Evening star., 1941-04-27
Committee Expected
To Ask House Action
On Vinson Measure
Approval Of Special Rule
BY Wide Margin on
Tuesday Forecast
BY GOULD LINCOLN.

BY GOULD LINCOLN.
The House Rules Committee is
expected to report by a large vote
Tuesday a special rule for consid-
Grafton of the Vinson bill providing
for a "cooling-off" period of Is days
before strikes in defense plants can
take place. The vote, it was pre-
dicted last night, would be either
Il to 2 or IL to for the rule.
This action will be taken despite
the fact members of the committee
have been subjected to terrific
barrage of messages opposing the
bill from labor unions all over the
country.
The committee was ready TO vote
out a rule for consideration OF a bill
at its last meeting, but at the in
stance of Chairman SABBATH and
with the agreement OF Chairman
Vinson of the Naval Affairs Com
mittee, sponsor of the bill, permitted
action to go over until this week.
Several Rules Committee members
were unable to be in Washington
tomorrow, so the meeting was set
for Tuesday.
e Coal Peace Barrier Denied.
IN some quarters it has been
, suggested that the settlement of the
; bituminous coal dispute by Tuesday
, may prevent action by the Rules
; Committee on the Vinson bill. This,
however, was fatty denied by COM
mittee members last night, They
. believe strike legislation should be
enacted and that the House is en-
. titled to pass on the measure.
The special rule for its consider
alton, it is expected. will be an open
rule" making in order committee
amendments and any others that
may be germane and providing that
no point of order may be made
against the bill.
The hearings on the bill have been
closed and are not expected to be
reopened. 1t was with that UNDER
standing that action was permitted
to 90 over until Tuesday, it was
said.
The majority report on the bill
was filed by Representative Vinson
last Monday. A minority report is
to be filed tomorrow, and according
to Representative Magnuson of
Washington, an opponent of the bill,
It will be signed by six or seven of
the 81 members of the committee.
More opposition has developed
against the provision of the bill to
''freeze" the open or closed shop
status of labor in the various plants
for the period of the present emer-
gency than against any other fea-
ture. 1t is expected that an amend
ment removing this feature will be
proposed and probably adopted. An
other amendment which may also
prevail would eliminate drastic pro-
visions regarding workers believed
to be members of "subversive" Or
CARNATIONS.
House Passage Forecast.
The opinion was again expressed
that the bill will pass, if and when
1t is brought to q vote in the House.
House members continue to believe
that some legislation should be
placed on the books to halt strikes
in essential defense plants. They
have been aroused over the stop
page Of work in the coal mines,
which Is threatening in vital way
the progress of the defense program.
They believe the public generally
feels strongly in this matter.
How strongly the administration
will oppose the Vinson bill remains
to be seen. House Majority Leader
Mccormack has been quoted as ex-
pressing the opinion that the meas
ure will come out of the Rules
Committee. Both he and Speaker
Rayburn are expected, however, to
80 down the line for the admins
tration if it determines to make
a strenuous fight against the meas
ure.
Some of the House members
strongly supporting the Vinson bill
and its cooling-of period, in which
strikes cannot occur and the con-
ciliators and mediators may work
to settle labor disputes, said they
had not much hope the Senate
would act on the measure, even II
the House sends it to that body.
Rather gloomily they suggested that
the Senate Labor Committee, if it
gets Jurisdiction over the bill, will
pigeonhole it.
Representative Vinson, in his ma
jority report on the bill. insisted that
the fact the National Defense Medi-
alton Board has had good record
up to date in settling strikes does
not mean that legislation is not
necessary or that it should not be
enacted. On the contrary, he said,
TT is because the board has had
such an enviable record in settling
existing strikes that legislation at
this time to prevent new ones is pro-
posed. If another wave of strikes
should sweep the country, it would
be extremely difficult to formulate
wise legislation in the face of the
state of alarm and feeling of re-
sentiment which would be occasioned
by such strikes
MIR. Vinson referred to statements
that the number of defense strikes
in the present emergency is far less
than the number of strikes which
took place in 1916-1917, when the
country was preparing" and that
therefore it is not necessary to en-
act any legislation.
During that prior emergency,
the majority report pointed out
there took place the greatest num-
ber of strikes this country has ever
experienced. and to say now, with
the Nation facing an emergency un-
precedented in its history. with our
very existence as a free government
dependent upon uninterrupted pro-
duction of arms and munitions for
defense, that we must wait until the
number of strikes exceeds that OF
such . prior period-that we must
wait until it may be too late-that
we must wait until any legislation
enacted will be of necessity punitive