Evening star., 1947-07-25

to; be friendly to management but
who Is not rated as big enough for
the job, and another man who Is
the known champion of the labor
union bosses.
Former Senator Murdock of Utah,
who owed his election to the upper
house largely to the political ac-
tiyity of labor unions, is well liked
by members of the Senate in the
Senatorial Club" sense, and it was
the belief Of the administration that,
Of course, the Senate would not turn
down one of its own members.
Question Is Not Personal.
But the question that has arisen
Bi1ot personal at all. 1t is whether
the majority in the Senate are 60
ing to close their eyes to the fact
that Mr.. Truman has appointed a
labor union partisan whose record
In the House of Representatives and
Id the Senate showed clearly that he
mas been unsympathetic with the
naaSor provisions of the new labor
law. It Is not generally known but
those who follow legislative matters
know that the principal sections of
the Taft-Hartley law were pro-
posed by Representative Howard
Smith, Democrat, of Virginia, in
1910 and 194l and that Mr.. Smith
was chairman of q committee which
Investigated the Labor Board. Mr..
Murdock was a Democratic member
of that committee and acted vir-
tually as the spokesman Of and de-
fender of the board. In the final
report of the House Committee he
gave the very same reasons for op-
posing any amendments to the Wag-
ner Law as have been given by
President Truman in his veto mes
sage and by labor union pronounce
u1ents.
There would be more logic, ac-
cording to some expressions from
Senators on Capitol Hill, in ap-
pointing either John L. Lewis or
william Green to the new labor
board. At least they would repre-
sent the labor union viewpoint
forthrightly, though, to be sure,
Congress did not intend to divide up
the boards membership with GER
tain number Of partisans Of man
sgement and labor respectively.
If the Senate confirms the new
nominees it will not have another
chance to review its action, and the
damage will have been done. Mr..
Truman gave Mr.. Murdock five
year appointment SO that he could
not be detached from the board in
the event that Republican Presl-
dent comes into power.
Oh "Court Packing" Device.
It is curious turn Of events
which finds all the work Of, the
members of the House and Senate
who favored change in our labor
management law brought into jeop-
ardy through q court packing"
device. This is because interpreta-
tions of the statute are about to be
placed In the hands of majority
on the board who are fundamen-
tally out OF sympathy with what
Congress has done, though they
publicly claim they will do every
thing they can to interpret it i'm
partially.
Persons who start with a pre-
conceived prejudice cannot win the
trust Of those who seek justice from
them. It is a tragic misuse of pub
ne power and a fiat contradiction
OF the Presidents pledge to the
people which finds him appointing
for the two vacancies a labor union
partisan and q fifth member who
hss scarcely been heard of in labor
management circles. Senator Ives,
Republican, of New York, who is
an expert in labor relations and who
conducted legislative inquiry for
the New York Legislature on labor
problems, Is reported to have said
he never heard Of the appointee
from his state chosen by Mr.. Tru-
man, namely, J. Copeland Gray.
Will the members Of the Senate
surrender at the last minute to
senatorial courtesy and be made
ridiculous or will they defer action
tfff the next session when there will
&C. more time, perhaps in the au-
ttimn, to give full consideration to
the qualifications of the new men,
bers? It is taken for granted that
the new general counsel will be con-
firmed. Then, with the three exist
ing members of the board, the work
OF interpreting the law can 60 on
anyway, even If the nominations Of
the additional two members are not
acted on at this session of Congress.
.(Rsproduction Rights Reserved.)