Evening star., 1949-07-17
Ritesfor rA.F. Whitney,
Once Bitter Enemy Of
Truman, Set Monday
By the Assoeioted Press

CLEVELAND, July 10. - "A. r
Whitney, rs. labor leader and po'
litical liberal who once called Pres
ident Truman political acci'
dent" and threatened to use hi
unions treasury to defeat him
died of heart attack at his home
today.
The tall, broad -shouldered man
with a plume of white hair had
been president of the Brotherhood
of Railroad Trainmen since 1928
His successor will be named by the
Brotherhood eight directors
probably within the next 10 days
He is survived by his widow
Mrs. Dorothy May Whitney; two
sons. Joseph l.. Whitney. and Ev-
erett A. Whitney of Chicago; a
daughter, Mrs. Richard j. Olson.
also of Chicago; and two sisters.
Mrs. Charles Degarmo of Early
Iowa, and Mrs. Eta Benson OF
Staples. MINI.
Funeral services will be con-
Quoted at II am. Monday In Lake
wood Methodist Church here. Bur-
isl will be in Lakewood Cemetery
Was Truman Foe, Then Friend.
Mr.. Whitney-he always signed
his initials Cfor Alexander FelD
but his friends call him Al
was spirited man who could bt
mild or tart-tongued, according
to the occasion.
He gained his greatest publicity
tn his 1946 feud with Mr.. Tru.
man, when he stalked defiantly
from the White House, mutterinf
threats. But he was the sort o.
man who liked to feed by hane
the tame deer and pheasant!
which he kept at his Bay Village
home. And he later became Mr.
Truman's most prominent labor
backer last year.
Politically, he often had crossed
party lines. He liked to quote the
single-tax theories of Henry
George. He sometimes trum-
peted at Wall Street" claiming
bankers had too great a hand in
rail management.
He supported Theodore Roose-
welt, Woodrow Wilson. Robert M
LaFollette. Herbert Hoover and
Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was a
good friend of the latter. and
served on number of commits
sions under his appointment.
Had Belonged to Progressives.
He belonged to the Progressive
Citizens of America, but quit when
it supported Henry Wallace's
Third Party. Later he Joined
Americans for Democratic Action.
In May. 1916. the trainmen
Joined the Brotherhood of Loco
motive Engineers in a strike for
higher wages and changes in
working rules.
The President called Mr.. Whit
ney and Grand Chief Engineer
Alvanley Johnston to the White
House and got them to postpone
the strike. When the unions
struck a few days later. he went
before Congress to ask. that the
strikers be drafted. A settlement
was announced as the President
addressed Congress. The strikers
won less than they had asked for
and Mr.. Whitney and Mr.. John
ston claimed they had been given
q "run-around" and a double
cross" 49,.
Mr.. Whitney threatened to spend
millions from the unions treasury
to defeat Mr.. Truman, But he
cooled Off. The next year he
visited the White House and the
two men shook hands.
Letter Was Printed in Times.
Early in the 1948 election cam
paign. he explained that he was
merely returning to the Demo-
cratic Party. and not to the indi-
vidual candidate. A statement in
the Brotherhood's newspaper gave
the gist of his views: the union
could not forget the hurt and
humiliation" of 1946, but Mr.. Tru-
man should be supported because
of "his veto of the Taft Hartley
Bill; the fact that there is no
liberal Republican candidate, and
the ineptness of a third party move
at this time"
President Truman sent a mes
sage of coincidence to the widow
today.
"A fearless and faithful cham
pion of human rights has been
lost to the American scene in the
sudden taking of Mr.. Whitney"
Mr.. Truman said.
Happily, to the last he was
active in a life prolonged in the
full summit of It's powers many
years beyond the average. AL
though hard fighter in any cause
he considered just, he came
through his many battles singu-
lar1y free of the spirit of vindic-
tiveness or revenge.
He saw all things in their due
proportion and became in a high
degree the exemplar of the phi.
losopher's teaching that a foolish
consistency Is the hobgoblin o1
little minds.
ITO you and to all his sorrowine
. family. I offer the assurance o1
heartfelt sympathy"
Mr.. Whitney's most recent blast
lat political figures was a call tc
l'purge" the Senate for its actions
on pending labor legislation.
BY coincidence. this brought an
fecho of the 1916 strike on the day
iof his death. A letter from Mr..
lwhitney appeared in todays New
York Times. which on July 5 pub
,lished an editorial recalling the
strike.
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