CAPITAL REPORTER
Raleigh, N. C.—A tobacco sales
holiday may be called soon (per
haps by the time this reaches
print) if the situation doesn’t
ease , on the weed markets in the
the State soon.
Redrying plants are jammed
and some of the big tobacco
companies have pulled buyers off
the markets. The result has been
less competition and a drop in
prices. In at least one instance,
sales were halted because of
complaints by farmers over the
prices bid on their offerings.
A tobacco sales holiday was
called by the late J. Melville
Broughton several years ago
while he was governor. And
Governor Scott is reported ready
to call a sales holiday if the
situation doesn’t change for the
better soon.
Among tobacco men there's a
feeling that major tobfuccp^ com
panies are pulling strings to
force weed prices down. On the
face of it, it’s a problem of buy
ing more tobacco than the re
drying plants can process, with
tobacco piling up at the ware
, houses. But these men say that
the big companies could stop the
piling up and keep buyers on the
markets if they wanted to—-thus
keeping prices up through more
competitive bidding.
The Edwin Gill appoinment aa
Collector of Internal Revenue for
North Carolina — predicted hy
CAPITAL REPORTER three
weeka ago—brought a lot of com
ment from the experts. Some
tried to make it look as though
President Truman was “agin” the
Scott administration and National
Committeeman Jonathan Daniels.
Some said Governor Scott didn’t
know anything about it. Fact
is, the Governor knew about it
and did not try to atop it, de
spite the faot that he invited
Gill, a Charlie Johnson-for-gov
ernor- to quit his job aa State
revenue commissioner. The job
for Gill was engineered by some
Washington smoothies, this cor
ner hears, ahd they weren’t Sen
ators.
The appointment of Charlie
Johnson, ex-state treasurer and
opponent of Scott in the gub
ernatorial race, as customs col
lector at Wilmington caused a
tot of raised eyebrows. He was
named by Senator Hoey, never a
bosom buddy of the Governor’s,
and objection by Scott could
have caused a further rift in the
Democratic party in the State—
or, at leaat added fuel to th«
flames.
Some folks were surprised that
Johnson would accept the job,
which reportedly pays $6,400 yer
year to start. Reports from
Charlotte indicate:
1. That Johnson was not too
happy in his job there, despite a
salary estimated at anywhere
from $10,000 to $16,000 per year.
2. That Johnson’s boss and the
former State treasurer were not
exactly pals.
3. That other Charlotte bank
ers did not cotton to the addi
tion of Johnson to their ranks.
The new job will five Johnson
plenty of leisure time and lie is
expected to live on his farm,
some 12 miles from Wilmington.
The new job should hamper him
politically, since technically his
hands VHll be supposedly tied by
the Hatch Act. That’* the law
prohibiting federal employees
from messing around in politics,
it says.
North Carolina bankers are
moving to head off at least one
Yankee invasion. A bunch of
New York money men recently
came to the State to investigta*
possibilities of a time-payment
plan for cattle buyers.
It would work just like buying
a car or refrigerator. So mwch
down, so much a month or w«k.
In some instances, they said, no
down payment would be neces
iiary.
The New Yorkers like what
they saw, went back home for
their moneybags, and said they’d
be back this way soon.
Well, sir, Tar Heel bankers
reacted like a heifer jabbed with
a pitchfork. The North Carolina
Bankers Association has called a
meeting of ’‘representative agri
culture-minded bankers.” They'll
meet here in Raleigh. October
17 with State Commissioner of
i Banks Gurney P. Hood, C. B.
Ratchford of the N. C, State Col
lege Extension service, and other
interested people.
Their aim? It’s to set up a
committee and begin work im
mediately on a livestock-financing
program.
Mebbe we could stand having
some more Yankees coming
'down to show the way. If you’re
^ gonna borrow money, it’s always
| nicer to Owe somebody you know.
Over at High Point there’s a
gasoline price war going on.
Some folks started a self-service
l station, where' you fill up your
RULES
a
• • •
X. Carry or wear something white at
night to help drivers see you.
2. Cross only at crosswalks. Keep to the
right in the crosswalk.
3. Before crossing—look both ways. Be
sure the way is clear before you cross.
4. Croes only on proper signal
5. Watch for turning cars.
6. Never go into the roadway from be
tween parked cars.
7. Where there is no sidewalk, and it is
necessary to walk in roadway, walk
on left side, facing traffic.
Governor Chester Bowles of Connecticut, end twenty-four other Governors, issued
proclamations for Union Label Week. The Governor is seated and those present (L
to R) are: Timothy M. Collins, Proa, Connecticut Federation of Labor; Andrew Chris
tensen, Secy., Hartford Central Labor Union; Eugene J. St. Pierre, Viee-Pmu, CFL;
Francis Devine, Bus. Mgr., IBEW Local 35; Francis Ford, Bus. M*t„ Pipefitters Local
21S; Joseph M. Rourke, Secy.-Treas., CFL; Michael Misenti, Vice-Proa, CFL; and
Wm. F. Fargo, Vice-Pres.. CFL.
own tank, and 'were able to low
er prices.
The result, believe it or. not,
I has been that every major gai
company slashed prices some
four cents a gallon in Hign
Point. For example, the same
I gas that sells in Greensboro for
i 31c a gallon sells for a neat 27c
; in High Point.
That has revived seme talk
last heard during the Better
Schools and Roads campaign.
Then the gas companies were
lighting the $200,000,000 road
bond issue. It was suggested
that since the gas companies
I raised prices without apparent
, rhyme or reason (incidentally
! another price hike of about a
i penny a gallon is reported com
ing soon), and since gasoline has
become a public necessity, that
i perhaps it might be a good idea
to put the gasoline industry un
der the State Utilities Commis
sion. •
That brought a howl, of course,
but no explanation of how gas
prices were determined by the
big companies.
Now, some folks are wonder
ing how the same gasoline can
be sold by the big companies
some four cents a gallon cheaper
in High Point than it is in near
by cities.
Operators of the High Point
self-service station charge that
the price cut is being made by
the major companies in order to
run them out of business. If
that isn’t the reason, they charge,
then the hlg boys would cut
prices all over the State.
It has raised Che distinct pos
sibility of a' bill being presented
to the legislature calling for the
Utilities Commission’s control of
the gasoline industry in North
Carolines, however.
Since milk has become a neces
sity for families with chil
dren, it also has *v>en suggested
that the dairy industry should be
put under the Utilities Commis
sion. The argument is that" milk,
said
<am«
at least, could easily be classified
as a public utility. !t may not
be possible under the law, but
• ■
it makes inter,*>tng ccnvfci-satu.n.
anyhow
One rather prominent dairy
man, now living in Raleigh, was
asked about the idea He
that if he were allowed the saa
margin of profit as the power
companies, he would welcome
such a move.
“The dairy industry would
, make more money than it does
I now,” he said. “And the cost
of milk would go up to about
28c a quart here in Raleigh, mak
ing milk cost as much as Coca
Cola.”
CAPITAL REPORTER hears
that several prominent N. C.
State College alumnae will ask
the 1981 Legislature for $5,000,*
000 to move the railroad tracks
which now run through the mid
dle of the college’s campus. The
trains have killed several stu
dents in the past, and also dam
aged delicate instruments used
. at the school.
Another nearly 14.000.000 will
be asked to build a center to
house the State Art Gallery, the
Museum cf Natural History, the
Hall of History, and State Are
hives. All now are scattered,
and the proposed building would
put them under one roof and
more accessible to the more than
200,000 people who vis> them
every jear. One argument to
aid in the financing of auch a
building may be that the space
! now used could be turned back
into offices, perhaps eliminating
some of the proposed new offices
building.
\
If the 5.000 farmers here for
the State-wide Farmers Co-opeja
tive Exchange meeting can be
used as a barometer, Kerr Scott
has not lost strength with the
folks down on the farm. His
speech, asking thair support for
flood control, was well received
Honorable Okey L. Patteson. Governor of West Vir
ginia, signing Union Label Week proclamation with
President E. A. Carter and Secretary-Treasurer Voi
ney Andrews of the West Virginia State Federation
of Labor witnessing the signing.
Seemed like everybody wanted
to shake his hand.
Tn tSct, these folks from all
.over the State were of the opin
| ion that farm ‘people generally
;are stronger than ever in their
support of the Governor. This
, was particularly true of the
i western part of the State, they
said.
! A number of farm women and
i men interviewed by CAPITAL
REPORTER, expressed the same
• opinion. It was reminiscent of
a public hearing on roads at the
1949 legislature. Farm folks
streamed in from over the State
to tell the lawmakers how they
Xelt about voting ,acl the road
bond issue. They summed up
: the situation, as concerns the
i Governor and his program, with
i the same words heard at the
• FCX meeting:
“Kerr Scott’s our boy. We
want what he wants.”
I -
In another speech at Wiiming*
1 ton, Scott ar.id $80,000,000 in new
industrial construction now ia on
in North Carolina. In J949
construction of new industrial
1 plants in the State totaled above
'$300 000,000. He sees this as a
vindication of his often-repeated
claim that road-building and #x-|
pans.ion of utilities will bring
prosperty, and see a possible nawi
industrial building total of $450,
000,000 by January 1.
“Mr Fair”—Dr. J. S. Dorton
of Shelby—staged his fall “com
ing Out” party this week. He
ramrodded the Cleveland County
Fair at Shelby. Two weeks;
hence hell be in the middle of j
the Southern States Fair at 1
Charlotte, and October 11-21 he’ll
fbe here in Raleigh managing the
1950 N. C. State Fair — the
granddaddy of them all.
Next Monday, Tuesday and!
Wednesday, the N. C. Communi
cations Study Commission will
meet in Raleigh with its advis
ory committee of 30 business
mOn, industrial people, educators,
newspaper men and radiomen.
The Commission was created
by the 1949 General Assembly to
study the part audio-visual facil
ities (radio, motion pictures, and j
other media) should play in for
mal education.
The report is expected to cause
quite a fuss, particularly from
the N. C. Education Association.
It seems Mrs Ethel Perkins Ed
wards, NCEA executive secre
tary, doesn’t like some of the
provisions.
Speaking of NCEA/. I hear
that the rank and file of the class
room teachers are not disturbed!
about their failure to get a hunk
of the State's $13,000,000 bank
balance as of last June 30.
As you know, the legislature
had written a rider on the ap
propriations bill giving the teach
er* a bonus raise ‘‘if the State
had a surplus.” Well, the de
cision was made that the State
(Continued On Page Z)
November Elections Will Decide
Fate 01 Taft-Hartley Congress
CHURCH COUNCIL SAYS
LABOR AIDS HUMAN
WELFARE
The following is the “Labor
Sunday Message 1950” of the
! Federal Council of Churches ol
I Christ in America. The Council
requested that it be read in the
churches on Sunday, September 3
or Sunday, September 10.
“There are those who would
have us believe that insecurity
and suffering are the price that
we must inevitable pay for
freedom. But the Christian can
never accept the doctrine that
1 unemployment and hunger an
inevitable any more than he can
accept the doctrine that war is
inevitable. Man can live nobly
even in want and adversity, but
no man can live nobly who is re
sponsible for keep another in
that condition. — —
“Too few church people realise
that the labor movement through
i development of the co-operative
i spirit has helped advance human
welfare. Too few church people
are familiar with the struggle
. of organized labor to raise stand
; ards of living for its members,
their families and all workers,
j Too few church people are fa
maliar with labor’s contribution
to industrial progress and peace
through collective bargaining.”
WHO’S A COMMIE.
SENATOR BRIDGES? LOOK
'WHTHRB mV imi
Ob September T Senator Styles
Bridge* <R., N. H.) took up most
of the Senate’s day with a speech
in which he tried to pin the
Communist • label on the National
Fanners Union.
The National Farmers Union
is a liberal farm organisation.
About 400,000 farmers belong to
it. Most of them live in the
Midwest and the West.
But Bridges didn’t mention in
his speech that on May 25, just
a month before the Reds invaded
South Korea, he voted against a
bill giving economic aid to West
ern Europe and the Far East, in
cluding Korea.
Bridges also neglected to point
out that the Communist party
line opposes the American pro
gram of aid to the Far East and
Western Europe.
You probably are hearing"'’* lot
of Pats and Mikes talking lik*
this these days:
Pat: Who are you going to
vote for this year, Mike?
Mike: Well, HI tell you, Pat.
I don't even think I’m going to
bother voting.
Pat: Why not?
Mike: It’s like this. I went
out and voted in 1948. I thought
my vote would help get rid of
the Taft-Hartley Act. But wo
still got it.
Pat; Yeah, we have. Maybo
it doesn't do any good for us
guys to vote.
Not wait a minute, Pat and
Mike.
The Taft-Hartley Act was only,
the first chapter in the reaction
ary book,. Chapter t was to
have been repeal of the wage
hour law. Social security was
high up on their hatchet list. So
was the farm price support pro
gram — the farmers' minimum
wage.
Republican Sentors Robert Taft
(Ohio), Eugene Millikin (Col.),
Homer Capehart (Ind ). and their
friends had plans for 1949 and
1950 all set by the summer and
fall of 1948. But you upset those
plans by going out and voting
Nov. 2, 1948.
Former Republican Congress
man Fred Hartley of New Jersey,
who didn’t have the guts to ran
print for reaction in his book,
“Our New National Labor Pol
! 'ey,” published in October 1948.
Now, let’s look at the Taft
, Hartley votes in the Senate and
| the House in 1947 and 1949.
On June 23, 1947, the Senate
' passed T-H over President Tru
man’s veto. The vote was 63-25.
We were 23 votes short.
On June 28, 1949. the Senate
passed the Taft-Smith-Donnell
omnibus amendment to T-H
(nothing more' than a restate
I ment of T-H). The vote wae
49-44. We were only three votes
! short—a long way from the 23
votes of 1947.
.
Register — then vote for the
men who will guard your free
dom.
UAW-AFL Issues Poster
Get Rid of These Headaches!
V^T-VO O
GET OUT THE LABOR VOTE
Milwaukee. Wk—The AFL tatted Ante Worker* ii
P—lar to atlamlfte raafc aad lie putidjettw la Uu» ltM