Evening star., 1947-09-25

NSo1lOlhACd t lOIII llSG FdRE,J
husband, she does not pull her
punches.
Mrs. Taft spoke lightly at the
start of her speech Of the bizarre"
welcome which she and Senator
Taft had been accorded by picketing
CLOS and Communists. But at the
conclusion, when she was defend
ing the new labor law which bears
her husbands name, she described
the domination Of individual work.
ers by labor bosses as something
out of Russia.
This isn't Russia" she said. But
1t looked like it."
Bob Taft" she said, "chose to be
chairman of the Senate Labor Com
mittee and to deal with this prob
lem of labor management relations
when he could have had a nice,
peaceful chairmanship Of the FL
nance Committee"
This committee, she said, had
extremists in its membership on
both sides Of the question. And
Bob Taft was in the middle" She
described the difficulties that had to
be faced in order to get a bill
drafted and before the Senate. 1t
was impossible to get any help
from the leaders of organized labor
she said and recited:
Philip Murray and William
Green walked upon the scene, used
Ave million words or so, and all they
said was no"
The labor bill was written for the
people, and all the people need to
know what it contains" she said,
and then listed the provisions which
are designed particularly to protect
individual members of the unions
from being pushed around by dicta-
torial leaders. Men, she said, had
been locked out of their jobs by
leaders. Americans were walking
out on orders. She presumed that
now they would be allowed to read
the newspapers and learn what the
law contains.
Praises Republican Work.
Mrs. Taft praised the work of the
Republicans in Washington which
resulted last year in the election of
Republican Senator, Cain, and five
Republican members of the House
out Of six.
You have had taste of victory
and I can see you enjoy it. I'm re-
minded of the story of an anxious
woman who boarded streetcar and
asked to be let off at Central avenue
Every block or two she asked the
conductor if that was it. Finally
she said to him: How will I know
when I am there?' and he replied,
BY the great big smile on my face
This is just a foretaste of the
fight you must make for the kind of
Government you want in Wash
tngton."
Mrs. Taft said that her husband
had come to Washington to tell the
record of the Republican Congress.
Now" she added. "the story must
be tgld by you. Congress is only
part of the governmental picture.
We have to elect a Republican
President next year"
Refers to "Highboy" Government.
Describing the difficulties which
the Republican Congress faced when
1t met last January, she said that
no man in the Senate had ever been
q committee chairman. 1t faced a
hostile President and New Dealers
all down the line In executive Of
fees and all the bureau chiefs were
hostile, she said, and the Republican
members of Congress could never
be sure of getting facts from them.
We've had a highboy govern
ment in Washington" Mrs. Taft
said, with one bureau on top of
another and the New Dealers like
termites in the drawers. 1t sounds
too much like Gen. Hugh) John
sons ANTS in the pants.'"
have been in power too long, and
she expressed hope that the con-
stitutional amendment limiting
President to two terms, submitted
to the States by the Republican
Congress, would be ratified and
make such long tenure impossible
in the future.
The New Dealers" she said, "for-
got they were not the permanent
boss, that the real boss is the plain
American citizen, sometimes car
tooned as John @. Public 1t is he
who has the right to be dissatisfied,
to express his dissatisfaction and
fire the Government. In the elec-
ton last fall he had had enough
of the big spenders and of the fel-
low travellers.
After the election the New Deal
ers came forward with an explana-
ton. They said that the people
were not voting for the Republi-
cans; they were voting against
something. Well, the War of the
Revolution was against something,
too. The voters last fall were
against the Governments running
the people and the Communists
pushing them around, so they
changed the Congress.
Presidents Contract Out.
They couldn't change the Pres
ident,' for his contract hadn't run
out, It runs out next year and
after that the only fellow travellers
around Washington will be fellows
travelling away from Washington, !"
1t was a marvel, Mrs. Taft said,
that the Republicans, with mar
row majority in the Senate had
been able to do all they did at the
last session of Congress.
They had to have Democratic
votes with them," she said, point
ing out that they were far short
Of two-thirds vote to override
a presidential veto. So, as far as
Congress was concerned it has been
government by two-thirds major
ity. What is remarkable is that
we did pass the labor bill and
make it law"
Congress lived up to its promises
in the last campaign, Mrs. Taft in