Enough Is Enough

Attorney General Kennedy's personal vendetta against Teamster President James R. Hoffa has turned into a national spectator sport, a wrestling match perhaps, with its properly defined hero and villain. The assumption of Hoffa's guilt sets the tone of the unending fight. This month Teamster officials charged that certified bonding agents throughout the nation had been ordered not to serve Teamster personnel, and the Justice Department felt it could retort: "We never comment on anything Mr. Hoffa has to say."

Without saying that Hoffa is not a crook, it can be observed that assumption of guilt is somewhat inconsistent with traditions of law enforcement in America. The Teamster leader has been indicted several times, but never convicted; the Justice Department, as well as the F.B.I., the McClellan Committee, investigating groups in both wings of the House, and even the C.I.A. have kept Hoffa's every move under surveillance for years; yet he has not been proved guilty in an American court. Until he is, it ill behooves the Attorney General to make a mockery of the court decisions.

The question arises, why is Kennedy gunning for Hoffa? The crimes of which he is accused (tax and mail violations, for example), are crimes for which many American union and business leaders could be indicted, and that goes for George Meany as well as drug and electrical executives. The game, sadly, is played by rules which are not meticulous in obeying the letter, let alone the spirit, of the law. Again, this is not a justification of Hoffa, but simply serves to reiterate the question: why Hoffa?

A most charitable explanation of the running struggle (and there are some pretty uncharitable ones to be heard), is that by raising the spectre of a not terribly attractive service-union leader vested with great power and independence, the Administration can ease the way for broad legislation to limit such power.

But the gladiator spectacle of Kennedy chasing Hoffa has not served to raise the broader issues of government-labor relations. In fact, policy is being obscured by personality and justice couched in vindictive terms. If the anti-Hoffa campaign is not admirable, it is also not effective. Nor will it gain much meaning if and when the Teamster leader is jailed for mail fraud.