Evening star., 1945-10-29

full production is urgently needed
The Nation Is full of idle men. Re
conversion is retarded and the abil
ity OF private business to provid,
Jobs Is more or less nullified by tn,
very people who demand 1t shoulc
do so. Altogether, it is a state o
affairs which menaces the nationa
health and constitutes our most diff
flcult domestic problem.
Under these conditions 1t seem.
Q happy idea to bring labor ane
management together in a Wash.
ington conference ito lay thu
groundwork for peace with justice
on the home front" Eighteen dele.
gates representing labor, 18 dele.
gates representing industry anc
three representing the public will
constitute the conference. An am.
bilious agenda has been agreed
upon. All phases of the labor man.
agement relation will be dealt with
The two sides, so it is said, will
enter the conference with good will
eager to flnd solutions. The Presi-
dent will make an earnest and bal
anced speech tomorrow night -
probably prepared for him by the
same Samuel Rosenman who wrote
so many of the Roosevelt speeches
and messages.
Not Too Optimistic.
Undoubtedly, the conference will
start off auspiciously. The question
is how will 1t end? There is no
sense not facing realities, and the
plain truth is that those who best
know the facts are not too optimis-
tic. If important agreements are
unanimously reached, they will be
agreeably surprised.
The chief reason for this feeling
Is that 1t is lopsided conference.
True, 1t does not look so on the sur
face. The So delegates are evenly
divided between labor and industry.
The presiding officer-one of the
representatives of the public, Judge
Walter Parker Stacey-is an up
right, honorable man, experienced
as an arbitrator and mediator and.
though rather. inclined toward the
labor side, Is acceptable to industry.
But, to be truly balanced confer
ence in which neither side starts
with any advantage, clearly the
Government, under whose auspices
1t is held, should be genuinely and
completely neutral. And that is
Just what the Government is not.
Mr.. Truman's fair words tomorrow
night will not make him a neutral
any more than Mr.. Roosevelt was a
neutral. Mr.. Roosevelt and his
whole administration was openly
linked with labor and against in
dustry in every controversy. The
Roosevelt Attorney General, Fran
els Biddle, in effect, publicly pro-
claimed It,
Linked to CIO. i
Mr.. Truman's tie with the CIO Is
not nearly as close as that of his
predecessor, but there Is a tie. His
Postmaster General and Democratic
chairman, Robert e. Hannegan. is
playing ball" with the CIO politi-
clans. Mr.. Truman's nomination for
Vice President was cleared through
the CLOS PAC leaders at Chicago.
These leaders already have de-
clared for him as 194s nominee for
President. This is not to say that
Mr.. Truman will say an unneutral
word or perform an unneutral act
In connection with this conference.
1t is to say that he is politically
linked with labor and not with in
dustry. That unmistakable fact
automatically weights the confer
ence on the labor side.
But that Is not all. The other
two representatives of the public
are Secretary of Labor Lewis B.
Schwellenbach and Secretary of
Commerce Henry Wallace. They
are supposed to be neutral, too, and
concerned solely with the public In
terests. They are about as neutral
as Sidney Hillman and Philip MUIR
ray. Their link with the CIO is
closer than Mr.. Truman's. Mr.. Wal
lace was the CLOS candidate for
Vice President in 1914 and is still
their "fair-haired boy" Mr.. Schwel-
lenbach, as a Senator, was regarded
as CIO adherent and his selection
as Secretary OF Labor was approved
by the CIO leaders.
Concessions by Industry.
Now 1t Is true the Messrs. SchweI-
lenbach and Wallace are non-voting
representatives in the conference;
but, under the agenda which they
helped prepare, they have the privi-
lege Of attending all committee
meetings, executive sessions, and
participating in all proceedings and
debates. They do not need votes.
They will have plenty Of influence
without voting.
As Secretary Of Labor, Mr.. Schwel-
lenbach is supposed to be pro labor:
but as Secretary of Commerce, Mr..
Wallace, naturally, should be mostly
concerned with industry. He isn't.
His head and heart are all on the
labor side. He knows nothing
about industry and has no real
friendship for it. He is congenitally
distrustful of a successful business
man and Is really labor politician.
Considering these facts-and they
are facts-it is difficult to regard
the conference as evenly balanced
between industry and labor, because
the administration weight is on the
labor side. Clearly, if concessions
are to be made they will come large
ly frow industry. Inevitably, recall
citraneS on the part of industry will
be more severely frowned upon than
labor recalcitrancy. It always is
now by our politicians.
In the days when labor unions
were puny and poor, that was right.
But now that they are rich and
strong Il tends tn increase their ar.