Evening star., 1937-10-24
BY JOHN C. HENRY.

BY JOHN C. HENRY.
Thirteen men will meet tomorrow
morning in the Willard Hotel to de-
bate an issue secondary to none in
its importance to the economic life
of the Nation.
Specifically. the issue is whether
the American labor movement, now
claiming nearly 100000 organized
followers. shall be fused into one CO.
ordinated and militant army or shall
continue in two hostile divisions
clashing bitterly with each other as
they move indirectly ahead in their
campaign for improved wages and
working standards.
At the meeting tomorrow, scheduled
r to begin at 10 am, three men Will
represent the parent body of organ
lied labor, the American Federation
=, of Labor; 10 will represent the virile
offshoot of this parent body, the
Committee for Industrial Organiza-
ton. Heading the first group will
be George Harrison, president of the
Railway Clerks and a conciliator OF
marked success on several important
occasions in the past few years;
heading the c. I. o. delegation will
be Philip Murray, head of the Steel
Workers Organizing Committee and
a labor leader respected most highly,
not only by his associates. but by
that part of industry which knows
him best.
Tremendous Obstacles.
Tremendous obstacles stand be-
tween the two delegations as they
make the first fact-to-face effort In
two years to find basis for peace
rather than strife; so tremendous, IN
fact. that plans for intensified war
have been projected by both fac
tions bevond their immediate efforts
for peace.
In brief, the major obstacles 10
rnerper of the two factions into one
are:
l. Presence of powerful rival
unions within single industry.
Examples are found in the maritime
industry, the electrical workers IN
dustry and even among Govern
ment employees, with both the Z. l.
O. and the A. F. of L. having ef-
fective representation in these
fields. The only apparent solution
IN such a situation would be Tor
one union in each field to absorb
its rival, a development almost un-
believable.
2. Differences in political phil
osophy. The A. F. of l.. tradltlon-
ally has remained politically "inde-
pendent" to aid its friends and pun
ish it's enemies. The c. I. o. is
openly bidding for independent po-
litical power with its own leaders
holding or running for public office.
Rivals Are Bitter.
3. PERSONAL bitterness. John l..
Lewis. C. I. o. chieftain, and Will
liam Green, A. F. of l.. president,
!, have called each other many harsh
names; some of their associates
have more than matched them in
invective
4. Difficulty of devising single
administrative organization that
would assure each faction OF suf-
fcient power to prevent its event.
ual destruction within the unified
movement.
Facing tomorrow's session, also, is
the question of just what the nego-
tiating committees are empowered
to do.
Spokesmen for the A. F. of L. con-
tend their committee has been and
still is authorized to negotiate a full
settlement of the differences. The
c.. I. o. answer is that the federation
representatives are merely messengers
of the A. F. of L. Executive Council,
CLOSED corporation which they
contend does not truly represent the
rank and file of the federation MEM
bership and which "usurped" powers
beyond its rightful due in suspending
the original C. I. o. unions.
On the other hand, the c. I. O.
negotiating committee of 10 was des-
ignated at the recent Atlantic City
conference for the sole purpose OF
negotiating toward further confer
ences between enlarged committees
from each faction.
Preliminary Conferences.
In q final telegram, Philip Murray
informed the A. F. of L that his COM
mittee would come in with or with
out commitments as you prefer" but
the without commitment" reference
still is not interpreted to mean his
present committee may go beyond dis.
cussion of terms and circumstances ol
further meetings
Despite their designation of TO-
man committee to engage in pre-
liminary conferences, the c. I. 0
leadership still is insistent that peac'
negotiations eventually should be vest
ed in two large groups, preferabl.
100 from each side. One reason TO-
this insistence, it is understood, i
the fact that the smaller affiliates o
the C. I. o. have demanded repre-
sentation as protection against thei
being bargained of in the eventua
settlement.
At the other extreme, the A. F. o
l. stands firm on its three-rnan rep
, (see LABOR, Page A-14)