The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-12-05
CONGRESS TAKES UP
LABOR LAWS
BY J. E. Jones


BY J. E. Jones
washington, d. c., December l.
The CLIO has grown steadily for many
years, and it is believed to be the
largest labor organization in point
of membership i'm the United States.
Failures of the Mediation Board
and various conferences to settle
the coal strike were followed by
the refusal of John L. Lewis to call
off the strikes. The Congress of In
dustrial Organizations put the en-
dorsement of its millions of men,
bers back of Mr.. Lewis. No organi-
zation had ever pulled such rough
stuff on the Administration. After
weeks cooling off" period Mr..
Lewis accepted the Presidents arbi-
tration plan. That was looked upon
as the beginning Of the end of 1941
coal strikes. But these disturbances
aroused Congress.
Senator Connally is stout, de-
penable pillar of the Administration
He has offered bill to give the
Presient added power to take over
defense plants, or mines where labor
troubles call for that sort of action.
The Texan was likely hot under the
collar when he declared that the
time has come ''to determine wheth-
er the Government is to be coerced
by John L. Lewis. Senator Wagner
showed interest in proposals to put
some action into the Wagner Act.
Other formulas for anti-strike
legislation are proposed in the Vim
SON bill which provides thirty-day
"cooling-off" before strike can be-
come effective.
Still another proposal would
freeze" the status quo, so far as the
closed shop situation in defense in
dustries is concerned.
There are conflicting schools of
thought One trend in Congress fav-
ors increasing the power of the
President to crack down on strikes.
Other Congressman want to put thru
laws with definite restrictions and
rules to prevent strikes--laws, in fact
that would relieve the President of
the responsibility to inferere. This
technique was followed by the War
Labor Board policies of 1918.
According to Westbrook Pegler
the present national Government
has kept debate down Sin every at
tempt to bring bills into Congress
for discussion, and a vote has been
beaten by silent orders from the
White House.. Pegler adds: "The
result is that our people are just
beginning to realize that unionism is
not what they have always thought
it was. 1t is huge business and a
huge political movement.
Many suggestions have been made
in support of bills that would de-
stroy John L. Lewis's power--but
there is notable tenency against
putting union labor leaders under
official Government control.
| Washington knows perfectly we'll
that the President is not going to
break friendship with the rank and
file of union laborers if he can help
it--and that he is too clever to per-
init Lewis to outsmart him.
Sober-minded American leaders,
in and out of official positions, have
been taking inventories, and review
ing recent labor troubles that have
been the worst since the sitdowns in
the automobile industry.
The conclusion seems to be that
there must be positive changes In the
Federal labor laws that will protect
the rigts Of employers, workers and
the general public--laws that can be
and will be enforced and thereby in
sure 100 per cent protection to all
classes of society and all classes Of
persons and employers in the indus.
tries and factories that have been
strike-bound SO often during recent
years.
Tightening Good Neighbor Rivets
About 99h per cent of the folks
of our nation don't know why Amer
lean troops have been sent into
Dutch Guiana, or why the State De-
partment made such ridiculous
arrangement to bail Mexico out of
the ditch which it had dug for it.
lself.
But our Government is looking af-
ter everything from the Rio Grande
to Cape Horn along the Atlantic
Coast. Both sides of the Isthmus Of
Panama are under guard
sess
What About Japan?
The negotiations in Washington