l%m ONT.T BgATJ.Y INPBPENDENT WEEKLY In Meckknbttfr 0>H»
Por > WwUy to Rwdwi
tho LARGEST BUYING POWER
1m Charted
Official Organ
Labor Union; atanHag far
ibe A. F. of L.
Che Charlotte labor Journal
Patrnnirr oar titm
Hum*. THn, Make Tom
Paper pnanfHI* hr llfrl'
co-operation
_ Truthful, Honest, Impartial
Endorsed by tho N. C. SUte Federa
tion of Labor
AND DIXIE FARM NEWS
Endeavoring to Serve the Masiet
VOL. IX—NO. 48
ram Aavnrrietanrr in Tm Nvmm ta a
CHARLOTTE, N. C, THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 1940
*2.00 Prr Y
CANDIDATES FOR COUNTY OFFICES
OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED— A LIVELY
RACE—WIDE FIELD TO CHOOSE FROM
Only one candidate it unopposed in
the county primary election contest
on May 25tn. There are 63 Demo
cratic candidates and 12 Republic
ans are seeking recognition. The
roster of those who would serve the
public follows:
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
(tar Plana)
Amie D. Cushion, incumbent.
Edgar J. Price, incumbent.
Dan Hood.
Trace Henry.
J. Wilson Alexander.
D. C. Staton.
J. Mason Wallace.
Fred A. Hamilton.
Baxter J. Hunter.
Caldwell McDonald.
W. R. Sadler
• George E. Golding.
8TATR SENATE
Joe L. Blythe, incumbent.
STATE REPRESENTATIVE
(Than Plana)
J. B. Vogler, incumbent.
Marvin L. Ritch, incumbent.
H .1. McDougle.
John Newitt.
Ed T. Tonissen.
Ed McCorkle.
H. L. Strickland.
J. Dan StallingB.
COUNTY TREASURER
Mrs. Jessie Caldwell Smith, incum
bent.
Arthur H. Wearn.
Jonas H. Ervin.
W. M. “Bud” Moore
BOARD OF WEDUCATION
(Fin Placaa)
B. D. Funderburk, incumbent.
R. G. Eubanks, incumbent.
W. B. McCtintock, incumbent.
W. E. Potts, incumbent.
E. M. Neal.
Charles L. Barnett
CONSTABLES
Charlotte Township—Dan B. Brad
ley, incumbent; R. A. Carter.
Mallard Creek—G. P. Freeman.
Pineville—0. F. Furr.
Berryhill—R. C. McNeeJy.
Clear Creek—DeWitt C. Biggers.
Sharon—F. G. Chipley.
Morning Star—J. Reid Newell.
Paw Creek—Evans B. Johnston.
COUNTY CHAIRMAN
Henry W. Harkey, incumbent.
Harvey Morris.
S. W. McAden.
H. G. Ashcraft
COUNTY RECORDER
W. V. Howard, incumbent
Mercer J. Blankenship.
COUNTY SOLICITOR
Hugh M. McAulay, incumbent.
Enos T. Edwards.
COUNTY SURVEYOR
J. W. Spratt, incumbent
George M. Meyer, Jr.
REGISTER OP DEEDS
John A. Renfrew, incumbent.
Lloyd Ranson.
REPUBUCAN CANDIDATES
County Commissioners—William T.
Alexander, chairman; George Shelton,
W. A. McFarland, Louis F. Snyder
and F. C. Howard.
Legislature—Brock Matthews; P.
S. Vann, L. J. Howard and W. P.
Walther, representatives.
Register of Deeds—Mrs. Florence
S. Ireland.
County Judge—M. K. Harrill.
County Solicitor—J. Cliff Newell.
PEGLER AND THE PRESS
(The following editorial is reprinted from the Wichita Beacon. It has
also been printed in the Congressional Record.)
Believing that every writer should be g'jen the widest possible
latitude, and that suppression la not the solution of any problem, the
Beacon has continued the publication of columns by Westbrook Pegler,
on which this newspaper strongly disagrees. Apparently Pegler be
lieves he has been given some divine appointment to act as the guardian
angel of the people of the United States, and that it is up to him to
right every wrong, reform the entire country, and make it the kind
of a place in which he WouM like to live.
Of course, he has received no such appointment. There can be
nn doobt that *>e*v is »i{9> in this country that can be criticized,
and there undoubtedly Is room for criticism op the subjects whleh
have drawn Pegler’s attention, but there is no earthly reason why any
man should be continually mad at everyone. Pegler starts his column
almost every day with a tirade against somebody. He should be one
of the first to realize he cannot ram his private opinions down the
throats of everybody.
Almost everyone in the United States knows that William Green is
honest, truthful, and that he has devoted his time and energy not only
in helping labor but in promotion the general welfare of the country.
Of course, there are rascals in his organization, just as there would be
rascals in every organization as large as the A. F. of L. But that
does not mean that Mr. Green condones such rascals, nor do they have
his consent to do the things for which they and he are criticized.
Westbrook Pegler is an able writer, one of the best newspapermen
in the United States, who has shown marked ability in the past. In
stead of constant criticism he could point out some of the fine points
of a country in which there is still sufficient freedom of the press to
permit him to say what he pleases. Pegler should not take advantage
of that freedom to constantly harass other men and, by his ability
to use the English language, to attempt to tear down the good work
they have accomplished.
Evidently his recent vacation did him no good. His friends and
well-wishers, of whom there are many among Beacon readers, Bincerely
hoped that his rest would settle his nerves and calm whatever dis
order had upset his thoughts. Since the climate of Florida was not
successful we can only hope that time will effect cure and that,
eventually, reason and logic will regain control of his mind and he
will devote his ability again to some constructive subjects.
THE MARCH OF CABOft
T?n
SKA CAUSES,
EARLY OMANlUnON O
SAHORS. THEIR FIRST
•M STRIKE OCCUR MS j
MOV.1003 IN HEW I
OCMANOS INCLUDES
AN INCREASE FROM
SIO. PER MONTH TO
/14-FER month.
•MS - IMff
COURAGEOUSLY, AS
C^U.l SENATOR FROM
v wocomm routur
\ LABORS BATTLES M
US. SENATE. A
pioneer advocate
Of SOCIAL LEGtStAPON.
1Ussti&L «*®Ks»
Diogenes met a World War veteran
and asked "what were yon in the
war?" A private,” replied the soldier.
Diogenes blew ont his light and quit
The American Association for the
Advancement of Atheism has raised a
fund of 600,000 dollars with which to
• new anti-Ciuiatiaa sun*
A. F. of L. UNIONS URGED TO BACK
NORTON AMENDMENTS TO NATIONAL
LABOR RELATIONS ACT BY GREEN
WASHINGTON, D. C.—President
Green of the American Federaiton of
Labor urged officers and members of
State Federations of Labor, City Cen
tral Bodies and Federal Labor Unions
to ask their Representatives in Con
gress to support without change the
amendments to the National Labor
Relations Act embodied in H. R. 9196
introduced by Chairman Norton of
the House Labor Committee and ap
proved by the committee.
Pointing out that these amendments
“meet with the approval of the Amer
ican Federation of Labor,” Mr. Green
said:
“They provide for the addition of
two members to the National Labor)
Relations Board. That would mean
the Board would be composed of five
members instead of three. The Exec
utive Council and conventions of the
American Federation of Labor rec
ommended this change in the member
ship of the Board.
“Another amendment recommended
by the House Committee provides
that Section 9 (b) of the National
Labor Relations Act, commonly known
as the ‘collective bargaining unit,’ be
amended to read as follows:
‘“The Board shall decide in each
case whether, in order to insure to
employes the full benefit of their right
to self-organization and to collective
bargaining, and otherwise to effectu
ate the policies of thia Act, the unit
appropriate- for the purposes of collec
tive bargaining shall be the employer
unit, craft unit, plant unit: Provided,
however, That in any case where the
majority of employes of a particular
craft shall so decide the Board shall
designate such craft as a unit appro
priate for the purpose of collective
bargaining.’
"This amndment was approved by
the Executive Council and conven
tions of the American Federaiton of
Labor.
“In addition, the Committee recom
mended that employers’ petitions for
an election, in order to determine the
collective bargaining unit, may be
honored. This amendment was ap
proved by the Executive Council and
conventions of the American Federa
tion of Labor.
“The Committee further recom
mended that all contracts entered into
through legally chosen collective bar
baining units shall not be disturbed
for at least one year.
“These are constructive amend
ments. If adopted, they will remedy
many of the injustices which have
been imposed upon American Fed
eration of Labor unions by decisions
of the National Labor Relations
Board. If these amendments are
adopted, the administration of the
National Labor Relations Act will be
greatly improved.”
FREEDOM AND LIBERTY IS THEME OF
WRITER - DEFENDS PRESS FREEDOM;
SAYS DICTATOR BORN IN THE DARK
By R. V. McClendon, B. M.
Electrical Workers Local No. 563
Durham, N. C.
Editor Charlotte Labor Journal.
The American people have been
compelled to fight and struggle
.through all the ages for the reafiza
| tion and enjoyment of thoae elemental
rights of freedom and liberty, upon
which our form of government is
founded. That is why labor regards,
freedom of thewmes* as «f transcend-'
ant importance. Any movement of
any kind which interferes with or
limits the freedom of the press can
not be supported or tolerated by the
American people.
' The growth of organizations of La
bor is evidence of the determination
of the workers to lift their stand
ards of life and living to a higher
level and to share more largely in
the distribution of the earnings of
industry. That fact is reflected in
I the progress which has been made by
the organized labor movement during
all the years of its existence. It
has become more pronounced during
i *5®, l«st few years, because the right
' of labor to organize and bargain col
lectively has been written into the
laws of the land.
The protestations of the leaders of
organizations and organized move
ments that they believe in this great
principle are not enough. It is when
we make comparison between the con
trol of the press, as it exists in those
! countries governed and controlled by
autocrats and dictators, with the free
dom of the press in democratic na
tions that we immediately learn to
place a new value unon the blessings
of freedom and liberty.
The American people should know
that all classes of people should stand
♦MMMMfiMMMiMMMMi
as a staunch defender of free assem
blage, free speech, free press, and
for the exercise of the right to wor
ship in accordance with the dictates
of conscience. There can be no place
in the true American home for any
group or any organisation which does
I not believe in and subscribe to these
principles and to these policies of
free speech.
All dictators are born in the dark,
they survive for a time in the
, ;hadaw*, they iapariaUy die 4a- the
light.
The one thing tyranny can not stand
is publicity. It gags the press, stops
free expression, silences the pulpit,
censors the radio, controls the movies,
propagandises the people with half
truths which is the shadiest way of
lying there is.
The real bulwark of democracy is
not the ballot box, but the honest
newspaper. It is not good for the
country, Nor St. Louis, Missouri.
There a relatively petty court has
chastised not without malice, a great
newspaper, the St. Louis Post Dis
patch.
We are not acquainted with the de
tails, but feel certain the Post Dis
patch
cism.
:h had justifications for its criti
i. If the Post Dispatch fails, its
appeals and its editors and cartoonists
will go to jail and fines be paid, the
vengeance of the petty court will be
satisfied, but the newspaper will be
hewed to the line as an agency oi
public trust.
If the court must stop all criticism
of its dictatorship, and the newspapei
is to be gagged by being hauledinto
court for a contempt charge, thai
means the end of the power of the
press to tell the people about the
values and evils of their courts, that
means the end of freedom of the
press.
I
Labor Press
Vita] Need
The tread— of
a it teed to as by
■nut depend after all spaa tha
port Which tha raadsaa at tha
give to it. Wa aaad acavcalr
tha. mention tha farttha
■aul daily newspaper, ta say noth
iag of tha magaiiaea. 4a aat fast
called npoa ta Tipimss tha caw
•f organised labor. Sach fair
as is given this saw by that
Ikatioas is baaat spoa tha
swaraUe strength of tha
of tha labor movement
Bat we wish
fact, that if there were aa great
Mctioa of tha national pabHcatioaa
known as tha labor Press, which
gives its first and last loyalty ta
the workers of tha nation, and es
pecially ta thooa who are
of the organizations of Lnt,
other sections of tha nation's pab
Ucity organs weald probably pay
aaeh more scant attention ta tha
rights ef labor.
Cirealatioa is the Ufa of any
publication. Given readers, any
pabiication is in a position of paw
in proportion ta its friends who
their loyalty ta thair awn
by thair sahai i Iptlisa to thaw
trass, sad by their activity ia
to enlarge its drcalstiaa.
The righu of Uber will always
depend, to a great patent, apaa the
freedom of the labor press. A la
bor paper which drcalates freely
in its own community is an index
of tha power of labor ia that lo
cality. It S a very definite part
of the organisation itself, aad its
unctiona .re ea vital that neglect
•i the tabor press is save ta rmleet
me qealUies ef
Centra] Labor Union
Meeting Wed. Night
Of Much Interest
President J. A. Moore, of Charlotte
Central Labor Union, split time in
the chair with. Vice-President J. A.
Scoggins at a well-attended meeting
Wednesday night. The regular rou
tine, roll call of locals, etc., was gone
thipagh and working conditions were
shown to, be good. The skating area
report showed that endeavor to be in
good shape, only awaiting word from
authorities to go ahead. Organisation
activities were discussed and the
"green light” was given the commit
tee working along this line. The retail
clerks organization endeavor Was dis
cussed, and every co-operation was
promised in seeing that the organisa
tion was made a reality and a force
in Charlotte.
Much business of a private nature
was brought before the body, but
peace and harmony was the keynote.
Brother Wilson, representative of
the International Pressmen, made a
talk that was both enducational and
inspirational, he pointing out the1
things necessary to organisation and
co-operation. Mr. muon has been
in Charlotte off and on in the inter
est of his organisation, for the past
six weeks, and the effects of his stay
[with us have had a good effect
I Brother James Bradburn, of the P.
0. Clerks, pinch-hit for Secretary
Wm. S. Green, who was called out of
the city, and he made a good substi
tute.
Brother Campbell (P. 0. Clerks)
chairman of the organizing commit
tee, made a few remarks that were
encouraging and Brother Condor,
treasurer of the skating area commit
tee, also made a good report
WM. GREEN SAYS JOHN LEWIS PLANS
POLITICAL UPRISING; SAYS LATTER
WOULD BE POLITICAL DICTATOR
FLINT, Mich., April 15.—William
Green, president of the American Fed
eration of Labor, charged yesterday
that John L. Lewis is “secretly” plan
ning a political revolution to make
himself “dictator of the United
States.”
“I charge that this man, suffering
from delusions of becoming the dicta
tor of the United States of America,”
he said.
His denouncement of the president
of the Congress of Industrial Organi
zations was contained in an address
preparatory to National Labor Rela
tions boar detections in General Mo
tors corporation plants next Wednes
day to determine collective bargaining
agencies.
^ Green, making a drive for votes for
A. F. L.-affiliated United Auto-;
mobile Workers of America, spoke in
the same auditorium in which Lewis
appeared a week ago in behalf of
the rival C. I. O.-U. W. A.
„ the CIO chieftain with
playing the game of the Communist
party and with “stirring up discon
tent among the underprivileged
groups” and declared:
I challenge him to explain why he
is threatening to marshal these
groups into a third party unless he
hopes to ride into power as the die
tator,of America with their support.*'
Asserting that automobile workers
have suffered from "C. I. O. dictation,
intrigue, and mismanagement." Green
continued:
“The C. I. 0. has used ycru for ex
perimental purposes. It has involved
you in constant warfare with man
agement. It has used you as a testing
laboratory in experimenting with rev
olutionary processes. It has used you
for the secret purpose sof its leaders
and to promote the consuming ambi
tion of its dictator.”
He assured employes of four Gen
eral Motors plants here they would
be permitted to control “your own un
ion your own way for your own bene
fit’ ’if they chose the A. F. L.-U. A.
W. A. in the forthcoming elections.
Declaring the A. F. of L. was strict
ly non-partisan,” Green said:
“We have never sold the workers
into bondage with the Democratic or
Republican parties, and we will not
permit the workers to be sold down
the river to a third party, no matter
how alluring its promises.”
His only reference to presidential
candidates was a statement during an
interview that Senator Burton K.
Wheeler, Democrat, of Montana, had
“put ihmself out of the running” by
appearing with Louis at the recent
convention of the United Mine Work
ers of America.
Green also said permanent labor
peace teas “impossible as long as the
present C. I. 0. leadership is main
tained.”
He predicted victory for the A. F.
L.-U. A. W. A. in G. M. "key plants,”
and said a campaign soon would be un
dertaken to organize Ford Motor Com
pany workers.
Carpenters and
Joiners Local
Making Strides
The United Brotherhood of Carpen
tere and Joiner;, Charlotte Local No.
1469 is nuking headway both in mem
benhip increase and agreements. J.
C. Hower, business agent for the lo
eal reports that many concerns are
coming to terms with the union and
that more than 26 new members have
been added to the local within the past
few weeks. Brother Hower has been
business agent for the Charlotte local
only two WMks. He received a letter
this week from headquarters, at In
dianapolis, commending him upon his
activities for local 1469.
The Carpenters lochl has some good
union material in it, and The Journal
hopes to be able from week to week, at
of the happenin*8
WAR HUMOR
A group of children singing, “Pack
up your troubles in your old kit bag,”
as they marched to a station.
One little girl, waving to soine
*n€ted ” sboutfed: MFm being evap
“That’s wrong,” said her compan
ion, a year older. “We are being ex
cavated.”
Patronize Journal Advertisers
Printers’ President
Takes A Crack At
The Patman Bill
WASHINGTON, April 18.—Repre
sentatives of labbr and the trucking
industry joined executives of chain
stores yesterday in opposing the Pat
man bill to tax interstate chain stores.
C. M. Baker, president of the In
ternational Typographical union, told
a House subcommittee the measure
in effect would levy a tax on initia
tive and efficiency, and piece a prem
ium upon mediocrity,
"You do-not need to tax to destroy,”
,he said. "Whenever one of the con
cerns affected by this bill ceases to
serve the public and to continuously
•tel’ the public what it has to offer
and trhere it is offered and at what
'pricas, it will pass from the picture.”
Baker said that 51 daily newspapers
had suspended publication last year,
and that the Patman bill, forcing
.chain stores to close because of pro
hibitive taxation, probably would ac
celerate such newspaper suspensions
by removing an important source of
•advertising revenue.
While men are earning Labor Un
ion wages, their wives should be more
discerning about Union Label prod
ucts!
Buy Union Label goods—made in
U. S. A.
mmsmswvwvwvwM
SMALL BEGINNINGS
By Charles Mackay (1814-1889)
A traveler through a dusty road, strew’d acorns
on the lea,
And one took root, and sprouted up, and grew Into
a tree.
Love sought its shade at evening time, to breathe
its early vows,
And Age was pleased in heats of noon, to bask be
neath its boughs.
The doormouse loved its dangling twigs, the birds
sweet music bore.
It stood a glory in its place, a blessing evermore.
A little spring had lost its way amid the grass and
and fern;
A passing stranger scooped a well, where weary men
might turn;
He walked it in, and hung with care a ladle at the
brink—
He thought not of the deed he did, but judged that
toil might drink.
He passed again—and to! the well, by summers
never dried,
Had cooled ten thousand parching tongues and
saved a life beside.
A dreamer dropped a random thought; ’twas old,
and yet ’twas new—
A simple fancy of the brain, but strong in being
true;
It shone upon a genial mind, and to! its light became
A lamp of life, a beacon ray, a monitory flame.
The thought was small — its issue great: a watch
fire on the hill,
It shed its radiance far adown, and cheers the valley
still!
A nameless man, amid a crowd that thronged the
daily mart,
Let fall a word of Hope and Love, unstudied, from
the heart;
A whisper on the tumult thrown — a transitory
breath —
It raised a brother from the dust, it saved a soul
from death.
O germ! O fount! O word of love! O thought at
random cast!
Te were but little at the first, btA mighty at the
last.