Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1941-10-24


awarded to a firm which did not
make the low bid but which en-
ploved A. F. of L. workers. This
aroused the ire of the c. I. o., which
had organized the workers Of
rival contractor who made the
lowest bid
Mr.. HilIman's defense Of his &C
ton is realistic one. He says the
A. F.. of L had organized almost all
of the building and construction
trades and that the c. I. o. was
trying TO horn in on the game by
'raiding." He declares that the
employer unionized very quickly and
suspiciously by taking the c. I. o.
unto his bosom, though he had been
anti-union before.
The Senators wanted to know,
however, what difference all this
meant and that if bonaflde ma
tority represented the workers and
the employer dealt with C. I. o.
union in a legal way, why must the
taxpayers of the United States pay
100000 more to get certain job
done.
Saw Labor Warfare.
Mr.. Hillmans only answer to re-
peated questions has been that to
give the contract to the employer
with the c. l. o. union simply meant
industrial warfare and trouble ga
lore and perhaps violence. And, of
course, there is no way to deal with
violence in America except to sur
render to it, for the State of Mich
igan no longer has any police power,
presumably, and as for the Federal
Government, it has long ago aban-
doned any pretense Of using its
power to protect the right to work
It is only concerned and inundated
by the exercise of the right to strike
Even in times of grave national
emergency the right to interrupt the
national defense program is more
sacred than the right to keep It
going.
The Federal Administration uses
exhortation and pleas where the
workers interrupt the program and
now has begun to resort to the ma
nipulation of the contracting power.
It is afraid to use its power over
recalcitrant union chieftains and
unions as it is so quick to do when
ever 1t can crack down on an en-
ployer. The reason, to be sure, is
that employers have few votes and
unions have many votes, and politics
has more importance today than
national defense.
Much of the attack of Mr.. Hillman
Is unjust. He Is merely doing what
the President told him to do and
what the President has permitted
Chairman Davis of the National
Defense Mediation Board to do
namely to buy off threats of strikes
or strikes with concessions that cost
the taxpayers millions of dollars.
Scarcely major labor dispute has
occurred that has not ended with
governmental pressure on the en-
ployer to grant closed shop
monopolies, or pay roll increases.
Today the threat of imitation stares
the Nation in the face and the
independent and expert Brookings
Institute of Washington in special
survey says administration policies
are largely responsible for the rise
In prices today.
UnsanctiOned Method.
Mr.. Hillman's doctrine from the
beginning of the national emergency
has been that the Government
should use its contracting power to
help the labor unions organize.
Thus, when John L. Lewis insisted
that all defense contracts should be
awarded only to those who complied
with rulings Of the Wagner law,
irrespective of whether they had
been confirmed by the courts, the
President allowed the chief of staff
of the United States Army to o. K.
that procedure. To take away from
the Army and Navy the power to
make contracts where labor issues
might be involved and to put them
into the hands of a paid union
executive who operates on a dollar
a-year basis for the Government,
but still receives $12 500 a year from
a trade union, is to introduce some
thing new in the conduct of Govern
ment, in time of emergency or
normally.
But today that procedure of
awarding contracts by .hunch or
suspicion or prejudice has backflred
against the C. I. o. and favors the
A.. of L. Congress never has sane
toned that method of awarding
contracts. The whole system Is not
one of law but of men and their
whins.
Fosters Spiraling Demands.
Mr.. Hillman told the Senate COM
nittee that in labor relations facts"
and "details" were not important
but attitudes were and he came
to the conclusion that the attitude
Of the employer wasn't to his liking.
So he arranged to have the contract
awarded to another bidder, even
though it cost 100000 more.
What Mr.. Hillman does is the
Presidents policy The whole moral
code has deteriorated here. The
policy now is to buy off trouble with
taxpayers money. The union chiefs
know this and they merely raise
their demands-for they are conf
dent the administration is really
tin1id about it and afraid to say
them nay. Expectancy may have
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