Evening star., 1952-09-07
Stevenson Is PROVING
Captive of the CIO
Democratic Cundidute
Bows to Murroy
By Fronk R. Kent

At first in this campaign there Was
some hope that insincerity might be
reduced to the minimum. That. how
ever. so far as the. Democratic side is
concerned, has been largely dissipated
by the Labor Day speeches of Gov.
Stevenson. True. the Governor piously
proclaimed the public interest" as al
ways his chief concern. denied he was
the Captive" of the CIO, declared the
national economy must not be i'm
periled by strikes and otherwise beat
his breast as free man." But the
only meat in those speeches was his
complete capitulation to the CIO In the
matter Of the Taft-Hartley Act. Before
his nomination he had seen consider
able good in that law but urged, as did
Gen. Eisenhower, that it should be
amended.
Now, with the pressure on, Mr.. Ste
venson not only comes out fatty for the
repeal of the law as demanded by the
CIO. but invents new phrases with
which to denounce it. Now he sees it as
a tangled snarl Of legal barbed wire.
filled with ugly sneers at labor unions"
AS yet he has not called it slave
law" but that was the special phrase
used by John L. Lewis. who is Republic
can. not on good terms with the c1O
bosses and not likely to vote New Deal
Fair Deal. Nevertheless, his denuncia-
ton was strong enough to draw enthu-
siastic cheers from CIO Chief Philip
Murray, Walter Reuther. James Carey
and other top CIO men who had already
given him the CIO Endorsement.
X X
In brief, Mr.. Stevenson said exactly
100 per cent what the CIO bosses wanted
him to say, and they were 100 per cent
pleased. Despite his vague suggestions
that new law might be desirable, it Is
impossible now not to regard him as q
CIO man equally with Gov. williams
and Senator Moody. And it is not pos
sible to be more CIO than they. II they
are CIO "captives" (and they are gen.
orally so regarded. then so is he. He
now has gone as far as they. as far as
Mr.. Truman, as far as Mr.. Murray him
self. His mild admonitions and dis
chalmers, which are characteristic of all
his speeches, do not lessen the force Of
friends regard CIO support as indis-
pCI1SdU1C W AlS ClCCkAO1I. I1C kIdS xOW
accepted that support on the CIO con-
ditions.
Thus, it becomes plain that II he
should be elected the degraded White
House alliance with the clio. which has
existed since 1886, would be continued;
that the CIO influence in the admins
tration would be just as potent as be-
fore, and its domination Of the Demo-
cratic Party unchanged. The country
had painful illustration of what this
means in the recent steel strike. which
caused the resignation Of one of the
best men in Washington, War Mobilizer
Charles E. Wilson; added vastly to the
cost Of the defense program, increased
the cost Of living generally and promoted
an already alarming imitation. Since
Mr.. Stevenson's Taft-Hartley denuncia-
ton, the CIO bosses feel thoroughly con-
tented. II he can be elected, they are
sure not only Of the repeal Of the law
which they have been violently assailing
for four years, but equally sure that no
new law unpalatable to them can be got
through a Democratic Congress. -4.
In other words, Mr.. Stevenson Is Just
as much politically tied into the CIO, and
just as much its captive, as is MIR. Tru-
man, whom the unctuous Mr.. Murray
recently declared to be "the best friend
labor ever had" This was his way Of
praising Mr.. Truman for what seems to
many a sickening servility. utterly
shameful in President Of the United
States. The "buildup'' Of Mr.. Stevenson
as truly independent and Embossed man
had justified the expectation that on
this vital industry issue he would
not At himself so fully into the Truman
mold. But that is exactly what he did.