Evening star. [volume], May 19, 1948, Page A-11, Image 11

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

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NLRB Seen Trying
Again to Emasculate
Taft-Hartley Law
Clark Bros. Case Ruling
Despite Its publicity
Conceded Nothing
By Du&id Lawrence
The National Labor Relations
Board conitinues In Its devious wty
to emasculate the Taft-Hartley Act,
which members of the board op
posed ffnen it was pending in Con
gress^
/Publicity was issued on Monday as
w*'follows:
"The National Labor Relations
Board today overruled the Clark
Bros, decision.”
This was headlined from one end
of the country to the other as if it
were the first time the board had
reversed a previous ruling of August,
1946, to the effect that Clark
Bros, had committed an “unfair
labor practice” when a speech was
delivered to employes during work
ing hours and just before an elec
tion, giving the employer side of
the argument.
ACbueuijr me v/ituft- oiw. urvioiun
was overruled by the language of
the Taft-Hartley Act and the en
tire membership of the board ac
knowledged this fact In a decision
issued on April 18 last in the case
of the General Shoe Corp. and the
Boot and Shoe Workers Union
i AFLL
At that time the board majority
—Messrs. Herzog, Houston and Mur
dock—said that, of course, an em
ployer could no longer be penalized
under the Clark Bros, ruling—that
is, for "an unfair labor practice”—
because the Taft-Hartley Law had
overruled that case. But what the
three members then went on to say
was that although the employer
couldn't be held on "an unfair labor
practice” charge, the board could
set aside the election in which the
union lost.
Ruling of Majority.
The majority of the board said:
"Conduct that creates an atmos
phere which renders improbable a
free choice will sometimes warrant
invalidating an election, even
though that conduct may not con
stitute an unfair labor practice. . . .
"We do not subscribe to the view,
apparently held by our two dissent
ing colleagues, that the criteria ap
plied by the board in a representa
tion proceeding to determine wheth
er certain alleged misconduct in
terfered with an election need
necessarily be identical to those
employed in testing whether an un
fair labor practice was committed,
although the result will ordinarily
be the same.”
Employers, therefore, who think
the Labor Board as a whole has
really conceded something by con
curring in the ruling in the Babcock
& Wilcox case handed down on
Monday of this week by a panel
comprising Messrs. Houston, Mur
dock and Gray have another guess
coming. Whenever the board wants
to set aside an election, it claims
it can still do so and permit an
other election whenever the union
wants one. This usually is when
the union is stronger and can win.
This type of bias was revealed
clearly in another case, Ny-Lint
Tool k Manufacturing Co. and In
ternational Association of Machin
ists handed down also on Monday
of this week and which didn't at
tract much attention in the head
lines. It was issued by Messrs. Her
zog, Houston and Murdock—the
three New Dealers on the board—
and usurped power never intended
by the Taft-Hartley Act sponsors.
The ruling declared that a com
pany’s petition for an election to
determine a bargaining unit must
be dismissed whenever the union
withdraws its request for bargain
ing rights.
As the dissenting member, James
J. Reynolds, jr„ rightly points out.
this gives the union a veto over all
employer petitions. Instead of being
permitted to stabilize conditions in
his plant by calling for an election
when there is a controversial situa
tion or conflicting claims and set
tling the issue for a year as the
Taft-Hartley Law provides, the
board nowT says the union can with
draw at will and there will be no
election if the union says so.
Quotes senator tail.
Mr. Reynolds quotes what Senator
Taft said in the debate on the Sen
ate version of the bill which was
finally enacted Into law:
"Mr. President, one of the matters
which created the greatest com
plaint in the early days, and still
does, is conduct of elections by the
National Labor Relations Board. An
election under present law (Wagner
Act) may be sought only by a union.
In the early days, the board exer
cised its discretion in favor of par
ticular unions. It would not order
an election until the union told it
conditions were favorable, and it
might win. Many of the greatest
abuses on the part of unions oc
curred in the use of that discretion
ary power by the board in the early
days.
“Today an employer is faced with
this situation. A man comes into
his office and says T represent your
employes. Sign this agreement, or
we strike tomorrow.’ Such instances
have occurred all over the United
States. The employer has no way
to determine whether this man real
ly does represent his employes or
docs not. The bill gives him the
right to go to the board under those
circumstances and say, ‘I want an
election. I want to know who is the
bargaining agent for my employes.’
Certainly I do not think any one
can question the fairness of such a
proposal.”
After quoting Senator Taft’s
•peech, Mr. Reynolds went on tc
•ay.
“An employer is given (bv the
Taft-Hartley Act) the same right tc
petition which unions have hereto
fore enjoyed. The decision of the
majority in this case, however
emasculates this ‘equal’ right: for
by the simple process of disclaiming
• representation interest previouslj
made, a union is given an unlimited
veto of an employer's right to pe
tition. This control by the unior
not only exceeds the statutory im
positions on the employer’s right but
It is also a prerogative wholly in
compatible with the Congressional
Intent to check abuses by union:
•eeking bargaining status.”
(Reproduction Rights Reserved )
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This Changing World
Stalin Put His Oar in U. S. Politics
With Qualified Answer to Wallace
By Constantine Brown i
Prime Minister Stalin, in his!
qualified answer to Henry A. Wal
lace’s open letter suggesting ways
and means to improve American
Soviet relations,
aenniteiy put
his oar into the
A m e r lean do
mestic political
waters.
The Comin
form, the new
Communist in
ternational or
ganisation, ex
pects that the
reply from Rus
sia ’ s supreme
authority will
increase the
third party can
didate's votes
Constantine Brown.
among the ranKs oi miaaie-oi-me-;
road voters who, while unsym
pathetic to the Moscow brand of
“liberalism,” hope to see some way
developed to avert war.
Mr. Wallace now has become offi
cially recognized as the only Ameri
can politician who is persona grata
in Moscow. This is the consensus
of diplomats and political leaders in
Washington who read in yesterday's
papers of the Soviet leader's un
orthodox approach for conversa
tions to Improve American-Soviet
relations.
t hose tortuous way.
In diplomacy, as in geometry, a
straight line is the shortest distance
between two points. Mr. Stalin did
not follow this axiom. The Russian
government has an ambassador in
Washington, Alexander Panyushkin.
He can call on the Secretary of
State or any of his assistants, or
even on President Truman himself,
any time he wishes.
if the Prime Minister of the
Soviet Union had been sincere in
his approach to the American Gov
ernment he would have instructed
his ambassador to present his views
to the White House or the State
Department. Mr. Panyushkin w;ould
have been received eagerly by either
Mr. Truman or Secretary Marshall.
Such an approach not only would
have helped considerably in reliev-i
ing the war psychosis w'hich exists >
all over the W’orld today, but it also
[would have greatly improved the
[chances of Mr. Truman's re-election
in November.
Instead, the Russian Prime Min-,
ister chose the tortuous way. He;
communicated with a private citi
zen, who is running for President
on a Moscow-type "liberal'’ plat
form, although the Kremlin is aware
that all dealings with a foreign
government must go through official
channels and not through private
individuals.
Of course, it might be said that
Mr. Stalin was not approaching the
American Government, but merely
expressing his approval of Mr. Wal-,
lace's “statesmanlike ideas" con
tained in his open letter published
Tuesday, May 11, a few hours after
Foreign Minister Molotov released
the recent exchange of statements
between the American and Russian
governments.
Mr. Wallace's suggestions for an
American-Soviet understanding fit
in perfectly with the ideas of the
Politburo. He advocated a general
reduction in armaments and prohi
bition of atomic weapons. What he
really meant, in accordance with his
testimony before the Senate Armed
Services Committee, is that we
should not increase our present
military establishment.
Mr. Wallace, who is well informed,
should know that the U. S. S. R. has
at its disposal at present 260 divi
sions and 14.500 first-line planes,
although it has not yet produced
the atomic bomb—in any quantity,
at least. The United States has
available only seven divisions and
2 000 first-line planes.
The third party candidate also
knows that we have agreed to aboli
tion of atomic weapons on the basis
of free inspection by an interna
tional body of experts of all fac
tories in the industrial countries.
In his “peace formula” Mr. Wal
lace also urged economic aid for the
reconstruction of all countries which
suffered from the war. This we
have been doing and are still doing
through the European Recovery
Prrv^ram.
What Wallace Forgot.
Mr. Wallace apparently forgot;
that when Mr. Molotov went to
Paris in July, 1947, to participate in;
the preliminary discussions of the
ERP, he made a few pungent
speeches, packed his bags and re
turned to Moscow, where he started
a propaganda campaign intended
to torpedo the American Initiative,
Moreover, Czechoslovakia, which
then was only partially behind the
iron curtain, first accepted our offer
and then was peremptorily ordered
by the Kremlin to withdraw its
approval.
Truman to Speak Briefly
On Girard College Visit
By tho Asiociated Pros*
President Truman will speak for
10 to 15 minutes when he visits
Stephen Girard College at Phila
delphia tomorrow.
Press Secretary Charles G. Ross
told reporters Mr. Truman probably
will speak extemporaneously.
The address is scheduled to start
at 5:05 p.m. It will be carried by
both radio and television.
Mr. Ross said the trip "has no
political aspect whatsoever.”
Wallace Fights Grimly
Third Party Enthusiasts’ Early Fervor
Hardens in Face of Opposition
By D oris FIceson
NEW YORK, May 19.—The
hybrid corn which Henry Wallace
olanted in front of his Park avenue
headquarters for the benefit of pho
Doris Fle«?son.
proved to be
scattered glad
iolus and an im
pressive stand
of weeds. When
it was suggested
to the candidate
that the photog
raphers should
be called back to
portray him
! p u 11 in g the
i weeds, he turned
j white and fled.
The same
change from
carefree exhibi
tiomsm to self-conscious primness
marks the progress of the Wallace
' campaign. In the early days of the
third party, crowds of eager con
, verts bubbled and squeaked around
the ancient brownstone, symbol of
America’s opulent era which had
been ironically transformed into tjie
j nerve center of the party of the
I common man.
The candidate has grayed and the
more stable enthusiasts have settled
| down to the hard chores of party
j politics. It would not be fair to say
their fervor has lessened; it has
I rather hardened as outside opposi
! tion has developed.
Their 1948 predictions are moder
ate. They say they will be on the
ballot in 40 States and that they will
poll between 6.000.000 and 7.000,000
votes. Since it is rather generally
agreed that 75 per cent of their
vote will be from Democratic ranks,
the damage they will do the Demo
crats, if they are approximately
correct, is obvious, especially as they
will score in pivotal States vital to
Democratic success.
AUbbldll rdlU'I,
In evaluating these claims, polit
icos stress that a factor over which
Americans have no control—the
Russian behavior around election
time—will greatly affect the Wallace
vote. They suggest that if Russia
can manage to put President Tru
man in the wrong prior to Novem
ber. Mr. Wallace will benefit: yet a
real war scare might solidify the
country against Mr. Wallace or even
force his "Withdrawal.
Allowing for such situations—and
nobody will predict what might
happen abroad—they are willing to
concede Mr. Wallace a few millions.
A New York expert puts the Wallace
figure in this State alone at 1,000,000
minimum, mostly ex-Roosevelt
voters.
The third party convention is
being staged to take advantage of
facilities set up for the Republicans
and Democrats. It wall open in
July, also in Philadelphia, a week
after the Democrats convene, on the
assumption that that presently
: quarreling party will renominate
President Truman with reasonable
dispatch.
The Wallace party is being ac
corded the usual courtesies and the
official co-operation of the Standing
Committee of Correspondents in the
Capital exactly as received by Re
publicans and Democrats. They
have no complaint about their treat
Iment by newspapers, radio, etc
They admit that they believe their
| timing on the heels of the Demo
cratic convention will mean an
extra dividend of attention because
reporters already cn the scene will
decide they might as well stay on.
State Problems Different.
Their story of their State-by
Stat« problems is different. They
assert that five college professors
have been refused new contracts
because of pro-Wallace activities
They report terrorism in West Vir
ginia, especially among the Negroes,
In an unsuccessful drive to keep
[them off the ballot. They say that
in many States, including Oklahoma
iand Ohio, they are being harassed
by legal actions.
Admittedly they meet many of
these difficulties because they are
trying to force a liberal sprinkling
of Negroes on every State ticket, in
cluding the South. With some pride
they describe how they are arousing
the Negro to a recognition of his
rights. When it is suggested to
them that they may not be around
to defend the aroused Negro when
an unfavorable reaction ensues, they
are righteously stern and talk about
principle.
It is this kind of campaigning that
has especially angered Mrs. Roose
velt; caused her to charge that: “Mr.
[ Wallace is just fooling people.”
i (Released by the Bell Syndicate, Inc.)
Poultrymen to Meet
EASTON, Md., May 19 UTV—
Poultrymen on the Delaware-Mary
land-Virginia Peninsula will choose
a “broiler queen," and hold a two
day festival beginning June 23.
LOUIE —By Horry Honan
On the Record
Both Jews and Arabs Seen Mere Pawns
In Wider and More Fundamental Strife
By Dorothy Thompson
We have blundered In the Pales
tine situation, and I wish I could
be sure that now we will do the
right thing.
There are calls to lift the arms
emuaigv lv Liir
Middle East. If
we lift it to both
sides, we shall
help Arabs and
Jews slaughter
each other. If we
lift it only to the
Jews, we shall
be involved in a
war against the
Arab world, and
should antici
pate that it may
be a long strug
gle with unfore
seeable develop
ments.
Dorothy Thompson.
The Russians will not intervene
for the sake of Israel any more than
they intervened for the sake of
Spain. Their object will be to
establish a Russian outpost on the
Suez Canal by infiltrating their
agents into partisan ranks.
I cannot think of a case where
a new state has been successfully
founded and maintained by outside
powers. States have received ex
ternal aid when it was to the in
terest of another power to enlist
them against an enemy. Thus
France aided the American Colonies
because it wished to embarrass its
British enemy. Today, the great
powers have no quarrel with Arabs
or Jews, but do have conflicting in
terests in the Middle East. I should
think both Jews and Arabs would
fear becoming mere pawns in a
wider and more fundamental strug
gle.
Reconciliation Only Hope.
If reason ruled in Jew-ish-Arab
relationship—if there were an Arab
leader to match Chaim Weizmann,
and if this civilized man had even
adequate authority with his own
people—both Jews and Arabs would
recognize that their only certainty
of independent survival lies in rec
onciliation, enabling them to face
the great powers unitedly.
But history furnishes little proof
that reason governs the passions of
men. I suspect that something in
both Jewish and Arab souls seeks a
struggle, under however hazardous
conditions for both.
A tremendous psychological re
versal has occurred in the creation
of the Jewish Palestine type. A
ROSSEL EDW. MITCHELL
ARCHITECT
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4
people monne ana uroan ior cen
turies, international, highly intellec
tualized and conditioned to living
by their wits, they have turned
under the impulse of nationalism
stimulated by Hitler—to living by
their hands and developing a mar
tial spirit. Whether or not there is
a will, there is an instinct to test
this new spirit in fire.
But the Arabs also have been op
pressed, also have remembrance of
a past more ancient than that of
Europe, in times greater; and in
the deep wells of instinct they, too,
are pressed to respond to the chal
lenge offered by an alien civilization
in their world.
Fullest Sense to Live.
That there is no "sense" in this
war, while the men of the United
Nations futilely wring their hands
and call for peace, is a silly observa
tion. There never was any "sense”
in any war, nor in living, hating,
dreaming dreams, or founding civili
zations—all of which are doomed to
perish in time—if sense divorces it
self from the great spiritual drives
which are the essence of life itself
States that are not spiritually in
volved—because their loves, hopes
and dreams are not Involved—act
foolishly, because indifferently
When one cares, one also acts fool
ishly but with the dignity of com
mitment. It is foolishness, staked
on something felt worth dying for,
which alone gives fullest seiise to
life.
Jews and Arabs, tnereiore, nave
something spiritually In common
which the rest of the world does not
share. Even mutual hate is a bind
ing element. One is bound to one’s
enemy, as one is not bound to the
outsider who calculates his interests
in other peoples’ blood.
So there still Is hope for both
Jews and Arabs in this struggle.
Both will have to learn, as all other
peoples have learned, that—except
for individuals who care—other civ
ilizations do not care for any others
than themselves. They are able to
wreck the hopes of both Jews and
Arabs should the Jews and Arabs
continue to fight each other. They
could not wreck either If both came
together.
(Released by the Bell Svndlcete, Inc.)
McLemore—
Soys He Looks Like
Smart Peeled Egg
By Henry McLemore
Plying back from the Caribbean
yesterday I startled my fellow pas
sengers by asking them to join me
in three cheers and a tiger for Dr.
R. E. G. Ar
mattoe.
This request
was made im
mediately after
I had read in a
magazine about
Dr. R. E. G.
Armattoe and
the statement
he made not
long ago before
the American
Association of
Physical An
thropologists.
The good doc
tor. who is con
Henry McLemore.
nectea wun a researcn center in
Londonderry, Northern Ireland, told
the anthropologists that baldness
was a sign of superior brain power,
and that educated men lose their
hair much earlier than uneducated
ones.
When I explained this to my fel
low passengers nearly all of the
middle-aged ones said they would
be glad to salute Dr. Armattoe; so,
nearing Cuba, I believe it was, we
cheered the Irish medico until the
pilot stuck his head through the
door and gave us an official frowm.
The pilot, incidentally, had a thick
thatch of hair.
Select of the Earth.
Dr. Armattoe's message is certain
to gladden the hearts, brighten the
faces and quicken the step of the
majority of men 40 years and over
in the United States. I don't know
the exact figures—but as no one else
does either, I’ll make them up—but
I'd say that 11 Vi men of every 100
in this country, once they reach
40, start fussing and fuming and
worrying about baldness, much more
than they do about the possibility
[of failing eyesight, rheumatic
twinges and loss of teeth. For some
reason, baldness has always been
j considered a bit shameful by Amer
! icans.
Now, thanks to Dr. Armattoe,
those of us whose hair is in hasty
| retreat toward the napes of our
necks can lord it over our less for
[tunate brothers whose hair refuses
; to fall out. They'll feel pretty silly
walking around with a full head of
hair, knowing that people are won
dering whether or not they can
spell cat, add 2 ana 2, or recognize
the "Star Spangled Banner" when it
is played.
On the other hand, those of us
lucky to have as little hair as a
fish w-ill walk masterfully about,
confident that we are being looked
upon as the select of the earth. The
weaker sex, which heretofore has
always favored men w’hose heads
were lush with hair, will choose as
their sweethearts men whose heads
glisten like tombstones in the moon
light, and sigh deep sighs as they
run their fingers lightly across a
sleek scalp.
I have heard that up-to-the-min
ute barbers, those on their toes,
already have changed their line of
talk to customers. Before Dr. Ar
mattoe released his findings, barbers
spoke of the horrors of baldness
and urged their clients to try every
thing from water bottled at Niagara
to sorghum syrup to prevent early
departure of their hair. Now, I am
told, many barbers suggest that
they be allowed to yank out stub
born hair, or pound it with a ham
mer until it gives up the ghost, or
treat it with searing acids, in order
that a customer may leave the shop
locking like a true man of distinc
tion.
Dr. Armattoe's research has
altered my appearance. I used to
wear my hair in bangs, in an effort
to cover up a forehead of building
lot proportions. It made me look a
bit like Actress Colleen Moore did in
the silent-movie days. Now I have
what hair is left pushed back as far
as possible. I may look like a
peeled egg, but I look like a smart
peeled egg.
(Distributed by McNausht Syndicate, Inc.)
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J
is all my wage boost
j'would cost YOU,
Mr. & Mrs. Washington!"
(if you or* tho average
Washington family)
“I know that the wage boost Tm asking for
sounds like a lot of money. But my coal bill
alone for 1947 was actually over $1,500,000
more than it was in 1946 and at present prices it
would have been over $3,000,000 more.
Everything else . .. payroll, construction materials
and operating expenses has gone way up, too.
“Naturally, I’m concerned about my customers
because they have to pay the increase. So I
want to remind you that this is the FIRST increase
I’ve asked for in more than a quarter-of-a-centuryl
I’ve been furnishing more and more electric
service to more and more people at constantly
lowering prices for years. And the
increase I’ve requested will amount to only
ABOUT TEN CENTS A WEEK FOR THE
AVERAGE WASHINGTON HOME.
“So even with the increase, your Electric
m Service bill will still be one of the lowest in the
whole nation! It’s a fact, Folks . . . even
with my wage boost I’ll still be working down
there in the bargain bracket!”
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