THE WEEK IN REVIEW
THE WEEK IN REVIEW CONGRESS continued its rightward course during the past week. The House Ways and Means Committee voted, 14 to 10, to shelve indefinitely the Senate-approved unemployment...
...In the course of his testimony Browder found opportunity to state that the foreign policies of Russia prior to the war, such as the Hitler-Stalin pact, were "in the interest of the United States...
...Alben Barkley, chairman of the Senate-House Pearl Harbor inquiry committee, told newsmen last week that all reports are being studied carefully by William D. Mitchell, counsel...
...Labor's underlying demand in many a controversy was for a 30 per cent wage rate increase, or "52 for 40"— 52 hours pay for a 40 hour week—to maintain "take home" pay at wartime levels because of high living costs...
...Democratic members of the House Ways and Means Committee—four of them, Southerners, joined 10 Republicans to shelve the bill—were called in by President Truman after their vote last week...
...Labor strife was most intense in five major industries—automobiles, coal, lumber, oil, and electric power...
...The elevator strike, which had paralyzed much of Manhattan, was ended with Gov...
...The President fold them that the Senate had let him down on the Kilgore Bill—although he had previously refused to list the heart of the measure, $25 for 26 weeks of unemployment, as "indispensable" in a memorandum to the Senate Finance Committee (See editorial, Page 12)—and that he does not expect such treatment from the House...
...Congress is free to reject, accept, or amend the President's recommendations...
...and Mrs...
...Names And Notes In The News Circus...
...1 issue of The Progressive—the Government does not "guarantee" full employment...
...Alben Barkley, Kentucky Democrat and Administration leader, said tartly, "It now guarantees everybody out of work the right to seek a job if he can find one...
...The automobile industry has not yet reconverted and has not sufficient materials on hand to go into production, even if it were completely reconverted," Thomas said...
...Expressing his disappointment over the bill as passed, Sen...
...That's the last thing we want to do...
...Thomas E. Dewey's request for arbitration...
...They've got a lot of funds over at the White House that we don't know anything about...
...1; 2) 95 per cent of excess profits taxs on corporations be eliminated...
...Meanwhile, the Senate voted to permit voluntary enlistment for one year, instead of the 18 months requested by the War Department, for soldiers with six months service...
...We cannot afford," Durr said, "to permit the control of radio by those who would solve our problems merely by wooing or intimidating us into buying more and more goods which we neither need nor want with money which we do not have...
...Leo Crowley, Democratic Party handy man who has handled all the jobs the Administration threw his way, last week resigned all the eight jobs he has lately been holding...
...Of course we don't want to let the President down," Doughton said...
...Tyler G. Kent, former code clerk at the American embassy in London who was charged with giving British secrets to the enemy in the first years of the war and sentenced to seven years in prison by the British, is scheduled for release early this month...
...to deny that the Communist leaders advocated the establishment of a Negro Soviet in the South...
...Headlining the first show was Earl Browder, deposed American Communist leader, and Rep...
...He added that if the demand for a 30 per cent wage increase isn't justified now, with increased living costs, "then no increase anywhere, any time, was justified...
...There are no bars up," Barkley said, "we are going into this thing fully...
...Barkley sought to speed action on the bill before additional amendments could be offered, Sen...
...As amended, the Senate measure requires the President to give Congress annually a national production and employment budget outlining the Administration's forecast of industrial prospects...
...The new House committee to investigate un-American activities, taking the place of the old Dies Committee, got off to a flying start last week and indicated that it would follow the famed circus tactics of its predecessor...
...Rep...
...Clifford J. Durr, Federal Communications commissioner, last week denounced the growing use of radio as an advertising medium...
...Suits...
...The White House said that it was merely following a precedent set by the late President Roosevelt who made similar gifts to foreign rulers...
...to deny that he ever considered Mr...
...Congress and newspaper men were trying to find the answer to a mystery this week: Under what legal authority did President Truman make a gift of a C-54 transport plane to Gen...
...There are people in the Army who do not want to see a volunteer system succeed...
...Attorney General Tom Clark announced last week that the Department of Justice plans to begin 27 anti-trust suits which have been held up during the war "to prevent interference with war production...
...In other words, if it is convenient for the Government to help him it will do so...
...We should not require men to serve at less than a decent wage for policing the world...
...Wayne Morse, Oregon Republican, William F. Knowland, California Republican, and Robert M. La Follette, Jr., Wisconsin Progressive, contended that the proposed volunteer plan was not strong enough for a test between voluntary and compulsory conscription...
...As Sen...
...The FEA will be broken up and its various functions distributed among other government agencies and departments...
...Mystery...
...Pearl Harbor...
...Sens...
...The Senate adopted an amendment, urged by the Taft-Radcliffe forces, removing the prospect of compensatory deficit spending by requiring a tax program to balance the budget over a "reasonable" period of years when Government spending to increase employment causes a deficit...
...Durr emphasized that a FCC radio license was a public trust but that some licensees were more concerned about advertising revenue than their public responsibility...
...Rep...
...That, it seems to me, is an issue which is fateful, so far as democracy is concerned, and should not be given left-handed consideration by the Senate...
...Everett M. Dirksen, Illinois Republican, wrote to Barkley asking that the committee investigate the Tyler Kent case and the fortifiication of Guam...
...Secretary of the Treasury Fred M. Vinson recommended to the House Ways and Means Committee that 1) the three per cent normal tax on individuals be repealed Jan...
...R. J. Thomas, international president of the United Auto Workers, declared in a Chicago speech that the automobile industry "and not the union" is "on strike" and is provoking labor trouble because it isn't yet ready for reconversion...
...But while the majority of the Ways and Means Committee who defeated further action on the unemployment compensation bill claimed that strikes had confused the unemployment picture and proposed unemployment legislation, the minority supporting the bill argued that the strike situation was being used by opponents as an excuse to dodge action...
...If unemployment is forecast, the President must recommend steps to stimulate employment, and if inflation is forecast, he must recommend steps to curb it...
...Secretary of Labor Lewis Schwellenbach personally intervened in the critical oil controversy, in which 35,-000 workers are on strike in eight states, to avert a national walkout that would involve 250,000 workers...
...He told the CIO union leaders and oil company officials that the Government was "begging and pleading" with them to reach a settlement...
...Meanwhile, John W. Snyder, reconversion director, predicted that there may be 8,000,000 unemployed by next Spring, in a report to the President and Congress, based on the estimate that reconversion will not be able to keep pace with demobilization...
...These soldiers are asked to do a real police job...
...Democrats Called In The major reason cited for the House committee's sidetracking of jobless benefits was the wave of strikes throughout the country...
...Robert L. Doughton, North Carolina Democrat and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, told newsmen after the conference that he would be glad to recognize any motion for reconsideration of jobless benefit legislation but would make no prediction of the outcome...
...However, it adds that that responsibility shall be consistent with the needs and obligations of the Government and other essential considerations of national policy—whatever that means...
...The oil strike, where labor wants a pay raise of 35 cents an hour, has thus far shut down 24 refineries and reduced gasoline and oil supplies one-third...
...Charles de Gaulle...
...Morse said...
...John L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers, last weekend renewed his offer to confer with soft coal operators to settle the dispute over recognition of the foremen's union, (branch of the UMW), a controversy which has halted work at more than 80 mines...
...Voluntary Enlistment Fight President Truman this week proposed that the Army be cut to 1,950,000 officers and men by June 30 and recommended that 28 billion dollars be cut from unexpended War Department appropriations...
...Attempts by a small band of Senators seeking to gain pay boosts for soldiers and sailors, however, were defeated...
...While the Detroit auto and Northwest lumber strikes remained deadlocked as this issue went to press, last week brought the end of several strikes in the electrical industry and of the six day strike of 11,000 elevator operators in New York City...
...With a swelling flood of requests for strike votes, the National Labor Relations Board faces the situation of conducting about 300 strike votes in the next 30 days...
...Under the Senate version of the Murray Bill—the original principles were explained in Sen...
...La Follette objected, saying, "I cannot escape the fact that this bill is of great importance, because we are going to decide, on the basis of the experience under this measure, whether we shall have a voluntary system or whether we shall have compulsion in securing the necessary manpower for our armed forces...
...3) an end "fen July 1, 1936, of excise, taxes on such luxury items as fur coats, jewelry, and cosmetics, and 4) a temporary freeze of social security taxes at the present one per cent rate instead of the automatic rise to 2.5 per cent scheduled the first of the year...
...The House Ways and Means Committee voted, 14 to 10, to shelve indefinitely the Senate-approved unemployment compensation bill and related House measures pending "more concrete information as to what the unemployment situation is to be during the reconversion period...
...Another Senator, who didn't want his name to be used, described the Senate version of the Murray Bill as "a damn good New Year's resolution...
...Plug-Uglies...
...Kent...
...Franklin Roosevelt as Communists...
...Resignation...
...Labor Crisis Continues About 350,000 workers were idle last week because of strikes, a grave manifestation of labor's insecurity in the shift from wartime to peacetime employment...
...I don't believe we are going to get very many young men to volunteer at $50 a month," Sen...
...But each member has his responsibility...
...John Rankin, rampaging anti-Communist from Mississippi...
...The Senate version of the Murray Bill—which President Truman recently called a "must" in his reconversion program—still says that it is the responsibility of the Federal Government "to assure continuing full employment, that is, the existence at all times of sufficient employment opportunities for all Americans able to work and desiring to work...
...The Army said, when asked where the $250,000 came from to pay for the plane, "We don't know...
...Vinson Recommends Tax Cut The nation this week heard the proposal of Administration-sponsored tax-cutting...
...The Senate passed, 71 to 10, a version of the Murray Full Employment Bill amended so drastically that the provisions of the original bill were greatly weakened...
...This amendment provides a loophole for possible Government straddling...
...Although his letter of resignation only specifically referred to his post as head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, President Truman's letter of acceptance also included the Foreign Economics Administration which Crowley has headed during the war years...
...Murray's front page, exclusive article in the Oct...
...He said the suits would get underway just as soon as they can be reached on the dockets...
...Reports persisted that Crowley's resignation was due to a "coolness" which has developed between him and President Truman...
Vol. 9 • October 1945 • No. 40
