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Show lfEGLEit:;o';;: . Sec If lly WeHlbrook Pegler Released by WNU Features. HpHE citizen who rejects unionism for honest reasons untingeel with class hatred nevertheless finds himself loudly damned as an advocate advo-cate of oppression and a paid stooge, of the National Association of Manufacturers. Man-ufacturers. He Is also a fascist, although unionism Is an essential part of fascism and all 4gf?Bvi workers in Italy I f J an Germany had Uf to join the appro-h' appro-h' ttijj priate unions and t conform to oppres-( oppres-( wi- ? slve rules under a system which " A'jf roughly duplicated t-'-a the condition of L - ; - I American workers L..,.,,-. under Roosevelt PEGLER during the great war boom. All of the notorious criminals of the movie and building service unions, un-ions, the heavy construction unions and the liquor-trade unions of New York relied on two loud cries in rounding up subjects and robbing workers and employers and gener- ally imposing on the public. They were agents of "democracy" and all who fought them were either "fascists" or "communists." THEY WERE SOME OF THE VILEST CRIMINALS UNHUNG AS THE EVIDENCE FINALLY SHOWED. The basic fact that American unionism is, of itself, a badness bad-ness corrupting politics government gov-ernment and the public morals and economy has been avoided by all but a few reckless argn-fiers argn-fiers who defeated themselves by taking that extreme position. posi-tion. It is the correct position, to be sure, but it has been so very unpopular un-popular that even the most reasonable reason-able intellectuals were shocked by such a proposition and would not listen. By a persistent but Curse not very clever prop-of prop-of aganda, unionism and Power "collective bargaining" bargain-ing" have been sold to almost the entire public as synonymous and almost sacred principles. Skipping the question whether unionism ever could be just and fair and moral, we come at once to the fact that it has been a corrupt force and the more corrupt cor-rupt as it gained strength and public pub-lic prestige. POSSIBLY IT COULD HAVE BEEN A BOON. BUT THE FACT IS THAT IT WASN'T. IT HAS BEEN A CURSE, AND WE HAVE TO RESPECT FACTS. It should have been plain before the situation developed that if we ever gave to a few ambitious, rough-and-tumble union politicians the power that we finally did confer con-fer on Dan Tobin of the teamsters, William L. Hutcheson of the carpenters car-penters and John L. Lewis of the mine workers, they would make, politics within their unions to keep themselves in power. The truth did not develop, however, until the test was made. Now we find that Tobin has been president of the teamsters for 41 years and at present rules half a million Americans by a code of laws and discipline which forbid and punish conduct con-duct not forbidden by any public pub-lic or moral law. He is actually clothed in majesty, majes-ty, but a tyrant of righteous furies and fond of panoply. For 41 years he has ruled the teamsters and, in recent years, he has reached out and, in the manner of Hitler "liberating" "liber-ating" his beloved minorities, Tobin has enfoldtd whole classes of workers work-ers having absolutely no connection with horsf. or motor transportation. They weren't consulted. THEY WERE NSCHLUSSED, LIKE AUSTRI l. Hutcheson became Sinecure president of the car-for car-for penters in 1915, 33 r.-.'L years ago. And, like ramuy Tob-mt who found princely, royal sinecures on the union payroll for his princely sons, Hutcheson provided that his own son should become the crown prince, with a constitutional provision pro-vision directing that the royal scion should succeed him in the presi-Jency. presi-Jency. This sort of thing never has occurred in any elective public office in our country. Even Roosevelt probably would have been turned out If he had lived and had stood for a fifth term this year. Not even Roosevelt, with all his gall, dared push the opposition around as these old bullies did. Lewis has been president of the mine workers ever since 1919, or 29 years, and today is more powerful power-ful than ever, with two-thirds of the elective voting strength of his union in his own hands. THAT IS A DICTATORSHIP BUT A DICTATORSHIP DICTA-TORSHIP OF THIS BAD UNIONISM, UNION-ISM, It gives this one headstrong, often brutal and lawless man power over not only his own half-million subjects but power over most of the industry of the whole country. It is the power to strangle our economy in a few weeks and persecute millions mil-lions by denial of fuel in winter. |