The Wilmington morning star., 1943-12-11
BY WESTBROOK PEGLER

| NEW YORK-F1om time to time these es.
says have revealed the hatreo OF the con1nau-
| nlSt-front national maritime union for the en-
listed sailors and commissioned officers placed
aboard merchant vessels to fight off subma-
rines. This bitterness has expressed itself in
sneers at the naval uniform corded as a
monkey suit, heckling and taurts about the
great disparity in pay for similar risks Ex-
posed In their campai en- against the morale
and loyalty of the fighting services. the COM
lnunlsts angrily denied incidents which are
matters of official report IN the navy and
coast guard records and even set about in
gratiating themselves with the navy men by
collecting pools out of the higr wages which
they offered the fighters as tips for beating
Oft attacks by planes and submarines
AS proof of the attitude of this communist
front union toward the navy the army as
WELL | cite herewith some remarks delivered
to meeting OF the national maritime union
OF Nov. 18, by Joseph Currah, its president
who recently received from President Roose.
welt an arbitrary draft defer1nent which places
him beyond harms reach for the duration of
the war.
Curran had been discussing overtime pay
which is the principal concern Of most civilian
sailors of his union. Then he said:
Now we have another thing to report on
today. The ships today are afflicted with 90
day wonders
This contemptuous remark referred to the
young navy ensigns, mostly college men, who
have been trained rapidly in the emergency
and placed aboard merchant ships in COM
mand of the gun crews. The communists
laughed at the sheer
They come from all over the country. Some
of these wonders are ensgns in command of
a gun crew, Gaughter). The biggest gun
they ever fired some Of them, was a hypo-
dermic back in the woods some place Laugh
tnt~( Thn,x t,ox,1
a nurses aide in some parts He carries
manual in his pocket He is second lieu
tenant in the army. Naughter). Once in
a while he has to read through the book and
find something in the regulations to plague
the crew with. (Laughter).
ION this particular ship l want to tell you
about the whole crew was pui under arrest
for stealing army property. We found that
everyone on the ship with the exception of
one or two were new boys vino didn't know
we looked over the gear that was supposed
to have been stolen. There were a couple
of CT jumpers that the soldiers had thrown
away on the ship. There another CT
jumper that one guy had won in crap game
daughter). Another one had shirt which
was sold to him by soldier. There were
a couple of pairs of shoes which were too
heavy for soldier to wear Sc he left them.
That is the extent of the gear for which the
whole crew was going to be arrested. After we
looked it over and were getting ready to de-
fend the crew, the second lieutenant must
have reconsidered cnd dropped all the charges
against them.
This gives you an indication of what you
can run into. l would advise all members,
don't buy any gear off a soldier. daughter
and applause). Because if you Go, some Sec
ond lieutenant right out Of the-Well, Wher-
ever he comes from QaughteD is gong to
have you on the carpet.
in order to keep cut from under second
leutenants and ensigns, Cont take any of
that gear and don't allow anybody to put 1t
in a crap game. We know they have the
finger on the merchant men. We know they
60 around telling the soldiers that merchant
seamen make too much money, that they are
draft dodgers. Those people who make these
claims usually have a soft jok in the office
of supply thousand miles behind the lines.
You are doing as important JOB as any
lieutenant that ever walked the plank and
you don't have to take this from any OF them.'
The truth is of course, that thevery is
common among union merchan. sailors (many
of whom are illiterate riff-raf1 from the Carlb-
bean who can't even sign arEcles) ana that
young armed guard officers have been con-
stantly harassed by the fixed poncy OF the
communists to turn the enlisted sailors against
them.
Curran's sneers about the 9o-day wonders
and the army officer whom he calJed nurses
aide are typical expressions OF thlS commu-
nist-front toward the loyal Americans on the
merchant vessels. Nevertheless, ne enjoys
high favor at the White House ana mas been
photographed in ceremonies WIN ooth the
President and Mrs. Roosevelt
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