The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-04-29
Reuther Shooting
ArOuseS All Labor

has aroused the labor movement o
Detroit and of the United States
From CIO and AFL spokesmel
have come messages Of cheer t,
the severely wounded leader an,
his family. Political foes of Reuth
er as we'll as his own and othe
81 unions have offered to pay well fo1
information leading to the convic
tion of his assailant.
When Reuther was first able t.
see law enforcement officials il
the hospital he said that the at.
tacker would prove to be "an agen
of management, or the Communists
Party, or a screwball."
Four days after the cowardly
would-be murderer fired into the
kitchen of Reuther's home while he
and his wife were preparing a late
snack after a UAW executive
board meeting, police and an army
of amateur detectives had turned
up little evidence, so far as the
public could learn.
A neighbor reported that the
assassin got away in a red two
door sedan. Police found a shotgun
she'll wadding in the yard, and
footprints seemed to indicate that
three men had been involved in the
crime.
JAW members, none of them
"Reutherites"-four "left-wingers''
and a discredited garage mec-
\ hanics' local leader-had been held
for questioning, but four of them
were quickly released. The man
held was Nelson Davis, minor of
ficer in Ford Local GOO. An inform
ant whom police refused to name
had told them that shortly after
the shooting Davis had said he
knew who did it. When questioned
Davis denied that he had made any
such statement or that he had any
knowledge of the attempt on Reut-
hers life.
Police Chief Harry S. Toy, a
former Ford attorney, accepted
Reuther's own list of possible
criminal types and added to it the
category of non-Communist anti
Reuther unionists people who
have been ousted from union jobs
since the Reuther forces won in
last years UAW convention.
Only conclusive news to develop
since the shooting last Tuesday
have been doctors assurances that
Reuther will be able to continue
functioning as one of Americas
most dynamic trade union leaders.
Always anti-union, Detroit's two
leading dailies, the Free Press and
the News have been believing that
the insane attack upon Reuther by
a handful of criminals proves that
the UAW isn't a responsible
union.
Refuting the newspapers charges
is the statement issued by the
)UAW board shortly after Reuther
was shot: "The International Ex-
ecutive Board is not prepared at
this time to make any charges or
accusations against any individuals
or groups. We have received no
concrete information that would
form the basis of charges or ac-
cusations."
"We want, with the greatest en-
phasis, to caution all of our mem
bers against permitting themselves
to be led into any kind of hasty
and ill-advised action against any
individuals within or without the
union. The last thing that Presi-
dent Reuther or the Board would
want is for any innocent person or
persons to suffer in any way, re-
gardless of who they are, as re-
suit of this attack"
The UAW has posted a 100000 |
reward for the apprehension of
Walter Reuther's assailant, the De-
troit City Council $4,000, the AFL
Teamsters Union $4,000 and UAW
locals and other groups have
brought the total to $117,800. Sec
retary-treasurer Emil Macy said ,
that some locals are ready to
pledge their entire treasures if the
union thinks that will help.
Police. so far baffled themselves.
have offered full protection and
confidential treatment to inform
ants.
"Speedy recovery" messages
have poured in from all over the
cOuntry-from AFL as well as CIO
leaders. Frank Martell, president
of the Wayne County Federation
of Labor, offered to be a blood !,
donor. One well-wisher was David
Lewis, secretary of Canada's labor
party, the Cooperative Common
wealth Federation. !,
UAW leaders here, entering into
tough wage battles with Chrysler I
and GIN, hope that Detroit police,
whom none of them think too kind
ly of, knuckle down to a little hard
work, and don't resort to the drag
net tactics that Chief Toy has I
A few days after the !
murder Toy said that
he intended to question every foe
that the hard-fighting union presi-
dent has ever had.