The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1940-07-25
The Cherry Tree
Where We Hdtchet Out
The Truth
. ONE MAN BALKS
. TRUE LABOR UNITY
. LOSS OF IMPORTANCE
. LEWIS WITHOUT FOOTHOLD

This column has said that one man
John l.. Lewis-stands in the way OF
renewed conferences on the subject OF
labor unity. That is true.
One other thing is true: John L..
Lewis is much less important man
today than he was two weeks ago.
When Lewis broke finally with FDR
and pointed his way toward a third
standard bearer, he embarked upon a
dangerous course. Dangerous for Lew
is and his followers.
By that act he cut himself away
from both major parties.
When Roosevelt declared against
sending a U. S. army to Europe, he
cut down with one stroke the issue
upon which Wheeler was prepared to
bolt, and Wheeler acknowledged that
fact quickly.
That killed the Lewis third-term re-
volt-and cut him off from any real
association with any of the major
leagues in politics.
Seldom has a man been left SO
completely without a foundation.
Add to that the maneuvering which
has made Sidney Hillman the No.
CIO man in Washington and the fact
that all of the big CIO unions defied
Lewis and declared for Roosevelt, and
you have a picture of a fallen leader
in dire distress.
Is there some quiet St. Helena of
political and industrial oblivion to
which such one can retire for peace
of mind and surcease from ambition?
But as Of today, John L. Lewis still
heads the CIO, no matter how far his
prestige may have fallen or his power
diminished. He still can veto-for
that is how the CIO constitution is
built. And so, he remains the bar to
labor peace.
If Napoleon can no more command
his legions to forward, march," he
can still bar the road to march.
X x X
For how long this may remain true,
we do not know. Perhaps not for long.
But in these times of swift movement,
we reckon as of the hour and accept
change when it arrives.
Meanwhile, if and when unity comes,
WHAT KIND OF UNITY may it be
and what kind can succeed? Import
ant questions, are those.
The CIO sprang to the heights from
springboard put in place largely by
Communists. LOUSY with them," has
The condition remains about as it
was. Nobody is overly elated by the
statement that there is to be purge
somewhere. IN MANY A SECTOR
THE COMMUNISTS ARE STRONG
ENOUGH TO PURGE OUT THE
MEN FAITHFUL TO DEMOCRACY.
The American Federation of Labor
munism, Nazism, Fascism, or what
have you.
The American Federation of Labor
CAN BE EXPECTED TO KEEP UP
THE BARS!
So, unity becomes something more
than a question of bringing dual Or
SdlllLdtlOllS ultO dill dHldlSdHldllOu.
1t must involve also the cleansing
of certain Aegean stables, so that the
contamination welcomed and reached
for by the CIO shall not eat into the
larger body to further endanger and
possibly destroy the nation.
That set of facts heaps upon John
L. Lewis perhaps the greatest and
gravest responsibility of all.
1t is doubtful if, in view of his cal
amitous political debacle, Lewis ever
again can have the strength and pres
tige he possessed when he was offer
ing to feed pie to his sit-downers and
demanding that the President of the
United States kick in with a quid pro
quo for money laid on the line by
means of fateful checkoff that piled
up the millions in the Golfers of an
amazing labor autocracy.
With the whole world moving so fast
the next development in the orbit of
John l.. Lewis cannot be long delayed.