The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-11-03

fronts it's al most imposslhl
 to det e rmin
 EdsOn anyone'S req motives, but men high in the coun els of labor, men familiar with thu strange workings of internal labo' pohtics-as complicated Q set O. cross currents as ever bedeviled an! political party-these men say Lew, Is chances for recapturing c. I, D leadership are practically nil fo the simple reason that Lewis ha! lost the support of the left wini labor forces.
 The original alliance between Lewis and the left wingers took form back in 1883, Lewis then be. lieving that if the leftists had some. thing to contribute to industrial unionism, their talents and re. sources should be used, Since 1883 Lewis has never indulged in red batting, has never saio one public word against the left wing in the labor movement, Other labor leaders have openly blasted at the reds from time to time, but no Lewis,
 SITDOWNS STARTED RIFT
 In the years right after 1883, Lew Is and labor generally sold" Roose- welt hard, Organization drives under the wage and hour law were .con- ducted with the slogan, Roosevelt wants you to join 6 union.' The results were phenomenal, but by 1886 Lewis was drifting away from Roosevelt, ahead Of the reds. The battle over the Sitdown strikes In Detroit had come along, and Lewis supposedly told the President that If the men were shot out of the auto plants, Lewis would be In there with them, and Lewis would have to se shot out, too, Feuding between Roosevelt and Lewis, as in the case of the captive coal mine dispute, Is old stuff to both and 1t goes back more than five years.
 By ie40, Lewis Is supposed to have been ready to bargain with Roose- velt, trading labor support for cer- tain concessions to c. I. O. The deal didn't come off. Lewis then be-. gan to be undermined by his own unionS-the auto workers and other great sections of the c. I. o. pledg- ing thier support to Roosevelt In spite of the stand taken by Lewis. He then believed the issue was whether Roosevelt was to head the labor movement in America, or whther a man from labor's ranks was to lead.
 MURRAY A MIDDLE-ROADER
 In the l940 election, Lewis lost cn that issue, but in spite of that, at the 0. I, O. national convention only a few weeks later, Lewis was the dominating figure. His basic strength was his United Mine Work CTS union, but his support came from the left wing unions and mar ginal groups among the steel and auto workers, Sidney Hillman, who had supported Roosevelt all through this period, was a dominant figure for the conservative group. Phil Murray, taking a middle ground, supporting Roosevelt but not SUD- porting Hillman, was nominated by Lewis for the c. I. O. presidency and elected.
 As the defense effort gained mos mentum, Lewis continued his SUD- port of the left wing unions in key strikes like those at Vultee and North American plants. Hillman, now in the government as labor ad- visor, and Phil Murray, loyal to Roosevelt and as & good Catholic violently anti-red, both criticized the left wing, communist inspired" strikes.
 That was the lineup right up to the fine summer day when Ger many invaded Russia. Almost im- mediately, the left wing switched, feeling that the political content of the U. S. foreign policy issue mad changed and that this was now a real anti-fascist war.
 Today, the left wing labor doc- Urine breaches no compromise with John L. Lewis, and this doctrine is clearly defined in the Communist Daily Worker. Where previously there had been tendency to let Lewis go his own way on foreign policy, but to work with him on do- mestic issues. now the left wing leaders no longer come to sce Lewis for the simple reason that they re- gard him as pro-fascisC. They point to three things in support of the charge that Lewis is pro-fasciSt and an appeaser:
 l. Lewis has made only one statement on foreign policy and that by indirection when he signed the recent Landon- Hoover statement opposing the Roosevelt foreign pol icy.
 2. Lewis daughter Katharine is a member of the America First Com mittee.
 3. Tn the absence of statements giving support to the anti-fascist elements of the labor movement, Lewis uEcustomary silence is con- sidered significant by the left wing CTS.