Montana labor news., 1938-07-28

LAB0Ry N0N-pARTI5AN LEAGUE HAS
PAVED THE WAY FOR FUTURE GAINS
Voters Ne = Labor Press to In
form II : of Candidates and
Issues. !.

'''' e.
Now Thu h~ 2 tom-toms and politi-
cal speecl s re slowed away until
Novembe . calm appraisal of the
recent pl q y election is possible.
For NOR past, the people have
learned less authority than the
capitals ass that the primaries
this sun would be significant in
showing q Use or fall of the New
Deal in popular favor. There has
been a lot of wishful thinking and
a lot of money spent by the enemies
of the common people.
Outstanding feature was the vic
tory of Jerry O'Connell in spite of
a most vicious and expensive cam
paign waged against him by the
corporate interests. In pink sheets
and yellow sheets, on the radio and
through personal letters, the serving
men of capitalism poured out their
hatred against O'Connell. The power
of money and INSCRIPTIONS propa-
ganda to mold public opinion was
clearly shown. There is room for
sober thought here. On the basis of
his splendid record in Congress,
O'Connell's majority should have
been much larger. The common
people, whom O'Connell fought for,
had better be alive to their interests
in November when the corporation
strength will be thrown to the Re-
publican candidate.
Labor Slate Fares Well
Labor's Non-Partisan League, sup
ported by the unions and other pro-
gressive elements, was successful in
getting seven out of ten for the legis-
lature and Mulholland for the state
senate. Unfortunately, the effort to
liquidate Goodwin and Freshman
failed by a narrow margin. They
slid under the wire in the closing
hours. Checkers reported that many
ballots had only those two names
marked for the legislature.
All the state and judicial candi-
dates supported by the Non-Partisan
League polled remarkably heavy
votes considering that some of them
were not well known. In fact, if
there were a few more counties like
Silver Bow, the political picture in
the state would be decidedly diff
ferent. 1t is entirely possible, by a
determined campaign, to elect Erick-
son and O'Donnell to the supreme
court in November. That would give
the people a majority on the court.
The primary in this county clearly
showed the strength of ar organized
labor vote and points the way for a
broader attack in the future.
State Machine Needed
The contrast between the vote in
Silver Bow County and the rest of
the state points to certain pressing
needs that must be met. Outside of
this county there is no labor press in
the state worth mentioning. The
Anaconda Co, owns eight daily
papers and probably controls several
smaller ones through financial pres
sure, Yet there is not one liberal
paper of statewide circulation to
inform the people of the issues.
In addition to a powerful state
newspaper, the unions and progress
sive farmers need a state-wire or
%ganization capable of uniting all
progressive elements behind their
own candidates and policies. The
Washington Commonwealth Fedora
ton, the American Labor Party in
New York and the Farm-Labor Fed
Grafton in Wisconsin are examples.
An excellent step in this direction
was taken this year by the Montana
Council for Progressive Political
Action.