Editorial – The Cross Roads

COLLECTIVE bargaining, hereto-fore loudly proclaimed as one of the stout timbers of the Republic, has passed from the picture. The coup de gr[a]ce was struck by the President of the United States when he ignored his vested legal prerogative and seized the steel industry by the dubious authority of, his "inherent powers." Autocratic judgment by a single official replaced arbitration by the steel industry and labor union. This is the outcome of a battle which has been bitterly waged for months in the hazy atmosphere created by well oiled propaganda machines. Prior to government intervention, there was no clear picture of the issues at stake. All parties concerned marshalled their accountants to conjure up figures proving their respective contentions. The results were fed into public relations departments for embellishment and dissemination. Thus, the public was asked to believe on one hand, that the steel worker, who is second only to the coal miner in hourly wages, was entitled to an increase in pay and other benefits. Nothing was said about the effect-of such an increase on the national economy. Industry in turn pointed to declining profits after taxes, but failed to mention the more than a billion dollars spent on plant expansion, in addition to the payment of substantial dividends for 1951. With the intervention of the administration, the immediate issue became clear to freedom-loving Americans. Is the executive branch of the government above the law, or is it supposed to uphold and carry out the .laws of Congress? The present administration forgot that it is a servant of the public and has become despotic. The American people must obliterate this dangerous precedent which has been set by the administration or accept the. ominous consequences of submission. Fortunately, the strongest weapon of the citizen-the ballot -still remains. When democratic procedure is restored, stabilization of the economy will continue to challenge us. This is the main public stake in the steel controversy. Only a solution based on bed-rock democracy will work. If the emergency is real, and we must assume that it is, this is the time for sacrifice. Industry and labor must meet without rancor to resolve wage contracts through collective bargaining. The government role, under emergency conditions, must be to objectively maintain wage, and price ceilings in the interest of stabilization. Political expediency cannot be permitted to' influence these controls. Politics and not the public weal have been the guide lines for too long. We are at the cross roads. By all sober judgment, this is the time for Americans to take a militant interest in their government today. Tomorrow will be too late.