The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1946-08-08
THE GREAT
GAME OF
POLITICS
By FRANK r. KENT.
Copyright by The Baltimore Sun and
reprinted in The Republican by per-
mission.

a somewhat peremptory demand
has been made upon President Tru-
man to call labor conference. This
comes from two sources-one, the
CIO bosses; the other. a committee
of New York liberals" with distinct
CIO leanings. The first wants the
conference because, they say, the
worl,ingman needs "protection"
against the rising prices; the second,
insists it is necessary because of an
other grave acknowledgement crisis
that looms.
The best information is that the
President will call no such conference
and for a very sound reason-to
wit. his experience with the labor
management conference which he
called last year. That was complete
flop, distinguished chiefly by the
vituperativc squabbling among the
rival labor lobbyists and by their
vitrolic and demagogic attacks upon
the employers. 1t was clear from the
start that the conference was going
to get nowhere and that the labor
bosses, with their strike schedules al
ready made up, had no idea it would.
Their obvious plan was to use it as
sounding board for their spokesman
and press agents. Being much better
equipped and more adroit in propa-
ganda methods than the Industrial
lists, they made more ''news" and had
all the best of the conference pub
licity. After it was over they pro-
cpeded with their original Strategy"
and the nation, at 4 time when pro-
duction was most essential, was af-
flicted with a virtual epidemic of
strikes in all parts of the country,
many of them without real justifi-
cation. In the larger of these they
were tremendously aided by the 1872
cent-an-hour increase in wages laid
down as national pattern by the
White House. by the fallacious sta
tistcs put out by Mr.. Henry Wallace
and by the active cooperation of
Labor Department in which former
CIO officials are heavily represented.
As d result of the rise in wages, thus
governmentally forced, there was an
inevitable rise in prices, which the
CIO professionals and their liberal"
sympathiZers are now engaged in at
tributing to the emasculation of the
OPA Act, though every clear-headed
and candid man perfectly well knows
that with a general wage advance
such as this, prices were bound to go
up no matter what was put in or
taken out Of the OPA Act.
Now, charging that the cost of liv-
ing has gone up 40 percent in the last
two months (Whereas the United Blu
reau Of Labor Statistics shows it has
been less than 7 per cent?, the CLIO is
insisting that wages must again go
up and the more violent Of the profess
SIGNALS forecast another wave of
strikes. However, one of the CLOS
journalistic Interpreters states that
there is some reluctance among the
calmer labor bosses to launch another
such Wave-first, because of the be-
lief that the temper Of the people
next time may be aroused to point
where real restrictive legislation can
not be stopped; second, because of the
very patent fact that an increase in
wages is sure to be followed by an
increase in prices, thus canceling out
the former.
Therefore, asserts this interpreter,
the new CIO strategy" is to seek an
arrangement with industry by which
agreements on prices, profits and pro-
duction shall be written into all union
management contracts. This of course,
would practically put the union in
dominant position. Once they got
such agreements no employer would