Newspapers / The Charlotte Labor Journal … / April 13, 1944, edition 1 / Page 1
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YOU* AOVIRTItVMCN7 IM TMB JOURNAL. *• * INVIITHINT 13 YEARS v CONSTRUCTS SERVICE TO NORTH CAROLINA READERS VOL. XIII—No. 47 CHARLOTTE, N. C„ THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1944 JOURNAL AOVtRTIftM OftlRVK CONSIDERATION OR ▼MV OlAVIM $2.00 Per Yew “WIN THE WA Free Labor Will Out-Produce Nazi Slaves n* ONLY REALLY INDEPENDENT WEEKLY In Mwkltnburg CountT vLa^HSLSS for » Weekly U» INTUtim ■A F. OF L SLOfc.V*. >K 1944 -v — present the LARGEST BUYING POW irlotU cd CHARLOTTE C. L. U. MEETING LAST WEEK RED LETTER DAY IN ORGANIZED LABOR HISTORY With Congressman Cameron Morrison, President C. A. Fink, Mayor H. L. Baxter, and the Hon. Ralph McDonald as guest speakers, the Charlotte Central labor Union staged one of most significant meetings Thursday evening, April 6, ever held in this state. The occasion was a get-together meeting of the A. F. of L. Unions in the Queen City, held in Labor’s own home—The Char lotte Labor Temple. Delegations in attendance from other cities included High Point, Winston-Salem, Salisbury-Spencer, Gastonia, * _i_..a Daj.It uni s r The meeting began with a feast, and that is true in its every sense, for it was a feast, indeed. While it was pro nounced by all in attendance as being one of the best dinners ever enjoyed, but little rationed foods were served. The dinner was prepared in the kit chen of the Labor Temple, by mem bers of Organised Labor, assisted by their wives, and served by the mem bers. So large was the crowd that many halls and rooms were pressed into service as dining rooms. After the dinner those in attendance Sthered in the large auditorium of > Labor Temple, and heard Con gressman Morrison, Mayor Baxter, President Fink and Dr. McDonald give to the North Carolina State Federation of Labor, the Charlotte Central La bor Union and all A. F. of L. unions of the state unstinted praise for La bor's achievements and its value not only to the membership but to the state as a whole. President Scoggins, of the Charlotte C. L. U. called the meeting to order, welcomed those in attendance, stated the purpose of the meeting and then asked James ¥ .Bar rett, former president of the State Federation, to preside. Mr. Barrett addressed himself to the distinguished visitors in the be ginning of the program, pointing with pride to the high quality of leadership and membership of the North Caro lina State Federation of Labor. He declared that no other orgamsaion in the state of North Carolina could pre sent officers and a membership of any higher standard of citisenship than that presented to them in the audience who were there as officers, members and representative* of AFL of Unions in the city and from other centers of the state. then introduced, these being Jr?m Asheville, Gastonia, High Point, Win ston-Salem and Salisbury- Members of the executive board of the State Federation were presented, these be ing L. D. Warren, of Asheville, Vice President Hus8 of Gastonia, Secretary Treasurer H. G. Fisher of Salisbury, Vice President Cy Chisholm of Win ston-Salem, J. A. Scoggins, president of the Charlotte Central Labor Union and member of the executive board of the State Federation of Labor. International Vice President Ed Earnhardt, of the United Textile Workers of America; F. T. Cornelius, International Representative of the Machinists; H. F. Adair, International representative of the Electrical^ ork ers, and Miss Briggs, I. B. E. W. rep resentative, telephone operators divis ion, were presented to the audience. Others presented included ( laude u Albea, member of the Charlotte Typo graphical Union and for many years a member of the City Council, serving many years as vice mayor of Char lotte; William M. Witter, editor of The Charlotte Labor Journal, and lit tle Miss Barbary Ann Cornelius, mas cot of the State Federation of Labor. A large number of Negro members were present, and introduced as their representative was one of the best known Negro AFL organisers of the South, Dr. J. G. Garland. Given great applause upon presen tation were T. fc. Condor and J. A. Moore, of the Charlotte Central Labor Union who, with President Scoggins, and others, had done most of the plan ning and preparations for the success ful meeting. KINK St'K.AKB Mr. Barrett presented President C. A. Fink as the first guest speaker. The popular leader of the labor move ment in this state paid glowing tribute to the Charlotte Central Labor Union and its affiliated locals, declaring that no other city in the state had made - greater progress than Charlotte, and that no other City Central Body had finer leadership than the _ Charlotte Central Labor Union. President Fink expressed great delight in the pres ence on the stage with him of such outstanding leaders as Dr. McDonald, Congressman Morrison and Mayor Baxter. He praised the large delega tions from other cities for their inter est and loyalty to the labor movement as manifested by their presence at the meeting, difficult as traveling is today. He was especially proud, he said, of the matchless record made by labor in North Carolina in support of the government in all phases of the war effort. A GREAT STATESMAN _INTRODUCED The presiding officer then presented the Hon. Cameron Morrison, member of Congress and a candidate for the United States Senate in the fol lowing significant manner: “Twenty-foui years ago it was my privilege to campaign this state in the interest of the man I am about to present to you as your next speaker. At that time, 24 years ago, this gen tlemen was a candidate for the gover norship of North Carolina. He was elected, and rendered to this state dur ing his four years’ term an adminis tration of progress, of justice, of im partial helpfulness to all elements of our citizenship. He stood up there at Concord one day during that four year period, and said to the employers of this state: ’You might as well say to the waves of the Atlantic Ocean, be still, cease your ebb and flow, as to say to labor in North Carolina that the workers shall not organize!’ He made this statement long before we had the New Deal, or the Wagner Act. He said that when it took courage, firm conviction, statesmanship. We were proud of that statement, and we took on new life. We took on so much new life that we took in a little too much territory, and did some things that were not right. This man pinned our ears back, at once, and made us like it. We respected his honesty, his sin cerity, and his determination to treat all citizens alike. “Then, last year when America was in an era of hysteria, and the Smith Connally Bill was being acted upon in the United States Congress, this man voted ’NO’ on that hateful meas ure in a thunderous tone, and then he voted to support the President's veto of that iniquitous piece of'legislation. He is a candidate for the United States Senate, and it is my firm belief that labor in this state will be happy in vot ing for the Hon. Cameron Morrison, whom I now present to you.” MR. MORRISON SPEAKS Mr. Morrison was given an ovation when he arose to address that large and enthusiastic audience. More vig orous even than he was in the 1920 gubernatorial campaign, the old war horse minced no words, and in his characteristic manner of frankness stated that labor elected him 24 years to the governorship, and again two years ago labor in Charlotte and throughout the Tenth district helped in magnificent manner to electe him to the congress. He related efforts of the. congress to serve America and serve it well, and pictured the presi dent of the United States as the Com mander-in-Chief, giving his very life in directing the war efforts, with the aid of the advice of the best military and naVal experts in the world. The walls of the president’s study are lined with maps of the nations of the earth, and there he and aides study and plan and prosecute this war, upon the end ing of which depends the life of Amer ica and the lives of Americans for gen erations to come. • THE TASK IS MONUMENTAL * The task of, completing this war and winning the victory is a monumen tal task, Mr. Morrison declared. Surely the sensible citizens of America, the fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters and wives of our fighting men will not want to transfer this monu ! mental task to that “smart young man”, of New York whose only claim to fame is that he convicted some gangsters in a city where gangsters are so thick and plentiful that any kind of a lawyer ought to be able to get a conviction once in a while. The task followin gthe winning of the war is as great as that of win ning this conflict. At the peace table will be representatives of the Allied Nations, naturally the very best that each'nation can present. Surely Frank lin D. Roosevelt can do more, much more, for America than Mr. Dewey or any other man not experienced in world affairs can do, Mr. Morrison said. The constitution of our country pro vides that the president shall negotiate peace treaties, and the United States must ratify same, he said. It takes a two-thirds vote oi the Senate to ratify peace terms, therefore, one-third of the members of the senate can nullify the treaties negotiated by our presi dent, he reminded his hearers. “And that,” Mr Morrison said, ‘is why it is so necessary this year to elect a senate tha will uphold our great president at the peace table. y .JCen. of reactionary inclinations will not stand every time by a progressive and far seeing chief executive.” Mr. Morrison then laid down his challenge to his op ponent to come and say whether or not he stands with the president of the United States, or whether he belongs to that moneyed group of reaction aries. ... Paying the State Federation of La bor sincere praise for its patriotic service to the nation, and reminding his hearers that the one big task now facing America is the wining of the war, and the next is the winning of the peace, Mr. Morrison thanked Or ganized Labor for its support in the past and itsy#continued support of the future, “One man said to me that La bor’s support might hurt me in other ! quarters of the state. I said to him that if there is a man in this state who does not want to vote for me be cause Labor is for me, that man can just go plumb to hell," he said, as thunderous applause marked the end of a most instructive and interesting address. DOUBLE STANDARDS By RUTH TAYLOR The other day Walter Lippman wrote one of his masterly articles under this title. His theme waa the double standard of conduct for civilians and soldiers. I am going to borrow his title for a different theme—the double standard we apply to our conduct and to that of our neighbor. One of the greatest barriers to understanding both between individuals and groups is that we have one standard for ourselves and one for the other fellow. •— What we do is right. What the other fellow does is wrong. We start from that premise far too often. If we falter or fail on a job—well, there were good reasons for it. But if the other fellow does—he is a slacker or worse. If we criticize or generalize, we had good reason for our statements— the other fellow just doesn’t know what he is talking about. Or own particular group has a right to lobby for special privileges, to demand concessions—it is the other fellow and his groups who are greedy and self-seeking. Any condemnation of our group is wrong—we are individ uals. But the other fellow belongs to a group and we damn him by it. We apply different standards of morality to ourselves than to the other fellow, hut what we don’t take into consideration is that he generally has as good a case for himself and bis group as we have. We each want the moat we can get out of life If we are selfish, we are willing to take what we want at his expense. If he is selfish, he is benefiting at our expense. We dabble in words. A reactionary to us Is one who won’t move in our direction as fast as we want. A conservative is one who stays put—in the place we want. A radical is one that wants to move in the opposite direction from the way we want to go. An idealist is scornfully used to mean anyone who is not a realist—one who looks beyond the mud at his fee. We and those who think like us are the only ones in step with the times. We condemn cruelties overseas and practice them here. We talk about the downtrodden minorities in other nations and then go right ahead set ting minorities apart here. We say that democracy is the only way of life for the world, but we don’t put it into practice in our national lives or even in our personal Uvea. We are ready to give lip service to democracy—bat nothing else. Let’s get off the double standard and judge ethers as we would be judged 1 RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH UPHELD BY SUPREME CT. —V— LOS ANGELES—The California District Court of Appeals at Los An geles has affirmed an order by Su perior Judge Henry M. Willis direct ing the reinstatement of Zerah H. La Prade, a civil service employe, dis charged for criticizing his superiors in the Department of Water and Pow er of Los Angeles. The decision up holds the right of a public employe to criticize his superior on the same basis as an employe of a private employer. -V.. ..* PRODUCE FOR VICTORY “It is a struggle for maintaining in the world that form and substance of government whose leading object is to elevate the condi tion of men—to lift artificial weights from all shoulders; to clear the paths of laudable pursuits for all; to afford all an unfetted start.”—A. Lincoln. > AMERICAN HEROES BY LEFF ■ n ... _ n .. jj- "L. .-"■ni Seriously wounded by an exploding grenade. Marine Gunner Angus R. Com of Tampa, Florida, braved point-blank enemy fire to charge an enemy machine gun emplacement in a cave. Single handed, he wiped out Japanese gunners and snipers with a sub-machine gun, saving the lives of his unit. Angus Goss is desd—leaving a Navy Cross for “indomitable fighting spirit and extreme courage.” If such heroism doesn't deserve an extra War Bond, what does? (/. 5. Treasury Department MAYOR BAXTER SPEAKS Hon. H. H. Baxter, mayor of the city of Charlotte, was then presented. He paid tribute to Organized Labor in the Queen City, and expressed appre ciation of the way that Labor’s rep resentative, Hon. Claude L. Albea, had assisted him in managing the af fairs of their city. He expressed the hope that the visit of the many dele gations to Charlotte woud be bene ficial to his citv, and in turn that these delegates might themselves be bene fitted because of their stay in the Queen City. Mayor Baxter praised the leaders and members of the Unions in Charlotte, declaring that it represent ed the very finest citizenship of the city. McDonald thrills audience Dr. Ralph McDonald was presented by the presiding officer as a candi date for governor who, he believed, i had as nearly one hundred per cent support of Organized Labor and all workers generally as it is possible for one man to have. “He is the hope of all workers who want a man as gover nor who will place as high valuation upon human rights as he places upon property, and this we know we have in the Honorable Ralph McDonald, youiL next speaker, and your next Governor.” “Afl of us want this state to ad vance, Dr. McDonald said, and stated that the state cannot advance unless all of its citizens make progress. He declared that the bigness of North Carolina is not represented by wealth, materials, factories and bank balances, but by the manner of life of its citi zenship. He pointed out that there are some 800,000 men and women in this state who work for wages and salaries, and some four hundred thousand who make their living on the’land. This million and a half producing people must have adequate incomes if the other two millions of our people pros per, Dr. McDonald said. In other words, as long as the 800,000 workers receive sub-standard wages, and the 400,000 farmers make less than it takes to live upon, there is but little for business, finance and the profes sional men to depend upon. On the other hand, he said, if labor is paid an adequate wage, and the farmer makes a comfortable living tilling the soil, then it stands to reason that all other elements of society will prosper because of these conditions. Dr. McDonald paid touching tribute to the leadership of the State Federa tion of Labor, and declared that Charles A. Fink, president of the Fed eration, is one of the really outstand ing citizens of North Carolina* and was backed up by associate officers and a membership whose patriotism and loyalty and good citizenship made him proud to be an honorary member of the North Carolina State Federa tion of Labor. Dr. McDonald was given an ovation upon conclusion of his address. ' „ The meeting was adjourned amid round after round of applause for the Charlotte Central Labor Union’s offi cials who had planned this important and highly successful meeting. “ MEANY DENOUNCES “SUICIDE POLICY OF CHOKING OFF UNITED STATES IN THE AIR INDUSTRY WASHINNGTON, D. C.—A warning against aceptance by the United States of proposals for “freedom of the air” in the realm of post-war air transportation was sounded by George Meany, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Labor. Writing in the American Federa-' ships from our own domestic sky I tionist. official monthlv macrazine of waJ!f8‘ •___._ »_•_ the AFL, Mr. Meany cited the grave danger to American wage earners if foreign competitors whose wage stand ards are far below those existing in this country are granted unlimited use of the air space of the United States. The AFL official commended the re cent proposal of the Railway Labor Executives’ Association that all American flag international air ser vice be unified in one strong system, under striet government supervision, and with opportunity for all Ameri can transport interests to be repre sented in its ownership. In labor's view, he said, “the near disappearance of American flag ship ping from the high seas is an unan swerable argument against bothr free- j dom o fthe air and freedom of the, seas. If the extreme form of these so-1 called freedoms were in force, our sur face ships might be driven even from | our coastal trade routes, and our air f UXCI^li W1II|/VVIVIVII U1 * » IIIVI •VHII bottoms from the high seas. Mr. Meany wrote, because it was not “free and fair” competition. “Foreign ship lines had two ad vantages?’ he said, “low wage levels and government subsidies (and often certain monopolistic advantages). All these advantages enjoyed by foreign competitors will be even moj?e_domi nant features of international air transport in the post-war period than they were in prewar surface carrier traffic. “It is easy to understand why cer tain foreign interests that profited so handsomely by the decline of Ameri can shipping under freedom of the seas should be even more anxious to get the United States committed to a policy of freedom of the air. But it is not easy to explain or condone Americans advocating a policy which all relevant experience and evidence indicate is dangerous if not suicidal for us.” AMERICAN WORKERS ARE INCLUDED IN DEFINITION OF COMBINED OPERATIONS SAYSf VANDEGRIFT WASHINGTON.—American workers are included in the defi nition of “combined operations” by Lieut. Gen. Alexander A. Vandeggrift, Commandant of the Marine Corps. In giving his definition. General Vandegrift paid tribute to the part labor has played in the war effort. “Our combined forces are air, land and sea power, and home-front power, he said. ff uiiuui* tire mirei, ure wujcio «»v useless. And when we refer to com bined operations, let us remember that the coordinated production of supplies and fighting equipment for our fight ing men is an essential part of the combination.” • General Vandegrift warned that the Japs still possess a real and danger ous reserve of vicious striking power. “Recent successes in the Paofic,” he said in comparing the Pacific war to a prize fight, “have produced a situa tion that could tempt us to throw cau tion to the winds, and to sail into the foe, flailing wildly, without regard for timing, balance, wind, or any of the basic rules of defense. But we must not—and will not—be so blind with optimism as to commit any such 11 I VI • A »VtIVIMJ »>1 VJ »*v hausted.”’ The General predicted that sooner or later the enemy will suddenly straighten up and lash out with every ounce of his strength. “Our guard must be up,” he said. “We must be ready to fend off his blows, while we move inside to deliver our own special brand of haymakers.” The Marine leader indicated that all will not be smooth sailing when he said “if two or three of his blows happen to catch us where they hurt— which they may very well do—we must be strong enough to absorb them and go right on moving in. When I say ‘we’ I mean not only the fleet, or the Marine Corps, or the Army. I mean the American people.” HELP THE WAREFfORT. SLOWDOWN) 35ml PER HOUR WHAT'S COOKIN'? $700.00 IN WAR BONDS OFFERED AS PRIZES FOR BEST RECIPE-MENU If you know something good to eat, Cook it up for a family treat; If it's very good and tasty In the line of meats or pastry Send it in with all the rest To our Victory food contest, Before the cost of living rises, And win some of our War Bond prizes. For full particulars, write: VICTORY RECIPE-MENU CONTEST Union Label Trades Department^ A.F.L. Bldg., Washington 1, D. C.
The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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April 13, 1944, edition 1
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