Evening star., 1946-05-29
Whitney Statement
Is Called Fonoticism
Rail Union Head Seen Owing
Nation Apology for Action
BY David Laurence

Nation Apology for Action
BY David Laurence
Nobody in history has ever publicly
threatened President of the United
States with defeat at the polls by the
spending of money
When A. r. Whitney, railroad union
chief, says he and his union will spend
$47.000,000 to defeat President Truman
for reelection, it is tantamount to de-
claring that President can be beaten
by money spent in influencing voters.
This in itself is a strange accusation
to make against the American elector-
ate but 1t is stranger still when used
as threat against a Chief Executive.
For what 1t means Is that if the next
President happens to be some one other
than Mr.. Truman he must be careful
to shape his policies 80 as not to offend
the groups which have spent 81, 900 900
or more to win an election for him.
If the Whitney threat should material
ize it will be up to the next Republican
AAoAAAAACS w ICPd0AdtC ally GULL SuPHOlL
from the very beginning
The idea that money can win cleo.
tions is widely held and yet both politl-
cal parties and all the expenses of State
campaigns would hardly reach $20,000,-
600 in a presidential campaign year.
To offer to spend $4,000 900, therefore,
is something unheard of in American
politics and it would be surprising if
the Congress failed to take note of what
is being planned. Incidentally, the
Whitney statement included a threat
to defeat members of Congress by
spending $2,500Oo0.
Is the American labor union move
ment just political adventure after
allan effort to get power enough to
override Governmental authority? Ger
tsinly up to now it had been believed
that labor union dues and assessments
were contributed for the direct benefit
of the members and not as political war
chests
The labor unions are collecting BILL
lions of dollars annually and II they
have the right to use these funds to
coerce Government or to elect repre-
sentatives who will do their bidding,
then Congress has been neglectful in
not passing stringent laws prohibiting
the use of money in such large sums to
influence elections. Corporations have
been forbidden to use their money to
make political contributions. Unions
are restrained, too, under wartime
statute. from using funds in political
campaigns but the Democratic admin
! istration in the last presidential cam
| paign calmly construed the law tech
nically to allow money to be used in
/ certain cases notwithstanding the
/ statute.
The right to paralyze the Nations
communication system does not exist
and no amount of criticism of Mr..
Truman for his devotion to duty as he
| saw it will ever justify what the Whit
ney-Johnston policy did to the people OF
| the United States last week. Instead
of voicing indignation, labor union chiefs
! who are now denouncing the President
! should be saying that the labor union
movement disavows the extremes to
which the two railroad union chiefs
went
| Unfortunately it appears that the
! various unions which are siding with the
Whitney Johnston policy do believe it
was right to stop the trains and the
distribution of food for this country
and the starving millions abroad No
more conspicuous example of mis-
guided fanaticism in behalf of any cause
has been given in recent years than by
these union partisans.
| There are at least 5oOOO,OO0 persons
gainfully employed today. OF these
$4,000 900 are members of unions The
100000 others and a considerable part
of the 100000 resent the misuse of
| power by union organizations to injure
the public interest. That same 36 900 900
or more will be found to be part of the
dominant majority in any election where
the issue is to preserve the Nations
health and safety as against those who
believe in the right to use economic
force to further their own ends regard
less of the damage to the public
Mr.. Whitney and Mr.. Johnston eve
an apology to the American people for
what they did last week. When. they
have admitted their wrong they will be
in far better position to argue the
merits of the working rules and other
items for which they may have had 4
better case than they made by their
rash action in stopping the trains OF
! the Nation.
IRearaductian