May 22, 1936

Newspaper blast purporting to come from Secretary of Labour Torres to the effect that the Department of Labour could not get funds for its expansion from the Survey Board, nor from the Budget Commissioner–that “Miguel Unson was not interested in the poor man”! This was followed later by a contradiction from Unson and a disavowal by Torres; nevertheless I believe Torres was quoted correctly. A few days later they printed rumours of a “general strike” with an editorial in the Bulletin questioning whether this complaint did not come from the Department of Labour because they couldn’t get all the funds they wanted. Next this was denied by Torres, who went so far in his denial that the labour leaders became balky. It is evident that the Department of Labour under Torres considers itself the political leader of the discontented.