August 6, 1976
NEW ORLEANS--Louisiana's Democratic governor, Edwin Edwards, signed into law July 9 a union-busting "right-to-work" bill less than twenty-four hours after it passed the state senate.

On July 7, 12,000 angry trade unionists massed at the capitol building in Baton Rouge demanding defeat of the bill. By an overwhelming two-thirds the senators ignored the wishes of organized labor and voted for the so-called "right-to-work" measure.

As union members from all over the state arrived in Baton Rouge July 7, they learned that Governor Edwards was about to deliver a surprise address to both houses of the legislature. The capitol buzzed with rumors that Edwards would ask the senate to defeat the bill.

A hush fell over the crowd as Edwards's speech was piped over the AFL-CIO's public address system. Instead of opposing the "right-to-work" law, the governor urged its passage, with some "compromise" amendments excluding from its provisions those few workplaces that are already union shops.

The capitol grounds resounded with booing and hissing. The angry union members saw Edwards's speech as no compromise at all, but a knife in the back of Louisiana's workers.  
 
August 6, 1951
The fantastic effects of the witch-hunt and mental straitjacketing today borne by the American people are made clear in two polls conducted by newspapers, one in Madison, Wis., and the other in New York City. In both cases, petitions containing nothing but excerpts from the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were circulated. In both cases, the overwhelming majority of those approached refused to sign the petitions.

The Madison petition, circulated by reporters for the Madison Capital Times, was signed by only one person out of 112 interviewed. This was mentioned by Harry Truman in his Detroit speech in an effort to prove that his Republican opponents are causing a reign of terror in this country. He insinuated that the refusal of the people to say that they believe in the Declaration of Independence in Madison, Wisconsin, is due to that fact that Wisconsin is the home state of Senator Joseph McCarthy, the Republican witch-hunter.

The theory was tested out by the New York Post, which undertook a similar petition in New York City. Out of 161 New Yorkers interviewed, only 19 would sign the basic documents of U.S. law, history, and tradition. Some of those who signed did so because they had read of the Madison incident, and knew that the petitions were being circulated as a test.  
 
 
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