The Wilmington morning star. [volume], September 13, 1947, Page 4, Image 4

About The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990

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North Carolina’* Oldest Daily Newspaper
Published Dally Except Sunday
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USURER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Th^xSciated Press is entitled exclusively to
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printed in this newspaper, as well as au ^
news dispatches.___—
SATURADY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1947
Star Program
State ports with Wilmington favored
in proportion with its resources, to in
clude publio terminals, tobacco itorage
warehouses, ship repair facilities. near
by sites for heavy industry and 35-foot
Cape Fear river channeL
City auditorium large enough to meet
needs for years to come.
Development of Southeastern North
Carolina agricultural and industrial re
sourcas through better markets and food
processing, p<ulp wood production and
factories.
Emphasis on the region's recreation
advantages and improvement of resort
accommodation!.
Improvement of Southeastern North
Carolina s farm-to-market and primary
roads, with a paved highway from Top
sail inlet to Bald Head island.
Continued effort through the City’s In
dustrial Agency to attract more in
dustries. j
Proptr utilization ol Bluathenthal air
port for expanding air service.
Development of Southeastern North
Carolina’s health facilities, especially in
counties lacking hospitals, and includ
ing a Negro Health center.
Encouragement of the growth of com
mercial fishing.
Consolidation of City and County gov
ernments.
GOOD MORNING
Light! Nature’s resplendent robe;
without whose vesting beauty all were
wrapt in gloom.—Thomson.
The Governor Does Right
Governor Cherry’s refusal to have three
highway patrolmen charged with beating a
recaptured prisoner reinstated is- commen
dable. In fact, it is not possible to see how
he could have done anything else!
Despite the good records of the three prior
to the attack, they violated the laws of
North Carolina, and the laws o f good con
duct and decorum.
The whipping of prisoners is forbidden in
■ this state, except upon specific instructions
from the chairman of the State Highway and
Public Works commission and in the pres
ence of a physician. The commission chair
man issued no such order in this case, nor
was a doctor a witness to the beating.
The patrolmen appear to have given way
to their temper, and whether one or all had
a part in the actual beating, they were
equally guilty as accessories.
Officers of the law have great responsibi
lity to enforce the law. When they break the
law they are doubly guilty. They have not
only violated the law itself but the moral
_ code as well.
The state’s entire highway patrol system
would fall into disrepute, lose public respect
•and confidence, if these three men were
allowed to rejoin the force.
The governor has given his pledge to those
- who asked their reinstatement that he will
do what he can to find other jobs for them.
It should not be difficult for him to fulfill
this promise. Having done that, Mr. Cherry
will have gone as far as he reasonably can
be expected to go.
: Chance To Fight Hurricane
A few days ago the Associated Press
carried a dispatch from Miami, Florida, say.
ing that natural scientists and the Navy’s
hurricane hunters “are awaiting the oppor
tunity to become the first hurricane bus
ters.”
The dispatch continues: “The next great
- tropical storm to whirl through the Atlantic,
the Caribbean, or the Gulf of Mexico will
bo dusted with carbon dioxide (dry ice),
silver iodide, or some other cooling crystal
which—perhaps—will condense its water
vapors, cause a record-smashing rainfall at
sea, and dissipate the great swirling air
mass.
The hurricane busters are about to have
the chance they have been awaiting. A tropi
cal storm estimated to have 143-mile wind
velocity is reported moving west by north
west toward the North American Atlantic
coast. Yesterday the barometer had drop
ped to 28.85.
The plan is to send planes into the storm
area and start the dry ice experiment in a
comparatively small way. Other planes will
photograph the results. If the storm does
what it is hoped to do under the first, contact
with dry ice, the attack will be intensified,
with the hope of forcing the clouds to ex
' pend their vapor and the winds to dissi
pate their power over the ocean.
I£ this can be done, science will have
v achieved a triumph that cannot be estimated
•in advance. The loss of human lives and the
property damage caused by hurricane* that
reach a coast are among the most tragic and
catastrophic Central and North America and
the Caribbean islands are subjected to by
nature.
The present storm is far enough away to
permit several attempts by the “busters.”
The Wilmington weather bureau yesterday
estimated it all of two thousand miles from
Wilmington. As hurricanes seldom move
more than twenty miles an hour, and usually
only twelve to fourteen, this one could not
be expected to reach the coast for some days.
The Chest’s Chief Purpose
BShop Thomas H. Wright, who has added
to his many diocesan duties that of public
relations chief of the Community Chest,
emphasizes that contributors do not give to
the Chest, but through it.
The Chest, he points out, is the agency
through which the public makes its dona
tions for the support of member organiza
tions, which Wilmington number twelve.
By this means both the solicitors who en
gage in the annual, canvass for funds and the
people of Wilmington and New Hanover
county are saved the strain and inconven
ience of eleven additional solicitations, as
was the case before the Chest came into
existence and initiated the practice of con
ducting a single consolidated campaign.
The significance of Bishop Wright’s defi
nition of the Chest’s primary function, which
he repeats as he visits member organiza
tions and other groups hereabouts, lies in the
fact that the purpose of the Chest has been
misinterpreted in some quarters, with some
persons erroneously believing it to be a
super-agency which usurps the right to
dictate policies to member organizations
This is the wrong view.
The Chest has no right, nor does it seek
to assume the right, to tell any member
unit what it can or must do or what it may
or may not do. The unit drafts its own pro
gram, prepares its own budget; the Chest’s
sole function is to examine the budget to
determine if it is large enough to meet actual
requirements or not larger than need be.
The actual operation of each unit is the
province of the unit’s directors.
It is important that we all understand
this, as the Chest is to start its money cam
paign in November and is now organizing
for the solicitation. After careful examina
tion of all budgets and being satisfied that
each has been fixed at the minimum com
patable with efficient service, the total
amount to be sought is $119,996. Mr. Charles
M. Harrington is general chairman of the
drive.
The days slip by so fast, November will
come so soon, it is -advisable to start now
setting aside a definite amount periodical
ly, so that when the Chest worker hands
you a subscription card you will be ready
to give him a check, and have no reason to
feel a little ashamed that it is not for a
larger amount.
Remember, you are not giving to the
Chest but through it to the institutions for
which it acts as intermediary between the
public and them.'
Russian Pattern In Italy
With Secretary of State Marshall leaving
the capital. for what may prove a show
down with the Russian vice foreign minis
[ter, Mr. Andrei I. Vishinsky, over the crea
tion of a border watch in Greece, Italy looms
as an equally coveted outpost of the Soviets’
expanding realm of domination in Europe.
Italy’s richest agricultural district—the
Po Valley—is ready for this year’s harvest.
Italy is in a bad way, for food. The Po
valley crops could have a vital part in re
lieving the shortage. Instead of going into
the harvest fields, fully a million Italian
farm workers are on strike.
The communist leaders in Italy claim the
strike is “spontaneous and unauthorized.”
But few persons in Italy with any knowlege
of communist practices doubt that the strik
ers were encouraged to lay down their tools
at this particularly crucial time by Moscow’s
on-the-ground agents. This would be in line
with Russian policies, inasmuch as the strike
started the day the first ship carrying grain
from the United States arrived at Naples.
This was a signal for Italo-American re
joicing. Lest the relief create a stronger re
liance upon the United States by the Italian
people, the communists may readily be be
lieved to have struck a counter-blow, at
least a diversion, by getting this million
Italian farm hands to walk off the job. It
would be in the all too familiar Russian
pattern.
New Lottery Ruling
Besides having a door prize finally award
ed to a Negro tenant farmer and war vet
eran, who won it but was at first denied
possession, the ■ publicity given the mis
called Ahoskie lottery has served another
good purpose. The post office department
has revised its interpretation of the lottery
law.
Heretofore newspapers were denied mail
ing privileges which contained any refer
ence, direct or indirect, to a lottery. Hence
forth lotteries may be mentioned in a reserv
ed way in any newspaper, the only restric
tion being that the lottery shall not be
“played up”.
After conferring with Postmaster General
Hannegan, Mr. Frank J. Delany, the Depart
ment’s solicitor, says that while the “literal
wording of the law” forbids any newspaper
reference to lotteries, “it was not intended
j to exclude from the mails publication of
such items, which have a news value in
their own right and in which the lottery
element is only incidental to a newsworthy
event.”
The new ruling is the result of the St.
Louis Star-Times’ challenge of the St. Louis
postmaster’s right to bar from the mails
an issue in which it told of the Ahoskie
episode. No editor or publisher in the land
will fail to be grateful to the Star-Times
for its action.
The lottery law has caused as many brain
storms in newspaper rtlant* as patent
I medicine advertisement^^^
A Vital Need
Last year the per capita income of Ameri
cans reached a new peak of $1200 — double
the prewar figure. Thus, even though the
purchasing power of the dollar has declined
by about a third, the average citizen has
more money to spend than he ever had —
and his pay has reached a new high.
This isn’t the sole reason for high prices
by any means, but it is one of the important
factors. The payrolls of manufacturing in
dustry have gone up tremendously. So has
the cost of farm labor. And, finally, the
retailer from whom you buy your food and
your clothes and everything else has to pay
his help more — along with higher rents,
higher taxes, higher everything.
Under these conditions, we can reduce
prices —or prevent further major increases
—only by improved production methods,
which industry is constantly seeking, and by
increased out-put on the part of labor.
Those two factors were responsible for the
immense efficiency achieved by mass pro
duction in the past. They gave us the highest
standard of living on earth, and a dollar
whose buying power was relatively stable.
And they are in direct' opposition to the
present day philosophy of more pay for less
work.
Alarm In Italy
BY ANNE O’HARE McCORMICK
Two speeches delivered in Italy last Sun
day, one by Pope Pius XII to an enormous
rally in the square of St. Peter’s in Rome,
the other by Palmiro Togliatti, the Com
munist leader, in the Communist strong
hold of Modena, in the Po Valley, deserve
attention as alarm signals that the strug
gle that rends Italy is coming to a head.
The Pope spoke with an urgency and
emotion rare in papal utterances. He spoke
as the Bishop of Rome, not to the world
but to Italians, on an issue which, though
international, is pressing so hard on Italy
that it is 'the overwhelming and immediate
domestic question. The question is wheth
er this weak and exposed country, the new
frontier of the Western world, is on the
eve of a Communist revolution. “The time
of the test is here,” the Pope is quoted as
saying. “Even a few minutes can decide
the victory.”
The meaning of these words was illus
trated by the declaration of the Commu
nist leader before a cheering crowd in the
North. “We have 30,000 well-armed Par
tisans at our disposal,” said Mr. Togliatti,
“and if the Government does not give us
prompt proof of the democratic spirit we
shall have to fight, because only by fight
ing shall we obtain positive results.”
Togliatti is no firebrand. Hitherto, like
Thorez in France, he has played the role
of the cautious and moderate politician,
seeking power by legal means, opposing
the use of force and restraining the ex
treme Partisans and their chief, Luigi
Longo. Longo, who has frequently been
mentioned by American officers in Italy
as the likely leader of a Communist coup,
was present at the Modena meeting. He
and Togliatti reviewed a parade of the
Partisan “army.”
Since the Communists were excluded
from the Government last June, they have
followed exactly the same line as the party
in France, a line of watchful waiting at
the top and systematic political activity at
the local level. But in Italy, they have
been organizing force as well. Togliatti’s
speech was the first public admission of
the known fact that the Communists have
a military organization, and the first threat
that they are prepared to overthrow the
de Gasperi government by violence.
This sudden volte face of the Commu
nist leader may signify one of two things.
Either it has been decided that the time
has come for a Communist thrust for pow
er in Western Europe or it is felt that it
is already too latfe to oust a non-Commu
nist regime except by force. In either case
the decision would hardly be made in Italy.
Togliatti was so long a power in the exec
utive councils in Moscow that it is hardly
likely that he has been overruled by the
direct-actionists of the Italian Party. If he
has changed, it is probable that the “line”
has changed. The best guessers in Europe
—and all interpretations of Soviet policy
are guesses—have always prediced that
the first big test would be made not in
France but in Italy. Perhaps the proof,
rubbed in in Hungary that they cannot win
“legally” even when all the cards are in
their hands prompts the Communist lead
ers to turn to the old method of revolu
tion. Perhaps they begin to doubt that time
is on their side. Perhaps “dollar diplo
macy” looks more effective to them than
it does from this side of the line.
At any rate, tney are pusnmg me paie
in Italy. Togliatti’s threatening speech was
followed by a strike of nearly 1,000,000 ag
ricultural workers. This is the climax of a
wave of strikes and demonstrations that
has been convulsing the country all sum
mer. The Communists and Left-wing So
cialists are organizing protest meetings in
every town and village for Sept. 20, and
these meetings will be oopular. for the
cost of living is driving the people to des
peration. The Government, on the edge of
bankruptcy, is rightly alarmed, not so
much by the Communist offensive, for the
peasants, artisans shopkeepers who form
the bulk of the population are anti-Com
munist by instinct and temperament, as
by the swift worsening of conditions that
make any change seem a change for the
better. The Pone warned that the soil is
ripe for revolution.
All this is not unrelated to the Russian
signing of the Italian treaty, the necessary
Drelude to the evacuation of American and
British occupation troops. It is not unre
lated to the developing plan for the eco
nomic organization of Western Europe. As
an active participant in the planning the
Italian government estimates that the
country can become self-supporting in five
years with a loan of 2,500,000,000, pro
vided that the credits can be used to fi
nance a long-term reconstruction program.
If Russia were hot greatly disturbed by
its possible effects, she would not fulmi
nate so constantly against the Marshall
Plan, nor rush to consolidate her controls
before it becomes a reality.
We are getting as tone deaf to rumbles
of crisis as to cries of agony. The hideous
massacres in India, the tragedy of the
Exodus, the despair of internment and pris
on camps, touch us as vaguely as reports
of nations on the brink of collapse. Yet
the crisis in Italy is real. All reoorts, pub
lic and private, indicate that the impas
sioned urgency of Pius XII reflects a state
of emergency. It is a warning that pre
ventive measures will be too late after
the ideological contest passes into the next
stage.—New York Times.
«iJhe recovery of Europe has been far
slower than had been expected. Disintegra
• rc!es, ,are becoming evident. The pa
tient is sinking while the doctors deliberate.
, .cann°t await compromise through
exhaustion—Secretary of State Marshall.
AZ.e>aVev.Spen* mi!iions to teach young
Americans _ how to cue, but we have heen
mggardty m training tkem how to live for
New York! y ge Anna M- of
" “PLANK STEAK”
Human Values
BY ROGER W. BABSON
GLOUCESTER, Mass., Sept.
12 — I have had several good
grandchildren; but only two
have been boys. One of these is
artistic and has no interest in
business; he was in the Service
and returned from Europe safely.
The other, Michael, had been
much interested in business, one
with whom I had discussed my
affairs although only eighteen
J-ears old. He had been working
at a Sunapee, New Hampshire,
hotel all summer; last week he
took a speedboat party out on
Lake Sur.jpee.
Som6«o\v one of the girls fell
overboard. Michael stopped the
boat and dove in after her,
knowing that she could not
swim. He succeeded in dragging
her to the side of the boat so
that the others could pull her in.
This they did; but Michael was
exhausted and sank to the bot
tom. Divers finally recovered
his body. It was a splendid way
to go and I am much prouder
of him than if he had lived and
made a million dollars.
But why do I tell my personal
troubles to you readers? There
are two reasons:—First, because
it has brought trouble home to
me and makes me appreciate
human values. It is the first
blow which I personally have had
since my sister was drowned
here at Gloucester many years
ago. I lost no near kin either
in World War I or II. War
fatalities were only cold statis
tics to me. This is the first time
I have appreciated what these
350,000 families really suffered
and what one thousand other
families are experiencing every
day of the year.
During my career, I have
studied only profits, wages,
bushels and tons. Friends, I
fear there are too many other
American businessmen who are
like me,—forgetting the human
values. This may explain why
we do not understand the mil
lions of wage workers whose only
assets are their boys and girls.
Today I am trying to think of
them and also of the millions of
starving families in Europe who
love their children just as much'
as I loved Michael.
My second reason for men
tioning Michael is to apologize
for my habit of discussing World
War •I as if the money cost
and property damage are of pri
mary consideration. Heretofore,
I have figured which is the
cheaper in dollars—to help out
Europe now or to fight now. I
have not considered the millions
of good boys who would be
killed in another war. Again I
fear there are too many other
businessmen — and perhaps la
bor leaders too — who are as
ruthless as I have been in think
ing too much of the dollars in
volved and not enough of the
human lives. Anyhow, I am a
changed man today.
Just one more thought: Of!
course, if World War III comes,
we will he told that it is a light |
Don’t Sell UN Short
BY PETER EDSON
WASHINGTON,—Ask the man
in the street what he thinks of
the United Nations organization
today and he will probably sum
it up with, “That bunch of guys
out beyond Brooklyn ain’t doin’
anything. Every time they come
up with an idea, Russia vetoes
it.”
Amid mounting public opinion
that the UN “can’t do the job”
it was supposed to do, some 500
diplomats from 55 nations, with
several thousand aides and as
sistants, will formally open a
new session of the United Na
tions General Assembly at
temporary UN headquarters in
Flushing Meadows, N. Y. Sept.
16.
To say that this session is cru
cial puts it mildly. With the
world capsizing, any straw that
can be grasped is a life raft.
That efforts are being made
to avoid disaster by the Truman
doctrine for Greece and Turkey
or the Marshall plan for west
ern Europe — both outside the
UN—is taken by some people as
an indication that UN isn't do
ing its job.
a group of 11 senators and 10
congressmen has proposed that
the United Nations charier be
revised. Such a responsible citi
zen as ex-Supreme Court Jus
tice Owen Roberts goes even
farther, and says the UN can
not maintain peace. He wants a
new federation of states willing
to surrender their sovereignty
to keep the peace.
There is no such spirit of de
featism on the part of the Amer
ican staff which, under Secre
tary of State Marshall, Ambas
sador to the' United Nations
Warren Austin and his deputy,
Herschel V. Johnson, will rep
resent the United States at the
forthcoming General Assembly.
# Part of the popular impres
sion that the UN is a failure is
due to unfamiliarity with what
the world organization is sup
posed to do. Proceedings at
Lake Success have become too
hard to follow. They don’t read
as easy as the sports or society
pages. They have no sex-appeal.
Newspaper readers and radio
listeners are, therefore, not as
familiar with what goes on in
the General Assembly or the
Economic and Social Council as
they are with agencies of the
federal government.
It may take a full generation,
in which the American public
has been made aware of what
the UN can do and how it does
it, before the outfit catches on.
Courses on the UN may have
to be taught in the high schools
and colleges. Students ef these
courses must grow up in an at
mosphere of international af
fairs.
As President Truman pointed
out in his speech to the Bra
zilian Congress, “We piust keep
ever in mind that the United
Natioms was not intended to set
tle the problems arising imme
diately out of the war. but. to
maintain international peace
after just settlements had been
made.”
In fact, settlement of prob
lems arising out of the war
were definitely excluded from
consideration by the UN Those
problems were left to the Big
Five and the smaller Allied
powers, which were actually at
war with the Axis. To date,
peace treaties have been con
cluded with only five of the Axis
satellites. To expect the UN to
function before peace treaties
have been imposed on Germa
ny, Austria and Japan is too
much.
In spite of this, the UN has
made a start at tackling some
of the problems of the postwar
world. If its progress seems
slow, it is necessary only to
compare its speed with that of
the U. S. Congress. It rs not
unusual for Congress to take
from five to seven years to ef
fect needed reforms in Ameri
can government.
Any little thing that the UN
accomplishes is therefore that1
•much net gain. There was un
questionably a desire on the
part of the American people for
the UN to succeed. It deserves
a chance to be understood.
In the hope of contributing a
little to that understanding,
some of the more important is
sues before the forthcoming ses
sion of the General Assembly
will be outlined in succeeding
dispatches.
for “democracy against dicta
torship”. But since losing Mi
chael, I have been wondering if
there is not a more underlying
reason for today’s world
troubles. May not property,
stocks, profits and wages be one
reason for the struggle between
America and Europe? If we
would be willing to sacrifice
some of our wealth—in a big
way — perhaps Russia would
have to call off her gangster
methods.
This does not mean that we
would pay tribute, as a coward
ly nation, to Europe, but it
would be licking these dictators
by giving up our luxuries for
awhile in ord.er to raise the stan
dard-of-living abroad. We, how
ever, cannot accomplish such
without making real sacrifices.
It might temporarily require
farmer's to forego profits, inves
tors to forego dividends and all
of us to work ten hours a day
for reasonable wages. The ques
tion is whether we will do this
voluntarily by the use of com
modities, or will we still insist
on fighting Russia with human
lives?
In either case it would mean
real sacrifice and perhaps a sur
face setback for America; as it
should be done without increas-.
ing the Federal rr other debts.
Before losing ray grandson, I
was all fcr fighting new and
“cleaning Puss:a up”; but today
I think there may be a better
way. Besides, do wmrs ever set
tle great questions when ideo
logies are involved?
Man Behin(j
Camera Couinj
NEW YORK
phers,” says Edward N
“have not yet exhausted
sibilities of a box canJra'^
This is the word of
America’s most famou ^ <
on photography who
five decades of ach'ieZ^
his art, has just embark?**
new career. The career?05*
of Director of Photograph ^
new position at the' M,,. "«
Modern Art. In tb' “»««,
hopes to set new stand ■!
photography and brin* i^3 5
lie attention the world” f4
work in this field. * "
Mr. Steichen’s remark ■
the box camera wasn’tVh?*
brow generalization j,!.
earthly comment to a ' y
hopeful who was showiJ?*
some samples of lvs r-',° ‘ijl
tography. " °' n fo
In the final analysis i,
plained, it isn’t the ca'mm
equipment that counts bu ?
man behind the camera '
■ Good men like good took u
good men are the maC ,
their tools. The latest JLf
and'equipment have od-m,
fields in photograph-/ J?
properly used. But
equipment probably Wo„S
have produced better Civil ft'
pictures for Matthew Bu*
than the ones that brought ^
fame. However' he wou'o C?
been able to get other PichZ
that weren’t possible then J
were never taken.
Steichen gave his first
exhibition at London in M 1
the age of 22. Together w® M
fred Steiglitz, he establish
about 1905 the Photo - Secessia
Gallery, later to become tie /
mous “291,” cradle of mcdert
art and photography in :ra/
ca. In World War I, as acij'i«j
under Gen. Billy Mitchell it fc(
A.E.F., he was chief of the pi/
tographic section of the Aim
Air Forces. In World War II, M
a captain in the U. S. Naval pl(.
serve he was in command oid
Naval combat photography,
-With that half century d
achievement and experience, he
'carries enthusiasm to his r,n
job with the Museum.
Just In Fun
SPARED THE SUSPENSE
When a certain Southern cloth
ing manufacturer failed, he call
ed his creditors together and 1:
duced them to accept notes!)
ten per cent of their claims, pi?
able in four months. The mao
facturer’s own brother, who hap
pened to be numbered amoi|
the creditors, demurred, where
upon the bankrupt called hia
aside and said, “Now, brother,
don't complain and I’ll make y«
a preferred creditor.” !
The brother piped down. But i
few days later he returned ac
said, “I need mv money. Can't
you pay me now?”
“No, I'm broke,” came the call
rejoinder; “and furthermore
I'm going to tell you something
I’m never geing to be ablet
pay any of those notes."
“Not even mine?" the broke
inquired.
“No, not even yours," was lb
plain reply.
“But,” insisted the other,
thought I was a prefers
creditor.”
“Oh, you are, you are.' -
brother assured him. "You hr
now you’re not going to get yK
money, but all those other It
lows won’t know for to
months!”—Wall Street Joumi.
Unions And Reds
An Editorial From The Richmond Times Dispatch
Just why the Executive Coun
cil of the American Federation
of Labor needs any further
“clarification” of the non-Com
mumst affidavit provision of the
Taft-Hartley Act must be puz
zling to all who have read that
act.
Paragraph h, Section 9, of the
T-H Law specifies in unmistak
ably clear terms that no union
shall have the right to services
of the Labor Relations Board
“unless there is on file with the
board an affidavit executed con
temporaneously or within the
preceding 12-month period by
ea'ch officer of such labor or
ganization and the officers of
any national or international la
bor organization of which it is
an affiliate or constituent unit
that he is not a member of
the Communist party or affili
I ated with such party? and that'
he does not believe in, and is
not a member of or supports
any organization that believes
in or teaches, the overthrow of
the United States government
by force or by any illegal or
unconstitutional methods.”
AbL President William Green
says that his organization would
not decide whether to comply
with, or defy, the anti-Commu
r'~t provisions of the act, until
AFL Attorney Joseph A. Pad
way has clarified a “directive”
issued by NLRB General Coun
sel Robert Denham to the effect
that such non - Communist affi
davits • must be signed -by offi
cers of local, national and inter
national unions. In other words,
those. affidavits would serve as
credentials qualifying such
unions as eligible for the Labor
Be urd’s services.
An AFL “spokesman’v-for Mr.
Green also observed that “a
fundamental principle is in
volved which' makes the de
cision whether to comply a
weighty one.”
Earlier in the day the same
spokesman had assured the j
press that there is not “the1
slightest suspicion of a red tinge:
amqng the membership of the1
(AFL) Executive Council.”
Those two statements, placed
in apposition to each other,
might lead a skeptic to assffl
that, although there was not
slightest red tinge in the i>
bracket of AFL officialdom,"
decision as to compliance^
noncompliance with the
davit requirement is made c
ficult by a suspicion on iner
of the executive council the'
the lower official brackets -
some unions there are office
who might steer pretty clo
the ragged edge of perjury^
they filed the required v
davits.
That, however, is sheer ►
picion, u n s u stained by _ j
dence; but it is a susp*
which was bound to arise
result of the hemming and■ ■
ing indulged in by Mr
and his council.
The language of the pcrt-^
paragraph is as plain as^
union label on a political c -
date’s campaign card, h
fies that “each officer or y"
labor organization. naal v,
local union, as well as t' :
cers of any affiliate na 10
international labor organ; ^
must comply with the an
munist proviMun.
‘ We -are forced to cone*
therefore, that the deC'S •
be made by the AFL ^
Council is not being / ,-1',^
cause of any need 1 * i £
cation,” but because tni \
hasn’t decided "he ■* y
choose the alternative
cott of the National .
lations Board, in oroer ^
reveal, by refusal o! '
cers to sign, that suc’ . r3;:
are, or have been inCV\‘0f (s
j the Communist party 01 _
1 low traveler organization' ^
It should be stated ,;
this problem will he . , p
an even greater degie .y y
CIO when confronted " Q3
same dilemma, for 1 (
known to have Commun^
prn-Communists amcas
officers. jts f
Simmered down t" { y
sence. the question "i,,vy
un;ons. and more esp " h,n
CIO, is: “Shall we. or ^ #
not, expel un.on office.^
are members of Com ,,
fellow traveler groups^^^