Evening star., 1947-01-07
Presidential MESSAGE

fIeSioentiol message
The most commendable aspect of
the Presidents message on the state
of the Union Is its tone-the words
of good will which indicate that Mr..
Truman wants to get along with the
new Republican Congress and is pre-
pared to make his contribution to
that end.
The President made it clear that
he is not indulging in wishful
thinking. He told the Congress that
''on domestic issues We may, and
probably shall, disagree" But he
also conceded that there can be
such thing as honest differences
of opinion" between himself and the
legislators-something that a good
many congressional detractors seem
to doubt-and he went on to say
that there are ways of disagreeing,"
that men who differ can still work
together sincerely for the common
good.
With this foundation laid, Mr..
Truman got down to discussion of
labor legislation-the subject con-
corning which he is most apt to find
himself in conflict with the new
Congress. The Presidents specific
recommendations were sharply
limited. He would outlaw jurisdic-
tional strikes, prohibit certain kinds
of secondary boycotts and permit
either a union or an employer to
secure binding arbitration of dis
putes arising out of the interpreta-
ton of a collective bargaining con-
tract. Beyond this he advocates the
appointment of a commission to in
quire into the whole field of labor
management relations and to pro-
pose legislation dealing particularly
with such things as Nation wide
strikes IN vital industries affecting
the public interest.
This list, while good as far as 1t
goes, falls far short of the program
of labor legislation which this Con-
gress can be expected to enact, and
for which there is obvious need. If
the President, by recommending so
little, intended to imply that he
would veto anything more, then he
is virtually certain to find himself
at odds with Congress before many
months have passed.
There is one paragraph in the
message which suggests that this
may be the case. Cautioning against
adoption of punitive" legislation,
Mr.. Truman went on to say that
management shares responsibility
for strikes and that 1--WE must realize
that industrial peace cannot be
achieved merely by laws directed
against labor unions" This is a
point of view, however, which over
looks one basic consideration. For
fifteen years Congress has been lay
ing restraints on management.
During all OF that period, with the
minor exception of the Petrillo bill,
there have not been passed any laws
directed against labor unions"
And in consequence, labor unions
have acquired inordinate powers
powers which have been so abused
that it is futile to suggest that any
balance can be restored to industry
without the enactment OF laws that
are directed against labor unions.
They are the principal present
offenders and it is upon them that
the principal new restraints must
be laid.
1t may be just as reasonable, how
ever, to take different view of this
matter. The President was address,
ing a Congress controlled by the
opposition party. Consequently, he
may have felt that his best approach
was to set forth the minimum which
he would approve, putting upon the
Republicans the burden of working
out the remainder OF well-balanced
program of labor legislation. That
would leave Mr.. Truman in the posi-
ton of being able to accept more
than he has proposed, while vetoing
that which he believes to be exces-
sive-a strong position for Presi-
dent who finds himself in difficult
political role.
The rest of the message, in the
main, was couched in general terms.
The gaps will be filled in later by
special messages, and their delivery
should be awaited before coming to
any settled conclusion as to the
extent to which a Democratic Pres
ident will be able to collaborate with
a Republican Congress in this diff
cult period.
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