Evening star., 1941-04-06
Continued From Page ED

NSOllGlnueQ from rage ELI
the issues so that an informed
public opinion can be lined up on
one side or the other. If possible.
of course, 1t will bring the parties
together or get them to agree to
arbitration.
Several laws have been offered in
Congress to take care of situations
where there is either no authority
or where the authority has no legal
power to enforce its decisions. Most
important, perhaps, is that which
would require a cooling-off period
before a strike could become effec-
tive, as is now the case with rail-
road labor Another law pending
would forbid closed shops on de-
fense contracts. The antitrust
division Of the Department of
Justice has threatened to use the
antitrust laws against any union
which conspires to destroy an exist
ing bona f1de contract between a
labor union and an employer. q
Whether any further stiffening of
the laws Is necessary depends large
" on whether the new mediation
machinery proves effective, whether
labor leaders sense the attitude of
the public toward strikes on defense
projects and whether they are able
to hold the locals in line to prevent
outlaw strikes.
Labor Leaders Worried.
Recognized leaders of the labor
movement in Congress, headed by
Senator Norris, have warned labor
that unless defense strikes are halted
Congress will be in a mood to erase
many of the gains for labor which
it has granted in recent years. The
next few weeks will tell whether
labor heeds these warnings.
Corporate arrangements have long
been resigned to rising labor costs
during the defense boom. They have
recognized that the dictum that no
one should profit from the emergency
was not meant to apply to labor.
The large volume of business on
hand and in prospect has given
them some leeway to narrow unit
profit margins, and the high level of
income taxes has tended to make the
Treasury absorb a portion of the
cost of wage advances. Companies
working on defense orders, moreover,
have IN some cases been allowed by
their contracts with the Government
to pass wage increases along.
The current strike wave does not
appreciably alter the situation. An
increase in labor troubles had been
anticipated in any event; there is
always an increase when business
is moving upward. If the situation
becomes too bad, it is likely to bring
action from Washington much more
quickly than in 1887, when the Sec
retary of Labor was not sure whether
sit-doWn strikes we're illegal and
the founder of the C. I. o. had not
yet formally broken political rela-
tons with the New Deal.
The one dominant thought in
washington now is to keep indus
trial production going and to raise
the rate of production as rapidly
as possible.
Regardless Of present labor trou-
bles or anything else. all the in
dustrial plant which can be adapted
to defense production is assured of
a high level of business for a long
time to come, and all the rest of
industry will benefit indirectly from
the high level of defense employ
ment and pay rolls.
Priorities will interfere with pro-
duction in some lines, but for in
dustry as a whole, business will be
good, and profits will depend on how
much the tax collector takes rather
than on how much business can be
obtained.