The Wilmington morning star., 1944-12-12
BY WEsTBROOK PEGLER

BY WESTBROOK PEGLER
Copyright, 1914, by King Fes lures Syndica 4e.)
NEW YORK,-NoW do seem to be up
against it. Whether for lack of manpower or
inadequate planning, or both together and a
| variety of other reasons, our production
is deficient and must be boosted and there
is a plan afoot 10 pay postwar bonuses to
war workers for sticking to their jobs and
obique and stronger pressures are being ex-
erted to prevent transfers
But even in this desperate situation, the
Roosevelt administration fiercely refuses to
grant to Americans at home the one funda-
mental right that has been abrogated from
the beginning for the political benefit of the
Roosevelt party and of the union politicians
of his adherence, including the notorious IN
derWorld gangsters and more stately rack
eteers Of the A. F. of L. and the communists
Though production fall and fighters die for
the lack of suffciency. the ostensibly free
American civilian still may not work at lathe
or loom except condition that he waive an
element of his freedom and citizenship and
join and pay moral and financial tribute to
union. That is the proposition and in favor
Of that proposition slight majority of the
voters of the nation voted in the recent cleo
ton, thereby attempting to destroy by major
ty vote the right of large minority, which
is the way of democracy.
Under this union rule, as every honest I'M
ion politician admits in his moments of p-i-
vate candor manpoWer is wasted in mock
work by authority of the Supreme Court and
men and women are restricted to arbitrary
limits OF production, in the tire industry
considerably below their capacity to produce
without hardship or danger to their health. |
Under this rule, citizens are subjected to
a discipline which invades their constitutional
rights in many ways and exposes them to
harassment by threats and actual violence.
Under this rule, good workers may be and
may have been put off their jobs for ex-
preston OF their political beliefs, which con-
stitutes "un-union-like'' conduct, although that
privilege is inherent in their citizenship and
for refusal to pay political assessments for
candidates and measures abhorrent to them
and have been ordered to attend political raj
lies for such candidates under penalty of fine
for failure
I have had hundreds Of frantic advertise
ments appealing to workers to commit them
selves to jobs in conditions of hardship in
far places for their country's sake, but with
the first condition that they must be mem
bers of this or that political subdivision of the
Roosevelt party willing to join and pay
fees and dues arbitrarily decided long in ad-
vance and without consultation of their wishes.
There is no question, indeed it never has
been denied, that the bosses of these organiza-
tons are political henchmen who. in many
cases, have arbitrarily dipped into their trea-
suries for campaign contributions Hundreds
OF thousands Of workers. deprived of their
normal jobs and occupations by the shrinkage
due to the war, have submitted to all this
rather than withhold themselves from a great
patriotic effort but with the mental reserva-
ton that they did this under protest
To many, deceived by the clamor of the
New Deals violent propaganda this has SEEM
ed to be an unimportant concession and more
than compensated by rates of pay which are
abnormal by comparison with peacetine rates
nf ma Juhn low LODI, -.
crease in the cost of living has been met The
danger here is that such Americans, like the
Italian laborers in the early days of Musso-
lini, have not realized that that which they
have waived would be beyond any price and,
like the italian workers. have been made
grateful to glamorized leader and ostensi-
BILE friends and resentful against those who
would maintain the liberties that others have
the intelligence to know and cherish for them /,
selves and far the fighters who are away.
The situation now more plainly than ever is
one in which the powers of the union politi-
cians all sub-leaders and bosses of the gov l
erning and ruling party and their privilege t
to tax, to perSecute and to Cypress non-join- {
ers, are Sc before the life-and-death neces-
sites OF the fighters. A young republican serv-
ing a gun which is rationed as to shells Or
patriotic believer in voluntary unionism as
distinguished from government compulsion
fighting without ADEQUATE artillery cover, is
SlVSll 10 UNDERSTAND lnaL Jne privileges VI lnS
steeWorkers union or the tire workers union
or of Dan Tobin's teamsters' union or Sidney y
Hillman's political action committee come be- !
fore his rights as soldier.
Never has this been denied by any admin
istrator Of the Roosevelt government and it
was a wretched fact that during the late
campaign the republicans were so aWed BY
the power of the union propag anda that they
dodoed the question lest they be charged with ..
hostility to labor"
The factor of strikes in the computation Of
labor shortages was deliberately and cunning
" falsifed so as to exclude from the total
the eventual losses of effort caused as the
secondary result of strikes where a strike of y
fifty or hundred men made thousands of
idle for lack of material or me- -
cessary cooperation. +
So now as the generals and the President
and Mr. Krug say. we are up against 1t and ,
people who have left jobs must be in
duced Or compelled to go back ard others
must be drawn on to make up the lack.
But always the union must be considered
first Their powers. their discipline their treas
uries and the ambitious of their bosses must
be protected anc the right of the American
citizen the nondescript individual whom Hen
nv Wallace and the rest condescendlnsly oe- Z
scribe as the common man, must be waved
entirely and the fighter is hostage IN the
struggle for unconstitutional authority by OIL
l