Evening star., 1936-08-12
Nucleus of a Labor Party.

If there is to be a Labor or Liberal
cutting any ice politically in the next
decade, it might be expected to develop
around the nucleus of Labor's Non-Par-
tisan League, which, in return for its
enthusiastic advocacy of the Presidents
candidacy for reelection, has received
his warmeSt blessing.
That, at least. is the hope and the
objective OF Major George L. Berry,
industrial Co-ordlnator and head OF the
pressmen's union; John L. Lewis. head
of the United Mine Workers and the
Council for Industrial Organization; Sid
ney Hillman, president OF the Amalga-
mated Clothing Workers, and others
identified with them in the tentative for
nation OF the league last April. The
meeting here Monday was to make that
organization permanent.
Its program, as outlined in the key
note speeches Of the leaders, is to profit
by the experience of other third party"
movements of the past, to throw its
strength whole-heartedly behind the
President this year, with the hope and
expectation that by 1910, when the Presi-
dent will be on the eve of completing his
second term, for which it is now work.
ing, the league will have gained the
strength necessary to stand alone as a
first or second-not a third-party.
Disillusioning experiences with third
party movements, especially the expert
ence of the railroad brotherhoods and
large element of the A. F. of L. in 1924
in indorsing the La Follette-Wheeler
progressive movement have dictated this
course. A Labor party this year would
run a poor third, losing the support of
that element of organized labor which
is supporting President Roosevelt. After
1924 the A. F. of L. decided that "to be
successful politically it Qabor) must
continue in the future as in the past
to follow its non-partisan political pol
ICY
The Labor's Non-Partisan League is
non-partisan, however, in name only. 1t
has thrown all its eggs in the Roosevelt
ganizing Labor party in New York
State. headed by President Roosevelt
and Governor Lehman, with the hope of
attracting the votes of Socialists and
other left-wingers who might stand for
Mr.. Roosevelt but who would not vote
Democratic. All of this is by way of
hoping to gain enough strength for polit-
tcal independence by 1910 on the theory
that no Labor or Liberal party can be
successful until it is capable Of supplant-
ing one of the two now leading parties.
The hope of success depends, first, on
Roosevelt's reelection. 1t also depends
on continued swing to the left in the
next four years. And, most of all, it
depends on the ability of Major Berry
and Mr.. Lewis to swing labor as polit-
ical unit in support of Mr.. Roosevelt.
Closely linked with Labor'S Non Partisan
League is Mr.. Lewis movement for in
dustrial unionization. There are many
who believe that industrial unionization
in the end means political action by labor
as unit, as opposed to the traditional
non-partisan attitude of labor organ
ized by crafts. BY their very nature craft
unions are untitled for mass political &C
ton and as a rule have steered clear
of it.
In his message to the league the Presi-
dent makes his bid for the support of
the wage earners" in his battle against
"that despotism' which was, apparently,
in control of the destinies of the United
States from about the time of the rati-
fication of the Constitution to 1884,
when the New Dealers came to the res
cue. 1T was not the wage earners who
cheered" when New Deal laws were de-
clared invalid by the Supreme Court,
said the President, leaving the impress
sion that those opposed to amending the
Constitution by executive decree were
also opposed to the interests of the ''wage
earners" Under the system which the
New Dealers would manifestly like to
change the American wage Garner has
achieved a standard of living and has
preserved freedom that exists nowhere
else in the world today. He has also
resisted attempts, in the past, to regi-
ment his political beliefs and prefer
ences. If that time has passed, Major
Berry and Mr.. Lewis are making hay
while the sun shines to put themselves
into a strategically good position for
capitalizing the change.