Evening star., 1935-02-07
Political Mill
BY G. Gould Lincoln.

| dlu ~. 1blCAlDCiB, CAcSutASc uA SCCOI VI
! the National Emergency Council, and
of S. Clay Williams, chairman of the
N. r. A. Board. President Roosevelt
turns down the proposal fatty as far
as Mr.. williams Is concerned, ard
turns down the proposal fatty so far
Of backing up Richberg. While the
labor leaders are opposed to VIII
liams. the white heat Of their anger
is directed more particularly at Rich
berg. They explain this quite frankly
on the ground that Richberg, who for
years was counsel for the Railroad
Brotherhoods and an active advocate
of organized labor, they have re-
| garded as lone of U.S." Now, they
think, he has let them down. Fur
thermore, they contend that he has
been in the process Of letting them
down ever since the N. r. A. was first
set up and he became general coun-
sci for that agency Of the Govern
ment, under Gen. Hugh S. johnson
as administrator. This Is the attitude
OF the labor leaders. Mr. Richberg
quite naturally resents being dubbed
a traitor" nor would he admit that
ne has let labor down.
y *%A
Despite the fact that the breach be-
tween the President and the A. F.
OF l.. seems to be widening almost
daily, the labor leaders and the rank
and flle have not turned against the
President personally They don't like
his idea Of paying less than the pre-
vaning wages on work-relief Jobs
In fact. $50 month for such labor.
Ihey are intent on forcing through
congress the 30-hour- -work-wee bill,
| which the A. F. of L. is backing
whole-heartedly. And they want a
showdown during the present session
OF congress on the meaning of Sec
ton IA of the national industrial
recovery act. They demand that this
section, which gives labor the right
OF collective bargaining shall be en-
forced to the limit. Some of the
leaders contend that the Department
OF justice has neglected woefully
taking action in cases where there
has been violation of this section.
If the A. F. of L. fails to get what
1t wants of the administration in these
matters, what then? From a political
point Of view real ruction between
organized labor and the President
nigh have far-reaching consequences.
In the last two campaigns, organized
labor has been whoIeheartedly with
the President. If an attempt was
made to leave the President and the
Democratic party, what direction
would organized labor take? There
has been talk Of a Labor party, as dis
tinct from all other parties, for years,
patterned after the British Labor par
ty. But labor has fought shy Of such
political organization so far. 1t is
likely to continue to avoid 1t, In the
opinion Of some Of its wisest leaders.
If no Labor party-as such-is to be
organized, three other steps labor
! might take are to affiliate more
strongly with the Republican party or
with the Progressive party or the
Farmer-Labor party.
Il Il +
There are members of the G. o. p.
who might leap at the chance Of utiliz-
ing antagonism Of organized labor to-
ward the Roosevelt administration.
On the other hand, organized labor
has pretty effectually turned its back
on the Republicans for the last three
years and there would* have to be
some pretty strong Representations
on the part Of the G. o. P. to win
them over. The more likely attitude
Of labor would be TO join up with the
| Progressives or with the Farmer-La-
Dor party, or with both, If there should
be an amalgamation Of the two.
Frankly there are some Democratic
members Of Congress who are not at
all happy over the situation which
has grown up between, the A. F. of L.
and the administration. 1t Is quite
true that the present administration
has done more for organized labor
than perhaps any other. They think
that labor should be satisfied. But
labor Is not. It does not believe that
it has had a fair break in the en-
| forcement of section IA. When the
bill to continue for another two years
the N. R. A. comes up for consider
alton this matter IS likely to be
threshed out fully in the House and
Senate. In the meantime, a question
which is being asked widely is: Can
Rtchberg stay in his present position2"
Postmaster General Farley, it is
now predicted, will remain chairman
Of the Democratic National Committee.
He will keep right along in that Job
through the 1896 campaign, when
President Roosevelt comes up for re-
election. That Is not particularly
surprising. He knows his job as
chairman and he has wider &C.
quaintance and following as chairman
among the Democrats all over the
country than any other man who
might be put in the place. Senator
Norris Of Nebraska, a stickler for re-
moval of public officials from par
tisan politics has offered bill which
would take the Postmaster General
right out Of political life The ad-
ministration has countered with a
bill, introduced in the Senate by SEN
ator O'Mahoney Of Wyoming and in
the House by Representative Mead of
New York, which is designed to place
all the first, second and third class
poStmasters under strict civil service
rules and claSsiflcations. Under the
existing system of holding examina-
tions before appointments are made
to these positions there is still a lot
Of play, into which politics and the
demands for patronage insert them
selves.
X 4 4
These demands for patronage, made
by deserving Democrats, are awkward
things to handle sometimes. A case
in point has just turned up. It seems
that Mrs. Emma Hyland, Democratic
woman leader in Camden County,
N. j., for the last Is years, who has
been serving as acting postmaster at
the Camden post Office since last Sum-
mer, was about to be sidetracked.
Carroll P. Sherwood, former city COM