Evening star., 1939-05-31

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defenders of the
statute over the David Lawrence.
severe hump of criticism which has
been piling up in recent months.
The issue involved, however. is
fundamental If Congress, having
delegated excessively broad powers
to the labor board, is afraid to as
sumo responsibility for its unwar-
ranted delegation of power and to
write into the law the specific
changes needed then the labor
board becomes the truly legislative
body. And on no subject has there
been as much legislation written by
a group outside of the Congress it
self than by the labor board.
The legislation is in the form OF
regulations and decisions and con-
stitutes a voluminous body of rules
of conduct, possibly the most far
reaching ever attempted under
democratic form of government. The
most intimate relations of business
conduct, the opportunities for SIM
pie intercourse between manage
ment and worker and the free inter-
play of communication in writing
or by conversation are now subject
to the censorship of Government
board of three persons responsible
to nobody except occasionally the
courts when some employer is will
ing to spend the time and money
needed to get corrective applied.
Rulings Set High Standard.
The labor board rulings and de-
cisions will compare favorably with
any set of laws adopted anywhere.
There is logic and consistency of
purpose, indeed a clarity of express
sion in them, which is unexcelled.
This does not mean they are good
decisions or meritorious precedents
but that they represent the maximum
power that can be derived from a
vaguely worded statute. Instead of
specifying practices which are IL
legal, the Congress gives a three
man board the right to decide what
is an unfair labor practice This
is language so broad as to permit of
the kind of decisions handed down
by the board.
The aggrieved parties-the en-
ployers-have been entrapped into
believing that the board is at fault,
that the board is biased, and that
mere change in the personnel will
change the administration of the
law. This is like asking that the
Supreme Court justices be changed
in order that decisions favorable to
the administration in power may be
obtained. If it were conceded that
the board is biased, then change
in personnel might mean only diff
ferent kind of bias depending upon
which groups could bring about the
change.
What the labor board itself would
like is no changes in the law and if,
in order to prevent Congress from
making amendments, it is neces-
sary to change few rules, as a sop
to the opposition, the strategists on
the administration side are all too
eager to do it so that Congress will
adjourn and leave the act to be ad-
ministered as heretofore.
End of Labor Law Seen.
The question before Congress is
whether it will continue to let the
labor board write the laws or
whether it will specify the area
within which the board shall func-
tion. Failure to mark out the area
Is what is causing the friction today.
There are some employers who do
not like the Wagner law and who
do not care what is done about
changes in the rules of the board
These are the people who hope for
the complete repeal of the act as
soon as popular reaction grows
strong enough to bring that about
Already the Wagner law is being
compared to the 18th amendment in
that the defenders are unwilling to
bulge an inch to meet abuses and
ultimately the reaction is expected
to be so powerful as to sweep the
whole reform out of the statute
books.
The Wagner law has in it a great
objective-the protection of the
rights of labor to organize and to
choose without interference its COL
lective bargaining agents. So did
prohibition have a marvellous OBJ
jective-to do away with drunken
ness. But in the end prohibition
was defeated and a far from salts
factory substitute-state regulation
was imposed because the abuses
OF prohibition itself-racketeerin
and gangsterism-became more OBJ
noxious as social evil than the
original defect sought to be cured.
Friction Is Growing.
Today friction between employers
and employees is growing. The Wag-
ner law permits rulings by the
labor board which build walls in
stead of bridges between workers
and management. Consequently all
sorts of abuses are growing up and
production is being curtailed be-
cause of labor disputes. The OBJ
jective-better working conditions