Evening star., 1936-08-05

Impending CONFLICT tn the Steet ~.
dustry oUer the drfve By John L.
Letpis and his Heutendnts to or
0anize the tDorkerS into an indus
trial union are described here In
the fourth of series OF fDe articles.
I BY THEODORE A. HUNTLEY.
PITTSBURGH, August 2 N.A
N.A).-On the basis Of soundings
taken up and down the valleys lead
ing out of Pittsburgh, where steel Is
made, President Roosevelt seems GER
tain to get the bulk of the labor vote.
Why? The answer you hear most fire.
quently:
Roosevelt is the friend Of the poor.
He Is the first President we have had
who is thinking of the working peo-
pie"
That's what the mill men say, and
what the workers generally feel.
Democratic politicians encourage
this feeling. naturally. To some ex-
tent, they undoubtedly are responsible
for it.
Republican politicians deny it, and
the more responsible leaders Of the
industrial communities around Pitts
burgh deeply resent it.
But the wage earners are in the
majority, and in the steel towns that's
the way they talk.
You Can Get Even Bets.
Even so, bets are even that Penn
sylvania, Allegheny County, Pitts
burgh and the industrial districts
radiating out into Ohio and beyond
will 60 for Gov. Landon. You put ur
your money and take your choice
The best political opinion around here
right now is that it's $3.50 gamble
If there Is any ledge" In the minds
of acute observers in this normally
Republican community-in the old
days of the "full dinner pail" over.
whelmingly epublican-P esidenI
Roosevelt has it in Pittsburgh, Gov
Landon has it in the State. and it's q
toss-up in the county, with the Re.
publicans gaining strength.
Why this change of front? It goe:
back long way. Pittsburgh's govern
ment for many years was as polluted
as the air, if not more so. The county
government was little better, but no
much. The borough governments
dominated by industry-as they still
are to a considerable extent-wert
regular" and, under the cover oi
regularity, the usual forces were con.
stantly at work to make the com.
munities corrupt, if not contented.
G. o. P. Sent to Scrapheap.
Reform came slowly, but it came
And finally it came with rush, sweep
ing out the old order and placing ir
the mayors chair Attorney William
H. McNair, single-taxer and eccentric
who hires 'em and fires 'em and puts
the city council in hole by sending
1t q dozen nominees for director OF
public safety, telling the puzzled coun-
cilmen to take their choice.
McNair's supporters say his eccen.
tricities are deliberate, and that he Il
motivated always by a sound philoso-
ply of government and desire tc
quit office at the end of his four-yeaI
term q good mayor" And he is O
Democrat-the answer to the city,
prayer for deliverance from q vena'
Republican machine which had held
office much too long for the city's good
when finally sent to the ash heap.
McNair really is an independent. He
Is at war now with the Democratic
city and State organizations. He is
against President Roosevelt. But his
election and the events which preced-
ed and followed his election have en-
eouraged the spirit of political inde-
pendence in this community.
Roosevelt Machine Powerful.
President Roosevelt carried Pitts
burgh and Allegheny County and most
of the industrial districts around it in
1882 In 1884, the Democrats made
further gains, defeating Senator Da-
vid A. Reed, the pride Of the con-
servatives and one Of the Senate's
acknowledged leaders. In addition to
electing Joseph F. Guffey as Reeds
successor. they elected George H.
Earle, Democrat, as Governor. In the
county, the Democrats have almost
half of the Offices.
That means that President Roose-
Selt, in addition to his natural
strength, and the votes accruing from
the new-found independence of many
voters who formerly followed the party
because it seemed the thing to do, has
the support of one of the most ener-
getic and efficient political machines
in the country-and the Federal pay
roll as well.
And now, to top it all, comes John
L. Lewis and his c. I. o. drive to or
ganize the steel workers, timed to
bring the unionization issue to head
between now and November, and CAL
culated, in the minds OF some shrewd
politicians both here and in Wash
ington, to deliver the steel workers
to MIR. Roosevelt en- bloc.
All up and down the valleys, the
word has gone: Its now or never.