Evening star., 1946-06-05
Threatening the Courts

lhreutening the Courts
If it were not for the background
against which it was made, the
undisguised effort by James c..
Petrillo to coerce the judgment of
the Supreme Court could be brushed
aside as the ranting of a man made
reckless by the prospective loss of
some of his dictatorial powers. But
the background is there, and it
cannot be ignored.
Mr.. Petrillo has told a convention
OF his American Federation of Mu-
sicians that he will call strike
against the national radio networks
and order complete stoppage of
the manufacture of phonograph rec
ordS If the Supreme Court decides
that the so-called Petrillo law is
constitutional. This statute, other
wise known as the Lea bill, was
passed by Congress to outlaw some
OF the abuses in which the head of
the musicians union had been in
dulging. Now Mr.. Petrillo, who says
that he has Intentionally violated"
the law, is waiting for United States
marshal to arrest him, and is threat
ening the country and the court
with a strike unless the law is
declared invalid.
This comes at a time when the
House and the Senate are still trying
to decide what, if anything, they
want to do about the emergency
labor legislation proposed by the
President. 1t comes at time when
Mr.. Truman is trying to make up his
mind whether he wants to sign or
veto the Case bill, also designed to
curb certain abuses by labor unions
and impose some responsibilities on
them. 1t comes in the midst of a
concerted effort by the leaders of
all labor factions to bring every
possible pressure to bear on the Pres
ident in an attempt to kill the Case
bill. 1t comes as striking electric
line workers in New York are re-
fusing to attend hearings of an
emergency fact-finding board ap-
pointed under the Railway Labor
Act, and are being supported in that
refusal by the Brotherhood of Rail-
road Trainmen, whose president,
A. F. Whitney, recently threatened
to spend millions of dollars OF his
unions money to punish the Pres
ident for breaking the railroad
strike And, finally, it comes at a
time when the political action wings
of the CIO are busily engaged in an
attempt to defeat members of Con-
gress who have not been voting
right"
The implications of this are clear.
The professional labor leaders, as
CIO President Philip Murray said
in effect in his letter to the Pres
ident, are insisting upon complete
freedom of action in pursuit of their
own aims. They will resist any and
all attempts to revise the laws that
are heavily weighted in their favor,
and will condemn any new legisla-
ton which would require them to
live up to standards set for other
citizens. Members of Congress and
possibly the President, II they do
not yield to labor's wishes, will be
punished If union money and labor
votes can punish them. And now,
in the one instance in which a labor
opposed bill has become law, Mr.:
Petrillo, going further than any of
his union contemporaries, presumes
to bring pressure to bear upon the
Nations highest court.
So, to this extent at least, the
question before the country is not
merely whether it is possible to
secure passage of laws regulating
selfish and harmful union activities.
There is now the additional question
of whether such laws, once passed,
could be enforced through the
courts. Whether he realizes it or
not, Mr. Petrillo is threatening a
revolt against the Government. And
the activities of some of his COL
leagues do not fall far short of that.
This is challenge of gravest i'm
port, and if the Government lacks
the courage to meet it the Nation
will soon find that, in any effective
sense, it lacks a Government.