Evening star., 1940-10-28
Lewis Action
Held Threat
To Unity
Failure Of ForIey
To Aid President
Also Criticized
BY JAY FRANKLIN.


That John L. Lewis has an
nounced his support for the candi-
dacy Of Wendell L. Willkie, while
James A. Farley has hitherto re-
Trained from active support for the
candidacy OF President Roosevelt.
represents a grave threat to the
moral unity of the American people.
Whether these developments will
affect the outcome Of the election
cannot be predicted with any conf
dence since 1t is a law Of politics
that to every action there is an
equal and pposite-though not i'm
mediate-reaction and what Won
lose on the hot-dogs you eventually
make up in the shooting gallery.
1t is the effect on public opinion
which is to be feared-that is, on
public opinion regarding both Or
ganized labor, especially the 10.
and the Irish Catholic group in
national politics.
For the C. I. o. owes its rise and
John L. Lewis owes his power TO
the labor policies of the Roosevelt
administrations. For Lewis to turn
against Roosevelt and support the
candidate Of the Wiers, the Girdlers
and the Fords is not only an act
Of deep ingra is an act
which fatally compromises organized
labor as a stable social movement
and a coherent political force. Why
should any political party in the
| future keep its pledges to labor II
the leaders of labor are not going
TO rise above personal feuds and
minor disappointments when it
comes to the pinch? Why should
any national statesman seek 10 build
up an orderly labor movement if
that movement is apt to be diverted
from its own interests and aspira-
tlons to feed small ll-minded grudge
or soothe frustrated labor leader?
What unity can there be if disloyaltv
IS to become the rule of social
| politics?
Thinks Beyond Election.
Here I am thinking Of the state
OF affairs after the election. If
Willkie wins will the G. o. P. trust
any important part of Republican
destinies to men like Lewis and or
ganizations like the c. I. O., after
this colossal betrayal? If Roose-
velt wins how can labor expect to
deserve reliable consideration dur
ing the defense program? If the
leaders Of labor are not dependable
the choice lies between liquidation
OF labor organizations and national
direction of the labor movement by
the Government. One road leads to
class war" and the other to the
corporate state"
The same is true. to a lesser de-
gree, of the status Of the Irish
Catholics if there should develop
substantial sabotage of the Roose-
velt party by man like Mr.. Farley
or even If Big jim refrains from
helplng the man who made him"
IL Is not so much the immediate
effect on the election which counts
here as it is the effect on our polit-
lcal life. The essence of good demo-
cratic politics is that loyalty shall
be observed and that men of the
same Ideals and principles should
stand together. Once let the idea
get going that you can't trust the
dirty so-and-so's!" and you have
opened the door to anti-Catholic
agitation on a Nationwide scale.
revlvlng the passions and the hatreds
OF the Klan period and the 1928 elec-
tlon. The last thing a racial or reli-
glous group can afford in these times
Is to be distrusted. There are ALWAYS
cheap cheers for traitors from the
SIDE enriched by their treason. but
the aftermath Of betrayal is sick
dlstrust and contempt too deep for
hatred.
Fears Moral ShambIes.
nave been accused of too much
loyalty-some of my friends told me
at the time of the Chicago conven-
tlon that my belief in the principles
OF the New Deal was a barrier tn INV
personal effectiveness in supporting
those principles-that 1t is the
squeaky axle that gets creased Nav
be so, but there are times when
simple steadfastness, loyalty and
fortitude seem to be the most i'm
portant qualities a group or a ma
tlon can possess-that those who
simply hold the line are vital and
that those who indulge in maneu-
Vers and manipulations get rewards
which are shopworn and garlands
that are faded. And I know that
there must be deep satisfaction in
Rome, Berlin and Toxic at the
growing evidence that some of the
leaders Of the American democracy
stlll believe that politics is a game
without rules and that victory goes
70 the man who can first and most
completely doublecross his friends
his colleagues and his followers
IN these recent developments see
America heading into moral sham
bles which may well immobilize o,,r
national will. not merely for a few
months but for several years-at a
tlme when only days and hours mat
Ter. Here I know again that I do
not stand alone.