Evening star., 1949-09-05
The Ohio battle-ground

Senator Taft this week will be fighting
for his political life in Ohio. But much
more than the political future OF the Ohio
Senator will be at stake when the voters
60 to the polls next year.
The case against Senator Taft can be
summed up in few words so far as this
election is concerned. Because he was
co-sponsor of the Taft-Hartley Act in the
8Oth Congress, and because he has fought
for retention of what he regards as the
essential principles of that law in the
81st, he has become Public Enemy No. l
of the national labor leaders. They will
do everything in their power to defeat the
Ohio Senator. The AFL and C1O, though
far apart on most issues, will combine
against him. Huge sums of money will
be collected from the rank -andfile Of
union labor, from the willing as well as
from the unwilling contributors, and will
be poured into the campaign in behalf
of the Senator's opponent. All OF the
highly organized and undeniably effective
techniques for organizing union voters
and marching them to the polls will be
brought into play. For the leaders know
that this is the big test. II they can drive
Senator Taft from public life, it is not
likely that any other elected official,
representing a constituency with a sig
nificant labor vote, will ever again oppose
labor's wishes on any important issue.
And on the other hand, If the Senator
should win despite the most that the
unions can do against him, the leaders
know that this might encourage others to
take their stand on principle as distin-
guished from expediency.
In this fight against him. 1t makes no
difference that Senator Taft is public
official Of unquestioned integrity It does
not matter that he is widely recognized
as one of the ablest men to serve in the
Senate in many years. Nor is 1t important
that his stand on labor legislation,
whether one agrees with it or not, Is based
on his concept of what serves the national
interest as distinguished from a group
interest The plain fact is-and 1t Is a
somber fact for the political future of this
country-that organized labor, within the
limits of its political power, will not
tolerate effective opposition to its policies.
If able to do so, this, the most powerful
pressure group in the country, will deny
public Office to any man, no matter how
competent or conscientious he may be,
unless he is willing to bow to labor's die
tates on matters deemed to serve labor's
interests.
So Senator Taft is beginning to marshal
his forces In fact, though not ofacially,
campaign that will take him back and
forth across the State, in and out OF its
SO counties, is getting under way. He will
have the support of the Republican organ
ization. Arrayed against him, in addition
to organized labor, will be all of the facili-
ties of the States Democratic party. But
by every indication the ultimate decision
will lie with the independent voters. They
cannot be coerced in their voting by polit-
ical machines or labor unions. If the
independent voters support Senator Taft,
he probably will win. If they do not sup
port him, he almost certainly will lose. SO
the major aim of the Taft campaign
should be, and probably will be, to impress
upon the Independent voters that their
decision next year will 60 far toward
determining whether this country is to be
governed by men who are the instruments
of pressure groups or by men who, at least
on the fundamental issues, try to serve
what they believe to be the best interests
Of the whole country.