Evening star., 1947-01-29

One thing Is certaln-thls Time
the House bill will not be smothered
as with the help of the late Mr
Roosevelt was done so many times
Even if Senator Taft were a bill
smotherer-which he is not-that Is
not going to happen this time. There
is too much popular interest and
concern for that sort of strategy now
even II the Senate chairman were
aloyal CIO servitor as has been the
case for some years past.
Amendments Foreseen.
The House bill will be amended
but not smothered Nevertheless
there is every expectation that the
House will pass its bill possibly be-
fore the Senate committee is through
its hearings-and certainly ne1ore
the Senate has final vote. For this
there are number Of reasons
First, the House, being closer to
the people, knows more clearly what
the people want; second, the House
always has been more strongly con-
vinced of the need for restrictive
labor legislation than the Senate;
third. the House, though more tnan
four times as large, has fewer mill
tant pro-CIO figures; fourth, un-
limited debate is not possible under
House rules; fifth, the real fight OF
the CIO leaders and their propagan-
Cists will be concentrated upon the
Senate committee and then upon the
Senate. as a whole. In brief, the
pressure to avert anything like an
effective law will be far greater on
the Senate committee than in the
House, for the simple reason that
the chances of success are better
there.
Already, things have reached the
point where the CIO agents and
proponents are predicting that
nothing drastic" will come out OF
the Senate committee. And for this
they have some foundation. For
example, it is pointed out that
there still remain on the committee
four mocrats-Murray, Pepper,
, Thomas and Hill-Whose C1O lean
tngs and record are we'll under
stood. In addition, there are on the
committee those two breast-beatlng
Republican statesmen - Senator
Wayne Morse of Oregon and SEN
ator George Aiken of Vermont
both of whom shrink from any
thing drastic" and play up to the
true liberals" who consistently
bafhe them with favorable publicity
Ives to Be Key Man.
Y In this situation it is pointed out
that, regardless Of Senator Taft,
Senator IYes, newly elected Repub-
lican from New York, will be the
kew man. And for this there Is
great rejoicing in CIO circles, as
Mr.. Ives is known to be against
ANYTHING drastic" Those who
know him best say that at heart
he does not think any legislation
at all Is needed, which is certainly
the CIO position. Mr.. Ives, his
friends say, is one of those who
believe that the way to settle all
labor industry disputes is for the
labor bosses and the employers to
sit around table and hold hands.
Considering these facts, it Is
easy to understand why we are be-
ing assured by Journalistic spokes-
men for the CIO that nothing
drastic" nor extreme" nor re
pressive" (Which means nothing
effective) need be feared from the
Senate committee. They even in
innate now that Senator Taft
himself is inclined toward the side
of the "moderates," is opposed to
anything of a punitive" nature,
shudders at the idea of outlawlng
the closed shop, is intensely con-
scious that his attitude on labor
legislation will affect his presiden-
tial chances-is, in fact, prepared
to sponsor a milk-andwater meas
ure to which no labor professional
will violently object.
Perhaps they are right. Perhaps
the mere threat of the big denun-
citation act has alarmed Mr.. Taft.
Perhaps he does not believe the
country wants real protection
against the abuses to which 1t has
been subjected in the last two