of diverse nationality. Its annual budget rose from about $4,000,000 to about $60,000,000. Morse laid the foundation for a new headquarters and established an extensive network of field offices. The educational activities of the ILO were given a new impetus with the establishment of the International Institute for Labour Studies in Geneva and the International Centre for Advanced Technical and Vocational Training in Turin.

Second, Morse believed that the ILO had a global commitment to build peace, and that orderly socio-economic change within countries was a prerequisite for peace between countries. Whether the issue was a labor dispute in the ILO itself, the credibility of the labor movement in the Soviet Union, or apartheid in South Africa, Morse maintained that the best way to achieve change was to effect it through existing socio-economic institutions within the rule of law. He insisted, too, that the ILOs contribution to peace building be truly tripartite, involving workers, governments, and employers in a common quest for a more just world. Morse's commitment to this principle was nowhere more evident than in his position on the 1969 Nobel Peace Prize, a personal tribute as much as an organisational one. Francis Wolf, Legal Advisor of the ILO from 1963 to 1987, was instructed to contact the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament to request that the award be given solely to the ILO lest individual accomplishments overshadow tripartite ones. Accordingly, on December 10, 1969, Morse accepted the Nobel Peace Prize "On behalf of all our constituents, governments as well as employers and workers of our 121 member States, on behalf of all my staff, and in tribute to all those who in the past have faithfully served our Organisation."

Third, Morse believed that symbolism, however potent, was no substitute for action. He won a reputation as a "practical idealist" as he initiated new forms of technical assistance to enable countries to meet the standards and abide by the principles espoused by the ILO. Underdevelopment and the poverty which betokened it became a major preoccupation for him, though in focusing on the myriad needs of the developing world, he did not neglect the problems confronting industrialised societies. Among the issues Morse addressed through new programs and emphases were labor-management relations, workers education, management development, supervisory training, manpower planning and employment creation, rural development, and promotion of small-scale industries. The World Employment Programme, launched in 1969, was one of Morses principal legacies. It sought to raise the employment level and, thus, the quality of life of millions of marginalised men and women through such measures as stemming the migration of populations from rural to urban areas. When Morse relinquished his post as Director-General in 1970, the ILO, once a frail survivor of the discredited League of Nations, could take satisfaction in a new vitality and a new prominence.

Morse did not rest on his laurels upon his return to the United States. He took up the practice of international law in New York and Washington, D. C., assuming a leading role in his firm, which grew considerably in the years which followed. His concern for the welfare of the global community did not abate. He served as an advisor to the United Nations Development Programme, chairing its Advisory Panel on Programme Policy, and was active in such organisations as the World Rehabilitation Fund, the United Nations Association of the United States of America, and the Council on Foreign Relations. His contribution to these and other bodies was highly valued. As David Rockefeller, Honorary Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, noted in 1994, "He was a man of extraordinary quality and distinction who devoted the major part of his life to public service. . . . David was an active member of the Council on Foreign Relations for some 30 years, and to many here and around the world, he was a staunch and trusted friend."

Morses life was crowned with many achievements, and the list of honours he acquired is long. In addition to holding a number of honorary doctorates, he was decorated by countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. France made him a Grand Officer of the French Legion of Honor, the highest decoration a foreign national can receive. He also received the Meritorious Public Service Award of the Sidney Hillman Foundation and the Human Rights Award of the International League for the Rights of Man.

What Morse did in life was very much a reflection of whom he was, and it is perhaps in the realm of intangibles that he left his most enduring mark. According to Francis Blanchard, Director- General of the ILO from 1974 to 1989, "David Morse was such a remarkably successful leader because he was such a remarkable human being. His warm personality and great personal charm had an almost magic effect on all with whom he came into contact. . . . Those of us who worked with him in the International Labour Office remember with admiration, respect and affection how deeply he influenced our work and our lives."

The Morse Papers shed ample light on his activities, the concerns which animated them, and the relationships in which they were centered. There is material on both the public and private aspects of his life and career. Researchers can expect to encounter both the large and the small in Morses life - from his views on internationalism to his views on small-town New Jersey - and in the process, construct a rounded picture of an influential public figure in the last half of the twentieth century.

Throughout his life, Morse met and corresponded with many individuals of national and international significance concerning labor issues. This collection contains correspondence or records of discussion with Dean Acheson, Leonid Brezhnev, Dwight D Eisenhower, Dag Hammarskjold, Averell Harriman, Paul G Hoffman, C Wifred Jenks, David Lilienthal, George Marshall, Leopold Senghor and U Thant.