Evening star., 1940-10-08
Behind the Scenes

out why Sidney Hillman of the De-
,fense Commission asked Attorney
General Jackson for his widely
criticized ruling to the effect that
findings of the National Labor Re-
lations Board, until reversed in the
courts, are binding and conclusive on
the other executive agencies OF the
Government.
This ruling must have been sought
and given for a purpose, but the
precise nature Of this purpose has
not been revealed. And yet, from a
short-range standpoint at least, the
reasons motivating Mr.. Hillman and
the use intended to be made of Mr..
Jacksons ruling are the all-impor-
tant considerations in this matter.
It has been assumed with con-
siderable justification that the Jack
son ruling was designed to clear the
way for the denial of defense con-
tracts to firms held by the Labor
Board to be in violation of the
Wagner Act. That may or may not
have been the case, but the impress
sion that the ruling was requested
and given for that purpose will not
be removed until there has been
some satisfactory explanation Of
what was going on behind the scenes
In the Defense Commission when
Mr.. Hillman asked for the ruling.
In this connection several recent
announcements from the commission
are interesting. On September l the
commission, in enunciating a labor
policy, stated that "all work carried
on as part of the defense program
should comply" with applicable Fed
eral laws affecting labor. On Sep
tember 13 the commission made
public a list Of general principles
governing the letting of defense
contracts. The NTH OF these princi-
Piles said: Adequate consideration
must be given to labor. This means
compliance with the principles on
this subject stated by the commits
sion" in its release made public
September l. From these two state
ments 1t might reasonably be con-
cluded that the September l an
nouncement that employers should"
comply with the laws was strength
ened on September IS to read that
they must comply.
If 50, two releases from the COM
mission on September ~ and October
] become important. These releases
set forth letters to Mr.. Hillman from
Assistant Secretary Of War Patterson
and Secretary of Navy Knox, their
purpose being to advise the Defense
Commission member that the War
and Navy Departments were pre-
pairing to incorporate in all defense
contracts the substance of the labor
policy enunciated in the September
13 statement. Secretary Knox speci-
fed that he was referring to nego-
tiated contracts, while Assistant Sec
retary Patterson made no distinction
between contracts awarded to low
bidders and those placed by nego-
tiation.
1t is significant that Mr.. Jackson's
opinion, prepared In response to an
oral request from Mr.. Hillman, was
written on October 2, one day after
Mr.. Hillman had received the letter
from Secretary Knox. While no con-
elusive inferences can be drawn from
this time element, 1t seems more
than probable that question had
been raised whether an employer
should be treated by the commission
as violator Of the law after Labor
Board finding to that effect, or
whether the commission should defer
Judgment until after court ruling.
If this assumption is correct. Mr..
Jackson's ruling can serve only to
give immediate effect to a Labor
Board finding, thereby paving the
way to the "blacklisting" of employ
ers by the procurement agencies be-
fore they have had their traditional
day in court.
Adherence to such a policy by the
commission would be an immediate
threat to the defense program and,
In the longer view, would tend to-
ward the establishment of govern
mental policy which is both vicious
and unnecessary It is important to
keep in mind the fact that the
Wagner Act and all similar statutes
contain machinery for their own
enforcement II this Is not adequate
1t should be strengthened by Con-
gress, not by dubious executive
action.
Congress repeatedly has refused to
sanction what seems to be the ulti-
mate objective of Mr.. Jackson's
ruling. President Roosevelt has
said that the only unquestionably
valid way Of denying Government
contracts to alleged law violators Is
through legislative action. And, Of
still greater significance, the Con-
troller General on sevsral occasions
has ruled that Government agencies