Newspapers / The Charlotte Labor Journal … / Sept. 1, 1949, edition 1 / Page 4
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GREETINGS TO LABOR TUCKER-JONES FURNITURE CO. B. G. Tucker G. L. Jones 341-343 S. Elm S». , Diol 3-1308 GREENSBORO, N. C. * GREETINGS TO LABOR SOUTHSIDE HARDWARE COMPANY Sine* 1902 WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALERS 523-525 South Elm Stroot GREENSBORO, N. C HUBBARD-PETTEE MASONRY CO, A. P. HUBBARD B. H. PETTEE CONCRETE PRODUCTS BUILDING MATERIALS CEMENT Office end Blent: 431 Prescott St., Phene 3-3430 P. O. BOX B7< GREENSBORO, N. C, BEST WISHES Hanes Funeral Home 'THE HOME OF THOUGHTFUL SERVICE" 401-405 West Market Phone 5158 GREENSBORO, N. C. LABOR DAY GREETINGS PROM H. A. Henderson CONTRACTOR General Repair Work Pointing and Popering 1220 Bettfetround Aw. Nmm 2-2183 Greensboro, N. C. "Where Your Business Is Appreciated" (Continoed Fram Pi« 1) AS WE SEE IT of the government using it* power of taxation and ita power of ap propriating money to create an educational fund for our children. Or, take the words of Abraham Lincoln, patron saint of the Re publican party, who, I think, gave just about as good a definition of the welfare state as I know when he said that “the legitimate object of government is to d<ffor the peo ple what needs to be done but which they cannot by individual effort do at all, or do so well, for them selves.” Question: Do you get the im pression that some of the alter prototypes of the Republican party seem to think that the government shouldn’t do anything for any body T Cruikshank: That is right. They use this phrase, the welfare state, in a way in which it was certainly never intended. When those per sons who do not want to see the American people make any prog ress or have their government act as Lincoln advised, they don’t want to face the issues. Instead, they get some “bad” name to use for a label. In the pages of history, for ex ample, we find that when the use of the public lands, way back in 1830, eras a major issue, and there were many people who wanted pub lic lands to be given to small far mers, that was called “agrarian ism”. You couldn’t call a man a worse name a hundred years ago than to call him an “agrarian.” Then everything that was for the welfare of the people had this bad name hung on it. It was a way to avoid the real issues. Question: Because the opponents of the so-called welfare state seem content mostly to just use the term without defining it, what are seme of the things included in the term, welfare state? Biemiller: Well, certainly they are still against social security. Now, for example, the House of Representatives has just brought out a new social security bill. But 10 of the Republican members of the Ways and Means Committee issued a statement against it. That bill in brief extends coverage to 8,000,000 or 8,000,000 additional people and also raises average benefits about 70 per cent. In other words, they don’t want to take care of the old people in a decent manner. Question: When you say “they” you don’t mean all Republicans? Biemiller: No, I mean those who take this reactionary point of view and holler about the welfare state. I quite agree, there are some Republicans who don't take that point of view. Question: And there are some Democrats who oppose it as well? Biemiller: Unfortunately, there are some. They all oppose such things as unemployment compen sation and workmen’s compensa tion. The people who oppose the welfare state really want to turn the clock back. But they aren’t really against all governument control. What they don’t like is to have govern ment used for the welfare of all the people instead of for the sole benefit of the privileged few, Cruikshank: Government aid to business interests goes a long way back. As a matter of fact, Alex ander Hamilton used the welfare clause of the Constitution in his argument for the establishment of a national bank. Nobody argued that that was the welfare state and disaster was not just around the corner when he did that. Another example the public lands that were givfti to the railroads. One hundred seventy-nine million acres of land, more territory than all the New England states together, w** given to the railroads m an incentive to develop the railroad ■jratem in America. We don’t oppoae that kind of thing, but what we do object to is that these people who have been the recipients of a government aid and assistance for the development1 of business interests, raise their hands in holy horror when aid for all the people is proposed, and say this is the welfare state leading us down the road to disaster. Question: What about the wel fare state and Communism? Biemiller: In my opinion, a true welfare state is the one definite answer to the perils of either Communism or Fascism which seek to regulate the lives of the peo ple up and down. We want gov ernment to be used for the welfare of the people, not to run their lives. Cruikshank: That is a very im portant distinction because actual ly some of these people who are labeling all socially progressive proposals as the welfare state, and then making that synonymous to totalitarianism are actually doing a very great disservice to our de mocracy and unwittingly playing right into the hands of the Com munists. Question: Bow do you mean? Cruikshank: Well, they will pre vent the people from using the in strumentality of government to meet the problems which they can’t meet individually. If those prob lems are not solved, and if the peo ple don’t have access to government instrumentalities to provide secu rity and to promote their economic welfare, chaos will result which will play right into the hands of those who would destroy US. Question: Then you take this whole campaign these charges against the welfare state, as noth ing but propaganda to mislead the people into thinking there is some thing wrong with legislation and government programs to promote the welfare of the people? Biemiller: Yes, but I think that this time that the reactionaries have outwitted themselves. The American people are not going to be scared by the name welfare. After all, we are looking out for one another. It is a good religious principle. It is a good moral prin ciple, if you will, and I think that the American people are going to like the welfare state. Question: What about former! President Hoover's argument that tf the government continues to ap propriate large sums of money to carry on all these welfare pro grams, that taxes on the people, wage earners as well as the wealthy, will stifle business? Cruikshank: Well, ex-President Hoover has apparently changed his tune. As I recall his voice years ago, it was prosperity that was just around the corner. Now it is disaster that is just around the eorner. The real point is that the people do not mind putting in contribu tions, for example to social secu rity, because they are buying an annuity through a government in strumentality, to provide payments when the time for retirement comes. It is simply using a gov ernment insurance system to pro vide for their security and they are perfectly willing to pay for it. Question: Are the costs of all these programs the big factor in the government budget that is causing all these high taxes? Biemiller: Not at all. Taxes today are levied primarily for de fense, for the European Aid Pro gram, which is a form of defense, and for paying off the cost of past | wars, and I think we ought to recognise that fact very frankly when we start talking about taxes. LABOR DAY GREETINGS Brewer Paint & Wall Paper Company, Inc. PAINT fir WALL PAPER CONTRACTORS 1612 MADISON AVE. TEL. 9-2886 GREENSBORO, N. C. Toft-HortUy Low Aftor Two Ytors Washington. — In the two yean since the Aft-Hartley law became effective on August 22, 1947, a lot has happened to hamper and restrict union activity. Some of the highlights of this period are brought out in the fol lowing analysis of activities of the National Labor Relations Board which appeared in the August issue of "Research Report” publishedd by the American Federation of Labor: 1. Union Shop Elections: Be fore any union can bargain for any type of union security clause under the new law, it must have specific authorization through an election among the workers concerned. From August 22, 1947, to June 80, 1949, a total of 32,940 union se curity elections had been held with over 8,000,000 workers casting their ballots. In all but 2.6 percent of these elections, the result was a victory for the union. During this period, AFL unions won a to tal of 23,167 elections with a vote totaling 1,547,777. 2. Unfair Labor Practice Char ges: For the first time the law authorised the filing of charges against labor unions for violation of newly enacted unfair labor prac tices. During the past 2 years over 2,000,000 such charges have been filed with the NLRB. 3. Injunctions: Under the new law the board’s general counsel was authorized to apply for in junctions against labor unions al leged to have committed certain "unfair labor practices.” During the past 2 years, the general coun sel has applied for 66 injunctions of which 24 have been granted 8 denied, 16 are still pending and 8 were withdrawn. NEW BUSINESS ORDERS ROSE 8 % IN MAY-JUNE Washington — The Commerce Dpartment announced that new orders placed with manufacturers picked up 8 percent in May and June, marking the "first signifi cant break” in a downturn that began last fall. "The rise affected nearly all industry and in some—such as cot ton textiles—new orders exceeded the level of output by an appre ciable margin,” the report said. That is the sort of spark for a production speed-up business men have been hoping for, but the department said that even so, "the *S*reggate flow of new business has remained low in relation to both output and final construction notwithstanding the recent modest advance.” Washington — Veterans may work on public school construction projects while they are training for the building thades under the G-I “Bill of Rights,” under legis lation approved by the House. Existing law bars G-I students from working on other than labora tory training projects. The bill now goes to the Senate. Labor Day Greetings From Senator George T* Penny GREENSBORO, N. C. LABOR DAY GREETINGS Standard Roofing & Sheet Metal Co. 504 Guilford Art. Phono 3-2264 GREENSBORO, N. C. LABOR DAY GREETINGS From J. D. Wilkins Co. ORNAMENTAL IRON 1200 W. Lm St. GREENSBORO, N. C.
The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Sept. 1, 1949, edition 1
4
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