■ T V. " ' i» «,T> " ■ ■ .
Editorial
THE CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL
and dixie farm news
Published at Charlotte. North Carolina
OLDr=r tabor publication in the two carolinas
H. A. S *. Editor and Publisher W. M. Witter. Associate Editor
Enter. ■ ** . econd-class mall matter September 11, 1031, at the
(post OffK t Charlotte. N. C.. under the Act of Congress of
March 3. 1879. , __ .
'’" Endorsed by Charlotte Typographical Union, Number 388, An Af
Bliate of Charlotte Central Lal«or. Union and the North Carolina Fed
eration of Labor. ______
The labor Journal will not be responsible for the opinions of cor
respondents. but any erroneous reflection upon the character, stanfl
ini? or refutation of anv person, firm or corporation wmcn may ap
war in the columns of The Labor Journal will be corrected when
called the attention of the publisher. < orrespondencet*to retort
Forum opinions solicited, but The Journal reserves the ricbt to reject
objectionable reading matter and advertising at all times. __
2
SHOULD FINK STEPeAS.DEhaANDe?G,VE SOME ONE
The Labor Journal has asked this question of AFL men
durinir the past several months and many have beeiv en
thusiastic. Some few answered negatively, while others
have said “no” with reservations. A few were non-com
m‘For* several years The Labor Journal has thought that
the North Carolina Federation of Labor needs new leader
ship, leadership divorced from all, thought of personal ga
and petty selfishness—a complete rejuvenation, if you
please, of the executive board, which is responsible for en
forcing the laws and convention decisions of oor state or
ganization from one annual meeting to the other without
injecting personal feelings into their deliberations. Slue
policy tends to tear the Labor movement asunder and re
sults in lack of proper co-operation and co-ordination of
Labor’s efforts to accomplish much-desired tasks.
It is the opinion of The Labor Journal that an effective
movement to change top officials has long been overdue.
It is our studied opinion that the man who has gone into
the presidency each year since 1937 was not placed there
because of any peculiar fitness or qualification. After carefu
consideration. The Labor Journal has failed to figure how
the North Carolina Federation of Labor has accomplished
even little measure of progress under the present leadership.
The Journal baa come to the conclusion that the delegates
to our annual conventions have failed to properly evaluate
the qualifications of some of those men who have been
elected to the top places of responsibility. T^e delegates
are, therefore responsible for the predicament we find our
selves in each year. They are the ones who cast the bal
A man to be president of the North Carolina federation
Of Labor, first of all, must be possessed with an inward
passion to serve his brother unionists; second, he must
be imbued with a spirit to see that all unorganized work
ers are brought into the ranks of the American Federation
of Labor; third, he must be open-minded and otherwise
possess the qualifications of good leadership, and avoid
setting up cliques and political machines, thereby pitting
one group against another. With all of these qualifications
he must be a good orator, well educated, and a fair diplo
mat. Remember, the field for service is fertile, and the
man vou elect will be called upon to perform many and
varied tasks. His ability to think and act intelligently in
order that the traditions of our American Labor movement
mav be preserved and promoted is very important.
Therefore, when you nominate men to fill the highly im
portant posts in the North Carolina Federation of Labor
ask yourself the simple question: “Do these men possess
the right qualifications?" Otherwise, our State organiza
tions will suffer, many rocking along haphazardly, minus
the necessary good leadership, proper love for fellow un
ionists, prolific organization work, and superb public rela
tions, which includes the promotion of Labor papers, in
order that Labor many have mediums to aid in the edu
cation of its membership and the public.
There are many phases of apathy in North Carolina
American Federation of Labor affairs. The present leader
ship bogged down completely in the work of the recent
political campaign which saw the defeat of Senator Gra
ham. The leadership is completely obsessed with one idea
—its own personal perpetuation. Despite the appeals by
William Green to work hard for Senator Graham’s nomi
nation, the Fink organization remained apathetic except
where ita own welfare was concerned. That should start
American Federation of Labor Unions thinking.
Our candid opinion is:
“NORTH CAROLINA A. F. OF L. NEEDS A CHANGE!
OUR HOUSE NEEDS PURIFYING.”
** -
OUR “ENDORSEMENT’ HAS BEEN “LIFTED”
(Reprinted from January 4 Issue of The Charlotte Labor Joaraal)
The “lifting” of the “endorsement” of The Charlotte
Labor Journal by the executive board of the North Caro
lina Federation of Labor last November one year ago came
aa no surprise to the editor of The Journal, for this un
righteous threat had been hanging over The Journal’s head
for several years. But the depths to which the president
of the North Carolina Federation of Labor has dragged
our great organization down into the mire shocked us this
week when we received a copy of a circular letter he has
sent out, more than a year later, to advertisers and others
in North Carolina, telling them that The Charlotte Labor
Journal is not endorsed by the North Carolina Federation
of Labor, (which The Journal has not claimed), and
linking The Journal with a notorious New York labor pub
lication which has been plying its trade down Southland
way for several years, soliciting many North Carolina ad
vertisers in its search after business far removed from its
field of operations. We have warned against this in this
publication many times
And further, the president of the North Carolina Feder
ation of Labor evidently was so hellbent on destroying all
other Labor publications besides his precious house organ,
the Federationist, that he went so far in his circular letter
as to warn the businessmen of North Carolina that a new
CIO monthly newspaper which began operation in Decem
ber, was not endorsed by the North Carolina Federation
of Labor. Rather absurb, to be sure! He evidently wants
a state-wide monoply.
For the past 15 months this publication has been the
subject of a controversy with the officials of the North Car
lins Federation of Labor concerning our “endorsement.”
In a measure this would be a huge joke, if the activities
concerning the controversy were not aimed at restricting
the freedom of the press, and attempting to kill off all op
position to the State Federation's own house organ.
When we say it would be a joke, we mean that the
CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL should have been THE
LAST ONE to incur the wrath of the officials of the N. C.
Federation of Labor; because the CHARLOTTE LABOR
JOURNAL is the oldest American Federation of Labor
publication in the state. Its news content has been strictly
A. F. of L. Its columns have been kept clean. It was this
newspaper which kept alive tl\e spirit of the A. F. of L.
during the darkest days of the depressison, from 1931 up
through the years, when the expenditure of $5 for postage
was a great problem, and making a living out of the paper j
was out cf the question; and it was The Charlotte Labor
Journal, which promoted and protected the interests of
[ A. F. of L. members in this state in every way possible;
during those desperate years. It is trar opinion that the
CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL should have been the'
last name blackened by the officials of the State Federa
tion. because the CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL spear
headed every drive, and every campaign for the A. F. of L.
in this state during good times and bad times, during
strikes and during terrible, trying times for the working
people. When in 1931 there was a serious threat of Com
munist infiltration into the ranks of labor in North Caro
lina. during the turbulent Gastonia mill strike of that year, ;
it was the CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL which kept
the threat in the open, printing thousands of additional
papers to continue the process of education among the work-j
: ing-people of this area against the dogma of the Soviets.
Many old time workers no doubt will be greatly surprised
to hear that the officials of the N. C. Federation of Labor
have elected to blacken the name and the business of the
CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL in view of the paper’s
past record, not the least of which was the help of food
itself in times of dire need, which the JOURNAL bought
| and begged for hungry people back in some of the depres
sion vpnra —
What started the trouble in the first place ? Our readers
and advertisers should know the facts. It is very simple:,
Mr. Fink, the president of the N. C. Federation of Labor,
his executive board, and Federationist solicitors for many
years have objected to the solicitation of advertising by
the CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL from business firms
outside of Charlotte, a practice which this paper has pur
sued since its founding 20 years ago, and which practice
was necessary to the existence of the paper. Mr. Fink and
his executive board were told this four years ago when1
they first threatened to take the “endorsement" of the La
bor Journal and “give a statement to the «N. C. press,”
telling them why they had lifted the “endorsement”—be
cause The Journal publisher would not bow to their de
mands as to advertising policy.
It all boils down to this:
The N. C. Federation of Labor endorses a magazine, the
FEDERATIONIST, and perhaps came to feel that many
advertisers, more accustomed to the name CHARLOTTE
LABOR JOURNAL (because it was several years older), did
not subscribe advertising space for the Federationist be
cause the Charlotte Labor Journal was getting the space.
It was carefully determined by the CHARLOTTE LA
BOR JOURNAL that it could not agree to the demands of
the N. C. Federation of Labor to restrict itself and to in
effect destroy itself, because the CHARLOTTE LABOR
JOURNAL could not continue publication unless it could
pursue its revenue policies in our state in accordance with
j the American tradition of free enterprise and freedom of
movement. ' Our operating costs require considerably more
I revenue weekly than that required to operate a peanut stand.
! Therefore, the North Carolina Federation of Labor,
I through Mr. Fink, in a letter setting forth the reason for
their action as substantially reported above, “withdrew its
endorsement.”
It withdrew its endorsement from an A. F. of L. news
paper operated by a union man who has spent over 35
years in the A. F. of L. movement.
It withdrew ita endorsement from a A. F. of L. news
paper which has continuously borne the union label and is
now being printed in a union shop which pays union wages
running into hundreds of dollars each week.
To the contrary, it has placed its endorsement on another
“labor publication “ in the State which does not bear the
union printing trades label and which The Journal does
not consider to be published under full union conditions, al
though it is claimed it is owned by a Central Labor union.
What consistency!
In recent weeks this attempt on the patt of the N. C.
Federation officials to deprive an old A. F. of L. newspaper
of its right of existence has taken some drastic turns. In
the first place, by word of mouth, the solicitors for the
FEDERATIONIST have blackened our name to advertisers.
In the second place, the N. C. Federation actually sent out
a letter to the advertisers which stated that “The
Charlotte Labor Journal is not endorsed by the State Fed
eration of Labor,” or the American Federation of Labor.
This statement is ugly and an un-American blow below the
belt. It is an attempt to destroy someone through innuendo.
They could easily have said “the New York* Times is not en
dorsed by the N. C. Federation of Labor.” They could
have added millions of names of places and people that do
not have “the endorsement of the North Carolina Federa
tion of Labor.”
1 We are writing this editorial so that the officials of the
North Carolina Federation of Labor will know that we ac
knowledge that we do NOT have the endorsement of the
I North Carolina Federation of Labor, and have not claimed
the “endorsement” for several years. We also would like
them to know that any further attempt to blacken our
name by innuendo or by letter or word of mouth, by their
solicitors for the FEDERATIONIST or their officers aimed
: to deprive us of our livelihood will result in our taking the
action that free citizens of the country may take when
they feel that someone is trying to destroy them without
(fee process. _
The CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL will continue to
' operate an INDEPENDENT labor journal for its readers; a
labor journal in the interest of the AMERICAN FEDERA
TION OF LABOR—the national organization headed by Mr.
William Green. It will also carry the news of our own union
and sponsor, the TYPOGRAPHICAL, and other news and
opinions from other AFL unions, together with all the
working-people in our State. Our efforts in the future, as
in the past, will be devoted toward organizing the unorgan
ized working people.
The American Federation of Labor gives no “endorse
ments.” Fink in the circular letter he recently sent out over
his signature tries to Imply that it does. That great trade
union organization does NOT authorize anyone to speak for
it, to solicit advertising in its name or to make any
“collections” for it. The AFL does approve labor publi
cations, however. The AFL approves editorial policies, and
news content of publications promoting the interests of the
American Federation of Labor and affiliated unions.
A FREE weekly paper needs no “endorsement”—it needs
only the heart and the mind of a good union man to bring
to its leaders the truth as he sees the troth, and the CHAR
i
LOTTE LABOR JOURNAL in the future as in the past
will strive to be the leading weekly paper devoted to the
traditions and to the continued growth of the American
Federation of Labor, the organization which the editor of
the CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL, from the days of
Samuel Gompers to the days of Bill Green, has kept closest
to his heart «nd to his mind.
It is our opinion that the North Carolina Federation of
Labor officials should be more interested in organizing the
unorganized than they are in “lifting” an “endorsement” of
a 20-year-old labor publication whose policies have been con
sistent throughout the years in its attempts to promote
the welfare of thousands upon thousands of working men
and women. ^
Fink has never given the Charlotte Labor Journal one bit
of co-operation since he assumed office and long ago the
editor dropped the idea of trying to solicit his co-operation.
He has never furnished the CHARLOTTE LABOR JOUR
NAL w-ith a single piece of news matter from the North
Carolina Federation of Labor office. Neither bv innuendo,
nor by word of mouth 'tfill the CHARLOTTE LABOR
JOURNAL use the name of the North Carolina Federation
until such time as the present administration and present
directors of the FEDERATIONIST will have been changed
and a new group of officials come into office who are more
conscious of justice and better trained in the Christian spirit
of “Live and Let Live,” and honest unionism.
The North Carolina Federationist several years ago vio
lated an agreement to not solicit advertising in Charlotte,
provided The CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL would not
solicit advertising out in the State. Consequently The Labor
Journal did not feel itself obligated to confine its activities
to Charlotte.
This is our policy. The editor is going to leave it to the
AFL union membership and the public as to who is right and
who is wrong in the action of President Fink to cripple the
oldest labor ^publication in the two Carolinas. A matter of
principle is deeply involved in the State Federation’s action.
“Were it not for the labor press the labor movement
would not be what it is today and any man who tries to
injure a labor paper is A TRAITOR TO THE CAUSE.”
These immortal words were uttered by Samuel Gompers
many years ago and during this Centennial organization
drive in his honor they are appropriate even to this day.
The Labor Journal will do its part in honor of our great
first leader, regardless of the “lifting” of our "endorse
ment.
r«r Indirection, Soar Stomach and Gaa, Taka
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