"Disaster"

Congressmen took another look at an old, controversial question--should the rights of labor be allowed to transcend the rights of the public to electricity, fuel, transportation, telephones? There was nothing hypothetical about the problem--the U.S. had just seen what weird things happen when a big city is denied even one essential service for a short time.

Pittsburgh was almost an invalid for 19 1/2 hours while Duquesne Light Co. workers stayed off the job. Even though the company managed to produce power at 50% of normal volume, street cars stopped, street lights went out, office buildings closed for fear elevators might go out of control, and residential districts were blacked out in rotation. Mayor David Lawrence took to the radio, announced: "This is a disaster." It might have been much worse--if power had failed completely, the city's milk and water supply would have been cut off, and refrigerators and oil burners would have stopped.

New York City's spasm of paralysis stemmed from a tugboat strike. When barge-borne supplies of fuel oil and coal dwindled dangerously, Mayor William O'Dwyer ordered the world's greatest city to shut down. It took hours to stop the furious pulse of the metropolis. Thousands of commuters milled at Grand Central and Pennsylvania Stations. Despite the hoarse cries of policemen, crowds of women gathered before stores, office workers went as usual to tall buildings. Many a citizen, numbed at the whole idea, simply stood gaping along the sidewalks. By the time the 18-hour ban was suddenly lifted, Manhattan was deader than Walla Walla, Wash. on a quiet Sunday.

Philadelphia almost choked on its own automobiles when strikers stopped its transit system--which normally carries 3,000,000 riders a day. During most of two mornings and two afternoons 225,000 cars bumped and beeped through the streets. Schools were closed. Business and theater attendance was cut almost in half. Railroad stations were jammed.

Mulling all this, many a Congressman announced that something had to be done--and fast. But it seemed obvious that legislation outlawing strikes by utility workers had little chance of passage in an election year.

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