Milford chronicle., 1948-05-21
UNION RESPONSIBILITY


There is one statement in Judge Colds
borough's decision on the governments case
against John L. Lewis and the United Mine
Workers which goes to the heart of the con-
trOverSy. He said that union must be held
responsible for the acts of it's members. He
added that it was ridiculous to argue that
hundreds of thousands of men would walk
out of their own volition simultaneously.
1t is clear that the law is not yet capable
OF dealing effectively and swiftly with iron
clad labor mOnOpolies. 1t is clear that some
labor leaders are convinced that they are
bigger than the government of the United
States, the people of the United States, and
the welfare and international prestige of the
United States. And there is every reason to
believe that attitude will prevail again in
the future.
The first step must be to bring labor mon
OpOlies within immediate reach of the anti
trust statutes. There can be no excuse what
ever for continuing to exempt them from the
same laws that protect the people against
abuses of power by industry This view has
been taken by Senator Ball, among others,
who recently wrote that the traditional Am
erican approach is to break up the concen-
trations of power by approaches similar to
the Sherman antitrust acts. In other words,
to make industry-wide agreements and
strikes or lOckOuts subject to the antitrust
laws That was done in the House version
OF the Taft-Hartley Act, but it lost out by a
single vote in the Senate
In any event, the power of man, group
OF men, or an organization to defy this ma
tiOn cannot be cOuntenanced
5000
BLOOD IN OUR ECONOMIC VEINS
Just how long could this country keep
going without it's railroads?
The answer is simple-even a relatively
brief stOppage of rail transportation would
disorganize and paralyze the whole economic
machine. The services of the airlines is linn
tied to SiZeable communities with adequate
landing fieldS-and even if modern planes
were capable of working from hay fields,
Which they are not, they aren't adaptable to
carrying the heavy freight of the nation.
The water carriers are slow, and are also
limited in scope to ports and inland water
ways. The busses and trucks perform val
liable function-but, again, they render an
auxiliary service. Only the railroads are
capable OF moving swiftly, cheaply and safe
ly the great bulk of freight and passengers in
peacetime- of backing up our military
forces in time of emergency.
This is the vast stake America has in SOL
vent, progressive railroads. That stake is
shared by farmer, manufacturer, retailer,
Onsumer-everyOne in the country In one
way or another, the railroads have bearing
on all our jobs, investments, opportunities.
The hundreds of thousands of miles of steel
rail which link every corner of the nation
can be logically compared to the veins and
arteries of the human body. They carry the
sustenance which keeps us going, .,... !.
The duty of labor, government, shippers
and all other groups to help as best they can
to keep our railroads sound is clear. A fnan-
cially sound and capable railroad industry is
the life blood of our economy.
GOVERNMENT CAN Do No WRONG?
Perhaps the worst notion perpetuated by
the Government to stabilize economic affairs
was the Office of Price Administration,
champion juggler of prices of food and ali
necessaries of life. Other devices that were
impractical provided for the building of fam
lily houses, the regulation of rents, prices on
clothing; fixing prices of wheat, corn, oats
and other farm crops. In short imitation was
born of these sap ideas-the theory being
that the Government could do no wrong.