Jurisdictional disputes in the motion-picture Industry : hearings before a special subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives, Eightieth Congress, first-session, pursuant to H. Res. 111 (1948)

MOTION-PICTURE JURISDICTIONAL DISPUTES 419 representative for the Legion of Decency, and Thomas Coogan, who is labor expert for the archdiocese, on March 21 in the Tiding, the official publication, published their official report to the archbishop and also made concrete proposals for settling this dispute. I would like to enter this into the record, too. Mr. McCanx. It may be received for reference purposes only ? Mr. Kearns. Yes. Mr. McCann. At the same time, Mr. Chairman, I would like received in evidence for reference purposes only a reply which was made. Mr. LuDDY. And appeared in the Tidings. Mr. McCann, And appeared in the Tidings. This reply is by the executive committee of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, by Ralph Clare, chairman. I don't know what is in any of these. We will have them for reference. Mr. Kearns, No objection. Father Dunne, The sum total of all these efforts added up to nothing, I may say that again the reaction of the Conference of Studio Unions to these proposals in The Tidings was unqualified acceptance, willingness to negotiate on these terms. The proposals made in the Tidings were much the same as the ones I had made. The producers and the lATSE', as far as I know, did not react at all. I mean, did not indicate any willingness to sit down and discuss or negotiate at all on these terms. These facts again confirmed me in my view that the people who did not want to settle this on any basis except one of complete destruction of the Conference of Studio unions were the IxVTSE, and were apparently enjoynig the support of the producers in this, for whatever reasons, good or bad, the producers might have. It was an impasse. It was impossible even to get them to sit down and talk. After that I took no active interest in this until my recent trip back East, which I would like to tell about, in view of the question asked by Mr. Padway the other day. My trip to the East was the result of the initiative of a rank-and-file member of the Conference of Studio Unions of the carpenters local, Mr. Frank Lauer, who holds no office, simply a rank-and-file member of the union. He came to me and asked me if, in view of the desperate desire of these people to break the impasse and get people back to work, if I would be willing to go back East for the specific purpose — and this was the specific purpose of my trip, to see Mr. William Green, to try to persuade Mr, Green to do something to enforce the A, F, of L,'s own decision in this matter ; to take some action, whatever it might be, to settle this thing and get the people back to work. That was what he asked me if I would be willing to do. He said if I were willing to do this, he intended to suggest it to Mr, Soi'rell and to the conference strategy committee. I told him that I would be willing to do anything that offered any hope of contributing to a solution of this. I told him, however, provided I could get permission from my superior ; I told him, however, I thought it would be a waste of time, of my time and also a waste of the Conference of Studio Unions' money, because if I went they would have to pay my expenses. But