Evening star., 1945-11-23

met in Washington 10 days ago.
The first resolution deeply deplored
the resignation of Richard Allen,
the outstanding Red Cross career
man, who found himself unable
to work with Chairman Basil
O'Connor.
The second denounced the agree
ment with labor or any other group
as establishing bad precedent and
in violation of the Red Cross volun-
tary spirit. The central commit
tee is urged to discontinue it.
Tribute Dinner Planned.
A second development was the
disclosure of plans to give Mr..
O'Connor large tribute dinner"
in New York on November %, rec
ognizing his outstanding service to
the American people" in the Red
Gross, National Conference of Chris
tians and Jews, Infantile Paralysis
Foundation and other organiza-
tionS."
Arrangements for this dinner have
been proceeding for some time and
it will be no surprise to Mr.. O'Con-
nor. The third development came in
the form of a speech by Mrs. Eu-
gene Meyer (of extraordinary vio-
lence for SO charming aslady) de-
Tending Mr.. O'Connor and the labor
agreement But Mrs. Meyer at
tackled more than she defended.
She did quite lot of name-call-
ing, denouneing what she referred
to as the "reactionary element" in
the Red Cross, asserting that the
opposition to Mr.. O'Connor came
from supposedly honorable" and
very bitter and obtuse old fuddy-
duddy leaders who resent the fact
that labor is gaining foothold in
Red Cross management"
Idea Unfounded on Fact.
leaders" Mrs. Meyer said their in
f1uence extended to many chapters
ruled by local female gauleiters,"
and that the opposition to Mr.
O'Connor was because he was too
friendly to labor" which is a new
idea, not in the least founded on
fact
She characterized the arguments
of the ''reactionary leaders" as
"hypocritical hokum" and insisted
that the Red Cross should support
her idea for a council of national
welfare consenting to the elimina-
ton of its separate appeal for funds.
What the final effect of all this
will be is uncertain. Mr.. O'Connor's
friends in Democratic politics and
the CIO are confident he will be
reappointed and that that will mean
a continuance of the labor agree
ment to which the opposition is very
strong. They count upon the "trib-
ute dinner" and his election as In
ternational Red Cross head Cal
routine honor which regularly goes
to the head of the ARC to give him
such a boost as to make it impossible
Tor Mr.. Truman to turn him down,
though 1t is known the President
is perturbed over the protests.
Offensive Policy Seen.
However, if these things occur,
obviously, the state of affairs within
the Red Cross will not be good. 1t
will have had forced upon it an
unpopular chairman to whom there
Is intense opposition, having little
to do with his "friendliness to labor"
1t also will havahad forced upon it
a policy offensive to large portion
of its membership.
1t is inevitable, of course, that
this should be followed by rather
formidable degree of demoraliza-
ton. The volunteer women demale
gauleiters), many of whom have
unselfishly worked for years in the
national and local organizations, are
UNDERSTANDABLE inflamed by the
names applied to them. Altogether
the situation is not a happy one.
In connection with the labor ar
rangement, 1t is not without sig
nifcance that no statement made
by those who think it mistake has
been successfully contradicted.
a. No Denial of Fact.
;. There have been general denials
but no denial of concrete fact.
There have been some replies to
charges that were not made. There
has been some abuse and there
have been a few bad-tempered ale
cations of unfairness and distor-
ton. But no one has put finger on
q single incorrect statement.
The statements still stand un-
challenged that the Red Cross, ac-
cerdtng to the official report of
Guy Emerson, who negotiated the
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