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VOL. XIX; NO. 14
CHARLOTTE. N. C., THURSDAY. AUGUST 11, 1949
Subscription Price $2.00 Year
House Kills Brannan Farm Program;
Extends Present Price Support Plan
Washington—In a revolt against j
the Administration, the House
killed a proposal for a 2-year
trial run of the Brannan farm
program and voted to continue
the present agricultural price
support system for another year.
By a teller vote of 222 to 152,
the production payment method
of supporting farm income was
turned down. Then the House
I
went on to approve continuation
of the present support system in
lieu of a modified version due to
become effective on January 1.
1950.
Defeat for the Administrationj
at the hands of a coalition which
included many Democratic stal
warts came despite the pleas of
Speaker Sam Rayburn who ap
pealed for support for a trial of
the proposal of Secretary of
Agriculture Charles F. Brannan
to make up the difference between
market prices and support levels
by direct payments to farmers.
In the course of a short speech,
which concluded two days of de
bate, Mr. Rayburn also predicted
that the cost of the present prtte
support system “is going to be
such that one day it is going to
injure farm legislation. ” He said
Democratic Representatives of ur
ban districts had - voted unani
mously over the years for “our
farm program,” receiving nothing
{ in return.
“But some of these days, unless
we pay a great deal more atten
tion to the consumers of this
country, they may rise up and
make it hard for us to continue
this program,’’’ he asserted.
The speaker was referring to
the contentioA of Brannan Plan
supporters that consumers would
benefit along with farmers under
its terms, since market prices
would be allowed to drop to nor
mal levels instead of being bol
stered by loans and purchases.
Besides extending the present
price support system through
1950, the bill as passed would^re
peal flexible price-support provi
sion of existing law that are due
to become effective next January
1. These provisions of the 1948
act, sponsored by Senator George
D. Aiken, Republican, of Vermont,
received delayed status as the re
sult of a session-end compromise
between the House and Senate
last year.
Portions of the law already in
effect, and to be continued under
terms of the bill passed today,'
require rigid support of major
crops at 90 per cent of parity.
Parity is a price designed to pro
vide a fair balance between what
the farmer receives for his prod
ucts and what he must pay for
his needs. s
The present parity formula is
calculated to give the farmer a
sales return equal in purchasing
power to the amount the same
commodities brought in the 1909
14 period.
The administration bill, besides
authorising a trial run of produc
tion payments on potatoes, eggs
and shorn wool, contained a new
parity formula proposed by Secre
tary Brannan as part of his over
all program. The base, instead
of the 1909-1914 period, was to be
a moving one—the first 10 years]
of the most recent 12-year period.
The bill called for support of
major commodities at 100 per
cent of the new parity. On the
whole, 90 per cent of existing
parity is slightly lower than 100
per cent of the proposed new
parity.
AS WE SEE IT
I
The following is excerpted from
the July 19th radio program, “As
We See It,” a new series pre
sented by the American Federa
tion of Labor over the nation
wide * net work of the American
broadcasting Company each Tues
day evening from 10:30-10:45
EDT. Thg veiws of Joseph D.
Keenan on politics and labor were
expressed in an interview with
James G. Crowley, radio commen
tator.
By JOSEPH D. KEENAN,
Director, Labor’s League for Po
litical Education
Labor’s League for Political
Education is an organization set
up and dedicated, first, to see to
it that the people of the United
States get the information and
the important issues of the day,
as far as political candidates are
concerned, so that when they
make their selection at the polls
they will vote for people who be
lieve in the American way of
life.
Every American citizen can vote
and that’s another aim of the
American Federation of Labor
and Labor’s League—that all of
the bars that now prevent the
American citizen from voting be
lifted.
Now I believe that there is a
false general impression that the
only concern that labor has is in
the Taft-Hartley Act. Repeal of
the Taft-Hartley Act is our job,
but I think labor has a greater
responsibility.
In supporting candidates, the
league will weigh how they voted
on housing, minimum wage propo
sals, social security, aid to educa
tion, development of our natural
resources and, of course, the
Taft-Hartley Act. Labor will
back those men who have sup
ported the general welfare pro
gram.
I believe that the charge that a
great welfare program would
lead to state control is the easi
est answer for those that oppose
it because, when you stand up
and argue these things out, you
will find that labor in particular
in this country is against social
ism as well as totalitarianism in
any form. And wnen our way af
life is in danger, the American
Federation of Labor will be one
organization that will be in there
fighting to the bitter end. We
believe in the free enterprise sys
tem, we believe in the two-party
system also.
There is a great danger in this
country. There is a group that
would like to lull us to sleep on
this Communist issue, but there is
a greater danger of totalitarian
ism in America from the right
rather than from the left. And
as long as they can lull us to
sleep on this left issue they’ll
J
make hay on the right issue.
There’s the great danger that the
electorate will be lulled to sleep
by a group of fast talkers who
will not state the facts — they
color them.
I believe that the greatest aim
of Labor’s League for Political
Education is to inform the elec
torate as to what various bills
and laws mean to everyone. If
they get that information, again
I’ll say, they’ll vote right. I don’t
think we have any right as labor
unions or as a labor organization
to dictate to anyone. We certain
ly have a right to develop a pro
gram and ask Congress to sup
port it.
The American people have not
been properly educated on the
problems of the day. I think you
read the paper day after day that
there is a “colored” story on
every issue. I think that one of
the greatest monstrosities in this
country today is the distorted
talk on the health program.
J think one of the moat impor
tant problems is to try and reduce
the cost of living. The sec
! ond most important is housing.
Follow along with minimum wage
—increasing the rate from 40
! cents to 75 cents. Then social
! security. . I think that for the
! good of the country we must set
up a social security system that
1 will give those people that are un
; fortunate enough to depend upon;
j it, enough money to live in de-!
cency.
In order to maintain a high
national income we must keep the
farmer prosperous so that he can
buy the manufactured goods from
the factories of the large cities.
If the farmer is out of balance. j
if his income is down, then it’s
natural for that situation to af-!
feet the manufacturer and the re
tailer and go right on down the
line. The interest of the farmer, j
the worker and the businessman
is mutual. ~
Labor is opposed to Senator
Taft because he has gone a long, j
long way in his efforts to destroy j
the influence of the trade unions
of this country. I want to point
out that when you destroy the
trade unions you are destroying
an influence that is dedicated to
carrying out the program that I
mentioned some time ago. So
it’s natural that labor is concern
ed about Senator Taft. He has a
record, and unbroken record, of
opposing labor at every turn. I
don’t believe he has ever made a
study as to just what labor has
done, has been responsible for in
this country. I think we can
stand on our record. And I think
that when the people of Ohio go
into Taft’s record, they will vote
and vote right.
LUCKMAN TELLS BU8INES8
TO CUT PRICES. GET ON BALL
Loa Angeles. — Decrying the
economic “defeatisnq” which he
said now pervaded the nation
“from boardroom to barroom,"
Charles Lockman, president of
Lever Bros. Co., urged that Amer
ican" business revitalise its efforts
so the country would not worry
itself into illness and amid untold
possibilities of expansion and
prosperity.
Business, he said, must shake off
the buyers’ market psychology,
and refurbish its advertising,
selling and productive processes
to meet a postwar demand which
has not been fulfilled, and “sell”
the private enterprise system by
performance rather than words.
Asserting that too many busi-!
ness men had remained in the
grip of inertia and timidity, he
called for “facing up immediately
to inventory losses,’ lowering
prices wherever possible and de
veloping new products, processes
and services.
GOMPERS STAMP PROPOSED
Washington. — Representative
Augustine B. Kelley. Democrat,
of Pennsylvania, introduced a bill
authorising the Post Office De
partment to issue a special 3-cent
postage s tamp commemorating
the 100th birthday of the late
Samuel Gompers, first president
of the American Federation of
Labor.
Fly ingest' Pilot Retires;
Son To Carry On At Trade
United Air Lines Photo
Captain & Hamilton Lee (left), a member of the AFL’s Airliae
Pilots Association with 4,4M,tN miles of lying to bis credit, at tbs
controls of a Upited Air Lloes plane prior to his retirement after M
years of service. With him is bis son. Captain Robert E. Lee. who
will carry oa the family Uaditiosu
By DAN SMYTH.
Chicago Cor respondent for AFL
News Service
Chicago. — The oldest member
(in point of service) one of the
youngest crafts of the American
Federation of Labor was congrat
ulated by President Truman and
Postmaster General Donaldson
upon retirement after 36 years
at his trade.
He is Capt. E. Hamilton Lee, a
member of the AFL’s Airline Pi
lots Association who has flown
4,400,000 miles during his career;
the equivalent of 175 trips around
the world at the equator. He was
flying for United Air Lines when
he retired this summer.
In congratulating the “flying
est man in the world.” the Presi- j
dent and the postmaster general
paid tribute to the pioneer pilots
who have carried the U. S. mail
through every kind of weather in
the tradition of the pony express
riders. “Nothing stops the Unit
ed States mail.”
Lee was born April 18, 1892,
in Paris, 111. As a boy in Min
neapolis he used to bicycle out to
the airfield where A. T. Heine, a
pioneer pilot, was flying a dilapi
dated pusher biplane. One day
Heine told young Lee. “Stick
around and I'll give you a ride.”
Lee enjoyed his first flight, sit
ting out in the open with his
legs hanging free and his arms
wrapped around the struts. It
was only a short time later that
Lee himself was learning to han
dle a plane.
In World War I he joined up
as an air “veteran" with more
than 200 hours of flying already
to his credit. He taught flying
at army air fields in Texas and
was transferred in 1917 to Self
ridge Field, Mich., where he
taught acrobatic flying to army
air corps cadets.
After the war, Lee signed up
in December, 1918, as a flyer in
the new air mail service between j
Washington and New York, then
only seven months old. He flew
the run between College Park,
Md.. and New York, 218 miles.
His planes ware Curtis R-4's,
Curtis Hispanos and Standard His
panos. Between December, 1918.
and July, 1920, he made 195 trips
over the route. When the air
mail service was extended “Ham”
was assigned to the Cleveland
Chicago run. Eventually, he flew
1
every segment of the origins!
transcontinental air route.
In 1927, he switched to Boeing
Air Transport, when it took over
the San Francisco-Chicago portion
of the transcontinental route.
Boeing was a predecessor com*
pany of United. In his stride,
Captain Lee took the new techno
logical advances of airplane man
ufacture as he worked through
single-engine Boeing 40s,’ trimo
tored Boeing 80’s, twin-engine
Boeing 247’s and twin-engine
Douglas DC-3’s.
In his 30 years on air mail
flying he saw aviation develop
from 90-mph. open-cockpit planes
to 5 mile a minute. 4-engine air
liners.
“We didn’t have much besides
our wits to help us to do the job
in the early days,” said Lee. “A
magnetic compass, an altimeter
and a crude sort of speed indi
cator made up our flight intru
ments. Intermediate landings
were more the rule than the ex
ception.”
He will devote his time now to
being a landlord in Glendale,
Calif., where he owns an apart
ment building and a string of
bungalows. His son, Robert E.
Lee. who is a captain on the Chi
cago-New York route for United,
will carry on the family name.
He joined United in 1942.
NOTICE
The reason this issue of The
Journal is late is due to an ex
tensive job of\ remodeling which
has been goir^r on in our plant
since the first of May which put
our facilities out of order until
it was completed.
The back wall on our building
was ready U topple over and the
landlord was compelled to rebuild
the wall at once. The need was
SO' urgent that only little notice
could be given us. While this
work was underway we asked the
landlord to make other improve
ments and from now on we will
have The Journal to you on time
each week.
For this delay we are deeply
apologetic and thank our sub
scribers and advertisers for their
patience. All back issuea of The
Journal will be coming to you
in short order. . »
THE PUBLISHER.
URGES $2 CONTRIBUTION FROM AFL MEMBERS
FOR CAMPAIGNS
Washington, — Labor's 1950 election campaign strategy
was mapped out here at a conference of some 300 national
and state AFL leaders called by Labor’s League for Politi
cal Education. Pointing for the defeat of anti-labor reac
tionaries in both Senate and House, the conference voted to
recommend to the administrative committee of the LLPE
a proposal to solicit from AFL members and their friends
a $2 contribution for political work at the national, state
and local precinct level. .<
Joseph D. Keenan, LLPE di-'
rector, said the league would con
centrate its activities in states
where it has “better than an even
chance to win.”
Specifically. Mr. Keenan men
tioned, the states of Ohio. Indiana,
Missouri and Colorado where the
LLPE will concentrate its re
sources to defeat Senators Robert
A. Taft, Homer E. Capehart. For
rest C. Donnell and Eugene Mil
likin.
The LLPE chief said, however,
that labor would “have a pretty
tough fight” to insare the re
election of Senators Wayne Morse,
of Oregon; Carl Hayfcn. of Ari
zona; Lister Hill, of Alabama;
Olin D. Johnston, of South Car
olina; Brien McMahon, of Con
necticut; Warhen G. Mangunson,
of Washington; Francis J. Meyers
of Pennsylvania; Claude Pepper,
of Florida, and Elbert D. Thomas,
of Utah.
me lunu raisinjc
submitted to the conference by »
committee heeded by Cornelius
J. Haggerty, secretary-traasur
er of the Californie State Federa
tion of Labor urged the collec
tion of 92 from each of the AFL’s
8.000.000 members in a voluntary
basis. The funds would be col
lected by the national LLPE
which would, in general retain
half of the amount and return the
other half to state and local
branches. It was stressed, how
ever, that in many cases the
funds plowed back into state and
local contests would exceed half
or more of the total collected in
these areas. The committee re
port, adopted by the conference,
urged that the funds be used “in
sections where it is most needed.”
Expressing hope that the LLPE
branches would have a political
chairman in each Congressional
district, Mr. Keenan said he also
hoped that precinct captains
would be named in some 50,000 of
the 80,000 election precincts.
Comments of league officials
who spoke at the conference
served to emphasize labor’s de
termination to wage a vigorous
drive for the election of a Con
gress which wuld be receptive to
labor’s program.
William Green. AFL president,
spoke of what he said was labor’s
success in the 1048 campaign, but
he blamed the failure of labor to
have its program enacted by the
present Congress on “reaction
aries.” He also blamed “reaction
aries” for the growtn of commu
nism. It was to teach the "re
actionaries” a lesson that the La
bor League for Political Educa
tion would have to devote itself
next year, he added.
ueorge Meany, Arli secretary
treasurer, suggested that the Sen
ate vote on the Taft omnibus la
bor bill be the political "yard
stick'’ for labor in 1950.
Mr. Kennan told reporters that
organised labor would seek to
make a solid front with other
groups in order to' join the con
gressional battle next year for
common objectives.
High up on the labor list for
attainment, he said, will be repeal
of the Taft-Hartley Act and re
enactment of a modified Wagner
Act.
Then would come social securi
ty legislation and minimum wage
extension, he added. Labor would
Uso press for health insurance,
civil righto legislation aad feder
ti aid to education.
William C. Hushing, heading the
AFL Legislative Council, report
ed on the campaign to repeal tho
Taft-Hartley Act. He explained
to the representatives of a large
number of national unions and
state and city council labor l>odies
that the AFL Executive Council
was of the opinion that no ac
ceptable labor bill could be passed
at this session of Congress.
An acceptable tabor bill would
have to omit any reference to in
junctions. said Mr. Hushing. He
held out that possibility that even
though the same Congress would
be in session in January the mood
of the members ‘may be differ
ent.”
Senator Hubert H. Humphrey,
Democrat, of Minnesota, touched
on this point, too, in a brief ad
dress, saying that as the 1940
elections drew near some mem
bers might be inclined to change
their views on proposed labor leg
islation.
AtL Airit) 'WORKERS
REPORTS GAINS IN ILLINOIS
Decatur, 111.—The recently an
nounced organisational drive in
the 8th Region of the AFL’s
United Automobile Workers of
America resulted in the winning
of another plant, according to .
word received from Director Earl §
Heaton.
Employes at the Buhner Co. in
Danville. III., voted for the UAW
AFL as their official bargaining
agent. The new local union,
which is being assisted by 8th
Regional District Representative
William Walker, is planning on
beginning contract negotiations
with the company in the near
future. This is the third plant
organized in Region 8 in recent
weeks. ,
“I- . *
Head Of CROP
Drive For Needy ‘i
cnis
The Joo or organising
nation-wide interchureh dn
i inri
i« for
form commodities to aid the needy
overseas is under the direction of
John D. Meteler, above, national
chairman of the Christian Rural
Overseas program (CROP)'.
Already 20 states are organised
individually for the expanded har
vest season campa.gn, 1) ethers are
completing their plans, *fld organi
sational arrangements t m proceed
ing in the remaining 17; »at year,
farmers in 26 stales ^ntrfbuted
76,668,681 pounds Of form commodi
ties, representing 23«2 railroad car
loads of gifts in kited, with a value
of $6,596,674. • ‘
CROP ia sponsored by Catholic
Rural Ufe. represented on th« gov
ffiiassrsai’JSifSSs
E. Dahlia. National headquarters
are in Chicago. jJ
J