Evening star., 1947-10-26

to reverence, of thousands OF o.
The meeting was, perhaps, tn
held. So, something Of review ol
the convention would seem to be
IN order.
Notable shifts in power took place
in the top echelon Of the Fedora
ton. Another important develop
ment was the creation of "Labor's
Educational and Political League,
marking the first formal entry OF
the AFL In politics.
May Succeed Green
Emerging from the convention as
the undisputed leaders of the or.
ganization of 100000 workers are
Secretary Treasurer George Meany
a former Bronx plumber, and DanieI
]. Tobin. president of the teamsters
who around the turn Of the century
drove wagon team about the
streets of Boston.
Mr.. Meany slugged it out toe-to-
toe in a rough-and-tumble verbal
brawl on the convention floor with
Mr.. Lewis, whose talents in such
warfare are well known. The for
mer plumber boy did all right, too
with most of the delegates regard.
ing him as the winner. Two days
later when he was reelected sec.
retary- treasurer, Mr.. Meany drew
far more applause than any other
OF the IA leaders elected.
As q result of his showing ir
San Francisco, Mr.. Meany now il
regarded as the logical successor
to william Green as president o1
the, AFL. Just when the 74-year-
old Mr.. Green will step out Of Office
has been a matter of long specu.
lation, but it may well happen al
next years convention in Cincin.
natl.
Mr.. Meany is young as AFL lead.
ers go, SO, and there Is no doubling
his energy and vigor. He showed
unmistakable qualities of Leadership
and oratory at San Francisco, ano
the delegates apparently liked the
way he handled things. 1t was the
first time Mr.. Meany had asserted
himself before so many of the breth.
rem. He was moved to action wher
Mr.. Lewis, urging a boycott and all.
out war on the Taft-Hartley Act
employed some of his most colorfu
phrases in describing fellow-leaderl
of the AFL. Among other things, HI
called them intellectually fat ane
stately asses" Mr.. Meany jumped
in and slugged hard.
Tobin Grows in Stature
AS opposed to the Lewis policy O.
full defiance Of the new law, Mr.
Meany advocated, and his views pre-
vailed, compliance with the Taft
Hartley Act plus an all-out efforr
for repeal.
None of us likes this law" sale
Mr.. Meany. But it is the law O.
the land and it was put on thu
statute books through our regular
democratic processes. Let us seel
to wipe it out in an orderly way, no
by revolution"
Don't let us kid ourselves tha'
we have public opinion on our side,
he added at another point. I'VE dt
not have 1t and certainly we cannot
get 1t by defying the law. Labor
has lot Of work to do If 1t is tx
convince the public that this is
bad law which will only do harm tt
relations with employers in the end.
Mr.. Tobin long has been power
In the Federation. But he came out
OF the convention with far more
than he ever had before. He anc
Mr.. Meany form a team. At 70, Mr.
Tobin is perhaps too old and toe
much of a controversial figure ever
to become head of the AFL. But
more than any one else, he now ha.
the power to say who will succeed
Mr.. Green.
The boss of the teamsterS also
took a couple of shots at Mr.. Lewis
In the convention, but his aim wal
not as good as that of Mr.. Meany
His Is a lifelong Democrat and prob.
ably has been more active in poll.
tics In past years than the other
Federation bigwigs-having been ir
charge of the labor end of the
Roosevelt campaigns. His influence
on the AFL may be marked in the
1913 election campaigns, especially
since they are now going into poll
tics in big way.
As Mr.. Meany and Mr.. Tobin rose
to the top at San Francisco, the
power and authority Of another oi
the old guard dwindled perceptibly
He was william L. Hutcheson, presi.
dent of the carpenters, who, many
times over the past IS years has vir.
tually run Federation affairs.
Hutcheson Anglers Leaders
Mr.. Hutcheson was slapped
around several times during the con.
vention. He had formed a pact with
Mr.. Lewis, and had indicated he
would support the mine workers
position in the Taft-Hartley fight
Yet, when the showdown came, ap-
parently because Of opposition with.
in his own union. he voted against
the Lewis position.
The end Of the meeting founc
Mr.. Hutcheson virtually split away
from other leaders of the AFL's
building and construction trades
department. The other building
trades had called for an immediate
showdown on turisdictional troubles
with the Mine Workers District so
the catch-all~ union in which the
miners have organized workers oi