Evening star., 1937-06-24

Will Tile uldlAS. 1 Ilt btpdI tIlellt VI
Justice, to its credit be it said, now
has acted on that statute.
There are other statutes which need
enforcement, too, as, for instance the
Federal laws which make the leaders
of the proposed general strike in War
conspiracy to tie up plants engaged in
interstate commerce Under the def
milton of interstate commerce laid
down by the Supreme Court of the
United States in upholding the Wag-
ner law recently, a general strike is an
unlawful act because the activities of
the strike leaders constitute restraint
of trade. The evidence of the intent
to paralyze interstate commrce is to
be found in the newspaper statements
by the strike leaders themselves.
If the Roosevelt administration now
will invoke all the Federal statutes
which have been violated in the strike,
peace will come as an inevitable result.
AS matter Of fact, the unlimited
tight to strike has been abused by the
c. I. 0. and the issue raised by the
steel companies may have a profound
effect on the whole future of labor
relations.
Simple Principle Involved.
The principle involved is a simple
one. For years the peace-loving citi-
zens of the United States have not
only deplored international war but
have by treaty and every other way
signif1ed their adherence to the idea
that there must be a period of nine
months for the investigation of con-
troversies before there is resort to
war.
The same reasoning applies to
domestic peace. Instead of permitting
strikes to be called without notice
hnd without submitting grievances to
recognized tribunals or grievance COM
mlttees, the c. l. O. unions have
staged "slt-down' strikes and other
interruptions or stoppages of work
They have resorted to violence with
out giving an opportunity for media
ton or cooling off. They have vio-
lated written agreements pledging
their men to use grievance committee
machinery before engaging in a strike.
If, therefore, labor unions are COM
PEELED by law to use the avenues of
mediation tribunals or grievance COM
mittees before resorting to strikes, an
advance will have been made. This
unquestionaby is the view of neutral
opinion today throughout America.
Tho SnpnfQr1o nf ho Ctoto IF
ONO unable through its Governor to
protect men in their right to work
constitutes a sad chapter in Ameri-
can history but much worse situa-
ton arises when the responsibility of
the President of the United States
for the maintenance of the privileges
and immunities of the citizens is con-
sidered. The Federal Constitution
guarantees protection to the citizens
irrespective of whether State officers
are derelict in their duty.
Tragedy of Bystanders.
The tragedy, however, is not writ
ten so much in the formal statements
of the steel companies or the union
leaders or in the announcements of
the mediation board appointed by the
President. It is to be found in the
letters being written by the innocent
bystanders, the women of the State
of Ohio, whose homes are being sub
jected a reign OF terror by C. I. o.
agents who besiege homes as we'll as
plants and threaten violence. Let
woman in Warren. Ohio. tell the story
to the public as she wrote it to me
the other day:
I am an unimportant home maker
and home owner in the beautiful little
city of Warren. Ohio Before May 20
our citizens were happy and prosper
Gus, but now the c. l. O. has strike
bound our main industry We are
terror stricken for our physical safety
end thoroughly alarmed over the
future of the working man who wants
to choose for himself and live as he
thinks best.
My husband, along with $500 men,
has been prevented from coming to
his home after work for three weeks.
Just because mob of c. I. o. or
ganizers demand he shall join a union
he doesn't want to Join.
Our law-enforcing bodies have
practically broken down. The judges
postpone decisions and our parcels
addressed to the steel corporation have
been molested. For proof of this, I
have box Of clothing accepted at the
post Office bearing postage and a 25-
cent special delivery stamp, but re-
turned to me undelivered."