Show National Service Act Is r J Answer to War Disputes jd Too Many Cooks Cooks' Root of Labor Disputes Pressure Groups Individuals Unwilling 1 To Lay Aside Financial Desires j By BAUKHAGE Analyst and Commentator Service Union Trust Building Washington ton D. D C C. C t Why did the President order the f arm army to take over the railroads You can get seven reasons from rom seven different presidential advisors I wont won't repeat them I will name namer r three i.- i. First the epitome of ot those the politically po po- po minded probably gave it will be a good thing for or 1944 That Thatis is the sum total of a number of conclusions conclusions con con- of the master minds who arc are arc advising concerning the political campaign which is ahead o of us There are lre two other reasons which 1 some of the tie time-hardened time officials I in Washington offer aside from rom the i. i threat real or fancied to the war effort effort ef ef- ef- ef fort lort These officials let the political stream flow over them They are areti ti more interested in getting the particular particular particular par par- job assigned to them doner done donet r t than figuring out its political effects Needless to sa say they belong to that L' L x large conscientious army which most people outside of Washington forget exists an army o of people wise or unwise in their judgments but beholden to no political party for lor their positions These are the two probable reasons rea rea- sons Ions they offered first The roads were seized as a threat i f against other industrialists who might make trouble in accepting terms of future labor wage decisions deci deci- i such demands for increases which cant can't be easily dodged perI perhaps perhaps per per- I i. i 1 e haps just demands perhaps not depending on who holds the scales Ii f The second reason offered is this Simply because many of the Pre Pre Pres Presidents President's ident's present labor advisors have bad had little or no experience in labor relations in the methods of labor leaders Misunderstanding j I There are a number of signs which might point to reason one as the one which turned the scales but like most of the other motivating forces In many of the recent labor decisions decisions deci deci- they spring from the same I soil as does reason two misunderstanding i I standing of the methods of labor leaders You will recall that William I Green A. A F F. of L. L chieftain when he made what since seems to have nave been an starred ill attack on the Marshall statement that threats of oft t strikes might prolong the war stated stated stat stat- ed flatly that the railroad unions had never intended to strike That statement isn't questioned in j spite of the angry denials of the railroad union leaders It is what you heard beard in every railroad office from every old time councilor and advisor in Washington before the roads were taken over Unfortunately the whole situation is reminiscent of the conversation concerning the dog The dog growled The said owner Dont be frightened I know he be wont won't bite you But replied his friend does the dog know it You see the friend had no understanding understanding understanding under under- standing of ot dogs If you had slipped into the White WhiteHouse WhiteHouse House on a certain day not long longI I before the deadline for the I strike I call of the so-called so recalcitrant unions unions un un- ions and firemen and conductors had been reached you too might have been alarmed The union representatives I am told were making a noise very much like a dog that is going to bite Now the old timers were used to the noise But the two gentlemen fr upon whom the President leans for tor advice in matters of stabilization involving wage and price boosts Byrnes and Vinson were not cot accustomed to the sound They fr f did not know that a labor leaders leader's bark is often worse than his bite There never was the faintest possibility of an actual walkout on the nations nation's railroads William r I Green Byrnes and Vinson believed belIeved be be- what they heard and it was plenty That experience I think I can cansay say is authentic The labor leaders lead I F ers emphatically and ly threatened Vinson and Byrnes took tok the warning growl for tor fora tora a real threat Others of the President dents dent's s council were convinced that thai k there was excuse enough to do dc I something g which they thought would I I be advantageous for or political 11 rea rca sons I And so finally the man with thelong the thelong long cigarette holder just back from the world battle battlefronts where so per much wasn't the argument but so per hour W was where world maps were vcra being re-drawn re where Americas America's at a. and action was about to rewrite rewrite re rc- re- re write history became a 1 little iro un patient The Action Date We have come to the action date said the President we have been talking here since Sunday If Ii you cant can't take action by agreement I will have to take action by my my- sel sell self He took it and he took the rail rail- roads To say that Washington wa was I not surprised would be to misjudge Washington The root of the whole trouble in 11 inthis inthis I this and all the labor disputes ha haj hai I been that there were too many cooks The trouble with the con contus confusing contusIng using us- us ing statements which come out of oi Washington is that there are too toc many cooks And yet we have that thai paradox that when there are t tot many people handling war problems pros lems the only cure so far has hns hasto bee to substitute too few to few to pass th the buck to one man the man the President Th Tho answer to that is that one man simply cannot do it all aU The war Is too far away from us We cannot lay aside our personal and natural desire to make as much money out of It as the next fellow I This has gone on from the beginning begin begin- ning employer ning-employer employer making his profits I essential labor demanding and getting getting getting get get- ting his high wages the farmer his incentive and then those who follow follow fol toi- fol- fol low after shouting you did it for them do it for me Not one group is blameless only those who have been unable to bring pressure hesitated to do so And for tor the most part each group sincerely sincerely sin sin- believing that it was getting no more than its just due the rest were the profiteers the chiselers The solution At this writing a National Service Act that will order who does what and for how much much just just as it is inthe Inthe in inthe I the army An Abiding Peace Peace- Peace Peace- Common Sense Treatment Books on the postwar world can almost be described as the only commodity of which there is now 1 surplus production but this is one Towards Peace that Peace that can be taken seriously R. R M. M MacIver MacIver Mac Mac- Iver lver pro professor in Columbia university university sity for or one thing writes a clear simple language saying say say- ing lag what he means directly and without without without with with- out qualifications 1 He is for tor a world order but is too practical to believe you can have haveit it by just writing a world tion He wants a temporary peace which in a way carries on from the war alliance and then a second stage In which we move to real international international in in- control Furthermore he thinks hinks that sooner or later our present enemies must be taken in w unless ess we are going to let the third World war slowly fester An International order is an international international international inter inter- national order to Mr MacIver There are no weasel words Mr MacIver has worked out his plans in some detail There is a lot lotof lotof lotof 1 of common sense in Towards an I Abiding Peace Peace on on a subject on which a good de deal 11 of pretentious philosophizing is being done Selling Bond-Selling Plan Rep Richard P. P Gale of Minnesota Minnesota Minne Minne- sota has a plan for or increasing bond sales to individual citizens the citizens the sales which it is 5 most important to make He thinks h ix is a cheap and easy way for the government to increase sales and interest in sales on the part of the average man Senator Guffey offered a similar plan Periodically at intervals nut noc greater than three months he would I have th the treasury make a drawing And the person holding the winning number number number-he he would be a bondholder of ot course would get a prize of from frum froma i a hundred to 25 thousand dollars I I It wouldn't be a lottery because s nobody could lose you lose you would have J i your bond for the money you invested invest invest- ed cd and your bond would be your our ticket I |