Evening star., 1947-08-19

week with re- ''''s' ~
spect TO all Its David Lawrence.
provisions was 80 per cent derived
from the bill that was passed by
the Senate under the leadership of
Senator Taft, chairman of the
Senate Labor Committee. 1t was
called the Taft bill because it is
customary In Congress to name the
bill after the committee leader
Thus Senator Wagner OF New York
didn't write the Wagner Act. and
actually neither Representative
Hartley, chairman of the House
Labor Committee, nor Senator Taft
wrote the law that bears their Joint
names.
The Senate bill was primarily the
work of Gerard Reilly, who was
engaged by Senator Taft to become
the special counsel OF the Senate
Committee. He began work on
March S last, after the hearings had
ended and work was started on the
draft of a new measure. He was
associated with Thomas Schroyer,
chief counsel of the Senate Com
mittee. who had previously been
attorney for the regional division of
the National Labor Relations Board
with headquarters in Cincinnati,
Ohio.
Background Valuable.
Mr.. Reilly's background and ex-
perience was invaluable to the
Senators who counseled with him
In drafting the bill. Mr.. Reilly came
to Washington as an assistant law
officer or solicitor in the Labor De-
partment in 1885 and helped materi-
ally in drafting the -Healey
Act and the Ford-Bacon Act. In
deed he was helpful in preparing
the minimum wage and hour law
and was consulted on virtually all
labor legislation by the New Deal.
President Roosevelt recognized Mr..
Reilly's ability by appointing him
solicitor of the Labor Department
in 1887. For four years he hell
this position, which Is that of princi-
pal law officer of the Labor Depart
ment.
Mr.. Roosevelt then, in August,
1941, appointed Mr.. Reilly to be a
member of the National Labor Rela-
tions Board. He served in that
position until August, 1946, when, on
the expiration of his term, he de-
cided to return to the practice of
law In Washington. That is his
present status.
Mr.. Reilly has told friends that,
while he was at the time out OF
sympathy with the work of the
House Committee investigating the
National Labor Relations Board, he
later discovered, as he sat on the
board, that many of the abuses COM
planned of by the Smith Committee
we're not accidental or trivial or
isolated. 1t was while sitting as a
member of the National Labor Rela-
tions Board that Mr. Reilly realized
that the board was again and again
going beyond the phrases of the
Wagner Act to make new law. He
dissented vigorously in number OF
cases and insisted that Congress did
not bestow plenary powers on the
labor board.
Points in Highest Court.
Some of the points Mr.. Reilly
made were later the subject OF con-
sideration by the Supreme Court
of the United States when cases
came up on an appeal. In fact, the
Hartley laws provisions on the
closed shop" and union shop
which are now being called arbitrary
and unreasonable by those whose
power of dictation Is clipped,
stemmed originally from disputed
points in Supreme Court cases.
Thus, Justice Black once ruled
that a "closed shop" which was won
by an independent union did not
authorize the employer to fire en-
ployes who had been members of
the CIO union that had lost out in
the election even though the closed
shop" agreement so provided. Justice
Black found loophole to order the
reinstatement of the employees, but
the case showed how wide open the
law was and how 1t failed to protect
workers against arbitrary action by
closed shop" unions working with
EMPLOYER help. It was Justice Jack
son who, in a minority opinion, said
that Congress gave the board no
power ito supervise union member
snip or to deal with union practices,
however unfair they may be to
members, to applicants, to minor
tiles. to other unions, or to employ
ers," He added that "this may or
may not have been a mistake, but
it was no oversight"
Congress remedied this error by its
provisions in the Hartley Act,
recurring unions to open their men,
bership to all applicants who pay
the regular dues Naturally the
union bosses do not like the Taft
Hartley law because they have
argued against any and all restraints
whatsoever on their operations. But,
when board member Reilly, who had
sat for five years on the labor board
and observed the abuses, recon-
mended remedial action, two-thirds
of the Congress followed his recon-
mendations. For the Taft-Hartley
law is 90 per cent what New Deal
labor lawyer, who happens to be fair
and objective, conscientiously rec
commended as the proper revision of
the Wagner Labor Relations Act.
fReproduetion Rights Reserved)
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