UNI
VOL. XVII; NO. 7
Subscription $2.00 Per Year
JOURNAL
CHARLOTTE, N. C„ THURSDAY. JUNE 19, 1947
Machinists Executives Meet In Charlotte Sunday
HOUSE PASSES BILL OVER TRUMAN’S VETO
Labor Measure Now
Being Debated In A
Filibuster In Senate
ONE SENATOR SPEAKS 8 HOURS IN OPPOSITION TO
MEASURE; OTHERS TAKE TURNS
President Truman Friday vetoed the Taft-Hartley anti
labor union bill and the House within a short time after
the reading of the President’s veto message, voted to over
ride ItfS veto 551 to 88, Which" meant that ft was then up
to the Senate to decide the issue as to whether the measure
is to become law or not. The House ballot recorded 196
Democrats voting with 225 Republicans to make the bill
law over the presidential veto. Seventy-one Democrats, 11
Republicans, and one American-Labor party member, voted
to uphold the President.
The President acted after several days study of the leg
islation, sentence by sentence and paragraph by paragraph,
and told Congress that it goes far beyond meeting with
proposals made in his message to Congress when it con
vened in January.
Mr. Truman wrote Congress that instead of remedying
the labor situation in the United States the bill would only
tend to confuse labor-management relations beyond the
conceptions of the supporters of the measure. He said
that in nation-wide paralyzing strikes that it could not
possibly remedy or prevent them and he branded the bill
as unfair and unworkable.
Eleven out of 12 North Carolina Representatives were
Among the 106 Democrats who voted with 225 Republicans
to override President Truman’s veto of the labor-manage
ment bill.
The only North £arolinian among the 71 Democrats voV
ing Against overriding was Rep. John Folger of the Fifth
District. V
Voting for overriding the bill were Representatives Bon
ner, Kerr, Barden, Cooley, Durham, Clark, Dean, Doughton,
Jones, Bulwinkle, and Redden.
All six of South Carolina’s Representatives voted to over
ride. They are: Representatives Rivers, Riley, Dorn, Bry
son, Richards, and McMillan. ,
Mr. Truman summed up his
conclusions of the labor bill in
five sentences^
“The bill taken as a whole
would reverse the basic direc
tion of our national labor pol
icy, inject the Government into
private economic affairs on an
^"unprecedented scale, and con
flict with important principles
of our denmcratic society.
“It’s provisions would cause
mere strikes, not fewer.
“It would contribute neither
to industrial pence nor to eco
nomic stability and prepress.
“It would be a dangerous
stride in the direction of a
“It contains seeds of discord
which would plague this nation
for yssrs to csms.
Regarding the measure’s bon
against recognition of unions with
Communist leaders, the President
said.
“The only result of this pro
„ vision,” would be confussion and
disorder which is exactly the re
sult the Communists desire.*
The fundamental test to be ap
plied to On Taft-Hartley Bill,
Mr. Truman said, is whether in
the “present critical hour” it will
“strengthen or weaken American
democracy.”
This waa his judgment:
“I have concluded that the bill
is a clear threat to the success*
ful working of our democratic
society."
Here are the major provisions
of the bill:
1. Let the Government get
court order to block "national
calamity" strikes, as in the
coal or stool industries, dor
in M days of mediation.
2. Forbid the closed shop, in
which the boos can hire only
union help.
3. Ban various kinds of spe
cial strikes and boycotts,
4. Permit court suits against
unions that break contracts.
5. Deny collective bargaining
rights to any union having as
an officer a Communist or sym
pathiser, or anyone whs could
"reasonably be regarded as
4. Make it an unfair labor
practice, which epald bo stop
ped by a court order, for a
union to keep non - striking
workers from their jobs • by
maos or violent picketing.
7. Forbid “excessive or dis
criminatory" ' union dues sad
initiation foes.
The regular quarterly meeting
of the North Carolina executive
council of the Internat:onal Asso
ciation of Machinists will be held
in Charlotte Sunday, June 22. at
the Mecklenburg county court
house beginning at 10 a. m. C. A.
Buskel, grand lodge representa
tive, will attend and address the
meeting. Mr. Buskel has been
permanently ass;gned to this ter
ritory.
Many problems pertaining to the
trade will be brought before the
meeting during the regular order
of business and other problems,
including national legislative mat
ters, will also be discussed and
acted upon, according to local ma
chinists officials.
Chamotte lodges 263 and 1726
will assist with the meeting and
will serve refreshments during the
day. A large attendance is antic
ipated.
The North Carolina Council is
composed of the following mem
bers:
President, John F. Slaughter
of Durham.
Vice President, Dale Graham of
Raleigh.
Vice President, C. L. Clem of
Asheville.
Vice President, J. D. Corbitt of
Rocky Mount. ‘
Vice President, E. T. Dority of
Winston-Salem.
Vice President, E. C. Walker of
Greensboro.
Vice President, W. B. Wallace of
Charlotte.
Secretary-Treasurer, Durwoed
C. Johnson of Winston-Salem.
The machinists locals of Char
lotte, Gastonia and Rock Hill re
cently formed the Twin-State Dis
trict Council for the States of
North Carolina and South Caro
lina. The Twin-State Council has
named George J. Kendall of Char
lotte as businesss agent and dis
trict representative. Mr. Kendall
is well-known in North Carolina
labor circles. He has been an ac
tive and tireless worker for many
years.
The offices of the Twin-State
District Council are:
President, Brother 'Col.eman of
Rock Hill Local 1T79.
Recording Secretary. Brother
Johnson of Gastonia lodge 1762.
Financial Secretary-Treasurer,
Brother E. L. Bennett of Char
lotte lodge 1725.
Business Agent, ueorge J. iven
dall of Charlotte.
The Charlotte lodges have for
many years been very active in
local labor circles. The member
ship is voting this month as to
re-affiliation with the American
Federation of Labor and should
the machinists vote to come into
the AFL their ^legates will add
considerable delegate material to
Charlotte Central Labor Union.
Charlotte has two lodges, Nos.
623 and 1726. The officers of
lodge 263 are':
President. C. L. Bigger* taff.
Vice President, J. C. Elmore.
Recording Secretary, W. B.
Wallace.
Financial Secretary, W. E. Blis
ard.
Treasurer, J. D. Brown.
Conductor, Harry Orr.
Sentinel, R. P. McCrorie.
Trustees, T. F. Simpson, E. L.
Barkley and S. L. McManus.
The officers of Lodge 1725 are:
President, Ned Broome.
Vice Presidnt, W. H. Bush, Jr.
Recording Secretary, E. L. Ben
nett.
Financial Secretary, Norman
Ervin.
Treasurer, C. S. Hedrick.
Conductor, R. E. Bush.
Sentinel, H. L. Rayborn.
Trustees: H. M. Broome, Paul
Gibson and T. R. Broome.
President Bigger*taff of Lodge
263, or President Ned Broome of
Lodge 1725 will open the meet
ing here Sunday with a brief ad
dress of welcome and then turn
the gavel over to the executive
council chairman.
WHITE HOUSE HINTS LAST-MINUTE ACTION ON
LABOR BILL AS FLOOD OF VETO MAIL
HITS RECORD VOLUME
Washington, D. C.—Having fired the first barrel of his
veto shotgunt against the “Relieve the Rich” tax bill, Pres
ident Truman is expected to knock-off the “Mild as Murder”
Taft-Hartley Bill with the second barrel in a few days.
In the aame strong terms that he exposed the obvious
unfairness of the tax bill, the President is expected to un
mask the trickier and more deceptive features of the dras
tic measure to control organized labor.
Thus the battle lines will be drawn for an all-out political
fight between the reactionary Taft faction of the Reoubli
can Party and the Truman Democrats. By standing as
^steadfast on the “keep labor free” issue as on sound fis
cal policy, the President can help to rally sufficient votes
among loyal party members in the Senate to sustain a veto
of the Taft-Hartley Bill. .
As this edition went to press, prospects for a favorable
Senate vote on the expected veto of the Taft-Hartley Bill
were growing ever stronger, although the decision was by
no means certain.
White House Secretary Charles Ross told newsmen it was
likely the President would wait until the last minute
before announcing his action on the Taft-Hartley BilL This
strengthened the general expectation here in Washington
that a veto message is being Dre oared.
Other reports from the White
House indies ted thst the flood
of rasil urging the President to
veto the Tsft-Hartlejr Bill is con
tinuing to break records.
At the last official count, the
White House hod already received
more than 600,000 postcards, and
180,000 letters, the overwhelming1
majority of which opposed the
Taft-Hartley Bill. Thousands at
(Continued On Page I)
Jobless
Problems
Increase
Washington, D. C.—The number
of jobless is increasing in 22 of
the Nation’s 80 major labor mar
ket areas, it was reported here
by the United States Employment
Service.
The areas where labor' sur
pluses were reported are Port
land, Me.; Pall River, Maas.;
Scranton and Joknstowh, ' Pa‘;
Wheeling, Huntington, Charles
ton, W. Va.; Charleston, S. C.
Savannah; Mobile, Tampa, Fla.;
Terre Haute, Ind.; Wichita, Kan.;
Phoenix, Arix; Tacoma and Van
couver, Wash.; Portland, Ore.,
and Sacremento, Stockton, San
Jose, San Bernardino, Los Ange
les and San Diego, Calif.
Robert C. Goodwin, director
of the service, said in a statement
that half of the 80 areas report
ed declines in job opportunities
because of price and general bus
iness uncertainties.
There were about 2,600,000 un
employed persona in April, Good
win said, although seasonal up
turns in agriculture and construc
tion sent employment up 600,000
over March.
The most significant declines in
demand for labor were reported in
New England, New York and
Pennsylvania.
Mr.. Goodwin also declared that
nearly 500,000 young people who
will leave school in June in search
of jobs constitute a special chal
lenge to placement agencies.
Asserting that the future of
this Nation’s economy and poll*
tical existence rests with young
people and war veterans who are
seeking employment, Goodwin
stated that “those graduating this
year and following groups of
graduates, will constitute almost
a third of our labor force ten
years hence.”
The number of veterans com
pleting their interrupted schooling
who will swell the ranks of job
seekers in the next few years
was set by Goodwin at 1,100,000.
If employment slacks off impor
tantly, he declared, the first
to lose their jobs will be, gen
erally, young people and veterans,
because they will have had less
industrial experience and lower
seniority than other workers.
JOBLESS AID INCBEA8ED
San Francisco, Cal if„—Impor
tant changes have been made in
Unemployment Compensation laws
in 26 States during the past year,
sccording to a report, of the So
cial Security Board. In Mary
land, maximum weekly benefits ,
increased from |20 t* $2S^New
Hampshire raised its maximum
from $20 to $22; six other States i
increased payments to $2Q and i
;hree States hiked their maxi- 1
mum to $18.
I
Truman Gives Death
Blow To Tax Bill,
And House Sustains
PRESIDENT SAYS TAX BIIaL IS UNTIMELY AND
WILL AID RICH MORE THAN POOR
Washington, D. C.—President Truman vetoed the Repub*
lican-sponsored tax reduction bill on the ground that it was
a bad and untimely measure. ^
1 have readied the corttlusfiV.^'lfci'lifcll fc13a~vttfo mes
sage, “that this bill represents the wrong kind of tax
reduction at the' wrong time."
Thus the President punctured one of the main hot-air
balloons of the Republican leadership in Congress—and
the big question among observers in the nation’s capital
was whether he would next deflate the hypocrisy in the
Taft-Hartley Bill with an equally drastic veto message.
From immediate reaction to the President’s’tax veto, it
was expected as this edition went to press that Congress
would vote to sustain his disapproval of the bill.
Trading on the political popularity of tax reduction, the
G. O. P. leadership forced the adoption of a measure which
would have meant substantial tax savings to the wealthy
and only moderate advantages to those in the lower and
middle income brackets.
In hia veto message, President Truman said:
“Ample evidence points to the
continuation of inflationary pres
sures. Tax reduct:on now would
increase them. If these pressures
are long continued and if essen
tial readjustments within the price
structure long deferred, we are
likely to induce the very reces
sion we seek to avoid.
“Reductions in income tai rates
are not required now to permit
necessary investment and busi
ness expansion. There is no
shortage of funds for this pur
pose in any wide sector of our
economy. As a matter of fact,
the amount of liquid funds in
the hands of corporations and in
dividuals at the present time is
nearly two hundred billion. Under
these circumstances tax reduction
:s 401 now needed to provide ad
ditional funds for business ex
pansion.
“The argument is made that the 1
funds added to consumer pur*
chasing power through this tax
reduction are needed to maintain
employment and production at
maximum levels.
“It is true, as I have pointed
out many times, that the pur
chasing power of large groups of
our people has been seriously re
duced. We must take every step
possible to remedy the disparity
between prices and the incomes
of the rank and file of our people,
to aa not to put brakes on our
KMitinued prosperity and lead us
toward a recession. Tax reduc
tion as proposed in H. R. 1 is not
the proper way tt remedy the
rurrent price situation and its ef
F«ct upon consumers and upon
Respective employment Neces
isry adjustments in incomes, pro*
luction and prices should be made
>y wise policies and improved '
> radices of business and labor, <
not by hastily invoking the fiscal
powers of Government on a broad
scale.
"The time for tax redaction
will come when general inflation
ary pressures have ceased and
the structure of prices is on a
more stable basis than now pre
vails. How long it will take for
this point to be reached is im
possible to predict. * Clearly, it
has not been reached as yet. Tax
reduction now would add t o,
rather than correct, maladjust
ment in the economic structure.
“H. R. 1 reduces taxes in the
high income brackets to a gross*
ly disproportionate extent as com
pared to the reduction in the low
income brackets. A good tax re
duction bill would give a greater
proportion of relief to the low
income group.
“H. R. 1 failg to give relief
where it is needed most. Under
H. R. 1, tax savings to the aver
age family with an income of $2,
500 would be less than $30, while
taxes on an income of $50,000
would be reduced by nearly 6,000,
and on an income of $500,000 by
nearly $60,000. «
“Ip so far as ‘take-home’ pay is
concerned under H. R. 1', the fam
ily earning $2,500 would receive
an increase of only 1.2 per cent;
the family with an income of $50,
000 would an increase of 62.3 per
cent.
"If H. R. 1 were to become law
thes inequity of its provision
would be frosen into the tag
structure. The reduction in Gov
imment receipts resulting from
this biH would be such that the
Government could ill afford to
■take fair tax reductions at the
proper time in the form of a
:arefully considered revision at
Mir entire tax structure.”