Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1938-08-07

A. +. ana wac WOTId FnOtOS.
in the latest report OF the committee in
commenting upon a new alignment of
forces springing from the definitions of
rights OF labor as contained in the Ma
tional Labor Relations Act. The COM
mittee reported to the Senate as follows:
yet these simple edicts. with respect
to industrialists and labor. started a great
hunt by the first party, the industrialist,
for a third party to do to labor on in
dustrys behalf what the individual en-
ployer himself could no longer legally do.
"One third party at hand was the de-
tective and strike-breakng agency, the
old standby of anti-union industrial in
terests.
"A substitute third party has appeared
in the shape of certain employer asso-
Citations.
Still further removed. in appearance,
is another third party which discloses
itself in movements to have the community,
or the public do the same job in behalf
Of the employer. Instances have been
noted OF Citizens committees sponsoring
back ->o-work' movements which are, to
use the words of an employer association
witness, the new technique in strike
breaking"
In connection with the steel strikes Of
genesis and operation Of the Johnstown
Citizens Committee. Among other things,
it found the committee was supported by
contributions from industrial concerns and
widely publicized by national employer as
sociations.
Money flowed through the Citizens Com
mittee" to munitions companies, to city
officials and to strike-breaking deputies
recruited as usual in the toughest sections
OF few big cities The committee had
80 little OF the public in its makeup that
its own Publicity Committee never saw its
press releases before publication. its treas
urer was unknown to its members. and its
policies invariably we're traced to the steel
company offices.
"Most Minor Minority"
The La Toilette committee commented
as follows of the Johnstown group:
Its public statements represented 1t as
a community in revolt against noisy
minority yet before the Senate COM
mittee it stood revealed as the noisiest,
most minor OF minorities. though by no
means the most powerless. 1t was very
successful in the job it was set up to do
(break the strike); then records we're de-
stroyed because the job was finished.
In building its record Of all these prac-
tees the committee often went back as Tar
as 1898. sometimes following the develop
ment of a single companys policies from
that time until the present.
To those who wonder why this emphasis
on ancient history" was necessary, two ex-
plantations may be given.
First is the fact that the present labor
policies of many corporations are traceable
to 1898. when the N I. r. A. contained the
first effort of the Federal Government to
guarantee workers the right OF organiza-
ton and collective bargaining. Determined
not to abide by the letter either of Section
ca or succeeding labor legislation, many
of the corporations falling under scrutiny
of the same committee have merely pro-
crossed from one type Of evasion to another.
1t was logical, therefore, that comprehen-
sive picture be drawn as regards these con-
Germs.
The second explanation is the fact that
nothing can be more effective as cure for
these evils than the arousing of public opin-
ion against them. To arouse such opinion
Al hot ho connroiftaa raint
in finest detail the picture Of abuse Of civil
liberties and other anti-labor activities
which have been manifested by these GER
tain groups or individual concerns in re-
cent years.
Until such practices are outlawed there
can be no hope for industrial peace in
America.