The Wilmington morning star., 1940-07-30
BEHIND THE SCREEN AT
WASHINGTON

CHICAGO.-John L. Lewis is be-
ing out-pulled in the tug of wal
within the c. I. o.
First visible sign was appear
ance at the Democratic convention
here in Chicago, as ardent third
term boosters, of some of the
e. l. O.'s most important officials.
Among these r Phillip Murray,
c. I. O. vice president, and Thorn
as j.. Kennedy, secretary of the
United Mine Workers, who were
delegates from Pennsylvania, and
R. j.. Thomas, president of the
United Automobile Workers, a
delegate from Michigan.
Significance lies in the fact that
Lewis has been bitterly and openly
opposed to Roosevelt's renomin-
alton for many months.
Even more important is the
way Lewis is being short-circuited
i nthe matter of a 'rapproch-
ment'' between the CLIO. and the
A. F. of L.
When President Roosevelt put
c. I. o. Vice President Sidney Hill
man on the National Defense Com
mittee, the way was paved for an
effective c. 1. GA. F. of l.. CO.
operation W i C h, conceivably,
might finally heal the breach be-
tween the two labor organizations
by next fall, say, after the
presidential election.
Hillman, whose split with Lewis
came partly because he wanted to
make such a peace while Lewis
didn't, proceeded to set up a Ma.
tional Labor Policy Advisory Com.
mittee, composed of representa-
tives of the A. F. of L., c. l. O..
and the railway brotherhoods. It's
this committees job to smooth out
jurisdictional fights and in general
to see to it that the A. F. of L.
c. I. o. split doesn't get in the way
of the defense program.
HILLMAN
MANEUVERS
Notable is the fact that the
c. I. 0. men put on this committee
are leaders who have opposed Lew
is of late, both on the third term is
sue and also on the matter of rid
ding the c. I. o. of Communist in
luence-real or alleged. These
men are:
Emil REEVE, of the Textile Work.
ers; Sherman Dalrymple, of the
Rubber Workers; R. j. Thomas,
of the Auto Workers; Van Bittner,
of United Mine Workers.; and Ches-
ter S. Golden, of the Steel Workers
Organizing Committee.
There is no longer any suspicion
of Communist domination of n of
their unions. On the other hand,
some prominent c. I. o. unions
which are commonly supposed to
be under Communist influence
were pointedly left unrepresented
on Hillman's committee.
OLIVER RESIGNATION
HELD SIGNIFICANT
Along with all of this - which
tends to draw an important section
of the c. I. o. farther and farther
away from Lewis-there is the e
cent resignation of E. L. Oliver as
boss of Labor's Non = Partisan
League, and his appointment as
head of the American Labor Party
in New York.
This league was formed original
ly as the means by which Lewis
led labor could work for Roosevelt.
Oliver quit because he felt the
league was. tending to follow the
Communist party line instead of
the New Deal. But while his resig-
nation leaves Lewis in full control
of the league, Oliver its he mar
who has the intimate contact with
labor leaders in the leagues vari-
Gus local branches -. and it would
not be surprising if a number of
these presently followed him out OF
the league-perhaps into some as
yet unannounced extension of the
American Labor Party, perhaps
simply into an independent labor
committee for Roosevelt. l
CAN'T BLAME HIM!