Evening star., 1938-02-03
Mystery Labor Objectives
America Might Move Forward Confidently If It
Knew Workers' Goal.

Discipline" Prof. Tugwell has been
the source Of much Of the New Deal
philosophy about society. It may be
inaccurate to quote what he says about
labor as having any relation to Q. I. o.
Prof. Tugwell IL writing speculatively,
In general terms, about changes in 50
ciety as . whole, which he seems to
regard as desirable. The sentences
quoted here are detached from their
context:
"Submission Ito existing conceptions
and practicesl cannot make . workers
world. - Trade unionism has been,
traditionally, with us a submissive doc
trine, one which accepts the domina-
ton OF the business man and the In
centive Of profit-making. It has asked
nothing but larger bribes for greater
degradation -"
There. presumably. Prof. Tugwell re-
fers to the practices of the old labor
unions, such as A. F. Of L. What A. F.
OF l.. wants, everybody knows. What
A. F. of L. and all the older American
labor unions want is expressed in terms
Of wages, hours and working condi-
tions.
May Have Given Hint.
But this, Prof. Tugwell seems to
think, is not enough. This, he says,
is nothing but larger bribes for great
er degradation" Labor, he says, must
have more. Just what is the nature
and extent of the more" he does not
say exactly But there Is q hint In
these two sentences:
The going-on must take place; Gre
ating a workers world will not involve
a return to any system which ever
before existed. - With the business
mans monopoly broken, the way will lie
open for reconstructive action 49,"
1t may be that passage does not re-
fleet the objective, or the proba BILE
effect. Of c. I. o. as coupled with the
Wagner Labor Act and the N. L. r. B.
II it did, business and nearly every
body else. including much of labor,
would have occasion for alarm. The
phrase workers world" Is suggestive
Of Russian Communism. But nobody
knows whether this is the objective or
the probable effect of what is now
going on. Nobody knows where the
objective or probable effect is to be
found. And so long as the country
does not know. = large cause Of the
present recession OF business will con-
tinue to exist.
President Roosevelt's objective about
labor seems far short of this. FIRE.
quently he has alluded approvingly to
the status Of labor and employer in
England. At press conference, in
answer to questions in this field, he
has repeatedly replied that the ques-
TONERS should read the British labor
law.
British System Works.
II the thing President Roosevelt has
in mind is q duplication Of the Eng
lish system, and II Mr.. Roosevelt
would say this plainly and move toward
tin that event much confidence
would be created. The British system
Is different from ours-but the British
system works successfully in connec-
ton with the capitalist and individ-
ualist conception OF society. Practi-
cally any American business man
would readily undertake to adjust
himself to the British labor law, and
60 ahead confidently.
But is the British system what
c. I. o. has In mind, and what the
Wagner Labor Act authorizes and
what the N. l.. R. B. enforces? Is the
British system all that John L. Lewis
has in mind? Quite possibly, for Mr..
Lewis. in his private capacity. Is not
4 collectiviSt But Is the British svy.