Evening star., 1941-01-03

BY TIE Associated Press.
Two members of the special House
committee which has been inveStl-
eating the Labor Board took spirited
exception today to a majority COM
mittee report which had sharply
criticized the board.
Representatives Eealey, Democrat,
of Massachusetts, and Murdock,
Democat, of Utah, self-styled minor
ity members of the committee, de-
clared in an informal statement:
The tone Of the majority and its
failure to recognize the contribu-
ton of the board to industrial peace
evidences the uncompromislng oppo-
sition of the majority to the princi-
pies underlying the National Labor
Relations Act"
Other members of the committee
are Representatives Smith, Demo-
crat of Virginia, Halleck. Repub-
lican. of Indiana and Routzohn, Re
publican, of Ohio.
Urged Reorganization.
The majority committee report
recommended complete reorgan-
ization" of the board personnel
and asserted that some of the en-
ployes were partial and biased" in
their attitude toward litigants, and
had indicated their determined OBJ
lection to the American form of gov
ernment."
Representatives Healey and Muir
dock said they held grave fears" the
majority report would SOW seeds OF
disunity in a time of great peril tC
the country" They said they would
undertake soon to show that the
blanket charges against employees OF
the National Labor Relations Board
are entirely unwarranted."
The majority" they declared
has completely ignored the fac'
that the Wagner Act. as admins.
tered by the board, has successfully
carried out the principal purpose,
for which it was enacted.
The fact is that under the Wag-
ner Act tremendous strides have
been taken in stabilizing industria
relations. The number of strikes
has been steadily dropping since the
valuation of this law by the Su-
preme Court.
Stabilizing Influence Demonstrated.
"The stabilizing influence OF thu
act is being clearly demonstrated
during the current defense program
When this country entered its las
great rearmament period in 1916 i
was handicapped by chaotic indus
trial relations. During the five
months, June through october, 1916
there we're nearly one and one-hal1
times as many workers involved II
strikes as during the same months
in 1910, despite the fact that there
were only four-fifths as many per-
sons employed during that earlier
period. Moreover, there have beer
only three major strikes in defense
Industries, which are in no way at.
tributable to the Wagner Act or 1t:
administration"
The minority pair charged thai
they were not consulted when the
Official committee report was pre-
pared by the other three members
Consequently. they added they vii
prepare in the near future a de.
tailed report on their conclusions
arising out of the inquiry.
Other strong criticism of the ma
Jorlty report came from Edwin S
Smith, a member of the board. Ir
letter to Representative Smith
chairman of the special committee
Board Member Smith declared that
contents of the majority report "are
an outrageous distortion of the evi.
dence before the committee anG J
regard the committees findings witt
respect to myself as utterly biasee
and unfair" He added that h,
would give the committee a state.
ment of his views for incorporation
in its record.