Evening star., 1944-08-08
Smith ConnoIIy Laws
Value Declared Proven
Helped to Break Transit Strike
in Philadelphia, Says Writer
By Dapid Laurence

By David Laurence
If 1t had not been, for the Smith,
Connally law, the transit strike In Phila-
delphia might have caused consider
ably more damage than it did.
On every side it is conceded that the
arrests and threat of arrests Of leaders
who carried on the strike after the
property was seized by the Government,
helped to break UP the strike
1t was unthinkable. of course, that the
great Government of the United States
would be without statutory power to
prevent a paralysis Of transportation.
But before the Smith -Connally law was
passed, there were no effective statutes
explicitly prohibiting interference with
interstate commerce or with transporta-
ton systems by means of strike.
Whatever protection had previously
been afforded through provisions in the
interstate commerce laws was wiped out
by decision Of the New Deal majority
OF the Supreme Court of the United
States which held that physical inter-
ference with shipments by interstate
commerce could be carried out in con-
nection with labor dispute and would
not be punished II in connection with
strike.
Bill Passed Over Veto.
When the Smith Connally bill was
before Congress, labor leaders made
every effort to defeat 1t and, even after
the bill was passed by both houses,
they brought pressure to bear on Presi-
dent Roosevelt with the hope that he
would veto it. Mr.. Roosevelt did veto
the measure but it was passed over his
veto by two-thirds vote of both
Houses Of Congress
1t is interesting to recall that the
| President gave as one Of the reasons
for his veto the fact that Congress had
tackled on provision prohibiting labor
unions from contributing to political
campaigns so that they would be on
the same footing as corporations
1t was believed by members Of Con-
gress at the time that this would pre-
vent the CIO from using labor union
funds in political campaigns but, due to
! the laxity of enforcement by the Roose-
welt Administration, the same objective
now has been accomplished for polit-
ical purposes as would have been the
case If Congress had bowed to the
wishes Of the President and eliminated
the clause that was Objectionable to the
unions.
For many weeks after the Smith
Connally bill became law over the veto,
a steady campaign was carried on by
labor union lobbyists who urged repeal
| Of the measure
The value Of the Smith Connally law
Is that once the Government seizes the
because obviously the individual work.
ers would 60 back to work unless some
concerted pressure was brought to bear
upon them. Any concerted action to
keep strike going is usually the act
Of two or more individuals, who can be
prosecuted under the Smith -Connally
law.
Indexed by CIO.
One Of the chief activities of the
C1O these days is to punish Represent
atives Of Congress at the polls who
voted for the Smith-Connally law. In
other words, those who saw in the bill
an effort to prevent interference with
the war effort are about to be penalized
at the polls for having done their duty.
The CIO committee has made up a
list OF members Of Congress whom 1t
intends to fight in the congressional
elections and one of the principal tests
in determining if member of Con-
gress is to feel the CIO whip is whether
he did or did not vote for the Smith
Connally law
Today. as the devastating results Of
the Philadelphia transit strike are
viewed, the constructive purpose served
by the Smith -Connally law can hardly
be disputed 1t is the kind Of statute
that should have been passed many
years before, and, while there are some
| clumsy provisions in it which can be
corrected by future Congresses, the
main idea--namely, that there must be
respect for the Government of the
United States once a property is law
fully seized-is something so automatic
that 1t Is amazing to find that labor
union politicians have the effrontery ia
try to get it repealed.
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