Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-06-12
Case Bill Vetoed


President Humans message Veto
ing the Case bill, message in which
he embodied many of the specious
objections to the measure which had
been raised by the CLIO. will come as
sharp disappointment to those
who had hoped that, despite the
Democratic party's political alliance
with organized labor, he would not
use his veto power to kill legislation
approved by large majorities in both
branches of Congress in response to
a clear public demand for long
overdue reform in one-sided labor
laws.
Last December the President asked
for fact-finding legislation, includ-
ing a cooling-off period, in the hope
that 1t would help get production
going. On January he appealed
to Congress: IF the measures which
have recommended to accomplish
these ends do not meet the approval
OF Congress it Is my fervent wish
and I am sure that it is the wish Of
my fellow citizens-that the Con-
gress formulate measures OF its own
to carry out the desired detectives.
That is definitely the responsibility
OF Congress. What the American
people want is action" What hap
pened? Congress did not approve
the fact-finding bill but formulated
measures of its own. It discharged
its responsibility. The people got
action. And now the President has
killed off the whole business with a
veto.
There is no point in discussing
the veto message in detail, for there
is little of substance in it. The
President stresses the contention
that the Case bill, if it had been
law, would not have prevented or
shortened the strikes which have so
seriously damaged our economy
these last few months" He was
talking there about such things as
the steel strike, the coal strike, the
automobile strike, the meat strike.
etc. These were strikes against pri-
vate employers. except for the coal
strike, which continued as a strike
against the Government after the
minessW seized. The Case bill,,of
course, was not designed to "pre-
vent" strikes except as mediation
may prevent them. But why does
the President complain OF that? In
his message to Congress on May 90
the message asking for emergency
powers to deal with the railroad
strike against the Government-he
said: THE general right of workers
to strike against private employers
must be preserved" And yet the
Case bill is vetoed on the major
ground that it would not have pre-
vented some Of the big strikes
against private employers.
The President said that in his
study of the bill he did not consider
1t from the standpoint of whether
1t favors or harms labor, or whether
IL favors or harms management. Yet
the message Is replete with argu-
ments that the bill would harm Ia
DOR. He objects on the ground that
employees striking during the pro-
posed cooling-of period might have
lost their status as employees under
the Wagner Act. ellis own proposal
OF December 3 would have made it
unlawful to strike during the cooling
on period) He voices the unex-
planned fear that the proviso against
registering might be construed as
making it a felony to strike and
picket peacefully. He is against the
proposed section regulating welfare
FUNDS because, despite the Govern
ments nasty negotiation of a well
1are fund agreement with John L.
Lewis while the miners were on
strike, this whole subject needs
long and careful study" He fears
tnat another section would be preiu-
dlclal to foremen, that another
might repeal the Norris-La Guardia
Act or imperil the principles of the
wagner Act. and that still another
might revive the improper use of
lnJunctions against labor by private
employers.
The President proposes no tangi-
Die alternatives to the provisions to
which he objects. All that he has
TO offer is a renewal of his sugges-
ZION for study of the question by a
JOINT committee of Congress and the
vague indication that he might ap-
prove some kind of legislation. The
TACT remains, however, that the
PRESIDENT for unimpressive reasons
has killed the only labor legislation
winch 1t has been possible to get
through Congress in twelve years
And ne must have done so in the
knowledge that it will be extremely
difficult, if not impossible, to get
through another bill which is ade-
quate to deal with the abuses and
also lnnocuous enough to meet the
objections which he has raised to
the Case bill.