Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1938-05-12


very month a n.,,s,
staff Of Govern
ment attorneys is in Harlan County,
KY. seeking indictments for ofienses
which could also have been construed
as local if the administration had so
desired.
What is happening in Harlan
County differs in detail. but not in
principle. from what has been oc-
curing in Jersey City. Organizers
for the c. I. O.. it is charged, have
been forcibly elected or else they
have been interfered with by Hague
supporters. This. II proved, is viola
ton of Federal statute.
The theory Of Mr.. Roosevelt's De-
partment Of Justice, as applied to
Kentucky. but not as yet to New
Jersey, is that the National Labor
Relations Act guarantees to citizens
certain rights. namely that they may
engage in concerted activities for the
purpose of dealing with employers.
and that any two or more persons who
conspire to deprive workers of their
rights can be prosecuted criminally
by the Federal Government.
How the Statute Reads.
The statute under which Federal
indictments are being sought in Ken
lucky reads in part as follows:
If two or more persons conspire
to injure, Cypress, threaten or in
timidate any citizen in the free exer-
else of enjoyment of any right or priv
ilege secured to him by the Consti-
tuition or laws of the United States
or because of his having exercised the
same they shall be fined not
more than $4,000 and imprisoned not
more than 10 years, and shall, more
over. be thereafter ineligible to any
office, or place Of honor, profit, or
trust created by the Constitution or
laws of the United States"
The foregoing law by itself has long
been dormant, because, strange as it
may seem, constitutional rights to be
exercised by the citizens are not spe-
officially defined or detailed in the
Constitution or in the laws of the
United States
Supreme Court decisions have, of
course, prevented States as well as
cities from interfering with free speech
so far as passing laws or ordinances
are concerned.
But this is prohibition against
acts of legislatures or ordinances Of
city governments and does not pro-
vide penalty in the case of a citizen
whose privileges and immunities" are
- xr-it
why the Federal Department Of JUS
tice has just started its proceedings
In Harlan County, KY, declaring that
the National Labor Relations Act now
specifically bestows certain rights on
the citizens in a law which seeks to
safeguard their opportunity to organ
lie.
Court Decision Cited.
Certainly in New Jersey the rights
Of the citizen under the National
Labor Relations Act exist as surely
rs they do in Kentucky, and any con-
spiracy to interfere with those rights
is Federal matter as much as it is
in Harlan County. The Supreme
Court of the United States last year.
in the firstease unfolding the Wagner
Act, affirmed that the right of or
ganization for workers was one that
Congress could lawfully confer. The
court said:
Thus. in its present application,
the statute goes no further than to
safeguard the right of employees to
self-organization and to select rep
resentatives Of their own choosing for
collective bargaining or other mutual
protection without restraint or CO.
srcion by their employer
THAT is fundamental right EN-
ployes have as clear right to Or
ganize and select their representatives
for lawful purposes as the respondent
has to organize its business and Sc
lect its own officers and agents. Dis
elimination and coercion to prevent
the free exercise Of the right of en-
ployes to self-organization and rep
resentation is proper subject for
condemnation by competent legislative
authority"
Any Conspiracy Assailable.
Here we have the Supreme Court
Of the United States saying the right
to organize is a right secured by the
laws Of Congress and the Constitu-
ton, hence any conspiracy to de-
prive a citizen of such rights would,
1t is commended by the Department Of
Justice, come logically within the pur-
view of all preceding decisions Of the
Supreme Court which have upheld or
defined the scope Of the conspiracy
statute quoted above as applying to
specific rights of the citizen.
II the Department Of Justice Is up
held in the Harlan County case by
the Supreme Court of the United
States it may mean that coercion
from any source may be prosecuted,
especially interference by one group
Of employees with others or tnterfer-
ence by employees with the operations
Of q company whose business affects
interstate commerce. This Is because
the interstate commerce laws passed
by Congress many years ago provide
that nobody may conspire with any
body else to interrupt interstate COM
merce, and hence the conspiracy stat
ute quoted above could be coupled
with acts of interruption Of interstate
commerce and thus introduce crimi-
nal prosecutions against unlawful in
reference by workers with the move
ment of goods across State lines by
enforced stoppage of plants through
sit-down strikes, intimidation, oppres-
sion or other acts of violence.
Copyright, 1881