Evening star., 1941-10-28

~ Z$$#3 dDOuL tTe AlldH
of Currier. this
- is 1t in brief:
Henry McLemore As co-director OF
o. p. M. Mr.. Hillman ruled against
the granting of a contract for tho
building of 300 defense homes to
the lowest bidder, one Patrick j.
Currier of Detroit. Mr.. Currier, who
insofar as any one knows builds as
sweet a little prefabricated nest as
the next fellow, turned in a sealed
bid that was something like 100000
lower than that of his nearest rival.
Mr.. Hillman admitted before an
investigating committee that he
didn't give Mr.. Currier the job
because he felt it would rile the
A. F. L., inasmuCh as Mr.. Currler
has a contract with the c. l. 0.
Mr.. Hillman, it seems, was all for
handing over the job OF erecting
the 300 homes to an A. F. L. concern,
even though the smoothing Of that
organizations feathers would cost
the taxpayers a gaudy if not neat
sum of money.
On the stand, Mr.. Hillman talked
gravely Of such things as the pres
ent crisis, the current emergency
and the tremendous need for avoid
ing strikes. He implied that. to give
Brother Currier and his c. /. o.
workmen the business, would have
resulted in general hell raising by
the A. F. L., with noggins being
cracked tibias and flbias being
splintered and all-around havoc
being raised with defense work in
and around Detroit.
I'm not even a junior Pegler
when it comes to peering into the
Vaccinations Of labor, and I have
no particular desire to poke my
typewriter's nose into that field.
But as a gent with average intelli-
gence I can't help but ask Appeaser
Hillman who Is running defense.
Is the Government running it or
is labor group running it? In
fact. who is running the Govern
ment. the Government or the A. F.
L.? This is not a slam at the A.
F. L., mind you. Some of my best
friends are members of the lodge.
and have an uncle who collects
the dues in his flourishing local.
But. heaven help US, there must be
a limit to all things. 1t is time
this country asks itself which it
! prefers, strike by the A. F.. L. and
a tie-up of defense work, or
Marshal Petain type OF kowtow to
q power that stops hitting rivets
with hammer to swing it over the
head Of Washington officials.
Mr.. Hillman said that the agree.
ment with the A. F. Ian agree
ment, it appears, that guarantees the
A. F. L. all building construction
jobs in return for a promise not to
/
constitute a monopoly. I think he's
right. think it constitutes the
next word past monopoly. Yield to
the A. F. L. in a test case like the
Currier one, and before you know
1t the boys will be demanding to
know where the eggs are hidden on
the White House lawn at Easter so
they can find them first or else get .
head start on the other searchers.
II the Currier company was a fly
by-night outfit that specialized in
jerry-built jobs with a termite In
every pillar and post, it might be all
right to sneer at its bid, which
stands to save the taxpayers close
to half million dollars. But as
get it, from my assistant secretary
in charge of prefabricated research,
the Currier company Is on the level,
has a union contract and pays more
than the A. F. L. scale calls for.
There is something in the Amer
ican system that demands such a
| company be given a fair shake.
What are We coming to if an honest
company gets the cold shoulder be.
cause its bid is the lowest? No
citizen would tolerate a servant who
wouldn't buy groceries from a store
keeper just because the price of the
groceries was lower than that Of a
grocer further along the street.
How would you like Mr.. Hillman
in charge of your shopping7 He'd
come in all exhausted after q day
OF looking for the highest prices.
How would you like to pay 80 cents
a dozen for eggs just because Mr..
Hillman was afraid of annoying a
poultryman who thought that was
what eggs were worth, and that any
one who sold them for less was a.
well, a jerk?
To tell you the truth, a country 10
really getting messed up when 1t
can't manage the construction of a
few houses for defense workers with
out a Senate investigation. It's get
ting so that a Senator doesn't have
time to vote or make a speech what
with the Investigations he has to
attend. Some of them are booked
up for investigations like a strip
teaser at freshman dance.
Oh, well, therel always be
Tibet.