Editorial
THE CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL
(and Dixie Farm Newt)
Office of Publication: 118 Eaat Sixth Street, Charlotte, N. C.
Telephones 3-3084 and 4*5602
Address All Communications to Post Office Box 1061
H. A. Stalls. Editor and Publisher W. M. Witter, Associate Editor
Published Weekly at Charlotte, N. C.
Official Organ of the Charlotte Central Labor Union and Approved by
Tha American Federation of Labor and the
North Carolina Federation of Labor
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $2.00 per year, payable in advance or
5c per copy.
ADVERTISING RATES for commercial advertising reasonable,
The Labor Journal will not be responsible for opinions of corre
spondents, but any erroneous reflecting upon the character, standing or
reputation of any person. Arm or corporation which may appear in
the columns of The Labor Journal will be gladly corrected when called
to the attention of the publisher. Correspondence and Open Forum
opinions solicited. _'
A LOCAL DILEMMA
According to articles ap
pearing in local newspapers
during the past few days both
contractors and building
tradesmen are faced with the
problem of insufficient ex
perienced manpower to cairy
on the work of constructing i
buildings and building homes
for returning servicemen and
others.
In these articles the sug
gestion is put forth that the
building trades change their
long-established laws in order
that inexperienced help may
be put to work in large num
bers to meet the demands of
contractors. The matter was
taken up with Charlotte Cen
tral Labor Union officials
this week and came to the
floor of the Central Body for
consideration at its meeting
Thursday night. The Central
Labor Union ruled that it was
not a matter for the Central
body as a whole to pass judg
ment upon, as apprenticeship
relations of many affiliated
unions with local concerns
are varied, calling for differ
ent terms of employment-to
meet the needs of the differ
ent crafts and employers.
Th<* quota of apprentices
allowed to the number of
journeymen employed on jobs
may or may not be the same
in all unions and should the
laws of many local unions be
changed to meet the requests
for changes the matter per
haps would have to go to ;
some of the international j
unions for action before lo-j
cal requests could be granted.
This would necessarily require
considerable time. Many
laws of national and interna
tional unions are made in con
ventions each year and there
fore cannot be changed until
the convention is held the
following year.
The sincerity of the pro
posal and the source from
which it came was well re
ceived by the delegates as a
whole, but in order that more
time and thought may be
given to solving the problem
the matter was left in the
hands of the building trades
and the contractors, whereat
rightfully belongs, for further
consideration. It no doubt
will have to be settled through
a period of negotiations and
The Labor Journal predicts
that it will be solved satisfac
torily to everybory concerned.
It should have been taken up,
with the building trades in
the first place and the neces
sary machinery put into ope
ration to negotiate the terms
of the proposal and then the>
- net result could have been
given to the public through
the local press. In the mean
time it looks as though we
will have to wait until the ac
ceptable terms have been pro
mulgated and accepted by
both contractors and building
tradesmen in order that new
homes and buildings will ba»
come available.
It does seem reasonable to
expect, however, that if re
turning veterans are to be
employed through some sys
tem of apprenticeship train
ing that they may be put to
work on building homes for
themselves and their families
before any other building is
undertaken. They shouldn’t
be required to live in “fox
holes” in this country after
having served so long and val
iantly in countries abroad.
INDICTS OPERATORS
John L. Lewis dramatically
charged that the bituminous
coal industry in the last 14
years, through “mismanage
ment, cupidity, stupidity and
wanton neglect,” killed 28,
000 miners and “violently
mangled, crushed and shat
tered the bodies” of another
1,400,000.
Facing mine operator rep
resentatives at an open ses
sion of the national coal wage
conference, the shaggy presi
dent of the. United Mine
Workers Union also accused
the industry of extorting
$60,000,000 a year from the
miners for “pseudo, hypothe-1
tical and substandard medical
service, hospitalization and {
insurance of an actual value
of less than one-third” the1
amount collected.
The high point of the con
ference came when Mr. Lewis, (
summarizing the evidence
supporting the union’s de-J
mand for a “health and wel
fare fund” leveled this indict-'
ment at the coal operators: }
“We accuse, by the record,
that the management and
stockholders of the bitumin
ous coal industry in a period
of 14 years have, through,
mismanagement, cupidity,'
stupidity and wanton neglect
made dead 28,000 mine work
ers. i
"We accuse, by the record,
that in the same period the
.same management and stock
holders have, for the same
reasons, violently mangled,
crushed and shattered the
bodies of 1,400,000 mine
workers.
“We accuse by the record
that the industry does not
bury its dead or bind up the
shuttered bones and the man
gled flesh of its victims in
any adequate, humane or
modern sense.
“We accuse by the record
that the management and
stockholders of the bitumin
ous coal industry indulge in
systematic and widespread
financial exploitation of the
families of the dead and prac
tice commercial extortion up
on the yet living victims of
its industrial violence.
“We accuse by the record
that the industry extorts an
nually from the pay envelope
of the mine workers 60,000,
000 of dollars for pseudo, hy-1
pothetical and substandard'
medical service, hospitaliza
tion and insurance of an act
ual value of less than one
third of the aforesaid $60,
000,000.
“We challenge on the rec
ord, refutation point by point.
“We demand abatement of
this slaughter.
“We demand cessation of
the accompanying extortion."
S. J. GOMPERS DIES
Samuel Gompers, 77, whose
father founded the American
Federation of Labor, died at
his home-here after a long
illness.
Mr. Gompers retired in Oc
tober, 1941, after 54 years of
service with the federal gov
ernment. From 1918 until
his retirement he was chief
clerk of the Labor Depart
ment.
High tributes were paid to
Mr. Gompers by Secretary of
Labor Sctiwellenhach, former
Secretary Perkins and AFLj
leaders.
B*li*ve ft or Not
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WORKING rr OUT
By Frances Perkins
A news item has recently
appeared in many papers to
the effect that “refugees” in
Europe are selling goods and
supplies sent to them under
various fornfa of relief proj
ects. I should have been bad
ly bewildered by this infor
mation if it had not been that
I had met overseas some of
the soldiers, British and
American, who had been as
signed to distributing sup
plies in the emergency.
A young British officer
about 35 years old, a school
master by profession in his
private life, rode up with me j
in the train from Dover to
London one nght He was on
his way home for discharge
as he hoped. He was intelli
gent, humorous, and hopeful.
He had been on guard duty in
Italy and on guard duty in
Greece. His very last assign
ment before he left to come
home for discharge had been
to take supplies up into the
mountain towns of Greece.
Supplies from U. N. ICR. A.,
from the American Friends
Association, from the British
Christian Fellowship Associa
tions.
He said to me: “We had
the canned soup, the canned
eggs, the canned milk, the
canned meat, the canned fruit
juice, and we had the trucks
but winter was closing down
on us quick. We took what
ever we had, those were our
orders, up into the villages
and we distributed it. God
knows the people needed
everything they could get.
Sometimes, however, we know
that they took the canned
milk we gave them or the
canned tomato juice, which
they really didn’t understand,
and they took it down into the
villages in the valley and
traded it for shoes, for blank
ets, for cooking utensils, for
roofing material and for fuel.”
He added, he a British soldier
who had had a realistic ex
perience: “Why shouldn’t
they. We couldn’t know what
they needed. All we had to
give was canned milk and
canned soup. What they need
ed was shoes under their
feet, a roof over their head,
a blanket to keep them warm,
and food too; but the adjust
ment was one which only the
people, who were caught in
the terrific shortages of hu
man supplies at the close of
the war, could possibly evalu
ate.’’
The half dozen other young
British soldiers in our com
partment traveling up from
Dover verified what he had
to say and gave me a new con
ccption of the reality of the
need and ingenuity of the dis
placed populations. No one
ought to be shocked or sur
prised that they are selling
or trading our allowances. It
is the way of life. You take
what you have and trade it
for what is your absolute ne
cessity. _
There is a steady propagan
da going on to discredit the
refugee people everywhere
because they have sought to
adjust and accommodate their
supply lines to their needs,
and there is an inclination to
b’.ame them for trading the
goods that are provided
through the charitable im
pulses of the United States.
We must remember that the
goods have value, and if. you
give a fur coat, it perhaps
can be of more value to the
displaced people if they trade
it for shoes, cooking utensils,
and fuel than as though they
wear it as an article of
warmth. It is truly encour
aging that the working people
everywhere recognize the pri
mary claims of human need
and the primary responsibil
ity of individuals to make
their own way in the world.
Copyright, Institute for
American Democracy, Inc.
RUTH TAYLOR SAYS:
YOU
It’s up to you! Whatever
the question be, whatever the
crucial problem confronting
the country today, the solu-1
tion is up to you. For m
either a republic or a democ
tacy the power is vested in
the individual — and that
means you! When we speak
of national unity, we mean
national oneness—a cohesion
of all elements into one. You
are that one!
Through your vote you
have the power to effect
whatever changes you wish.
Your vote is as potent as that
of any man in the country.
But if jrou neglect to vote—
don’t complain of the govern
ment that is elected.
Yours is the responsibility.
You can’t expect co-operation
if you are not co-operative.
1 ou can't expect fair play un
less yau are will ing to play
fair. You can’t prate about
discrimination if you discrim
inate against others. You
can’t whine about taxes and
then complain when you don’t
get the service you expect
from the government of your
choice.
You have to be kind. You
have to be tolerant. You
have to work. It all begins
and ends with you.
Neither industrial disputes
nor international problems
can be settled from the top..
You have to begin with your*
self. To achieve co-operative
action, you yourself must be
willing to co-operate in the
problems of every day living.
But you must stand firm on
the ideals in which you be
lieve. You must be articu
late for the right, and — if
you are—you can be a power
for good in yourself.
What the future holds de
pends upon you—upon me—
upon each and everyone of us
as individuals. That Is what
ft republic means. That is
what democracy stands for.
It is a personal responsibility!
It is up to you—and me—and
all of us who have pride in
our American citizenship—to
do our individual best.
Uncle Sam Says
Smokey Says:
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1 TMOM UM4 KNOWS how
Tomer QB an or
WOODS AHD KCtl
A woodland protected from fire
fa like money in the bank. The
trowing trees are capital —each
year's growth the interest Divi
dends can be period icallf d+Ured
in the form of timber harvests.
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WIRING
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APPLIANCES
REPAIRS
G.E. and Birdseye Lamps
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k Fireplace Equipment
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Charlotte, N. C.
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PRITCHARD MEMORIAL BAPTIST CHURCH
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9:45 a. m.
Worship Services
11:00 a. m.
7:30 p. m.
* Training Union
6:00 p. m.
Dr. William Harrison Williams, Pastor
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