Newspapers / The Charlotte Herald (Charlotte, … / Aug. 3, 1923, edition 1 / Page 1
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Indorsed By Every Craft In Charlotte and In The State The Charlotte Herald Indorsed As Official UOrgan of North Carolina Farmers' Union ’ ”1 VOL VI. NO. 1 CHARLOTTE, M C., AUGUST 3, 1923, & COPY—$2 YEAR UNION LABOR LEADS NATION IN PROGRESS i Fights Civilization’s Battles Alone and Unaided. WALTER CLARK Says Strikes of Last Year Were Necessary—C. L. U. Asks Publication. (Rdpublication in last week’s Her ald of Chief Justice . Walter Clark’s statement on Uxei has created great interest in the writings of this dis tinguished statesman and jurist, and the Charlotte Central Labor Union, in regular mdeting Tuesday evening, requested The Herald to publish an other statement made by Chief Jus tice Clark, which was written last year and printed and distributed in pamphlet form. This statement is «ntitled: "Labor Fighting Civiliza tion’s Battles," and has been read by hundreds of thousands of people. It is of such tremendous value that its publication in The Herald will, The Herald fetels confident, result in a much better understanding of the aims and purposes of the great Amer ican Labor Movement.—Editor). “Whatever the result of the great 6trike in the coal mines and on the railroads in 1922—whether it is a compromise or is a defeat for either side—it will not be a finally," says Judge Clark. “On one side there will be still ranged the power of vast masses of wealth, the real own ers (for the minority stockholders do not count), who are conscious of their unlimited power, and deter mined to use it; and on the other 6ide are arrayed the millions of men with wives and children dependent on them, who know that they are ab solutely in the power of these great corporagkions, who can fix their wages, , and theref»i*e their conditions of * living, at-will. ■*, “In this condition a renewal of the battle from time to time is in evitable. “It is self-evident that whoever owns or controls the consolidated coal mines, water powers and rail roads—the fuel, the lights and the transportation of a country—is the master of its people. When these were owned by small and competitive corporations the injury sustained from' them was the building up of great aggregations of capital. But today the small body of ‘Associated Railway Executives’ and ‘Associated Coal Operators,’ representing a still smaller body of great bankers, con trol this vast power, and either gov ernment must take over the owner ship of this great power or that power can govern the country. “When, as IJenry Ford has shown, the coal mine owners are concealing their hoarding coal to force 300 per cent profit, the whole nation must act in self-defense. It is more than a just protection of miners or any theory of government. It is whether a people shall freeze"* or factories stop at the bidding of profiteers. Labor Bears Brunt of Battle. “It is a misconception to call such strikes as this a contest between Capital and Labor. This has been a ndtable episode in the age-old and world-wide contest whether Auto cracy or men shall control the condi tions of life. Formerly and in otherf countries Plutocracy was embodied in the monarch, supported by the nobility, an army, and state church. With us Plutocracy has none*&f tiiese supports, but relies upon the well known methods of shaping public opinion and making itself the real government by the selection and control of officials, and through them shaping or construing laws for its own purposes. Opposed to Pluto cracy is the interest of all the people, ' of which Labor is only a small part; yet Labor alone is bearing the brunt of this great fight for civilization and the rights of all men against the In visible Empire of aggregated wealth, which is as ruthless, and possessed by the same spirit, as when it was (Continued on Page Two.) U. S. SUPREME COURT TAKES CHARGE OF US Most Powerful Court in the World’s Histpry. NO AUTHORITY In Constitution Gives This Self Assumed Power to the High Court. BY JUSTICE JOHN FORD, Of the Supreme Court of New York. Government by non-elective, irre sponsible, reactionary judges is the government under which the 110, 000,000 people of the United States are living today. That is the fact, and we might as well look it straight in the face. That this power to rule is an usurped power adds little to our com fort. We must submit to it until the meaning these judges have read into the Constitution shall have been taken out. ' \ To do this will be a herculean task, for behind the usurpation stands united plutocracy controlling the organizations of both political parties. The same influence domi nates many sources of public infor mation, controls our institutions of learning and in no small degree car ries into even the temples of reli gion its creed of cordid materialism. In order to win the favor of the overruling plutocracy, candidates for the judiciary must be men of like order of mind to Justice Robb, of the Court of Appeals, of the District of Columbia, who, in his recent pre vailing opinion holding unconstitu tional the women’s minimum wage law, propounded the dictum “that of the three , fundamental principles which underlie government, and for which government exists—the pro tection of life, liberty and property— the greatest of these is property.” Wealth Protected. Justice Sutherland, of the Supreme Court, in writing the prevailing opin ion affirming justice Robb a few weeks ago, was of the same opinion evidently, but he was not so indis creet as to express his private eco nomic views so bluntly, not to say brutally, as did the justice in the court below. So it may with truth be said that the courts from the beginning of the government have been the bulwark of property rights, whether in chat tel salves or in stocks and bonds, ex alting them above all other human rights. • Judges are drawn from the lcga1 profession and from those nf its members who have won distinction at the bar. But such distinction comes only to the law-affairs. That means that he must have been retain ed by wealthy men or great corpor ations. Indeed, such employment, ipso facto, makes him a leader in the estimation of his fellow practioners. and he is generally according that honor by the judiciary as well. He must have demonstrated fidel ity and ability in the service of his opulent employers. In serving them he acquired their habits of mind and their view of industrial and financial relations. The protection of wealth and privilege always takes precedence in their thoughts to any claims of humanity, It must be admitted that lawyers as a class are reactionary. Their eyes are ever turned backward. They are in ceaseless search for preced ents. What has gone before must form the basis of every present act. They are least fitted to govern in a democracy whose eyes are ever on the future. “Nothing new’' is thier motto. Yet five such men as Supreme Court justices, whose knowledge of practical affairs comes from study of ancient tomes and practices, and who know life and its travails only as they glimpse them through the win dows of their cloistering chambers, have assumed the power to annul the laws passed by the elected represen tatives of the people and to read into other laws which they graciously per (Continued on Page Two.) i LABOR PAPER AN ADVERTISING MEDIUM R1NTERS INK, the recognized authority on* advertising, after a thorough in vestigation on this subject, says: “A labor paper is a far better advertising medium than an ordinary newspaper in comparison with circulation. A labor paper, f6r example, having 5,000 subscribers, is ,of more ’value to the business man who adver tises in it than ordinary papers with 25,000 •• subscribers.” j . The Charlotte Herald Meets All These Requirements : j and More EDUCATION AND THE 8-HOUR DAY LABOR’S DESIRE America Only Civilized Nation That Works Women More Than 48 Hours Week.. That meeting of the Joint Coun cil of Textile Workers held in M|ooresville last Saturday afternoon and evening was an “eye-opener.” The delegates representing the vari ous locals and towns |of the Caro linas came in automobiles, most of them, and each automobile bore a banner giving the local number and the name of the town represented by the delegations. Qn each ban ner was also the inscription: “Eight Hours.” At a previous meeting of the Council the 8-hour day for the textile workers was declared to be one of the objects to be sought until its adoption. The meeting was called to order by the president of the Mooresville local, and the assembled crp^td sang, “W'hat a Friend W.e Havem-Jesus,” after which Vice President Jones, of the State Federation of Labor, and a memiber of the Mooresville local, lead in prayer. He petitioned God for guidance of the textile workers and their organization, and for Di vine help in the struggle the textile workers are making to advance so cially, economically and in education. The big man’s petition for an equal chance for the children in the homes of the textile workers with other children of the state was a touching appeal to the Father of all children. Council Growing. After the opening, the Jfheeting was turned over to the officers of the Joint Council, and the roll call show ed a tremendous growth in the Coun cil. It is remarkable how this coun cil has grown this yeair, each meet ing being much larger than that of the previous month. . The big hall at Mooresville was taxed to capacity, and members of the Mooresville local had to go to a neighboring hall and borrow chairs to accommodate the big crowd. Reports from the various textile centers showed that some of the mills are idle, orr tbe strength that there is no market for the products i of the mills. Other places reported mills running day and night, with never a let-up. . Each and every one of the locals reported a steady growth in mem bership, those towns where the mills have been closed showing the biggest gains in union membership. Some Wiage Reduction*. Some wage reductions have been made, but this has happened only in those places where no local union exists. Concord reported on the Cannon chain announcement that all Cannon mills are closed this week, as is usual once each year. Officials and petty officials of the Cannon chain are said to be in Blowing Rock this week, cooling off and getting a rest from the excessive heat. Tex tile workers stated it would be un usually fine if ALL the workers in mills of the Cannon chain couid also go to Blowing Rock and take a rest from the excessive heat. Declaring that the United States is the only civilized nation in the world that works women and child ren in the industries more than 48 hours a week, the council adopted a resolution that will be presented to the State Federation of Labor con vention with the request that that body will adopt the resolution and work for the enactment of a 48-hour law in North Carolina for the women and children. The resolution fol lows: “Whereas, the women and child ren in the mills of North Carolina are working sixty hours a week, and “Wfhereas, every other civilized country in the world are working their women folks forty-eight hours a week in the textile industry, such as: “Austria, 48 hours, law; Belgium, 48 hours, agreement; Denmark, 48 hours, agreement; France, 48 hours; Great Britain, 48 hours, agreement; Italy, 48 hours; Germany, 46 hours, agreement; Jugo-Slavia, 48 hours, law; Poland, 46 hours, law; Nether lands, 45 hours, law; Spain, 48 hours, law; Sweden, 48 hours, law; Switzer land, 48 hours, law; Czecho-Slovakia, 48 hours, law. “And whereas, we believe that the , United States of America and the State of North Carolina, in particu lar, ought to be a leader in the march of progress, therefore be it “Resolved, that we, the delegates to the 17th annual convention of the North Carolina Federation of Labor, do hereby go on record in favor of the 48 hour week for women and children, and Ije it further “Resolved, that we instruct our executive committee to introduce a resolution embodying the above, at the next session of the Legislature.” Free School Books. Similar resolutions were adopted on the question of free school books and also for a workmen’s compensa tion law. Attention of the State Federation of Labor will also be called to the fact that but few of the children in the homes of the textile workers are ever allowed to graduate in the High Schools of the state, which condition is credited to three facts, embracing low wages, interference on the part (Continued on Page Two.) The “Red” Wolf Pack Out of Their Own Mouth (Chicago Labor New*.) That America is menaced by a “Red Revolution,” involving all of the crimes against civilization which have made Russia a sink of iniquity, is a fact which most Americans are reluctant to accept and are ready to brand as alarmists those who see the warning flashes and hear the rumble of the approaching storm. - 6 To brng to the American people a true sense of the danger impending and to arouse them to protect themslves and their country from the raven ing “wolf pack” is the purpose of the campaign The Chicago Labor News has undertaken. Braving the possibility of being misunderstood, indifferent to the enmity of the plotters, this paper, loyal to honest American labor and true to the principles that should animate all classes of American citizens, has committed itself to an energetic exposure of the agitators of class hatred. v For the benefit of those who have not ben convinced, we today place on the witness stand the culprits, themselves, and out of their own mouths shall convict them. . . L A magazine called the “Industrial Pioneer,” published in Chicago by the General Executive Board of the Industrial Wbrkers of World, bears on its front page in red type these two lines: “Up With the Radical Press!” and “The General Strike Call!” • Quoting from the magazine itself, we find that the “radical press” is designated “to spread over the entire nation revolutionary literature.” Alongside of this declaration is a poem vaunting? “The Red Flag,” which urges readers tp “Raise the Scarlet Standard High,” and at the same time confess the uji-American character of this standard in the following lines: .look round, tne rrencnman loves its blaze, The sturdy German chants its praise; In Moscow’s vaults its hymns are sung, Chicago swells its surging song.” Now you kjaow what “up with the radical press” means and what it portends. All this is bad enough, but it is in the general strike call that the ex treme menace jexists. Using as a pretext a demand for the release from prison of all spies, traitors and others who were convicted and locked up during the wan, a general strike committee has been created, with head quarters in Chicago, “to devise ways and means of propagating the general strike idea.” In line with this general strike idea, radicals are urging to go East and help to start trouble in the big industries centering in New York and Pennsylvania. The canning section in Monroe County, New York, is suggested as a fruitful field to “promote I. W. Ity. agitation.” Quoting at length, we find the following program and confession: “WHth I. W|. W!. activities extended to the Eastern States, I. W. W. prospects and strength will increase there. A case in point is the presence of the Marine Transport Wprkers’ branch at Philadelphia. This served as a base that enabled the M«etal and Machinery Workers’ Industrial Union, No. 440, to organize the recent revolt in Schwab’s steel hells at Bethlehem, Pa. This should be duplicated everywhere in the East by the extension of all I. W. W. activities Eastward.” Some idea of what the plot is may be gained from the extracts printed. There is food for thought in the rvolutionary program outlined. It con cerns the employer of labor and the union working man equally. Destruc tion and disruption are really the aims of these offscourings of the genuine labor movement It isn’t work that they want—it’s loot. It isn’t equality of opportunity that they seek, but a chance to erect a new form of despotism, based on terrorism. If America is to be saved it must be by Americans, and the first step is to appreciate the peril and recognize the enemy. That done, there must be counter-attack, counter propaganda— ’ian open and vigorous campaign of warning and education. The Chicdjjo Labor News repeats that it is doing and will, continue to do its share, even if it stands alone on the firing line. y - ..- . ■ ■ *-_ NEGROES ALARM WHITE PEOPLE ALONG THE PENN. Scab Railroad Working Gangs of Southern Negroes—Drive Citizens From Homes. By International Labor News Service. The Pennsylvania Railroad corn company is showing its appreciation of the “loyalty” of those who have .stood by them during the time the shopmen have been on strike. Thous ands of negroes have been imported from the south, men who are totally unfitted for this work. The negroes are being used in an effort to not only break the strike, but fill the . community with undesirable people. H/ere in Altoona, the influx of color 'ed workers has caused a storm of indignation against those who are (Continued on Page Two.) MOST RECENT PHOTO OF SENATOR MAGNUS JOHNSON Mfagnus Johnson, Farmer Laborite whom Minnesota has elected to fill the unexpired term in the U. S. Senate created by the death of Knute Nelson. Johnson defeated Gov. J;. A. 0. Preus, a Republican, by a large majority. CELEBRATION ON LABOR DAY AT LAKEWOOD PARK Surrounding Cities To Join Charlotte in Celebration— Splendid Program. Labor Day committee of the Cen tral Labor Union is completing ar rangements for celebration of that great day at Lakewood Park. It is planned to have a central celebration, and many surrounding cities and towns will join, with Charlotte in the celebration. Lakewood has been se lected because of many cdhveniences there for such celebration. Every thing is already prepared, and amusements provided. There is a good place for the Labor Day speeches, and for picnic parties, with plenty of good drinking water. Shades galore, and good parking places, free, for all who come in cars. This park ing space is within the park enclo sure, making safe the machines of every one. For those who come into the city on trains, and for those living in and about Charlotte, the street car sched ule offers another big inducement for holding the celebration at Lake wood. The Southern Public Utilities company has entered into the prepa ration in a whole-hearted mann\\ and every convenience of those usin^ the street cars will be the watchword of the company on Labor Day. In addition to the program of speeches, singing and recitations that will be staged by the labor groups, there will be a brass band, and then there is the fishing, the boating, the swimming pool, the zoo, skating rink, dancing hall, bowling alleys, merry go-round for the children, and num erous other pleasure-giving devices. The Joint Council of Textile Workers of the Carolinas voted last Saturday to have no celebration in the surrounding cities, but that all the workers from those cities would join with the Charlotte workers in celebration of Labor Day. STOOL PIGEON'S CLAIM REFUTED BY “COPPERS” Lewisburg, Wi. Va., Aug. 2.—At the trial of Frank Keeney, district president of the United Mine Work ers of America, Charleston police men refuted testimony of a mine owner’s stool pigeon who swore that at a meeting in Charleston Keeney declared every union man should be equipped with a rifle and ammuni tion. Three policement who were pres ent at the meeting testified that the trade unionist did not make that statement or anyhing that sounded like it. LABOR PAPERS LAMBASTED BY IRATE WORKER Says Daugherty Is An Angel and Gompers Is a Dema gogue—Strange Man. Our good republican friend, who writes to The Herald occasionally, but who irever signs his name to his communications, has come to the sur face again^ and takes a fling at The Herald, organized labor and the world in general. This is what he says this time: “Editor The Charlotte Herald: “No one could expect the republi can administration to receive any credit and praise from the labor press, when the labor papers and labor organizations are controlled by such . demagogues as Samuel Gomp ers. T am a working., rnan myself, and I want to say that Mr. Daugherty is right. No man has any right to interfere with another man if he wants to work. A man that will try to interfere with another man's right to work, or will damage or destroy the property of another man, 1 say he is not a good citizen. (Signed) “A FORKING MAN.” Can you imagine a working man cussing Samuel Gompers and prais ing Mr. Daugherty? Can you think of anything that would appeal to such a man above his political prejudices. Samuel Gompres has given his life for the toilers of -the land. He has seen them rise from serfdom to citi zenship—all through the constant agitation of the labor movement. He has witnessed the gradual reduction in hours of labor from 72 hours to 48 hours and 44 hours per week. He has witnessed the growth of the pub lic school system until today it is within reach of every boy and girl in this whole land—and it was started, has been maintained and supported by the organized labor movement. Mr. Daugherty’s chief object in official life has been to take away from the workers those advances they have made, and put the workers back into serfdom. And then a man who calls himself a workis^ '^MMi is right—and refers to Mr*. Gompers as a demagogue. God pity such a “working man.” If our good republican friend will come around, we’ll take him to places right here in Charlotte where men and women are not allowed to work— simply because they belong tc a labor union. Did our friend, or did Mtr. Daugherty, ever say anything at all to the employer who will not let the man work who wants to work. No, No! That’s a horse of a different color. Organized Labor, and Mr. Gomp ers, have urged the election of many republican candidates —, wherever such candidates stood for humanity against greed of gold. Mr. Gompers nor the labor movement stops to agk a man’s politics. W(hat is essential, however, is to know how the candi date stands in his Views concerning the toilers of the land. Our friend, whoever he is, is a mighty good republican. That is his business. Be has no right however to refer to President Gompers as a demagogue, for if he is really and truly a working man, he has eaten bread and meat that President Gomp ers and the labor movement secured for him, and it is never very genteel to bite the hand that feeds you. Over $500 worth of produce is sold 'each market day on the curb market established at Greenville in Pitt County by the farm agent, R. B. Reeves. EMPLOYER SO CRAZY HE GOT RICH AS GOLD The More He Gave, the More He Made. GOLDEN RULE Proved a Gold-Producer for Arthur Nash—Simple Rule Worked Wonders. BY CHARLES W. WOOD (In Collier’s Weekly.) Arthur Nash is the most unreas onable employer I ever met. He happens to be the most successful, the happiest, and the best loved em ployer too; but he hasn’t any judg ment, any common sense. Five years ago, now, he was a per fectly normal person. He was sen sible enough then and ran his busi ness according to business principles. He bought in the cheapest market. He hired labor at the lowest figure for which labor would agree to work; and he got as much work out of his employees as he could. He wasn't one of these “labor haters,” mind, you. He was a fine, decent fellow, with generous impul ses, a good Christian who wished everybody well; but he never forgot that business is business and that we are not* living in any Utopian society. He had moods, of course, in which the whole game almost sickened him, and he would feel like chucking it all and becoming a day laborer himself. Oh, to be rid of these eternal “re sponsibilities!” How he worried day and night, and how he envied those who had no such worries on thier minds! Most every struggling business man has those moods. But a he-man, he is apt to say profound ly, cannot chuck his responsibilities like that. He must go on with his worries. He must continue his ca reer as an executive, a ' leader of humankind; and it is only fair that he shall ^receive the raofits of a cap italist. instead of tipinjeagcr wages 'of a woifcingman.<*w*v v**:- -1* And Arthur Nash, in those days, was sensioie. y But his business didn’t thrive very, i well. And to add to his periods of soul sickness, his eternal woiries brought on a physical collapse. It was then that the “mood” got the better of him. It was then that he began to act like a perfect fool. Perhaps you have heard the story of what he did. I shall make it as brief as possible; for behind that story is another one which I am go ing to try like everything to tell. In all probability I shall not succeed, for it is almost impossible, in our rational civilization, to follow the vagaries of Arthur Nash’s mind. But I shall try. First, however, let me review the external happenings. Sweating by Golden Rule. Mr. Nash was president and gen eral manager of the A. Nash Com pany, wholesale tailors of Cincinnati. The first was incorporated in |1916 with a capital of $60,000., It was in 1919, after three years of any thing but success, that M|r. Nash de cided to liquidate the business and spend the rest of his days on a farm. Has “reasons” were strange enough. H|e was a Christian, I said, and he realized that he was running a sweatshop. He didn’t own the ma chines upon which the Nash clothes were made; they were owned by a contractor who employed such help as could not find employment in the (Continued pn Page 3.) Do Anthracite Operators Want A Strike? s •.. . By International Labor Newt Service. Washington, D. C., Aug. 1.—Are the anthracite mine owners hoping for a strike? i If not, what was the significance ‘of the statement credited to them that “if a strike is averted the anthracite market will be ex ceedingly dull between September 1 and the beginning of De cember?” Authorities on coal production who have been following the conference of miners and operators at Atlantic City are wondering what is the ans,wer to these two questions. They point but that ordinarily there is a brisk demand for coal in September, October and November, as dealers and consumers are laying in their winter stocks. In view of this, it is said that the operators are making a strange prediction when they say the au tumn will see a period of dullness in the anthracite trade. On the other hand, it is pointed out that the campaign for early buying of coal is having its effect and this would tend to result in a lessened demand during the fall. This may have been what the operators had in mind when they made their prediction. But the suspicion still remains that they wouldn’t be sorry to see a strike, as it would mean a tremendous demand for coal when the shutdown was over and both during and after the strike would offer an excuse for further increases in coal prices. However, the question still remains unanswered, “Are the operators hoping for a strike?” Was their wish father to their prediction?
The Charlotte Herald (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Aug. 3, 1923, edition 1
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