Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1950-08-25
Your Congressman Reports
By TOM BURKE

A new approach to the problem of our countrys role in
the movement for more effective international cooperation
may come out of a meeting last week of delegates representing
the Atlantic Union Committee with Secretary of State Acheson
and members of his staff.
1t was agreed that a small bipartisan committee, chosen
from the delegation, would work with the State Department.
in an effort to formulate a resolution on this important subject
which would be satisfactory to Administration leaders and to
those groups interested in international federation. Such a
for the Atlantic Union Resolution and the World Federation
Resolutions now in the hands of the committees on Foreign
Affairs. j
I felt highly honored to be chosen by my colleagues to be
a member of the delegation which called upon the State De
partment officials with the purpose of exploring the possibili-
ties of a foreign policy with the ultimate goal of peace through
international law.
Our delegation of 10, chosen from a group of 70 House
represented both political parties and all shades of opinion on
domestic policy. The others were Senators zale n. Ecton, ].
William Fulbright, Guy M. Gillette, Robert C. Hendrckson.
Estes Kefauver, John Sparkman, Edward j. Thye and Repre-
sentatives Hale Boggs, Robert Hale. Christian A Herter, Walter
H. Judd, Michael Mansfield, j. Percy Priest, George A.
smathers, James H. wadsworth, Francis E. Walter and Robert
L. S. Skies.
I was given an opportunity to express my views and re-
iterated the premise of my statement on the World Federation
Resolution before the Foreign Affairs Committee in which I
advocated international law to settle international disputes.
Not so many years ago in this country, personal disputes were
settled with ixshooters. Now, laws that defend the rights of
both the strong and the weak provide a more peaceable means
of adjudicating disputes.
Many of us feel that wars between nations are just as
insane and silly as those between individuals and that a better
way to settle their disputes is through international law. A
world court and a world police force then become necessary.
but rule by enforced law is the only answer to attempts of the
strong to rule the weak through aggression.
l lkened the problem to that of building an automobile.
The aim is to produce a car that will run efficiently and serve
the purpose for which it was designed. However, it has many
component parts, all of which must fit the whole. In the same
way, our relationship with the rest of the world is made up of
many separate parts, ECA, the Marshall Plan, our trade agree
ments and our peace pacts, to mention but a few. I can see no
conflict between most of these. The job now seems to be one
of fitting them all together for a srnooth-runningw whole with
our sights on peace through law instead of through aggression.
Hearings of H. R. 49s7, the bill to create a Bureau of
Accident Prevention within the Department of Labor, which I
introduced last year, are scheduled for Wednesday and Thurs
day of next week by the Kelley Subcommittee of the Educa-
ton and Labor Committee.
Under the bill we would have uniform safety and health
laws governing hazardous industries and would eliminate the
discrepancies between the industrial safety laws of one state
and another, which give rise to unfair competition and resist
ance to any safety laws by some industries.
The Accident Prevention Bureau would set up a board
for each hazardous industry, comprising representatives of
management, employees, and the public. The board would then
set up safety and health standards for that industry which
would be enforced as federal law.
l cannot say 1 am entirely satisfied with the Controls Bill
which passed the House amid considerable confusion and hys-
terra, but it did seem to be the best we could get under those
conditions. The Senate is still considering the bill and their
version will differ widely from that of the House, since the
overall picture changes from day to day. / am optimistic
enough to feel that by the time the bill gets to conference the
national and international situation will have jelled sufficiently
to make a realistic and workable law possible.
l disagree with many of the specific exemptions added to
the bill by amendments from the floor and to the provision for
judicial review of any wage orders that might be issued. While
such a provision might be advantageous to labor in some
instances and to management in Others, 1t could seriously
hamper production in time of emergency.
For instance, if a wage pattern were set, as happened with
the Little Steel Formula during the last war, and if either
or the unions were dissatisfied, they could appeal
to the courts and tie up wage negotiations until the Court Of
Appeals and the Supreme Courts reviewed the matter.