Evening star., 1940-10-09
Labor Board Rulings
MOTTO Hinder Defense,
House Probers Say
Hearings Concluded
On Possible Effect
Of Jackson Opinion
Sy the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
Although no formal pronounce
ment was forthcoming, members OF
. House investigating committee
said privately today the results OF
q one-day inquiry had satisfied
them that decisions of the National
Labor Relations Board would not
be permitted to work to the detri-
ment Of the defense program.
This comment was backed up
bv the fact that the committee
scheduled no further hearings after
1t had concluded questioning at
Attorney General Jackson and three
KEY defense officials-Secretary OF
the Navy Knox, Assistant Secretary
of War Patterson and Sidney Hill
man, the labor specialist of the
National Defense Commission.
Both Secretary Knox and Judge
Patterson assured the committee
yesterday that they would not feel
smpelled to deny defense contract
to a company solely because the
n. L. r. B. had adjudged it
violator of the Wagner Act. Both
agreed that this would be "only
one of the factors taken into ac-
count" and that speed in delivery
Of defense essentials was the prl-
mary concern.
Knudsen States Views.
William S. Knudsen, production
chief of the Defense Commission,
while not a witness, voiced his views
last night in New York during an
address at the annual meeting OF
the Army Ordnance Association, an
organization of munitions manu-
facturers, inventors and arsenal Of
fcials
Mr.. Knudsen brought up the SUBJ
ject of the informal opinion by At
torney General Jackson which pre-
cipitated Yesterdays House inquiry.
The opinion held that N. L. R. B.
rulings were binding on all Govern
ment Departments, and it led some
Congress members to charge that
1t could be interpreted as banning
defense contracts to firms, even
though the courts had not passed
ANAL judgment on the question of
their alleged Labor Act violations.
Without attempting to interpret
the ruling, Mr.. Knudsen observed:
1T was implied, or at least to
many people it appeared to imply,
that if you were in violation of the
National Labor Relation Act before
the courts said YOU were, you were
out of luck as far as working for
the Government was concerned, and
think that's going too far
Jackson Denies Implication. .
Mr.. Jackson. test4fving yesterday
before the Smith Gommittee set up
to investigate the Labor Board, de-
MED that the ruling contained such
Implication.
Il did not say what has been read
into it," he said of the opinion,
that the effect is to withhold the
award of contracts If the National
Defense Commission decides to deal
with a man who has violated the act,
this opinion has nothing to do with
It,"
Mr.. Hillman, who solicited the
opinion in question, said it merely
provided information on the basis
Of which "the commission will have
30 decide on policy" He added that
no decision had yet been made on
this point. He said the opinion had
been sought because of queries to
the commission as to the eligibility
Of alleged labor law violators for de-
tense contracts.
In discussing the commissions
labor policy in his New York ad-
dress, Mr.. Knudsen said the gist was
that work carried on as part of the
defense program should comply with
Federal statutory provisions affect
ing labor, wherever such provisions
are applicable.
Right to Organize Cited.
This means to me-" he ampli-
ned, that when the courts have
held that labor practices followed by
. manufacturer violate the laws of
the land, then, as matter of policy
only. defense contracts should not
Be given to that manufacturer until
he changes his practices and that's
oil 1t means to me. Certainly, the
Defense Commission has no author
Ey and does not want to undertake
the job of enforcing the labor laws.
MY personal Interpretation of the
labor policy can be stated in very
simple terms. The law gives labor
the right to organize and prohibits
the manufacturer from preventing
such organizing activities This is
al right don't dispute it. I have
no objection to collective bargain
ing or to committees as long as they
restrict their activities to their pre-
scribed field, but I don't want to go
beyond this. The idea that a job
IN plant entities its holder to own
ership of the plant belongs to Russia
and not over here.
The idea that an emergency
eliminates the right of labor to ne
eotiate belongs in Germany and not
over here.
"The idea of pressure groups on
the side of labor or capital belongs
nowhere and certainly not over here
The showdown is criminal and to
strike is stupid. unless good and
valid reasons are there for it."
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