The union times., 1943-09-04
Says He Opposes
 Special Privileges
(Rep. COmptOn's letter tOas re- ceiUed as THE UNION TIMES sOas going to press. An ans,Oer to this letter UiH be published in -..a .ALaa .ao..A Ed.toR. !

ceiued as THE UNION TIMES sOds going to press. An ansi0er to
 this letter ,UiH be published in
 neat tUeek's issue.-EditOr.)
 The following is the text of letter sent by Rep. Ranulf Compton ot Madison, Conn, to the United La bor Legislative Conference of Greater New Haven. Co-chairmen of the Con- ference are Harold V. Feinmark, AFL.; William F. Donoghue, Bro: of Railroad Trainmen; and Edward McCrone, C.I.O. The letter follows: Gentlemen:
 EsThe New Haven newspaper Ot Friday. August 27, carried an open letter addressed to me by the Unit ed Labor Legislative Conference of Greater New Haven in which l note a variety of inconsistencies, some of which are deserving of com ment.
 While I have no wish to engage in a public controversy with leaders of organized labor, I do feel that the public should not be victimlzed by purposely misleading statements and glaring inconsistencies in almost every paragraph relating either to the true attitude of your group or to the et- fleets of my votes in Congress.
 s'Tn the first instance cited by you in connection with my vote in favor of the Smith COnnally bill you state that despite the fact that 99 per cent of the members of or ganized labor have faithfully Ob- served their no strike pledge, l voted for the bill which legalizes strikes.
 ''Was the purpose of those last three words to delude the public into believing that the leaders of organized labor disapprove of my vote because it Tegalizes' strikes? Or is 1t true that the disapproval of my vote is based, on the fact that the Smith Connally War Disputes Bill gives President Roosevelt the authority to deal properly with the few uncon- scionable labor leaders who gamble with the safety of their country for purely selfish and personal reasons !?
 ssThe one per cent of the mem- bers of organized labor who did not keep their no-strike pledge constitute the weak link in the safety chain which organized labor is helping to hold across our cOun- try's shores. If one per cent of the soldiers holding the front line posi- ton decided to abandon the posi- tions for reasons of personal conn fort the enemy would soon break through.
 "In passing the War Disputes Bill over the veto of President Roosevelt the members of Congress joined with the great rank and file of organized and unorganized labor to prevent a break through the home front.
 ssThe second obvious incOnsis- tency in your letter was in cOnnec- tion with my vote in favor of the so-called Hobbs anti-racketerring bill which merely prevents few isolated members of organized la- bor from unlawfully exacting trib- ute from nOn-members. You com plain that I voted in favor of this bill despite the fact that Connecti- cut labor has not been charged with any wrOngdOing.'
 Tn other words, the position you take in that paragraph is that, as representative of the Third District of Connecticut in Congress, I should vote only on matters which directly affect the people of Connecticut and let the rest of the country take care of itself. That is isolationism of the worst kind.
 "Paradoxically, however, you com plain later on that 1 voted for the Dies Committee, the chief function of which you charge is 'smearing' trade union leaders. Has the Dies