National Reports
RYAN, FRANK MANKIEWICZ, STEPHEN P. & MELTZER, MARVIN
National Reports Strange Bedfellows in California By Frank Mankiewicz San Francisco Californians, long accustomed to the unusual in their political struggles, are now observing the final weeks...
...The major direction, however, is forward...
...Secondly, some of the enthusiasm for Knight among his erstwhile companions in the party's Neanderthal wing may be cooling...
...As it happens, both Moody and McNamara have essentially the same views, but primary battles will aid Ferguson...
...An extremely likable man personally, he is a man of his word politically and a tireless campaigner...
...Thus, a step forward here seems canceled out by a step backward there...
...No man has ever served more than three terms as this state's chief executive...
...A so-called "right-to-work" bill has been introduced in the Louisiana Legislature which would outlaw the union and closed shops...
...It will take a united Democratic party to unseat him, but it now looks as though this unity will be missing in the fall...
...In any event, since the great majority of AFL members are registered as Democrats, the primary election June 8 will offer a significant lest of the union leadership's political strength...
...First of all, it is doubtful that the endorsement had the desired effect of bringing back into the GOP fold those Warren supporters who noted Knight's tacit role as a leader in the anti-Warren faction of the Republican party...
...Although a New Dealer, he led the state ticket in this traditional GOP stronghold that year and took a Democratic Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General into office with him...
...In Michigan's U. S. Senate contest, Homer Ferguson, Republican Policy Committee Chairman, is a slight favorite...
...The problem was to find some support among those political free-wheelers of both parties who had regularly given Warren his majorities, because it is probably also true that an orthodox conservative Republican cannot win statewide office in California...
...The faculty resolution was handed to Tulane's president for transmission to the board of trustees...
...The university exerts an enormous influence on the city's academic and social life, and has important local newspaper connections...
...however, he only managed to eke out recount victories and was the only Democrat elected to an administrative position...
...The spectacle of the Los Angeles Times in the same political boat with Dave Beck's Teamsters has meaning for those who recall that the Times successfully fought a contempt citation for an editorial saying, after two Teamster Union pickets had been convicted for picket-line violence in 1938: "If Beck's thugs are made to realize that they face San Quentin when they are caught, it will tend to make their disreputable occupation unpopular...
...First of all, it should be noted that the conclave of the AFL's Labor's League for Political Education which endorsed Governor Knight (incidentally, California is the only Northern state where an election can be won—outright, without even nominal opposition in November—in the primaries) also endorsed liberal candidates for most state offices, an outstanding liberal candidate for U.S...
...Proponents of the right-to-work legislation are banking heavily on the unfortunate atmosphere created by the long-standing strike at the Calcasieu Paper Company in Elizabeth, Louisiana...
...Next Week: Sam Romer tells how Midwestern farmers feel about Secretary of Agriculture Benson's plan for sliding price supports, and how it can affect the November elections...
...The electrical workers and machinists, among others, have begun active campaigning for Graves, and those familiar with the pattern of AFL political action believe that this rebellion is stronger and more active than it would have been had Graves been the nominee...
...Should integration at Tulane become a fact despite this, the effect on the New Orleans community at large will be incalculable...
...More than 100 graduate professors were present at the faculty meeting where the action was taken, and there were reportedly only two dissenting votes...
...Opponents point out that the bill's discriminatory features belie its right-to-work title and smack of totalitarianism...
...He tore up his tickets to the recent Jefferson-Jackson dinner with a public blast at what he called the party leadership's partiality for Moody...
...Schools cited as already maintaining a policy of integration included Loyola University of New Orleans, the University of the South at Sewanee, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminaries, and Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans...
...In the same editorial, the men were referred to as "sluggers for pay," "men who commit mayhem for wages" and "who hire out muscles for the creation of disorder and in aid of a racket...
...So the question does not turn on corruption, but rather on why Governor Knight, previously an orthodox, extreme conservative, should commit himself to this action in the labor field, and why the AFL, which denied its support to Earl Warren, a genuine liberal, should buy the partial loaf which Knight offered...
...As a result, Michigan has been suffering from a political stalemate...
...Another editorial rejoiced that the city was "aroused to the danger of davebeckism...
...Although barely elected in his previous two campaigns, Senator Ferguson has gained stature from his leadership position in the Senate and President Eisenhower's reflected glory...
...The active opposition to the bill is being led by the Louisiana Federation of Labor, and other unions and liberal organizations...
...Stiff Fight Expected in Michigan Primaries By Marvin Meltzer Detroit Politically, Michigan faces a very hot summer and fall this year...
...Except for one State Senator who now works with Gerald L. K. Smith, and a discredited ex-Congressman who headed the anti-Warren delegation, Governor Knight was the only GOP officeholder of any stature who did not take a place in Warren's Presidential delegation at the Republican convention...
...Negro students," it said, "should be admitted to Tulane...
...As a result, statewide hostility to labor has developed...
...To stymie his programs, the State Senate, composed of 24 Republicans and 8 Democrats, has consistently refused to confirm his appointments...
...Whether Haggerty had these assurances in hand before the meeting and was able to swing the Building Trades and Teamsters because of it is immaterial...
...What better source of support, if for no other purpose than good "public relations...
...The AFL in California is generally dominated by either the Building Trades or the Teamsters or the two working together...
...But State Senator Edward Hutchinson, chairman of the committee which must recommend confirmations, has said that if "that man" wins another term, the Senate may approve some of his nominees...
...National articles have appeared lately suggesting that some sort of backroom "deal" between Haggerty and Knight was responsible for the latter's endorsement, but this is unfair to both men...
...According to present forecasts, the first big temperature rise here will be generated by Republicans before the August 3 primaries...
...The latter, a surprise candidate, is supported by most of the AFL and seems intent on waging a strong primary fight...
...Being an astute politician, he probably assumed—and correctly—that the numerous anti-Warren Republicans, who had always looked to him for leadership, would not desert him now...
...than the AFL...
...Jockeying for Position in the South By Stephen P. Ryan New Orleans Two recent developments in Louisiana highlight the continuing battle between Southern liberals and reactionaries...
...That the reactionaries are still fighting back was indicated, however, by another less happy piece of news from the labor-management front...
...Despite this, "Soapy" Williams is expected to seek a fourth term...
...They should be admitted freely and graciously, as early as possible, before the air is tensed by a Supreme Court order demanding that the color line be dropped...
...The Republicans are annoyed with Williams because he understands labor's interest in unemployment and workmen's - compensation commissions and named union officials like Tom Downs and Morton Zimmerman to policy-making posts...
...Senator, and in addition bestowed its blessings on two controversial Congressional candidates, James Roosevelt and Representative Robert Condon...
...In 1950 and 1952...
...Perhaps the most significant consequence of the AFL action, however, has been a considerable movement of AFL unions and labor councils into the camp of Democratic candidate Richard Graves, in outright rebellion against the "big unions" which dictated the Knight endorsement...
...It went on to note that admission of Negroes to other private institutions of higher learning in the region had been accomplished without friction...
...On April 12, the graduate-school faculty of Tulane University in New Orleans passed, without debate, a resolution which read in part: "The Faculty of the Graduate School recommends that steps be taken to clarify the policy of admission to the Graduate School in order that the admission of Negroes may be facilitated...
...Little notice has been given to the fact that the out-of-state owner of Calcasieu Paper has steadfastly refused to bargain with the strikers "on any terms whatsoever...
...The story broke May 7 on the editorial page of the Tulane Hullabaloo, campus weekly, and a covering editorial strongly endorsed the faculty resolution...
...As to the first point, the best explanation seems to be that Governor Knight is a prize example of that vanishing American, the Total Politician...
...His attack on the right-to-work bill has probably caused some of his legislative supporters to wonder if the Governor has not "gone Socialist," and the labor tie-up is generally regarded with suspicion...
...Former Senator Blair Moody and AFL leader Patrick V. McNamara are competing for the Democratic nomination...
...Several GOP men are eager to oppose Williams, who, since 1948, has prevented the Republican machine here from functioning smoothly...
...Knight promised the assembled labor politicos that he would oppose and, if necessary, veto a "right-to-work" bill (perennial favorite of the Los Angeles Times, always a fervent Knight backer), and would equally oppose other specific anti-labor measures...
...This combination forced the nomination of Knight on the convention, although the move was supported by Cornelius Haggerty, California Secretary of State and a capitol veteran...
...They further point out that five states which previously had such legislation have repealed it, and that "Big Jim" Folsom, who recently was victorious in Alabama's Democratic Gubernatorial primary, had a platform which included repeal of right-to-work legislation...
...the lines of battle are sharply drawn and there are few predictions as to the eventual outcome...
...Both sides agree that this is one of the most controversial measures ever to be considered by the Legislature...
...Nevertheless, the endorsement of the largest labor group in the state (the CIO supports Graves) for a man whose record shows a consistent anti-liberal position has had repercussions...
...And it must be added that the Times's position on labor issues generally has not budged one bit...
...What lies behind this new alliance between the AFL and the state's most consistent reactionary leaders in support of Governor Knight...
...National Reports Strange Bedfellows in California By Frank Mankiewicz San Francisco Californians, long accustomed to the unusual in their political struggles, are now observing the final weeks of a curious primary fight: The state's right-wing Republican leaders are firmly aligned with the State Federation of Labor (AFL) leadership in an attempt to sweep both Democratic and Republican primaries for Governor Goodwin Knight, who took office when Earl Warren went to Washington...
...This assurance, coupled with the Governor's activity in pushing an increase in unemployment-insurance payments—together with a substantial employer tax reduction—through the Legislature, did the trick...
...It has even turned down his Republican appointees, apparently feeling that any friend of Williams is no friend of the GOP...
...Labor groups have also shown that the 16 states which do possess such legislation are primarily agricultural, while Louisiana is fast becoming an industrial state...
...The deal was quite open, and was even reported to the press in full...
...As for the union leaders, it is probably true that their willingness to be used as proof of Knight's liberal respectability resulted from the AFL's general tradition here of fighting politically only within a narrow, parochial range of "pork chop" issues, plus a secure knowledge that Knight's opponent, Richard Graves, will be pro-labor anyway if elected...
...Moreover, Governor G. Mennen Williams, now completing his third term, is the only Democrat since 1912 who was even elected a second time...
...It will be interesting to watch future developments, since it is a well-known fact that most board members are of a conservative opinion directly at variance with the spirit of the resolution and student editorial...
...Surely, then, it was not motivated by any observable principles...
...A long series of violent incidents there has, through unfavorable publicity, been attributed almost entirely to the strikers...
Vol. 37 • May 1954 • No. 22
