The Pittsburgh Press (September 12, 1944)
New Hoover era forecast by Hillman if Dewey wins
PAC chairman, here to address union group, also warns of loss of U.S. world prestige
Election of New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey to the Presidency would be “a reckless act inspiring lack of confidence among other nations and another Hoover era on the home front,” CIO Political Action Committee chairman Sidney Hillman declared here today.
Mr. Hillman asserted:
Mr. Dewey has been on all sides of foreign policy. In 1940, he favored breaking relations with Russia, and was against Lend-Lease for Britain. Now he apparently favors an alliance with Britain, and cohesion with Russia, whatever that means.
Defends role in politics
The PAC chairman, in Pittsburgh today to address the annual convention of the CIO Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, was sharp in his defense of labor’s right to play a part in a political campaign.
The issue of “Communism” in the PAC drew a particularly quick retort.
He said:
When the Republicans label PAC Communistic, they know they are repeating a lie. They dare not face a discussion of the real issues. Why, in Philadelphia, Mr. Dewey started to discuss issues and got so mixed up he forgot that the depression started in the Hoover era.
That is because they can offer us no constructive opposition ever since they eliminated Wendell Willkie.
‘Few’ Communists admitted
But is it not true that there are Communists in the PAC? Mr. Hillman was blunt in his reply.
He answered:
Certainly, there are, just as there are in any labor or political movement. But as the percentage of Communists in PAC is just about the same as the percentage in the country, possibly a little higher. To say that PAC is dominated by them is a lie.
Proud of own record
As for the Republican billboards and advertising slogan “Don’t let Sidney Hillman run your country,” it drew a shrug of the shoulders and this answer:
They can’t find anything else to talk about. My record is in the open. I am proud of it. Just another falsehood, that charge.
But what about the statements that the PAC is trying to take over, or has taken over, the Democratic Party?
Mr. Hillman snapped:
The record shows that we have already supported a half dozen Republicans. We are supporting President Roosevelt, of course, and we will back any liberal and progressive candidate.
It all amounts to this, the CIO official asserted:
One would think it almost a crime for labor to enter politics. There would be more clamor raised over a single dollar paid to the CIO under pressure than about a great donation made by an industrial to the Republicans.
‘Pressure’ for funds
On the matter of “pressure” for contributions, he broke in quickly:
I challenge anyone to produce a single case where pressure has been applied against any person for a contribution to PAC. That is an open challenge.
Mr. Hillman ticked off Governor Dewey’s record as New York’s governor with a brief resume of the “record of omission” which he said had been compiled, and asked:
Can you imagine turning over the destiny of the country to such an ineffective and incompetent person?
Links Bricker to Smith
Of Ohio Governor Bricker, Mr. Dewey’s running mate, he said:
I do not need to read his speeches. I merely recall those of Gerald L. K. Smith, with whom he parted company only recently, and not on major issues.
In his address to the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, Mr. Hillman said:
We cannot demobilize our minds after victory is won. We must be convinced that we can beat unemployment as we were convinced that we could beat the enemy.
He assailed the Republican administration after the last war, and urged reelection of President Roosevelt because:
We need an administration in Washington which wants to recreate full employment and is willing to use the resources and machinery of the government to create it.
Other speakers heard
Earlier speakers at the convention, held in the Fort Pitt Hotel, had assailed Governor Dewey as representing “a return to the Hoover normalcy days.” Senator Harley Kilgore (D-WV) said:
It took 50 years of struggle, climaxed by President Roosevelt’s election 1932, to give labor legislative protection of its right to organize. A reactionary president and Congress could pass a bill repealing that legislation in five days.
Allan Haywood, CIO organization director, referred to Governor Dewey as “Hoover’s dole.”
Others to speak were: Reid Robinson (president of the union), Nicholas Evans (president of the Universal Cement Workers, No. 309, Universal), Gen. Jerry V. Matejka (U.S. Army Signal Corps) and Martin Wagner (head of the CIO United Gas Coke, and Chemical Workers).