The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1940-02-08


this right of free speech, but the La
bor Board has sought to deny it.
In view of the foregoing, can the
fairness of the American Federation
of Labor's amendments be challenged? ?
X 4 X
All the hullabaloo that's been raised
about the "ingratitude" of John l..
Lewis just because he threw mud at
President Roosevelt and the New Deal
is ridiculous.
Ingratitude is base sin. But it can
be committed only by little men. A
Napoleon could never be considered
ungrateful. No more could John L..
Lewis.
You see, it all depends on the point
of view. To the man in the street,
which includes US, it does undoubtedly
look as though Mr.. Lewis bit the hand
that fed him. We can't help remem-
bering that the NRA rescued Mr..
Lewis from ignomity. We can't help
remembering that various New Deal
agencies, such as the Labor Board,
have given a vast amount of aid and
comfort to Mr.. Lewis in his fight
against the American Federation of
Labor. We can't help remembering
that President Roosevelt refrained
from condemning the sit-down strike.
AS matter Of fact, we can't put down
here all that we do remember because
the list would take up too much space.
But just because Mr.. Lewis sees fit
to forget, should we accuse him of
ingratitude?
There has arisen new school of
ethics and morality which holds that
sin, like beauty, lies in the eye of the
beholder. Mr.. Lewis definitely be-
longs to that school, He sees no evil
nor does he hear or know evil-in
anything he, himself does. All the
sin, all the evil, all the fault, all the
blame, all the baseness, all the in
gratitude is in what the other fellow
does, the fellow who doesn't happen
to please him at the moment
Strong Medicine
Now that is a very convenient
philosophy. 1t enables Mr.. Lewis to
turn his wrath upon anyone, even his
best friends, when the spirit moves
him.
Strangely enough, Mr.. Lewis gets
the urge to denounce whenever he is
hurt or whenever he is feeling low.
He must be feeling very low right
now. For within two days at the con-
vention of the United Mine Workers
he has seen fit to denounce the Presi-
dent of the United States, the Vice
President Of the United States and
the head Of the Federal Security
Agency. That's tops, even for man
Of Mr.. Lewis denunciatory attain
ments. It's a lot of medicine and
strong medicine even for the Medicine
Man.
If, as we have good reason to be-
lieve, the Medicine Man was sick, his
convention presented him with a
handsome cure. Under cover of the
hula -baloo raised by wholesale po-
litical denunciations, Mr.. Lewis ex-
tracted from the United Mine Workers
convention a grant of authority to
spend as he sees fit huge campaign
fund to which he has forced the miners
of the country to contribute their
hard earned money.
Very little was said about this. 1t
was put over quietly. Mr. Lewis made
the plea that because the political
situation was somewhat up in the air
it would be unfair to the representa-
tives of the miners to decide how the
fund should be spent. So he asked the
convention to let him decide. And in
all the commotion it was so ordered
without opposition.
This means that Mr.. Lewis will now
be able to shop around among candi-
dates and offer some 100000 or $780,
900 to whoever offers him the most in
return.
Perish the Thought
Did we say there was anything evil
in this ? Oh, no! If Mr.. Lewis can see
no evil, hear no evil and think no evil,
it follows inevitably that no evil
exists.
We WONDER however, what the
American public will see in this and
what they will think about it.
We also wonder what many of Mr..
Lewis own adherents in the c. |. o.
will think and say about it.
Mr.. Sidney Hillman, vice president
of the c. |. o., is an ardent New Deal
er. For the last few years he has
spread the impression abroad that he
is closer to President Roosevelt than
any other union leader. His union,
the Amalgamated Clothing Workers,
has endorsed President Roosevelt on
innumerable occasions. What will he
think of Mr.. Lewis present policy?
Mr.. Emil Rieve, head Of the Ameri-
can Federation of Hosiery Workers, is
another c. |. 0. vice president. He
also is an enthusiastic supporter of
the New Deal. Will he subscribe to
Mr.. Lewis present views?
| Mr.. Kenneth Crawford, the new
president of the American Newspaper
Guild, is regarded in Washington as
one of the foremost New Deal sup
| portarc amopU tbe rookc of Oawcnapor