Evening star. [volume], December 21, 1936, Page A-11, Image 11

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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Fascism Seen
In Monopoly
By Labor
Lewis’ Strategy Might
Lead Him to Indus*
trial Dictatorship.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
THE new technique in labor war
fare la gradually reaching its
climax. Instead of the old
technique of a general strifce,
with the possible danger that public
opinion would react on union labor's
popularity, the new strategy is to tie
up several Industries by picking out
tne Acnniei
heels, so to speak,
of modern pro
ductive processes.
The battle lines
between the au
tomobile manu
facturers and the
John Lewi s
unions would be
readily discern
ible to the pub
lic if a general
strike were called
in all the auto
mobile plants,
but the men
themselves might
1)mrld U»rnw(.
vote to continue uperaMuim, urspuc
the efforts to persuade them to go
out on a sympathy strike.
Nowadays, however, labor doesn't
need to call any sympathy strikes.
The aggressive leaders of a unioniza
tion drive start out to put pressure on
employers in some small plant or se
ries of plants making vital parts or
accessories. Thus, the plate-glass
works in various parts of the country
are tied up. Or the factories that
make auto brakes are subjected to
the strike technique. Gradually the
major plants are paralyzed and work
stops unless employers surrender. The
union leaders tell the public its all
a simple matter of collective bargain
ing, that these economic weapons are
necessary in order to get better wages
and working conditions.
Significance Deep.
On the surface, it would appear
that there must be much in the union
argument. Why, it is asked, do not
the manufacturers recognize the
unions and be done with it? After
all. it is contended, collective bar
gaining is here to stay, the principle
Is even recognized by Federal statute
and the trend of the times is toward
unionization anyhow.
But the proposition is not as easily
disposed of by such a rationalization
of the Issues. These go far deeper
and involve something more than the
question of who shall represent the
workmen in their negotiations with
employers.
The paramount issue is whether
management must surrender a part
of its control without getting In re
turn a corresponding sense of respon
eibillty. If the labor unions just want
recognition, they can get it tomorrow
from almost all of the so-called non
union industries in the country, in
cluding steel.
Responsibility is Key.
The executives of such businesses
ere not stubbornly trying to inter
fere with the making of their own
profits just for the doubtful pleasure
of refusing the men an abstract right
or privilege. Certainly the economic
lass suffered by a tie-up of an indus
try is much more ruinous to the man
agement and stockholders than it is
to the workmen, especially since the
Federal Government now finances
strikers when they get to the end of
their strike-fund resources.
Why then do not the industrialists
yield? They would in a minute if
the labor unions would agree to ac
cept corporate responsibility so that
the leaders would be responsible and
the unions would be responsible for
the contracts and the activities which
they carry on.
The usual answer to this made by
the labor leaders is that they can
always be prosecuted under the com
mon law and that Incorporation of
labor unions is not needed.
The truth is labor has such a po
litical Influence and control these
days that local prosecuting attorneys j
and even the Federal attorneys do'
not, except under the pressure of an
outraged public opinion, or in ex-,
treme cases only, attempt to proee
cute labor unions or their leaders.
The statutes and laws are there, but
criminal proceedings are seldom be
gun. It is the possibility of col
lecting civil damages that would in- !
troduce real responsibility for labor's j
acts.
Relations Often Pleasant.
Union labor, in many instances,
Bets along splendidly with employers.
Thus, many of the American Federa
tion of Labor unions enjoy the finest
kind of relations with their employers
and there is among them the great- j
est fidelity to the observance of con- 1
tracts.
But the interjection of the John
Lewis idea of labor warfare, whereby
a whole industry Is to be put at the
mercy of a single leader of labor,
means a virtual monopoly over the
lives of the workmen.
Since public opinion has been un- I
willing to allow captains of industry
to maintain monopolies. It might be
assumed that public opinion would
not tolerate monopolist practice on
the part of labor leaders either. But
labor has had enough Influence at j
Washington and in various 8tate gov- |
emments for three decades past to1
secure the passage of laws specifically j
exempting labor unions from the |
operations of anti-trust or monopoly ■
statutes.
In Great Britain, no such analafous
exemptions exist. Labor unions are
responsible to public control, espe
daily as to what they do with their
finances. Likewise, a general strike
or a strike in sympathy may be de
clared unlawful. It is clear that the
strikes now being undertaken in the
auto industry with the purpose of
tying up the larger units of produc
tion would be clearly held unlawful
under the British labor disputes act.
Public Opinion Quiet.
America, of course, has no such
restriction, and, like the experience
In Great Britain, there win be none
till the public realizes the extent et
the economic damage which Is being
permitted to a small group of labor
leaders In the name of “collective
bargaining."
Public opinion will be aroused some
day when the full Implications of
what is happening comes clearly into
view. Thus, John Lewis has achieved
• virtual monopoly In the cool fields.
He dictates wages and hours and that
means he dictates prices. He has
the cost of coal up to such a point
now that substitutes come into com
petition. Likewise, steel companies
that own their own coal mines must
be got under Mr. lawla' control or
he cannot manage to keep selling
prloat of ocal up. ■
From aaal to steel and than to.au
h
News Behind the News
New Deal Command Drops Cry Against Supreme
Court for Other Tactics.
BT PAUL MALLON.
E high command here seems to have dropped the soft-pedal upon
criticism against the Supreme Oourt.
Interior Secretary Ickes. for example, gave out % gjecuilarly
worded statement after the court sent the Duke power case back
to the lower courts without a decision. He denounced the power com
panies for thus delaying the decision, but said nary a word about the
court. He asserted the powerites were holding up $50,000,000 of P. W. A.
employment projects by their technical legal tactica, although the oourt
had taken the action causing the
delay. It sounded significant.
What happened on the Inside was
even more significant.
It seems that Ickes’ young lib
eral lawyers In P. W. A. were hot
against the court action. They
wrote a confidential memo to him
outlining an attack upon the court
and pointing out the harm wrought 1
by the delay. They suggested he
Issue it in his own name. He re
vMed it to apply to the power companies instead or tne court, ana men
gave it out.
* * * *
Practical Methods Favored Now.
The Incident illustrate! a growing unannounced sentiment among
New Deal authorities. Moat of the top liberals have come to the con
clusion they are not going to accomplish thetr purposes by curt attacks,
or, in fact, by constitutional amendments. They are looking for other,
more practical, methods, such as the step now In progress in the National
Labor Board case against the steel companies. The idea behind that case,
of course, M to help John LewM organize the steel industry and thus
to effect maximum hours and minimum wages without legMlation, court
reorganization or constitutional amendment.
In as much as returning Southern Democrats in Congress also
are going on record privately against a constitutional amendment,
there seems to be little prospect that the question will be considered
seriously, unless a new situation arises.
An exception to the current trend of the well-informM was the
action taken by the National Consumers’ League. It went on record for
a constitutional amendment to permit, without question, effective Federal
'and State labor and social legMlation. Two officers of that league are
Mrs. F. D. Roosevelt and Prof. Felix Frankfurter.
* * * *
Washington Wage Law Decision May Cause Uproar.
Excellent lawyers around the court are perturbed, nevertheless. They
are convincM the court will have to hold unconstitutional the State of
Washington minimum wage law for women. Such action, they fear, will
lead to a new liberal uproar.
Their perturbation seems to be justified. The lawyer for the
State of Washington admitted in the arguments that tome aspects
of the law were invalid under the Adkins case decision. His conten
tion that the case applied only to hotel chambermaids seemed to
be somewhat weak-hearted.
The issue involves a suit brought by a chambermaid to recover the
difference between the State minimum wage and what was actually paid
her. The lawyer arguM the hotel business is public and subject to State
regulation.
* * * *
Cabinet Resignations to Be None or Few.
No less an authority than the No. 2 man of the New Deal Inspired
those recently publishM predictions that there would be no resignations
from the cabinet. However, he was speaking only about the other nine
OS'weT
MeMfcecj
Mef
memoers. ana not aoout nimsen.
He would not comment about hi*
own plans, which still call for his
resignation January 1.
The reason there will be few res
ignations is that “it would take a
team of horses" to get any cabinet
member out. They like it here.
* * * *
Chemists in the Agriculture De
partment conducted an investiga
tion of what wines may be drunk
with certain foods, ana prepared a pamphlet. It will never be of assistance
to dining outsiders. Every one okayed It until it reached Agriculture
Secretary Wallace. He pocketed it.
**.*•*
More than one Congressman is taking inside steps to have At
torney General Cummings tone down his belligerent crime-catcher,
J. Edgar Hoover. It seems that Hoover, by working hard at it, has
made nearly every Washington authority a potential enemy.
* * * *
The Supreme Court may be a frequent target for criticism from out
side, but never from attorneys appearing before it. That is, almost never.
Assistant Attorney General Toner of Washington State told the court the
other day:
"I must confess that sometimes I read what your honors say without
being able to understand the meaning."
He was not fined for contempt, the justices presumably taking the
view that the fault lay with Mr. Toner.
(Copyright, 19.16.)
tomobiles which use steel must Lewis
spread his warfare. Ahd to tie up the
auto Industry he must needs get con
trol of the glass industry. In a short
time Lewis could become the indus
trial dictator of the United States.
Once he is in control of the wages of
millions of workmen, he not only has
control of their votes at the polls, but
he can dictate terms to management
and owners who then come under his
control very much as did the group
of coal operators when he offered them
the Guffey act.
The latter law was a virtual guar
antee of profits to the coal industry
at the expense of the consuming pub
lic. It is the first stage of fascism,
and. if John Lewis should get control
of the basic industries of America,
the public may insist on a form of
Government intervention to protect
the public against both labor and
capital, then come in logical sequence
the usual attributes of fascism with
restriction on individual liberty and
on the freedom of the press.
(Copyright. 1936.)
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<THE opinions of the writers on this page are their own, not
x necessarily The Star’s. Such opinions are presented in
The Star’s effort to give all sides of questions of interest to its
readers, although such opinions may be contradictory among
themselves ana directly opposed to The Star’s.
We, the People
New Deal Threatened With Responsibility for "King
fish’s Chickens" in Delta.
BY JAY FRANKLIN.
ONE of the first laws of political
conquest Is that the victor
inherits—In addition to the
well-known spoils—all of the
woes of the vanquished. Roosevelt
"took” the Huey Long machine: now
the Klngflsh's chickens are coming
home to roost. Henceforth, the New
Deal must assume responsibility for all
of the "economic untouchables” of the
deep South, whose misery and hopes
formed the fuel of a great political up
heaval In the lower Mississippi Valley.
Politics not having served the pur
pose of the croppers to make “every
man a king." from now on it will be
a race between curative administration
and social hatred. If Roosevelt Is to
fend off catastrophe in the rich delta
region, where the top-soil Is 40 feet
deep and the top-dog finds that it pays
cash dividends to sweat farm labor as
even the old slavers never dared work
their human chattels.
By order of Roosevelt. Blackstone of
the Tenant Farmers Union was invited
to become a member of the President's
Committee on Farm Tenancy, after
Wallace had originally proposed to
omit representation of the croppers.
This is the administration's first open
recognition of the social struggle in the
cotton belt. Shortly previous to this
event, the conviction of an Arkansas
planter for violation of the Federal
anti-slavery laws held out hope that
“involuntary servitude" based on social
subterfuge was also under attack from
Washington. These are brave steps for
an administration which owes its exist
ence to the solid South.
They are necessary steps. A South
ern business man who has just re
turned from a trip through the delta
country reports a real danger of social
revolution in Huey Long's hand-rolled
"empire." Here is what he reports:
"Because the delta is as much a
slave colony as Java, Borneo or India,
I clipped some news items:
"1. Legislature refuses to Investigate
sale of 200 tax-delinquent farms a
day. to determine how much land is
involved, who is buying it.
”2. Doubt whether enough money to
finish out school year.
"3. $75,000 additional voted Na
tional Guard to help enforce ‘law and
order’ bills.
"4. The - plantation outfit
cleared an admitted $700,000 net on
this year's crop.
M5. The cropper* on E s co-operative
never travel alone . . . they meet their
'friends’ secretly.
“I tnink there 1* a real chance for
revolution in these three States—
Arkansas.Louisiana and Mississippi—
because they have underneath them
the one thing I've never found before
in my life, even in coal towns—a deep,
savage and barely controlled hatred ”
Here, then, is the explanation of
Southern haste in pushing the Bank
head farm tenant bill for immediate
action on a billion-dollar scale. Re
sponsible Southern statesmanship is
alive to the danger—much more so
than Is the New Deal leadership, to
whom the share-cropper situation is
only one of a number of difficult prob- i
lems which must be studied, made
the subject of slow, cautious expert- I
mentation, and gradually soothed
into a solution.
Governments are nearly always
from six months to six years too late
in dealing with matters of importance
and the tenant situation in the South
is no exception. Since the panic
reduced the price of cotton and Hoo
ver* Farm Board failed to peg it, the
South ha* been on a dog-eat-dog
basis. Wallaces Trlple-A helped a
little, but made no real change in
Southern Society. Huey Long saw
the chance, leaped at it and respond
ed to the pressure of the desperate
masses of "economic coolies'* in the
delta. The following he won *o swift
ly, and the fantastic nature of Its de
mands should have taught the rest of
us that there wa* something savagely
wrong about the state of the deep
South.
Roosevelt fought Huey Long and,
after the Klngflsh's assassination the
New Deal captured the Long machine.
This means that Roosevelt has now
inherited the problems for which Long
offered a solution and the grievances
which made Long's solution poliitcally
attractive. The New Deal must deal
with this situation far more ener
getically than is contemplated at the
Department of Agriculture if the
South is going to escape grave dangers
during the next few year*.
(Coprrisht, m.lfl.)
ACROBATIC BURGLAR
ROBS MILLS’ HOME
G. 0. P. Leader's Bed Room Is
Rifled of Jewelry and $380
in Cash.
Bt the Aseocltted Press.
WOODBURY. N. Y.. December 21.
—An acrobatic burglar broke into the
bed room of Ogden L. Mill*, Repub
lican leader and former Secretary of
the Treasury, at his home here early
yesterday, and stole M80 in cash, a
$150 gold watch and chain and a $175
gold cigarette case.
The only clue to the burglary, com
mitted during a howling gale, was a
pocket knife found on a one-story
extension of the house. The burglar
left behind jewelry of considerable
value in Mrs. Mills’ adjoining bed
room.
A mile-long private driveway leads
to the Mills home, in West Central
Long Island. The burglar had to
ascend a tree, climb out a long branch
touching the house and work his way
along a narrow ledge to gain entry.
He cut out a window’ screen at the
end of this route to get inside.
Harold R. King. Nassau County po
lice inspector, was convinced the same
man stole a $400,000 pearl necklace
and about $100,000 worth of other
jewelry from the William Robertson
Coe home at Mill Neck, Long Island,
last June.
-«
WINSHIP IN GEORGIA
Governor General of Puerto Rico
Visits With Relatives.
MACON, Ga , December 21 (A9).—
Blanton Winship, Governor General
of Puerto Rico, arrived In Macon yes
terday to spend the Christmas holidays
with relatives.
While here he will visit his sisters
In-law, Mr*. Isaac Winship and Mrs.
Herring Winship.
After Christmas, Gov. Winship is
expected to go to Washington to confer
with President Roosevelt concerning
Puerto Rican affairs. i
This Changing World
Eden, the Prognosticator, Says World to Follow
Peace.
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.
HIS Is Christmas week and an optimistic note la sounded by most
governments in regard to the future of the world.
Anthony Eden, the youthful British foreign secretary, who
has analysed with such brilliant accurateness the Ethiopian situa
tion, who assured the world that Mussolini won't be permitted to conquer
Abyssinia and rushed the British fleet to bring II Duce to his knees. Is
forecasting now peace in the world. He informed members of the House
of Commons that they may enjoy their Yule pudding without fear that
another war will break out soon.
Mussolini Is equally cheerful
After having obtained the con*
trol of the Eastern Mediterranean,
he announces that there Is no real
reason why there should be hence
forth any conflict with Oreat
Britain. He deprecates the Idea
that Italy wants to conquer the
Balearic Islands. And he speaks
the truth. But, of course, if
Branco wishes to place those im
portant strategic points at Italy's disposal, Mussolini will not refuse them.
It is rude to turn down gifts from friends.
Even the Chinese are imbued with the Christmas spirit. They
still talk about Chiang Kai-shek being set free shortly and of punish
ing—mildly—Marshal Chang, his captor. Everything will end peace
fully, they say, while the Japanese are sharpening their swords.
It is only Moscow, Berlin and Tokio who keep silent. They have no
Christmas.
* * * *
The murderous international civil war continues to take its toll of
thousands of lives every day In Spain.
Franco’s forces have been strengthened by German and Italian
mechanized forces. The German and the Italian contingents have-not
yet reached the firing line.
On the Loyalist side, the French are trying their latest pursuit planes
successfully. They exceed in speed and light armament the heavy German
bombers to such an extent that every time they go up. the enemy planes
avoid combat. All the bombers which have been brought down recently—
at the rate of four a day—have
been the victims of the French
pursuit planes.
It's an Interesting and instruc
tive dress rehearsal which is be
ing staged near Madrid these days.
* * * *
A new neutrality bill to avoid
foreign entanglements and possi
bly discourage war will be intro
duced by Chairman of the Foreign
Affairs Committee McReynolds in
me nouse soon suer congress reconvenes, u proosDiy will oe me nrsi
important bill presented to the Congress.
The main feature of this bill will be an embargo on credits to all
belligerents, regardless of whether they are debt defaulters or not.
This provision is likely to discourage would-be warring nations,
if they know that they cannot borrow money in this country. The
chances are that the bill will pass with an overwhelming majority.
While there are many representatives who would have balked on an
embargo on raw materials such as oil. copper, cotton and wheat, it is
doubtful whether there will be a aingle one opposing the lending of Ameri
can money to belligerents.
The bill will provide the placing of such a credit embargo immediately
after the war has been declared officially.
MAN TRAPPED IN TREE
BY FLOOD IN JERSEY
Mile-Wide Stretch of Lowlands
Covered as Rain Swells
Raritan River.
Br the Assoeiited Press.
SOMERVILLE, N J„ December SI.
The usually plarid Raritan River
spread over a mile-wide stretch of
lowlands yesterday, flooded many cel
lars, forced the closing of bridges and
trapped a man in a tree for 12 hours.
Martin Blomquist, 54, no home,
chose a shack by the railroad tracks
in which to spend Saturday night.
About 5:30 am. yesterday he was
awakened by water rushing across the
floor boards. He fled to a tree. It
was 2 p.m. before two boys watching
the flood saw Blomquist's frantic wav
ing and 5:30 before he was reacued.
The flood was caused by Saturday's
heavy rain and began to recede late
yesterday.
Part of the Duke estate, owned by
Mrs. Doris Duke Cromwell, was in
undated.
OHIO MAN PRESIDENT
OF SURGEONS’ CHAPTER
V. S. Branch of International
College la Formed at Meet
ing in New York.
Br the Associated Press.
NEW YORK. December 31.—A
United States chapter of the Interna
tional College of Surgeons, established
at Geneva two years ago. was organ
ised here Saturday night by more
than 60 surgeons coming from 20
States.
Dr. Andre Crotti of Columbus.
Ohio, was elected president; Dr. H.
E. Carey of Texas, a former president
of the American Medical Association,
first vice president; Dr. Karl Meyer,
Chicago, second vice president; Dr.
P. H. Bland, Philadelphia, third vice
president; Dr. Oscar Nugent. Chicago,
treasurer, and Dr. Charles H. Arnold,
Lincoln, Nebr., secretary.
It was announced that the organi
zation would offer annual prises to
stimulate research In the field of
surgery and would establish an his
torical museum of surgery.
Headline Folk
and What
They Do
Mistinguette Causes Stir
by Threat to Print
Life Story.
BY LEMUEL F. PARTON.
YEARS ago Mistinguette con
fided to this reporter in Paris
that it was a dally goat'a milk
massage that had made her
legs the most beautiful in the world.
They were then Insured for *5,000 -
000, and now, as they bring her down
the gangplank to New York, they
carry only *70.000. That's quite a
write-off, but they say that, at 89,
Mistinguette is still the richest actress
in Europe, topping all records ef
Yvonne Printemps, Josephine Baker
and the Dolly sisters.
It was quite a while before the war
when she originated the Apache
dance. Her press agent, hiking in
surance quotations on her legs, got
her newspaper space for years. In
the years of the grand razzle-dazzle.
American tourists used to rush to see
Mistlnguette’s legs before seeing the
Eiffel tower or Napoleon's tomb. In
late years she has been running night
clubs, although It was only six or
eight years ago that she sank as a
stage star.
There is a good story In Mistin
guette's career if some diligent Investi
gator will disentangle It from goat's
milk, leg Insurance and the like. She
was an extremely effective worker in
the French intelligence office in the
war, and some day her connection
with the Mata Hari case will mak«
interesting reading. Also the story
of how she got her young protege,
Maurice Chevalier, out of a Verdun
prison camp. There was a time when
Lloyds wouldn't have banked 30 cents
on her whole charming person, to
say nothing of Just legs. She savs
she'll never tell, although, sometimes,
mischievously, she lets on that she's
going to spill all her secrets In a big
book—causing consternation along
the Riviera gold coast.
Arriving in New York, she says she
will marry a man with the initials
8. P. Word from another source is
that she is going to marry a well-to
do Cuban named Battlste. Her eyes
are still green and smouldering and
her hair copper-colored.
If you run Into the missing Chiang
Kai-shek and can't be sure of how
to address him, just call him John.
That's what the Chiang comes to. in
properly spoken Chinese, according to
Dr Arthur Hummel, chief of the
Oriental division of the Congressional
Library at Washington.
It happens that, as Chiang was kid
naped. this writer was reading that re
markable book. "My County and My
People,” by Lin Yu-tang. He invokes
a sympathetic understanding of China
by the Western World and. in the view
of this writer. Dr. Hummel has come
nearer achieving this than any other
Occidental. Attesting this are his ad
dresses before the Williamson Institute
of Politics, his lectures at the Uni
versity of California and Columbia
and his other treatises and articles.
A native of Warren ton. Mo., he was
graduated from the University of
Chicago In 1909. taught and studied
in Chinese universities and became a
profound student of Chinese language,
history and literature.
(CoDrmht. iPSfl.)
“Zenda” to Be Filmed Again.
HOLLYWOOD. December 21 tyPO.—
Anthony Hope's 4*-year-old story,
“The Prisoner of Zenda." will be
filmed again, this time with Ronald
Colman in the lead.
VRAW/NC TO A CLOSE!
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