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VOL. XIX; NO. 21
CHARLOTTE, N. C„ THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1919
Subscription Price $2.00 Year
Metal Crafts
Hold 40th
Convention
Frey Says Communism Greatest
Menace
St. Paul. — Communism was
singled out as the “greatest men
ace to world peace” and “the out
standing obstacle” to economic re
covery in the free world by John
P. Frey, president of the AFL’s
Metal Trades Department.
Mr- Frey’s charge was includ
ed in his report to the depart
ment’s 40th convention in session
here, which presented a careful
analysis of important domestic and
international economic affairs of
vital interest to the labor move
ment.
Reviewing the AFL’s successful j
fight against Cmmunist influence
in its own ranks ana on the inter
national scene,, the veteran trade
union leader said:
“The determined position of the
American Federation of Labor has
finally succeeded in severing the
alleged Russian trade union move
ment from the free trade union
movements of the world. It must
continue its efforts, for the Mos
cow dictatorship is still a grave
menace.
“All of the efforts of men tc
establish free institutions, and the:
reward created by the efforts, are
now overshadowed by the world-!
wide cleavage between two dia
me tricall y - opposed paints of view.
“The nations of self-governing
men are not endeavoring to force j
their form of government upon
the Russian people. If the Rus
sians like the form of govern
ment which now oppresses them,
that is their affair; but the Krem
lin has taken the definite position
that it cannot be successful in
Russia if free institutions continue
to exist in other countries. Its
definite and announced purpose is
to destroy the free institutions
with every means on which it can
lay its hands.
“Our American trade union
movement, the American Federa
tion of Labor, was the first or
ganized body in the United States
to direct attention to the menace
presented by Communist philoso
phy and Communist purpose. It
led the fight, and for its own
welfare it must continue to do
so. There can be no safety
through the adoption of half-way
measures ”
On the domestic front, Mr.
Frey declared that “there is am
ple evidence that the national
economy is sound, and that so far
as internal conditions are con
cerned, there is no danger or a
serious depression.”
He warned, however, that ef-j
forts must be made to increase!
the real wages of workers as a,
means of insuring national pros
perity.
The AFL leader stressed the
interdependence of our national
economy and the economies of
other nations. He said:
“Unfortunately, the interna'
economy of our country is great
ly influenced by the economic con
dition of other nations, particular
ly those in western Europe. Whether
or not we like it, the fact remains
that the immediate future indus
trial welfare of the United States
will be materially affected by the
degree to which the nations of
western Europe are able to re
cover sufficiently to place their
own national economic structure
on a sound basis.
“The economic welfare of other
countries is so important to that
of our own, that we have been
spending many billions of dollars
to assist them, and there are
reasons for believing that we
must continue to do this for some
time.”
AFL Taxi Union
Mobilized To Track
Down Murderer
Chicago.—Five thousand mem
bers of the Chicago Taxi Drivers
Union, Local 777, of the AFL
teamsters’ international, were en
listed by the city police depart
ment to help solve the murder of
one of their number, shot to
death by a passenger.
The murdered driver, Stanley
Stock, Jr., a boy of 21, was shot
four times about 8 p m. on the
dark, misty night of Sept. 12 by
a man who had asked to be taken
to the shooting scene, the inter
section of two residential streets
on Chicago’s Far West Side.
A $2,500 reward was offered by
the union for information leading
to the murderer. Another $2,500
was offered by Stock’s employer,
the Yellow Cab Co., aed a Chicago
newspaper, the Sun-Times, offered
$5,000 for anyone who solves the
crime through the newspaper’s
secret witness plan, a tip by-mail
formula which protects the anon
ymity of the informant.
Stock lived four hours after the
shooting, during which he gave
police a complete description of
the killer. Another witness was
within 150 feet of the gunman as
he fled on foot to an alley and
disappeared.
From the descriptions given by
Stock and the other witness, a
police artist drew a likeness of
the criminal, and copies are being
furnished to every union cab driv
er in the city. There are other
clues, including a fingerprint
found on the doorhandle ed the
cab. Because taxicab robbers
usually are repeaters, Chicago de
tectives believe there !s a good
chance the slayer will be caught.
Arrangements for distribution
of the killer’s likeness were made
in a conference of police Captain
Andrew Aitken; chief of detec
tives, with 5 Local 777 leaders—
George Marcie, secretary-treas
urer; Robert Markov, recording
secretary; Oscar Kofkin, vice
president, and James Connors and
William Pritikin, business agents.
In addition to offering the re
ward, the union made an outright
gift of $500 to the Stock family
for funeral expenses, 'lhe young
man was single, and carried no
insurance. Marcie said the un
ion’s entire membrship would co
operate with police to the limit
of their ability.
Because of the nature of their
work, the late hours, the calls to
every neighborhood and the cash
transactions, taxi drivers are a
steady prey of the criminal ele
ment. Holdups are regular and
beatings are frequent, but murder
is rare.
On April 12, 1948, another
member of Local 777, Alberl
Brody, 30, was found in an out
lying section, shot to death with
five bullets. A thumbprint left
on the rear-view mirror of the
cab solved the crime.
The print was checked by the
Chicago police department against
records of known robbers. It
proved to be the print of Alfonso
Alvarez, alias Najera, who had a
reord of petty crime
After a long search, Federal
Bureau of Investigation agents
found Alvarez in Seguin, Texas,
where he was living with Fred
Varella, another petty criminal.
Both men confessed the Brody
murder. They were tried, sen
tenced to death, and await electro
cution.
TEXTILE UNION WINS POLL
Atlanta, Ga.—The AFL’a Unit
ed Textile Workers of America
by the overwhelming vote of 181
to 35, won an NLRB union 4iop
election at the Fairmont Mills at
Spartanburg, S. C.
Everett Dean, international
representative of UTWA-AFL re
ports that in spite of the efforts
of the company to prevent the
holding of the election that near
ly every employe participated in
the voting*
President Paul L. Phillips (at left) and Research Director Bart'
Tidlaod of the AFL’a International Brotherhood of Paper Makers
represent the U. 8. Government at the United Nations Conference!
on the Conservation and Utilization of Resources. Earphones pro
vided English translations of addresses in foreien tannages.
Educator Claims
Industry Is Weak
On Human Relations
Denver.—A prominent educator
warned that should another de
pression occur, one of the main
reasons for that catastrophe will
be industry’s failure to “solve”
its problems in human relations.
Dr. Douglas McGregor, presi
dent of Antioch College, declared
in an address here that difficul
ties in industrial relations are
due partly to management’s fail
ure. to aae t£e implications of “a
simple fact about human behav
ior.”
“People work to satisfy such
needs as food, shelter, power,
prestige, social approval, knowl
elge, love and achievement,” he
said.
“And they work or restrict out
put, co-operate or fight, join un
ions or refuse to join them, obey
rules or disobey them, invest
money in the organization or
withdraw it, and whatever else
they do,” he said, “because their
perceptions are that by doing so
they will best satisfy their needs.”
He scored “the large numbers”
of managers who, he said, be
lieved that fair degree of unem
ployment is essential for good
industrial relations who argue
that “fear makes people docile.”
“Other managers,” he said,
“think of the process as the of
fering of a bribe: 'do as 1 say
because I am good to you.’ This
we call paternalism- It is not
dead either, although the term is
currently in disrepute.”
All these, and most other man
agerial philosophies, he asserted,
have in common the idea that
people must be "forced somehow
to work toward the organization
al purpose.”
Dr. McGregor said that “if one
expects to continued a relation
ship with people, it Is not worth
while to try to 'make’ them do
anything.”
A second essential for rood hu
man relations, he said is that
efforts directed toward the or
ganisation goal be directly as
sociated with the satisfaction of
personal needs, so Fast work be
comes "not form of punishment"
but in itself creative, satisfying
and enjoyable.
“Wages cannot be used to satis
fy needs at work.” he said
"Neither can vacations, insurance
benefits, pensions, recreational fa
cilities nor most of the other ben
efits provided by employers.”
People need achievement, knowl
edge, prestige, creative activity
group approval, power and accep
tance, he maintained. He sug
gested that there be "genuine par
ticipation. to the point of the
deep emotional involvement" of
all workers
Dr. McGregor said that it may
be that these problems, unless
solved would make any economic
system unworkable.
"If it were possible, I should
Ceatiaaed Oa Page 4)
Officer John Says:
About 12 drivers oat of every
100 in rural fatal accidents
were reported to have been
driving on the wrong side of
the road. There is virtually no
excuse for this typo of accident
-it is a result of chrelessness
«>ui otter disregard*" Mr wise
driving. Bant be caught on
the other fellow’s side of the
road. De sore you have the
necessary clearance and tine
before attempting to pass an
other car. IF IN THE SLIGHT
EST DOUBT—STAY IN YOUR
OWN LANE.
GREEN SENDS GREETINGS
ON JEWISH NEW YEAR
Washington.— Fraternal greet
ings as well as expressions of
deep sympathy and pledges of
support to the Jewish people of
the United States and other
countries" were sent by AFL
President William Green on the
occasion of the Jewish New Year.
Mr. Green stated that “for the
first time in more than a decade
a spirit of rejoicing animates the
celebration of the holiday this
year. Although we cannot forget
the trials and sufferings of the
past, the Jews this year should
give thanks for the establishment
of peace in Israel and for the
auspicious and promising progress
which the new Jewish national
homeland bash achieved
(Continued On Pnge 4)
Jobless Insurance
Payments Keep
Buying Power
Washington.—Purchasing power
in New England, hardest hit by
unemployment, has been kept
fairly stable because of unem
ployment insurance payments to
workers, Secretary of Labor Mau
rice J. Tobin declared here.
Addressing the Federal Advis
ory Council on Employment Se
curity. he said New England has
suffered most from the rise in
joblessness in recent months, and
now has “15 out of the 34 areas
in which unemployment runs
greater than 12 per cent.”
“Yet, despite that fact, general
retail sales were approximately
the same as in 1948 for the
month of June and retail depart
ment stores had a decline of but
3 per cent in the whole area
“In my opinion, thi3 can be di
rectly attributed to the purchas
ng power that has been placed in
the hands of those unemployed
workers.”
He added that in Lawrence,
Mass., in June, a city in which
unemployment approximated that
of the 1930s, sales continued un
changed.
Arthur J. Altrr.eyer, Commis
sioner of the Social Security Ad
ministration. also stressed the
stabilizing influence of the unem
ployment insurance system.
The meeting of .the advisory
group was the first since the Bu
reau of Employment Security,
which it advises, was moved un
der government
from the Federal Security Agency
to the Department of Labor. Sec
retary Tobin assured the labor,
business, and veterans’ represen
tatives he would continue to call
on it for advice and would give
full weight to its opinions.
Bureau representatives report
ed that while economic readjust
ments continued, the employment
downtrend had been reversed in
August. The economic outlook na
tionally was described as one of
“restrained optimism,” and the
opinion was given that unem
ployment probably had passed its
1949 peak.
Robert C- Goodwin, director,
and Louis Levine, chief of he bu
reau’s Office of Reports and An
alysis, presented the report on
employment and economic trends.
The August upturn in ateel was
cited as significant and indicative
of a probable trend.
“This year has seen the end of
the steel shortage, of the gray
market, and the retirement of
many of the submarginal mills,”
the report said. “The Aogust up
turn in steel production seems to
have occurred as a result of a
growing belief that steel prices
are not going to drop further,
Continued On Pago 4)
SHORM6 UP WORLD PEACE
OVER SIX HUNDRED DELEGATES TO WEIGH ISSUES
AT ST. PAUL
Washington.—National and international problems of
supreme importance to labor will be considered at the 68th
annual convention of the American Federation of Labor
which opens October 3 at St. Paul, Minn. More than 600
delegates, representing the 107 national and international
unions affiliated with the AFL are expected to attend.
Job Situation Is
Brighter In
Critical Areas i
Washington.—Improvement in
the employment situation and a
slackening of unemployment oc
curred in a majority of the 36 m
jor production centers ^nd rela
tively smaller labor market areas
which in recent months have been
experiencing heavy unemploy
ment, the Labor Department’s Bu
reau of Employment Security re
ported.
Robert E. Goodwin, director of
the bureau, reported to Secretary
of Labor Tobin that during the
past 30 days unemployment drop-j
-ped in two-thirds of the 36 critical
areas and over half of the areas
reported employment increases.1
Total unemployment in the 36 i
areas decreased about two per
cent.
“At the request of the White
House, the Labor Department’s Bu
reau of Employment Security ar
ranged -with the state employ
ment security agencies in early
August to obtain ' regular month
ly labor market reporta covering
employ meat trends TrtlflL
ployment in all areas where 12
per cent or more of the civilian
labor force was unemployed,",
Goodwin said.
’As a result of this survey, the
state agencies submitted labor
market reports on August 15 on
36 areas which had very sub
stantial labor surpluses The In
formation concerning these areas|
was submitted to the White House ^
in order that Federal activities
could lie co-ordinated to alleviate,
the unemployment situation in
these localities.
"The second series of labor mar-^
ket reports on the ‘E’ areas was
received this week. These show
that while employment increased
in more than half of the areas
and unemployment declined in
two-thirds of the areas, improve
ment shown by the various areas
was not sufficient, except in one
instance, to afTect its ‘E* classifi
cation. Only one area, Centralia
Illinois, was removed from the
list of ‘E’ areas. The number of
areas now classified as ‘E’ is 35.
The reports disclosed, however,
that in a number or cases areas
moved closer to the *D’ classifica
tion which includes areas With
substantial labor surpluses.
Goodwin said the reports re
flected the improved economic
conditions which have been in ev
idence since last August.
"July appears to have been the
peak month of unemployment in
most ‘E’ areas and for the coun
try as a whole," Goodwin said
“The reports show scattered pick
ups in some manufacturing in
dustries, particularly textiles, fab
ricated metals and machinery.
This has resulted in the rehiring
of some workers previously laid
off or termination of extended va
cations Inventories had been
very low and new orders were ap
pearing. An increase in the num
ber of hours worked per week
was noticeable in the reports, ex
cept for coal mining.”
Goodwin said the reports cov
ered conditions in the areas as of
September 21.
WHOLESALE PRICE8 UP
Washington.—Average primary
market prices advanced 1.S per
cent in the week ended Sept IS,
according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. The index was
154A per cent of the 1985 aver
age, 1.8 per cent above four
weeks ago and 9.0 per cent be
low the comparable week ia IMS
Secretary of Defense Louis *A.
Johnson will give the convention
a report on the latest develop
ments affecting national defense
and world peace. Other distin
guished speakers scheduled to ad
dress the delegatess include Sec
retary of Labor Maurice J. Tobin;
EGA Director Paul Hoffman; U.
S. Maritime Commission; Oscar
R. Ewing, Federal Security Ad
ministrator; David A. Morse, di
rector of the Internal Labor Or
ganisation; George N. Craig, na
tional commander of the Ameri
can Legion; and Senators Hu
bert Humphry, of Minnesota;
James E. Murray, of Montana;
George W. Malone, of Nevada;
and John J. Sparkman, of Ala
bama; and Joseph Heath, deputy
director of labor and manpower
division of the EGA Mission to
Greece.
AFL President William Green
will open the convention at It
a. m. with a keynote address. The
afternoon session will be devoted
to the reading of the Executive
Council’s report to the convention
and the reference of resolutions
to the various convention commit
tees.
>. «e Oilitsr 4 Secretary Off tin-'
bor Tobin and Senator Humph
rey are listed as the chief speak
ers. On the following day, Octo
ber 6, David A. Morse, Paul Hoff
man and Oscar R. Ewing, are on
the program.
l n« Arui plans lor the 1W
congressional campaign will be
shaped at a special meeting of
Labor’s League for Political Ed
cation. It is expected that the
convention will recess on October
6 in order to hold th national
meeting of the league.
So far the only speaker, outside
of labor’s own ranks,, scheduled
for October 7 is the national com*
mander of the American Legion,
George N. Craig, Secretary of
Defense Johnson and General
Fleming are due to talk on Oc
tober 10.
Aside from the invited speak
ers, members of the AFL’s staff
who have been stationed in Eu
rope, Asia and South America
are going to make reports to the
| convention, as will the two fra
i teraal delegates from the British
[ Trades Union Congress and the
| fraternal delegate from the Ca
I nadian Trades and Labor Con
gress.
Starting toward the end of the
convention’s first week, the com
mittees will begin submitting
their reports on the resolutions
and the various sections of the
Executive Council’s report, which
will be debated and voted upon
by the delegates. The convention
will close with the election of of
ficers probably on or about Oc
tober 12.
Polio Precautions
A pssd MsHh nils
Imprsaa upon children In Infantlls,
paralysis spidamle araaa Is to avsM^
crowda and piacss wbars stops «•*-,
tost with sttisr psrssns to Mksl*J