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Letter Accepting the Resignation of James J. Davis as Secretary of Labor.

December 01, 1930

My dear Mr. Secretary:

I have your letter of today's date tendering your resignation as Secretary of Labor which I must, of course, accept, to be effective at noon on December 2nd.

I wish to take this occasion to express the great appreciation I have, and that I know the American people have, for the manner in which you have conducted the Department of Labor for a period of nearly ten years.

From my association with you, both as a fellow Cabinet member and as President, I know the sterling service you have performed on behalf of the wage earners of our country. It represents a long period of successful public service and I regard it as fortunate indeed that the country is still to retain your service in the Senate. With your long experience and your knowledge of the problems of labor and of government, it cannot but be fruitful of great public good.

Yours faithfully,

HERBERT HOOVER

[Hon. James J. Davis, Secretary of Labor, Washington, D.C. ]

Note: Secretary Davis resigned to become a Senator from Pennsylvania. His letter of resignation, dated December 1, 1930, and released with the President's letter, read as follows:
Dear Mr. President:

Together we entered the Cabinet of President Warren G. Harding in 1921. Many striking changes of vital importance have taken place since that time, all for the benefit of the people as a whole.

We entered office together in a time of depression far greater than that through which we are now passing, and we came out of it into the greatest prosperity in the history of the country. Under your guidance we will emerge from the present depression into a prosperity as great as the one before. I am proud of your achievements, especially your prompt action in securing agreements from the leaders of industry and labor that there would be no changes in wage rates during the emergency. The great majority of our employers have cooperated in carrying out this agreement.

My associations with those who are at work in the Department of Labor have been very agreeable. The organization of the Department is functioning smoothly and efficiently. Through its various services the forty-six million of our gainfully employed are more and more coming in contact with the work of the Department. Industry at present is peaceful. Except for the one outstanding dispute at Danville, Virginia, there are no serious difficulties. During my term as Secretary of Labor, we have handled nearly five thousand controversies, involving more than five million wage-earners, and with as little publicity as possible.

I want to take this opportunity of expressing to you my highest appreciation of the many kindnesses that you have extended to me, and hope some day I may be able to reciprocate.
I hereby tender my resignation as Secretary of Labor.
With highest personal regards, I am
Faithfully yours,
JAMES J. DAVIS

Herbert Hoover, Letter Accepting the Resignation of James J. Davis as Secretary of Labor. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/212540

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