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VOL. VI. NO. 3
CHARLOTTE, N. C., AUGUST 17, 1923
MOST SUCCESSFUL GATHERING
IN HISTORY OF ORGANIZATION
Legislation Looking to Work
Advancement.
era
SUPREME COURT
Child Labor Laws, Convict
Leasing and Other Inter
esting Questions Acted
Upon by Labor.
Greensboro, Aug. 15.—The North
Carolina State Federation, which
has been in session here from Mon
day morning to Wednesday after
noon, adjourned, to be pronounced
the finest meeting ever held by labor
in this state. Although the basis of
representation had been changed at
the previous convention, cutting
down considerably the number of
delegates to the membership of the
various locals and Central bodies,
there were many more delegates in
attendance than at the last conven
tion.
Two outstanding events of the
convention was the election of C. P.
Barringer as president, which killed
the aBrrett-Moody factionalism, and
the provisions made for the em
ployment of a full-time organizer
for the state.
Action on many questions for the
welfare and advancement of the
workers was taken, ^ chief among
which was that of giving unqualified
endorsement to the organization of
the textile workers. Endorsement
of the proposed amendment to the
national constitution which will per
mit of the enactment of a national
child labor law that cannot be de
clared unconstitutional was another
important step taken, while the Unit
jed States Supreme Court, the con
vict leasing system, promiscuous
calling of troops to towns where in
dustrial disputes arise between em
ployers and employees, and other
questions of vital interest were act
ed upon.
rne convention was opened mon
day morning by C. J. Lochridge,
president of the Greensboro Central
Labor Union, and called upon the
Federation’s chaplain; J. O. Belton,
Y griflite cotter, -of -Mt. Airy, to open
the meeting with prayer. The big
man from the mountains who is
known throughout the state as the
best granite cutter in the south and
the best Baptist preacher in the
world, petitioned God for guidance
in the convention just opening. He
prayed for wisdom for the officers
and delegates, and asked that every
thing the convention might do, be
of such nature that v God would be
glorified and this earth of His made
better for His family of his children.
B. L. Fentress, city attorney of
Greensboro, was introduced as the
personal representative of the Mayor
of the Gate City. He spoke eloquent
words of welcome to the delegates
and visitors, and expressed regrets
that the mayor could not be present,
yet he was glad, he said, for the
mayor’s absence gave to him a pleas
ure and a privilege that ne would
not have had if the mayor could have
been in the convention. Mr. Fen
tress said he hoped the visitors would
derive as much pleasure from their
visit to Greensboro as the city de
rived through their coming.
Vice President Caldwell responded
to the welcome given the workers,
and in a few well chosen words told
something of the objects the work
ers hoped to obtain in the meeting
here. Acting' President Caldwell
t also paid a glowing tribute to the
Greensboro merchants and business
and professional men for their co
operation with the Greensboro work
ers, and thanked them for the Fed
eration for the beautiful decora
tions that greeted the visitors.
Then it was that ftflr. Lochridge
turned the convention over to Vice
President Caldwell, who immediate
ly asked for the report of the cre
dentials committee. This report was
made, and there being no contests
or challenges the report was accept
ed, and the delegates ordered seated
in the convntion.
R. W. H. Stone, president of the
Farmers’ Union, wag then introduced
to the delegates, and midst loud and
prolonged applause the veteran
fighter for the farmers and wage
workers took the speaker’s stand.
“I always feel at home in your con
ventions,” President Stone began.
“In fact, next to my own union, I
love this union more than any other
organization. I look upon you, and
I see the faces of men who take the
products of the farm and convert
the raw material into finished prod
ucts, and others of you then trans
port this commerce to the peoples
of the world. We are closely linked
together, the worker of the field and
the worker of the factory, that neith
er of us can advance wihtout help
ing the other. Nor, can one of us
suffer without suffering coming to
the other. ,
“Then, too, you boys in the fac
tories were babes on the farms.
You left us, out there in the fields,
and as your old dads watched you
wend your way toward the cities
and the industries, you were fol
lowed with prayers that you might
be successful in your endeavors. We
are still praying for our boys in the
industries, because you are ctili ours.
v
(Continued on Page Two.)
Legislation That Labor
Will Endeavor to Obtain
Greensboro, Aug. 15.—Following
is an outline of the legislation that
the State Federation of Labor in
North Carolina will seek to have
embraced at the next session of the
\
general assembly. These recommen
dations came from the legislative
committee and were adopted by the
convention:
Child Labor Law.
There is to be presented to the
people of America the opportunity
of voting for an amendment to the
Constitution of the United States
that will allow this nation to protect
its little children, by law, and by a
law that cannot be declared uncon
stitutional by a North Carolina fed
eral judge, or by any other judge in
the United States. Your committee
recommends that this federation in
struct its officials to give all pub
licity possible to this proposed
amendment to the constitution, and
write strong letters to all members
of Congress in this state, and to 'the
two United States senators, and urge
their support of this amendment that
will provide for a federal child labor
law. We also recommend that the
press be appealed to in an effort to
secure the support of every news
paper in the state, and that ether or
ganizations, especially the 1 women’s
organizations and ministers asso
ciations, be urged by this federation
to lend their support to the success
of the proposed amendment.
Your committee feels that the
North Carolina State Federation of
Labor should take the lead in secur
ing this law, because of the iacl that,
it has been North Carolina manufac
turers and North Carolina judges
who have brought the defeat of the
two national child labor laws this
country has had in the past. Your
committee feels that the state of
Noz’th Carolina should be the first in
the fight for the release of the ‘thous
ands of children who wrere thrown
into bondage through the suits
brought by North Carolina manulac
turers, heard by a North Carolina
judge, and through his pronounce
ment had their protection taken
away from all the children of toil
throughout the nation.
Your committee feels that it is
eminently proper that the world
should be notified that the State Fed
eration of Labor, meeting in Greens
boro, the home of the federal judge
who declared the national child la
bor law unconstitutional, is here and
now beginning a campaign to prove
to the world that the good citizens
of North Carolina are opposed to
working little children in the indus
tries, and wage that campaign with
out a stop, brooking no interference
and stopping at no obstacle, until
the coming of the day of election
on the proposed amendment, and
on that day have the citizenship so
thoroughly aroused to a sense of
their dujty that old North Carolina
will vote almost unanimously for the
adoption of the amendment. This
state owes that to the childhood of
America, because the labor of the
little children in past years has been
one of the main causes of this state’s
pre-eminence in the industrial field
today.
Your committee begs this federa
tion to work and preach and talk and
pray for the success of this move
ment, and vote for no candidate for
any office who refuses or fails to em
phatically and publicly declare him
self whole-heartedly in favor of the
proposed child labor amendment to
the constitution of the United States.
Higher Educational Institutions and Common
Schools.
Your committee feels sure that
this State Federation of Labor is
deeply interested in education, and
your committee would suggest to
you that the present tendency of the
State seems to be to devote more
and more money to the institutions
of higher learning, thereby crippling
the state’s ability to properly care
for those children who should have
every opportunity in the public
schools. It seems that your proper
officers should take such steps as
would assure the proper care of the
children in the state before so much
money is expended op higher edu
cation. Children are attending
schools in relays and divided classes
because of lack of facilities and
teachers, while hundreds of thous
ands of dollars are going to the
higher institutions. This should not
be. It isf better by far to have all
the children with common or high
school education then'to have a com
paratively few of the state’s citizen
ship graduating in the higher insti
tutions.
The Militia,
In view of the fact that many em
ployers of labor seem to have the
idea that the state military forces
are maintained for their sole pro
tection, and that troops can be used
as strikebreakers, coupled with the
further fact that many civil officers
desire, as evidenced by past per
formances, to dodge all responsibil
ity when imported strike breakers
are brought into a community for
the purpose of lowering the w’age
and living conditions of the North
Carolina workers, there should be
a law in this state forcing cities and
counties calling for troops to pay all
expenses incident thereto. It is a
notorious practice, that of calling
troops when there is no need for
troops, and the readiness with which
troops have been used in the past
forces labor to the belief that their
presence is more desired for pur
poses of intimidation than for pro
tection. Your committee suggests
the enactment of a law with these
provisions.
Convict Lease System.
! i our committee is at loss for
words to express its earnest desire
that the State Federation of Labor
take the lead in putting an end to
the state’s barter and sale of human
beings. We’re speaking now of the
state’s convict leasing system. It is
a blot upon the fair name of North
Carolina. It is hellish in principle
and brutal in practice. Private con
tractors or business firms who hire
such convicts are actuated solely by
selfish motives and hire the convicts
in the same manner they buy mules
or steers. Common decency alone
should cause men to blush with
shame who thus purchase the con
victs, and the state of North Caro
lina should feel more shame in its
part of the crime than even the man
who hires the convicts. We urge
this Federation of Labor tp= call upon
the ministers, the women’s organiza
tions, the press of the state, and all
right thinking people .throughout the
state to join in a firm deipand for an
immediate and final end of this dis
graceful chapter in the common
wealth’s history. So long as the
state of North Carolina continues
this inhuman practice the churches
are1 but hollow mockeries of Chris
tianity, and our boasted progress is
nothing more than thin veneer.
“The eyes of the nation are upon
North Carolina” is a statement we
love to make, when expressing our
pride in our state’s material ad
vancement. We forget for the mom
ent that when the eyes of the nation
are upon North Carolina, those eyes
are looking at a state that still deals
ii\. human souls and human bodies,
even as it did when slavery was a
legalized business. Your committee
wants this shame removed from
North Carolina’s good name, and it
can be done only through the ac
tivities of this, or some other organ
ization of men and women who love
human beings and are willing to
work and fight for justice and right.
Incorporation of Towns.
i our committee would have you
seriously consider the dangers to de
mocracy and to popular government
in what is commonly termed “one
man” towns. There are in this state
miniature principalities and king
doms,5 where one man, or one com
pany. of men, own and control the
town and all that lies or exists there
in. There is no law in such Diaces,
except the law of the industrial ba
ron. Officers of the law are hired
by him and paid by him and do the
things they are ordered to do by the
ruler in these smlall, but. strong, em
pires. The existence of such places
in a democratic republic is danger
ous to the citizens having to ’ive and
labor in such places, and is detrimen
tal to the advancement of these same
citizens. You are urged to seek leg
islation! that will incorporate, or
cause to be incorporated, all com
munities in North Carolina where
there is a population of 500 people
living within a radius of one square
mile. By this method and this alone
can people < have representative gov
ernment and escape the penalties al
ways paid by thos whose destinies
are absolutely in the hands of one
man, or a small group of men.
(Continued on Page 3.)
BARRINGER
FEDERATION
PRESIDENT
i_
Moody - Barrett Factionalism
Dead as a Door Nail.
BOTH ARE GLAD
Convention Expected Bitter
F i g h t—Harmony Reigned
Supreme — Federation ,
Greensboro, Aug. 15.—C. P. Bar-|
ringer, state chairman of the execu
tive committee of the Brotherhood
of Railway Carmen, living in Salis
bury, was chosen president of the
North Carolina State Federation of
Labor, in the closing hours of that
convention, Wednesday.5 Mr. aBr
ringer is one of the most popular
men in labor circles, and is a high
ly educated man, a great reader and
student, and the delegates in the
convention were highly elated when
the Salisbury man was selected.
Barringer’s election means the
death of the Barrett-Moody fac
tionalism i nstate labor circles, and
it is safe to say that there are no
men in the state prouder of this fact
than Messrs. Moody and Barrett.
Both expressed themselves as being
entirely satisfied and extremely hap
py over the outcome of the election.
This factionalism is peculiar, in that
Moody and Barrett are far from be
ing personal enemies, the factional
spirit arising because of differences
of opinion the two men held con
cerning the policies of the labor
movement. Both men are intensely
interested in the workers of the
state, and friends of both feel confi
dent that they twill both be on hand
to assist President Barringer in his
every undertaking for the workers
of the state. |
Both Moody', and Barrett were
placed before tie convention for the
presidency. Before their names
were presented, however, Barrett
hid placed thd name of Mr. Bar
ringer in nomination. Mr. Moody
arose and spoke highly of the man
whose name had been presented, aftd
immediately afterward, and ** at the
urgent request;,,of Moody and Bar-*,
rett, both their names were with-^j
(Continued on Page Two.)
THE TEXTILE
WORKER WILL
RECEIVE AID
State Federation Pledges Full
Support to Craft.
FACTS GIVEN
In Motion — Industry Should
Have Due Recognition—
Fear Rules the
Workers.
Following is the motion made and
carried to aid the textile workers by
the State Federation of Labor in the
Greensboro Convention:
“The textile workers1 of North
Carolina constitute the largest sin
gle body of workers in the state.
Yet they receive less pay, work
longer hours per week and have the
poorest working conditions of any
other group of workers. Practically
all of them live in company-owned
houses, giving to the employer ab
solute control over not only the time
the workers are in the industry, but
while they are in their homes as
well. When a textile worker is dis
charged from his job,’ it does not
only mean the loss of a job for that
particular worker, but in nearly ev
ery instance it means also that the
entire family is discharged and or
dered to move out of the house they
have been living in.
“The spy system is in vogue in
many mills of North Carolina to
such an extent that many workers
are afraid to join the organization
or to accpt office in the union. Many
mfcn and women have been dis
charged and moved out of their
homes and the mill officials refused
to give any reason whatsoever for
such discharges. This is an admis
sion that the workers were fired be
cause of exercising their constitu
tional right of joining a labor or
ganization.
“No man can be the good, active
citizen he would like to be so long as
his life is controlled by fear. The
worst fear of all is that fear of los
ing a job, which, in turn, means the
loss of food and clothing and shelter
for the workman and his loyed ones.
“There are many good employers
who would be most glad to raise the
standard of wages and give to the
textile workers a reasonable work
week, like other crafts enjoy, but
their hands are tied by that inner
(Continued on Page Two.)
HIGHLAND PARK BOSS IS FIRING
MORE WORKERS FROM MILLS
Young Takes Appeal
|In Ejectment Proceeding
Will Young, discharged employe
of the Highland Park mill, who had
been cited in ejectment proceedings
by the company, gave notice of ap
peal from the decision rendered last
Tuesday in Squire Alexander’s court.
Col. T. L. Kirkpatrick appeared for
M!r. Young and C. W. Tillett, Jr.,
appeared for the Highland Park
cotftpanyf
The case was tried before a jury
composed of J. H. Overcash, S. P.
MlcGinn, B. E. Smith, J. C. Springs,
W. C. Hinson and E. L. Durham.
On account of the absence from
the city of the editor of The Herald,
who has been attending the State
Federation of Labor convention in
Greensboro, details of the trial will
not be published in The Herald until
til the next issue of the paper.
SUPREME COURT
MOST POWERFUL
BODY IN WORLD
Yet It Is Headed by Man Who
Was Repudiated By 46 of
the 48 States of the
Nation.
Greensboro, Aug. 15.—“There is
no place in the Constitution of the
United States, nor in any statute of
the United States, that gives to the
Supreme Court the power to nullify
laws made by Congress, and signed
by the President,” was one of the
high spots in the address delivered
to the State Federation of Labor by
Edward F. McGrady, personal rep
reentative of Samuel Gompers and
legislative representative for the
American Federation of Labor. Mr.
McGrady was given a great ovation
at the conclusion of his address and
often through his speech he was in
terrupted with applause.
Mr. McGrady, who was presented
J^y Chairman Caldwell as re'present
■4i|g President Gompers said, in part,
as’iollows:
“I bring to you the greetings and
good wishes of the president and the
executive council of the American
Federation of Labor. It is the hope
that your deliberations in this con
vention will do a great deal to ad
vance the cause of labor, not only in
this state, but that it will add to the
strength of labor throughout the na
tion.
“Mr. Gompers was unable to be
present today; Be. is at present in
Chicago, representing his organiza
tion, the cigar makers, as a delegate
to that convention.
“The American Federation of La
bor believes this is one of the states
where lots can be accomplished for
organized labor. We, of the north,
have looked askance at the Carolinas
for the reason that they have been
lagging behind in industrial legisla
tion. I come from a state where we
have a 48-hour law in the mills of
Massachusetts; and we hope some
day you can put over similar legis
lation,” Mr. Me. McGrady stated.
“We have a hard time holding the
48-hour law, and you workers of the
Carolinas act as a drag, so to speak,
so you see it is in the interest of the
entire country that you should get
together and work for legislation
similar to that we now enjoy.
“We were told after the war that
labor could expect more, that labor
could get justice; but after we
helped win the warTWe were con
fronted with the toughest wave of
reaction in the history of the coun
try. We have held our own by re
fusing to take a step backward, and
we have accepted reduction in
wages onlyjtfter a hard fight to pre
vent it, for there never was any ex
cuse for reduction in wages, because
in some cases dividends increased
from 300 to 16,000 per cent. And
yet, in the face of these great earn
ings, they put on a campaign of
reaction, backed by the United
States chamber of commerce and
the kept-press of America,” Mr. Mc
Grady asserted.
“The program of big business was
to whip you by legislation,” he charg
ed, and he said that “they got the
governors and national leaders to
agree that they would put on the
boards men who favored big business
and they did this, yea, even to the
Supreme Court, in curbing your lib
erties.
“We are supposed to be a demo
cracy, but we are drifting fast right
to oligarcy. Two successive con
gresses passed a child labor law,
which was signed by the President;
that is the will of the people, and
yet the Supreme Court of the United
States renders a decision saying the
child labor law was unconstitutional.
There is nothing in the constitution
that gives the Supreme Court the
right to nullify the will of the peo
ple,” Mr. McGrady asserted (mmch
applause), adding that “when the
Supreme Court exercise^ that power
they seized it illegally. After the
Supreme Court declared the law un
constitutional, a new Congress
passed another child labor law; and
(Continued on Page Two.)
GAVE DELEGATES
DOWN THE ROAD
FOR THEIR SINS
Says Union Men Who Buy
Non-Union Clothing Are
Themselves Scab
Em,pldyers.
Greensboro, Aug. 15.—President
Manning, of the Union Label Trades
Department of the American Feder
ation ,?f Labor gave the delegates
attending the North Carolina State
Federation of Labor convention
“down the country,” with a swift
kick at every step. The delegates,
recognizing their guilt, took the
tongue-lashing in the proper man
ner. %
“You boycotte merchants for era*
ploying scab carpenters and. other
non-union builders, yet you . yoUr
selves employ scab workers every
day in the year,” was one of the
straight - from - the-shoulder charges
jnad* a> -fhe big Washington man.
"'You defeat candidates for office
who patronize non-union barber
shops, and at the same j moment you
are wearing scab made clothing, or
shoes, or hats. Every time you make
a purchase, and spend your money
for an article, any article, that does
not bear the Union label, you are em
ploying scab labor, and in many in
stances, penitentiary labor. Boys,
get yourselves right with God and
with your fellow men, and then you
can succeed with the ‘other fellow.’
“The Union Label is one of the
•most precious things in the world. It
is one of the greatest emblems on
earth. Let’s see what it is. It is not
just a rag, with a design worked upon
it. It-is not just a piece of metal,
with lettering or an insignia. No, No!
It is the one thing in America that
has brought the work-week down
from 72 hours a week to 48 and 44
hours a week. It represents the one
thing that changed the hours of the
gooa nousewiie, wno used to get up
before daylight and cook her hus
band’s breakfast, watch him depart
for his labors before the rising of
the sun, and wait for his return after
the sinking of the sun, and who now
has that husband and father with
her and her children all the time ex
cept the eight hours that he now la
bors.
“The Union Label represents the
one big force that brought the pub
lic school into existence. It repre
sents the one spirit that surged on
ward until the toiler rose from the
place of the serf to that of respect
ed citizenship. It is the greatest in
fluence for good in this country, with
the sole exception of the church.
“That shirt you have on. Does
it bear the union label? If it does,
then it was made by a happy worker
under good conditions. If not, it is
a nine-to-one shot that it was made
either in a prison or in the home of
some piece-worker.
“I do not see how any right-think
ing person can purchase an article
of wearing apparel that has no union
label upon it. Then how much more
surprisig is it that you men, you
leaders in' your various towns and
cities, are here today wearing some
articles of clothing that do not have
the union label on them at all.
“ ‘Well, I can’t find a suit, or a
shirt, or a pair of shoes with the
label on or in them,’ some of you
say. Now that is pure bunk of the
bunkest sort. If you tell your mer
chant that you want the union label
on your clothing, he’ll get it for you.
He’s in business to supply the wants
of his customers. If he hasn’t got
what you want with the label, then
refuse to take anything else. He’ll
soon get it for you, and you needn’t
worry about that part of it. You
create the demand and the merchant
will be sure to supply your wants.”
It was a great lesson to the dele
gates, and it is safe to say that many
men in North Carolina will go many,
many months without clothing be
fore buying another non-union piece
of ^ goods.
“Feed and Weed and Breed,” are
the three guiding stars in dairying,
said one speaker at the recent farm
convention in Raleigh. Of the three,
he declared that, feeding is the most
important.
Secretary and His Wife Have
Received Their Notice.
MYERS AND KIRBY
Both Fired on Wednesday—«
Workers To Gather Fri
day Night at Union
Hall.
G. C. Myers and H. C. Kirby, for
years employed in ^he Highland
Park chain of mills, were discharged
Wednesday. On the previous Mon
day Mr. and Mrs. Clyde McGann
were fired out of the mill.
On Thursday afternoon the report
came to d'.be Herald that the mill
company was firing workers by the
wholesale. While the number as re
ported to The Herald was twenty
five, it is not known just how many
there were discharged, a]l told.
..These discharges follow the fir
ing of Will Young, Misses Carrie
Parker and Annie Langley, and Mrs.
Langley, last week. The fact that
a jury rendered a verdict in favor
of the company in the ejectment pro
ceedings instituted again Will
Young is thought to have had an in
fluence in the reported wholesale
discharge yesterday.:
It had been voted on last Mon
day night to meet on*this Friday
night for the purpose of taking a
strike vote to force the reinstate
ment of Young and the three women.
_ I Myers was fired, so he says he was
informed, because he attended the
ejectment trial of Will Young.
Kirby was fired, he says, on the
ground that “there had been too
much going on around here.”
It was brought out at the trial
Tuesday that Myers was a delegate
to the Central Labor Union. His
discharge foHwed Wednesday, al
though 3uperintendedt Anderson
had sworn, in the Young trial, that
he did not. discharge any worker for
union affiliation.
A meeting this Friday night in
the North Charlotte Union hall will
be held. Officials of the Union will
be present, and it is expected that a
crowd will gather tonight for
the me: . which lime definite
action will be ,taken on the whole
matter.
WANT POWERS OF
SUPREME COURT
CURBED BY LAW
Nation-Wide Movement Joined
By North Carolina Labor
Great Campaign Being
Waged.
Greensboro, Aug. 16.—North Car
olina labor has officially joined the
nation-wide movement to curtail the
autocratic power of the United States
Supreme Court. TJie following res
olution tells the way North Caro
linians feel toward the matter:
Whereas, The United States Su
preme Court hjis assumed powers
never delegated to that body either
by constitution in its original form,
or by constitutional amendment, or
by .legislative enactment, and,
Whereas, Nine members of the
Supreme Court are now .more pow
[ erful, through this self-assumed au
thority, than the Congress of the
United States and the President
combined, and
Whereas, This condition, if al
lowed to continue, and grow as it
has grown in the past few years,
will eventually undermine this demo
cratic republic, and nullify popular
government, therefore,
Be Is Resolved, That the North
Carolina congressmen and senators
be urged to vote for the bill which
is to be presented in fee next Con
gress of the United States providing
for the perpetuation of our repre
sentative form of government in the
following or similar language: That
when a law is declared unconstitu
tional b ythe United States Supreme
Court, and the same bill is again
presented and passed by both
branches of Congress and signed by
the president, it shall become the
law of the land.
WISCONSIN MAYOR LAUDS
ACHIEVEMENT OF UNIONS
By International Labor Newt Service.
Superior, WJis., Aug. 8.—Wel
coming the delegates of the
State Federation of Labor at its
opening session here, Mayor Fred
A. Baxter said:
“I believe that 90 per cent
of the population of our city
have faith in organized la
bor. Had it not been for or
ganized labor the citizens of
this great country of ours
would have been divided into
two classes, the very rich and
the extremely poor.
“I am heartily in favor of
a high standard of living for
the workers and a correspond
ing living wage.”