Evening star., 1947-05-06

On the same Gay tIi4t kae No~
tionaI Capital read this pronounce-
ment, 1t saw also Q pointed Berry
man cartoon In The Evening
Star which depicts Gael Sullivan.
acting chairman OF the Democratic
National Committee, standing on a
soapbox and declaring: mo labor
bill or tax reduction bill will be ap-
proved by my boss" Seated along
side him, with a troubled expression
on his fact, Is President Truman.
saying, "but, Gael, don't you think I
should at least read them before
YOU make up my mind2" a.
Seen rs Inept Politics.
This accurately describes an ex-
traordinary situation which the
Democratic politicians have ineptly
allowed to develop. By repeatedly
saying even before the House passed
its bill on labor regulation that the
President would veto the measure.
they have, in effect, advised the
Republicans that there Is no use
trying to write bill satisfactory TO
the President because he appar-
entity has made up his mind to veto
any bill that comes out Of Congress
Now there are Democrats in the
Senate who are imploring their
colleagues to soften" the labor
regulation bill 80 that Mr.. Truman
can sign 1t but not word has
come from the President as to what
kind Of measure he will approve. If
any. 1t was natural for the cry to
be raised that the Republicans were
trying to put the President in q
hole by presenting him with the
kind OF bill he couldn't sign, but this
developed only after the Republi-
cans made up their minds that
compromise bill would be futile be-
cause they thought Mr.. Truman had
agreed to veto any measure they
passed. 81
It is most unfortunate that the
situation has gotten so tangled up
with political discussion. One thing
is certain. The bill the Senate
passes and the bill the House passed
will not be the one that comes out
Of conference. A genuine effort
will be made by the conferees to
present the President with bill
that he can sign If he really wants
to do something about the abuse OF
power under the Wagner Labor Re-
lationS Act. sfs5a4gfG,
The AFL and the CLIO are de-
claring that all the bills aim to
destroy unions and collective BAR
aining-which, OF course, Is lot
of nonsense and is the same kind of
statements that employ
ers used to make about their busi-
nesses being ruined II Congress
passed law modifying tariffs.
Debate Is Disappointing.
Another disappointing aspect OF
the problem is the manner In which
the spokesmen for the Administra-
ton have debated the issue in the
Senate. One would think America
wasn't suffering from any labor
union abuses at all and that the
only thing wrong was the failure
Of employers to grant more and
more wage increases. The opposi-
tion to the bill has not brought out
any constructive arguments or sug-
gestions.
1t is fact, moreover, that both |
the AFL and CIO have refused to
cooperate in the writing of the
Senate or House bills and have in
sisted that lawyers for the big en-
ployers helped to draft them. The
same charges In reverse were made
in 1885 when the Wagner Act was |
written by labor-union lawyers.
1t isn't so important who wrote |
or drafted the bills but what Is
pertinent is the language Of the
provisions adopted. If Mr.. Truman |
has learned anything about the veto
business, it is to keep mum till he
sees what the final bill contains. He
is under no obligation to say what |
kind of measure he wants and moth
ing would be gained by asking him.
1t was the Republican Congress
which went before the people last
autumn and won In a landslide. It !
Is. the Republican Congress and the
Democrats fayoring labor union
regulation. who must take the re-
sponsibility for writing the legis-1
lation.
When the measure gets into con-
ference, Mr.. Truman might intimate
what changes he would like, but 1t
seems a foregone conclusion that he
cannot retain AFL and CIO sup
port unless he agrees to veto the
whole thing. So Senator Byrd's
may turn out to be q
prophecy of ls46.
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