Evening star., 1946-01-12

present wage controversy. And
despite that, or partly, perhaps, be-
cause of it, the newspapers have ex-
tended themselves to present the
arguments and pertinent informa-
ton furnished by the auto workers
union.
Editorially it may be that most
newspapers are inclined to favor
GINS position, particularly in the
matter of keeping company profits
out of the wage discussion, but in
the news columns they have pub
liShed what the union officials have
had to say, even on that issue.
So if it is true, as has frequently
been remarked during recent weeks,
that the strikers have been getting
a better press" than the company
it must be because the strikers
leaders have done better job of
informing the press. In other
words, whether or not they have
the best of the argument, they've
had the most of it.
Surreptitious Operations Disliked.
However, there could be an addi-
tional reason, growing out of the
fact that neWspapermen are human
and have their prejudices. They
have definite prejudice against
surreptitious operations in the field
of public affairs and public infor-
nation. And evidence has accumu-
lated to indicate that General Mo-
tors has been guilty of some slight
shenanigans of that kind.
In this column the other day
mention was made of a half-page
advertisement signed by Society cf
Sentinels, Detroit" together with
some speculation as to whether the
Sentinels really was a society or
just one man. 1t seemed impossible
that more than one man in any one
city could have ideas as archaic as
those contained in the ad. What it
proposed was the scrapping of all
labor and social legislation enacted
during the past decade and the re-
turn not only to States rights but
something akin to primitive individ-
ualism.
Well, it turns out actually to be
a society, including among it's men,
bers number of Detroit's banking
and industrial leaders. One of it's
vice chairmen is revealed to be
Stephen Du Brul, a General Mo-
tors economist, who has partici-
pated in the collective bargaining
between GIN and the union. This
revelation resulted in a telegram
to c. E. Wilson, president of GIN,
from Walter P. Reuther, vice pres
ident Of UAW, asking whether GIN
approved of the program of the
Society of Sentinels. Mr.. Reuther,
as Is his custom, provided the press
with copy of his telegram.
wide Open to Suspicion"
Mr.. Wilson, having looked into
the matter, replied that neither
the GIN management nor Mr.. Du
Brul had had anything to do with
the preparation or distribution of
the ad. This should have been con-
vincing, since you'd hardly expect
an automobile manufacturer to ad-
vocate the return of the horse and
buggy days.
But General Motors already had
laid itself wide open to suspicion
week earlier through another left
handed approach to the public. This
consisted of swamping the mails of
Washington and SuburbS-and pre-
sumably of other cities-with a
pamphlet reprint of an editorial
angrily attacking Detroit union labor
1t purported to be a private under
taking on the part of a man named
Henry Grady Weaver; in fact, it
contained this explanation: "Pri-
vately printed for distribution to
personal friends and others in the
hope that it may help us more
cleakly to recognize and resist the
dangers that threaten to destroy
everything that has made our coun-
try free and great. Additional copies
free on request"
In due course it was discovered