Montana labor news., 1948-08-26

In IN address before the biennial con-
v%ention OF the AFL's International AS
ISOLATION OF Theatrical Stage EN-
ployes, Mr.. Green attacked the special
session of Congress which. he said,
scarcely pretended to do anything
about high prices and housing short
ages" and Grassy ignored many other
acute issues
Discussing the commotion raised by
headlines concerning Communist spy
rings operating within government
circles, the AFL leader said:
1--WE cannot help suspecting that il
was with the purpose of covering up
these shocking failures that congress
sional investigating committees sud-
denly launched public hearings into
alleged Soviet contamination of our
governments own employees in espio-
mage efforts.
1T may be that a few comparatively
minor federal government employees be-
trayed their country and gave OF sold
secret information to Soviet Russia
If these charges are true and can be
sustained in court. the culprits should
be promptly prosecuted and punished
to the limit.
"The American Federation of Labor,
which has consistently and uncompro-
misingly opposed Communism with
more effectiveness than any other ma
tional organization, believes further
that every effort should be made to
root out Communists from the public
service and to assure the full loyalty
of all those on the governments pay
rolls.
But, as President Truman and Gen
eral Eisenhower have emphasized in
public statements. there is no cause for
public hysteria with regard to disloy-
atty and spy scares. In my considered
judgment, a far greater menace today
than espionage is the drive of the Com
munists to convert the nations workers
and underprivileged minority groups to
their cause. If Congress is sincerely
anxious to stop the spread OF Com
munism, it should concentrate on I'M
proving the conditions that make for
Communism.
Here we are, three years after the
end OF the war. in the midst Of a run
away boom which, in the opinion OF
even the most conservative economists,
can end only in a disastrous crash.
"Those Of us who remember the eco
nomic collapse of 1929 and the vast
suffering which followed in its wake
annot view such a prospect with equa-
nimity. We cannot see how a Congress
even family conscious of its response
bility to the American people would iai'
to heed the danger signals and act tc
protect the welfare of the American
people.
"Yet Congress has failed-and the
only ones who can draw any comfort
from that failure are Stain and his
colleagues in the Kremlin. They are
counting upon a crash in America tc
destroy our efforts to prevent tht
spread OF Communist imperialism and
to preserve world peace"
Warning that is the real hope Of the
Communists that the Both Congress be
returned to power, Mr.. Green cmpha.
sized the importance of union activity
to see to it that every union member
his family. and friends registers ant
votes this year. He said:
1--WE must not forget that the S0tf
Congress was elected in 1916 by only
onc-third of the qualified voters in thi.
country. The other two-thirds STAYED
home. II we can get them all out to
the polls this year, we can bring abou
the defeat of those who stand in the
way Of American progress and the cleo
ton OF a new Congress more responsive
to the needs Of the American people