The Republican., 1947-08-14
Cicar-Cut Issue At Last

Cicar-Cut Issue At Last
The extraordinary rcrocity with
which the labor bosses are denouncing
the Tart-lIartley law and the furious
threats they are making ,,ot only to
repeal the law but to drive out Of
public life its authors, sponsors and
supporters, is going to make the
clearest kind of clear-cut issue be-
tween the two major parties in the
coming presidential campaign-which
is good
1t is not often all the leaders of
organized labor agree on any political
question. But on this they are solid.
The aged Mn Green and the unctu-
our Mr.. Murray are no more positive
than the truculent Mr. Whitney and
the defiant Mr.. Lewis that the act is
evil. unconstitutional. economically
unsound, poiSonously designed not
only to destroy the unions but to
knock the props from under the re
public. cause national industrial chaos
and general distress. All OF which is
echoed and indorsed by the Daily
Worker and the Communist party
And all of which, of course, is non
sense. Nevertheless, having gone to
these silly and violent extremes be-
fole the bin was passed, the accumu-
lated impetus was such that the op-
posing groups could not stop abruptly
once the bill became law. but were
compelled to proceed along the lines
of their unrestrained propaganda for
a flight to the finish" This includes
not only testing the law in the courts
but forcing the issue in the election.
Having used in his veto message
The arguments, and almost the Ian
guage, of the CIO general counsel,
Mr. Lee Pressman, making the same
misstatements and exhibiting the
same Indifference to the facts, Mr.
Truman is nretrievably committed
to that side and is clearly the only
candidate advocates Of repeal can sup
port in 1913. Even before the veto
there was slight question Of that;
now there is none. Just as clearly the
AFL, CIO, all the professional Glib
erals" and all the radical groups plus
the Communists, are welded together
in hostility to the Republicans no
matter whom they name for Presi-
dent For, even though the Demo-
cratic convention fails to pledge the
party to repeal, the Democratic candi-
date Mr.. Truman, is personally bound
to favor repeal.
On the other hand, the Republicans
in Congress voted for the bill with
such complete unanimity that it is
absolutely certain their convention
will indorse and commend it, pledge
the party to perfect and strengthen
"ather than modify or repeal. To do
otherwise would be an unthinkable
reputation Of the Republican record
and make the Republicans in Con-
gress supremely ridiculous. In ad-
dition, it would indicJ practically
every Republican leader - Senator
Taft and Representative Hartley,
Speaker Martin and Majority Leader
Halleck, Senators Vandenberg, Brick
en- Lodge and Saltonstall, who voted
to override the veto, and also eX-Gov.
Harold Stassen, who publicly indorsed
the BILL
In brief, every man who has any
real chance of being nominated for
President by the Republicans sup
ported the Taft-H Hartley bill and is
already on the list of those to whose
political determination the labor
bosses have now pledged their lives,
fortunes and so-called honor The one
exception is Governor Dewey, who,
perhaps, has a better chance than any
other for the nomination. Some po-
litical analysts have tried to make a
point in his favor that Governor Dew
ey has conspicuously avoided indors-
ing the law But that is not good
point, In the first place, it is incon-
ceivable that Governor Dewey, when
the time comes, will fail to show
sympathetic approval of an act so
overwhelmingly supported by his
party's representatives in House and
Senate.
In the second place, Governor Dew
cy did not need to indorse the Taft
Hartley law to acquire the personal
and political enmity Of the labor lead
ers, the radicals and the Communists