Fraternity-Testvériség, 1952 (30. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1952-08-01 / 8. szám
6 TESTVÉRISÉG Mr. Hooiver properly warns that the Communist party is still as much of a threat as the Nazi Fifth Column was a decade ago, and perhaps a greater one. The threat, of course, comes not ony from party members but also from sympathizers who do not hold membership; it comes from all those whose allegiance is to the Soviet Union rather than to this country and who, to further Soviet interests, would participate in espionage, sabotage and psychological- warfare activities against this nation. Nevertheless, while recognizing the danger and understandng that the number of Communists, in point of view of allegiance, is far greater than the number of members given by Mr. Hoover, his data help give us perspective which is badly needed. Even if we assume there are ten sympathizers for every member, the total number of Communists in this country is well under one-half of 1 % of the population. A MINE DISASTER CAN STILL HAPPEN — Congress has passed a law thai puts the federal government into mine safety — but not very far. Critics say the measure will do little to prevent such mine disasters as that at West Frankfort, 111. last December. Up to now, mine safety has been almost entirely in the hands of the states. Frequently, politics has influnced decisions. Lewis demanded an end to that. He called for a federal law that would give Bureau of Mines inspectors authority to close any mine they considered dangerous. After months of hearings, the Senate passed a bill — over strong protests from states' rights advocates — that would give federal inspectors much of the power Lewis urged for them. The House balked. Finally, in the rush toward adjournment, it passed a much milder bill — roundly criticized as inadequate by Lewis earlier in the season. This version, which exempts strip mines and those employing 14 or fewer miners, limits federal inspectors to closing only mines where there is an immediate threat of loss of life, through fire, explosion, flood, or cave-in. It also provides that federal inspectors can order potentially dangerous conditions cleared-up. There wasn’t time to send the tough Senate bill and the mild House one into conference. But when Lewis grumbled that a weak law would be better than none at all, the Senate concurred by voice with the House bill — sending it to the President. Meanwhile, proponents of a strong safety law grimly wondered: Will it take another West Frankfort disaster to get any teeth in the bill? ABOUT THE IWO the “fraternal” which was taken over by the Supt. of Insurance of New York State. The Supreme Court of New York holds that this “fraternal” had acted primarily as an arm of the Soviet Russian Communist State. The IWO appealed the case but the Supreme Court of the State unanimously upheld the ruling of the lower court. A little new information about the present status of the IWO might be of interest to our readers. This society at the end of 1939 had 161, 363 members. Since then a total of 38,676 former members decided to quit the society. — Its branches numbered 1859 at the end of 1948, — while at the end of 1951 only 1562 remained. Evidently 297 branches folded up during three years. Are any more remarks necessary? THE PRESIDENCY. — As to who will win, it's a horse race at this stage. Performance of the candidate/ rather than political boasting, will be more important this time than in any recent contest. Stevenson is given the edge at the start. The party's left wing will support him (it has no place else to go). So will many of the moderates who have been uneasy about Truman's leanings. And most of the South will go along, unless Stevenson is persuaded to lean too far left. But there's no disposition to count Eisenhower out. It's three months until the voting, and in that time he can upset today's hope. THE LABOR CRISIS IN COAL will come in the middle of the election campaign. Sixty days from the date when the United Mine Workers gave notice that it wanted contract changes, coal negotiation will be reaching a showdown stage. John L. Lewis may then close the mines with his famous ‘no contract, no work” slogan, or he may nurse things along from day to day. The labor leader with the most masterful sense of timing has set the clock and set it well. The Setting — Consider the Lewis bargaining position: By every orthodox standard, it’s worse than it has been for more than a decade: (1) Coal stocks above ground are at an all- time high. Right now industry, on the average, could take almost three months of a coal strike without feeling hurt. In the month ahead, barring unscheduled close-downs, stocks will go even higher. (2) The miners themselves are in a bad position to strike. The glutted coal market has had them on a three-day work week, and in some places a two-day wees. The economic reserves of the miner’s family have ebbed away Lewis, in devising strategy, has always been sensitive to how well his members can take it.
