Evening star., 1945-11-07

be renamed, the agreement will not
be easily renewed. For it cannot
be done without the consent of the
Central Committee and opposition in
that body has grown since the pub
lie disclosures.
Recognizing that much of the
rank and file of Red Gross volunteer
workers and contributors are re-
sentful, some members of the COM
mittee who formerly acquiesced are
now preparing to join those who
always opposed. Some millions of
Americans are interested in the out
come.
Protests from. all parts of the
country continue to come to head
quarters. They have not slackened
since the issuance of recent Red
Cross explanatory statements by
minor officials.
The feebleness of these is such
that, perhaps, it would have been
better for the Red Cross not to have
issued them at all. For they reveal
that the arrangement was wholly
one Of convenience and expediency.
All questions of principle. ethics
and effect on national and Red
Cross morale are ignored. Pages
are devoted to drawing an exag-
gerated picture of the difficulties of
reaching the workers before the ar
rangement and an equally exag-
gerated picture of the Happiness"
ff4ith VII a1 rrrny Iaa
worked out.
Evidence of Temper.
Actually. of course, some of the
most devoted men and women in the
organization have been very un-
happy about it from the start, and
but for the war long ago would
have publicly protested. One evi-
dence of temper and strain on the
part of the local explainers is that
they vehemently deny there was
anything in the nature of Swim
die" or fraud" about the arrange
ment, when no such charge had
even been limited at-had, in fact,
explicitly been disclaimed.
The vital things which those who
oppose this arrangement insist are
being ignored are these: The Red
Gross, greatest of all humanitarian
agencies, should never have to make
a special arrangement with any
labor, industrial. sectarian, poll
tical. professional, racial, religious
or class group; that it should appeal
to all merely as Americans and
jealousy guard its voluntary char
acter; that to reimburse any group
for cooperation expenses is de-
structive, divisional, wrong; that
such repayments violate the Red
/ Cross voluntary spirit and no in
crease in collections can compen-
safe for that; that, as the Beloit
wisconsin, News editorially says:
There is no more reason the con-
tributions of union members should
be segregated as to give special
credit than there is to separate the
contributions of Methodists, Cath
olics, Protestants, Jews, the Fedora
tion Of Women's Clubs or ay other
group. Yet, this Is precisely what
the National War Fund, the Com
munity Chests and Councils, Inc,
and the American Red Cross have
DONE"
3-Point Defense.
No reply to these points is even
remotely made by the management
apologists. They defend the ar
rangement wholly on the expedi-
ency ground. They rest their case
on three points: % that the ar
rangement works well and the re-
suits are good; 90 that the Red
Gross did not keep the arrange
ment secret but announced it in
detail; 90 that 1t is necessary to
reimburse" the unions for ex-
penses because, rich as they are.
they cannot take the dues of their
. members paid in for other pur-
poses.
The answers to these are:
I'd No arrangement works well
that splits an organization and fills
large proportion of its members
with resentment; that the good re-
Suits" even from the dollar stand
FNAAAS5 Ga dV 1CdDt 0EUdLdUlS.
There are two great labor organ
izatlons-the Railroad Brotherhoods
and the United Mine Workers-with
which no reimbursement arrange
ment has ever beenssuggested. Yet
no one claims that these have not
fully met every Red Cross REQUIRE
ment in every campaign. Both of
tnese unions recently protested
against the arrangement, of which
theyTsaid they had never heard.
2. Though the Red Cross and
Z other contracting agncies made pub
i hclty announcements, the fact re-
mains that until recently the great
: bulk OF Red Gross volunteer work
e ers, contributors and the general
public neither knew nor understood
anything about the reimbursing ar
rangement. Some of those now in
( sisting that it was no secret. them
selves, had never heard about it a
month ago.
Millions for Other Things.
8. AS to the inability OF these
unions (Which spend millions of dol
lars to promote political candidates.
and causes of which, certainly, some
d OF their members disapproye) to
pay their own expenses in collect
ing for the Red Cross from their
g own people, 1t is difficult to con-
f8 celve OF any union member object
Ing to the use Of union funds for
Red Cross purposes.
Perhaps Mr.. O'Connor will be re-
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