Evening star., 1947-09-18
Labor Union Tactics
Seen. as Aid 10 Taft
In Election Fight
Pieketing Methods Serve
To Prove His Courage
As q Public Servunt
By David Laurence

UnlOn-laDOr posses VINO QlrecteQ
that Senator Taft be picketed al
public meetings on the West Coast
may succeed in bringing about his
nomination and possibly his cleo
tion to the presidency.
the union tactics in centering
attention on Mr.. Taft and using
picketing methods will serve to ac-
centuate his position as a cour-
ageous public servant. The vicious
nature of the attacks reported from
the West Coast, which appear to
be personal, will be resented by all
exponents Of fair play in politics.
Calling names never seems to be
persuasive with the American peo-
pie even though it seems to give
doubtful satisfaction to individuals
who employ that means of express
ing their emotions. .
Senator Taft is by no means the
choice Of liberal Republicans but it
is quite possible that, If the Taft
Hartley law is the issue in 1913,
the Ohio Senator will make the best
exposition of that whole subject.
Maybe the time has come to tell,
during a political campaign, the
story of tyrannical abuse of the
workers rights and to give wide
spread publicity to the tragic mar
ratives related by witnesses before
the Senate and House Committees.
Passed to Cure Abuses.
The Taft-Hartley law was passed
to cure abuses, but only here and
there has publicity been given to
the high-handed tactics that have
been used by certain unions. Ger
tain employers were guilty of the
same thing in bygone years and the
resentment of the public produced
the Wagner law The Taft-Hart
ley Act today is the product Of
similar resentment by the public
against abuses by unions.
Any law that has received
through several stages the votes
of more than two-thirds of both
Houses can only have been the
result of an aroused public opinion.
The reaction of the labor bosses to
the new law has been such as to
increase the determination of men,
bers of Congress to reject any pro-
posals for repeal or for obliterating
amendments. There are certain
provisions that need clarification
and doubtless should be amended,
but II the union bosses continue
with their campaign of vilif1cation
of members of Congress, it seems
likely that neither House will con-
slider any amendments at all at
the next session.
Mr.. Taft has not seemed likely
candidate to certain elements in
his party, but he is winning friends
daily because of the kind of cam
paign being waged against him. The
union bosses are blaming him for
every provision of the law, though
some of the very things they COM
plain about were not written either
by Mr.. Taft or by his fellow Sena-
tors, but were insisted on by the
House of Representatives.
The American people are not being
told the true story of the Taft
Hartley law Thus the prohibition
of expenditures" by unions and
corporations in political campaigns
is represented as Mr.. Taft's idea.
Actually it will be found that a
committee Of the Senate, consisting
of Democrats and Republicans,
signed q unanimous report recon-
nlending exactly that provision in
a separate bill before the omnibus
labor bill came up for consideration.
For years corporations have been
forbidden to make contributions,
and no one ever raised the far
fetched question of the right of a
publication, for instance, to indorse
a candidate for Office though such
an endorsement is technically the
equivalent of substantial contri-
button. Indeed, contribution" has
been for years defined in the law
as anything of value" Yet the
moment the Taft-Hartley Law in
cVuded "expenditures." the labor
unions began a hue and cry about
the alleged restrictions on news
papers because they are published
ny tOI HOI dOlOllS. oQSIl H1
tations of what the law really says
about direct expenditures were en-
couraged by the ineptly phrased
veto message written by labor parti-
sans for Mr.. Truman's signature.
Propaganda On minor provisions
of the law will not obscure its main
purposes. The Nation is tired of
labor union monopolies that have
forced prices to high levels and of
the strikes that have stopped pro-
duction at a time of scarcity of
goods throughout the world. Maybe
the labor issue is the big issue for
1948 and maybe the labor unions
will arouse the country to vote
against labor union control of
America by voting for Senator Taft.
Stranger boomerangs than this have
developed before in American pol