Evening star., 1941-04-07

" / II
$25. 0,00O00g David Lawrence.
defense program come a cropper
because production was interrupted
and delivery impeded?
Mr.. Roosevelt is we'll aware of the
crisis facing him. Over the week
end, reports have arisen that drastic
action will be taken by the Presi-
dent within a few days because he
is resolved not to let Americas war
program bog down.
The most insistent report from
official quarters is that some big
plants will be taken over and at
the same time some sharp warn
ings issued to both labor and man
agement that production must be
resumed. There are several indica-
tors which tend to corroborate such
q prediction.
First, the President could not very
well let a request such as was made
by the Secretary of the Navy, Mr..
Knox, and the head of o. P. M, Mr..
Knudsen, in the Allis-Chalmers
a request from the Government un-
needed but the Governor of the
State of Wisconsin was stoned
Second, in the face of disorders
IN which police are apparently un-
able to cope with the malcontentS,
both strikers and non-strikers, the
Government of the United States
cannot refrain from action
Troops Will Be Used.
Federal troops will be ordered
hereafter to the scenes of violence
If the States do not have militia or
State police available. Any other
course would mean that request
from a Government itself can be
disregarded-and that's a perilous
situation from the standpoint of
getting Government orders obeyed
in a critical period like the present.
Then there's the matter of pub
lie psychology. Can the Govern
ment continue to draft sOldiers at
S21 per month when it allows
strikes to 60 on for wages as high
as 5000 month? Having taxed in
duStry almost to the point where the
economic system is gasping for
breath, can labor insist that there
shall be no modification of its peace
time program? These are questions
which depend for their answers on
the President and nobody else.
Mr.. Roosevelt has been patient.
He has avoided and evaded issues
where labor was concerned. He has
put up with an incompetent and
biased Labor Relations Board, whose
failures to act in unprejudiced ways
as between workers groups is largely
responsible for the present dilemma.
He has allowed his lieutenants to
influence the Senate to bury the
amendments to the Wagner law
passed by the House of Representa-
tives. He has temporized with the
c. I. o. and A. F. L. disputes on
jurisdiction, confining himself to a
few words of reprimand which have
not been backed up and which radi-
cal labor leaders believe will not be
backed up.
Labor Can't Complain.
He has allowed legitimate organi-
yations of workers to be disestab-
liShed by a prejudiced labor board
and he has permitted the impression
to go forth unrebuked that the Gov
eminent of the United States be-
lieves in allowing labor unions
monopoly to determine who shall or
shall not work in free America. He
has, moreover, seen the exorbitant
initiation fees collected by unions
without condemning such action or
using existing statutes to stop such
an abuse.
On the whole, labor cannot pos
sibly complain that Mr.. Roosevelt
has been on the side of manage
ment. Labor can complain. to be
sure, that the President has been
poorly advised by Secretary Perkins
and Sidney Hillman on labor policy
and that both the C. l. O. and the
A. F. L. have not been given a
voice as organizations in the making
OF labor policies by the Government.
Now, however, as events abroad
become more and more critical and
Americas aid becomes vital to the
success of the War-it is a question
of whether Hitler can depend on
America to remain inefficient, par
alyzed by strikes and work stoppages
and frustrated by a well-planted
group of radicals who have been
boring from within the labor move
ment. 1t is no mere coincidence
that the c. I. O., which contains so
many radicals in its local unions,
is today the principal offender in
the matter of strikes. Even A. F. L.
stoppages have been indirectly
brought about by intrusions from
G. I. o. quarters, thus intensifying
jurisdictional wars
The c. l. o. is back of the Allis-
Chalmers strike, the Ford strike, the
steel strike, the coal strike and a
host of other strikes in small plants
making vital parts for defense. Un-
ouestionably this is an opportune
moment for labor to press home
its advantages. So could other
groups act selfishly if the national
interest were not involved. In some
instances collective bargaining is
the issue, but in others it is the use
of collective bargaining powers
when once recognition has been ex-
tended. Likewise the labor board
which has allowed itself to become
cluttered up with red tape has failed
to move promptly these last few
years to settle questions of elections
to choose bargaining units. The
board has lost the respect of man
agement and large part of the
Ioh