Evening star., 1944-05-21

MILLINERY International contributed
a total of $15O000.
Baldwin explained that the COM
mittee's first and immediate OBJ
jective is to get the greatest vote
registration possible. This work
will be supervised by the IA regional
full-time directors who will reach
each of the 48 States and all the
important cities.
For organization work, the Po-
litical Action Committee will seek
to form an alliance with AFL unions
the railroad brotherhoods and other
liberal and progressive groups un-
der the title of United Labor
Leagues" for local and State activi-
ties. These may be loose federations
and when no formal alliances are
possible, the CIO will seek parallel
action on specific issues and in
dividual candidates.
Every Worker a Voter"
No antilabor Congressman, OF
course, can publicly find fault with
the committees registration pro-
gram which has the slogan Every
worker a voter" Detailed instruc-
tions have been issued telling how
to establish registration committees
In each plant; the use of CIO men,
bership rolls; the personal can
vassing of nonregistered voters, and
the keeping of address cards OF
those registered.
What irritates the antilabor
Southern Congressman is that the
committee can operate in the Dem
ocratic primaries, which in most
instances, is tantamount to eIec-
ton. Representative Joseph Starnes
OF Alabama, vigorous member OF
the Dies Committee, was defeated In
the recent primary, but the CIC
committee, with political wisdom
denied having q part in forcing his
departure from Washington.
Most of the Southern States are
under the committee regional direc.
Ition of DR.. George S. Mitchell
former assistant administrator O.
the Farm Security Administration
a Rhodes scholar at oxford and ar
authority on Southern industria.
and agricultural economics.
The national committee leaders art
too politically astute to interfere with
local and State primaries and elec.
tlons even when the law permit.
them to do SO. This work will bt
done by the local unions, which
while they cannot make contribu.
tlons to a political candidate or t.
a political committee, can work or
their own for or against candidate.
Tor the Senate and the House. In.
dlvidual union members can, O,
course, make campaign contribu.
tlons. The national officials say thai
they have no purge list" but they
point out that the locals will bt
advised On the broad issues and viii
make their own decisions.
| If the President is renominated al
Chicago the national leaders will
call for his reelection, regardless.
OF how hostile Congressman inter.
pref the law. The committee, the,
say, is the political arm" of thu
CIO, and the CIO under the consti.
tutional right of free speech, can de-
clare its position On the presidential
candidates and the national issues
This can be done by advertisements
mass meetings and the other usua
appurtenances of political cam
paigns.
) Play Many Roles.
t But as matter of practical poll
tics, the local and State committee
may do many things which would b
confusing. For example, Hillman i
I chairman of the political commit
F tee, State chairman of the American
' Labor party in New York, presiden
: of the Amalgamated Clothing Work
ers and belongs to many other or
ganlzationS. Where is the dividin,
! line between his many Offices an,
p organizations? In general, where i
/ the dividing line between advocac,
! OF certain issues and the support O
certain candidates? Each organiza
q ton has rights under the law. VIII,
! will be able to tell in what capac
D tiles its various interlocking mem
: bers are working? Theoretically, i
, not actually, various CIO leaders il
certain localities can play man,
parts in the current campaigns.
How this works out in practica
, politics is demonstrated by the re
, markable political career of Repre-
sentative Vito Marcantonia of New
York City, now serving his fourtl
term in Congress, elected first as
Republican and now registered will
| the American Labor party. In his owl
district Marcantonio, by the balanc,
OF power welded by the ALP, is vir.
tually boss of the Republican anc
Democratic groups, and can defy
his old patron and predecessor il
the rough goth district, Mayor LII
Guardia.
Marcantonio'S switching of the
, political balance of power in his owr
district is a better illustration o.
organized labor's influence than the
record Of the New York State Amer.
ican Labor party because the State
group, since its organization in 1886
as affiliate of Labor's Non-Partisar
League, has always supported Presi.
dent Roosevelt. B.