The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-05-18
US Senator Bridges Charges adicaID0n1inatesNLRBBoard

Currently the National Labor Relations Board is under attack at Washington and more than one Congressman has sought irl- vestigation of the power behind the hearings" on labor controver- sies. Waterbury, too, has had it's labor matters under consideration of the NLRB and Waterbury is a labor town," in one sense of the meaning.
 Thus, finding in the article which appears in the current is- sue of Liberty magazine, "The Inquisition Comes to America" it's author, Sen. H. Styles Bridges, Republican Congressman from New Hampshire and former gov- ernor of that state, substance for consideration by thinking cit izens, The Democrat has obtained permission to reprint Senator Bridges article. The Democrat would be interested in learning from its readers their reaction to the charges made by Senator Bridges in the weekly magazine.
 Re-Print
 The article is reprinted, in full, as follows:
 In the role of spectator, have sat through hearings of the Ma tional Labor Relations Board and have witnessed such scenes as few Americans would believe could take place under the flag of free- dom.
 Employers of labor, citizens of the United States, have been haled before an Examiner" appointed by the Labor Board, and subjected to treatment that suggests the in- quisitions of the Middle Ages.
 Scenes such as those which have passed before my own eyes have been further confirmed by exam ination of the records of various Labor Board cases. All obviously came out of the same mold. These hearings go forward on the pre- sumption that the accused is guilty until he proves himself in- nocent. Examiners, supposedly in pursuit of the facts, play the roles of prosecutor, jury, and judge. They have admitted the vaguest of hearsay evidence when pre- sented by the one side, and have refused to summon witnesses for tie other. In one case the right to question the credibility of a witness known to be a criminal has been denied.
 Throughout my entire public career I have championed every just cause of labor. I believe that collective bargaining is a modern necessity and that unions have a high and important part to play ill our national life. I am not op- posed to the Wagner Act in so far an it does justice to labor. I am opposed to it when it becomes a partisan for one group of labor and ignores entirely the rights of other groups. I am opposed to it when it makes itself the advocate ot some special group of workers ill it's relation to the employer, and so arrays class against class.
 Minimum Wages
 I went to one of these hearings, which was held in the United States post-office building of Stubenville, Ohio. In West Vir- ginia, across the Ohio River from Stubenville, a generation ago, the Weirton Steel Company had set up a manufacturing plant on the rolling hills, and in the end 12,00O people had found jobs with it and had come to earn minimum wages oc five dollars day, maximums that run up to fifty dollars day, and an average of ninety-tWo cents an hour, with forty-two hours work in week.
 The c. I. O. had attempted to organize the workers at Weirton, but from all indications had suc- ceeded in winning over only small minority. But the C. I. o. claimed before the Labor Board that 279 men had been discharged because they were members of it's organization. The company replied that eighty-three of these men were still on the pay roll. that wenty-two of them had never been on it, that sixty-eight had been transferred, and that thirteen had refused jobs. Despite all of this, the c. I. O. insisted that under the Wagner Act it should be con-