Milford chronicle., 1947-05-23

FOUR MEMBERS of the State Board OF
Welfare resigned last week in protest against
the action of the General Assembly and Gov
ernor Walter W. Bacon whose action severely
cut their allotment of State monies for the
next bi-ennium. Four new members have
been appointed by Governor Bacon. The re-
sgnations were timely and long overdue
The views of the persons who resigned from
the Board for some time past have been out
of line with the thinking of the vast majority
of Delawareans-esp especially those of the two
lower counties. There has been growing
belief in both Kent and Sussex counties that
the work as administered by Miss Quimby,
recently resigned, was an expensive luxury
which needed curbing. 1t has been hard for
laboring man who earned $25 to $50 per
week to understand the reasoning of those
administering the Welfare laws which caused
them in many instances to give State assist
ance to a single family which in many cases
amounted to over 5000 each month.
Our Wilmington newspaper friends not
withstanding, we could never bring ourselves
ito favor law which, until changed by the
last session of the General Assembly, would
allow any board or commission to arbitrarily
set up spending plan which had to be paid
by the Levy Courts of the several counties
without first securing the consent of the Levy
u.
occasions these Levy Courts have been great
ly embarrassed and their budgets thrown
out of balance through the practice of the
State Board of Welfare in sending them such
bills for payment. This has been especially
true in Kent County where the money collect
ed in taxes, which are limited by State law,
was not sufficient to carry the added load.
The resignation of the four members
from the Board last week has clarified the
,.J Of olf
members who are in sympathy with the law
as amended by the last session of the General
Assembly and approved by Governor Bacon
should administer the State Welfare work
as desired by the majority of Delawareans.
The elimination of many of the frills in the
program, and professional reformers from
the staff, should be a refreshing stimulant to
the equitable handling of the welfare pro-
gram in Delaware.
JUDGING BY PUBLIC statements and
Testimony given before House and Senate
committees, the typical labor leader is taking
the position that no labor legislation of any
kind is needed, and that Congress should
make no changes whatsoever in existing laws,
such as the Wagner Act, which have made
possible the worst union abuses of power.
These leaders are doing no service to the
rank and file of workers by assuming that
untenable stand The public, which is sick
to death of union racketeering and irrespon-
sibility, demands reforms If labor leaders
use Obstructionists tactics now, they will
bring down upon their heads the most ex-
treme kind of legislation,
This country should never permit re-
turn to the sweat shop, or to the kind of
management-labor dealings which made the
worker powerless to demand and receive his
just DUE The law, backed by aggressive pub.
lie opinion, stopped labor exploitation by
conscienceless employers long ago.
But, by the same token, the law must now
curb the cOnscienceless union, with it's brazer
'the public-be-damned' attitude The closed
shop, to name the foremost weapon of unior
terrorism, has given union leaders, some Of
whom came to power by the most unsavory
methods, a weapon with which to ensav,
the worker, to destroy his right to freedom O.
speech, and to make him pay tribute or g
jObless. No free country can cOuntenanc
this.
Labor is in the same position as was in
dustry when the antitrust laws were passed
The abuses can no longer be ignored, an
the law must correct them.
CONGRESS is MAKING heavy cuts i
appropriation bills. The Government wi
drop 5000 Federal employees in the State
Commerce and Justice Departments This
trivial reduction as compared to the demo
bilization of the military and naval forces.
Evidently the taxpayers favor cuttin
out thousands of Government employees wh
have finished war jobs.
The reports show that there were 3,15
employees in branch of the State Depar
ment, known as The Office of Informatio
and Cultural Affairs. This division will /
discontinued
There is no doubt but what Governmel
expenses must be not only whitfield, but cho]
ped down, to save the American taxpayer
from carrying such heavy loads.
Even so, there is small prospect of redu
ing expenses in our international affairs,
long as we let governments all over the Wor
pull Uncle Sans leg.