Evening star., 1955-01-30

To Be President-Muker
Writer Sees cIo Leoder
Gaining Political Power
By Frank R. Kent
According to those whose business
it is to know about organized labor
there already Is o heavy flavor Of
national politics in the scheduled
amalgamation Of the CIo and the
,AFL. That this amalgamation Is going
to be accomplished within the near
future is now generally accepted. It
is also accepted that It win be accom-
plished without any cat or dog fight
as to who shall become the oficial
head Of the combination. The two
leading figures In this giant fedora
ton are George Meany. president Of
the American Federation Of Labor. and
Walter Reuther, president OF the Con.
gress Of Industrial Organizations. -
1t win, when completed. constitute
the greatest Gin numbers) labor or
ganization In the world. Obviously. the
men who head this giant federation
will WELD vast power and control many
million dollars Under them viii be,
according to their estimates. Is million
members. Logically, of course; the
presidency OF this organization would
seem the prize. Logically. one would
expect Mr.. Reuther. whose personal
ambitions prominently protrude, to be
hot after the top job. Not only is Mr..
Reuther the most ambitious Of all
labor bosses but he is also the toughest
and most truculent. And due to- CIO
propaganda he is likewise the best
known-except only John L. Lewis, who
in intelligence, character and in every
other way is worth dozen of him. Mr..
Lewis and his United Mine Workers
will be the only big union outside the
big tent.
Considering these things 1t Is inter-
esting to be told by such recognized
labor authority as Victor Riesel. writing
in The Union, oldest labor publication
in the country, that Mr.. Reuther 10
willing to take second place TO Mr..
Meany In the big consolidation. The
explanation, as given by MIR. Riesel. 10
simple enough. Any such merger %
this must have a political director and
spokesman as well as president.
Obviously, the president Of 90 huge an
organization cannot take on the polit-
ical job.
He will have his hands full handling
the numerous internal complicated
problems that arise In so vast o con-
Germ. Yet, Its potential political power
is of prime Importance. This must be
developed and directed by the ablest
available man. Mr.. Reuther thinks he
is that man. That is the reason he Ii
willing to yield" first place to MIR.
Meany. OF course, Mr.. Reuther would
continue as head Of his automobile
union, would get handsome addi-
tional salary (together with "cakes")
as political director and wind UP by
being bigger man in the labor as In
the political world than President
Meany.
At least, that Is the way the labor
politicians now argue. Concerning the
often-asked question Is to whether
Reuther wants to be president Of the
United States, Mr.. Riesel says that he
seldom gets OF q lecture platform
without someone asking that question.
The answer Is, Mr.. Riesel says. that
Mr.. Reuther believes himself well on
the way to becoming labor's spokes-
man in the making Of presidents" He
does not, continues Mr.. Riesel. want
to do this on q Labor party ticket. He
has no belief In third parties. He In
tends to do 1t through the Democratic
Party In which he already has as much
influence as any-or all-of It's top
leaders. A striking example OF this
was given In the 1852 Democratic con-
yention where, as every practical poll
tician knows, MFR. Stevenson could not
have been nominated without Mr..
Reuther's support. Moreover. 1t was
Mr.. Reuther who forced Mr.. Truman
to go back on his word and deprived
Senator Barkley Of nomination he
had every reason to believe was his.
Another later example, cited by Mr..
Riesel, occurred last fall when Mr..
Reuther. close friend Of Franklin
Roosevelt, jr., flew into New York, went
AAbO NOAAASACAASC WAtsl OuAAOA AAA1 Ills
mother at the Hotel Commodore, put
pressure on Junior to cease his fight
against the Hartman nomination for
Governor and as desired by Tammany
Leader Carmine DeSapio. accept the
nomination for attorney general which
resulted in an humiliating defeat for
Junior and the destruction OF the no
ton that the Roosevelt name was still
magical one.
Add to all this that Mr.. Reuther
was the most violent advocate Of Adlai
Stevenson in 1852: that he is the most
influential member Of the 80 called
Americans for Democratic Action,
which is now Mr.. Eisenhewer's most
virulent critic--add It all up and the
reiteration by Mr.. Reuther Of his own
"nonpartianship" and hts ii1sistence
that the CIO-AFL combination viii be
nonpartisan, becomes an extremely
shabby Joke. When Mr.. Reuther talks
about his "nonpartisanship" he Is O
complete humbug. as the record proves.
As head Of the CIO he now has great
power In the Democratic Party. Give
him power TO speak politically for the
CIO-AFL combination and his influence
within the party would be overwheim-
ing NO Democratic presidential candi-
date" says Mr.. Riesel, tcould be select
ed without his approval" None Of this,
however, means that he could ever be
elected President. himself, or even that
he can elect his caudfdatAG There in