Evening star., 1945-12-14

the late Mr.. Roosevelt. In their
General Motors strike, denunciation
has broken all records. Every day
Tor weeks stream of abuse and
charges has emanated from the CIO
spokesmen and publicity organs
New allegations of sinister doings
come out of every daily press con-
ference.
The company has not replied to
the abuse nor answered the charges
1t would have been futile to try. In
that sort Of game these days the
C1O, with its vast and expensive
publicity machine and complete ir-
responsibility for its statements, has
a great advantage.
Recognized Routine in Strikes.
Abuse of the employer, however, is
regular, recognized routine in every
strike. 1t is established union
strategy and. is made notable in the
General Motors strike only by its
volume and violence. What is fa1
more remarkable, however, is the
snarllng vehemence with which
these union bosses have turned on
President Truman.
To read their statements concern
ing his proposals, one would get the
idea that Mr.. Truman, a recognized
friend of labor with consistent pro-
labor record in the Senate, had sud-
denly betrayed labor" to its en-
emies.
One union spokesman calls his
proposals "a vicious effort to rob
labor of its rights" Another de-
clares them "a sinister and evil at
tempt to destroy collective bargain
ing. A third characterizes the
Truman suggestions as "a vile
smelly mess" to adopt which would
plunge knife through the heart
OF American labor"
Exaggeration Leads to Absurdity.
All OF this is so exaggerated as te
be absurd. Persons who talk thai
way about Mr.. Trumans exceedingly
mild proposals would seem to be-
either congenitally silly or to have
lost their sense of proportion or tt
belleVe that violent denunciation i,
the way to treat every labor move
Willch they do not themselves orig
mate.
Faced with long and bitter strife
IN both automobile and steel indus.
trles, all Mr.. Truman proposed was
that the strikers go back to work
Wnlle fact-finding board named
by him reported on the true stu.
alton to the public.
Neither the union nor the com.
pany would be compelled to accept
the boards recommenda tions MOI
discontinue negotiations while il
was functioning. The right of the
union to strike would not be i'm
paired and compulsory arbitration
was not suggested. From the union
standpoint it is difficult to see a
valid objection.
Must Have Surprised Truman.
Certainly, their outburst must
have been great surprise to Mr.
truman. True, he acted in the hope
OF averting national condition of
economic chaos. But, he also
thought-and said-he was acting
In the interests of the unions, hop
ing to prevent the passage of very
much more drastic union regula-
tory bills which already had beer
introduced and which Congress hao
evinced clear desire to pass.
Yet the union bosses denounced
Mr.. Truman's mild proposals with 6
Vehemence they could not possibly
exceed had he espoused one of tht
stronger-and from their angle
far more Objectionable bills.
1t is strange state of affairs fol
which there is no reasonable expla.
nation. Perhaps the most plausibl,
is that Mr.. Truman did not call tn,
C1O bosses in and consult them be-
fore he sent his message to Con
gress. They have been so accus.
toned to debating White Hous,
labor utterances and actions that
perhaps, when President took tn,
liberty of speaking without thei
previous approval, they resented it
People Should Know Cause,
II that is the cause of their fury
1t is a good thing for the people t.
know. 1t will do Mr.. Truman n,
harm and the CIO no good. 1t ough
to help the public to see through
these professionally vehement mel
and put a proper valuation on thei
lmmoderate language.
The point has been made tha
while there has come from industr,
little opposition to the President.
proposals, there has been a lack O.
that elation one might expect from
the first White House suggestion fol
labor legislation in the public in
tereSt in more than 10 years.
For this there are several reasons
One is that industry's experienc,
with the fact-finding board unde,
Mr.. Roosevelt was that when tn,
board did not give the unions wha
they wanted the President ordered i
to reconsider and they got it.
A second is that industry woult
very much prefer one of the stronge
bills which Congress Is itching t,
pass and hates to see it diverted t.