Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1947-08-01

said: 1.-The trainers of this bill of rights for
labor believe that when union men take back
their own unions and manage them for them
selves without fear of management or labor
bosses, industrial peace will come. That is
the hope in the return of freedom under this
bill.'
That is a sound statement-and a sound
definition OF the purposes of the bill. 1t pre-
cisely stipulateS that union members have
the right to know how much money their
union has and what it is used for. They
have the right to choose their union officers
by secret ballot in free elections. They have
the right to select as their bargaining agent
the union they want-nOt the union that is
forced on them. They have the right to
fair hearing, before an impartial board,
whenever they may believe that either the
employer or the union is discriminating
against them.
The bill does not deprive labor of any right
which is consistent with American principles
and the public welfare. 1t does, on the other
hand, reafirm that the individual worker
has basic and vitality important rights of
which he cannot be deprived by either I'M
ions or industry. 1t is aimed straight at the
union racketeer bOss-and at the exploiting
employer as well.
The measure is in the interest of the
rank and file-of the millions of men and
women who make up Americas working
force. 1t may not be perfect 1t may need
early revision in some particulars. But it is
based upon the sound principle that free
labor must be safeguarded-an that the in
tOlerable abuses of power of some labor lead
ers, no less than of some employers, must be
stopped
THE THEORY that the drive to social
ize the electric industry is backed by concert
ed public opinion is not justified by, any
available evidence.
The evidence, in fact, is directly to the
contrary. For example, one of the national
opinion polls asked a crosS-section of the
population, in 1888, if the government should
own and operate the electric utilities. Only
Is per cent said yes. 1t asked the same ques-
ton eight years later in 1946-and at that
time only 11.2 of those queried gave an affir-
native answer.
A great many local elections have been
held in recent years involving the issue of
private or public operation of utility COM
panles. The people have thus had their
chance to vote for or against municipal
plants, utility districts, etc. In the great ma
jority of cases, the popular verdict has been
against Specialization.
The truth seems to be that the Socializa-
ton drive is purely of political origin. Its
most enthusiastic hackers are those who
profit from it-Such as the employees of the
government projects, and the legion of pro-
fessional politicians and bureaucrats who
are always seeking more and more author
lty and more and more patronage The tax
payers, who must foot the enormous bill,
have very different point of view.
No industry in this country has a finer
record Of public service than the private
utilities under state and national regula-
ton. They have reduced the cost of service,
even in times of general price imitation, to
where it is lost in the average family or bust
ness budget They represent the free enter
prise system at top efficiency.
5000
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW what is hap
pening in the United States, Just look at the
official figures that show we have 14.267 900
new veterans. Because there is daily proof
that most of these men will become heads
OF famllleS-and that means that these vet
Grams will produce crops of children that
Will represent more than one-third of the
present population. Worse still, large num-
berS OF the old folks at home are dependent
parents. The totals show that the population
will mount to new heights.
Just how to moralize on these facts is
rather difficult, so We'll "crib" little, as
follows:
"The moral of these formidable Stats
tics seems to be that a grateful country
must deal primarily with genuine war-con-
nected needs. 1t must meet it's full obligation
here. Beyond this point, as the years go by,
the veteran, like the rest of us, may have to
rely upon an expanded social security sys-
tem-for we could hardly have two such
systems, one for veterans and one for non
veterans" May we hope that this realization
will save us from repetition of past extrava-
gances and may help us to concentrate on Civ
ing help where it is needed, instead of tossing
our money around.
THERE is NO PROOF that "saucers''
are flying through the air. Just why all this
excitement has been created is a question
that nobody has answered. Even the Weather
Bureau does not confirm the theory that the
phenomenon results from any of the activi-
ties OF that branch of our Government.
In r0A&L