Evening star., 1944-07-30
Labor in Politics

cratic party is probably the most
significant political fact of the
times. 1t would be rash to attempt
forecast of its ultimate growth and
development! But it is entirely rea-
Sonable to contend that its reper-
cussionS will be felt for years to
come within the party, in the ranks
Of labor and throughout the ma
tional political structure.
Prior to the formation of the CIO
and the organization of the mass
industries, labor's role in national
politics had been a cautious and
conservative one. Its fundamental
policies were enunciated in 1905 by
the late Samuel Gompers, who
argued that wage earners should
concentrate on nonpartisan effort
to secure the election of public Off
cialS, regardless of party, who would
publicly pledge their approval of
labors demands. He believed that
the major political parties were CO.
operative institutions of professional
politicians and bosses competing for
control of Government and political
jobs. In his view, labor could not
hope to compete with these unions
of political experts. 1t should con-
fine itself to supporting sympathetic
candidates and bargaining for i'm
munity from interference in the
use of its own collective economic
powers.
Although it has been nearly thirty
years since these policies were for
mulated, the American Federation
Of Labor and the railroad brother
hoods still seem to believe in their
validity. But the CIO, judging from
its course of action, feels that condi-
tionS have changed and that labors
political program should be re-
vamped accordingly. Consequently,
1t has moved into the Democratic
camp and apparently is shooting at
nothing less than control of party
policy and possibly party machin-
cry. The results Of the November
elections will determine to a very
considerable extent whether these
detectives can be substantially at
tanned at this time and, if not,
whether it will be worth while to
continue the fight.
There is no doubt that the &C
tivities Of the CLIO at the Demo-
cratic Convention have aroused
some resentment and considerable
apprehension. Because of this.
Governor Bricker has said that the
labor vote has been coming rapidly
over to the Republican side, and he
has predicted that this trend will
continue. That statement, standing
alone, might be heavily discounted
as a sample of political wishful
thinking. But the record indicates
that there is some basis for it.
Philip Pearl, AFL publicity direc-
tor, has predicted that from here
on" the Democratic party would
publicly "spurn and disavow" the
support of the C1O. He then added
that every delegate to whom we
spoke at the convention expressed
resentment over the CIO activities
and clearly realized that CIO sup
port might turn out to be a greater
liability than asset"
The publication known as Labor.
organ OF the standard railroad
unions, has had this to say: IF Mr..
(Sidney) Hillman, or any one else,
imagines that proposal to raise
$6,000,000 to control a presidential
campaign will not cause the most
serious repercussions from one end
of this country to the other, he
simply does not know the American
people. Therefore, it seems
advisable to repudiate Mr.. Hillmans
unprecedented program at the very
beginning"
The remaining important labor
group-the United Mine Workers.
under John L. Lewis-are not only
fighting the CIO and Mr.. Hillman's
Political Action Committee, as they
have been doing for some time. but
have come out openly in support of
the Republican ticket.
These comments indicate that the
leaders of labor groups not aligned
with the CIO are firmly opposed
to the latter'S political program.
Whether this opposition rests on the
conviction that such tactics will
prove harmful to labor in the long
run, or whether the fear that their
personal positions in the labor
movement are being put in jeopardy,
is beside the point. The important
thing is that they are closing ranks
against the CIO, and if they have
sufficient influence over the men,
berS of their own unions, the Re-
publican labor trend which Mr..
Brlcker predicts may materialize.
A more important question, how
ever, concerns the attitude of the
voters as whole. Both major po-
litical parties represent, so far as
possible, a cross-section of America.
The politicians believe that this is
essential to the survival of anv
party But the CIO primarily rep-