Evening star., 1949-11-20
Union Liquidation Of Toft
Necessarily Postponed
Columnist Says Labor Leaders Find
Senator Difficult to Defeat
Rp Frank r. Kent

oV 1FUUh H. AcHt
1t is interesting-and perhaps not without
signiicance-to note that the grandiose and
not altogether secret dream which our lead
ing labor politicians entertained concerning
the political murder Of Senator Robert A.
Taft, which they had plotted for next year.
has been busted, as they say in certain
circles higher than Gilroy's kite
AS now viewed, it seems a particularly
silly conception and the Journalistic gentle
men to whom it was sold are running away
from 1t as fast as they can, willing, not to
say anxious, to forget all about it. The
idea, it will be recalled. was that those now
in charge of the political policies of the C1O.
the AFL and the railroad brotherhoods are
exceedingly smart fellows, indeed. In this
planned murder of Senator Taft they were.
it was said for the first time exhibiting real
intelligence, playing the role OF labor states
men, instead of behaving like amateur polit-
ical hams who do not know the score.
For one thing, instead Of operating sep
arately to achieve the extinction of Mr.. Taft,
they had formed combination which was
working with a smooth effectiveness not
known before in the labor field. For an
other, with the aid of Mr.. Truman, they
would take over the Democratic Party in
Ohio as the instrument best designed for
their purposes. For a third, under labor
direction they had worked out a beautiful
scheme by which in Ohio the labor forces
would be amalgamated with the farmers, the
Negroes and the Democratic organizations
in the cities. This not only would be suffi-
cient to make political corpse OF Mr.. Taft,
but would be the first step toward the emer-
gence of a genuine American Labor Party
along the lines of the British Labor Party.
Eventually this American Labor Party would
take over the country. This was the dream
which entranced nos only the more ardent OF
the liberal" columnists. but various mem
bers of that vague and flimsy organization,
Americans for Democratic Action.
OF course, there was nothing new about
this proposed combination. 1t has been
q left-wing idea for years. One OF its
most earnest and eloquent advocates was
Prof. Rexford G. Tugwell, who, as far back
as 1886, went around the country exhort-
ing along these lines These were, the
elements to which the New Deal and the
late Mr.. Roosevelt so successfully appealed.
But, what Mr. Roosevelt with the Federal
patronage, unlimited Federal funds and pic
lures of the more abundant life" for every
body was able to do is a great deal harder
for these labor politicians, smart as they
are said to be, in their vindictive campaign
to murder Mr.. Taft.
Anyhow, even before they could line
their combination up or get their dream
adequately presented, it blew up. There
were several reasons. One was inability
to get man to run against Mr.. Taft strong
enough to stand chance. When Gov.
Lausche first declined weeks ago, they
centered behind Murray Lincoln. long
identified with Ohio agricultural in
terests and holding position In one Of
proceeded to give Mr.: Lincoln quite build
up. He was depicted as noble fellow who
could weld the labor, farm, Negro and ma
chine vote into one irresistible force. But
somehow the smart labor politicians over
looked one or two rather important points.
One of these was that Mr.. Lincoln had no
desire to run-in fact seemed determined
to hold on to his well-paid post rather than
relinquish it for fight he might easily
lose. Another was that two city Demo-
Gratis, described by CIO publicity agents
as Organization hacks" showed extreme
unwillingness to pull out of the Democratic
primaries for Mr.. Lincoln or any one else.
For this unwillingness, the supporting "lib-
eral" columnists blamed lack Of enthu-
siasm upon the part Of Mr. Truman to
cooperate in making the dream come true.
Another reason for its dissipation was that
Senator Taft, in his plodding, methodical
way. seemed getting q response in Ohio far
sible. The clincher, however, was the over
whelming adoption In Ohio on November
OF the ballot amendment favored by Mr..
Taft and opposed by the labor bosses and
the Democratic machine. It has been esti-
mated that, by permitting Democrats to
vote for Mr.. Taft without deserting their
party. this amendment is worth 100000
votes to Mr.. Taft. At any rate, journalistic
promoters Of the dream sorrowfully reported
the other day that the smart labor politi-
clans had abandoned Mr.. Lincoln as their
candidate. For some reason, they failed to
note that Mr.. Lincoln had abandoned the
smart labor politicians first. At the mo-
ment, the smart labor politicians are with
out candidate, without their dream and
quite low in their minds. For the time
being, their publicity is soft-pedaling the
villainy Of Mr.. Taft as the enemy of organ
lied labor who is about to be driven out Of
public life.
Instead, an effort is being made to push
the Taft-Hartley Act aside as the main
issue and charge that Mr.. Taft is preaching
Mccormick isolationism all over Ohio"
which is not true. Apparently this is ac-
knowledgment that Mr.. Taft cannot be
killed of because of the labor Leader edict
that he must die. If he is going to- be mur-
dered, another issue is needed-and more
help. Right now the isolationism issue is
being put to the front by the labor politi-
clans in charge of the job. Later on, other
attacks are sure to be made. Three things
seem clear: CD That Mr.. Taft is q far
tougher man IN fight than his opponents
believed: ca that his political murder as
plotted by the smart labor politicians, has
been postponed; go that these smart labor
politicians are not nearly as smart as they
are advertised
or marriage. The Star declared: "The British
newspapers are strenuously endeavoring
to make political capital out Of the visit.
This view. however, is opposed by the COM
ment Of today's German papers, which insist
that the trip Of his majesty Is purely q.
family affair and has no political Importance