Evening Star Newspaper, July 8, 1937, Page 13

‘Closed Shop’ Is Called Monopoly David Lawrenee. THE EVENING What’s Back of It All Kennedy Halts Fight Over Scrap Iron by Ruling Foreigners May Buy Junked Ships. BY H. R. BAUKHAGE, HEN Skipper Kennedy of the Maritime Commission opens bids ‘Thursday for 28 obsolete ships rusting on their hawsers, he will end, temporarily at least, one of the moat tangled of legislative wrangles. It was the scrap over “scrap.” By virtue of Mr. Kennedy’'s action, the Government itself has decided that it's all right to sell our junked metal to foreigners as well as Americans. This does not mean, however, that the question isn't still alive. In fact, there is still plenty of pressure to keep this natural resource at home, but bills to stop the exportation of steel and iron scrap, fought over by powerful lobbies, are now slumber- ing in committees. These measures have as strange a combination of bedfel- Jows for sponsors as one meets in many a political moon. For stopping exportation are the Army and Navy, “in the inter- est of national defense.” Hand in hand and side by side are the paci- fists, but for a different reason— of course — stopping armament « i abroad. And right in step with this remarkable partnership are the big steel companies, cheering both the other two, but with a reason of their own. X X % % ‘They won't admit it, but what the steel manufacturers are really interested in is controlling the scrap market, since scrap is the one essential to steel-making which the industry doesn’t control now, Opposed to limiting exportation are aligned the united millionaire Junkmen of the Nation. Senator Schwellenbach, Democrat, of Washington introduced the first bill to forbid the exportation of steel-plate scrap except upon a special license issued by the President. But suddemly (another paradox) he dropped it into the lap of Semator Austin, Republican, of Vermont, who fingered it very lightly, not sure, apparently, whether it was a buiterfly or a hornet. Not so the bill's sponsor in the House, Representative Kopplemann of Connecticut. He's still for it, slightly altered, thinks Secretary of State Hull and the President look upon it kindly. But for the moment he, too, is allowing it to slumber. Meanwhile, the energetic Mr. Kennedy, hired to get things done, has put the Government on record against the measure by selling his ships for scrapping to anybody who has the money. ok X % ‘The seeming hopelessness for scrap legisiation at this session is mak- ing it unnecessary for the junkmen to unlimber their biggest gun against export restrictions. They have been threatening to hurl “monopoly” at the sponsors. They charge that the steel companies want to kill the foreign market for acrap so as to be able to put junkmen, big and little, in the same class as the “captive” coal and iron mines. * o % Certain members of the Farmer-Labor party had a terrible shock the other day when they caught a peculiar look on the smiling face of smiling Jim Farley. They reported back in consternation that the genial Post- master General looked exactly like & cat that had swallowed a gopher. And the gopher, they fear, is 30 per cent of their party vote in the 8enate, personified in what they fear is the weak flesh of Senator Lundeen It's all about a Federal judgeship in Minnesota. The two leading candidates are Judge Vince Day, favored secretary of the late Gov. Floyd B. Olson, who put him on the State bench. The other is George Sullivan, 8 Democrat, present United States district attorney in 8t. Paul. While Judge Day has the solid backing of the Minnesota Farmer- Labor delegation in the House of Representatives, all efforts to get Minnesota’s Farmer-Labor Sena- tors, Lundeen and Shipstead, to de- clare themselves in favor of Day A MEY TuaRef ~> have failed. What made the Minnesotans particularly suspicious was the way Senator Lundeen acted when, they say, he was almost forced to present Judge Day to the Attorney General. Mr. Lundeen's enthusiasm, disap- pointed witnesses testify, was a masterpiece of restraint. Senator Shipstead, it is feared by fearful Farmer-Laborites, while favoring a party candidate, cannot be counted on to help either, in case Democrat Sullivan is allowed to shoulder Gov. Olson's portege out of the way. (Copyright, 1937, by the North American Newspaper Alliance, Inc.) agréements must be “voluntary” and | that nothing in the law compels an employer to make any such agreement. There are many quotations from the debate in the Senate which indicate that while the employer must rec Demand for It Held Violation of Spirit of Labor Act. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. OW can working men be pro- tected in their free access to Jjobs when the Federal law a lows an employer and a major- ity of his employes to make a voluntary agreement which closes out all who do not belong to the union prescribed by the majority? This question, sommonly re- ferred to as the 3 “closed shop” 3 tssue, has already produced and will § continue to pro- 3 ‘duee complica- tions. For while, on the one hand, the individual worker is told by Federal statute that he and his fellow workmen can bargain with their employer and that the employer cannot fire them solely because they happen not to be members of a labor union, the same Federal law says that when an employer and a majority group of his employes get together they can close out the minority. ‘The average man will find it diffi- cult to explain this contradiction. The words of the Wagner law, to be sure, attempt to resolve it, but the conflict remains. The Wagner act, to begin with, makes it an “unfair labor practice” for an employer to refuse to hire a man because he is & member of a given union or because he is not & member of the union existing in his plant. But it goes on to say that this duty not to discriminate has an exception to It and this i& when a closed shop agreement has been made by an employer with & majority of his employes. Use of Majority Rule. This use of the majority rule idea has been little understood but it is only fair jo say that Senator Wagner told the Senate about it when his bill was up for consideration in May, 1935. He is quoted in the official record &s saying: . “While outlawing the organization that is interfered with by the em- ployer, this bill does not establish the closed shop or even encourage it. The much-discussed closed-shop pro- viso merely states that nothing in any Pederal law shall be held to illegalize the confirmation of voluntary closed- shop agreements between employers and workers. This insertion is nec- essary in order to prevent repetition | of those mistakén interpretations | which have held that Congress in- | tended to outlaw the closed shep ' when it enacted section 7-a of the | National Recovery act. “I hold no brief for or against the closed shop but there are some v\hn‘ believe that it is a device which at times may be necessary to advance and preserve the living standards of | employes. It is legal in many States, and there is no reason why Congress | . ¥ i | nize the representatives of the ma- ehoic mpke Jllegal ",‘ those pl'”f. | jority of his workmen and must meet where public policy now sustains it. A e st Arlm|s;‘lnn by Wagner. he need never agree to a closed shop Clearly no individual can be de- et ITo: doLeo Inroitazily p:l“?u ot ,%2 ’:’.“d;y: b"fu’; or under .apecmc duress makes the of union membership, but not so | tlearly he can be deprived when an ‘ agréement itself of doubtful legality. employer and & majority of his em- | By refusing to make a closed shop ployes want to close him out. Thus | 8greement, the employer is really do the rithts of the minority disap- | seeking to protect the free access to pear and Senator Wagner admits it | jobs of all who may apply to him in thus: | the future for work. He is endeavor- “Majority rule recognizes minority | ing to preserve his right to hire or rights. It does not ever imply that fire employes and take in persons who any employe can be forced to join a | 0 not happen to be a members of tnion, except through the traditional | the existing majority group. method of & closed shop agreement But when such a right is exercised with them. | solely for the purpose of undermining “And since in the absence of such | the majority union in a plant and an agreement, the bill specifically " such purpose can be proved, it is an prevents discrimination against any- | unfair labor practice and prohibited one either for belonging or not be- [ under the Wagner act. longing to a union, the majority will When a labor union makes a de- be quite powerless to make an agree- | mand for a closed shop which is not ment more favorable to themselves | accepted by the employer, is it doing than to the minority who remain | something illegal or at least contrary ‘without.” to the spirit of the Wagner law when Under these circumstances can an | the union insists upon calling & strike employer be forced to make a closed r and exerting economic pressure to shop agreement which will bar from | secure acceptance of that demand? his plant any but members of a given | This point will be debated in the union? The New York Senator | court of public opinion, particularly stresses the fact that closed shop |as it involves the right to strike for BE SURE THAT CANISTER IS CLEAN, DELLA , BEFORE YOU PUT SUGAR INTO T/ steps in fo[,_gmghul' AND JACK FROST SUGAR IS A WONDERFUL SUGAR FOR COOKING # GET SOME TODAY AND TRY IT IN THIS NEW MINT ICE RECIPE. the privilege of discriminating against | fellow-workers, a privilege sought to be safeguarded through so-called freedom of choice by the individual. Are not a group of workmen who | wish to force a closed shop agreement | in effect seeking a union monopoly, | which Senator Wagner himself has | said is not the purpose of thé law | he sponsored? The true synonym for “closed shop” is monopoly, and under the terms ot the Wagner law, it might well be called “legalized monopoly.” When the closed shop agreément is obtained, under pressure of & strike, or threat- ened strike, it can hardly, of course, be called a voluntary agreement. o | |it would seem that a workman who |'u deprived of & job might have the | | right to sue in the civil courts both | | the labor union leaders and the em- ployers for setting up such 4n ar- | rangement, which deprives him and other citizens of their opportunity to work. | An employer, of his own initiative, | does not have the liberty to force upon his employes a closed-shop agreement, excluding union men, and the unions similarly do not have an unqualified right to force a eclosed shop upon him. Congress can, if it likes, and s0 can the States, act to prevent the making of closed-shop cantracts under duress, or the mak- ing of any contracts which tend to ex- clude substantially large numbers of persons from obtaining employment. 1 KNOW A GRAND WAY TO SOLVE THAT MINT ICE ‘Serves 6t0 8 ack Frost ¥4 teaspoon 1 e aeed Buper 3 cups water /s teaspoon salt 1. Didsolve Jack Frost Granulated Sugsr in| t be completely distol e B begin to boil. That's why | riences. | over his head, or doesn’'t agree with STAR, WASHINGTON. trill opinions of the writers on this page are their own, not necessarily The Star's. Such opinions are presented in The Star’s eflort to give all stdes of questions of interest to its readers, although such opinions ma; themselves and directly opposed be contradictory amon, to Tgc Star’s, . o President’s ‘Machiavellis’ Gen. Johnson Urged to Name Intimates of Roosevelt He Recently Assailed. BY MARK SULLIVAN. EN. HUGH JOHNSON—erst- while No. 2 man to the Presi- dent, now a columnist, and at all times a forthright old soldier—says Mr. Roosevelt is all right, but that some of the people around 'him are perfectly terrible. The general doesn’t mean cab- inet members nor § neads of depart- ments. nor the President’s of {i- cial secretaries, He doesn’t mean members of Con- gress, nor any- body like that. He means the persons who are really close to Mr, Roosevelt. He means the Presi- dent’s real inti- mates, persons who are in and out of the White House continually, persons who have the President’s ear, who understand the President's temperament and moods, who entertain him when he ‘wants entertainment, and on other occasions stir him up, and at all times influence him. It is these, the general says, who are doing all the dreadful things. It is they who write the hills, filled with “adroit obscurities,’ which Congress passes without detecting the trick clauses, and therefore without real- izing what the statutes will do in practice. The general calls them “Machiavellis.” He says that—acting through their influence with Roose- velt, but without Mr. Roosevelt's Tealizing it—the Machiavellis are making over the American Govern- ment into “the most dangerous on earth.” The general says they are going to choose Mr. Roosevelt's suc- ceasor and he ‘shudders to think” of | | the changed government in the hands | of the successor whom the Machiavellis | will choose. “The stark cleverness of | | this gang,” says the general, “is get- | ting away with murder.’ General Seriously Disturbed. ‘The general is seriously disturbed about them. He says—and it's true— that the late Louis Howe used to stand between Mr. Roosevelt and this kind of advisers, or prevent the President from acting on their suggestions. The | general feels that “this country suf- | fered its greatest loss in the death of Louis Howe.” The general is right rough with ‘em. He says they are “cynically | adroit.” They are “an incarnadined | | junta of self-styled intelligentsia.” | | They live in'a “pinkish intellectual | bagnio.” He calls them esoteric epi- | thets. One of them he calls & “bril- | liant odalisque,” and another a “polit- | ical hourl.” Another is a “Schehera- | zade.” | 1 wonder, by the way, if the general, when he hurled those epithets, un- deratood the literal meaning of them. “The general has a first-class fa- miliarity with all literature, includ- ing the Arabic and the Byzantine, and he must know just what an oda- | lisque and a houri and a Scheherazade are. Any one who looks those words up in the dictionary will get & smile— ! Mark Sullivan, | and a smile these days is worth tak- | ing some trouble to get. Probably | the general was in a soldierly rage, | and wasn't paying any attention to | the literal meaning of his epithets. Probably he was just looking for a | good, big, resounding verbal brick, | and took the first one that come to | the surface of his exceptionally well- | stocked Army mind. 1 Describes Their Experiences. | ‘The general curses 'em out good ' and plenty. He calls them all the names I have quoted, and he de- scribes their minds and their expe- He says, “To them, the Con- stitution is & musty and useleas relic. Most of them once had money, and lost it through their innocence of practical or horse-sense. According- ly—to them—owning anything is a crime. Methods of making any money whatever are evil conspiracies. Any- body who 30 much as owns the roof them, is an obscenity.” ‘The general describes them and epithetizes them, and anathematizes them, and otherwise excoriates them. BUY JACK FROST SUGAR AND KEEP IT RIGHT IN IT'S DUST- PROOF PACKAGE. THERE'S A SPOUT FOR I'M THE PACKAGE THAT KEEPS SUGAR CLEAN! SEE|. MY "OPEN-SHUT" POURING SPOUT/ ved| ack| before = is advised. It diseclves quickly f.'.fi' ‘lhs:rmm’. Maks & syrup by boiling 3 minutés. JACK FROST PACKAGED SUGARS GRANULATED POWDERED - CONFECTIONERS XX XX - BROWN - TABLET - GRANS - “JACK FROST® SUPER-SIFTED QUICK-DISSOLVING 100 °. PURE CANE | that the Government could not avoid | in interest. | search, Boy Scouts of America, wulj But the general doesn’t name them. ‘The country, outside of Washington, must be curious to know their names and the personal histories the gen- eral hints at. In Washington, most of us know pretty well, or can make fair surmises about who the general means. I think I know who the gen- eral means, but I won't name them here. I can't print another writer's anonymous epithets and then supply the names on my responsibility. “Name 'em, Hugh, Name ’em.” But you name ’em, Hugh. You've got more courage than I have. You're a soldier, courage comes natural to you. Name ’em, Hugh, name ‘em. Name them all and tell just what are their individual roles in the Machi- avellian making over of the American Government into “the most danger- ous on earth.” General Johnson, speaking of him- self as “this column,” tells what is ahead: “This column would not be much afraid of such a system with Roose- velt as President. But it does not believe this was his design—with him gone—it shudders to think of such a system in the hands of the Machi- avellis whose design it was—or their choice of his successor.” Incidentally, since modern Machi- avellis are at work, here is a quota- tion from the old Italian master him- self. It can be read with profit by President Roosevelt and by the Ameri- can people: “Let no man who begins an innova- tion in a State think that he can stop it at his pleasure or control it at his will.” . (Copyrisht, 1937.) GOVERNMENT APPEALS RULING IN BOND CASE B the Associated Press. The Government appealed yester- day to the Supreme Court from a de- cision of the Fourth Circuit of Ap- peals at Richmond, which ruled last April that the owner of a Liberty bond was not required to surfender it on call from the Treasury. ‘The appeal was in the case of Ar- thur Machen, who refused to surren- der his $1,000 Liberty bond on the | ground the Government had agreed to redeem it in gold. Earlier the Circuit Court had ruled | the payment of interest on the bonds by calling them for redemption with bonds which pay on the basis of the devalued dollar. Machen sought to :acover $17.30 ‘The Treasury refused to pay on the ground interest ceasad after the call for redemption. The Federal District Court for the Dis- trict of Maryland upheld the Gov- | ernment, but the Circuit Court re- | versed its decision. — DR. HURT TO TALK Research Director Address Club. Dr. H. W. Hurt, Scout to Cosmos director of re- speak again before the Washington Round Table, at its regular weekly luncheon tomorrow at the Cosmos Club. He will continue his discussion on character building activities of | the Boy Scouts. William A. Edelblut | will preside. | Dr. Hurt will be introduced by ! Linn Drake, Scout executive of the District of Columbia area, who is & | member of the Washington Round | Table Club. The Pace Slackens as Administration Leaders Revise Plans and Time Tables. BY JAY FRANKLIN. ETORE the Jefferson Island week-end conference, the New Dealers B belief that everything would go through with a sort of hurrah-boys rush, This headlong attitude aroused plenty of resentment among the Demo- cratic party politicians—so much so informal caucus in the middle of Chesapeake Bay. President Roosevelt sat back under a tree, flanked by his cabinet came on in boat loads, marched up to see him and—contrary to the expectations of the press—did not raise & rumpus about the terrific We, the People 4 . were going after everything in sight, like the C.I. O., in the apparent that it seemed wise to hold an and bureau chiefs. The politicians burden his pdlicies were placing on their legislative shoulders. The result of the session has been to confirm the Presiden’s in- tention to put through his program. The spirit of his attack is dif- Jerent. He has changed his tactics from the frontal attack to the flank march, which carried Grant from the wilderness and gave him victory in spite of heavy losses. The 1937 legislative program now includes: Henry Wallace's resurrected ever-normal granary bill; the farm tenant bill; the Black-Connery labor standards bill; Senator Norris’ power bill, and the Judiciary reform bill. Each one of these measures is badly shot up and in ne¢d of a trip to the varfous executive emergency hospitals before it receives the seal of approval. In my continued discussion of the “New New Deal,” I shall come back to them and explain what is happening. At the moment, it is important to take note of the fact that the admin- istration leaders seem to be sobered by the shock of the opposition which even a mild reform can arouse. The new food and drugs bill is a case in point. Under the leadership of Representative Lea of California in the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, this measure of public health protection has been manhandled beyond belief. So it is with the attempt to consolidate other temporary reforms of the first Roosevelt administration. It seems to be quite difficult to win any political support for the general welfare, where special interests are in the field, Accordingly, the New Dealers have reviled all their plans and all their time tables. None of them expects the present session of Congress to end before September—their last hopeful estimate was August first—and none of them would be surprised if it lasted over until 1938. The fact that the President took a whole week off after the wedding of his son indicates that the administration is no longer trying to turn on the heat but is letting nature twke its course. The course which nature is expected to take is the production of 8ix or five roll calls on major questions of public policy in the House and Senate. If a man votes against the administration on one or two of these measures, it will not be held against him too bitterly. 1If he votes against the administration in a majority of cases, he will be considered a self- confessed reactionary subject to Democratic discipline in the primaries and nominating conventions. This is the “blood-purge” contemplated by the New Deal. Just as the New Deal voters have driven most of the old guard Republican politicians out of public life in a series of three Nation-wide elections, so will they now have the opportunity to drive old guard Democratic politicians out of public life in 1938, 1940 and 1942. Since the sanction to be applied is composed of the votes of the people in the States and congressional districts, Miss Dorothy Thompeon and other horrified enemies of the new game seem to be mistaken in branding it fascism or communism. It is democracy conducted within the frame-work of the American Con- stitution. * x % x For the net result of the Jefferson Island conference has been to Confirm President Roosevelt in his belief that democracy is tough enough to dish it out as well as take it in a world crawling with dictatorships and - authoritarian firing equads. This means that he must continue his program in order to give the American people a chance to pass on the men who have supported and opposed them. The time has passed when a man could coast into public office simply by saying he is for President Roosevelt and the New Deal. As the era of personal government passes, men must be judged by their attitude on measures, and if the people don't like that attitude—ouf with them! This takes time. The “mandate” peychology must be abandoned, for A mandate is no good unless it is honored by the elected representatives of the people who pass upon that mandate in legislative assembly. From now on, the pace slackens and the Washington scene shifts from an effort to do something “now” into an attempt to set the stage so0 as to do something to the people who don't want to do anything “now.” (Copyright, 1937.) | servieces for MRS. LOWDEN BURIED Condolences Sent by Roosevelt, Hoover and Landon. OREGON, Til, July 8 (#).—Funeral Mrs. Florence Pullman Lowden, wife of former Illinois Gov. Frank O. Lowden, were held yesterday at 8innissippi Farms, expansive Low- den estate near here. Measages of condolence to the Low- dén family were received from Presi- A long, cooling draught of Lipton’s Tea iced is delic iously refreshing. And~—its fine flavor really quenches warm-weather thirst. Yellow Label Tea is rich and full- bodied. It is a natural first prefer- ence whenever a thirst-quenching and delicious iced drink is in order. Lipton’s Yellow Label is econom- ical too, because, with this high quality tea, you need use less to get a flavorful, full-strength beverage. Order Lipton’s Yellow Label to- morrow. At all grocers in conve- nient quarter, half and pound pack- ages=also in individual tea bags. sl bert Hoover, former Gov. Alf M. Lan- don of Kansas, Republican presidential | candidate last Fall; Mrs. Ruth Hanna 8imms, former Illinois Congress- | woman; Gov. Henry Horner and| others prominent in national affairs. | P S Lineman Electrocuted. CHAPEL HILL, N. C, July 8 (#.— | | Ernest L. Whitehurst, jr., 37, line fore- man of the University cmmoliduted; Service Plants, accidentally electro- | | cuted himself yesterday when he | dent Roosevelt, former President Her- | touched a wire near Carrboro. | An American You Should Know Richard L. Disney Another Example of Farm Boy’s Success. BY DELIA PYNCHON. NOTHER farm boy makes good. A This caption might apply to many & high Government of- ficial. Richard L. Disney, a comparatively new arrival in Washing- ton, hews to the line of official biog- raphy. He was appointed in 1936 by the President %o serve on the 16- man Board of Tax Appeals for a 12-year term Disney's cour= age and re- sourcefulness to pull himself off the family farm near Topeka, Kans., go to high #§ school, earn enough money Summers to ate tend the Univere sities of Kansas and Arizona Winters and ulti= Richard L. Disney. mately to become a Rhodes scholar at Oxford, England, is a triumph of turning lacks into opportunities. A graduate of Oxford in 1912, with a B. A. degree in jurise prudence, Disney returned to this country, practiced law for 23 years at Muskogee, Okla., was a member of the Oklahoma Legislature for two years and a candidate for Congress when his present appointment came, With his suggestion that “life be- gins at 50,” Disney, with black hair unsilvered, brown eyes alight, back= ground vigorous, education certified, humor evident, is the epitcme of an American gentleman who has worked hard and is eager for the fray. Tax dodgers abound. The Board of Tax Appeals has over 8,000 cases pend- ing. Since inception in 1924 it has had 88,726 cases in the United States proper, with the lion's share com- ing from California, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania, where lies the greatest concentration of weaith, There is some public misconcep= tion about the board's functions, Disney says. It does not prosecute, as some may think. The board is an impartial tribunal that tries tax cases, an intermediary between the Gov- ernment and the taxpaver. After one year’s experience, Disney says that it is a toss-up whether the Governe ment or the people win more cases. Tax avoidance or tax evasion are the two issues to be decided. The former is a legal method of arrang- ing your affairs so that taxes are avoided. The latter is a violation of the law to get away from taxes. Now it seems reasonable that no one wants to arrange his affairs to pay the most taxes, nor does he want to be outside the law. Loopholes in ine terpretation have made possible some quaint evasions, that tax dodgers have used so far with considerable success. Disnev tried the famous Raskob- Du Pont case in May. He who reads has followed the technicality in- volved. In 1929 Raskob and Du Pont sold securities to each other. Thev claim this quiet purchase was to avoid depressing the tottering market. They claim no agreement to repurchase, Each had heavy gains upon which heavy taxes were due. Each had heavy losses. Who is right? Disney's des cision will be reached later after thoua sands of pages of briefs have been studied. The board will not pass upon it until next Fall. e Indians Collect $18,000,000. Since 1871 American Indians have obtained $18,000.000 in claims from the Federal Gov men W