Evening star., 1948-10-02
They Give Us Wornino

Ihe contemptuouS attitude of Commun-
ist labor leaders in their recent appear
ances before congressional committees
points up problem that is not without
its serious implications for the future.
Under existing law, Communist, even
an avoWed Communist, has every right to
hold union office in this country. Further
more, he has right to dominate the
policies of his union If he is able to do
so, as many of them are. The Communist
affidavit provision of the Taft-Hartley law
was designed to make it harder for Com
munist officers to retain control of unions
but 1t does not make it illegal for them
to hold ONCE. All that the law does is to
deny the facilities of the National Labor
Relations Board to unions whose officers
refuse to execute an aff1davit stating that
they are not Communists. This is a move
in the right direction, although it has not
been very effective 1t is all too obvious
that number of unions some of which
are in position to cripple this country in
time OF war, remain under the thumbs of
Communist officers whose primary loyalty
runs to the Soviet Union, and not to the
United States.
Current news dispatches from Paris
bring hint of what this might mean in
case of trouble. In France, the Com
munists have a great deal more power
within organized labor than they have in
this country The executive committee of
the French General Confederation of La
Dor is controlled by Communists, and no
one doubts that the Communist labor
bosses, through resort to strikes, are fully
capable of paralyzing French industry in
event OF clash with Russia They are
there for that purpose, and it is idle to
suppose that they would not use their
power if occasion should arise
This is a condition which gives added
point to statement just released by the
political bureau of the French Communist
Party. According to this statement, the
French people will never make war against
the Soviet Union. And, the statement
adds, "the people of France hold in their
hands the power to bar the road to the
promoters Of war. They can and ought,
by their union and their action, to con-
tribute in decisive fashion to the efforts
OF the peoples to prevent the imperialist
war"
Stripped of its Communist verbal cam
outage, this is plain warning that, in
the event OF war with Russia the French
Communists, through their control of key
unions, will be found on the side of Rus
STA and not on the side of France. There
is no reason to doubt that they mean
what they say. And there is equally little
reason to doubt that our own labor union
Communists, in the same situation, will
do everything in their power to cripple
the United States and aid the Russians.
A condition such as this ought not to
be tolerated. 1t is no argument to say,
although it is true, that the great mass
OF American workers and union members
are loyal to this country. The point is
that the relatively few Communists stra-
logically placed in relatively few unions
will do everything they can to knife US
in the back if war comes. Instead of sit
ting back and waiting for the event, when
1t may be too late to avoid serious injury
to ourselves, the next Congress ought to
undertake determined search for some
constitutional means. not of merely ham
pering Communist labor bosses, but of out
lawing them.