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G.O.P.'s Chance. Did this mean that Harry Truman and the Democratic Party had irretrievably lost a big segment of labor support? That would be the trend to watch and the question to answer between now and the November elections. Republicans had been given a great chance. In the Senate, led by Senator Taft (see Republicans), they had kept their heads. But this week many a Republican member of the House wished he had not stampeded to back Truman.
From close presidential advisers came word that Harry Truman would probably veto the Case bill. If he did, it might restore some labor support to the uneasy Democrats.
But it would also mean that great weeks of crisis had passed without any great accomplishment. No strike emergency law was yet on the books; it seemed that no permanent law would get there soon. There was no going along with the President in Congress; no thoughtful labor policy was yet in sight. The labor question was still being begged.
* The Roosevelt proposal was made in his message vetoing the Smith-Connally anti-strike bill, later passed over his veto. The Roosevelt language: "I recommend that the Selective Service Act be amended so that persons may be inducted into noncombat military service up to the age of 65 years. This will enable us to induct into military service all persons who engage in strikes or Stoppages or other interruptions of work in plants in possession of the United States."