Evening star., 1934-07-18
JOHNSON TERMS
STRIKE CIVIL WAR
N. R. A. Chief Denies Right
10 Utilize General Walk
out in Fight.
N ths aEaoelatea PFs.s.

~ the aHsocistes Press.
BERKELEY, Calf. July ls.-"Civl
Ear" is Hugh s. Johnson's name for
me general strike In the San Fran-
cisco Bay area.
"The right Of dissatisfied men TO
vtrike against a recalcitrsnt employer
IA inviolate,T the n. r. A chief said
yesterday In an address at the Univer-
sity Of California. This Govern
ment has supported It and will sup
port IL to the limit But the general
strike Is quite another matter. 1t is
threat to the community 1t is a
menace 10 government. II Is civil
war"
Cites Interstate Character.
The interstate character OF the Pa
eifc Coast maritime strike. from which
the general strikes have developed.
was cited by the administrator as the
basis for the Federal Government
interest in the situation.
we learned during the war" ne
went on. that there are worse weap-
ons than great guns, and that eco
noinic strangulation is one OF them.
One side OF a warning business ele-
ment can no more use it than IT could
go into the streets and shoot innocent
hystsnders down In cold blood with
machine guns"
johnson. who was made a member
OF Phi Beta Kappa Fraternity while
here, explained that his trip 10 Cali
fnrnia was planned many weeks ago
and had nothing to do with the strike.
lie Is 10 go from here 10 Los Angeles.
Excerpts OF J0hnson's Speech.
Principal portions Of the speech of
Gen. johnson follow
am not IN politics. I am proving
daily that know nothing about
either politics or-apparently-diplo-
macy. But / do fatter myself that !
know a little something about men,
and especially the type of men we
must have in these troubled days
Courage. intelligence. human SYM
pathy, vision, action-that is the pre-
scription.
That is the Roosevelt model. To
prove just what a rotten politician l
am, I must, with great respect and
Difference. pay my respects TO our fell
low citizen of California, Herbert
Hoover. He had an impossible job.
He has eaten his own smoke, He is
great guy.
Paws Tribute TO Johnson.
I don't need to tell this audience
about Hiram johnson. In those stu
dent days / regarded him. with Teddy
Roosevelt, In a kind of awe, He has
not let down a moment since. He is
one of the great men Of this new day
and, of course, there is no question of
his return to the Senate Of the
United States by the people Of the
State of the great Golden Bear
/ don't know how you may regard
It, but this seems like a Homecoming
TO me. went today to pass the little
house In Colby street where lived and
where we used to hold seminars
trying to anticipate what Dean Jones
or Orrin MacMurray or Capt. Kidd or
Mr.. Colby were going to put us up
against.
N. r. A. Has Responsibility.
I did not come here on account of
this strike. This trip was planned
weeks before there was any strike at
ell, and labor troubles-happily-a
no longer in the bundle of N. r. A.
babies. But regardless of that tech
nicality, N r. A. has responsibility
which it will not shirk. 1t is charged
with the administration of the re-
covery act. 1t is supposed to act with
knowledge Of that act. Until its in
terpretations of that statute are over
turned by the courts, they are the
law of this land.
Now / think that labor is inher-
entity entitled to bargain collectively
through representatives of its own
choosing. 1 think that the employer
who denies, or even obstructs that
right is anti-social and 1 am very
sure that in the present trend Of
human opinion throughout the world
he is bound to 60 down. In this stage
of specialization he can no more stop
the rush of economic trend than
King Canute could sit on the sea
horse and stop the incoming tide.
Right Has Not Been Accorded.
I will 60 a step further and say
that in the American shipping indus
try, including the loading and un-
loading of ships, the right has not
been justly accorded. These things
cannot be avoided by legal cavil. They
are necessary to humanity in this age
and they will prevail, The whole
force of American opinion is behind
them, and that means the whole force
of the Federal Government and-let
there be no doubt about it-that Gov
ernment will use every power at its
disposal to insure it.
II the shipping industry does not
fully and freely accord these rights,
on its head lies every ounce Of re-
sponsibility for whatever may happen
here. l think that their present posi-
tion is extreme and unreasonable and
must be tempered If we are to have
peace.
But there is another and a worse
side TO this story. You are living out
here under the stress of a general
strike. Now the right of dissatisfied
men to strike against a recalcitrant
employer is inviolate This Govern
ment has supported it and will sup
port 1t to the limit It is a weapon
in a two-Sided conflict. But the gen.
eral strike is quite another matter 1t
is a threat TO the community, 1t is
q menace to the Government 1t is
civil war.
Bloody Insurrection.
II has been suggested to me since
] have been here that this is matter
of local concern and that the Federal
Government has no right in the mat"
ter. When the interstate and inter
national commerce Of this Nation i