The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-05-03
Fair Enough

Editors note.-The Star and the News
accept no responsibility for the personal
views of Mr.. Pegler, and often disagree
with them as much as many of his read
ers. His articles serve the good purpose
of making peorle Think
By wEsTBRooK PEGLER
Copyright 1915, BY King Features Syndicate J
SAN FRANCISCO-Them most graphic meth
cd that can think of to illustrate position of
the United Nations in this new attempt to form
a league to preserve the peace is to discuss
it in the familiar terms of unionism.
The bad nations, and we are arbitrary inl
judgments on them, represent the employ
ers They are Germany and Japan. Italy is
only semi-bad but only because Italy was in.
competent and had no belly for a fight Spain.
too, is sennl-bad.
So, we are contemplating union organiza
ton to make the bad nations behave.
But right away, we look about OR meeting
and discover that we have gangsters andl
racketeers in our own midst. Nevertheless.
they are our gangsters and racketeers so we
must be careful to gentle them. We mustn't
accuse them from the floor or they might
Waylay us on the way home in the dark and
give Us broken leg. In fact we have few
little items our own conscience such asl
our aggressions against the Indians and our
violations of treaties with them, and Panama
At any rate, our organization meeting is
AAAASAAo,
start we establish classes of membership. We
give ourselves a select, Class A membership
80 that the little fellows, such as Costa Rica
Honduras and Abyssinia can't throw in togeth-
err and run things. We big shots have t e
muscle and frankly, we rate ourselves above
those who might be compared to the Class
B. or unskilled members, of the electricians
union.
Now, if we do join we have to accept the
obligation to 20 on strike and to picket, if a
strike is called. That is, we must agree to back
up any decision of the security council to
blockade or throw rocks through the windows
of any offending nation. Actually, this rock
throwing would be war and, with us, war
calls for an act of Congress, which Congress,
after few years OF peace and prosperity,
might be unwilling to pass. So it is proposed
that we call this armed intervention or war;
peaceful picketing.
All union picketing is peaceful, of course
It is true that sometimes irresponsible en-
thusiasts overturn automobiles, beat up lnno-
cent citizens and destroy property, but these
are acts of Jealous individuals and are dis
avowed by the organization We are going
to be dishonest from the jump and let us be
honest about that. If one of those little rows
should develop into a general war, we would
have to plunge in with all our strength, with
or without the approval of Congress. Probably,
however, by then, Congress and the people
would be all excited and the declaration of
war would be only a. routine matter.
Now we find that our Russian friends are|
little suspicious of us, which only makes it ev
en- because for may years they deviled us
here at home by trying to raid our member
ship, as you might say, and made us suspicious
of them I refer to their communist revolu-
tionary movement not only IN labor unions but
in the government bureaus in Washington On
their part it is explained that we treated them
as dirty-necks for about IS years and SO we
did. A discussion Of the reasons why we acted
so would run away with the piece so we
won't 20 into them now.
However, we remember that John L. Lewis
and Franklin D. Roosevelt were friends for
long time and then had terrible fight and
that, after many years OF the most devoted
personal friendship with Lewis, Phillip Muir
ray who succeeded him president OF the
CLIO, gotaup at a convention and Wept that this
monstrous man, this unconscionable liar, as
he called Lewis, had tried to have his life.
All it amounted to was that Lewis had con-
tinued to fight him when he was down with
heart trouble. The harraSsment might have
resulted in a fatal recurrence and that was
built into an tempt to kill and slay which
distortion is typical of the dramatic, repatee
between such people. But tomorrow, Lewis
might take his coal miners back into the
American federation of Labor under the pres
dency of Will Green who also has ex-
changed very opprobrious remarks with John
since they broke, so, in OR little analogy, we
find that in the words of a distinguished new
deal senator, big men are able to rise above
principle, compromise r1valrles, forget 0 d
wrongs and grudges and cooperate for their
respective and mutual interests.
AS in all unions, the big fellows want power
and are alert always to check any move by
anyone in the ruling group which might redis-
tribute the power. I know of no union how
ever, in which there are four or live true
equals Always there is head man who
keeps himself up there by trading with his
council but in this new union OF nations there
are at least two countries, ours and Russia,
which are determined to be equal at the top.
Britain seems a shade inferior because her
empire is so loose-j ointed and her Navy
has taken such hammerlng not only from
the enemy but from the seas China obviously
is included only because of her position in the
war with Japan. If France is to be regarded
as big muscle that is only complimentary
rateinp which takes into account her knack for
nuisance.
| Well what about Poland and Jugo-Slavia and
the Balkan republics? The analogy there is
that they are suffering from discord or dual
unionism and so they are taken over by the
regional authority of the big union, which is
Russia. The regional boss puts in his own
people to administer them Until they get
straightened out-his way. That is common
practice, too
W. ,ra foroo++;,,o r,,l,tua1ly all discredt able