CAPITAL REPORTER
RALEIGH, N. C.
Back to the Hamilton Bill for
a minute. It aroused a lot of
opposition among senators who
said they were opposed to “pri
vate legislation."
Senator J. Hawley Poole of
Moore introduced an amendment
cutting out section 1, which af
fected Hamilton, making it a
general measure about deciding
judges’ retirement on disability.
But lawyers in the Senate—led
by Senator Rivers Johnson of
Duplin, who pleaded poverty for
Hamilton—beat down the Poole
amendment.
Senator Marvin Leatherman of
Lincoln opposed section 1 of the
Hamilton bill on the grounds that
he could no see "handing this
man this money after what I’ve
seen this morning at Dix Hill
(the State Hospital at Raleigh).
Leatherman and several other
senators had made an unsched
uled tour of the mental institu
tion.
“I can’t see taking money that
would improve the lot of those
people out there and giving it to
one man,” Leatherman said.
“Besides, people at home are
suspicious of special legislation
passed by lawyers for lawyers,
and I can’t help voting against
this section.”
But they were voices crying Tn
the wilderness. With 31 lawyers
in the upper chamber, the bill
passed the Senate with a two-to
•one majority. Several of the
legal members implied they could
not afford to vote against the
bill for fear it would prejudice
judges against them.
“And yon cant’ afford to .have
the *.**.•">"*: need again** you
when you’re trying an important
case,” one of them said, j
Bari Hardison of Craven hss
tossed in • bill to prevent estab
lishment of a restaurant in the
new Highway Building. Ostensi
bly it is a bill to “keep state
agencies from competing with
private business,” but its admit
ted aim is to stop the restaurant.
Plans for the Highway Build
ing call for placing of electric
and other outlets in the base
ment so that a restaurant could
be put there. Dr. Heray Jordan,
chairman of the Highway Com
mission, said it was done so that
— sometime in the future the
space might be leased to a pri
vate operator to put a restaurant
there. The N. C. Restauarnt As
sociation has been fighting the
idea, calling it a foot in the door
for putting restaurants in all
State buildings, terming it com
petition with private enterprise,
and threatening suit if it is car
ried out.
The Hardison bill would end all
the argument by outlawing res
taurants in State buildings.
But the way it is drawn, there
is a possibility that it will pro
hibit ice skating shows and other|
entertainment features at the N.
C. State College Coliseum.
When this was pointed out to
him, Hardison was quick to say
that the bill would be amended
to exempt the State College Col
iseum, if it was needed to make
it clear that the bill did not ap
ply to the big hall.
One of the representatives al
most had heart failure recently.
It was the Saturday of the Jef
ferson-Jackson Day Dinner here.
This lawmaker invited one of
the House clerks to have lunch
with him. She refused, plead
ing a prior engagement, but told
him she would be glad to go out
to dinner with him that evering.
The lawmaker's jaw dropped,
as he added two $60 Jefferson
Jackaon plates and ran into a
$100 bite out of his bankroll.
He quickly withdrew the in
vitation.
One ef the battle cries when
the Legislature convened a month
and a half ago was “we've got
to do something about the slaugh
ter on tike highways.” Bills by
tbs scon on highway safety have
any of them to dote is to kill ’em.
They buried motor vehicle in
spection. And this week they em
balmed a measure that would
have made it mandatory to put
all drunken drivers in jail for at
least five days.
Apparently some of the imbib
ing members of the General As
sembly were afraid they migltt
get caught behind the wheel with
an alcoholic breath.
Speaking of nkoholic breath, it
is amasing how many legislators
who staunchly vote dry are not
averse to a little nig for them
selves.
Back in 1943, a representative
from one of the western counties
made a powerful speech against
the “evils of likker.” He turned
on the volume, too, so that his
roars of rage against drink rat
tiled the winodws.
Hie effect of his speech on his
colleagues was not as potent as
it might have been, however, due
to tlie fact that he was so drunk
he had to hold^on to his desk to
keep from falmig' down.
Some legislators do not like to
let the folks back home know
what they are doing. Happily,
ithey are in the minority.
Several lawmakers have been
telling the home folks that they
are going along with all of the
governor’s recommendations made
in his address to the Legislature,
when just the opposite is tru$.
Kerr Scott is a little irked at
these boys — one of whom has
made several trips to the gover
nor’s office to pledge his co-oper
ation-rbegause the record shows
that they ‘have voted against hinp
at every oppSrlnaity thus far.
PRODUCTION SLOWDOWN
BEHIND IRON CURTAIN.
ICFTU TELLS TRUMAN
WASHINGTON. — Workers in
countries behind the Iron Curtain
are deliberately slowing down
production. President Truman was
told January 16 by a world trade
union leader.
The information came from J.
H. Oidenbroek, general secretary
of the International Confedera
tion of Free Tr*de Unions, who
headed a labor delegation to see
Truman. “We have our sympa
thizers even behind the Iron Cur
tain,” he told the President.
Oidenbroek told reporters later
there is considerable resistance,
in the form of deliberate slow
downs by workers, in Poland,
Czechoslovakia and Hungary. He
said that the new ICTU publica
tion, Spotlight, is based on infor
mation received from these sym
pathizers.
Oidenbroek led the delegation
that visited President Truman.
Accompanying him were AFL
President William Green; Jacob
Potofsky, chairman of the CIO
international Affairs Committee;
Labor Secretary Maurice Tobin;
Vincent Tewson, general secre
tary of the British Trades Union
Congress; Philip. Kaiser, Assist
ant Labor Secretary in charge of
International affairs; and W.
Averell Harriman, special Presi
dential adviser on foreign affairs.
Tobin said they told the Presi
dent about the regional confer
ence that ICFTU just held in
Mexico City. The meeting estab
! lished an Inter-American Region
! al Organisation of Workers. Its
leaders expressed confidence that
| Communist influence in Latin
i America is rapidly waning, and
I they will eventually wipe it out.
Truman was also very interest
■ ed, Oidenbroek said, in the work
ithat the ICFTU is doing through
out Europe and Asia.
They told the President, he
said, “that If Western Europecan
maintain and improve its eco
nomic condition, there's no doubt
that the European people will
fight for freedom.” It is the
same in Asia, he added, "it me
can give them hope, through the
Point Four program, no doubt
they will stand an the side of the
Demecmtle forces.” ICFTU has
membership in India, Pakistan,
On Page t)
f&MM M.
AERIAL VIEW OF HIGH POINT, N. C. -1951
(Courtesy of High Point Chomber of Commerce)
Harrison Says Sales
Tax Would Fail To
Control U. $. Inflation
. WjC . Wj.-Mi. , „„| pTlmteeil,*
New Y«f%—AFL Vice Preai
dent Geoff* M. Harrison told the
Economic Club of New York that
the AFL is “opposed to a na
tional sales tax because it does
not attack inflation at its sou ire
—the price and profit level.”
The president of the AFL Rail
way and Steamship Clerks told
the Bif Business executives in a
blunt, no-punches-pulled, speech
that “the seller and speculator
fix prices, and if they won’t stop
raising prices they must be con
trolled.”
“If prices are controlled, then
we agree that wages should be
stabilised In parity with prices,”
Mr. Harrison said.
Secretary of Treasury John W.
Snyder and reactionary Demo
cratic and Republican members
of Congress are playing along
with Big Business in an effort to
levy a federal sales tax on the
excuse it is needed to finance
President Truman’s defense
emergency budget.
“Taxes must be raised to get
the revenues to pay for our re
armament,” Mr. Harrison said.
“They should come from corpor
ations and excess profits and indi
vidual incomes.”
He said labor is aware of “the
harvest that has been garnered
by American business in the last [
year of rapid price increases” j
and the “rich gains” resulting j
from rapid amortisation of war
plants.
“We believe we have a right.
to expect forebearance, common\
sense and national co-operation
from those who own our indus
tries.” he said. "
Besides its greedy profiteering,
Mr. Harrison criticised business
I for its efforts to take array the
j fundamental right to strike, its
; willingness to accept federal land
grants, subsidies, loans and lib
jeral contracts but to brand any
government help for all the peo
ple as socialistic or un-American,
and its' unreasoning opposition in
labor demands for wag* incieases
to offset the burden of rising liv
ing costa.
“American wage-earners face
the future and its responsibilities
seriously, but with confidence”
Mr. Harrison said. "But if w*
are compelled by circumstances
beyond our control to stage an
other war, we are determined to
let nothing stand In the way of
victory—victory that will mean
not only a better AnMrica, but
a better and
}ia
New Bern An d Raleigh Have
Capitals Of North Carolina
Appearing Above is a picture of
North CaraMpa’s Capitol building.
The origina*)«Capitol of North
Carolina was destroyed by fire on
June 21, 1831.
At the session of November,
1832, the Assembly resolved to re
build on the old site, and $80,000
was appropriated for the purpose.
Commissioners were appointed to
have the work done. The rubbish
was cleared away, the excavations
made and the foundation was laid.
On July 4, 1833, the cornerstone
was set in place.
After the foundations were laid
the work progressed more slowly,
and it was so expensive that the
appropriation was exhausted. The
Legislature at its next session ap- j
propria ted f75,000 more. To do thej
stone and finer work many skilled
artisans had been fraught from
Scotland and other countries. The
Building Commissioners contracted
with David Paton to come to:
Raleigh and superintend the work.
Mr. Paton wt* an architect who
had come from Scotland the year
before. He was the builder, the
architect, and designer.
The stone with which the build
ing was erected was the property
of the State. Mad the State been
compelled to gprchase this mater
ial the coet of the Capitol would
have been considerably increased.
In the lumimr of 1840 the work
was finished, fkt last, after more
than seven year*, the sum of $531,
674.40 was exisndsd. As large as
the sum was fur the time, when the
State was so poor and when the
entire taxes for all State purposes
ranched less thorn $100,000, yet the
people were satisfied. The building
had been erected with rigorous
economy, and it was an object of
gnat pride to the people. Indeed,
than in the erection of this noble
Capitol.
The first Capitol of North
Carolina was in New Bern, but
later it was removed to Raleigh.
North Carolina, often called the
“Tar Heel” state, was the scene of
the first attempt at colonisation in
America by English-speaking peo
ple. Under a charter granted to
Sir Walter Raleigh by Queen Elis
abeth, a colony was begun on Roan
oke Island. This settlement how
ever, was unsuccessful and later
became known as **l»e Lost Col
ony.”
North Carolina, on April 12,
1776, authorized her delegates in
the Continental Congress to .vote
for independence, and on Decern-j
ber 18, 1776, adopted a constitu
tion. Richard Caswell became the!
first governor under this constitu- j
tion. On November 21, 1780, the!
state adopted the United States:
Constitution, being the twelfth,
state to enter the federal union.!
North Carolina, in 1788, had re-j
jetted the Constitution on the j
grounds that certain amendments
were vital and necessary to a free!
people.
A new state constitution was I
adopted in 1868 and since that date
the governor has been elected by
the people for four-year terms and
he cannot succeed himself. There
since 1868. but numerous amend
ments have been added to it.
North Carolina has been demo
cratic since 1900, during which
progress.
period it has made its greatest
permanent capitois—New Bern and
North Carolina has had two
Raleigh — and there have been
three capital buildings. Tryon’s
Palace in New Bern was Construct
ed in the period, 1767-79, and the
main building was destroyed by
—
fire February 27, 1898. The first
capitol in Raleigh was completed in
1794 and was destroyed by fire on
June 21, 1831. The present capitol
was completed in 1840.
North Carolina supports a nine
months school for every child of
school age and maintains a fleet
of 4,800 buses by which it‘trans
ports 348,000 children to school
each school day in the year. During
a nine months term these 4,800
buses travel approximately 31,000,
000 miles. ~
LABOR COUNCIL AT OAK
RIDGE HITS RENT HIKE
The Atomic Trade* and Laborj
Council at Oak Ridge, an affiliate |
of the American Federation of
Labor, has taken the lead in pro
testing a scheduled hike in rents j
on all government housing units |
at Oak Ridga next August 1.
Atomic Energy Commission of
ficials have announced that rent
als of apartments and houses
will he boosted by 25 to 30 per
cent. The step Is taken — say*
the AEC. to bring Oak Ridge
rentals in line with those of the
surrounding area.
Kenneth Scott, co-ordinator of
the Trades and Labor Council,
has bitterly denounced the sched
uled hikes.
The Council represents some
1,200 workers chiefly at the Oak
Ridge national laboratory.
HOME BUILDING IN 1950
BROKE ALL PAST MARKS
Washington. — The nation’s
home-builders started 95,000 new
permanent non-farm dwelling
units in December, bringing the
1950 total to a record-smashing
1,400,000 units.
The U. S. Labor Statistics say
this total exceeded the 1949 rec
ord volume of 1,06,100 units by
Many Workers OK
Under Pension Plan
'*. . . .y V' •- "
Benefit Profrina Up Daring Tin
Loot Two Tear*.
WASHINGTON.—At least 7,
640,000 workers were covered by
collectively bargained pensions or
social insurance benefits by mid
1960, the U. S. Labor Depart
ment’s Bureau of Labor Statis
tics reported. The extent of bene
fit coverage — more than double
that found in 1948—reflects the
widespread movement of the last
two years on the part of em
ployers and unions to establish
new programs, or bring existing
pension or insurance benefits with
in the scope of labor-management
agreements.
Pension plans now cover mors
than 5,000,000 workers, tripling
the number covered two years
ago. Agreements providing va
rious other social insurance ben
efits—life, accident, and sickness,
hospitalization, surgical and med
ical care — afford protection to
some 7.000,000 workers, most of
whom are also covered by pen
sions.
In most instances the cost of
the pension or “health and wel
fare” plan is financed solely by
the employer, the survey dis
closed. This was particularly
true for pensions. Of the 4.8 mil
lion workers for whom data were
available on the method of finan
cing, 80 per cent were covered
by Pon-contributory (employer
financed) pension programs. So
cial insurance benefits, financed
solely by the employer, covered
about 60 per cent of the work
ers included under such colleo
tively hsg|ailS|d plans. Tin re
mainder were financed jointly br
contributions from workers and
their employers.
Life insurance ranks first among
| the individual insurance benefits
most frequently provided in con
tracts, in terms of the number of
workers covered. It is followed
in order by hospitalization; sur
gical and—or medical; accident
end sickness; and accidental disdk
and dismemberment.
Among the industries in which
Urge numbers of workers are
covered by some type of employee
benefit program under labor
management contracts, metal pro
ducts (including steel, auto, and
machinery, accounted for nearly
2.5 million. Almost 1.5 million
workers each jure covered by
plans in (1) the textile, apparel
and leather, and (2) transporta
tion, communication, and other
public utility (except railroads)
group of industries.
Employer • financed insurance
and—or health plans were char- >
acteristic of the textile, apparel
and leather; lumber and furni
ture; printing and publishing;
mining and quarrying; and trade
finance, insurance, and service in
dustry groups. Employer-finan
ced pension plans predominated
in the textile, apparel and leath
er; printing and publishing;
stone, cUy, and glass; and min
ing and quarrying industries.
The survey also disclosed that
practically every major union in
the country (excluding unions
representing railroad and Govern
ment employees for whom special
Federal legislation exists) had
negotiated, to some extent, pen
sion or “health and welfare” pro
grams.
Of the total coverage of 7,850
000 workers, slightly more than
one-third (36 per cent) ware un
der plans of unions affiliate*
with the American Federation of
Labor. About 47 per cent wot*
included under benefit programs
negotiated by Congreaa of In
dustrial Organizations affiliated
unions and the remainder by un
affiliated or independent unions.
36 per emit, and
per cent above the previous
of 037,000 units in IMS.
An U-per cent increase in
comber brought that
tal to 9*009 salts.
Local 42, Bakery
tioaery Workers, J
has obtained a pay
300 employes of Goi
S1 ii
a* . <■