Evening star., 1947-06-21
A Political Veto

~ fO11IICQt VSIO
There is nothing in the Presidents veto
of the Taft Hartley labor bill which coun-
teracts the impression that his disapproval
rests primarily on political considerations
On Tuesday Mr.. Truman said that he
had not yet read the bill as finally passed
and that his mind was still open. Two
days later he had made up his mind
against the bill and was drafting 5000
word veto message which consisted for the
most part of sweeping and unsupported
generalities. Congress spent months work.
ing on this measure. But the President
found in it not single provision worthy
of commendation. He simply denounced it
from beginning to end.
1t is not feasible here to review either
the bill or the veto message point by point
But there is. one point which serves to
illustrate the character of the bulk of Mr.
Truman's statement.
He denounced as being ineffective and
discriminatory the section aimed at major
strikes which imperil the national health
and safety. 1t is true that this section does
not prohibit and would not necessarily pre-
vent such strikes. In its essentials how
ever, it provides for a board of inquiry to
investigate and report publicly on the facts
of the dispute; 1t empowers the Attorney
General to obtain an injunction which
would postpone such strike for max
imum of 30 days, and it authorizes secret
vote by the workers as to whether they
wish to accept the employers last offer of
terms.
If this verdict were in the negative the
strike could be called. The President con-
demns this as Ineffective, although the
only effective alternative would be COM
pulsory arbitration, which he also opposes.
In this connection, it is interesting to
turn back to a "fact-finding" proposal
which the President himself made some
two years ago, and which he discussed in
January of 1946 in radio address
With respect to strikes vitally affecting
the national public interest, the President
asked authority for a Government commits
sion to step in, ascertain all the facts and
report them to the people. Meanwhile, he
wanted Congress to impose by law a
thirty-day cooling off" period in which
the workers could not strike. And he was
confident that the force of public opinion,
once the public knew the facts, could assert
itself in "a practical way"
Now there is no important difference
between that proposal, desired by the
President two years ago, and the provision
in the Taft-Hartley bill, for which he has
not single good word to say. Yet in 1916
he chided the legislators for not giving
him what he wanted. "I had hoped" he
said, "that the Congress either would fol-
low my recommendations or ,oould at least
propose a solution of its o1on 1t has done
neither"
The italics in the above paragraph have
been supplied for emphasis. But the Pres
ident was even more emphatic later on
IN that speech when, referring to his labor
plan and other legislative proposals, he
declared: eff the measures which I have
recommended to accomplish these ends do
not meet the approval of the Congress, it
is my fervent wish-and I am sure that it
is the wish of my fellow citizens-that the
Congress formulate measures of it's own to
carry out the desired objectives. That is
definitely the responsibility of the Con-
greSs. What the American people want
is action"
When Congress acted, however, what did
the President do? When the legislators
passed the Case labor bill, shortly before
last years elections, he vetoed it. Now
that the Taft-Hartley bill has been passed,
and with presidential political campaign
beginning to take form, he vetoes that.
And this in the face of the fact that the
people, through their Representatives in
the House, have expressed repeatedly for
nine years their desire for new labor legis-
lation-only to be thwarted time and again
by an administrations controlled Senate
Labor Committee or presidential veto,
The strength of this sentiment for a
change is shown by the crushing House
vote to override this latest vet6-331 to SO.
On this issue the President could not even
muster majority of his own party the
Democratic vote being log to override and
only II to sustain the veto.
These are facts and figures which argue
persuasively that the President is catering
to pressure groups and ignoring the wishes
OF the people of the country. The people
want new deal in labor legislation. There
is real need for revision of the labor
laws The Senate should see to it that
the change is made by joining with the
House in overriding this political Veto
kI>., DILL TI.