Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1950-09-29

SfCA DACoh I1AAOASAl S1iC
5, and become known to the
voters, Taft's vote in Novem-
Der will be embarrassingly
small.
About 1000 bothered to at
tend the joint AFL-CIO meet
ing at the auditorium-and very
nearly half Of them were from
the AFL.
The thirty-odd thousand who
went to taverns, watched tele-
vision, played canasta or mere
ly sat around home damning
Congress and the Taft Hartley
law missed one of the most inn
pressive reports on human pro-
gress and the obstacles thrown
in its way to be delivered in
Toledo in years.
Taft and the stooges around
him." Reuther said, SAY we
have got to defeat Communism,
I say to Senator Taft that we
in Labor have forgotten more
about fighting and beating
Communism than Taft and his
ilk will ever learn"
The fiery UAW-CIO president
began a careful comparison of
those countries in which a
strong and aggressive labor move
ment is flourishing and those in
which labor has been shackled
by reactionary laws. "Commun-
ism exploits starvation and mis-
cry" Reuther said. Labor I'M
ions Highland where they are
strong-eliminate these condi-
tons. Where labor unions have
been protected by an alert de-
mocracy, they have been able to
get the people more of the bet
ter things of life.
"And in those countries, Com
munism has never been able to
get a foothold. Communism is
weak.
But wherever the reaction
aries - the fat boys-the greedy
and irresponsible industrialists,
such as those who are pouring
money into the campaign to re-
elect Taft - have been able to
shackle labor and to beat down
the drive of the people for eco
nomic justice - there Commun-
ism is strong, for it has starva-
ton and misery to exploit"
Reuther made it clear that
Taftism and the reactionary
point-of-view Taft so ably rep
resents Is the most powerful
support the Kremlin can have.
But we are against Taft"
Reuther said, mot only because
he is anti-labor but because he
stands as an obstacle to all hui
man progress.
Taft should be judged by his
record.
Taft's Dirty Shirt
"And - OH - how Taft
would like to have you forget
that record. He'd like to send
his record to the laundry to be
cleaned. like a dirty shirt. But
we intend to see to it that he
wears his record - his dirty
shirt - in public where every
one may see it, and judge him
by it.
"And what IS the record?
"In 1889 Taft was an obstacle
in the way of preparation for
the defeat of Hitler. Taft was
alling President Roosevelt a
and, incidentally,
so was Congressman Marcan-
tonic and the Communist Daily
when Hitler and Stain were
holding hands, the Communists
and Taft were opposing prepar-
edness and calling Roosevelt a
"This is only one instance OF
an amazing series of such joint
efforts on the part of the reac-
tionaries of the left and right
with the reactionaries of the left
and right squeezing the People
N the middle.
"In February of 1941, Taft
said in the Senate that to con-
slider that Japan would ever at
,ack the United States was Sim
by fantastic That was when
President Roosevelt and his adj
were trying to prepare
against japanese aggression.
Sand what did Robert AL
,honso say the day after Pearl
1arbor, when American boys
dead on the ground and
American naval vessels were
Junk in the harbor? He said /
nave long forseen' that this
country would have to prepare
70 fight Japan.
Reuther pointed out that Taft
hasn't changed any. He fought
against and voted against aid for
South Korea-the aid which the
administration said was needed
% avoid a Communist coup. But
when the Communist invasion