Evening star., 1946-02-15
Fear Of Losing Vote !
Attributed to Trumun
Weakness. Being Shown When
Courage Is Needed, Says Writer
By David laurence

Courage Is Needed, Says Writer
BY Dapid Laurence
President Truman may be finding
the job Of Chief Executive irksome, but
he has the responsibility of service until
January 20, l94s. and that's . long
way Of.
The turbulence in the economic situ-
alton has now been supplemented by
turbulence In the political situation, and
1t would appear that Mr.. Truman will
find 1t increasingly difficult to avoid
making decisions that will antagonizs
this or that group Of voters.
For . man who Is reported to be
disinclined to run for reelection, the
President shows an amazing concern
Tor the political sensibilities Of many
powerful voting groups. Indeed, If Mr..
Truman really doesn't intend to run
as candidate to succeed himself, II
would seem that he has an unparalleled
opportunity for the exercise of leader
ship which In the end would bring a
Nationwide demand for his continuance
in Office.
Mr.. Truman has not been in ths
presidency long enough to appreciate
the scope Of his power. He does not
realize that he has authority to COM
mand greater respect for the Govern
ment than has recently been bestowed
on that institution by various groups.
The Law Is Specific.
Thus, while the tugboat strike has
been settled, the Government of ths
United States still has the responsibility
OF prosecuting those individuals who
caused the tugboat employees to STAY
out on strike after the Government had
seized the tugboat companies. The law
is specific, and Mr.. Truman missed an
opportunity to uphold the majesty of
the law when he allowed the Attorney
General to ignore the happenings in
New York after the seizure.
AS the law is written, the mere callina
OF union meeting is unlawful once
the Government has seized the facili-
Ties OF any employer in any strike II
that union meeting discusses In any
way the question Of resisting the Gov
ernment by concerted action Of thu
employees. The workers have q rieht
as individuals to decide for themselves
whether they will work under Govern
ment auspices; but their decision cannot
be made In collaboration with others or
as the result of any steps taken by
union leaders.
The whole power Of seizure has been
houted in the tugboat strike, and the
chance to set an example by arresttng
those who violated the Smith -Connally
law has been lost.
Roosevelt Never Faltered.
The President has shown hesitancy
to assert his powers. Whatever may be
said concerning the wisdom Of govern
mental action by his predecessor, Mr..
Roosevelt never faltered. He had the
courage to act and to make decisions.
He did not fail to enforce the Smith
Connally law against those local lead
ers OF certain coal mining unions who
f1outed the Government after the mines
were seized.
Mr.. Truman may not have any DO
httcal ambitions. He may be content to
be one-term President. His political
Heutenants would advise against any
announcement by him at this time, and
they would hope that he might change
his mind. But If he does not care what
the pressure groups think and Is willing
to do what he feels Is right, irrespec-
tive OF what votes may be lost for
1948 presidential contest, then he GER
tainly should be adopting a vigorous
course in protecting the public interest
now.
Everything TO Gain.
He would have everything to gain and
nothing to lose by such q policy. He
would gain the respect OF all thought
full citizens irrespective Of party, and
the odd thing to contemplate is that
maybe he would increase his popularity
to the point where he could not DOS
sibly lose the election.
The courageous course of Calvin
Coolidge in 1919 in quelling the police
strike in Boston electrified the country
and gave him Nationwide applause
which led to his nomination for the yice
presidency at the 1920 national conven-
ton by acclamation.
Mr.. Truman Is not acting like 4
President who has eschewed political
ambition. He is behaving as II he feared
to lose any voting group at all and Is
II the thing he most wanted was to be
renominated. As a consequence he Is
showing conspicuous weakness which
is being talked about from coast to coast
and which is giving the left-yingers
encouragement that they may have =
chance to nominate Henry Wallace.
There is nothing wrong with the de-
sire OF President to succeed himself
for one more term, but there is eyery-
thing wrong with his inclination to get
either the nomination or the election
by avoiding clashes with powerful eco
nomic groups while the public interest
suffers.
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