Imperial Valley press., 1939-04-19
Famous Sayings
Disagreement on
The Wagner Act
BY CHARLES p. STEWART

by I1AkIES L. STEWART
Testimony by witnesses before the
Senate Education and Labor Com
mittee relative To possible amend
ment of the Wagner Labor Rela-
tions Act is as complicated as any
thing that Capitol Hill has listened
to in at least a decade. That capital
and labor disagree as to that laws
desirability isn't surprising: they
generally do disagree However
capital disagrees somewhat within
itself, and labor is split violently
The United States Chamber OF
Commerce and the National AsSo-
citation of Manufacturers concur in
the opinion that the law itself is
all to the bad and that the person
mel of the managing board which
il created, under the present chair
manship of j. Warren Madden. is
worse yet. Nevertheless the Senate
committee has heard several en-
ployer- witnesses who contend that
it's a. fairly satisfactory piece OF
legislation. perhaps subject to few
notifications. Parenthetically, these
employers are chaps who get on
exceptionally we'll with their help
and consequently. haven't had any
trouble in their plants since the
law was enacted.
But labor? AS has been widely
advertised John L. Lewis CLIO
considers the law a model and
wouldn't have a single comma in it
altered William Green's AT. of l.
denounces It as a measure designed
To knock the A F. of LIS under
pinning from beneath it and to
build up the CLIO. in short, to the
ruination of all of labor's best in
terestS.
Semi-neutral witnesses testimony
conflicts, TOO. Some OF it is to the
effect that the law is all right, but
THAT the Labor Relations Board has
applied it bunglingly. Other critics
maintain that no imaginable board
could have done a decent job under
such regulations.
The nub of it is that the thinl
might work if the CLIO. and the
A r. OF l.. could get together.
Their PHILOSOPHERS Differ
The trouble is .heir PHILOSOPHERS
differ.
Take newspapering, with which
I'm familiar.
A newspaper has printers, stere-
nIjta,.ia1 .unrty
erS and Whatnot.
The A F. of L. always has argueo
that these groups should be organ
lied separately as distinct crafts
though federated Incidentally, il
never has been overly friendly tt
the idea of recognizing the editoria
crowd as a craft, in the union labor
sense OF craftsmanship. The CI.O'!
notion has Deen to take the whole
bunch into one lineup as an in.
duStry
The A. F.. of LIS charge is tina
the Wagner laws board has taker
the CLOS side in industry gener.
ally. 1t likewise charges that EN-.
ployerdom has taken advantage o.
the workers dispute to play tn,
CLIO. against the A. F.. of L. fol
employerdom's benefit, and to tn,
workers detriment.
I don't know, it may or may no
be true. If true, l don't know
whether or net the Labor Board wa.
| light as to the side it took.
The fact remains that either tn,
law needs to be changed. to suit a,
hands. or the board ought to be re
organized to suit at least both laboj
groups-not necessarily the employ.
ers. And if the laws changed radi.
oally, it would seem as if today.
members OF The board would qui
from lack OF sympathy with tht
Encouragement.
All this hangs on the findings Of
that investigating committee.
Father Ryan and Haas
1t is notable that the Rev. Mgr
John A. Ryan, director of the Ma
tional Catholic Welfare Conference
declares unqualifiedly for preserya
GiOll VI CAlC "d5iiti Law.
The CLIO. has been attacked as
communistic, but it boosts for the
Wagner Law. 1t seems unlikely
that an eminent Catholic clergyman
would support eommunistic regi-
mentation. Father Ryan is one OF
the foremost sociologists in this
country.
Father Francis j. Haas Is ad-
vanced as a member OF the Labor
Board. He's another Catholic GER
tainly no communist Father Haas
is an educator OF the first rank, an
economist and soeiologist. He has
been prominently identified recently
with capital-an labor Cancellation
activities. He's more or less in the
class with eX-Assistant Secretary Ct
Labor Edward F.. McGrady. who
could conciliate anything.
Plenty of Cancellation is needed
and no mistake