The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1946-06-11

d eminent could nave Kept 1T AEOtf
/ being interrupted for a single
hour if it had acted IN time anc
effectively.
i If the President had stopped
| that Friday night, after his chal'
1 longing address on the radio ane
after he had on Saturday stopped
the strike without recommending
such unheard of legislation as he
recommended on Saturday after
noon, May 25th, there would have
! been an entirely different situa-
ton in the Congress and in the
country.
| But, forgetting that he had set
| tied the rail strike and was about
! to settle the coal strike with ex-
i isting law and authority, forget
ting that President Roosevelt had
Isettled the rail strike and coal
strike and all other strikes during
1 the war with the same power that
he now has without any further
law, President Truman recon-
mended to the Congress the most
| drastic piece of legislation ever
recommended to the Congress in
WAR or in peace.
i Under this legislation, the Pres
lident can take over any business
lat any time for the government.
When he took it over the Presi-
ldent would fix all wages and sal
aries. Then the President would
personally determine what man
Iagement should be paid for the
business during the time the gov
Iernment had it in possession.
Whatever was left, netWithstand.
ling the fact that it belonged to
the owners of the business, the
bill provided that it would be
converted into the United States
Treasury. When the government
lonce took over such business, if
1any executive of the company or
any man or woman working for
the company should stop work or
lslow down or not do what the
President said then that person
Tor worker was determined by
law to have quit the. company
and to have lost all seniority
rights which might be the re-
ward of a lifetime of work; or
I.either executive or laborer in such
case could be prosecuted in a
Federal Court and fined as high
las $4,000 and put in prison for
as much as year; or either ex-
Iecutive or laborer could be hailed
Unto a Federal Court by injunc
ton and adjudged in contempt of
Icourt and confined in Jail rela-
lively as long as the judge said
lthey should be confined; or. if
THAT were not enough, the Presi-
dent could order either an execu-
i tive or a worker indicted into
and make him or her serve in the
UNITED States Army. Then, if
Iexecutive or worker failed to car
Try out the Presidents directive
The or she could be courtmartialed
like a soldier and subjected to
amy punishment group of Army
officers might fix, subject only to
the approval of the President.
| I said if President Roosevelt
never asked such a law as that
lin war time, President Truman
Ishould not ask it in peacetime. I
Isaid that it violated the property
rights and the civil rights of the
people of the country; that it gave
the President absolute arbitrary
Ipower to destroy any business or
labor union or to imprison any
Executive or working man or
working woman. I said the Pres
ident already had the power to
deal with these emergencies and
the Congress should not pass such
drastic and, in my opinion, un-
constitutional legislation.
In the Senate l fought with a
little faithful band Tor calm de-
liberation upon this legislation,
for the people of the country,
business and labor to have a
chance to see what this bill did
before the Senate enacted it.
said that if it were not voted upon
flor a week that public opinion
would be so overwhelmingly
against it that the Senate would
never pass it. On last Monday
might, I spoke six hours against
lit, pointing all these things out.
IOf course. was bitterly criticized
in the Senate, in the state and in
1.-THE country. But l was vindieat-
led when, as I predicted, the Sen
late by vote of 70 to 10 over
whelmingly defeated the draft
Isection of the bill.
l know we have had crisis
and / tried to help settle the rail-
road strike. I got the railroad
men to tell the President that they
would go back to work at once.
But l am not ready to set up a
dictatorship in this country and
II believe the people are not.
| Yet / say management, labor
and government were all at fault.
We have all learned lesson. We
lhave got to find some way to stop
industrial strife without depriv-
ling men and women of their civil
rights or of their property rights.
That's what l hope we can do by
an hnr,oct ir,1roc4ann+;arL l.. 80