Newspapers / The Charlotte Herald (Charlotte, … / Dec. 7, 1923, edition 1 / Page 5
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mmmmmT* 111 I— j r—-— TEXTILE WORKER TELLS SPILL ANE JUST HOW LITTLE THjAT WRITER KNOWS. Editor, The Herald: » I am dropping you a few lines of thought along with some of the statements t>y Spillane which came out in the November 2^nd issue of The Charlotte'Observer. It is most; probable that you saw these statements, but.saw nothing worth while in them. I wish to state that /as I see, the whole thing is none other than an absolute gross mis statement, and also an effort/ to expose the tex tile workers as ign ©rants. Ypu will find some of the thoughts as fpllbws: He speaks of the happy, healthy, and content ed workers as the drop in labjor turn-over to 3 1-2 per centr'Which has brought; prosperity to South ern cotton mills. I believe (that I would be justi fied in saying that 8 5per; cent are not able to make a turn-over, financially speaking. No won der the southern cotton mills can boast of their prosperity, when the whole situation is going so one sided. i He also quotes the difference in the ability be tween the north and the south in handling their labor. There was never a) quotation of this kind until the southern cotton n£ill owners thought they had crushed the unions oiyt of the southern mills. * The writer is appears w^ould have the tendency to impress upon the mind of the public that it would almost be a criime up in the northern mills for one of their workers to enter the office to request a favor, or voicfe a complaint. But he states that down here in' the south it was just the reverse, that the president’s office is open to every worker. Now it so happens that I am a ■worker in one of the southern mills, which puts me in a position to know just how accurate the statement is concerning/ the southern mills. If you wish to get an iiwult, a short answer and sometimes driven fromr their office, just present the case as may-be without humbling yourself to a state of humiliation!, and you will be called a labor agitator and sometimes driven out and final ly dismissed from j their service. Sure, he is about right when he/says it is Mr. Jim, Mr. Henry, or Capt. Vick. j He further stages that there is no barrier be tween the shop fmd the office, no strikes, no labor unions now in /the south. At the present he knows that it is not necessary to have the barrier .between the sfnop and the office. And good reas ons for no sftrikes. But when he makes the state ment thsSt there are no unions, he is absolutely wronWe have unions and will have more and stronger unions as time continues. J& is not our intention to fight the industry, not toy any means. We welcome the splendid growth •J*of the textile industry in the south, for we be ^eve' that in the south is where it should be. i The cotton is grown here in the south which puts'the raw product close to the mills, and after we have finished the product, we have good ship ping facilities, railroads and "seaports. So I do net see whs the,»quth should.not leac^ in-thp tfix* tile industry in IJur Country: cut we neneve uiw ^workers should have as fair return for their labor here in the south as workers in any other section of the country. I take it to be an insult on the southern textile worker for the industry to boast of its prosperity and growth here when there is as much misery and poverty caused by its long hours and under-pay which its employes how receive. In a statement he goes on to say, that in the southern mills the employers and the employ?? have the same ideals. I venture to say that this is absolutely mis leading, for if such had been the case, there Would, not have beeii'so many workers fired opt, evicted, and driven about over the country since we were organized a few years ago. In one of his statements he says the worker in the north is the prey to every kind and char acter of profiteers and gougers. In the south the cotton mill worker is protected against such of his enemies. I find in the sections down here where I have lived that this statement is very incorrect, as the manufacturers and dealers of every kind go haild in hand and leave the worker isolated to get through the best he can. Mr. Barrett, I did not like to take up so much of your time but such as the above refers to is very misleading to our good people. Hope to see you and have a good long chat gome day. Yours truly, -r- . D. D. M’PHATTER. 52 Caldwell St., Concord, N, C., Nov. 29. THE NQRRIS-SINCLAIR BILL—A FARMERS’ AND CONSUMERS MEASURE. Editor, The Herald: • The Peoples’ Reconstruction League, a union of Farmers and Labor organizations with offices at Washington, D. C., is sending out calls for money to carry on a campaign during next Con gress in favor of Graduated Inheritance Taxes, Stock Dividend Taxes, Surtaxes and Unearned In come Taxes. The League is headed by such men as Baker, Ralston and Marsh, who are also ol ficials of the Farmers’ National Council. The League proposes further to work for the passage of “A Government Marketing Corporation such as the Norris-Sinclair Bill creates;” also to work' for other important measures. This artcle is written mainly to speak of the Norris-Sinclair Bill now pending before Congress. The bill proposes: “To provide for the purchase and sale of farm products” by creating “A Farm ers’ and Consumers’ Financing Corporation, said corporation to be endowed at first wth $100,006, 000 from the federal treasury, and to Jbe super vised, by three officials appointed by the President. This board of directors is empowered to estab lish agencies and offices anywhere in the United States or other countries, and to build and oper ate warehouses and elevators wherever needed. Through these agencies “agricultural products ^either in their natural or prepared state,” are to be bought and sold. '* • The United States government will thus own $100,000,00G of stock in the corporation and the directors are allowed to secure more fund^ at any time by,, selling and keeping outstanding its interest bonds to the extent of five times its paid in capital. The profits accruing to the business over and above operating expenses, are to accumulate as a reserve .fund until it amounts to $100,000,000 and then all profits above this will go into the United States treasury until all United States stock is repaid. After that the bild ‘‘iayeth not” where the profits are to go, but this can be made clear later. Now then with this brief outline let us draw some deductions as to its probable benefits to ag riculture. In the first place there are already hundreds of corporations organized to buy and sell farm products. They are of course specula tive concerns, run for profit not to farmers but to members of the corporation. Ths proposed new corporation by the terms of the bill professes to eliminate much commissions and charges usually collected by middlemen and thus to raise the price received by producers and lower the price paid by consumers. The “leading” questions are: Can it do it? Will it do it? By the terms of the bill the corporation must first accumulate $100,000,000 in net profits as a reserve fund. It must then make another $100, 000,000 to be used in paying back 'the initial government stock. While it-vis piling up these $20,0,000,000 of profits it must necessarily be drawing down other considerable profits to cover operating expenses and also pay interest ,on the $500,000,000 and upwards of bonds sold. These various profits must necessarily come out of the producers or consumers or both. Now while the corporation is exercising its hand in the accumulation of these various gains do you not think it will be qualifying as an expert profits making concern? That is the way it looks to many of us. If it is a speculative concern wherein does it differ from the other hundreds' of corporations already in existence? Its process is to exploit the people of the United States. Because its Board of Directors were appointed by the President does that make it any less vicious in its methods of speculation? Every bit of the money secured from the government and from the bondholders to finance the concern is costing the people a heavy annual interest fee, and money lenders will not agree to put their money into a business that is not a profit-making concern. It is certainly an error to conclude that specu lators in “A Farmers’ and Producers’ Financing Corporation” would be any the less exacting from the people than would be the speculators in other corporations. - < ■ • « ■ • . What is thea n^ty. with 4 the Norris-Sin clair Dill anyway? •‘ffiiOwrohble Is it gets its money from the wron^sOtirre. It gets its money in too much of a round-about way. It does not recog nize the injustice where a government prints money free for money lenders and then borrow it back at high rates for government purposes. The Sincla&vNorris Bill should call for govern ment legal tender notls with which to finance the Farmers’ apd Prodpcjsrs’ Corporation and then the speculative 'feature of the concern could be eliminated arid JQ1 tiie vvarious tax-schemes named in the first paragraph if this article would not be needed, and^rOMy thek should be avoided because all such taxes^jkcep^nthe inheritance tax are al ways finally dpibldd back onto producers and consumers afiyiiily. • • . - . . ...... - When any government enters into any sort of a scheme as an exploiter of its own people, just to that extent does it annul its democratc preten ses and become an oligarchy of a few very rich and many very poor. The profit-making feature should be eliminated from the bill and all money handlers and com modity handlers under this government project should work on a salary basis ~and not on a per centage basis as at present. The per cent profits on money handled and on goods bought and sold are responsible for the great fortunes piled up by big business and are responsible for low-prices to producers and high prices to consumers. A reasonable salary for, money handling and handling of other necessities could be made prac tical by this Government Marketing Corporation provided the government issued money for its own transactions instead of issuing it first to private banking corporations and then borrowing it back with interest for all its needs. The Norris-Sinclair bill should be so amended that all transactons of the marketing corporation could be paid for with money issued directly from the federal treasury not borrowed. All houses, agents, and products purchased under this cor poration management should be paid for in United States notes properly worded so as to make them a full legal tenderin all business af fairs, and then when the corporation purchases are sold these notes will be received back in re turn and could be cancelled or destroyed if neces sary to a void, an over inflation of currency. One other amendment should be made to the bill and that is the board of directors should be made to operate under a price-commission of Congress. This commission should be selected with a view to enlisting members from various sections of the country and is a very necessary feature to prevent gambling bears from unduly depressing prices to farmers and prevent gambling bulls from unduly boosting prices to consumers. A minimum to farmers and a maximum to con sumer 'should annually be fixed by this commis sion. - : i s j? Much more could be said m favor of amending the Norris-Sinclair •- Bill. With amendments as above suggested it would become a very impor tant document, but without them the “marketing corporation” cou\d only become a party to the vary abuse it pretends to correct. It would be come tbe greatest speculating money-borrowing scheme on earth. Billions of tax-free capital would soon drop into it. v. P. A. SPAIN, M. D. Paris, Texas. MULWEE WANTS TO KNOW ABOUT THAT RQOSER RACKET. Editor,. The Herald: Old Mildew Mulinax who lives on Goober-Pea Ridge sez that history repeats its self evry once in a while & sum times twice in a while & he sez Evry generation is gitin weeker & wizer & he sez that this kew kluxx fite is gwine to winde up like sum ov them grate wars or bibble days & now this cribe iz gwine to lucidate a little on sum ov them grate wars & them wize fellers & prove that sum ov the latter day fellers are wizer than them -bible fellers. U remember thqr wuz a grate general by the name of moses who started out with a grate crowd qv men women children & other animals to take charge ov the land of promise & he dun O. K,. till he got to the riv$r ov jordan & Mildew sez he kalkulates. that moses wuz a methodist & wuz skeered ov the water & he went up on Mt. Nebo he calkulates to cut a foot log to cross jordan on, — Mildew sez he kalkulates a tre fell on him. any way he never cum back & the Rankin Officer wuz a man hy the name ov johfenua & he kalku lates josh wuz a baptist for when he got to bee boss ov the outfit he jist split jordan wide open & when he got across he tooted that old rams horn so loud it shook the wall's down around the town & josh jist run rite in & went to killin evry thing he seen alive & after he had killed alot ov kings & other varments them Gibeonites got skeered & cum to josh to beg for peece & after tha had argefide a while on the matter josh told them if tha wood tote all the water & cut all the stove wood for the winSin tha cood live & tha traded with him but there wuz more kings on the list to be kilt & when'tha heard that the gibeonites had maid a traid with josh to cut stove wood & tote water for thajr bord tha got allfired mad & cum to take the job away from; them & josh & his crowd wuz down in gilgal behind the old black smith shop pitchin hoss shoes & them gib eonites sen them cumin with 5 kings to play agin their job & tha got skeered sent josh a tele gram &, he draped hiz hoss shoes & cum up to gib eon & got to argefying in the matter with them & tha both got mad & got into a fite & josh seen it wuz to big a job to doo in jist one common da & he toj the sun moon & 7 stars to stop rite where tha wuz till he kilt all them folks & tha jist mind ed his lots better than Jim Barrett minds david Clak. But after the fite the sun moon & 7 stars wuz not bothered any more tiU a , feller by the name 'ov Woodpile squated in the-white hous at Washington, dee see, & he, told the sun-it coodent rise only Wen be sed for it to irise &-it minded' him jist like Keever duz David, but Woodpile cood ent make the roosters crow to suit hiz sun rise & after tryin it for 8 years he got mad & quit the job but now Charlotte haz sprung a guy that puts tha eternal kabosh on all former wize guys. This well fed hi-combed guy can jist walk up in front ov an old D.omenecker rooster. & look rite in the face & say now look a here U dadburned old ball headed rascal if U jist crow i will tax U anuff to pay Billy Sunday for cussin evry body in char lotte & IT jist bet that old Rooster iz skeered to crow. Now what this guy, wood like to no iz if it costs a" feller, in .Charlotte $100"fbr a rooster to crow what wood it cost him if he had a rooster, a Tom Gat, A Bull Dok, & a Jackass. so eye will cloze by saying yours az B4. J. A. MULWEE. Belmont, N. C. LOW WAGES DOOM BABIES. • Write to your Senator, urging him to support the Child Labor Amendment to' the United States Constitution. Study of a recent report of the Federal Child ren's Bureau leads directly to the conclusion that employers who pay low wages are responsible for the high death rate among babies of the pool. The Children’s Bureau, in an intensive study of infant mortality in Baltimore, > found that the baby death rate was highest among the poorly paid and lowest among the better paid. In other words, there was a direct relation between wages and infant mortality, a fact which has long been known by social workers. It is idle to deny that revelations such as the one made by the Children’s Bureau place a ter rible responsibility on employers who pay inade quate wages. It means that these employers are a menace to the national welfare, as people of all shades of opinion are agreed that there is nothing that means more to the building up of society than the conservaton of child life. Fortunately for the nation, organized labor is alive to the danger of the low wage and is fight ing it in every section. Where labor is suffi ciently strong to secure fair wages, there is as surance that the rate of infant mortality will de cline. In this lies one of the most encouraging aspects of present-day conditions in the. United States. The American Federation of Labor, says a Rochester preacher named Doan, is getting to be as great a menace to democracy as the Na tional Association of Manufacturers. This is news of great importance, because it shows how ignorant an educated man can be. Something ought to.be done about some of our educated' men. Clearly, education of this kind . is a menace to democracy. Perhaps there ought to be a law against it. George Says: “THEY’RE GOOD” None better than FALLS TIRES and Evergreen Tube* Your neighbor know* it, ask him. George A. Nevrtnan 27 N. College Phone 4257 GOOD MONEY IN LOOKING YOUR BEST Keep your clothes cleaned and pressed, and notice the difference in the treatment accorded you. Men and women who know Charlotte send their clothes to Wright’s Pressing Club Phones 4043—4908 320 South College SL AUSTIN’S MARKET The up-to-date market, with a full line of all kinds of M^eats, 'Fish and Other Good Things t6 Eat Price* reasonable and service Complete AUSTIN’S MARKET ; 305 WEST TRAD £ ST. Kenny’s TEAS and COFFEES Enjoyed by thousands of people in and around Char lotte. Try them and you will agree with us. KENNY’S 23 So. Tryon St. BELK BROS. CO. BELK BROS. CO. '. .' --■.~'=^- Offer ■ = For Your Christmas Shopping ..r 1 l- -- FOR INSTANCE— Good Blankets for Mother All-Wool—Good Big Sizes, at $6.95 to $9.95 Good Half-Wool Blankets $4.95 to $5.95 We Can Give You, Silk Hose 98c to $4.95 , 4 Good Quality Lisle and Silk : 4 • , 39c to 98c Pretty Line of Handflerchiefs 5c, 10c, 15c, 19c, 25c In Christmas Boxes—Three to the Box 25c, 50c 98c Box Some Suggestions That Dont Cost Much—Yet Will Be Appreciated , Beads, Hand Bags, Leather Bags, T oilet Sets, Fine Box Paper, Toilet Boxes and Sets, Fine Soap and Perfume's, Umbrellas—for Mother ' or Sister. Seaters, Underwear, Etc., Etc. Some Articles For Father or Brother Silk Ties, Silk Socks, Warm Heavy Sweaters, Handkerchiefs, Stetson Hats, Umbrellas, Cuff buttons, Boston Garters, Etc. T Wheri in Our Store—Don’t Fail to Visit Our Big Toyland Basement Hundreds of Toys foys For the Children Special Price on All Ready-to-Wear On Second Floor Specials in Coats, Dresses, Suits for the Holidays. J
The Charlotte Herald (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 7, 1923, edition 1
5
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