Hm ONLY REALLY INDEPENDENT WEEKLY to Mecklenburg County
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VOL. X—NO. 3
YOUR AOVtRTlSRMKMT IN TNI JOURNAL l« A
INVKRTMSNY
CHARLOTTE, N. C„ THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1940
NAL AOVnTWtM DBISRVI
TNI RUMaa
92.00 Par Ywr
ROOSEVELT APPOINTS BOARD
TO SPEED UP PRODUCTION;
HILLMAN LABOR APPOINTEE
WASHINGTON, May 29. — President Roosevelt
named a national defense commission of seven, drawn
from government, business, and labor, yesterday to gear
the nation to top-speed production of planes, engines,
guns, and other defense implements.
To this commission, he appointed:
Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., chiraman of United States
Steel, to have charge of the delivery of industrial mate
rials to the plants which produce the finished product.
William S. Knudsen, president of General Motors,
to supervise the production of the finished product.
Sidney Hillman, president ot the Amalgamated
Clothing Workers (C. 1. O.), to atend to labor and super
vise employment problems in general.
Chester C. Davis of the f ederal Reserve board to
see to farm products both for domestic use and for ex
P°rt Ralph Iiudd, chairnianTof the Burlington railroad, to
supervise transportation problems.
Leon Henderson of the Securities commission to keep
track of price trends in an eitort to avoid any undue in
crease in the cost of living.
Miss Harriet Elliott, dean of women at the Womans
College of the University of Niortn Carolina, to advise on
consumer problems.
At the same time, word was passed on Capitol Hill
that congressional leaders had agreed tentatively on an
income “ super-lax,” amounting to 10 per cent of present
income taxes, and an increase in levies on beer, liquor,
tobacco, gasoline, and other items to finance the huge
defense program. • '
Odds and Ends,
Local, Labor, Etc.
If America can not get out of the
“red," it CAN get the Reds out of
America.
With the eliminations over,
fight id now on to see where
“S' .«*■ i* coil**.
the
the
Mayor Cooper, of “sound truck”
fame, polled around 33,000 votes with
no finances. Not so bad.
The “gun-toters” in the Nebel strike
area have been disarmed. They can
now use cuss words and missiles, such
as rocks, tin cans, etc.
Typographical Union meets Sun
day, 2 P. M. in the Moose hall, 114%
S. Tryon street. The meeting will be
an important one and the usual large
attendance is expected.
Mrs. Jessie Caldwell Smith, candi
date for county treasurer, led a field
of “old timers” by a good margin of
votes, with Arthur Wearn as the run
ner-up. You can’t beat the women?
The Charlotte delegates and visitors
to the Va.-Carolina Typo Conference
at Winston-Salem, Saturday anu
Sunday, report an enjoyable as well
as profitable meeting.
Candidate Horton is already “on
his way” to capture a big portion of
the nearly 200,000 votes the other gu
bernatorial candidates got. But,
Broughton is not asleep.
The Raleigh Times remains in a
“struck” state, and it is reported that
its subscription list is on a rapid de
cline as a result. The printer boys
are doing no picketing, but “boring in”
along other lines.
Central Labor Union is due to go
on the every-other-week meeting basis,
beginning with June, continuing until
September, as has been the custom for
many years, giving the boys a let
down during the summer months.
Organizer A. E. Brown, of the
State A. F. of L. force made a hit
with Central Labor Union delegates
last night with a splendid talk. “Dea
con” Brown is of the Barber’s union,
but an all-round labor man, clear cut,
clean and energetic.
In the mad rush of our Anniversary
edition and then the. election, The
Journal forgot to mention a cheering
letter from the Barrs—Frank and the
Madam, formerly of Charlotte, but
now' domiciled down Columbia way.
where the “mere man” of the “firm”
is steamfitting. Always glad to hear
from these good unionists and friends
of the Journal.”
Council turned down the Sunday
Theater Ordinance this week, now the
Anti-Blue Law group is going to call
for an air-tight Sabbath, one like in
the old days, when Charlotte boasted
of coca-cola in a cup, called coffee,
and whiskey was obtainable in plenty
on doctors’ prescriptions—if you could
scare up a cough—and some of the
medicos waxed rich.
Husband: “Have you ever won
dered what you would do if you had
Rockefeller’s income?”
Wife: “No, but I have often won
dered what he would do if he had
mine.”
Subscribe For the Journal
i
Municipal - Highway
Workers To Greet
President Wedne’day
A. R. Zander, national president of
the Municipal and State Highway
Workers Union will be in Charlotte
next Tussday and Wednesday and the
local unit is preparing to welcome him
in hearty manner. Arrangements arq.
being made for Mr. Zander to deliver
s>n address here, which will be an
,r.uu«l later. He will hol(L« “Jevee”
at the Charlotte hotel Tuesday from
5 to 7 and all union men are asked to
greet Mr. Zander on his first visit to
Charlotte.
Electrical Workers
Unveil Plaque To
World War Vets
NEW YORK.—Mayor Fiorello H.
LaGuardia last week unveiled a bronze
plaque in honor of the 1,400 members
of the Intel national Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers, Local 3, who
served in the last World War, at
union headquarters, 130 East 25th
Street, New York City. A large au
dience consisting of labor leaders,
members of the union, and others par
ticipated in the dedicatory exercises
The seven-story building which
houses the offices of the union was
decorated with flags and bunting.
Streets adjacent to the scene of the
ceremonies were blocked off and traf
fic rerouted.
The plaque was presented to the
union by the American Legion Elec
trical Construction Post, No. 1137,
composed exclusively of members of
Local 3 who served in the last World
War. The inscription on the plaue
read:
“Dedicated in honor of the members
of Local Union No. 2, Internationa
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers —
who served in the armed forces of the
[United States during the World Wai
1917-1919, and in memory of those
who made the supreme sacrifice.”
20 MlI.LION MEMBERS
IN AFL. GREEN PREDICTS
HARTFORD. Conn.—In • stir
ing appeal for a renewed drive to
organize the unorganized. Presi
dent W illiam Green told the New
England Labor Conference he en
visions a membership of twenty
million working men and women in
the American Federation of Labor
“in the not-too-distant future.”
President Green reported to the
delegates that the present dues
paid membership of the A. F. of
L. is the highest in its history and
declared the Federation is stronger
“numerically, financially, politic
ally and in every other way” than
ever before.
The rattle of the machine-gun is
music to the munition-maker’s ears.
Is it coming to the point where
death will be borne on the wings of
the wind of the radio, that men may
be electrocuted by the very air they
berathe, or stabbed with an invisible
ray 7
THE JOURNAL has by fi
he largest city circulation of
y weekly published in Char-!
tte. Your ad in The Ji
ill bring results from the
workers. •
MEETING OF CENTRAL LABOR UNION
FULL OF INTEREST-ORGANIZATION
WORK TO GO STEADILY FORWARD
The meeting was called to order
by President Moore, with brother W.
S. Campbell giving the invocation, and
the minutes *of the previous meeting
were read and approved. The various
regular and special committees re
ported business proceeding as usual.
Two new locals are in process of for
mation. Under reports of locals and
delegates, increasing memberships still
are being reported. The Carpenters
reported a signed agreement br'nging
the Housing job to a fair status, a
victory for the conservative Carpen
ters Local of Charlotte. Brother Mc
Guiggan has turned over all his rec
ords on the retail clerks organization
to the Charlotte Central Labor Union,
as he was called to Washington, D. C.
The Secretary reported he would be
absent the next two meetings because
of the Musicians convention, which he
will attend. The carpenters reported
the leasing of a fine new downtown
hall at IlOOVi E. Trade St., now avail
able for other crafts meeting place,
at nominal rental charges. The Car
penters local are to be coneraulated
for this fine forward movement, and
there is practically no doubt but that
many locals as well as the Central
body will be glad to accept of the car
penters’ hospitality. The carpenters
have already offered the Women’s
Label league a place to meet.
The President of the State County
and City workers International will
pay Charlotte a visit next Tuesday, j
and will be at the Hotel Charlotte at'
5 P.M. Three locals of this body re-|
ported many new members being ac
cep ted into their bodies. The amend
ment to the constitution which was
first passed on May 8th as follows:
Section 2. The officers shall be
elected the last regular meeting in
June: nominations to be made at the
meeting previous, and shall serve for
one year beginning with the first reg
ular meeting in July, was duly read
again and passed, making the change
in the constitution legal and now
active.
The committee to draw up the pre
paredness resolution was ap
pointed as fololws by President
Moore: Brothers Witter, Scoggins and
F. G. Campbell. The committee au
thorized to be appointed for the as
sistance of the new firemen’s organi
zation in their negotiations are Bro
thers Condor, Kiser, W. S. Campbell,
McEliece and President Moore. Bro
ther Brown, the newly appointed or
ganizer for the State body by the
State body, made an inspiring address
to the assembled delegates. It was
listened to with deep request, and
the delegates gave him a hearty
round of applause at its conclusion.
Brother Brown stated he wanted ev
ery local in Charlotte to affiliate with
the State Federation of Labor. An
organization was authorized by the
assembled delegates to try to bring
the 1941 State Federation of Labor
convention to Charlotte, the organiza
tion to be started immediately. The
Musicians announced a Rock Hill lo
cal of the American Federation of Mu
sicians formed, and another in process,
making a total in the Carolinas now
16. The Teamsters reported a very
large new local formed in Moncks
Corner of the chauffeurs of that city.
The meeting then adjourned.
Wm. S. GREENE, Sec’y.
“A. F. OF L. WILL NOT COMPROMISE
OR TRAFFIC WITH ENEMIES OF
DEMOCRACY,” SAYS PRES. WM. GREEN
HARTFORD, Conn., May 26.—William Green, presi
dent of the American Federation of Labor, charged yes
terday that the Congress of Industrial Organizations “has
welcomed and encouraged Communists.”
In the same address, prepared for delivery at the
New England Labor Conference, he quoted a recommen
dation of the AFL’s executive council that “we must re
double our vigilance against treachery and the creation
of ‘trojan horse’ organizations by Communist and Nazi
adherents in this country.”
Asserting the AFL “has refused at all times to com
promise or traffic with the enemies of democracy,” he
added in a prepared address:
“We have fought them at every turn and we have
defeated every effort they have made to bore from within
the American Federation of Labor.
“Unfortunately, the rebel movement which broke
away from the American Federation of Labor in 1935 has
followed a different course. The CIO has admitted and
welcomed and encouraged Communists. Public investi
gators have established beyond all doubt the fact that
Communists control many of its unions. Some of these
unions operate in fields vital to our national defense.
Let us not underestimate the dangers of this situation.
“In the opinion of many people,” he continued, “the
CIO sit-down strikes in 1937, accompanied by the illegal
occupation of private property, the seizure of entire cities
and mutiny on the high seas, were a rehearsal for a Com
munist revolution.
“The leader of the CIO has done nothing to dispel
this opinion. He has never lifted his voice against either
of those infamous enemies of humanity, Hitler, or Stalin,
nor has he ever denounced their unholy alliance. Instead
we find him denouncing the President of our own country
and every other responsible leader in American life.
“If I read the minds of the American people rightly,
they are rapidly losing patience with such an attitude...”
Lewis’ Mistake
(The following editorial i8 reprinted from the N. Y. Herald Tribune)
Sidney Hillman, president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers
of America, is probably the most substantial figure at the executive
helm of the Congress of Industrial Organizations. So when he says
that John L. Lewis made a “mistake” in refusing to continue the
peace negotiations between the CIO and the American Federation
of Labor it is a little like the blunt remark of Premier Reynaud to
the French Senate that the high command had been guilty of “un
believable faults” in permitting the German passage of the Meuse.
The delegates to the convention of his union, whom Mr. Hillman ad
dressed, showed their agreement with him by trooping through the
aisles of their meeting hall for twenty minutes shouting, “We want
peace” and “We want unity.” Later they unanimously adopted a
resolution calling for a resumption of the peace negotiations. Are
we wrong in thinking that Lewis, in this speech and its following
demonstration, suffered a severe Jolt?
It would be far too soon to say that labor was through with
Lewis. But here we have dramatic evidence of its weariness with
the schism he created and has kept alive to further his personal am
bitions. It was about a year ago that David Dubinsky, head of the
International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union and, like Hillman, a
tower of strength to Lewis, led his organization out of the C. I. O.
It was Dubinsky’s contention that a united labor movement was more
important than industrial unionism. Hillman has specifically de
clined to follow Dubinsky’s example, but who will say the threat
is not there? And the CIO simply cannot afford another such defec
tion. In other words, it begins to look as if Lewis would have to
make peace or (perhaps the connective should be “and”) lose his
empire.
NEGRO HOUSING PROJECT STRIKE
COMES TO AN END
Work was resumed on the Fairview Homes housing:
project (colored) Manday, a strike having been on since
the 20th. The strike is said to have been settled to the
satisfaction of the Building Trades Council and the Goode
Construction Co.
1
U. S. SUPREME COURT RULES LABOR
UNIONS NOT LIABLE TO STRIKE
DAMAGE — SIX TO THREE DECISION
WASHINGTON.—In a far-reaching decision, the
Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the activities of labor
unions are not subject to the Federal anti-trust laws un
less they “restrain commercial competition in some sub
stantial way.”
Justice Stone delivered the 6 to 3 opinion that held
specifically that a Philadelphia labor union was not sub
ject under the anti-trust laws for damages resulting from
a sit-down strike.
Although Justice Stone asserted that the sit-down
constituted a “lawless invasion and destruction of prop
erty by force and violence of the most brutal and wanton
character,” he said that the Sherman Act did not provide
for damages.
The decision clarified to a considerable extent the
long controversy that has existed over whether labor or
ganizations were subject to the 1890 Sherman Act and
later legislation which prohibited combinations or con
spiracies in restraint of interstate trade or commerce.
The ruling was expected to guide the Justice Depart
ment in its antitrust campaign against a number of labor
organizations as well as business concerns charged with
conspiracy to restrain interstate commerce.
Chief Justice Hughes wrote a dissenting opinion in
which Justices McReynolds and Roberts joined.
Stone said that although labor organizations “are to
some extent and in some circumstances subject to the act
(Sherman), this court has refused to apply the Sherman
Act in cases like the present in which coal strikes con
ducted by illegal means in a production industry pre
vented interstate shipment of substantial amounts of the
product but in which it was not shown that the restric
ions on shipments had operated to restrain commercial
competition in some substantial way.”
Firemen Cite
Figures In Plea
For Pay Boost
Members of the pity Council’s Fi
nance Committee * last week had
under consideration the request of
Charlotte firemen for a 10 per cent
wage increase beginning July 1.
The request, which had previously
been presented to Fire Chief Hendrix
Palmer by a committee from the lo
cal chapter of the International Assor
ciation of Fire Chiefs, was turned over
to the Council at a private session yes
terday afternoon.
It was immediately referred to the
finance committee, which will give it
consideration as they frame the 1940
41 budget for presentation to the
Council.
The firemen contend that they are
required to work 84 hours a week, 12
hours a day seven days a week, that
they get no days off and are subject
to recall to duty even when off duty.
Their hourly pay is 39 cents as com
pared to some other departments,
such as the police and sanitary depart
ments, where thd hourly rate is 69
cents for policemen, 67 cents for san
itary truck drivers, and 53 cents for
drivers’ assistants.
There was no indication of what
disposition will be made of the request
until the budget preparation is fur
ther along.
I do the very best I know
how—the very best I can—
and I mean to keep doing so
till the end. If the end brings
me out all right, what is said
against me won’t amount to
anything.—Abraham Lincoln.
—rrrrfrrvinnni—nmrwiRnu
Fowler to Repreesnt
M. P. Operators At
Louisville Meeting
W. H. Fowler, moving picture oper
ator “de luxe,” a prime mover in the
L A. T. S. E. & M. P. M. O. (bet we
got that right) has gone to Louisville,
Ky., for the convention of his organ
ization, representing the Charlotte lo
cal, to be absent a week—or more.
A delegate to one of these meetings
has to take a lot of punishment, and
as “Bill’s health is poorly we fear the
worst, but hope for the best. But
kidding aside, the M. P. Operators
have sent a good man to represent
them and a scrapper to the last ditch.
UNEMPLOYMENT LOSS
WASHINGTON, D. C.—The United
States has lost $133,000,000,000 in
national income during the depression
by failing to provide employment for
its citizens, Commisisoner of Labor
Statistics Isador Lubin told a Senate
Labor Subcommittee in testifying on
a bill introduced by Senator Pepper
of Florida to require the Works Proj
ects Administration to employ not less
than 3,000,000 jobless at minimum
wages of $70 each.
THE JOURNAL has by far
[the largest city circulation of
any weekly published in Char
E* "e. Your ad in The Journal
bring results from the
kers.
PUT AT 133 BILLION
All Slated For
The “Run-Offs” In
Primary, June 22
The run-off for Governor will be
between Horton and Broughton. The
race for chairman of the Board of
County Commissioners lies between
Sid Me Aden and Harvey Morris. Ar
nie Cashion made the board by a deer
majority, leaving J. M. Wallace, Ed
gar Price, Caldwell McDonald, Baiter
J. Hunter,’ Fred A. Hamilton and J.
Wilson Alexander to fight for the re
maining three places.
James B. Vogler and Ed Tonissen
were nominated for the House of Rep
reesntatives, with H. I. McDougle and
Marvin Ritch in the run off for third
man. Senator Joe L. Blythe was un
opposed in the primary.
Mrs. Jesse Caldwell led the ticket
for county treasurer with Arthur H.
Wearn in the run-off.
Register of Deeds John R. Ren
frew, County Recorder Vance Howard.
County Surveyor J. W. Spratt and
Charlotte Township Constable Dan
Bradley returned to office with Mg
majorities.
Greene And Davis
Musicians’ Delegates
Go To Indianapolis
Wm. S. Greene, and “Big Bill” Davis
will leave next Tuesday for Indianap
olis to represent the Charlotte Music
ians local at the meeting of the Amer
ican Federation of Musicians, which
will be in session for two weeks. Bro
ther Greene is the efficient secretary
of Central Labor Union, and Brother
'Davis, he of “Briarhopper” fame, is
well known in labor circles.
Police Find No
Guns At Nebel
Strikers Hd’qYrs
A squad of police swooped down on
the commissary of Nebel Knitting
company strikers at 110 West Worth
ington street at 4:30 p. m. yesterday
in search of deadly weapons, but none
were found, it was reported at police
headquarters last night.
“We had reason to believe that
weapons were cached there,” said
Chief E. J. Nolan, “and we made the
search because we mast keep order
in that vicinity. We had previously
taken weapons from Nebel workers. ,
When information came to the polka
that the headquarters on Worthing
ton street might house weapons, we
investigated.”
C. W. Dannenburg, representing the
American Federation of Hosiery
Workers (C.I.O.), said last night:
“The police came in four or fire
cars. We are always glad to hare
the police visit our headquarters. They
can come in any time and search. We
have nothing to hide. I only wish
they were as thorough with the strike
breakers as they were with our head
quarters.”
Danenburgsaid there are only pro
visions in the place, such as flour,
canned goods, and foods of various
sorts.—Observer, Tuesday.
Some Wondering
Familiar Job
The sailor was recounting his expe
rience to a dear old lady when she In
terrupted hint. "But what rank did
you hold?” she asked.
“Ship’s optician, lady,” was Dm
“What did your duty wlrt oft”
, asked the old lady.
9 Ua_i_aL. -I_a. _ .-A_m
“Scraping the eyes out at potatoes.”