Evening Star Newspaper, March 29, 1937, Page 9

Damage Suits Might End Strikes Workers Deprived of Jobs Could Sue Sit- Down Leaders. BY DAVID LAWRENCI" HERE is a simple way to dispose of the “sit-down” strike issue. Any group of citizens of Michi- gan who happen to have been employed by General Motors or the Chrysler companies can put it into effect overnight. It consists of the filing of a suit to recover damages for money lost by workers who have g been deprived of an opportunity to fulfill the jobs they had con- 8 tracted for by the week with their employers. Two courts of law in Michigan have now de- clared what the “sit-down” strik- ers have done to ™ be illegal. Also the individuals r e - sponsible for pre- venting the work- ers from holding their jobs now can | be identified because they openly admit | what they have done—something that | hitherto in labor disputes for damages has been most difficult to prove. The “sit-down” strikers and their defenders have publicly proclaimed their belief that workers have a prop- erty right in their jobs. This implies that any worker, including the man dispossessed, still retains a right in his job. Under that reasoning the thousands of workers who were de- prived of their jobs by fellow workmen had a propert right in their jobs, too. And if they did, then some one is responsible for making them lose sev- | eral weeks' wages—and il isn't the employer. Suit Based on Deprivation. But the right to sue for damages because of losses incurred through strikes does not necessarily have to be | based on the conceptior of property now being advanced by the “sit-down strikers, namely that there is a prop- erty right in a job which permits physical seizure of property. Suit can be based on the fact that workers were openly and illegally deprived of their opportunity to fulfill a given job for which they had definitely entered into an employment relationship. The courts have long ago settled the question of the extent to which unions are responsible for illegal acts. It is plain that the right to strike | never has included the right to de- stroy or, to put it another way, the | right to quit one’s job does not give | & worker the right to take away some one else’s Job. The leaders of the unions involved in the Michigan strikes have big sums of money on deposit in the banks They had big sums to contribute to' Mr. Roosevelt's last campaign fund Not only can these unions have their funds attached, but every leader of every union who has publicly con- ceded his participation in the “sit- down” strikes which were declared llegal by Judges Gadolo and Camp- bell can be sued for damages for the full amount of the loss. There seems to be a widespread im- pression that because labor unions are not incorporated they are not liable or cannot be sued. Quite the contrary 1s true, for because they are unincor- porated, damages against them are un- limited. Matthew Woll, vice president of the American Federation of Labor, in his book, “Labor, Industry and‘ Government,” published in 1935, calls | attention to the almost unlimited | character of damage suits that can be filed against labor unions, point- ing out that the Supreme Court in | the so-called Danbury Hatters case | fn 1915 and the Coronado case in | 1925, held that individual members of | David Lawrence. and innocent of unlawful acts com- J%;’Sm BUILT TO LAST mitted by union officers, were respon- sible for such acts as long as they— these union members—paid their dues. in the Chrysler and General Motors companies may possibly have a cause | for action against the union leaders if these stockholders can show that they have a corporations and has been damaged by illegal acts per- | formed by union officers and mem- & union, though personally ignorant i bers. THE EVENING News Behind the News Sit-Down Confetence of President Forced by Con- gressional Leaders. BY PAUL MALLON. RESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S congressional leaders pushed him into that White House conference on sit-down strikes and the state of the Union. Announcements implied the President called the gather- ing, but neglected to mention that it was by earnest request. The leaders went about their appeal for it in the manner of men who have done everything for the boss and would like to ask just this one favor in return. The fact is they have been abused all around lately. They felt a little hurt when Mr. Roosevelt neglected to consult them about his court plan in advance. But when he went to ‘Warm Springs, they felt they had been left holding the sit-down bag, or bags, representing the protest mail from back home. Also, the Republicans were becoming very annoying each day, asking whether there was a Federal Government, and such things. On occasions the leaders had to call Warm Springs on the telephone to get the right answers Behind this situation, of course, is their Supreme Court pre- dicament. Their friends do not question their White House loyalty, but know they would like to have the President palliate the furor by something less drastic than his original proposal. * Note—An outside authority not far from the White House is sug- gesting privately that the President has received less optimistic reports concerning his chances in the Senate from his leaders there than from his downtown lobbyists. * ok kK The fact that “hot money” has become a cold subject is being credited to State Secretary Hull, the only man in the administration who has never been heaten in an inside fight. Any news reader who has a 60-day memory will be able to recall u‘mt the administration was, that long ago, literally burning to do something about incoming gold frem abroad. Messrs. Eccles and Morgenthau held conferences, the President commented and coined the phrase “hot money.” The incoming gold was then supposed to be causing our inflation, and something had to be done immediately. Nothing came except comment, and even that has been increasingly diminishing. They say Mr. Hull was the man who cooled the gold ardmvo/ Messrs. Eccles and Morgenthau by asking, what about his foreign trade policy? His Tennessee Mountain wrath bulked darker t‘han the Great Smokies (they say) against anything which would interfere with the export market and his Yankee trading business. The story has incressed the great respect of all insiders for the relent- less Mr. Hull as & warrior to be avoided. * K ok Agriculture Secretary Wallace has been saying 60 per cent of the farmers are for the Roosevelt court program, but he would like to be able to prove it. Those who have asked for some tangible basis for the state- ment have been given a few let- ters from local farm organizations out in the country, stating: ‘“‘We are 100 per cent for you.” The fact seems to be farm opinion is in deep thought. Wash- ington non-combatants on the in- side of that situation say the majority of individual farmers are inclined to support anything Mr. Roosevelt would propose, so deep,is their confi- dence in him. Their leaders, however, are obviously hanging back, re- luctant to get too far out on the court limb. The grange, of course, is against. Ed O'Neal of the Farm Bureau is Wallace's friend and personally inclined to be for, but his organization is not committed. The others have been issuing statements suggesting the matter requires deliberation. This is of controlling significance, because the farmers realize their leaders know more about the ins and outs of the situation than they do, and generally go in whatever direction their leaders may point. Note—Mr. Wallace has been doing some quiet stumping for the President down South. He made a court speech last week in Georgia, will make two more this week in North Carolina, but so far he has remained out of the West. Bystanders here have not been able to detect any flagrant use of pressure by the vast Agriculture Depart- ment regime to rouse favorable sentiment for the program. * ok ok % Those who generally know what Father Coughlin is up to say he is through with such organizations as his short-lived Nationa! Union for Social Justice. The real reason, as reported before, seems to be his discovery during the last campaizn that some local chairmen who handled the money were looking out more for the wife and kiddies than for social justice. Dr. Town- send made the same discovery. Father Coughlin's friends assert he was double-crossed, or at least completely misled, by many local leaders who said they could deliver votes. It is doubtful whether he will get mixed up in politics again, but if he does, he will use the radio and stay out of organizations. (Copyright, 1937.) charges against those union leaders Even stockholders who own shares | who have defied court orders. Both could go ahead and punish union leaders for contempt. If, however, the corporations mvolved refrain from pressing this point, then American public opinion will hardly be inclined to sympathize with them | future outcries about the breakdown of law and order in Michigan. (Copyright. 1937.) in the interest substantial interest that this Likewise, both the General Motors | FUB“TUBB SLIP COVERS THAT FIT | LIKE UPHOLSTERY And that's an art . for which we have quite @ reputation. The secret is in the cutting end it is no secret that our cutters take more time than the averoge. They are real artists, they take great pains with their work, and thoroughly un- derstand it from beginning to end. They know how . . . the tailoring is as fine and finished as in a high-priced suit of clothes . . , thereby giving you slip covers that really fit. $lip Covers for 3-piece suite . . . decorator’s fabrics . . box- pleated valance on 4 sides . . . French seams. = 100% Pure Linen Fabrics made into Slip Covers for 3-piece suite +» - box pleats, French seams._._._. Unusually distinctive Pure Linens and solid tone chevron stripes, made into covers for 3-piece suite . . . box pleats . . . French seams Seventh Street $33.50 $39.50 $47.50 MAYER & C ! | i | we organize in the unions. Co. and the Chrysler companies are | ment in this country. the ones who can press contempt|am for it. We are bound to have one Judge Gadola and Judge Campbell | unskilled American workers { YOUR CHILDREN’S CHILDREN . . . Between D and E- STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, HE opinions of the writers on this page are their own, not 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 and directly opposed to The Star’s. Lewis’ Political Goal By-Product of C. I. O. Leader’s Economic Movement Remains BY DOROTHY THOMPSON. HE American correspondent of Paris Soir has obtained an interview with John L. Lewis which has appeared in France. It is an interesting and significant interview. In it Lewis asserts that, whereas the aims of his Com- mittee on Indus- trial Organiza- tion are primarily economic, he “is not blind to the fact that the sec- ondary result of the movement, its by-product, is po- litical. Workers,” he says, “must, first of all, obtain a larger partici- pation in the eco- nomic life of the country. Sec- ondly, they must have a larger share in the political life and its government.” He be- lieves that such participation is the only safeguard of democracy. “The only way to save democracy is to establish industrial democracy and obtain a larger share for labor in the management of government.” This statement from the man who is the most powerful figure in the world of organized American labor today is highly important. Labor is in politics. Labor wants industrial democracy and knows it can get industrial democracy only through politics. But what does Lewis mean by industrial democracy, and what medium does he envisage through which labor may act politically? To these questions, which in one form or another were put to him by his interrogator, Lewis made | unprecise answers. Lewis knows that labor is going places politically; he believes it must take up the political | instrument, but he doesn’t know under | what principles or for whom. “Roosevelt” Not the Answer. “Mr. Roosevelt is not, from our point of view, the answer to the maiden’s prayer,” he says. Yet he does not suggest that any other party or any other program is, or might be, more satisfactory. ““We worked for Roose- velt during the elections. He is the better choice for us.” Lewis defines his attitude toward communism as neutral—although he | has been a great red baiter in his day. “We are not concerned with any par- | ticular political system. The move- | ment is neither Democratic nor Re- | publican, nor Socialist, nor Com- | munist. We do not inquire iato the | political convictions of workers whom | But it will be obvious that thr-ugh the unions their political action will be strength- ened, as it should be.” And later, he says: “we are indif- feren. toward communism and other | systems. The political aspect of the movement is educational. We are educating the workers in order that they may be able to exert their politi- cal influence freely. They cannot do that today.” I confess that this interview perturbs | me. It does not perturb me because | I am afraid of a robust labor move- I am not. Dorothy Thompson. here at last, for one primary reason: We are at last getting a generation of Our im- migration policy is responsible for it | as much as possible. The dirty work in | this country, the unskilled and rela- | tively badly paid work. was done for | generations by European immigrants, | in any | who were camped as an alien Lody in | the midst of our society, The native- | born American had other ambitions than to be a day laborer, and if he | the workers to exert their political | | influence freely, but he doesn’t know | Vague. worked with his hands .1e headed for the labor aristocracy and got into one of the powerful craft unions of the A. F.of L. His unions were not par- ticularly interested in the unskilled workers, and they were difficult to organize because they spoke .. dozen different tongues. They were bohunks, russkis and wops. They came here from conditions so bad that they were willing to accept what were, compared with previous standards, high wages. But they aren’t coming any more, and their sons are not bohunks or wops. Their sons are Americans, educated in American schools, and not prepared to Join the encampments of their fathers, Capital's Credo Upset. Nor am I perturbed because labor intends to go into politics. That, too, is inevitable and just. Capital has always been in politics. Capital has had its own political party; both of them. By and large, the credo has been that what's good for business is good for the country, meaning by that what is good and immediately profitable for business ownership, with business ownership making the de- cision. That was the ruling credo from Grant to Hoover, a credo seldom successfully attacked in politics, except for brief periods, although it was re- peatedly and vigorously attacked by American intellectuals and artists, by men of such varying political philoso- phies as James Truslow Adams, who is a conservative; by Upton Sinclair, who is a Socialist, and by Sinclair Lewis, who is a liberal. It was this credo which was repudiated in 1932 and in 1936. What perturbs me is Lewis’ frank affirmation that he is another of the people who is his way toward some very vague goal, guided by no principle except opportunism—and with the possibility of several million cohesively organized workers at his back. He | doesn’t believe in communism o | socialism—or disbelieve in them. He isn't a Democrat or a Republican and the New Deal is not the answer to the | maiden’s prayer. He wants to educate | for what purpose they are to exert| that influence. It sounds rather like the League of Women Voters. The greatest political danger in a democracy occurs when huge popu- lar-pressure groups organize to make demands upon government without | being willing to take the responsibility of government. They do not want to organize society according to a pattern MONDAY, MARCH 29, determined by certain principles They want merely to make raids upon society, and the only principle is a guess at what the traffic will bear. They are not held together by a program, but by a leader. They can remain a minority, but a minority which can swing the political pendu- | lum as they wish to swing it, not in regard to a general program, but in regard to specific situations. That, and that alone, is dangerous, for it is a type | of movement without discipline, with- out intellectual integrity or political responsibility. Our menace is not communism, but confusion. (Copyright. 1937.) This Changing World With War Threatening, Europe Sends Ace Diplomats to Washington. BY CONSTANTINE BROWN, ‘ h ZASHING‘N)N has become once more, in recent months, one of the most important diplomatic centers of the world. European nations, fearing a collapse of the peace struc- ture, are preparing for war at break-neck speed. Some, like Britain and France, harbor hopes that in the event of a conflagration, this country might be induced to join in the brawl. Others, like Ger- many and Italy, hope to be able to maintain correct relations and prevent by their diplomatic activities any active participation of this country in the European drama. This is the reason why the leading European countries are sending to Washington their besi diplomats. The French have replaced the career man, de Laboulaye, by a prominent politician, George Bon- net. Being a member of Parlia- ment and a man keenly interested in the political developments of his country, there is a possibility that he will not stay beyond the term of six months, which is the time his position as a member of Parliament allows him to hold a special government appointment. There is a rumor in Paris that in the event Bonnet would want to return to the French political arena, the present Ambassador to Berlin, the ace of France's diplomacy, Francois-Poncet, might come to Washington. * % ok % The Germans have replaced their kind-hearted and easy-going Dr. Hans Luther by another Hans. Ambassador Hans Dickoff, without doubt the ablest man in the German diplomatic service, a confidant of Der ge!her without being a militant Nazi, has been given the Washington st. Dickoff had a powerful situation in Berlin. His own friends did not think, a few months ago, that he would exchange the job of undersecre- tary of state, in many was more important than that of the secretary himself, for a soft assigrment like Washington. Things have changed in the last months. The German government has been less alarmed by the controversies with La Guardia than by the activities of the other nations in Washington. . The appointment of Dickoff does not mean at all that Luther has made mistakes. He had been here too long and the German foreign office felt that it needed a new man here, more sure of himself and more conversant with the present situation in Europe than Ambassador Luther. Dr. Luther is aggressive—in the good sense of the word. He has had such important positions in his life—chancellor of the Reich, president of the Reichsbank—that he cannot “take it” with the same ease as a younger man. Furthermore, Dickoff has been in posts, after the war, where his pride as a German has suffered. He is hardened now. With the British it is not essential to have a dynamic Ambassador in Washington. Most of the affairs between the two countries are transacted between the head of the government and the State Department directly. Furthermore, Sir Ronald Lindsay, in his quiet, unobtrusive manner, knows the ropes to America's political life better than most diplo- mats. But the end of his tenure of office is approaching. He should have left some time ago. His services here compelled the foreign office to ex- tend his time in Washington for another two years. These two years have nearly expired. i It 13 said in London that his successor has been already designated in the person of another brilliant Englishman, Sir Robert Vansittart, the present undersecretary of state. Vansittart, too, is one of the shining lights of the British foreign office. He is more apt to appeal to the people of this country at large than Sir Ronald, who is of a retiring nature. He probably will travel and make public speeches (Sir Robert is a poet and a playwright among other things), in other words, be more dynamic than the present Ambassador. And when it comes to the question of propaganding, an important question these days, from the point of view of foreign nations, he will be an ace. The Italian Ambassador, Pulvio Suvich, is a newcomer. Mussolini's right-hand man in the foreign office for some five years Suvich, however, is an office man. He is used to studying problems and submit decisions in the same manner a scientist does his laboratory work. Although a splendid man from every point of view, he is not the type which A\ — catches the fancy of the public : "Q_fi-.‘a-’ 0 For this reason, it is rumored in = > Rome that ne might be replaced before the end of the year by Count Vitetti. who used to be a counselor of Embas here, who has married an American woman and is believed to be more “agile” than the present incumbent of the post He was = Shuttle Airline. airplane service 132 Locomotives Annually. Approximately 132 steam and elec- Shuttle Who’s Who Behind the News Kid McCoy, at 64, Is Tanned, Fit Worker for Ford Motor Co. BY LEMUEL F. PARTON. ID McCOY, former welterweight prizefighter, 64 years old, is edged into the news by his old friend and boxing pupil, Harry Bennett, personnel director of Motor Co., Mr. Bennett rep! orously to the automobile wor t , 8 declaration that “organized labor is not going to run the Ford Motor Co.” For the last five years Kid McCoy has been working at the Ford plant, ow wearing a badge, and re- ferred to by M Bennett as fol- lows “We've got some 3 here, it is true. We be- lieve that a man | who has served his time is entitled to | another chance as long as he behaves Kid McCoy. himself. But these men arc thysical | wrecks—the on | eondition is Kid McCoy, | years old.” | cCurly-haired, handsome Kid McCoy | owned Broadway after he defeated Philadelphia Jack O'Brien and became welterweight champion in 1896. Young | Bennett, a 1.avy boxer, out for higher | honors, had known Mc in his earlier pork and beans days. The Kid generously gave him boxing lessons. Bennett was a fast, whippy boxer and might have moved on up had he not turned to industrial relations work. He was advanced in the Ford organization to complete charge of personnel, The Kid's good and charm | were always getting r He was one that is in good and he is 64 looks m arried tried for sh always ready to sa the Kid and his 1 Kid McCoy. who was Norman Selby fought 200 fights and Jim Corbett, Tom Sharkey, Jack Root and Bill Stef- fins. He accumulated nearly a million in his fighting days ended in 1912. He was a playboy. His for | faded He was in New York several weeks | ago. E abundant, sligh His face is lined h younger than his years. His wor: Keeps him out of doors a lot and he is tanned, hard and fit. He 0 doubt back up his old friend 1 the latter’s decisipn as g to run the Ford Motor C _— Salt Water Ruins Land. 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