Evening star., 1950-11-19
Ohio Vote Hurt Bosses,
But Not Labor Itself
Writer Sees Leaders Losing
While Members Gain
By Fronk R. Kent

The other day, commenting on the
great victory in Ohio of Senator Robert
Taft whom the combined bosses Of
organized labor had opposed with un-
precedented unity and violence. william
Green, head of the AFL, bewilderedly
said: ''We just don't understand it.
Some Of our members must have voted
for him..
That this is an extraordinary under
statement ought to be clear even to
Mr.. Green. The provable fact is that
not only in Ohio. where every one
of the big industrial cities was carried
by Mr.. Taft. but in number of other
States where the combined bosses had
marked certain candidates for destruc-
ton, many thousands of the rank and
file OF labor voted for them. Almost
without exception they survived There
is only one way to interpret this. It
amounts to a reputation by labor itself
of its leaders. What happened was this:
Swollen by II years of White House
support and servile party acquiescence
in their desires, these leaders reached
the point where they believed them
selves strong enough to dominate the
country politically and crush any one
who stood in their way.
In their fight on Mr.. Taft they prac-
tically announced these objectives There
was almost no concealment. There was
also concentration of men, money
and propaganda ola scurrility heretofore
unmatched in politics. The result
showed. two things very clearly-first,
that this grand-scale effort of the union
bosses to take control aroused resent
ment among the non-union voters re-
gardless of party, causing them to flock
to the support of the man so fiercely
and unscrupulously attacked; second,
1t showed in Ohio and elsewhere that
large part of the union membership
was too intelligent and too independent
to follow such leadership blindly; that
they did not believe the lies they were
told either about Mr.. Taft personally
or the Taft-Hartley Act; that they saw
through and did not Sympathize with
the personal ambitions of some of these
leaders to become political dictators.
The net of all this is that while no
real damage has been done the cause
OF organized labor. great deal of dam
age has been done personally to the
present leaders Of organized labor. They
have been cut down to size.
That is the fine thing about it. That
is why, though its leaders with their
Political Action Committees and Leagues
Tor Political Education, etc., have been
thoroughly discredited, the cause of or
ganized labor has not suffered. Nor
will it. There will be no effort at re-
prlsals in the coming session of Con-
gress. The Taft-Hartley Act will stay
permanently on the books but the
amendments scheduled will not be puni-
tive in their nature. Mr.. Taft himself
has made that plain. What he and a
majority of the new Congress want to
do is to perfect the law so that it will
protect the workingman and the public
while at the same time be just to man
agement.
Considering everything, it is hard to
see how any one (save the thwarted labor
bosses and few of their captive politi-
cians) can fail to rejoice over what
happened. Undoubtedly in Congress the
atmosphere will be more healthful. The
labor lobbyists will not throw their
weight around quite as before denounc-
ing, insisting, threatening The labor
politicians, of course, will continue to
beat their breasts. issue statements and
hold press conferences.
In Congress, however the fear of them
now has greatly diminished. No one will
take them as seriously as before. For
while, at least, their windy declarations
will seem slightly abused The labor
stooges in House and Senate will not be
as docile. Most of them will be little
ashamed. The men of character in
both branches will be strengthened in
their independence. The whole of Con-
gress will be more free. Perhaps, even,
the subserviency of the White House
may be lessened.