Eastern Connecticut news., 1947-04-26


 obstacles to the achievement of those objectives. AS a means of securing power, the FaSciStS and the Communists destroyed the labor movement in other countries, be- cause they recognized that trade unions were citadel of democracy which they must batter down in order to achieve their evil purposes.
 Surely the Congress of the Unit ed States ought not to be blind to this lesson of recent history. Sure ly it can find better things to do in this year, when the powers of world reconstruction are in dan ger of being outrun by the dark forces of chaos, than to throw it's energies into program that can only serve to weaken the weak and strengthen the strong.
 "We at least will have no part in pressing down this crown of thorns upon the brow of labor We call upon our colleagues of both par ties to join us in this battle against restrictive, undemocratic, and un- necessary legislation"
 Blasting the antics of the major ity in rushing the bill through the committee without permitting time for adequate study, the minority declared it did not consider this a committee bill" Protesting vigor- ously that no general meetings of the committee were held for dis cussion of the measure, despite its far-reaching effects upon "our in- dustrial and labor policies, upon the development of relations between the Federal Government and the States, on important functionings of Government departments and the well-being of our people" the mil nority declared that the bill. "un- der the guise of punishing a few labor leaders, strikes down many legitimate rights of the rank and file of labor"
 The minority report added:
 ''It does not require mature re- f1ection to realize that these pro- posals are deliberately designed to wreck the living standards of the American people. Under the false guise of correcting labor abuses this bill is designed to so weak en, as in effect to repeal. the Ma tional Labor Relations Act. By making practically all strikes un- lawful it repeals the NorriS-La- Guardia Act, signed by President Hoover. By removing the protec- tion of the Clayton Act from practi- cally all trade union activity, 1t makes trade unions and their mem- bers subject to suits for treble dam ages under the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.
 Tt reviveS the common law doc Urine of conspiracy against work CTS who band together to protect their living standards and thereby throws the law back to where 1t was in England in the late 17OOS. This bill does not merely wipe out labor's gains under the beneficent administration of President Roose- welt; 1t turns the clock of history back at least century and a half and eliminates safeguards and pro- tections which the Republicans and Democratic Congresses have Spon- sored for generations.
 "It undertakes to do this at a time when rising price levels have begun to squeeze the American worker dry. It does not propose, as the answer to our economic prob Iens. the hope of rising standard of living made possible by our enormously increased productiv- ity.
 Tt does not propose to treat with fairness those millions of American workers who contributed so signally to our victory in war and our reconversion to peace. It only proposes to swell the coffers of gigantic industrial combinations by rendering labor impotent.
 By placing heavy penalties upon industry-wide bargaining this bill forces workers to compete with each other to see which can work