Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-08-16

Representative Barden. Democrat
Of North Carolina. chairman Of
the House Labor Committee. He
implied that Senator Kennedy
and his allies could be more fiex-
ible in private than in their pub
lie comments on the House bill.
Representative Kearns. Repub-
lican Of Pennsylvania, introduced
. key resolution during the floor
debate that also contributed to
the victory by supporters Of strict
labor reform.
The moderate" House COM
mittee bill that went down to de-
feat before Landrum-G Griffin had
been sent to the floor without the
approval Of Mr.. Barden. who
helped lead the effort to marshal
Southern Democrats behind the
sitter version. 81
OF the IS Democrats who Joined
1874 Republicans In backing Lam
drum-G Grimm, all but three were
from Southern or border states.
Only II Republicans broke ranks
to vote with 1874 Democrats
against the bill.
Before the defeat Of the Elliott
bill. which bore committee APP
proval, the union backed Shelley
bill was voted down 245-l32. The
1872 supporting votes were the
high water mark Of labor strength,
despite one of the most intensive
lobbying efforts ever made by
unions on Capitol Hill.
To organized labor, which has
tried vainly from the start Of the
present session Of Congress to fiex
the muscles 1t thought 1t had won
in last November's Democratic
landslide, the House defeat was
particularly painful. Analysing
the records of the new members
of the seth Congress after last
years elections. Congressional
Quarterly applied a "pro-labor"
label to 237 House members, q
view that was widely echoed by
other observers.
Back Of LoboF's Defect
The uncompromising stand of
the AFL-CIO for the Shelley bill
! as opposed to the moderate Elliott
bin undoubtedly contributed to
the extent Of labor's defeat. II the
unions legislative strategists had
given the word that the Elliott
version would be acceptable they
might have saved the day. They
chose instead to disdain any bill
stronger than the toothless Shell
ley measure. which many Con-
gressmen normally regarded as
pro-labor recognized as too soft
to placate public inflamed over
labor abuses.
President George Meany of the
AFL-CIO described the House ac-
>tion as "a vote to punish honest
labor" Twelve years Of anti
labor propaganda and picketing
have paid OF for the anti-union
forces determined to make Taft
Hartley even worse" he asserted.
The defeat was a painfully per-
sonal one for Speaker Rayburn..
He had placed his own substantial
prestige behind the moderates.
Rebutting President Eisenhower's
appeal Of q week earlier, he des-
cribed the Elliott bill in a Nation
wide television address Monday
night as "the road Of reason and
fair play"
The three provisions cited by
Mr.. Eisenhower as essential to any
effective labor reform legislation
are the principle stumbling blocks
to compromise between the House
and Senate. They apply to Sec
ondary boycotts, picketing and the
so-called mo mans land" Of
labor-managefnent disputes.
Secondary Boyeotts Ban
Landrum-G Grimm bans all form
of secondary boycotts, while the
Senate restrictions in this area
are much more limited. Both bills
ban extortion or "shakedown"
picketing. but the House version
goes much further to outlaw