Evening star., 1944-09-19

before, but each time it is a new
and rich experience to talk with the
people who are America, to learn
their problems face to face.
1t is good to come again to the
State of Washington and to have
once more the thrill Of seeing close
at hand this vital, pulsating, grow
ing West Coast which symbolizes
the magnificent future Of the United
States.
1t is good to find the State ad-
ministration in the able hands OF
your constructive and fortnight
Republican Governor, my good
friend, Arthur Langlie.
Military Leaders Superb.
Today, the first thoughts of all of
us are on the war-the war in Eu-
rope and the war in the Pacific. 1t
seems already clear that this year
will see the end of the war in Eu-
rope. Then. as We have so long
wanted to do, we shall be able to
throw all of our energy, our might
into the war in the Pacific.
This year. also, we are called
upon to hold national election.
Does that mean that there must be
the slightest hesitation in our for
ward march to victory? 1t means
exactly the contrary.
Our military leadership in this
war has been superb. have made
it plain and I cannot emphasize it
too strongly that change in the
national administration next Janu-
ary will involve no change in the
military leadership Of the war.
What this campaign will do is
prove to our enemies that We can
fight total war and speed final vic
tory by changing and Strengthening
our administration.
Will End Bickering.
1t will drive home to Japan
and to Germany also if that coun-
try should still be in the war on
November 7-the bitter lesson that
every day they delay their sur
render will make more onerous by
Just that much the terms of their
defeat.
This election will also bring an
end to the quarreling and pickering
and confusion in the Nations Cap
ital which has hampered our war
effort from the beginning to the
end.
Among the things which have
been holding us back here at home
is an administration labor policy
which has bred class division, hate
and insecurity. I can say with
out qualification that the labor
policy of this administration has
been one of delays, bungling and
incompetence. 1t has put untold
obstacles in the way of labor's
effort to avoid wartime strikes. 1t
has fostered strife between one
labor group and another. between
labor and business and between both
and Government. It has affronted
the wage Garner by reducing his
basic rights to the level of political
reward. 1t has made the wage
earners pay envelope and his hours
and conditions of work a football
of politics. The labor policies of
this administration are another
reason why it Is time for a change
Adrift in Labor Field.
Where are We today in the field of
labor? We are adrift. There is
no course, no chart. not even a COM
pass. We move, when we move at
all. to the shifting winds OF the
caprice of one man.
Is that the fault of the law-of
the National Labor Relations Act?
Not for one minute. The National
Labor Relations Act was the work
Of bipartisan majority of both
houses of Congress. A majority of
the members of my party voted for
it. That act was modelled on the
Railway Labor Act of 1926, a.
measure which was written, passed
and approved by a Republican ad-
ministration.
The National Labor Relations Act
is good and necessary law. It
acknowledges the trend of our times
and will continue to be the law of
the land. But that law has been
working badly. 1t has failed to
secure the industrial harmony we
sought. 1t has failed because under
the present administration the
whims Of bureaucrats take the place
Of government by law. Why, even
on the railroads where an orderly
system of mediation had been pains
takingly created, we stood last De-
cember on the brink of paralyzing
strike. That was only because one
man government could not keep it's
hands of established, previously
successful legal processes.
Cites Many Bureaus.
There is another reason why the
National Labor Relations Act has
not worked as it should. Our labor
relations right down the line have
been smothered under a welter of
agencies, boards, commissions and
bureaus.
Let me give you list of just some
of them:
There's the War Manpower Com
mission, the War Labor Board, the
Office of Labor Production, the
Wage-Hour and Public Contracts
Division, the National Labor Rela-
tions Board, the Cancellation Service,
the Retraining and Unemployment
Administration, the War Production
Drive Division, the National Media
ton Board, the shipbuilding, lum-
ber and other special industrial
commissions. In addition. there are
labor sections of OPA, WPA, OES,
OWN, the War Shipping Admins
tration, selective service and
tumble of others too numerous to
mention.
Backward Step.
This towering confusion of agen-
cies has marked serious. backward
step for the working people of the
country. A Republican, President
Taft, was the first to recognize that
labor's problems were of cabinet
imnOrtance TTpder him tho To