Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-01-26

He has cracked
Charles G. Ross. down on Paul v.
McNutt as political adventurer.
He has damned the Democratic
leadership" for "faithlessness" to
labor after having "supped at labors
table," and predicted that if Roose-
welt is nominated for a third term
he will be ANONYMOUSLY defeated"
BY implication, in attacking the
tariff policies of the Democrats he
has whalloped Secretary of State
Hull.
He has not yet, so far as the
writer is aware, hit directly at Post
master General Farley, though Far
ley undoubtedly comes under his
blanket indictment of the Demo-
cratic leadership.
1t is not to be supposed that he
has any use for Jesse Jones, Senator
Bennett Clark, Gov. Lloyd Stark.
Representative Sam Rayburn or
Speaker William B Bankhead.
The only Democratic candidate,
near-candidate or potential candi-
date left for the c. I. o. chieftain
to support is Senator Burton K.
Wheeler.
May Be in Tough Spot.
1t is not to speak in derogation Of
Senator Wheeler to say that the ex.
pected Lewis support of him puts
the Senator in tough spot.
For Mr.. Lewis in his statement
Wednesday to the United Mine
Workers Convention makes it very
plain that when he bestows his favor
on a candidate, he looks to that
candidate, if successful, to deliver
a full parcel of goods.
Just what are the goods that Mr..
Lewis wants, for the delivery of
which, before he will enter into a
contract, he demands guarantees
of good faith? And what are these
guarantees?
1t has been generally thought that
under Roosevelt organized labor has
Jared we'll. Senator Wheeler himself
says this. He says the Democratic
party in the seven years of the
Roosevelt regime has done more for
organized labor than any other adj
ministration in the history of the
country.
Backed Up by Record.
The record shows that this Is
true. Labor's right of collective
bargaining has been supplemented in
the Wagner Labor Relations Act and
all efforts to weaken the act have
been successfully resisted. A wage
and-hour law has been passed. The
Social Security Act, primarily in the
interest of labor, has been placed
on the statute books. The duty Of
the National Government to relieve
human suffering due to unemploy-
ment has been recognized.
Even to the extent of a long
silence on the part of the Presi-
dent when confronted with the sit
down strikes Qater condemned by
the Supreme Court, the whole at
titude of the administration toward
organized labor has been actively
sympathetic.
But Mr.. Lewis has not been salts.
fled. Apparently, in return for the
half million dollars that the mine
workers contributed to the Roose-
welt campaign in 1886, in pursuance
of what he calls a coalition" be-
tween the Democratic party and or
ganlzed labor, nothing short of the
party's complete subservience to Or
ganized labor would have satisfied
him.
What Is He Asking For:
1t is therefore pertinent to inquire
what it is. precisely, that Mr.. Lewis
is now asking for; what are the
pledges he would exact from the
candidate or the party of his choos-
ing?
What does John L. Lewis want
more than he has got?
Another question is what will Mr..
Lewis do if Senator Wheeler turns
out to be not to his liking? For it
doesn't follow, from the bouquets
that Mr.. Lewis has been throwing
at the Senator, that the latter is
going to run on Mr.. Lewis platform.
Senator Wheeler, very decidedly,
has a mind of his own. He proved
this when he opposed the court
packing scheme. Mr.. Lewis, as it
happened, was for it. On many
other occasions, Senator Wheeler
has shown his independence. He
wants the support of organized la
bor-as what candidate does not?-
but no one who knows him can be-
lieve he would pay the price for it
that Mr.. Lewis appears to be de-
manding.
1t is all very battling.
Puzzle More Battling.
Suppose Mr.. Lewis, in any case,
goes along with Senator Wheeler
and Senator Wheeler is not nomi-
mated. After all, his chances are
only fair at the best. What will Mr..
Lewis do then? Will he support the
Republican nominee (say Taft or
Vandenberg or Dewey against the
Democratic nominee (say Roosevelt
or Hull or Farley?
The puzzle becomes more battling
the more you study it. 1t is battling.
but not, think, of as high political
Importance as the pontifical char
acter of Mr.. Lewis statement to the
mine workers might suggest. For
the ability of Mr.. Lewis at this juno
ture to deliver" the labor vote in
decisive quantity is open to very
great doubt.
Antaeus ceased to be invincible
when out of touch with the earth.
So John L. Lewis loses power when
separated from his partner-Roose.