Evening star. [volume], May 28, 1940, Page A-13, Image 13

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

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
Chat Leaves
Aftertaste
Of Politics
Answer to G. 0. P.
Seen in Talk
By President j
By DAVID LAWRENCE.
Politics still reigns. President
Roosevelt’s “fireside chat” left the
regrettable impression on many
people here that Mr. Roosevelt was
mucn more inter
ested in answer
ing Republican
attacks on the
failure of the
United States to
have an ade
quate defense
program than in
making the
necessary ad
justments now
to get haramony
and unity in the
production
world.
The crux of
America’s prob
David Lawrence.
lem oi national deiense today is
the disunity brought about by a
partisanly administered government.
To get battleships, airplane engines,
tanks and mechanisms of warfare
into heavy production, the admin
istration must rely on the steel
and automobile industries. In these
industries the C. I. O., backed by
the administration, has produced
strikes and discord.
Although outwardly there is har
mony—businessmen respond politely
to invitations from the administra
tion to confer and discuss things—
the fact remains that the adminis
tration has done nothing persuasive
to assure American industry and
business of a square deal. The C. I.
O. still dominates most every policy
of the Government affecting labor.
Notwithstanding the fact that Wil
liam Green, president of the A. F.
of L., has publicly called on the
C. I. O. to rid itself of the Commun
ists in its ranks in the major indus
tries dealing with defense, nothing
has been done lately to heed the call.
C. I. O. Wins Great Victory.
Coincidentally, the C. I. O. has
won a substantial victory in the
Supreme Court. Its latest decision
in the Apex case exonerates the
C. I. O. from paying damages for
carrying on a sit-down strike in
Philadelphia. The opinion of the
majority of the court, written by
Justice Stone and concurred in by
the New Deal justices, is so contra
dictory of existing precedents and
so plainly distorts the meaning of
previous decisions that it is not
surprising to find Chief Justice
Hughes speaking so plainly in his
vigorous dissent.
What the decision of the New
Deal majority really means is that
the Supreme Court has one set of
harsh rules to apply against indus
try and business and another to
apply leniently against labor unions.
The effort of the New Deal ma
jority on the Supreme Court in the
Apex case to protect labor from the
Sherman anti-trust laws, where vio
lence is involved, is an epoch-mak
ing decision. It means that the
court will be an important issue in
the coming campaign, for how else
can the people show their disap
proval of misguided decisions than to
rebuke the Congress and the ad
ministration which aproved the
appointment to the highest bench
in the land of men who proclaim
one-sided decisions favoring the
pressure groups with big voting
strength?
The words of Chief Jusitce Hughes
in his dissenting opinion tell the
story. He said:
“It would indeed be anomalous
if, while employers are bound by
the Labor Act because their unfair
labor practices may lead to con
duct which would prevent the ship
ment of their goods in interstate
commerce, at the same time the
direct and intentional obstruction or
prevention of such shipments by the
employes were not deemed to be a
restraint of commerce under the
broad terms of the Sherman Act.
This court has never heretofore de
cided that a direct and intentional
obstruction or prevention of the
shipment of goods in interstate
commerce was not a violation of the
Sherman Act. In my opinion it
should not so decide now.”
Pointed Warning Visible.
Certainly there is less public confi
dence today in the Supreme Court
than there was before the President
appointed five justices from his own
political family, who now control the
court. Maybe the Chief Justice’s
speech has no reference to his dis
senting decision in the Apex case,
but many observers will see a pointed
warning by America's most vene
rated public official, who knows from
a long experience on tne bench that
Justice cannot be tempered with con
siderations of political expediency
or subserviency.
The Apex decision has had a
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EISEMAN’S
I F STREET AT 7th
The Capital Parade
Bureaucratic Bickering Holds Up Action
On Badly Needed Defense Preparations
By JOSEPH ALSOP and ROBERT KINTNER.
The clearest lesson of the immense and unimaginable tragedy in
Europe is that when time presses, a nation can achieve preparedness
only, if at all, by going on a wartime emergency basis. Every Army and
Navy expert, every Intelligent State Department official, every disinter
ested industrial executive agrees on this one central fact. Remembering
the central fact, despite the President’s reassurances, it is hard to be
encouraged by the American accomplishment since the defense crisis
burst upon us.
Almost everywhere th$ situation is the same, in the Government and
out. In Congress, Senator James P. Bymes of South Carolina almost
single-handedly managed a remarkable demonstration of national unitv
on ms own initiative obtaining the
co-operation of Senate Republican
Leader Charles L. McNary and the
House chieftains, and setting aside
the congressional rules to rush the >
emergency defense appropriations '
through the Senate. But the dem
onstration has been partly spoiled
by short-sighted members of the J
House Appropriations Committee, «
such as Representative Charles A. \
Plumley of Vermont. They have
WHATS TUE
RUSH ?
A* ^
THIS IS
, VERY
JIM POt TAUT/
jealously insisted on the House’s prerogative to hold hearings, have
refused to hurry the hearings along, and have thus delayed the final vote.
Plain Bickering
In the executive branch some men, like Secretary of the Interior
Harold L. Ickes, have grasped the situation and have pled with the
President to act decisively and boldly. But the defense program is
already involved in the mo6t extraordinary bureaucratic bickering. At
torney General Robert H. Jackson proposes a program for registering
resident aliens—a precaution of which the necessity has been made all
too obvious by European events. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins,
already beside herself at the loss of her Immigration Bureau to the
Justice Department, flutteringly interposes a protest which temporarily
blocks the Jackson program at the White House.
The War and Treasury Departments hurl themselves Into a tug-of
war over aviation procurement. The War Department suddenly convenes
a meeting of aviation executives and the Treasury, taken by surprise, gets
the President to order the meeting held in the office of Secretary Henry
Morgenthau, jr., and then, as the meeting has not been prepared for, no
one has anything to say to the busy men who have been brought to
Washington for a supposedly important conference. The President allows
the War Department to remain in the hands of Harry H. Woodring,
whose chief qualification for his great place seems to be that it was
desired to carry his native Kansas In the 1936 election, and whose ob
sessing present preoccupation is the somewhat personal one of clinging
to his job.
And meanwhile, innumerable Influential private citizens who ought
to know better appear to have no grasp of the seriousness of the situation.
And the problem is further muddied by the charge by partisan commen
tators that expenditures on the Army and Navy to date have been wasted,
which the slightest investigation of American labor and production costs,
even in the Republican era, would show to be unfounded.
President's Preference
Nor is it possible to be greatly cheered bv the President’s formation
or a cumbersome and all-embracing council of high Government officials
and leading industrialists to assist in the preparedness effort. It means,
of course, that most of what is done will have to be done by the President
himself, who already has plenty on his hands. It was perhaps to be
expected, for the President has leaned toward such a council and away
from the creation of something like the old War Industries Board ever
since national defense began to give concern, back in 1937.
It was in the fall of 1937 that Assistant Secretary of War Louis
Johnson first proposed to the President that a volunteer group of indus
trialists and other qualified men be recruited to survey and criticize the
Army's mobilization plans. At that time the President's response was to
ask whether the first World War’s Council of National Defense was not
still a legal entity. It was found that the council, an interdepartmental
body, composed of the Secretaries of War, Navy, Interior, Labor and one
or two others, did still exist.
The matter was then dropped until July of last year, although
Johnson and B. M. Baruch continued to press the President for the
V/A I?
RESOURCES
BOARD*
—id
appointment oi a special civilian
committee to review defense plans.
Just before the end of last year's
congressional session, the President
allowed Johnson and Secretary of
the Navy Charles Edison to set up
the War Resources Board. But, in
the President's mind, at least, the
board’s sole purpose was still that
of reviewing existing plans. In the
first war cabinet meeting the Presi
■ dent declared that If the war did
create a national emergency, it would be administered through the council.
But, although the President's attitude in the matter could be antici
pated by informed persons, it is hard to feel confidence in the result.
Cumbersomeness and vague divisions of responsibility, such as seem to
afflict the President’s new setup, are just the faults which create the
worst administrative difficulties. Herculean effort, unprecedented for
bearance by all concerned, firm presidential repression of the squabbles
now in progress, and replacement of some of the less competent present
Job holders may perhaps prevent difficulties from arising.
(Released by the North American Newspaper Alliance, Ine.)
strange history. A three-judge Cir
cuit Court in Philadelphia de
cided it against the union. Then
the administration appointed three
new judges, who eight weeks later
reversed the decision in the same
courtroom. And now the Supreme
Court upsets all the reasoning on
which prosecutions for Interruption
of interstate commerce by violence
have been based and lets the union
guilty of a sit-down strike go free.
What it means is that an employer
who refuses to sit down and discuss
labor problems with his employes is
held to be guilty of interrupting
interstate commerce, but a labor
union guilty of a sit-down strike and
physical interference with shipment
of goods is not held to have inter
rupted interstate commerce under
the Sherman Act. The new theory is
that because the sit-down strike did
not affect price or competition, it is
not an interruption to interstate
commerce—a concept opportunely
introduced by the court whereby a
labor union is permitted to escape
just punishment.
Clearly Congress has the Job now
of amending the Wagner Act to nar
row the application of that law to
conform to the definition of “inter
ruptions” to interstate commerce
under the Sherman law as now cir
cumscribed by the Supreme Court.
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The Political Mill
Roosevelt Leaves Veil of Mystery About
Role Industrialists Will Play in Defense
By G. GOULD LINCOLN.
Within the space of 24 hours, three
Important speeches were delivered
oxer the air on the subject of na
tional defense. The first speaker,
on Sunday night,
was President
Roosevelt. The
second, last
night, was for
mer President
Hoover, and the
third, also last
night, was Sena
tor Austin of
Vermont, Re
publican member
of the Senate
Military Affairs
Committee. On
one topic all
three were
unite d—t hat
G. Gould Lincoln.
mis tuunuy oiiuuiu uc uueijuatciy .
prepared and armed to defend itself
from any attack that may come on
the heels of the present wars in Eu
rope and in the Far East. Surely the
world, including Chancellor Hitler
of the German Reich, should be on
notice that this country intends to
put Itself in such a state of military
and naval preparedness that it
would be dangerous to attack us.
Words, however, will never do the
trick. Nor will the mere matter of
appropriating money, by Congress,
get us much further along. The in
dustries of the Nation must be mobi
lized—as well as the men to be
trained in modern warfare. The les
son of the war in Europe is that the
side with the most machines—as
well as guns—stands the better
chance of winning. These machines
—airplanes, tanks, guns of various
kinds—the munitions to feed them,
must all come from the factories of
America.
Must Be Geared to Needs.
Preparedness, therefore, becomes
the taslc primarily of American in
dustry. Mass production of many
kinds of things is the requirement.
This does not necessarily mean that
50.000 airplanes mast be turned out
within a few months, or 3,000 tanks.
It means that the industries must
be so geared that they can turn
them out with tremendous speed,
once the need of them becomes ap
parent. Of course, there must be a
beginning, with thousands of planes
added with as little delay as possible
to those—woefully few—which are
already owned by the Army and the
Navy.
President Roosevelt’s effort was to
put as good a front on our military
situation as possible and at the same
time to inform the country that
much more must be done—and would
be done under his administration.
The President’s emphasis on the
arms and munitions, and the Army
and the Navy, which the country
now has, was a defense of what his
administration has been doing dur
ing the last seven years; if there
was any casting off, it was on the
Republican administrations which
went before his advent into the
White House.
The President announced that
men who know about production
will be called to Washington to
give advice on the program for mass
production of arms and munitions.
The country is awaiting with in
terest the announcement of the
names of these men—and what will
be their assigned tasks.
Mr. Hoover, in his address, said
that the only way to get the kind
of mass production of arms and
munitions which this country now
needs is to set up a separate agency
for procurement, and to place at
its head an industrialist who knows
how. In the World War of 1914-1918,
the lesson was learned that mass
production of arms and munitions
could be obtained when that kind
of course was followed. It would be
as silly, he said, to create a board,
advisory or even with administra
tive powers, to have charge of pro
duction of arms as it would be to
appoint a board to be Chief Execu
tive of the United States. The re
sponsibility must be placed in a
single man—as it was finally in the
World War, when Bernard Baruch
took over the matter of such sup
plies for the Wilson administration.
Mr. Hoover paid tribute to the effec
tiveness of Mr. Baruch.
President Roosevelt has given no
indication so far that he intends
to take this kind of advice. Indeed,
he has leaned toward having the
regular departments of the Gov
ernment and their heads—the Treas
ury, War and Navy Departments
and possibly the Commerce Depart
ment and the Labor Department—
handle the job, with private indus
trialists as advisers.
Mr. Hoover's contention is that
the heads of the departments know
nothing about mass production—that
they haven’t been trained for it any
more than the industrialists have
been trained to handle ships and
armies at war. Mr. Hobver would
have the procurement of war sup
plies left to the men who know that
side of the job. and the training of
men to use the weapons and to
fight left to the Army and the Navy.
There seems plenty of sense in the
suggestion.
Until the President reveals his i
plans a bit further, it is impossible I
to know just how far he intends to |
intrust the matter of mass produc- I
tion and procurement to the in- j
dustrialists—or an industrialist. His j
comment so far has been that labor
is to be protected in all its rights I
obtained under New Deal legisla- j
tion, particularly as regards hours
of work and wages, and that in
dustry is to be allowed no inordi
nate profits out of the preparedness
program. This may be all right—
but it smacks of the old attitude of
the administration, which has been
to kick industry and business around, j
Allies Awaken.
Unless industry is dealt with as
sympathetically as is organized la
bor the chances for mass production
of arms and munitions at speed and
at reasonable prices are not good.
Germany did not reach its present
state of tremendous preparedness by
constantly shortening working hours.
The Allied nations, on the other
hand, enacted laws that limited the
working hours and placed other re
strictions on output. And the Allies
have had a sad awakening. They are
seeking in every way to make up
for their lack of preparedness. And
they are looking ever to the United
States to make up for their short
We, the People
Responsibility of Government Critics
Not to Aid 'Fifth Column' Cited
By JAY FRANKLIN.
If gentlemen of the stature and reputation of Oen. Hugh Johnson
and Mr. Wendell L. Willkle could bring themselves to grovel publicly or
privately, they must have done so after listening to President Roosevelt's
“fireside talk’- on Sunday last.
For they had compelled the Chief Executive of this Nation to take
time out from his great and crushing responsibilities to reassure our
people as to the Integrity, compe
tence and tempo of our national
defense program over the last seven
years.
At times like these, It Is un
wise to attribute motives to critics
of our Government but It Is fair to
point out that Wall Street’s wlsh
> fulfillment prior to the President’s
talk took the form of rumors that
Mr. Roosevelt planned to announce
a $5,000,000,000 rearmament program
accompanied by the announcement that he would not accept re-election
to the presidency. It is also fair to point out that the opposition’s atti
tude toward the defense issue has taken the form of two demands:
(1) That "practical” businessmen be placed in direct charge of the
armament program, allocating the contracts and dividing the defense
kitty as in World War days; and (2) that all measures for defense of
labor and relief of agriculture and unemployment be promptly set aside
for the duration of the emergency.
Background Brought Out
Leaders in the fight for these two objectiverare Gen. Hugh Johnson
and Mr. Wendell L. Willkie. New Dealers are generally of the opinion
that the time has come to “do a Job” on these two gentlemen.
They would like the public to understand that the general's military
service was not as a fighting man or strategist but in the judge-advo
cate’s division (law), that his chief prior reputation was as a writer of
boys’ books, and that his only business venture—in association with
George N. Peek at the Moline Plough Co.—ended in the concern’s bank
ruptcy. They concede and respect his ability as a word-slinger but
believe that he is no more qualified as an expert on national defense and
industrial organization (in the light of the N. R. A. fiasco) than West
brook Pegler or Ernest K. Lindley.
They are less concerned with Mr. Willkie, since it is a matter of
public record that the latter's present prominence was derived from his
successful efforts to retard and discredit the national defense projects
of the T. V. A. Since effective Industrial defense depends on a wide
decentralization of industrial production, through cheap electric power
in regions remote from the great industrial targets such as Detroit and
Pittsburgh, Mr. Willkie's anti-Pederal power program automatically dis
qualifies him from serious consideration. Added to that is Mr. Willkie’s
convinced opposition as a self-styled "liberal” to what he calls "Big
Government.” In a program for swift national rearmament, we must
have "Big Government.”
Responsibilities of Critics
Yet the scandal remains that, in this time of emergency, men who
should be placing their abilities and energies at the service of the Gov
ernmeni nave oeen cnieny con
cerned with an effort to break down
public confidence in their Govern
ment and to persuade labor, etc.,
that any effective program of na
tional defense is impossible with
out scrapping the hard-won social
reforms of the last seven years.
Criticism is valuable and neces
sary sft every stage in this ugly
business of preparing for the ulti
mate test of our power to survive
hake You*. ,
CWTiCl*^
onEise^
on uiis pianet &s a tree society. But the critics themselves have an equal :
obligation, to be sure that they have no petty, personal axes to grind and j
that they refrain from any action which could give aid or comfort to the
"fifth column’’ or confuse the will and purpose of our own people.
(Released by the Consolidated News Features, Inc.)
comings in the matter of arms and
munitions production.
The President's speech sounded
to many who heard it like the
speech of a candidate for re-elec
tion to the presidency. This may
be doing the President an injustice.
He may have no intention of run
ning—although there are thousands
who believe today he will accept
renomination to tens who believe he
will not. The speech had its po
litical tinge with its appeal to the
labor vote and its promises of great
accomplishment.
Senator Austin, a stanch Ver
mont Republican, laid all partisan
ship aside in his speech on national
defense-delivered in the Radio
Forum arranged by The Washing
ton Star and broadcast by the Na
tional Broadcasting Co. There has
never been any secret about Mr. j
Austin's attitude toward the Euro
pean War. He wishes to do all he
can to help the Allies defeat Hitler
and all that Hitler stands for. He
said so again last night. He ap
pealed to the country to support
the national defense program, and
gave his reasons for believing that j
it is national necessity.
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This
Changing
World
Leopold's Surrender
Laid to Lack of
Faith in Allies
By CONSTANTINE BROWN.
King Leopold of Belgium has de
cided after three weeks of fight
ing that “the defense now rests."
The blow to the Allied Armies la
a severe one be
cause the forces
which were sent
Into Belgium to
defend that
country—a fool
1 s h movement
many a military
strategist says—
are now in a
most precarious
position.
The moral ef
fect of the Bel
gian surrender
In the Allied
countries is
bound to be bad.
Constantine Brown.
King Leopold gave up because he
had no faith in the victory of the
Allies. This is the inevitable inter
pretation of Leopold's action. Only
yesterday, while the King of the Bel
gians placed his sword at Hitler’s
feet, the French and the British
were fighting side by side with what
they thought were still comrades-in
arms.
How the British and the French
troops who have now been denied
the facilities of the Belgian sea
ports will get away is a problem
which even Gen. Weygand may have
a hard time to solve.
Entered War Half-Heartedly.
There is no question that the
Belgians went into this war half
heartedly.
When the Germans occupied the
re-militarized region of the Rhine
land in 1936, the Brussels govern
ment informed the French that all
relations between the two general
staffs were suspended. King Leo
pold proclaimed the complete neu
trality of his country and informed
all governments concerned that Bel
gium no longer formed the advanced
positions of France's defense in the
event of a war with Germany. The
socialist government of Spaak
agreed with the King that the coun
try was too small and that it had
already suffered too much during
the last war to afford another blow
—if France and Germany were to go
to war again.
In the summer of 1938 the French
tried to persuade the Brussels gov
ernment to allow them to build for
tifications along the Esacaut River,
but met with no success. It was only
later, under the pressure of the
British, who pointed out to King
Leopold that in the event of a war
the Belgian ports would have to
be blockaded, that the Brussels
government decided to dicker with
the French for a plan for common
defense of the country. All these
conversations were strictly secret
and inconclusive, because the Bel
gians. like the rest of the Nordic
neutrals, seemed hypnotized by the
idea that they could keep out oi
this war.
Preparations Haphazard.
Belgium, like Holland, did her ut
most to stay out, and it was only
a few days—some say a few hours—
before the Germans invaded the
country that she asked support from
Britain and France.
Under the circumstances it is only
natural that the preparation for the
rescue of the Lowlands should have
been haphazard and improvised.
They were better than those which
were supposed to save Norway
inasmuch as more troops were
poured into the two countries. But
there seems to have been no definite
plan and the masses in Belgium
were unprepared for a war—especial
ly the kind of war Germans are
waging. This lack of enthusiasm or
the part of the population coupled
with the lack of ammunition and
adequate modern war weapons—
made the Belgian defense half
hearted and explains how so-called
impregnable fortifications fell within
a few hours after the German at
tack. There is no suggestion of
treason among serious thinking
military men: just a laxity on the
part of the Belgian commanders who
did not believe that they had a
chance.
Iron Ore Now Recovered
From Low-Grade Deposits
By the Associated Press.
PITTSBURGH. May 28—Recov
ery of iron ore from low-grade ore
deposits through a newly discovered
electrostatic process is reported by
Westlnghouse Electric & Manu
facturing Co.
Research scientist O. W. penny
declined to disclose details of de
velopment, but emphasized "the
possibilities of increasing the pro
ductive output of the Nation's ore
deposits.”
He said that under present meth
ods of recovery commercial iron ore
must contain .at least 50 per cent
iron tp Justify its transportation and
use.
Experiments with the new process,
added Mr. Penny, "indicated that an
appreciable percentage of iron still
remaining in discarded ore can be
economically separated.”
The company also announced de
velopment of a new metal known
only as "K-42-B.” A bell made of
this metal was heated to a tempera
ture of around 1,100 degrees Fahren
heit and retained its ability to ring
with a brilliant tone while an ordi
nary steel bell gave off only a dull
thud.
New Gasoline Price War
Looms on Pacific Coast
Mr tht Associated Press.
SAN FRANCISCO, May 28
Standard Oil Co. of California
slashed the price of gasoline today
and persons familiar with the oil
industry’s operations wondered if
another ‘"rate* war” was in the
making.
A brief announcement by Stand
ard Oil said “in order to meet com
petition” the price of gasoline would
be reduced, effective today, by 2 Vi
cents a gallon fop premium (ethyl)
grade, 1*4 cents a gallon for stand
ard grade, and 2 cents a gallon for
third-grade gasoline.
Standard oil price reductions were
made effective in California,
Oregon. Washington, Navada, Ari
sons, Alaska and the Hawaiian Is
lands.