Evening star., 1947-06-16


political blackjacking; (2) the
merits Of the measure are wholly
obscured by the violence and volume
Of the Misrepresentation; go the
threats Of the labor bosses and their
radical allies, including the Com
munist party, have reached the
silly stage. They range from pledges
to defy the law to hysterical pre-
dictions Of economic chaos-a great
national tragedy"
Every left-wing demagogue and
bleeding heart liberal" in the coun-
try, journalistic and political, either
has voluntarily burst, or been
prodded, into screaming for q veto.
They appear to have lost all sense
Of proportion. The labor organiSa-
tions have spent more than mil
lion dollars in advertising, literature
and petitions alleging all kinds Of
impossible things. The White House
has been flooded with obviously
manufactured letters and kilograms.
So have the members of Congress.
1t amounts to deluge. Nothing
quite like 1t has been seen before.
Labor Bosses Fight Bill.
Menaced with diminution in the
autocratic power built up over 13
years of New Deal coddling and ser
Witty, the labor bosses have dug deep
into their union treasures and used
every ounce of strength they pos
sess to prevent the bill from becom-
ing law-or, at any rate, becoming
q law without the necessity OF over
riding a presidential veto.
Clearly, they have lost control OF
Congress and clearly they are out of
favor among the people generally.
Nevertheless, If they can scare a
President into line and again claim
White House support, they will have
an asset which will enable them to
continue their political bluff1ng and
bullying and greatly aid in the fol-
lowing campaign of martyrdom
which Is already being planned.
The position of President Truman
in this matter Is an unhappy one, but
for that he is himself at least partly
responsible. For one thing, he en-
resistance to the bill almost
from the start, though his own expe-
rience with power-drunk labor bosses
in the coal and railroad fields must
have convinced him of the urgent
need for legislation to curb their
abuses. And he personally asked
Congress last session for a law very
much more drastic than this one.
1t is, in fact, mild bill, but badly
needed. As Senator Ives, Republican
of New York, long known as friend
of organized labor, says, "It is not
an end product" and can be modified
or strengthened by Congress after
operation has shown its defects.
1t seems impossible for Mr.. Tru-
man to veto this bill except by
adopting the violent arguments of
the Messrs. Murray, Green and their
radical spokesmen and supporters
It Is not easy to make case out
against the bill without STOPPING to
the kind of unscrupulous misrepre-
sentation which they have practiced.
1t seems impossible for him to
veto this bill except out of political
fear. The trenchant and significant
fact that a majority of the Demo-
Gratis in both House and Senate
voted for the conference report
makes 1t absurd to call it partisan
bill.
The Senate support of 2 to and
the House support of 4 to make
1t clear that Congress believes 1t
reflects, in this matter, the views
Of the great majority OF the Ameri-
can people. Every test and poll
sustain that belief.
Yet one set Of the Presidents ad-
visers tells him that if he does not
use his veto the labor vote and the
liberal" vote will desert him in 1948
and defeat is insured. Another
group is equally insistent that if
he does use his veto, not only will
it be overriden but he will lose
the support of great numbers Of
conservative Democrats who