The Washington times., 1938-08-03
Labor Pains

can tell cockeyed world that there will Labor
Relations Board hearing in the military district of Iowa.
GoU NelS G. KraSchel. Derr. IoUd.
YrHE Governor of Iowa is quoted having used the
i above words day before yesterday to express his
defiance of an agency of the United States Government
He was talking about planned National Labor Re-
ations Board hearing at Newton, Iowa, of complaint
of unfair labor practices forbidden by the Wagner
Act The complaint was brought by CIO electrical
and machine workers union against the Maytag Co.,
manufacturer of washing machines.
Gov Kraschel has proclaimed martial law in New
ton, welI-known model" factory town which began
having labor trouble last May g. when the C1O started
drive to organize the Maytag employees. Troops are
patrong the town. The Labor Board adjourned its
hearing for fortyeght hours after the Governor thun-
dered. The Board says the hearing will reopen to-
morrow morning at Des Mones despite the Governors
def and even though Des Mones is 'in the military
district of Iowa.
Down in Harlan County, KY, notorious strong
hold of semfeuda coal mine operators, another Wag
ner Act case has cmaxed unhappiy for the Wagner Act
For eleven weeks last past,
Harlan County Federal Judge at London, KY, has
Tnoo ExnIodoe been hearing testimony Wag
ner Act charges against sixteen
coal companies, eighteen operators and twenyone ex
peace officers The testimony has turned the stomachs
of liberals radicals and average-decent people all
the United States with it's disclosures of antunion ter
rorism and barbarism
But the jury announced Monday that it hopelessy
deadlocked. The judge discharged the jury; the Gov
ernment moved for retral of the whole The
port is that the jury II to for conviction until
week ago, but that then blew up into fighting
factions. The fight began when juror, according
to this report said he would rot before he would convict
anybody to help John L. Lewis Lewis United Mine
Workers, or the CIO
In Washington Senator Robert NJ La Toilette prog,
Wis., deduces from his Civil Liberties Committees find
Ings of $4OOOOOO worth of terrorstic dfense actvi-
u1 n11 r ties in last summers Little Steel
"o A'O"O'e 10 strike, that the Wagner Act must
In Wn0ner Act be strengthened by the next Con-
gress.
We think Senator La Toilette has put his finger on the
basic cause of most of the labor pains now affcng the
natlon that cause being the Wagner Act How he would
ike TO strengthen the Wagner Act don't know; but
here is what this observer thinks about it:
Ihe Wagner Act came opposite and equal reaction
TO generations of Government playing along with big
business and tte) in the game of keeping labor down
Ill general (WlCn numerous individual
tons of course) had long been asking for it. by their
treatment of labor.
When the reaction finally came, in 1885, it produced
law under which the dice were loaded in abors favor
Labor has most of the rights under this law capital is
put in the doghouse.
For the purpose of peaceable adjustment of labor dis
pues the new arrangement is better than the DID,
Extreme aborites used to terrorist tactics as mat
Ter OF sacred principle because they felt the Government
W ouoin +horo
OF those tactics than BEFORE and feel like holy cru
saders as they do because the law has lined up the
Government against them. Inbetween as always TAX
ing the shell fragments and paying the bills stands the
good old consuming public which of right should be boss
OF both labor and capital
Until the Wagner Act is amended so as to make the
Government firm, friendly umpire in labor disputes
Tatner than tighter for side the other we can
expect to go on having the kind of labor troubles we
are having now. Hard make bad laws according
TO the lawyers. It's equally true that bad laws make
haro cases. which trouble for everybody concerned