Evening star., 1940-03-08

they want to retain in power men,
bers of Congress who are willing
to surrender civil liberties.
The essence of civil liberties is
that every citizen shall have fair
trial and that, in any offense
against the law of the land, he
shall not be tried by a tribunal
which is itself judge, jury and prose-
cutor Surprisingly enough, there
are New Dealers in the House call
ing themselves. liberals" who not
only agree with the reactionary
doctrine that single board OF three,
who shall continue to act as judge,
jury and prosecutor, but they &C
tually have taken stand against
any revision of the law which
changes the membership of the
present board or checks its dicta-
torial powers.
The record which the committee,
headed by Representative Smith,
has gathered in the last two months
is in black and white. 1t is an
amazing tale OF governmental mis-
use of power, well documented by
the boards own files. If the New
Dealers wish to defend that record
before the American people, it will
give the coming national campaign
the finest opportunity for the eX-
preston of moral revulsion that
the country has had in long time.
Violates Fairness and Laws.
The boards record, as revealed in
recent hearings is one of brusque in
difference to the rules of fairness.
Not only has the board violated the
rules of fair play, but it has actually
violated the laws of the land itself
and escaped thus far any criminal
prosecution by the Justice Depart
ment. Yet there are members in the
House who wish to 60 before the
people as defending such a record.
The explanation may be found in
the bitter warfare between the
c. I. o. and the A. F. of L. The New
Deal members, who are supporting
the board and opposing amendments
to the Wagner Act, come from dis
tricts where the c. I. o. threatens
them with defeat if they dare to
vote in favor of the proposed amend
ments. The c. I. O. has been pre-
pairing for this battle a long time
and has been going back to the dis
tricts to line up its pressure group
Indeed, there are many observers
who think that John L. Lewis made
his attack recently on President
Roosevelt principally because he
wanted to bludgeon the Presiden:
into inaction with respect to amend
ments to the Wagner law.
The course of Mr.. Lewis is under
standable because the c. I. o. bene-
fits now by the prejudices of the
board and the vagueness of the law
Page after page of the record of
the Smith committee shows that the
C. 1. o virtually controls the policies
of the board. Why should Mr.
Lewis want the board changed when
1t still is the principal ally of the
c. I. O.?
A. F. of L Powerful, Too.
The A. F. of L., on the other hand,
has always been powerful in the
legislative halls of Congress. Will it
ask its millions of members to vote
for persons in Congress who pose
as friends" of labor and yet permit
board to remain in Office which is
In collusion with the c. I. O.? Prob
ably not.
AS for the President, he is in a
tight spot. The G. I. o. has maneu-
vered him into it by stiffening the
resistance of the group in Congress
which wishes no changes made.
There is reason to believe the Presi-
dent, however, really wants some
change in the Wagner law. His
failure to give his assent yesterday
to the amendments proposed by
Representative Smith-an incident
that prevented a unanimous agree
ment of the Smith committee and
compelled 3-to-2 report-does not
necessarily mean that he will with
hold approval of bill that reaches
him for signature after the neces-
sary concessions, compromises and
adjustments are made as the legis-
1ation goes through various stages
IN the House and Senate.
The issue is one in which the |
Republicans are deeply interested,