The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-12-02
Washington
Merry-Go-
Round
BY DREW PEARSON and
ROBERT s. ALLEN.

NTASHINGTON. Dec. 2-The
w Jan. Is Miami meeting of
the executive council of the A. F.
of L. will be quite different. now
that John L. Lewis has resigned.
Upon this meeting hinges the inside
story of why the shaggy proved
miner chief pulled his surprise coup.
The executive council session held
each winter shortly after Congress
conveneS. is devoted to formulating
a legislative program. Word reached
Lewis that the inner coterie of A. F.
Of l. bosses-William L. Hutche-
son of the carpenters, Arthur Q.
Wharton of the machinistS and
Daniel j. Tobin of the teamSters-
secretly planned TO use this years
meeting for a concerted attack on
Lewis and his industrial union al
lies.
Lewis then was in a definite mi
nOritv on the council. Also, its de-
alterations always are held behind
closed doors. This combination gave
Lewis foes a beautiful set-up to
Jump" him and make him like 1t.
Lewis is the last man in the world
to shrink from A fight Although he
intended eventually TO discard his
A. F. of l.. vice presidency. he had
not planned to do so at this time.
But with. the anti-industrial union
clique scheming to put him in a
hole. Lewis decided to beat them to
the punch.
XKTIDESPREAD reports tina
w Lewis resignation was the re-
suit of a bitter personal feud with
President Bill Green were wide of
the mark There is no love lost
between the two men. But there is
no vendetta between them.
This is so for a number Of rea-
sons: Cd Green. a kindly. we'll
meaning mediocrity, is largely
fgureheaj in the inner A. F. of L.
council The real bosses are Hut
cheson, Wharton and Tobin. ~
Green used to be a miner, is men,
Der Of Lewis union and as such
under the thumb of Lewis, the union
president.
At the Atlantic City convention,
Green sided with the old guard
coterie But his vote as delegate,
under the unit rule in force, was
cast by Lewis against the craft
unionites.
Finally, Green is entirely depend
ent upon Lewis for his seat as a
delegate. If, next year, Lewis turns
thumbs down on Green as a miner
delegate. that winds him up, and
automatically bars him as a candi-
date for reelection as president of
the A. F. of L.
In brief. Green can not afford to
war personally with Lewis. He has
not, and is not doing so.
II
THE Italo- Ethiopian war is out
Il Of bounds" for the RFC.
This is the dictum of RFC Chair
man Jesse Jones. Asked if his
agency would bring pressure on
debtor railroads not to carry war
materials destined for the North
African combatants. Jesse replied:
The RFC is not mixing up in that
fracaS. There is no reason for it to
do So If any of the railroads can
deliver goods, I say, more power to
EN-"
Jesse amplified this statement with
the following story.
During the Spanish American
war. a Texas horse dealer contract
ed to sell the government ponies for
$50 a head A friend, hearing about
the deal, went to the trader and pro-
tested
jim he said. how have you
got the heart to charge Uncle Sam
$50 apiece for horses you sell ordi-
narily for only S25?'
"Well' was the reply, it's this
way. When I sell the hoSSeS to my
Texas friends I can count on about
half of them running away and COM
ing back to me. But I'm afraid none
of these government ponies will do
that It's too long a swim from
Cuba"
Two years ago Marvin Mcintyre,
presidential secretary. wrote let
ter of Endorsement for an unem-
ployed school teacher named Roy
Arnold Arnold once had taught
McIntyre's son. He took the letter
from one government office to
another, finally gave up and went
on relief.
Last week he set out to try again
He went to Democratic National
Committee headquarters, presented
his old letter from Mcintyre. A
clerk there wrote memo for him.
reading, This man has the indorSe-
ment of the White House. Do ev-
erything you can for him"
He was sent to Resettlement Ad-
ministration where he was politely
asked. Will you accept $1,000 year
to start?"
He accepted.
Copyright. 1885. By United Feature
Syndicate. Inc