Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1943-04-02

disease Whlch
preys on gull z7;siiss
lible people pL pu.
who take daily
doses of Westbrook's columnar
poison. The only known antidote
is an extremely bitter medicine
labeled education"
One Of the symptoms of peg
leritis is that it gums the eyes
tightly shut while the chin wags
constantly and the mouth bab-
bles the most assinine phrases.
So it affected this poor chap
about whom ! am writing. For
instance, he said that Pegler is
a friend of the working people;
is performing real service for
them in exposing crooks; and
that we would do well to pay
Westbrook a large salary for his
efforts in our behalf!
There may be some merit in
the last suggestion, for surely
Westbrook could write as well
for union dollars as he does for
whoever pays him at present.
The only difficulty is that peg
Ter to the contrary labor unions
Just don't have that kind of
money. Certainly they don't have
enough to buy off all the ene-
mics of labor who are expressing
their views through the daily
press.
PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUE
These columniSts use a propa-
ganda technique. In exposing
small percentage of unworthy
union leaders they slyly blacken
the reputation of thousands of
conscientious workers for the
betterment of labor In publlclz-
ing an iniquitous few they en-
deavour to discredit the entire
labor movement.
Pegler, for example, is syndi-
Gated nationally and reaches mil
lions of readers but small per-
centage of whom are members
of labor organizations. Day IN
and day out he beats the same
old drum of racketeering in the
AFL and Communism" in the
CIO, sometimes varying his at
tack to include the present ma
tional administration generally.
To Peg, Wallace is an impracti-
cal dreamer; Mrs. Roosevelt is
an authority usurping busy
body; New Dealers are "reds"
and menaces to our way of life.
SHOWS HIS COLoRs
Every now and then West
brook makes mistake. 1t used
to sicken me to read praise for
Pegler in the Negro press. About
year ago Peg came out in his
true colors with an unprovoked
and unwarranted attack on such
papers as the Chicago Defender
and the Pittsburgh Courier,
thereby losing thousands of mis-
led supporters.
His pretense of friendship for
labor breaks down when ne
periodically let's loose a tirade
against the Wagner Act, which
saved the life blood of thou
sands of workers, land of
goodly number of finks) by set
ting forth the legality of work.
er's organizational rights. The
Wagner Act is the workingman's
Bible and he who attacks it can
not be classed as "friend."
How can one condone a state
ment like the following which
appear in Pegler's column March
18th: "impudent little shysters
sent out from Washington to
administer the Labor Relations
Act for the benefit of John l..
Lewis and the Communists of
the CIO and the racketeers of
the AFL." No, indeed, this is not
the voice of a friend of labor.
This is the voice of hatred, divi-
sionism, and prejudice. 1t has
spoken phrases bordering on
treason; phrases for which men
with less support have been pro-
secuted. But it goes on taking
advantage of the freedom of
the press" we all wish to main
tain and extend.
AS a good antidote for Peg
ler's poison l would recommend
reading Pearl Buck, John Dos
Passos, Elsa Maxwell, Oscar
Ameringer, Milton Mayer, John
Steinbeck, Erskine Caldwell or
any other anti-fascist literature.