Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1947-09-26
By
Clayton
Rusch
Chairman

"Job's Comforters." The con-
notation being of course from
the story of Job in the Bible.
Naturally, no one likes to
appear in the light of pre-
dictor of doom. l am no excep-
ton. There are many subjects
that l would rather write
about this week than the
necessity for our people to
register to vote.
However, the need of a
registration is more urgent at
the moment than any other
objective of the CIO. In fact,
unless we succeed in this OBJ
jective, we stand a very good
chance of losing almost every
thing.
Let's look at the record. The
facts are most discouraging,
but it is unfortunately true
that more than one-third of
the eligible voters among the
working people are not reg
tstered.
We have only barely sur
vived the first onslaught of the
Both Congress. We have not
come through unwounded. In
fact, unless the Taft-Hartley
Act is repealed, organized la
Dor will disintegrate.
The Union will wither on
the vine, unless we arouse the
people to an extent that they
will assert themselves at the
ballot box.
The Taft Hartley Act makes
the further organization Of
workers, unnecessarily COM
plicated and needlessly diff
cult. The Act also makes 1t
much more difficult to defend
the interests of our already
organized membership.
ALL.OUT FIGHT
This fact Is enough to
warrant an all out fight on the
political front to remove
labor's enemies from public
office and replace them with
representatives of the people.
Again however, the worst
is yet to come" We must rec
ognize the fact that the Taft
Hartley Act is only the begin
ming of the attack upon the
peoples standard Of living and
the rights of citizens.
1t is a long way from the
elimination of what the big
business groups have planned
for us in the way of legisla-
ton.
Also there is the question
OF social legislation designed
to assure greater security to
the eople. To seriously
believe that any social legisla-
ton has ghost of a chance
of being passed by the present
Congress or the Ohio Legisla-
ture is a dream.
1t Is wise to keep thinking
about our aim to establish
decent social security through
promoting passage of social
legislation. We should con-
tinue to formulate the kin6 of
legislative program that will
ansWe the needs of the
people. However, we must
recognize that social legisla-
tion will not leave the dream
or blue print stage until we
succeed politically.
Unless we get our people
to vote we shall continue
to retrogress until we have
a full fledged dictatorship of
big business that will guaran-
tee a new and worse depres-
sion followed by World War
III.
There are only two choices
before us: /. Utilize our
efforts to get the workers
(who definitely WELD the bal
of power politically register
ed to vote or, 2. Take the con-
sequences.
You will find list Of regis
tration places on page one of
this paper.
If we should lose the fight
on the legislative front, the
knowledge that the defeat is
our own fault will be but cold
comfort.
We won the fight on the
economic front. Our picket
lines held. Let us put the same
effort into the political
struggle.
We have the most votes.
The workers comprise the vast
majority of the population. If
we express ourselves at the
polls, we can't lose.