The Potters Herald

THE CIO MUST PROVE ITS LOYALTY
(The following editorial is reprinted from the
Philadelphia Inquirer)

IN PLEDGING its co-operation to the national
defense program, the executive board of the
CIO, meeting in Washington, has declared itself
opposed "to any movement or activity of subversive character, Trojan Horse or Fifth Columnists
which are aimed against our Nation and Government, or the basic free and democratic institutions upon which our Republic has been founded."

These are brave words, sufficiently comprehensive, and bearing the right spark of patriotism.
Mere words, however, are not enough, even
though they emanate from so wordy a soul as
John L. Lewis. Before the public is convinced that
the expression of CIO support really means what
it purports to mean, it will have to be shown in
deed.

If the CIO is going to root out subversive elements from its ranks, whether Communist, Nazi
or Fascist, and give wholehearted backing to defense building, it will not foster strikes such as
that which interfered with naval construction at
Kearny. It will not hold out threats of disrupting
the automotive industry. It will not swing its
bludgeon over the forces of industry marshaling
for national defense.

It will not give comfort, as it has in the past,
to the reddest and most radical elements within
the labor movement.

It is a striking coincidence that on the same
day the CIO board was indulging in its bit of flagwaving it went on record in opposition to the deportation of the notorious Harry Bridges, and it
condemned the proposed bill barring WPA to Communists and members of the German Bund.

Pleading the cause of Communists and sympathizers with foreign Powers and, in the same
breath, declaring war on Fifth Columnists may
appear perfectly logical to the Lewis mind, but
Americans generally may be pardoned for eyeing
the performance askance.

If the CIO is against subversive movements
as it claims, let it prove it.