Newspapers / The Charlotte Labor Journal … / Dec. 21, 1950, edition 1 / Page 4
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Editorial THE CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL AND DIXIE FARM NEWS Published at Charlotte. North Carolina OLDEST LABOR PUBLICATION IN THE TWO C* ROLINA8 H A. Stalls, Editor and Publisher W. M. Witter. . -’^ Editor Entered as second-class mail matter September 11 ‘t, at the ■Post Office at Charlotte, N. C., under the Act *. ‘*ress of March 3. 1879. Endorsed by Charlotte Typographical Union, Number >;>8, An Af filiate of Charlotte Central Labor Union and the North Carolina Fed eration of Labor. CHRISTMAS, 1950 (Editor’s note: This editorial appeared in the December, 1950, issue of the Brotherhood of loco motive Firemen and Enginemen’s Magazine.) The holy season of Christmas approaches again shed ding its benign influence upon a world torn by strife and riven asunder by dissension, . Gripped by uncertainties and appalled by the potential tragedies that cculd come as the result of another world war, man today seems to stand at a historically importan crossroad. He ponders the possible destruction that could come in the wake of an unleashed atomic war and gravtdy considers the question of survival in a world dominated by ruthless, materialistic force. In a time when more is known of nature than ever be fore and when discoveries and inventions have given hina a mastery over the physical universe undreamed of by his forefathers, man today is smitten by a fear that havoc may be wrought by the unrestrained and overweening am bition to rule the world of those who to achieve their end would violate every principle of truth and justice and build on the ruins of perverted personality and outraged decency, an empire of hatred, cupidity and greed. Notwithstanding his comprehension of the laws of na ture; notwithstanding his penetration of secrets hitherto un revealed through the history of ages gone by, and despite his unbelievable mastery of scientific techniques and me chanical know-how. man has failed to discover a more ef ficacious panacea for the ills of the world than that which thrilled the hearts fo the shepherds on the Judean hills al most 2,000 years ago when the angel said unto them r ear not” and when the heavenly host, joining in the paean ot praise, sang “peace on earth, good will to men.” „ » This, a message of peace, carries an inspiring hope. It points a way to make real the prophetic vision of centuries earlier. For if men are to be permitted to sit under their own vine and fig tree unmolested and unafraid, that bless ing can be realized only as men of good will "beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.” Progress cannot all be made in the arts and sciences, in the harnessing of the natural'forces of the world, norm recording the cosmic changes in the Universe. It has been said that war, pestilence and famine are the great scourges that have afflicted man from earliest recorded times. Famines are being banished as a threat to countless mil lions of the human race, and pestilence is receding at a gratifying rate before the ever advancing march of science, but wars continue to spread untold destruction and bring immeasurable suffering to the children of men. There is no better season than .that in which is celebrated the birth of the “Prince of Peace” to re-examine those values of truth and justice and integrity, the great moral and spirtual imperatives which make men and natibns great. Added emphasis to these would have great weight in bringing order out of the chaos that threatens to en gulf the world. HOW IS YOUR LODGE HELPING THE LABOR PRESS? Union members have always had a pretty high regard for their own independence. If they were men and women who could be herded like sheep they never would have had the courage to join the union in the first place. The edi torial writers for the daily newspapers, the columnists and the radio commentators are finally discovering this fact about working people. They are gleefully pointing out that unions don’t dictate how their members will vote. Its a mattter they could have discovered any time in the last 50 . years if they had taken the trouble. What the editorial writers, the commentators and col umnists don’t bother to point out is that a lot of union members go to the polls and vote without sufficient infor mation about the candidates. We believe that most people vote according to their own best interests—except when they are uncertain or confused. The job of getting the truth through to union members is particularly difficult because these same anti-labor editorial writers, columnists and commentators work overtime trying to confuse the is sues and permitting anything unfavorable about anti-labor candidates to be censored. From Matt De More’s report on wny ijjour »*> Ohio, published in The Machinist last week, it is apparent that union members in Ohio who voted for Taft were both confused and misinformed. They lacked important in formation. We suspect the same thing is true in many other states. t . „ The question before us is how can the I.A.M. and its district and local lodges do a better job of informing our members about the issues and the candidates? There is no easy answer. But, one thing every lodge can do is to give more support to the labor paper being published in their own community. Almost every town has a local la bor paper. If that paper is readable, it should be support ed through subscriptions and financing so that it can do a better job. If it isn’t any good, then our lodges should try to find out why it isn’t and what it will take to make it better. „ , . , , - In most towns, the local editor performs a miracle by getting out any kind of paper at all on the niggardly sup port he gets. If he has the ability, he will do a better job in proportion to the increased support he gets. If he can’t then he should be replaced by someone with more or bet ter professional experience. In almost every election, local issues play an important part in making up men’s minds on how they will vote. Lo cal issues cannot be reported by national papers like The Machinist or by the monthly journals. In most communi ties the only way labor will ever be able to tell its own story is through a labor paper. Every I.A.M. Lodge can help to strengthen and improve the labor paper in its own town. It’s time to talk to the local editor and see what can be done. —The Machinist. 1 £f£Z£2£XL££2& ■CAPITAL REPORTER h RALEIGH, N. C. — Another year has passed and here* it is Christmas again—the season of "peace on earth, good will toward men.” With things the way they are, it’s a little hard to sit ddwn and write about political double-deal ing in Raleigh and North Caro lina. Many folks will have an empty chair at the Christmas dinner table—either for a son killed in Korea or for one head ed that way m+X Five years ago we foolishly thought we had settled things for a while—for at least the usual 25 years between wars. It looked as though 39 months in the Ma rine Corps might have helped ac complish something. But right now it just looks like 39 wasted months , Unfortunately, there is no peace—and very little good will. Some folks talk about “when” or “if” we get int^ another war. They should tall that to the boys be ini- shot at in Korea, nursing frozen feet and frostbitten Ang ers as they kill to keep from being killed. The fighting may be “contained*' in Korea right now, but if this ain’t war. then 1 don’t figure very straight. „So, there is no peace. Good will? Look at folks snarling at each other in the Christmas shopping rush. The anti-Scott administration folks aren’t exactly playing pattycake —and the aU-out supporters of the Governor do not exactly show brotherly love to their opponents. The Republicans think anything goes so long as it discredits the national administration and Pres ident Truman. The president writes nasty notes. The Rus sians—or at least their leaders —- greedily eye world conquest, and freedom seems to dwindle in the world as we call each other names and bicker over matters that in the overall picture are so infinitely small as to be ridicu lous. Used to be that folks sat down at Thanksgiving and thanked God for their blessings. A month later they would sing carols, read again the wonderful story of the birth of our Lord, and re dedicate. themselves to making a better world as they celebrated I his birthday—Christmas. Now Thanksgiving seems to be , mainly a football date and a sig nal for a high-pressure Christ mas-present sale campaign. The ads tell you that no children can be happy without a $50 cowboy , outfit or a $100 electric train set. j They even changed the name of the day from “Christmas" to , “Xmas,” because it would take up less space in the advertise ments. They should have changed it to “$mas,” it would have been more appropriate. Before Christmas turned into a time of the gimmes, folks used to help their neighbors when they j were in trouble. Now so-called I social service agencies time their fund-raising campaigns to take advantage of the “Christmas spirit.” Give us a donation they ' s*y. and free your conscience. ! You won’t .have to worry about the poor, the sick, the weary in mind and spirit. Well do it for you, they say. Yes, for a cash donation, you can salve your con science. When folks need help, instead of a heart-guided helping hand they can get — if they’re lucky—a handout from a soul less agency expert with one eye on the budget. And, don’t for ret. you cun subtract that do* nation from your income tax re turn. !r * Of courae, we have all of the government agencies that help us be impersonal about being our “brother’s keeper.” Just let the legislature — or congress — vote I then) a share of our tax money and they do the job.' We don’t have to worry ourselves with the insane, the tubercular patient, the jailbird. No, we just have to watch very carefully that they don’t vote too big a slice of our tax money, because otherwise they might have to raise taxes -and that would be terrible, even though folks are starving or dy ing of some preventable illness. Perhaps typical of the attitude of many of us is the story told the other day by Evangelist Billy Graham. According to him, a Los Angeles woman was down town shopping and happened to walk by a store window which had on display the Christmas | Scene of Christ’s birth. “Can I you imagine that,” sha exploded, "even the Church is trying to muscle in on Christmas.” Yes, things are in such shape that you wonder sometimes if , even the Lord Jesus is getting | a little discouraged with us, par I haps feeling that He wasted His time coming to earth some nine | teen hundred and fifty years ago. Bpt, being at heart an optimist, it seems to me that we still can do somethfng about the situation. First: We can remember ! “united we stand, divided we | fall.” Republicans, Democrats, Dixiecrats, conservatives, liberals, big business, labor, all can re ! member that we are Americans | first and need desparately to work together to get our country : ready to meet Its worst threat 1 since its formation. Get the job doqe, then go back to our bick ering among ourselves, if we must. Second: We must convince the peoples of the world that we have no quarrel with them; that we respect the individual; that we want to live in peace; that we really have only “good will” for them. Of the two, the first job is the easier. We always have been able to put our efforts together and fight off outside threats, sav ing our family scraps until the common eneiffy has been defeat ed. The second part is harder. People who have been trampled for generations, as they have In GREETINGS Central Hat Shop Cleaners—Hatters 30 Minute Service 127 West Trade Rhone 8349 CHARLOTTE, N. C. GREETINGS Chesapeake Paper Stock Co. “WE BUY ALL GRADES OF WASTE PAPER” 70! West Fifth St. Tel. 3-9512 CHARLOTTE, N. C. Europe and Asia, do not easily believe that you want to help rather than exploit them. But convince them we must, and aft er convincing them—if we can— we must help them to a better way of life. That’s a continuing job, not just one of showing them the way with a short-term ^There’s a best-selling Book that pretty well points the way — even though too many folks have forgotten it lately. It’s the Bible. It tells us to love our neighbors. It tells us to treat other folks the same way we’d like them to treat us. And it tells us to fight evil. The way is clear. It’s up to us — and it’s later, much later, than you think. Meantime, things are about like you’d expect. The State Health Department is looking for a building site. They have the money and the building plans. And they have room on Caswell Square for the new building. But they don’t went to put it there, because then the new building would be right next to some of Raleigh’s worst slums. Isn’t that something? An agency that’s designed to help the unhealthy, who incidentally, usually are poor and usually live in slums, doesn’t want to be close to them. In other words, the un healthy are annoying to th« very agency that’s supposed to help them. Can you think of a better lo cation for a health building? Seems as though it should be close to the folks it’s supposed to help. Perhaps that would give some of the healthy, well-paid, well-fed health department exee tives a better picture of their job. ' Or, perhaps it would be better for the legislature to take the money that is appropriated for the gleaming glass, metal and stone health budding and use it to clean up those “offensive” slums. Our North Carolina senators and representatives practically all have been singing the same song lately—“pull the boys out State of North Carolina, County of Mecklenburg, IN THE SUPERIOR COURT Ruby M. Corder, Plaintiff, vs. Walter H. Corder, Defendant. NOTICE OF SERVICE BY PUBLICATION The defendant, Walter H. Cord er, will take notice that an action entitled as above has been com menced in the Superior Court of Mecklenburg County, North Car olina, by Ruby M. Corder, the plaintiff to obtain an absolute divorce on the grounds of two years’ separation; and the de fendant wiir further take notice that he is required to appear be fore the Clerk of the Superior Court of Mecklenburg County at the Courthouse in Charlotte, North Carolina, within twenty days after the 29th day of De cember. 1950, to answer or de mur to the complaint of the plaintiff filed in the said action; and if he fails to appear and answer or demur to said com plaint within the time specified herein, the plaintiff will apply to the Court for the relief de manded in said complaint. This the first day of December, 1960. WM. MOORE. Assistant Clerk of the Superior Court of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. (Nov. 36; Die. 7, 14, 21c) GREETINGS Coskie Paper Co. 308 E. Fourth St. Tol. 2-5167 CHARLOTTE, N. C. of Korea." Moat Tar Heels I’ve' talked to seem to feel that, now that we’re in the fight we’ve got to keep on going. But the way things are going, our representatives and senators probably will get their wish. Ex cept that instead of being “pulled out" our magnificent fighting men i may get “chased" out by the overwhelming ’Chinese Red hordes. It’s no tea party, and it’s not a fight we can quit. It’s a fight for our life or death and we’d bet ter quit trying to be nice. We’d better fight with everything we have, A-Bomb, H-Bomb, anything else on hand. You don’t use Mar (Continued On Page 5) SEASON'S GREETINGS CJUIOLINJI PHARMACY Phone 3-2812 401 East Trade Street CHARLOTTE, N. C. GREETINGS Carolina Transfer fir Storage Co. 1230 W. Morehead Tel. 2-5131 CHARLOTTE. N. C. GREETINGS Case Brothers Piano Co. "HOUSE OF BALDWIN" 117 West Sixth St. Dial 6-1575 CHARLOTTE, N. C. MERRY CHRISTMAS Carolina Sweets Restaurant Stove Copses, Prop. 224 N. Tryon CHARLOTTE, N. C. GREETINGS Charlotte Auto Parts Co. "The House with Parking Facilities" 3i8 No. Brevard Tel. 3-8881 CHARLOTTE, N. C GREETINGS Charlotte Paper Co. 224 South Cedar Tel. 3-7104 CHARLOTTE, N. C. Purchase Union Label gift* | and make it a very Merry Christ ; mas. ROY DAVIS USED CARS The Right Place To Boy Or Sell Year Used Caro 710 S. College St. Telephone 4*4300 CHARLOTTE, N. C. HOLIDAY GREETINGS Doggett Lumber Co. LUMBER AND BUILDING SUPPLIES 111 East Park - - Tel. 8179 Charlotte, N. C.
The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Dec. 21, 1950, edition 1
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