Evening Star Newspaper, April 23, 1937, Page 11

Broad Powers Given Labor Board Act Infers Jurisdiction in Disputes by Any Persons. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. UST what are the powers of the National Labor Relations Board with reference to disputes that arise between workmen as well a5 between workmen and employers? For a long time it has been con- tended that the Wagner law does not give the employ- ers any rights. This view is cor- rect so far as reading of the statute itself is concerned. But it is also true that: the National Labor Relations # Board has powers of initiative which it may be re-iy. quested inform- @ i ally by employers . or anybody else & to utilize, but which, of course, ft does not have to utilize if it does not wish to do so. 8o while the employers are not spe- cifically granted any rights by the law, the National Labor Relations Board being supposedly an impartial tribunal and anxious to carry out the purposes of the law, namely to di- minish the causes of labor disputes, has ample power to investigate all kinds of labor troubles. It has power also to take action with reference to the calling of an election so as to determine the true representatives for collective bargaining. An employer who wishes to comply with the lJaw may well ask who are the *“true representatives” of his workmen. The Supreme Court decision recently made it clear that an employer must be sure he is dealing with “true repre- sentatives” and not with those who “purport” to represent his workmen. How else can the employer find out than by asking the National Labor Relalions Board to discover the truth and to certify by an election or other- wise just who are the authorized rep- resentatives of a majority of his work- men? Power to Protect Minorities. ‘Has the board any authority to pro- ceed against workmen who coerce or intimidate their fellow employes? This is not specifically defined in the statute, but there are some reasons for believing that the board does have power to protect a minority of work- men against abuses and also that it has power to protect any group of workmen {rom being intimidated or coerced by other workmen. The grounds for such a statement are to be found in a careful reading of the Wagner law. Thus section 10 says: “The board is empowered, as here- inafter provided, to prevent any person from engaging in any unfair labor practice (listed in section 8) affecting commerce.” If the Congress had intended this section to read that the board is empowered to prevent “‘any employer” from engaging in any unfair labor practice, it could easily have done so. But the word “person” is used. And the word “person” is defined earlier in the statute as “one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, corporations, legal representatives, ate.” Thus any union organizer is a “person” within the meaning of the above and so is any association of workmen. ‘Why didn't Congress specifically say that only employers could be pre- vented from engaging in unfair labor practices? The answer may be found | in the declaration of policy in the" beginning of the Wagner law, which | says: “It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States to elimi- nate the causes of certain substantial obstructions to the free flow of com- merce and to mitigate and eliminate these obstructions when they have occurred by encouraging the practice and procedure of collective bargain- ing and by protecting the exercise by workers of full freedom of association, David Lawrence. relf-organization, and designation of | representatives of their own choosing, for the purpose of negotiating the terms and conditions of their em- ployment or other mutual aid or pro- tection.” Bound to Protect Workers. It will be noted that the “policy” of the act is, among other things, to eliminate causes of labor disputes by protecting the exercise by workers of full freedom of association.” This means clearly that the board can pro- tect any workmen and is, in fact, in duty bound to protect them in their “full freedom of association.” Now it is known that disputes do occur between rival labor organiza- tions. Today tre C. I. O. and the A. F.of L. are engaged in a struggle for power. Employers have nothing to do with that dispute, which relates to whether labor shall be organized by industries as John Lewis wants it or by crafts as Willlam Green wants 1v. Congress, however, provided for the Protection of the workers against any unfair labor practices growing out of such disputes. The law says in sec- tion 9: “The board shall decide in each case whether, in order to insure to employes the full benefit of their right to self-organization and to col- lective bargaining and otherwise to effectuate the policies of this act, the unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining shall be the em- ployer unit, craft unit, plant unit, or subdivision thereof.” How else could the board “effectu- ate the policies of this act” unless it had the power to enjoin any persons who declined to obey its decision as to whether the “unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining” is an A. F. of L. or a C. I. O. unit? Couched in Broad Terms. This is the reason, presumably, why section 10, which follows the section about deciding the appropriate unit, || is couched in broad language and gives the board the power “to prevent any person from engaging in any un- fair labor practice (listed in section 8)." It has been contended by spokes- men for labor that the language “listed in section 8" implies that only employers are meant because section 8 does start out with the words “It shall be an unfair labor practice for an employer, etc.” But, then, there is a series of numbered paragraphs glving the list of unfair labor prac- tices. In construing a statute, a list begins not with the language of other sections preceding it, but with the numbers that are prefaced to each paragraph. It is only the *lsjy of THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, News Behind the News Trouble Looms Ahead With Party Leaders Demand- ing Relief “Racket” Cut. BY PAUL MALLON. PR!BIDENT ROOSEVELT has made a sucoessful practice of overriding his congressional consultants, but this time there is going to be trouble. Details of their pre-budget pow-wow at the White House heve gone unreported, but you may acceps the fact on unquestionable authority that the leaders have never before talked so alarmingly to their respected party boss. And they were, for the first time, unanimous against the mid- dle-of-the-road course the President insisted on taking. Even Senate Floor Leader Robinson, who has not questioned any of the President’s acts, including the Supreme Court packing plan, talked flercely (the adverb comes from a conservative source) against Mr. Roosevelt’s failure to cut exrpenses more realistically. No more fundamental analysis of the existing trend of national affairs has developed in the past year than occurred in that three-hour discussion in the President’s study. The whole inside situation was presented raw. * ok %k % They told the President he was being misled about the real relief needs of the country. Of course, reliefman Harry Hopkins wants all the money he can get; any bureaucrat thinks his % own bureau is the biggest in the THE WORM TURNS* world; he naturally would exag- gerate the sltuation. Why Hopkins was actually put on record before Congress, within 30 days, as being in favor of permanent relief in this country. ‘They told him he was being deceived also by the State Govern- ors and city Mayors who are saying they cannot exist without Federal money. If the President is going to wait until local authorities are willing to give up the Federal dole, before curtailing it sharply, he will never be able to give it up. In the privacy of the presidential gathering, some of the con- gressional leaders conceded their own States did not need the money being demanded by the Governors. Figures were quoted to show the States are producing more goods than ever and, what is more, are getting more money for the goods than they are accustomed to get. It was all right for the Federal Government to run itself into heavy debt to care for people when the States could not. That was a question of emergency. Now the emergency is over. There is no excuse for continuing 1t in view of the financial condition of the Treasury. Treasury Secretarv Morgenthau sat in a corner with a dark look on his face throughout the argument. But he gave a doleful analysis of the Treas- ury situation. * % %k X% ‘The President's position seemed to be he did not know how to get around the demands of the Governors and Mayors, backed by Mr. Hopkins. At least, this is the impression carried away by some of the leaders. It is being suggested in House quarters that this is purely an admin= istrative problem. It should be worked out on some businesslike basis. ‘The Governors and Mayors should be required to show their inability to handle the situation, and exactly how many worthy needy there are, as apart from those who have always been needy in good times and bad. The burden of proof should be shifted to them. At the very least, they should be required to take the public responsibility for plunging the Federal Treasury deeper in the hole before they are given a cent. Unless they pub- licly and officially do so, they should not be permitted to snitch their fat doles from the Federal pork barrel, merely to feed their local political machines, and make the President take the responsibility. ‘The argument actually got up to the pitch where one presidential caller, after leaving the White House, hotly termed the existing relief set-up a “racket.” Apparently Mr. Roosevelt felt he was doing something toward cor- rection of the situation by cutting the Governors-Mayors' demands 25 per cent to $1,500,000,000. At any rate, he declined to alter his message in any particular to meet congressional demands. He likewise feels that “Roosevelt luck” does not go with nature. Every time he gets fiscally optimistic, along comes a drought, flood or something. Those who tell his side of the story say the explanation for Speaker Bankhead's gloom after the meeting was that the President “nearly deserted” the farm tenant bill. They say also that Senator Pat Harrison’s displeasure might be rooted in the fact that his ez- pensive Federal dole for State educational purposes did not fit in with the President’s idea of eccnomy either. Note.—The billion-dollar Wagner housing bill also was discussed. No fixed decision was reached, but the general understanding is that it will be cut about 95 per cent, at least, at the start. ¢« s e . When Congressmen start taking an alarming view about Federal pork, you may well conclude that the situation is likely to be alarming. The whole history of government shows that Congress-is instinctively the spending agency, that Presidents.are always trying to hold them down. The break this time may or may not lead to some constructive cur- tailments, but more and more Congressmen are muttering this threatening promise to themselves: “If any cne is going to be dictator around here, it should be the (Copyright, 1937.) | unfair labor practices which is auto- ijunction under the very terms of the: matically tacked on to section 10. | law 80 as to keep out those individuals, In the list of unfair labor practices | Whether labor organizers of outside occurs the following: “To interfere Unions or employers’ agents who might with, restrain, or coerce employes in wish to interfere with the rights of the exercise of the rights guaranteed Self organization by workmen. in section 7.” And, of course, section 2= 7 guarantees all workmen the rights England Keeping Fit. of collective bargaining through repre- | sentatives of their own choosing. In other words, the National Labor Board can protect workmen against intimidation or coercion by fellow- workmen or by organizers from outside unions and can enjoin such action as an unfair labor practice or as an attempt to interfere with the carry- ing out of the policies of the act itself. Whether the present membership of the labor board would care to construe the law in that way is, of course, up to the board. But it would not be surprising if some day in the courts & group of employes sought an in- England has a keep-fit movement | that is growing daily and may become & challenge to the health and youth parades in other countries of Europe. In the County of London alone are more than 100 health centers, where 500 evening health classes are held weekly. In these classes 23,000 young men exercise after business hours. As many more youths are having athletic and physical training in other places each evening. In some exclusive clubs electrical “horses” and “camels” are ridden. The American game of bas- ket ball has caught on and promises to become a body-building rage. D0 THE 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. Science vs. Guesswork People Who Pay Relief Bills Demand Actual Figures on Unemployment. BY DOROTHY THOMPSON. OMETHING approaching & howl or at least & peep is beginning to go up from the country for a census on unemployment, & method, that is to say, which would first of all establish who is out of work and why, and afford a means of keep- ing the record up to date. If it weren't & sort of tradition in this country that there is something pious and liberal about spending the people’s money as wastefully and inefficiently as possible, providing the cause is good, the howl would have gone up long ago. Senator Vandenberg says that from analyzing how many are employed—partly guess- work—he thinks " that unemploy- <% * ment has been overestimated by 5,000,000 Miss Perkins says his figures are all wet, but she doesn't know what the right ones are. In other words, she has a different guess. Mr. Hop- kins went to the bat a little while ago and said we might as well be prepared for a large permanent tech- nological unemployment, and offered & program to meet it. But that there is a large technological unemployment is, again, another guess. Now, in dis- cussing the budget, the President says we need $1,500,000,000. Senator Byrnes says, oh, make it $1,000.000,~ 000, and Senator McNary says $500.« 000,000 would suit him, but nobody insists on knowing the need with far more exactitude: When normal human beings are confronted with a situation that ob- viously demands serious action their usual procedure is to find out of just what the problem consists. A thorough diagnosis is the first step toward its solution. If you are ill and call in a doctor the first thing he does—if he is any good—is to make & couple of blood tests—chemical and hemo- globin—take a basal metabolism, a fluoroscope, a urine analysis and give you a general physical examination. Then he says, “You've got a blood count of so-and-so, a sugar and albumen content of so-and-so, & hyper or hypo thyroid gland, such and such & muscular reaction, and this and that is patently wrong with you.” If he’s a lazy charlatan he looks at your tongue, asks you how you feel and makes a guess, and sometimes right. But oftener it isn't. Most Government officials belong to the second school of medical practitioners, the look-at-the-tongue and take-a- guess school. And the wonder to me is that the patients go on paying their bills, and what bills! ‘Where Relief Cash Comes From. Relief for cases of unemployment is thé largest item in the Federal budget next to tost of past, present and fu- ture wars. It is paid by all the peo- ple of the United States who are not on relief. The people of the United States would like to know certain things in connection with this prob- lem which they are paying to solve. ‘They'd like to know how many people seeking relief ever were employed, what they worked at, whether they are out of work pecause of technology or beocause they have congenital hook- worm, whether some sorts of unem- ployment are regional, whether they are people who have never been trained for anything, how much of the problem is economic and how much social. A lot of this knowledge exists and some of it has been cor- related, but. nowhere on a truly com- prehensive scale. Taking measures to meet & problem you do not understand is called “the experimental method,” and the theory is you try and try until perhaps you hit something that works. If any laboratory technician used such a procedure he would be dismissed as & moron. If the Federal committee wishes to put back upon the communities all unemployables, and devote itself only to those who are capable of working, it ought to have its relief services tied up intimately with Federal employ- ment bureaus, and registration for Dorothy Thompson. _—— “What's the hurry? I haven't even started this cup of Wilkins Coffee” { and inquiring around and, as far as |I can learn, it disappeared months it's | relief made dependent upon registra- tion for employment. To take an original census is easy. The unem- ployed need merely to be instructed to report within a certain time to the Federal Employment, Service and have it made clear. that faflure to report means that they are not eligible for Federal relief or W. P. A. work. Analyzing the Facts. Similarly, all people who lose their Jobs ought to be instructed, as a con- dition of possible relief work, to report within a specified number of days to the United States Employment Service. The basic facts about them ought to be taken and analyzed, and the public ought to know what those facts add up to. They would doubtless reveal things essential to our framing an intelligent policy, not only on relief, but of education, industrial training and economic balance. But politicians don't want to get these facts, appar- ently. And to suggest that they be gotten makes one, for reasons utterly unfathomable to me, some sort of “reactionary” and ally of the economic royalists. Secretary Roper’s Industrial Ad- visory Committee was commissioned to make an investigation about re- employment and suggest some recom- mendations. It is a singularly able committee, and I understand that they put a great deal of time and thought into a report which was finished—I believe—last January. What has become of it Don't ask me! T've been calling up Washington ago into the pocket of young Mr. Roosevelt, to be calied to the pater's attention. Since when no sign. (Copyright, 1937.) e Pirate Ape Bears Flag. Bearing a stolen flag, a giant baboon has been terrorizing the farmers in | Northern Transvaal, South Africa, ac- cording to word received in Pretoria. | It scared the congregation of a church | when it made a sudden dash and| scampered off with the flag. Meeting | a farmer, it waved the banner defiantly at 20 paces. When the challenge was | not accepted, it made off. Later other | farmers saw the baboon still carrying | the Union Jack. The embattled tillers | of the soil organized a hunt for the daredevil ape, but he has succeeded in baffling all puruers. Frogs Block Water Pipes. Water shortage at Omagh, Northern Ireland, revealed that supply pipes had been blocked by frogs FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 1937. This Changing World Mussolini Believed Favorable to Restoration of Otto, But Wants to Keep Hitler Friendly. BY CONSTANTINE BROWN. ENICE is to European honeymooners what Niagara Falls are to the Americans. It is in Venice that Mussolini and Schuschnigg, the Austrian chancellor, have met to patch up the differences which have occurred between the two countries after II Duce turnied down the plan for the restoration of Otto of Hapsburg. Five years ago the mere talk of the reinstatement of the Hapsburg dynasty in Austria and in Hungary would have made the nations of the little entente see red. Troops would have been marched to the borders, excited diplomats would have called at foreign offices in Paris and London, warning about the ‘“grave conse- quences of such a flagrant breach of the Trianon treaty”; the League of Nations' machinery would have been set in motion; Central Europe would have been in an uproar, * % x % ‘This situation no longer exists today. Ozechoslovakia is concerned over more important national prob- lems; Rumania is thinking about the possibility of a serious conflict in Central and Eastern Europe; Yugoslavia is strengthening the fences ‘which might keep war out of her yard. The opposition to the restoration of Otto comes from two totally different sources: From Berlin, where Hitler does not want to see a Hapsburg on the throne of Austria and Hungary and thus risk failure in the Germanization of those two states, and from the Austrian and Hungarian people themselves. As long as the little entente was so decidedly opposed to the restora tion of the old dynasty, the people were keen to have their “rightful ruler” back on the throre. Since this opposition has disappeared, the Austrian and the Hungarian people have become lukewarm to the idea of a restoration. ' A few weeks ago a service was held in a church in Budapest on the fifteenth anniversary of King Charles’ death in Madeira. Countess Appony organized it. There were exactly flve people present besides the countess—three of whom were former servants of the King. In Vienna the ceremony was more imposing because a number of former officers of the imperial royal army found it an excellent occasion to exhibit their old uniforms. x & % % Mussolini, who used to hold the key to the problem, is favorable at heart to Otto going back to Vienna, since he believes that the monarch would be practically Italy's vassal. But the present political situation in Europe is such that he does not wish to antagonize his friend Hitler. And since he must keep the best re- lations with Berlin, there is little doubt that he will advise Schuschnigg to wait a while before he can invite Archduke Otto to put on his best uniform and enter Vienna as the Austrian ruler. * o % % If Austria were in a different geographical position Schuschnigg might try a little bluff by threatening to go into the opposite camp. But the Austrian chancellor, a keen politician, realizes that both Mussolini and Hitler would laugh at such a threat. Austria would become a part Reich should any Austrian government try to put into effect such a threat, * % x x The British rearmament pro- gram has not only increased the burden of taxation of the people living in Great Britain, but also has increased substantially the gen- eral cost of living. Food is already rising rapidly in price. Shoes, furniture, clothes and other stapie products will increase by about a third as soon as the present stocks are exhausted. Everything metal, from pins to frying pans, will go up. Rearmament means to the British a return during peacetime of war price levels. Statistics published last week indicate the result of the demand for metals for rearmament has been a 10 per cent increase in alumi- num wares, 33 per cent increase in tron and tin wares, 20 per cent increase in enamel wares. Thus, while the rearmament policy of the British government pro- duces more employment and larger incomes, the increased profits are being returned to the treasury—in many instances with interest—by a new and drastic income tax law. Headline Folk and What They Do Commissioner CallsNew York Plumbers Sani- tary Engineers. BY LEMUEL F. PARTON. EW YORK plumbers are to he called “sanitary engineers” by the mandate of Samu Fassler, commisstoner of build- ings. They're marking up evérything these days and, of course, the certified sanitary engineers will have to be upped to some more impressive status and title. It might be a phase of in- flation. Diplomats, advertisers and politicians have euphemizing crews working night shifts and we all may have to learn a new language before long. 1It's elegant, bu: when you consider that ably will insist on blue-pi'r leaky faucet before they apply the lateral leverage which will denote a monkey wrench - Mr. Fassler, a Tammany appointés of 1931, is a successful business man, | head of the Fassler Iron W No | Federal commission has yet reported on this, but it would appear that ro- mantic business men have been re- sponsible for word lacquering and | glossing and substituting, rather than the professors. 5 Mr. Fassler is distressed because the word plumber suggests a “sorry=- looking, dirty-faced individual carrye ing a tool bag.” This writer has just finished building plumbers didr exultant, rathe smeared up a bit, k cause no deep t n; they seemed proud of their tocl bags and let it be known what would happen to any so-and-so who messed around a bit sorry— . they were implement for the sanita in sa days of Mu sachems them slick grammar is offices ind man in an iron yard, (Copyriant He started in as a handye e age of 13, Land Sales to Be Curbed. | speculators before their obligati ' the state are fulfiil