Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-11-19
PAC
Continued From Page C-1)

constituencies. They were nom
partisan and had only one test in
the primaries and election: Would
a candidate vote wet" or dry A
candidate could be a drinker and
still obtain their support.
In the past labor and other or
CARNATIONS have initiated the Anti
Saloon Leagues political procedure.
The American Federation of Labor
and the railroad brotherhoods have
repeatedly announced that they
reward their friends and punish
their enemies" on the basis of legis-
lative and administrative records.
In the past President William Green
of the AFL has Endorsed Senator
Nye of North Dakota and Represen-
tative Dies of Texas because they
had good labor records"
Follow Proven Procedure.
The CIO-PAC has broader politi-
cal aims than the Anti-Saloon
League or the American Federation
of Labor. A good labor record"
was not enough to get the CLOS
Endorsement in the last campaign,
as Representative Clare Boothe Luce
OF Connecticut can testify. Interna-
tional cooperation and support of
the Presidents war effort were given
high places in determining whether
a candidate should receive CLIO
support.
In the primaries and elections
| just passed the CLIO followed the
technique. the mechanics, of the
Anti-Saloon League. The corrupt
Practices Act, as amended by the
Smith-Connally antistrike law, does
not prohibit trade unions from con-
tributing to candidates in Federal
primaries or in State primaries and
elections, and in view of the CLOS
recent successes 1t is unlikely that
the law will be amended to pro-
scribe such activity. The present
law, however, does prohibit contribu-
tons to Federal campaigns, hence
the emphasis laid by the PAC on
registration and "educational' pro-
grams
If the CLIO convention votes to
keep the present PAC organization,
either in the CLIO or as more de-
tached entity, it would be natural
for the Anti-Saloon League tech
nique to be carried on in the cities
and industrial regions. Murray and
Hillman announced last year that
the PAC is not third party move
ment and they repeat this now.
IYil1y,,o ncnl ha in, VII
as a convenient vehicle because New
York's liberal election laws permit
cumulative voting, that is, candi-
date may be on several tickets and
get all the votes cast for him. Few
other States have such liberal laws,
so the CLOS balance of power can
be most profitably expended in old
party primaries and elections. In
the South of course the CLIO must
operate in the Democratic primaries
Problem for Bosses"
This poses problem for the city
bosses, Republicans and Democrats,
who devote most of their efforts to
primaries. There is already evidence
that the bosses and the PAC work
ers have an arms-length attitude
toward each other. If the labor vote
can be delivered" the bosses will,
of course, be interested: if the
bosses control the primaries, the
PAC will be interested in the type
Of men selected
The power of the bosses rests on
patronage. So far the CLIO has not
been exercised about getting minor
jobs. At present the main concerns
are principles and who gets the
policy-making positions. A balance
of-power bloc of votes is always of
great strategic and tactical value
How the CLIO tries to develop this
power and how it uses what it has
will be significant procedures to
watch.
That the CLIO has broad and am
Eitious plans cannot be doubted
This week Murray announced that
Hillman. with two other CLIO off,
Gals, would go to London next
month to attend a meeting of labor
leaders Of Great Britain and Soviet
Russia, which will prepare an
agenda for United Nations labor
conference beginning in January.
Among the other ideas put forth for
this conference is that organized
labor shall be represented at the
postwar international conferences.
May Give Answers.
Republican denunciations of the
CIO-PAC and the repeated charges,
even by Gov. Dewey. that the Demo-
cratic party was delivering itself
into the hands of the Communists
did not impress the independent
voters. 1t will be interesting to see
whether the Republicans now try to
curry favor with organized labor as
represented by the PAC On his
return to Washington, Senator Aiken
OF Vermont. who had CLIO support,
may have blazed the Republican
trail when he told reporters that he
had always been for the domestic
program of the present administra-
ton, even though it has a good
many flaws and has been unsuitably
applied at times"
| In politics success attracts sup
port. The greater the success the
greater the new support The CLIO
succeeded in its initial attempt far
beyond the privately expressed
hopes Of its leaders.
What quid pro quo will organized
labor demand for support of the
Roosevelt-Truman ticket and the
nonpartisan support of lesser off,
Gals? 1t is too early to say. The
convention at Chicago next week
may give some of the answers.
DemobiIizinq
Communal Prom pono ca