Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-04-10


Writer Soys Clio Politician
Is Not Wanted byMojority
BY FRANK r. KENT
It is typical Of Walter Reuther to
start on his United Automobile Work.
ers' crusade for the guaranteed an
nual wage with mixture Of denun-
citation. threats and loose statements.
Beyond question he Is the most trucu-
lent and abusive labor "leader" we
have. Never one to whom reason and
facts appeal, unless they substantiate
his own contentious (Which they sell
dom do), he seems bent on forcing q
strike. without regard to the damage.
inflicted upon the Nation as whole.
One Of the least admirable things
about Mr.. Reuther Is the carelessness
with which he handles the truth. No
real dependence can be placed on his
statements That is-and should be-a
liability to any leader Of anything.
anywhere. His recent outburst recall
some Of his charges against the Cen
eral Motors Corp. back In 1945.
In the middle Of that prolonged and
costly strike, he called upon the COM
pany to "open its books" intimating
that 1t would be shown that they were
dishonesty kept. The company treated
this clearly demagogic demand with
contempt, but 1t got quite play in
the press A little later Mr.. Reuther
admitted he had no basis for his
charge but thought 1t would put the
company over the barrel"
He seemed to feel that this was very
funny, indeed. and was utterly with
out shame about it. OF course. 1t should
have discredited him with the rank and
file Of his unions members and did dis
gust a good many. But that was 10
years ago and the incident largely has
been forgotten except by those who
were then negotiating with him and
who, Of course, would not now believe
anything he says. However, Mr. Reu-
ther apparently has increased his pres
tige and power. He Is shrewd, belliger-
emit and operates one Of the most pow
erful publicity machines in the country.
Unquestionably, he has become an OUT
ot0AlA411S 4CdNCI al eA1C 4ubOA WVAAu 0AAAB
second to none-not even George
Meany-in the amalgamation Of the
CLIO and AFL which was contrived
short time ago.
Extremely political-minded and am
bilious, Mr.. Reuther soon will be the
political director of the new labor COM
bination, position he prefers to its
presidency. It is no exaggeration to say
that he is the most influential single
individual in the Democratic Party to-
day. And it is a literal feet that no
Democrat not favored by him can be
nominated for the presidency in 1856.
These are notifying things for many
Democrats to admit but no realistic
and informed person privately will deny
them. Convincing proof was presented
in the 1852 convention when Mr.. Reu-
ther and his labor friends knocked the
then Vice President Alben Barkley out
of the nomination for which he had
the pledged support Of President
Truman.
This was q brutal performance the
bloody details of which were related
by Senator Barley In magazine ar
ticle after the election. He laid the
blame exactly where 1t belonged and
the facts seemed to be sufficiently con-
vincing for any one. But there is lot
more evidence, such as Mr.. Reuther's
membership in the executive Commits
tee of the so-called Americans for
Democratic Action, his intimacy with
the Roosevelt brothers, his closeness
to Adlai Stevenson. and to the Messrs.
Mitchell and Butler, former and present
chairman Of the of the Democratic
National Committee.
There is also his complete domi-
nance Of the Democratic organization
in Michigan. where Gov. "Soapy" VIII
liams, by some regarded as a presi-
dental aspirant, appears to be one
of his creatures. It should be noted.
too, that 1t was at the recent CLIO con-
vention that Senator Nicely. Democrat,
of West Virginia was introduced by
MIR. Reuther and made his contempti-
BILE attack upon the sincerity Of the
Presidents religion. As o matter Of
fact, Mr. Reuther was the logical man
to sponsor Senator Nicely as for more
than two years he (Reuther) has been
the most violent and abusive critic Of
the President in the country.
Add all this up, plus the fact that
the new labor combination has an
estimated membership Of is million.
and there certainly is sound reason !.
for regarding his as q real political
power Many thoughtful men con-
slider him one of the most dangerous
men In the United States. However.
there are two comforting reflections.
One, Of course, is that when in 1852
Mr.. Reuther, along with every other
labor boss. including the AFLs Mr..
Meany, were lined up against Mr.. Eisen-
hover they were very badly beaten.
indeed The other is that granting
Mr.. Reuther and the other labor bosses
can swing is million votes (Which is
very far from the TRUTH, there still
are around $50 million people left who
do not want Mr.. Reuther or any one
like him to run this country. This is a
fact upon which a good many holders
of and aspirants for public Office profit
ably might ponder.