Show Round Merry err 1 Rail Unions Halted J Steel Wage Boost Boos r By Drew Pearson I V WASHINGTON ASHINGTON Last week end everything was all set sel inside the gO e govern gore to give the steelworkers a wage In crease regardless of the thet courts and whether the r z M steel industry liked it or il not This was before Judge Pines Pine's d decision e cis ion l that seizure was ill illegal ego Suddenly the plan was as tr called off tl Reason for or the last last- j minute switch was not z 2 the 1 argument r J u men t before Judge fudge David Pine or protests protestS protests pro pro- r tests by the steel compa comp companies Mr lr Pearson flies nies but the intervention of the ra railroad brotherhoods Here is what happened Hearing that the steelworkers were era due to have a wage increase handed them by the government Roy Hughes regj dent of f the Brotherhood of Railway Conductors Con Cor I got ot in touch with Charles Mur Mur- MurI I phy counsel to the President told him ofa of ofa ot I IR a R letter the brotherhoods had received from Karl Bendetsen assistant secret secretary of the Army who is now operating the thi railroads on behalf of the government Bendetsen had written Hughes that under the executive order by which the thi Army took over the railroads he was not note authorized to grant a wage increase He Hi expressed his sympathy for such an increase increase in in- crease but said that under the circumstances circum stances he was powerless The railroads have now been operated 1 under the government for about two year yearn i Hughes reminded White While House Counsel Murphy If a wage i in increase n c r rea e a s e is now noV granted to the steelworkers after less than thana I Ia a month with no wage increase granted to the railroad brotherhoods then there would be real trouble among railroad labor I In fact Hughes intimated that it would 4 be extremely difficult to prevent a strike even even against the government of the 1 United States White House Counsel Murphy dashed back hack to the White House stopped the proposed wage increase to the steelwork ers That was why John Steelman ho rho had been planning the increase immediately immediately imme imme- got busy negotiating with the railroad rail rail- road brotherhoods All Is Made for Love Love Congressman Congressman Frank Boykin the gentleman from Mobile who preaches everything is made for 1 love but who practices everything is made for loans is facing a tough lough reelection reelection tion fight next Tuesday in Alabama Never before in Franks Frank's long years of hunting bear-hunting turkey-shooting turkey coon eating coon eating I and getting family loans from the R Fe j has he appeared so worried about getting t reelected Apparently his record in Washington Washington Wash Wash- Washington ington is becoming pretty well known among the folks back home At any rate the congressman is flooding flooding flooding flood flood- ing Mobile with publicity has peppered the countryside with billboards is distributing distributing distributing dis dis- advertising blotters advertising emery wheels and has hired a helicopter wh h descending near the ground I startles the public by booming a jingle out over a speaker loud-speaker entitled Build with Boykin Frank seems to figure that it will take a lot of jingling and to make I people forget how he pulled wires to keep two notorious tax chiselers Joe Joc Mitchell and Sam Ripps out of jail also to forget how he got a R F C loan for the the Mobile 1 Paper Co after which he and hi his I I children turned up with 40 interest in inthe the company Three Senators from Florida Florida Senator Senator Spessard Holland of Florida may not know it but his senatorial colleague from v Florida George Smathers also a Democrat Democrat Demo Demo- Democrat crat made some quiet overtures to get Senator ex-Senator Claude Pepper to run against him in the thc current primary The overture came came from Smathers' Smathers close friend Dick Danner who telephoned Peppers Pepper's close friend John Montgomery l to say We want you to know that if U Claude wants to run against Holland he could count on about Smathers leaden leaders to support him How I tow about some money also asked r Montgomery 1 Well there'd be some of that too too Danner replied We U figure wed we'd better spend some money now than a lot more mor money four years from now if Pepper runs runs runs' against Smathers He had reference to the fact that ex ex- ex- ex f Senator Pepper is considered one of the smartest vote-getters vote in Florida even even though he was defeated by Smathers t two vo years ago This message was conveyed to Pepper t i by Montgomery l but Pepper decided not notto to run this year against Holland HoIland He He hasn't decided yet however whether be he i will run against Senator Smathers four years from now t j ij i |