Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1949-11-03
Tait vs.. Labor


RI WILL BE INTERESTING to
watch the campaign and to note
the result the day after the election
next year of Senator Taft's battle
for reelection to the United States
senate.
That battle and the result will
tell definite story as to the place
organized labor occupies in the ma
tional politics. 1t will tell definitely
how much the labor leaders have to
say about for whom and for what
the members of the unions shall
vote.
In Ohio the labor leaders
have named the issue. They
have announced ON many &C.
casions their purpose to defeat
Senator Taft for reelection:
their intention to punish him
as the father Of the Taft-Hart-
ley law In the S0th congress
and rs the leader who pre-
vented the repeal Of that law In
the Slst congress.
To that purpose they have as
signed all the power and influence
they possess among the members
of organized labor; to it they, pro-
pose to devote all the money in
their political war chests, and as
much more as can be raised. The
labor leaders mean it to be fin
ish fight.
Senator Taft has accepted the
issue. Defense Of the Taft-Hart-
ley law as fair and equitable to
labor, organized and morgan
lied, especially the rank and
file Of union members, for man
agement and for the general
public, will be the one sub
ject he will talk about to Ohio
voters. He proposes to succeed
or fail on that One-plank plat
form.
What help from Republican Lead
iers he may. have in his campaign.
lis as yet unknown. How many
others or who will be willing to
take the chance Of antagonizing the
Labor leaders is still problematical,
but the senator will go it alone if
that proves necessary.
Ohio is an industrial state. Its
factories are found in practically
every city, town and village. The
workers Of those factories are
organized labor. Politically, under
normal conditions, the state is fair
ly evenly divided between the two
major parties. II the labor leaders
can throw the mass vote Of organ
lied labor against Taft they should
be able to defeat him.
But the question is, can they do
that? Have they control over the /
preferences Of their members in
political elections? II they have
such influence, labor becomes
tremendous political power in the
nation. One that both parties will
listen and cater to as a means of
soliciting its support. In the way
of legislation the labor leaders will
be able to get practically anything
and everything they may demand.
Whether or not the leaders Of
labor can control and dictate as
to how their members shall vote
is something we will not know until
the votes are counted In November
of next year. That should tell the
whole story. 80
II Is not . situatfoH upon
which straw polls can be de-
pended. Those members Of
unions, whatever their number,
who will vote for Senator Taft
are not likely TO stand up and
be counted that their leaders
may know them. They will ex-
press their preferences only IN
the privacy Of the voting booth. :.
There have been numerous con.
tests in which the attitude of the
labor leaders have played a part.
In a majority Of them they have
not been startlingly successful. In
no previous contest has there been,
only the one issue involved, no pre-
vious contest in which the decision
could be considered definite and
final.
In this case Senator Taft Is play
ing the role of a guinea pig on
which an experiment is being made
the result of which will be Of vast
importance to the future Of the
nation.
Should he win, as he believes he
will, neither of the political par
ties will in the future give consider
alton TO the labor leaders other
than as representing a non-vote
producing minority. Their oppo-
Sition has, in the immediate past,
kept political candidates guessing,
and making an effort at appease-
ment. The Ohio contest will demon
strate whether or not that is good
politics.
~
To the Biblical allotment Ut
three score and ten years medical
science has added another 10 for
us humans. Those additional years
place upon us more obligation.
-
For mere man Of to-day the bur-
lesque theatre and the barber shop
copy OF the old Police Gazette OF
a past generation are outmoded.
Through the summer months femi-