Evening star. [volume], April 07, 1948, Page A-11, Image 11

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

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
Coal Strike Question
Hinges on Respect
For Court Order
Judiciary Branch of U. S.
Will Be Seen as Failure
If Lewis Ignores Writ
By David Lawrenct
If the Truman administration
pursues in good faith the strategy
it began in the courts by asking for
an injunction to end the coal strike,
a question of transcendent impor
tance in the history of Industrial
relations may be decided.
It is whether a labor union is af
fected with a public interest and
can be subjected to commands of
the law Just as is a corporation.
The injunction just issued requires
that John L. Lewis order the miners
to go back to work.
Is this contrary to the rights of
the individual? Obviously no man
can be compelled to work against
his will. That would be involuntary
servitude. But on the other hand
when a labor union functions, it is
engaged in collective and not in
dividual action.
Not an Individual Affair.
The right of a labor union to issue
strike orders is not an individual
affair. It is the action of a collective
entity, the same as the action of a
corporation. The Congress has full
power to regulate labor unions and
their activities. This was decided
by the Supreme Court of the United
States when, in 1935, it upheld the
constitutionality of the Wagner
Labor Relations law. That decision
put into effect compulsory collec
tive bargaining. It ordered em
ployers to sit down and talk with
representatives of the employes. The
degree of compulsion is not as per
tinent as the fact that congress has
power to compel certain actions by
employers and employe representa
tives.
The Taft-Hartley law was passed
on the theory that if Congress al
ready had power over employers it
had similar power over employe
organizations. The corporation and
the union stand in the same re
lationship to congressional power.
When Mr. Lewis, therefore, re
ceives a command to order the work
ers of his union back to the mines,
it is true that as individuals they
can disobey his command, but if it
be found that his instruction was
not issued In good faith or that It
was accompanied by secret word to
disregard the order, there can be
a contempt proceedings against the
union as well as its chief. Con
certed work stoppages now are
amenablp to legal restraint nc
matter how they are Initiated.
There has been some talk that
the administration would wait be
fore asking for punishment on the
contempt charges, it being assumed
that the issues might be settled
meanwhile by negotiation. It is
obvious that the Truman adminis
tration would like to avoid the po
litical complications of a contempt
proceeding when the presidential
campaign is so near at hand.
Court’s Dignity at Stake.
But respect for Congress requires
the administration to follow through
on its petition after a reasonable
length of time has elapsed for Mr.
Lewis to comply with the court order.
That might be a day or two or it
might be a week but in the end it
is difficult to see how Mr. Lewis’
failure to order the strikers back to
work can be ignored by the court
itself, which could summon the
miners’ official and ask him what
he has done if anything to,carry
out the court’s wishes. If nothing
has been done, a fine can be im
posed and, while the litigation may
be long drawn out, the risks of losing
some more of the money paid in
as dues by the miners are substan
tial.
There are many people, especially
in the ranks of labor, who feel that
a union is Immune from court or
der as long as the law says that
the right to strike shall not be im
paired or that individuals shall not
* work unless they are able and will
ing. Neither of these points is at
issue now. The problem is whether
the miners’ union, before exercising
the right to strike, followed the pro
cedure set forth in the Taft-Hartley
law and whether, after issuance of
a temporary restraining order, the
wishes of the court are being ful
filled.
In a sense, the main issue is not
unlike w'hat it was last year when
Mr. Lewis defied a court order. The
real question turns on respect for
a court order. If Mr. Lewis can
ignore injunctions, the judicial
branch of the Government will be
looked upon as having failed to
uphold both its dignity and its
authority.
(Reproduction Right* Reserved.)
your Classified
Telephone Directory
-for
Theaters, Storage,
Welders
or alaoat anything *1m
i .
Today's Quote—
From Poor Richard
"Little Stroke*, Fell Great Oaks.”
—Benjamin Franklin'* Almanack
Likewise . . . Regular Systematic,’ Little-By-Little Savings
Conquer Financial Handicap*. You are invited to phone
District 2370 for Information about a Savings Account
in any amount from IS up at FIRST FEDERAL SAV
INGS ASSOCIATION—610 18th Street N.W., between
F and G.
j
This Changing World -
95 Per Cent Romanian People Reported
Suffering Under New Red Order Rule
By Contantine Brown
%
Americans and Romanians who
have just arrived in Washington
from the Russian satellite country
tell a harrowing tale of the suffer
ing Of 95 per
cent of the pop
ulation under
the Soviet's new
order.
As in all other
satellite coun
tries, the “Sigu
ranza” (secret
police) has been
thoroughly
trained by ex
pert MVD offi
cers and has
shown surpris
i n g efficiency
in tracking down
opponents Of the C»nit*ntin» Brown,
regime and blackmailing others who
attempt to remain nonpolitical
citizens. Most of the prominent
members of the Nazi Iron Guard
have been accepted with open arms
by the government, which is domi
nated by the Moscow-trained Com
munist, Anna Pauker.
The officers of the new army in
Romania have been trained either
in the U. S. S. R. or in Romanian
schools packed with political com
missars. Very few old-time officers
have kept their jobs. They were dis
missed from the armed forces and
are earning pittances as porters or
peddlers of black market goods.
Underground Arises.
As in other states behind the iron
curtain, a strong underground has
arisen in Romania to plague the
Communists. Its activities are con
fined principally to smuggling out of
the country those who are able to
pay—in dollars or Swiss francs—the
price of getting out of the country.
This has brought into the organ
ization a number of ex-convicts and
criminals who charge between $1,200
and $2,000 for transportation from
Romania to the western Allied
zones of Austria.
The number of persons attempt
ing to get out of the Communist
heaven averages about 300 a day.
But less than 10 per cent ever
manage to reach safety. The others
are captured and summarily exe
cuted, either In Romania or Hun
gary. Yet any one who has man
aged to hoard hard currency from
the days before the iron curtain
descended prefer to take the chance
rather than die slowly of starvation.
The "economic reconstruction" of
Romania is proceeding full speed.
Before currency reform the dollar
was worth 3,000,000 lei. Then the
great financial coup occurred, un
beknown even to the Communist
minister of national economy.
On orders from Moscow the cur
rency had to be exchanged for new
paper money, valued at 140 lei to
the dollar. Every one had to turn
in all old currency, but the national
bank allowed each person to ex
change only 3,000,000 lei of old
currency—*1 worth—for new cur
rency. The unredeemed part of a
person’s wealth—regardless of how
many billion lei it totaled—remains
temporarily in the hands of the
government for "safe keeping.”
This measure hit not only the
landowners and merchants, but also
the millions of peasants who had
just sold their crops to government
buyers at high prices, not knowing
that the ax would fall soon after
they completed their transactions.
Estates Divided.
Estates—large and small—were
divided up among the peasantry.
The trouble was that the parcelling
out of land gave the head of each
family not more than five acres.
And with only 140 new lei—the
maximum they could get in cur
rency reform—they did not have
sufficient funds to buy seeds, fer
tilizer and agricultural implements.
Romanian farmers can satisfy
their needs, however, on credit from
the government, provided they Join
the strictly Communist-controlled
co-operatives and thus adopt the
new system of production as it Is
practiced in Russia, where crops
must be surrendered to the govern
ment, which decides how much the
peasant can keep for his own up
keep.
Since the currency reform the
cost of living has increased consid
erably. The 140 lei allowed each
citizen can purchase a meal in one
of the good restaurants, which still
exist for the benefit of the Rus
sians, the few foreigners who com
prise the diplomatic corps and the
members of the Communist Party.
Communication between foreigners
and Romanians is strictly forbidden,
unless the Romanian agrees to be
come a secret police spy. Arrests
and deportations to Russia continue
with monotonous regularity. As in
the U. S. S. R., it is dangerous to
inquire as to the whereabouts of
friends who disappear.
Problem of Tactics
Anti-Truman Democrats Over Nation
Attempting to Make Convention Plans
By Doris Fleeson
Anti-Truman Democrats from all
over the country are here this week
establishing contact with one an
other and trying to make conven
tion plans.
They include
three former
Senators and
are from the
West, East and
Midwest. All
bluntly insist
the President
can’t win but
they still have
no answer to
the major di
lemma: Who
else? Like the
other dissidents
they are wist
ful about Gen Doris Fleoson.
Eisenhower and have as little real
information to go on.
One thing they have done: They
have rechecked Southern opposi
tion which has been reported as
weakening, and they say it is not.
A part of that story is that the
President’s gay companion, Missls
sippian George Allen, has been as
signed to take over the Southern
sector from National Chairman Mc
Grath and make peace.
Physician or Jester?
Regarding this one Southern Sen
ator commented: “'Some people
send for a physician when they
are sick; others send for a jester.”
It appears also that Senator Me-'
Grath has annoyed the Southern
ers afresh in a defense of President
Truman in Butte, Mont., in which
he compared Southern attitudes to
ward Negro voting with Russia’s
treatment of the Czechs and Finns.
That will be placed in the Congres
sional Record with appropriate
comment, one Senator promised.
The present trend among the dis
senters is to soft pedal the Eisen
hower talk and wait until close to
convention time. They appear to
believe that as the Russian situa
tion gets tougher, the Eisenhower
boom will take on an air of in
evitability.
A part of the Eisenhower legend
in the Democratic camp now is that,
he is tremendously opposed to Gen.)
^— -. -.---= i
TRANSFER & STORAGE CO.
460 New York Ave. N.W. NA. 1070
Export Packing
OUR SPECIALTY
* Golf shoes and
R. W. ATKINS'
own beautiful custom shoes
for ladies and gentlemen.
ATKINS SHOES I
914 G St. N.W. NA. 4785
Wa$hinoton'$ Outttanding Quality
Shoe Shop
MacArthur as President. There 1*
no proof, but they repeat it con
stantly and their argument runs
that as the International situation
gets worse it improves Gen. Mac
Arthur’s chances and makes it
easier to draft Gen. Eisenhower
to run against him.
Porter Believes In Delay.
Among those that believe the
best hope of snaring Gen. Elsen
hower lies in delay is Paul Porter,
an influential voice in Americans
for Democratic Action. ADA Chair
man Leon Henderson has been
veering toward immediate indorse
ment of the general.
This question will be thrashed
out Sunday in Pittsburgh when
chairmen Of the State chapters
meet to reconsider their position.
There will be no voices raised in
Mr. Truman’s defense; the prob
lem will be one of tactics.
The President’s circle professes
to be unworried and describes pres
ent agitation as “only a big blow.”
They can point to a stand-oil in
the big cities; MaJ. Frank Hague
of New Jersey, pro-Truman, against
Chicago’s Jacob M. Arvey, anti
Truman. Except for the South
erners, the Democrats in Congress
are quiet. The White House also
is profiting from a feeling in some
circles that it is unwise in view of
the international situation to wage
a contest which would damage the
prestige of the President of the
United States.
Bricker Due to Address
Masonic Lodge Tonight
Senator Bricker, Republican, of
Ohio, will discuss freemasonry and
its relation to world conditions at
a meeting of Barristers Masonic
Lodge at 7:30 o’clock tonight in
Stansbury Temple, Georgia and
Missouri avenues N.W.
The Washington Centennial Lodge
will hold a banquet at 7:30 o’clock
tonight in the Masonic Temple,
Thirteenth street and New York
avenue N.W.
LOUIE
_L (CHECKROOM
—By Harry Hanan
I 1 CHECK ROOM I
1 » ,-IH——
[CHECK ROOM
[check room I
On the Record
Russian Leaders Persist in Cherishing
False Illusions About American People
By Dorothy Thompson
The closer Americans are to dan
ger, the more calmly they behave.
We are a highly strung, turbhlent
Nation whose chief characteristic
is dislike of
authority. This
always has given
other peoples the
impression of a
state liable mo
mentarily to fall
apart.
The direst pre
dictions attend
ed our birth. In
every great crisis
we have given
the rest of the
world the im
pression of im
minent Dreak
down. The ques- Dorothy Thompson,
tion always has been asked: “Will
America stand?"—with overtones of
doubt. We blunder into dangerous
situations through congenital over
optimism and lack of foresight. But
in showdowns our various parts fly
together.
A Nation which so greatly resents
being pushed around by its own
Government, resents much more bit
terly being pushed aroundby others.
It is disastrous that the Russians
appear to misunderstand this. What
ever object they had in mind by
their behavior in Berlin, the re
action of the American occupation
forces (and their women and chil
dren) was normal. The American
slang phrase “You and who else?”
is typical.
Leaden Should Study.
Russia understands little of any
people, imprisoned as her leaders
are in a set of dogmatic theories
which rule out recognition of na
tional characters. In the end this
lack always proves fatal.
It would be useful if Stalin (or
whoever else rules Russia) would de
vote himself to a study of American
poetry and novels. Whitman would
tell him that there is no language
Americans better understand than
"the old, great language of resist
ance,” and that there is no people
anywhere "more susceptible to a
slight.”
It would be useful, too, for him
to read that Incomparable American
autobiography, "The Education of
Henry Adams,” especially the part
dealing with the greatest of all
American crises—the Civil yfar.
Washington, then, was in a condi
tion which makes the present ad
ministration seem brilliant by com
parison.
The newly elected Lincoln showed
not a scrap of the quality of leader
ship that eventually emerged.
Young Mr. Adams, meeting him
once only, was more moved than
impressed. Adams saw In him "the
painful sense of becoming educated
and needing an education” (the
same sense and pursuit that had
eluded Henry Adams himself
through school, Harvard College
and European studies, and that
vexes us all), and thought that “no
man living needed so much educa
tion as the President but that all
he could get would not be enough.”
Yet he got it, though by the
hardest way.
But the great powers never
thought he would get it. The "great
minds” in Britain and Prance did
not give the Union a chance. Mr.
Gladstone made a speech:
“The people of the Northern
States have not yet drunk of the
cup • * • which all the rest of
the world see they nevertheless
must drink of * • * There is no
doubt that Jefferson Davis and
other leaders of the South have
made an army; they are making,
it appears, a navy; and they
have made what is more than
either, they have made a na
tion.”
Then the retreats of the Federal
Army were horrendous, the errors
in Washington incredible, and the
Copperheads in the North noisy
and ominous. But the ostracized
American Legation in London was
calm—as calm as Gen. Clay in Ber
lin. And Henry Adams serving his
father, Ambassador Charles Francis
Adams, as private secretary, had
one overwhelming impression of
the “great” Europeans—unbelievable
stupidity about America.
Stupidity Persists.
That stupidity persists today in
Russia, whose leaders do everything
conceivable to stiffen American re
sistance. It is too bad, for the
people of the United States have
every virtue except patience. It is
dubious, also, whether we are a
“peace-loving” people. There is
little in our past behavior to prove
it. We are a “freedom-loving" peo
ple, which is not the same thing.
Russia is seriously in need of
education about the American char
acter. The picture she has built up
of a bloated, comfort-loving bour
geoisie, slavishly serving a Wall
Street bent on conquest for bank
ers’ investments, atop a Nation
about to split at the seams, just
could not be more false.
Others have cherished similar il
lusions. History has received their
bones.
(Uele&Md by th» Bell Syndicate, Inc.)
-
HaU. • t II Hat* 1
111 Reaeaata^ I
DELUXE I| A'eo^ / 1
■DRY CLERRWfip^s,.. -s® 1
DY EXPERTS!
Iz-n^ ,/? m§k •Fo,t s*fYict i, J
P
(MILWAUKEE. Shriimil
MINNEAPOLIS
ST. PAUL . 5 H«1 U MIL I
SEATTLE.15 hr h mil
SAVt 10%...Bvy HOUND THIF tkkmh
NORTHWEST 0** AIRLINES
I
McLemore—
Willing to Allow
Playboys to Play
By Henry McLemore
I said yesterday that today’s
story would come from Dallas. It
is, and it is going to be about what
I consider a tremendous injustice
done by a
tional p i c t u r
weekly to sev
eral T
whom
nitely
about.
This maga
zine portrayed
them by picture
caption and
inference as
t r e m e n d ously
wealthy p 1 a y
boys. To 99 per
cent of Ameri
cans the word
'playboy” means ■««** McUm«rt.
but one thing—loose-living, ex
travagant men who do not work
for a living and do not care about
the problems of the world.
Let us consider one of the men
who to my mind was pilloried, Karl
Hoblitzelle. A picture implied that
his chief concern in life was buying
$20,000 automobiles. The truth is
that Mr. Hoblitzelle’s chief concern
in life is philanthrophy. Texas has
produced few men who have given
more both in money and energy
toward the betterment of their
citizens. It is absolutely true that
Mr. Hoblitzelle is rich, but it is
Just as true that he made it the
hard American way by work and is
spending the evening years of his
life by giving it away to those who
need it most. Repeatedly through
the years, Mr. Hoblitzelle has been
recognized by the entire Southwest
as one of its really worthwhile men.
Crime to Have Fun?
Two of the men in this unfair
estimate of leading Texans were
Col. E. E. (Buddy) Fogelson and
Mr. Dick Andrade III. These two
men probably got the roughest
treatment of all. They were shown
at a table in the Clpango Club
about to eat crepes suzette and were
labeled as millionaire playboys.
There is no denying that both Mr.
Andrade and Col. Fogelson enjoy
life, but when did it become a crime
for a man who has worked hard
for his money to have a litle fun
spending it?
When I first knew Col. Fogelson he
was an oil field laborer who was
usually searching his pockets for
an overlooked quarter. Today he
is still an oil field worker. He took
his gambles and won them. What
is un-American about that? Noth
ing. That's what this country was
founded on and what it rests on
today. Col. Fogelson's war record
isn't too bad either. He had five
years of it and was so much of a
playboy that he served with SHAEF,
was a member of the Moscow Rep
arations Commission, served as an
adviser at the Potsdam Conference,
and before that was Herbert
Hoover’s first assistant on Finnish
relief. So much for playboy Fogel
son.
Mr. Andrade came to Texas 25
years ago with a hundred dollars
in his pocket. Three hundred days
a year he’s in his office by 8:30 in
the morning and quits around «.
The people who know him from
Los Angeles to New York City will
tell you there isn’t a man in the
country who spends so much time
doing helpful things for other peo
ple quietly and effectively. He’s
made a little money, sure. But
since when has this country ceased
to be the land of opportunity? In
cidentally, neither Mr. Andrade nor
Col. Fogelson eat crepes suzette.
He Made Money, Too.
I want to mention another man,:
Mr. James Abercrombie, who was
described as an ex-milkman, the
implication being that he stepped off
the milk route and through no help:
of his own fell into the big chips.
As a matter of fact, Mr. Aber
crombie is one of the world’s lead-'
ing inventors and manufacturers of,
oil field equipment, and a distin
guished pioneer in the field of oil:
exploration. When oil is vital 'iS,
this country's safety and progress,;
why try to throw mud at a man
who knows where and how to And
it? Sure, he made some money, too,
during 40 years of unceasing work
and study.
Col. D. H. Byrd was depicted as
a man who was having unreason
able fun in Mexico City. A man;
who has worked as hard as Col.
Byrd, and has done so much foe.
his 8tate and community, deserves!
a carefree holiday occasionally. Ho;
is wing commander of the civil
air petrol of Texas and has giveni
liberally of his time and money to'
this important project.
The story I am referring to ap
peared in the April 5 issue of Li/e
magazine.
(DUtributcd by McNsught Syndicate, Inc.)
. ..» '
SOLVE YOUR
^SCREEN and SCREEN DOOrV
W Problems ■
■ with 1
I ALSCO I
1 ALUMINUM 1
^Combination Windows and Doors A
Phone for
Ull^ Home Demonstration
-—— ,
Rustproof—Foolproof
Not for a “Lifetime”
But Good for a “HOUSETIME” \
Mado from 100% *
AIRCRAFT ALUMINUM
From
MANUFACTURER to YOU
Thit Meant— ><
Prompt, Aitttred Delivery.
Expert, Guaranteed Installation.
Greater Savings. . j
More than 2,000JOOO Installations in the Past 2 Yean g
. •• ‘ jt.< £t:U . , ‘
? ' ill 1 '<K) -.'f
~ • i *• ' " ' ' ~
Three Winners to Wear with Your Gabardines
, - * •• X
Bine or Brown
REVERSED leather
Alligator or smooth leather trims
Style-wise men in every walk of life will be
wearing color this Spring. For grace of line . . . for char*
meter and individually . . . these reversed
J
leathers are in a class by themselves. They’re
particularly smart with gabardine suits ... so for that
extra pair of Spring shoes, make yours reversed
leather, so budget-wise in price. ,
Blue or Brown
Reversed Leather
Loafer, popular
moccasin style.
8«
Blue or Brown
Reverted Leather
Saddle Oxford
with smooth trim.
9.95
Blue or Brown
Reversed Leather
Oxford with self*
color alligator
trim.
995
HAHN7ut »e»r
14th A G 7th &R *4483 Conn. *3113 14th
*
3101 Wilton Blvd. •Open Evenintft