Section l
32 Pages
Seventeenth
Anniversary
Number
LABOR JOURNAL
VOL. XVII; NO.
CHARLOTTE. N. C.. THURSDAY. MAY A, 1917
‘ Subscription $2.90 Per Year
If
Green Demands Taft Name Lobbyists Behind Bill
4
Unions Ask
Lobbyists Be
Identified
Washington, D. C.—Stem chal
lenge to the recent statement of
8nator Taft, Republican, of Ohio,
that the new anti-labor legisla
tion ho is sponsoring “was net a
milk-toast measure,1* and eorared
some three-quartern of *a mat
ters "pressed upon ns o«r^ St«W
nonsly by employers” was raised
by the American Federation of
Inker i^ large advertisements is
Naliea. ******
Dedaring that the time has
eonso when "the public is entitled
to know the answers" to s num
ber'of questions raised by such
statements, the advertisements
"What employer. Senator
Taft?"
Demanding to know if the em
ployers pressing for anti-labor
legislation were “the same inter
eats who assured the American
housewife of lower prices if OPA
was killed—and then made a kill
ing," the AFL challenge demand
ed to know if the anti-labor in
ternets were;
"The greedy few who raieed
their own profits—then refused
to raise wages?
"The groups which fought, and
still fight, to keep children in
factories?
"Ilieas who bitterly opposed
social security, the 40-hour week,
workman's compensation and aU
the social advances that have hea
efitted all America and nit Amec
leans?” *
The AFL advertisements furth
er asked Senator Taft:
“What of the charges made on
the floor of Congress and pub
lished hi the Congressional Rec
ord, charges still unanswered,
that the slave labor bill was
written by the high-priced law
yers of the National Association
of Manufacturers and pressed up
on the legislators by N. A. M.
lobbyists and propagandists?
“Since when has the National
Association of Manufacturers be
come the defender of the public
interest? Can the leopard change
its vote?
“What of the thousands of em
‘ players - with whom labor has
friendly and co-operative rela
tions? Why wege they never giv
en an opportunity to testify
against the slave labor bill?
"We think the public is en
titled to know the answers?"
The advertisements were part
of the ration-wide battle being
carried to the people to 'defeat
(dans of labor foes to strip work
ers of the gains which they have
obtained only after years of
struggle. The original advertise
ment carrying the AFL message
to the public was a full-page ap
peal in 100 leading papers
throughout the country.
Smm of the major points made
la the AFL advertising campaign
were that the legislation which
labor-haters would impose “would
destrop free enterprise by de
struction of labor, has been de
signed in blind vindictiveness, and
constitutes an invitation to na
tional economic disaster by en
slavement of labor.”
CHATTANOOGA CARPENTERS
GRANTED A IO-CENT RAISE
Chattanooga, Twin.—AFL car
penters here won a 10c hourly
increase, ending a strike which
which had halted work on con
struction of 800 new homes
This increase raises the scale
froa^ |1-W to $148 an hour and
wOl he included in all future con
tracts far home construction.
Contracts now boing carried out
art hot affected. The agreement
was expected to aid settlomeut
of disputes is other building
crafts.
__CLAUDE L. ALBEA
Shows Begin In Drive
To Defeat Labor Bills
New York City.—Top-ranking
start of radio, screen, stage and
the musical world were fea
tured on the first of four gala
l variety programs to be broad
cast over the ABC national net
work Thursday evening, May 8,
at 9:30 P. M. (EDT).
This was one part of the inten
sive radio campaign launched by
all branches of the American Fed
eration of Labor against the
Hartley-Taft slave labor bills,
how being arranged by the En
tertainment Unions Committee.
Other all-star shows will bo pre
sented on May 18, 22 and 29 over
the same network at the same
These programs will be re
broadcast over the Mutual net
work of more than 400 stations
each Sunday, beginning May 11,
from 1:30 to 2 P. M. (EDT).
Henry Borgan, Georgia Gibbs
(“Her Nibbs Miss Gibbs”), the
De Marco Sisters, singing stars
on Fred Allen’s show, and ftay
i Bloch’s orchestra afforded part
of the half hour of entertainment
on the May 8 program. In ad
dition a dramatic sketch special!:,
written by Arthur: Miller, prise
winning author of “All My
Sons,” the current Broadway hit,
was acted by popular stars
from the legitimate stag* and
the movies. The title of Mr.
Miller’s play is “The Hiccups of
Alfred Higgins."
Co-ordinated by M. S- Norik,
as liason between the AFL and
the committee, a group of the
most important radio winters, di
rectors, actors, and musicians are
organising this series of pro
grams to continue for at least a
month.
The night-time variety show
is directed by Ed Byron, Presi
dent of the New York Chapter
of the Radio Directors Guild, and
by Perry Lafferty. The contin
uity is written by Bill. Morrow,
writer for-the Bing Crosby show;
and the commercial jingles—first
in the history of a radio to ad
vertise labor instead of a com
mercial product—were written by
Alan Kent and Hy Zaret.
Labor Department Fund
Slashed By 103 Millions
Washington, D. C—The Sonata
approved an appropriations bill
of $1,676,198,060 for the Labor
Department and Federal Securi
ty Agency for the next fiscal
year, representing a slash of
$103,415,960 below the amount
asked by the Truman Admini
stration, but $365,376,207 above
the amount provided for the cur
rent fiscal year.
Nine successive attempts by the
Democratic side of the Senate to
increase the items were defeated
overwhelmingly.
The bill was passed by voice
vote without change of a single
dollar from the form in which M
| priations Committee. Jt was f$r
1288,700 below whaMmt bee^ al
lowed by the Bsaas.
The Senate bill restored money
to pay the salary od Edgar L.
Warren, director of the United
States Conciliation 8erviee, and
his aides. The Bouse refused to
appropriate such funds.
A major part of the funds in
the bill were for the Federal Se
curity Agency and obligations un
der the Social Security program
and the Railroad Retirement Act.
The bill will be sent to eon*
ference, as it is unlikely that the
House will accept the Senate's
changes!
The Senate put aside tempo
rarily the pending anti-labor Mil.
Senator Pat McCarran, Demo*
crat, of Nevada, dissenting mem*
her ef the Appropriations Com
mittee, led the attack on it.
He accused the Republican ma
jority of so resenting 14 years
of Democratic control of the
White House that they were “blind
ly refusing to go along with any
thing reasonable’’ in their drive
for icsasmy.
He argued that “not one word
of justification’* had been given
in testimony before the commit
tee for some of the reductions
made in the bill
CONGRATULATIONS TO TTW-^W^
for hart ok presented two of its member* for seats on the city
council and their subsequent election. They are Messrs. Claude
L. Albea and John P. White. Mr. Albea previously had served
seven terms on the city council, while Mr. White was re-elected
for his second term in the last election. Both were running on
the GI slate. The election of Messrs. White and Albea speaks
highly for the high esteem the public holds for members of the
oldest Labor organization in America. This Union not only
promotes the we’fare of its members but is always highly inter
ested in contributing to bettering the communities in which its
members reside.
Congratulations to Messrs. Albea and White.
I
JOHN P. WHITE
Calls On Nation To
! | ' ' ■ ■£■:[: _. •
Help Fight Moves
To Kill Labor Gains
Washington, D. C.—Expressing
emphatic opposition to nullifica
tion of labor laws established only
after four dedcades and to revive
injuctive control of unions, AFL
President Green called upon the
entire country to “seriously • con
sider whether it desires to curb
labor unions into ineffectiveness.”
Declaring that “the records
show that unions are a basic dem
cratic force.” Mr. Green, in an
editorial written for the Ameri
can Federstionist, asserted:
“The organized labor movement
in the United States has its roots
in the early history of th'3 coun
try. Our forefathers who came
to a wilderness had to build
homes and develop the means to
earn their livings, so an elemen
tal necessity in each new com
munity was the craftsmen—the
carpenter, brick or stone mason,
blacksmith and shoemaker.
Craftsmen whose skills were the
result of gu'Id and union fore
sight and activities in the Old
World helped to build the foun
dations of our Western World,
its economy and civilisation.
Early New World unions were
the training schools of new
craftsmen and performed chiefly
fraternal services for members.
“In those days of limited means
of travel and communication,
wag* earners were organised
mainly in local unions and amal
gamated community bodies. One
of the first national movements
in whicfy aO wecfcan more inter
ested was manhood suffrage with
out property qualification. This
was followed by united support
for the establishment sf ths frse
public school syetom la all statse.
These two achievements, to which
early unions made an indispen
sable contribution, worn basic in
the development of democratic in
stitutions. The net result was to
make possible manhood suffrage
exercised by an educated elect**
rate. Labor early advocated
•■'orren’s suffrage.
“As mechanical power took in
dustries out of homes into fac
‘orit**, unions became the agency
hich managed terms and condi
tons of work for wage earners,
*hus initiating the period in
which workers sought acceptance
as a functional group entitled to
share in free enterprise. Only
by acting collectively can work
ers have work rights and respon
sibilities. Unions had to dis
establish the legal concept tha^
union effort to promote the wel
fare of wage earners was an il
legal conspiracy against employ
ers and their right to do busi
ness. By protesting injustice in
courts, in addition to organisa
tion for collective bargaining, un
ions secured opportunities for
wage earners to promote their
economic interests and share in
social progress. Higher wages
and the shorter work day make
possible higher living conditions
for the masses of our citisens.
“But the struggle for liberty
does not end. Soon organised^
employers mobilised their influ
ence in the government to devel
op near weapons against unions
in the form of court ordere or In
junctions and prosecution under
anti-trust law on the ground that
unions were monopolies. Equity
judges became strikebreakers for
(Continued on Page •)
AFL Official Debates
Ohioan In Radio Talk
Padaway
Discusses
Boycotts
Washington, D. C.-t-Anti-labor
legislation pending III Congress
vas soundly condemned by Joseph
A.. Padway, Counsel for the
American Federation of Labor,
over the network' of the National
Broadcasting Co
In a spirited discussion of such
measures with J. T. Sandora of
the National Grange and William
B Barton of the U. S. Cham
her of Commerce, Mr. Padway
sharply criticized proposals to
>an secondary boycotts.
"There are some boycotts,
vhether they be called second-1
ary, primary or material boy
cotts. that you can point your
finger at and say they ought to
bo remedied, but I do not take
the view, as some people do, that
Jurisdictional boycotts are bad,”
he said. “The fact of the mat
ter is that jurisdictional dis
putes are inevitable, they are
brought about by mechanical ad
vancements and inventions and
they displace live labor and live
labor seeks to protect itself
against such devices.
“Such jurisdictional disputes
are right, and boycotts, whether
they be secondary or otherwise
are not wrong. We must first
have defined the kind of juris
dictional dispute we are speaking
of, the objection to that juris
dictional dispute and the appli
cation of a boycott to it.
“I maintain that our jurisdic
tional disputes are, perfectly Jus
tifiable, brought on by the em
ployer, forcing the workers into
the position of having to quarrel
oveg the particular jurisdiction,
and in that respect it is perfect
ly proper and should be so rec
ognised and not bo mads illegal
to continue with the boycott.''
A iked by Mr. Sander* if ha
believed it were proper for la
bor union* to combine to rain
advantage, ahould that be allowed,
Judge Padway replied:
“Why should labor union* com
bine? They do not combine for
the purpose of fixing prices for
monopolizing the' market. I
think a* far back as I914.it was
said that the labor of a human
being is not a commodity or arti
cle of commerce. You must d:s
tinguish between the labor of a
man and the thing he produces
through his labor.
“Workers have the right to
combine for the purpose of re
ceiving all the wages they can
obtain and so they can achieve
improved standards. If they get
more wages they will buy more
radios, more cars, snd other
items.“
■reded that boy
and in some
e justified, but
y boycotts with
has come in
nitely harmful
.
ended that fre
suffered most
ttU and he ex-1
pressed hop* 'that the final leg
islation would ban such action.
CARPENTERS’ ANNIVERSARY
St. Louis, Mo.—Metre than 1,
S00 members and guests of Local
i of the United Brotherhood of
Carpenters (AFL) hero, cele
brated their fifth anniversary of
the union’s organisation.
Washington. D. C.—AFL
President William Green
challenged Senator Taft of
Ohio, chairman of the Senate
Labor committee, to name
tha employers which he ad
mitted were responsible for
three-fourths oil the slave-la
bor bill placed before the Sen
ate to destroy the union
movement.
Declaring that Senator
Taft and his colleagues “de
liberately ignored the facts
presented by union leaders .
and thousands upon thou
sands” of free-minded em
ployers, in order to “chain
and degrade free workers of
America, ’’ Hr. Green further
challenged the Taft statement
that this was “a mandate
from the people.”
Mr. Green confronted Sen
ator Taft in a radio debate
May 11 from 9:30 to 10 p.
m. (EST) over the coast-to
coast network of the Nation
al Broadcasting Co. on the
question: “Is Labor Legisla
tion Necessary?”
Meanwhile, top figures of
the radio, stage, screen and
musical field, who resent this
bill will participate in a series
of four variety programs
over the ABC network, the
first of which began at 9:S0
p. m. (EDT) May 8 and con
tinuing May 15, 22, and 29 at
the same time. These will be
rebroadcast over the more
than 400 stations of the Mu
tual Network each Sunday,
beginning at 1:30 (EDT).
Mr. Green, sharply critical of
the atatement issued by Senator
Taft, told newsmen in a special
statement:
“Senator Taft now admits for
tha record that three-quarters of
the provision* included in the
slave-labor bill being debated by
the Senate were pressed upon him
and the Senate Labor committee
by employers.
"But the Senator still refuses to
disclose the really important se
cret. In our newspaper advertise
ments of May 6, the American
Federation of Labor asked Sen
ator Taft to reveal the names of
the employers who lobbied so suc
cessfully with him and his asso
ciates for this restrictive legisla
tion. The Senator appears to be
curiously reluctant to name names.
Is this silence intended to cloak
the fact that the real sponsors of
the legislation are the tight little
group of reactionary employers
who dominate the National Asso
ciation of Manufacturers?
“We know that the NAM dic
tated not three-quarters but prac
tically the entire text of the Hart
ley anti-labor bill passed by the
House. This charge was made o&
the floor of the House and never
refuted. Did the NAM stop there,
or did their lobbyists continue
their secret pressure in the Sen
ate?
“It has been openly charged
during the Senate debate that
Senator Taft and some of his col
leagues are capitalising on the
pending anti-labor legislation for ^
political purposes. It is not diffi
cult to believe that the unnamed
employers who have pressed for
this legislation would be glad to
make campaign contributions to
those who responded to their pres
sure. —
“Certainly, Senator Taft hno
not the slightest justification tm
his claim that Congress received
a mandate from the people in the
last election for the enactmonl of
a law which would destroy do
power of labor unions to SOCVO
the working people of this 09Wh
try effectively. The people voted
for labor-management peace, not
for a crack-down on unUao. An
(Please Turn to Pngo 0