Evening star., 1952-12-14
Trumun-Lubor Alliance
Criticized as Shocking
Writer Sees Eisenhower Free
rom Debts to Bosses ...
By Fronk r. Kent

From Debts to Bosses
By Fronk R. Kent
AS the time for Mr.. Truman's de-
parture from the White House ap-
proaches, his journalistic and political
friends seem concentrating upon build
ing him up as more or less heroic
figure who will 60 down in history as one
Of our greater Presidents. It does not
seem possible that this can be done. The
understanding too clear.
Nevertheless, the effort is being made.
and the immense publicity forces of the
administration are cooperating to the
limit. The technique largely consists Of
stressing his generally assumed virtues
and dealing with the undeniably ugly
and unpleasant facts by the simple exc
pedient of ignoring them. It will be in
teresting to see how far they can get
this time; how more disillusioned and
knowledgeable the American people have
become in the past seven years.
Chief among the current Truman
eulogists, of course, are the big labor
bosses of the CIO and ALL. This is
logical and as it should be. For. no
President possibly could have gone to
greater lengths than Mr.. Truman In sup
porting union labor demands regardless
of their merit or of their damaging effect
upon the country as whole. In sub
servience and servility he has exceeded
any Of his predecessors and it has been
a shocking spectacle to see how far poll
tics can take the head of q great nation
in a recognized national emergency.
Two outstanding instances ought to be
indelibly impressed upon the public
mind. One was the great steel strike
some months ago in which Mr.. Truman
Sc openly espoused the striking union,
even before his Federal board had a
chance to make recommendations, that
he insured the union victory.
X X
The inflationary effect Of this course
was so clear that Charles E. Wilson, then
chief war mobilizer, resigned and various
defense officials denounced the strike N
against the national interests, sure seri-
ously to slow down our armament pro-
gram both for Korea and Europe. The
other instance Of ugly presidential par
tisanship was in the overruling by Mr..
Truman of his War Sterilization Board
in the threatened coal strike. This gave
to Mr.. Lewis miners the 81 80 q day he
had asked and disregarded the boards
protest that such action scuttled the
whole wage stabilization program it was
supposed to stand for. There was no
alternative for the industrial members
of the board save to resign, which they
did.
Mr.. Lewis, who had conferred with
the President before the election, left
on his trip to South America. obviously
knowing that. despite the board, he
would get the $40 demanded. The
brazenness of this "deal," as IL has
been widely called, was disturbing to
many in and out Of Government and
again the effect is infationary. The
Truman record in these two cases is
not defended by his present eulogists.
It is merely ignored, though the facts
seem to convict him of deliberately.
and against the advice Of some of his
closest friends, promoting the very in
f1ation of which he repeatedly has
warned. For Mr.. Truman to contend
that he overrode his board in order
not to leave a strike on the White
House doorstep when General Eisen-
hover comes in is a piece of effrontery
as false as a china egg. Actually, he
leaves the whole stabilizing program,
about which he has Dragged. begged
down in utter confusion. There are
literally hundreds Of wage-raise cases
which the board now Is unable to de-
eide and strike threats from scores Of
unions are being made.
Il
E0vrAyos. tI,nra 10 n,,n 70 NJ ,,,ao,. ,v,linl>
American citizens generally can con-
gratulate themselves. Had Gov. Ste
venson been elected, it would have
been with the indisputable aid Of the
labor bosses, who supported him as q
unit and contributed millions Of dollars
to his campaign. Under those circum-
stances, we again would have had q
labor dominated administration. Nor,
despite his noble speeches, would the
virtuous Adlai have been able to throw
oil that domination. That was unmis-
takably shown during the campaign
when MIR. Stevenson, having first de-
clared himself for the continuation Of
the Taft-Hartley Act with amendments,
under labor-boss pressure came out fiatly
for repeal.
The President-elect not only owes
nothing to the labor bosses for his elec-
ton but he won an overwhelming victory
against their violent, vigorous and united
opposition. He is not anti-union labor,
as he already has shown in his appoint
ment OF labor leader-Mr Durkin-as
his Secretary of Labor. But, he does
not have either to placate them or fear
them. He has neither an alliance nor
a deal with them. He is the first Presi.
dent in 20 years who can look them in
the eye without quailing and consider
the issues they raise strictly on their
merits. The labor bosses of the trucu-
lent and pugnacious type Of Walter
Reuther, who have become arrogant and
swollen because Of their ability to bully
Presidents of the United States, are not
going to like that. But the rest of the
country-the overwhelming majority
will.
Part in the National Development Of
Washington; Hal p. Denton. "The
Homes Of The Evening STAR: j. Harry
Shannon. Some Remarkable Compari-