daily
EMERALD
Fifty-third year of Publication
Volume LIII'
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON, EUGENE, WEDNESDAY, FEB. 27, 1952 NUMBER
89
Lewis' Charge
Is 'Nonsense/
ft *
Says Reuther
HhiIIo commentator Fulton Lewis, Jr.’s statement that Walter
Reuther was in part responsible for the broadcast ban on the CIO
heurkngs in Detroit Is "sheer nonsense," Reuther told the Emerald Tues
day.
Reuther, president of the United Auto Workers, stated:
"This is the lack of morality I was talking about In my address. If
you and I disagree, we stand up for what we think that’s what makes
America great. We don t have to
call each other names.”
i Later he said he was definitely
in favor of televising such hear
ings. the only reservation being
that they didn't become "three
ring circuses.'"
"Lewis has no basis whatsoever
for his claim.” Keuther asserted.
”1 didn't know about the ban (on
1 yievislon and radio broadcasts of
the House Un-American activities
committee investigation of the
Michigan CIO union) until I read
about It while on a plane to the
West coast.”
Blamed for Bun
The ban, ordered by Speaker of
I the House Sam Rayburn (D-Tex.)
/ was said by Iu-wis to have been
the result of Reuther's attempt to
prevent public emphasis of "soft
ness toward Communists in the
CTO."
s
I
WALTER REl'THEK
•The UAW-CIO. as shown by a*a»sln
the record. Is doing more to deetroy the inf luetic of Communism than
those who seem to be professional distorters of the truth, Reuther said.
In fact, we will testify at the hearings.”
Lewis ‘'American Fascist”
Reuther said Lewi* is an "American fascist” in tactics. "He makes
it a practice," the UAW leader said, "of character assassination or any
one he is opposed to, X disagree with Lewis and other-persons, but 1
don't go around railing people Communists or things like that.”
In the 1 p.m. assembly Reuther said Lewis "does this sort of thing
every other day ." And in a press conference Tuesday morning in the
SU, declared Lewis is a radio version of columnist Westbrook Pegler
"We have done nothing to block the hearings,” he said.
Harder to Fight Iteds
"It's typicnl of the nonsense that Fulton Ubwis peddles. It's easy
to make anti-Communist radio broadcasts, but a lot harder to get out
and fight Communism."
Reuther admitted that there probably were a few Communists within
the auto Industry, "as in any big industry."
“At one time, the Communists had considerable influence in the
UAW-CIO," Reuther said. But since the left-wing unions have been
expelled, he explained, there is now no Communist influence except in
a few isolated cases.
•e>
Wc in America must demon
strate that it is possible in our
kind of. world to fill stomachs
without sacrificing freedom. Wal
ter Reuther said Tuesday after
noon.
Speaking to a Student Union
ballroom assembly audience of
more than 1100 persons, overflow
ing into the Dad's Lounge and
into the hall, the United Auto
Workers president said this is the
core of the struggle between de
mocracy and tyranny in the world.
Reuthcr said we have to "pro
vide a tangible and practical pro
giam of economic action" in the
world.
"Freedom and economic security
can live together in a democratic
i house, but we have to prove this
in a tangible way or Communism
will go on winning."
. . Period of World Revolution”
"We've got to recognize," he
stated, "that we are living in a
period of world revolution," Reu
thcr said this revolution is born
in "hunger and poverty denial of
social justice He asserted we have
i military ^pd technological weap
ons, but wc need to develop tools
. to conquer poverty, hunger and un
' rest.
"Communists didn't start this
revolution." he contended. "It
comes from the social dynamics of
this world. The Communists have
forged this unrest into aggression
and revolution.”
Reuthcr said we have to try to
help the people of the world re
alize their aspirations within the
framework of basic freedom. Com
munism offers economic security,
he said, at the price of political
and spiritaul enslavement.
The task before us, Reuther
pointed out. is to eliminate social
Tough Queries Put to Labor Leader
At Coffee Hour, Press Conference
"I reject the Communists' theory
i that a free society cannot reconcile
initiative with social responsibility.
If it can’t, then we can't defend
> our society. But I think it can.”
So said Walter Reuther in his
coffee hour Tuesday afternoon.
The labor leader said the way to
l reconcile the two is to provide a
"bigger pie" to divide up in such a
way that all will work for a still
bigger pie.
Answering some tough ques
tions in a strong, clear manner,
the United Auto Workers presi
dent stressed importance of a
"pro-public" attitude, particularly
as applied to workers.
Taft-Hurtley Law
Asked about labor's opposition
! to the Taft-Hurtley law, Reuther
said the law is based on a miscon
1 ception—that a law can alleviate
industrial unrest.
"Under Joe Stalin and Adolph
Hitler you have industrial peace
without justice, but in a democ
racy you must have economic and
social justice to have stability.”
Banning strikes is negative, he
N i said. “You have to get at the cause
| of them." Reuther said the Taft
Hartley law, rather than facilitat
ing this process, is a roadblock to
i il
| , r He admitted that there are
11 .hings wrong with unions. But, he
said, in a good many cases "the
* ones that are bad are bad because
\ they act like management too
many times.” .
In the coffee hour Reuthcr also
established these beliefs:
The UAW-CIO rid itself of Com
munist leaders by working hard lo
make democracy work. That is the
way you defeat Communism.
The successful united labor pol
icy committee meeting (between
the CIO and AFL) did not achieve
combining the two organizations
An 'Enlightened' One
Referring In the coffee hour to
Kric Johnston, who will repre
sent management in a coming
assembly, Kent her said:
“You have obtained one of the
more enlightened management
persons. But you would’ probably
be more enlightened if you got
one of the less enlightened
ones.”
because things were too good
leaders in AFL feared long-range
implications of combination, so
broke up the proceedings.
The tragedy of having Sen. Rob
ert Taft (R.-Ohio) elected presi
dent is not domestic. Taft's foreign
policy is unrealistic we need in
ternational allies to survive in the
world.
Neither Karl Marx nor Adam
Smith had all the answers norther
socialism nor Communism has all
the solutions. We must have sopie
thing besides Communism, social
ism, or absolute laissez-faire cap
italism—which is irresponsible—to ;
meet the needs of the people.
We must have free trade
throughout the world, because our j
economic future depends upon the j
economic future of the world. The
UAW is not for tariffs.
He is not in favor of labor con- ;
trolling American politics; he is ;
for a broad coalition which is pro- I
public, not just pro-labor. But. !
Reuther said, we do not have to
fear any special group taking over i
politics in this country. He said j
his union is working to educate |
members toward social responsi-!
bility.
Should Reward Initiative
Initiative should not be denied i
or go without reward. But it
should be rewarded on the basis of j
what is earned, not on "picking the j
right grandparents" or making the j
fight stock deals. "Society should '
. . . give the person with potential |
the maximum chance to grow" to ’
fullest capacity.
Communism wants to overthrow 1
existing economic system; it does
n't want to improve conditions of
workers, since this will make them
satisfied.
When asked at the morning
press conference whether he would
favor a merger of the Congress of
Industrial Organizations and the
American Federation of Labor, he
answered:
: ; '.'I? am a firm believer in the
need for a united labor move
( Please turn to page eight)
injustice. To do this, he said, we ;
must understand social dynamics. 1
"The struggle between freedom 1
and tyranny in the world, Reuther 1
said, "is not for geography, but j
for men's minds, hearts and loyal-1 •
ties.” |,
The reason we lost China to the (’
Communists, he stated, was be- i l
cause we made the tragic mistake 1
of believing the struggle could be 1
won in the battlefield. 1
"We’ve got to work in the rice '
field as well," he said; the Commu
nists exploited hunger and pov
erty, and thus took over China.
Aslan Communism Hunger
There is only one kind of Com
munism in Asia, he asserted,—
"stomach Communism." "The four
freedoms are abstractions" to I
those people who know what it is j
to really be hungry.
From the first world war we
learned that to have peace in this
i part of the world, we must have
peace in all the world, he said.
From the second world war we |
I learned the same about freedom.
"We have a third lesson to learn j
We've got to learn in America that I
I just as peace and freedom are in- {
j divisible in the world, so is econ- i
i omic security indivisible."
He added. "You can't preserve
reedom in the world with one half
mngry and one half fed. Cwnnra
lism rules the backs of the half
eho are hungry. '
We must recognize our present
hortcoming. he said. "We've got
o recognize that the people of the
vorld are going to judge America
lot by technological progress but
>y our ability to develop a socials
nechanism'’ by which we can
ranslate technological progress to
■mphasis of human dignity anefc
aJues.
Nine Points Given
To do this, he said, we must take
■ogmzance of the common dcnom
nators of democratic survival:
j. Arnenca must learn to live
vith economic abundance In
America we need a fifth basic frec
iom—from fear of abundance.
Fteuther said many of us operate
mder the basis of monopoly andk
scarcity—on the productive end.
2. On the distributive end we
must find a way to pirevent un
»mploymc r.t — provide purchasing
power. ' Our trouble in 1929" he
said, -was that we had an eight
cyhnder Cadillac production ma
chine. but a Model-T distribution
machine". Reuther said we must
prove that in a free society we can
i Please turn ic par,c three)
Orientation-Leadership Plan
Proposed by ASUO Senator
A proposal for a 10-week on
; entation-leadership training pro
I gram designed to acquaint srtu- j
dents with the University, make
better leaders
and more of
them and build
pride in the Uni
versity has been
submit ted to
! members of the
; A.SUO senate
i by Bill Frye,
' lenator-at-large.
1 In a nine
d a g e report
; Frye said such
Bill Frve
■ a naming- pro- with a Plan
; gram would ac
I complish six things:
1. Increase the calibre of student
! leaders.
2. Better use of existing facili
: ties (Processes, people, commit-1
' tees, offices and groups as well as
j material facilities i.
3. Give a better understanding
of the University—its history, re
sponsibility to the state and aca
demic achievements.
4. A concerted effort to make
j this a better university.
5. A greater participation in ac
tivities.
6. Make better alumni of present
students.
Guest Lectures Suggested
Frye suggested that the pro
j gram be handled by guest lecturers
I under the supervision of a single
! person. The plan could be insti
; tuted fall term, he said, so that,
i "it can be judged as to its worth
and appeal and any changes that
\ it may require could be completed
... between fall and winter or
! spring term." Frye also said that
! the results of a fall term course
! would be beneficial during the
I rest of the year,
j The course would be held two
1 hours each week, preferably pues
! day night from 7 p.m. to 9‘p.m.
I the report stated,
j *' It'is positively necessary that
| the program be set up with the
I idea of making it a'grade arid
credit course, or at least a credit
course," Frye said. This would
draw students "who were net in
some leadership capacity,” he in
dicated.
Would Fill Need
The program would be open to
all students.
Because such a program could
fill some basic needs and endow
student leaders with some neces
sary qualifications, it is recom
mended that it be made a pre
requisite before election to office*
of ASUO president. vit-e-president,
or senator-at-large. F ye stated.
I Please turn to page six)
Women's Croups
To Elect Officers
Election of officers for the three
main campus women's organiza
tions. Associated Women students,
Women’s Recreational association
and 1WCA, will be held from
12:30 to 6 p.m. today in GerlVger.
Elaine Hartung and Sarah Turn
bull are i tinning for AWS presi
dent. Secretary candidates are
Judy McLoughlin and Joan Walk
er. Kay Moore and Joann Sloan
are nominees for treasurer.
Candidates for reporter are
Sharon Brown and Ginger Loudo'n
and Dorothy Kopp and Sylvia Win
gard will be on the ballots foi the
post of sergeant-at-arms.
\YRA presidential nominees are
Bunny Bradley ar.d Lois Hamar.
Mary Jordan and Beverely Wfid
are running for secretary am*.
Mary Bennette and Shirley Nich
ols for treasurer. Sergeant-at
arms nominees are Aside- Dixon
and Harriet Vahey. To Martin an«*
Norma Munie are Custodian candi
dates.
The YWCA slate as announced -
in Monday's Emerald includes Jane
! Please turn tc page eight)