W. F. Patterson, Director, United States Department of
Labor’s Bureau of Apprenticeship, speaking before the
Third Annual Meeting of the Charlotte Area Construction
Apprentice Council charged 30 newly certified North Caro
lina craftsmen with the responsibility of helping to preserve
a strong economy in this country, by carrying on the high
standards of their chosen trades. Such standards of pro
ficiency and technical know-how are “indispensible ingredi
ents in our Nation’s unconquerable might,” he said.
At the luncheon honoring 30
brickmason and carpentry appren
tices from the Charlotte-Gastonia
area receiving “Certificates of
Completion of Apprenticeship”
from the North Carolina State
Labor Department, Patterson
stated, that as qualiAed crafts
men they were engaged in work
necessary to the defense effort.
“Those who would enslavg us
have just begun to feel the might
of free American, enterprise,” he
said, “and the construction indus
try is doing its part in the de
fense effort to build our strength
as a bulwark against totalitarian
aggression.”
Patterson reminded the youths
who were presented certificates,
that in a totalitarian country
they would not have had ah op
portunity to choose their own oc
cupations. “The individual does
not count in “Iron Curtain” coun
tries, and a worker is just a com
modity to be used until worn out
and then discarded. Compare this
with the planned program oi
training you have received, and
the protections given to you un
der the law. Democracy has giv
en you the skills you now possess
and the right to apply them free
ly. You must use these skills t<
preserve democracy,” he said.
Patterson praised all groups
and persons in North Carolina fbi
their efforts on behalf of the na
tional apprenticeship program
plained is a program institutes
and operated by industry for th<
benefit of both workers and em
ployers.
“The 3,610 apprentices in al
trades now carried on the roll!
of North Carolina Apprenticeshii
Council is an immeasurable con
tribution to the national defensi
i effort. Their skills- will be of
great value to the future indus
] trial development of North Caro
lina .and the entire nation. I
urge continued efTort in appren
ticeship, conducted along the con
i structive lines already established
’ in this great State, and I pledge
j the full co-opreation of the Bu
reau of Apprenticeship and its
j local held staff in assisting Com
I missioner Forrest H. Shuford of
the North Carolina Department
of Labor and Director of Appren
ticeship Clarence L. Beddingheld
to continue to develop and expand
the ever-growing apprenticeship
programs in North Carolina,'* he
concluded..
The following apprentices re
ceived certificates of completion:
William G. Huskins, Willie B.
Huskins, Gwyne C. Baker, Jona
than Perry. Martin V. Keep, Har
ry Eugene Bradford, Joe L.
Smith, Wendell E. Mathis, James
W. Mathis, Billy Jones, Howard
B. Brooks, Winford L. Bailey,
! Gilead S. Shaw, Clarence E.
Barnes, Ernest A. Barnes, Roy L.
Barnes, Nevette E. Kaylor, Roch
elle H. Notes. Lucius L. Ratch
ford, William S. Biddex, Jack L.
Clevenger, Conner Ardrey, Jr.,
Robert L.Caldwell, Charles Faust,
Hasel S. Mobley, James M. Pe
ters, C. D. Turner, Charlie Vance,
Edward Vinson, John D. Harwell.
The certificates . were awarded
apprentices at the annual
['meeting of the Charlotte Con
, struction Apprenticeship Council
.! during a barbecue luncheon at
I Morris Field American Legion
1 Post, Thursday, May 3, at 6
. P. M.
The council is composed ot rep
. resentatives of employers and )a
r (Continue# On Page 4)
GASTONIA
AERIAL VIEW OF GASTONIA, N. C. -1951
(Hortoy Ptrguson. fhotooraphtr, Gastonia, N. C.)
RALEIGH — The Governor’s;
charge that liqnor and gambling j
interests are making inroads into !
North Carolina’s political life j
THE FAMOUS SLAVE MARKET LANDMARK
FAYETTEVILLE, N. C.
(Courtesy Poyetterme u
brought three distinct reactions.
X. Outrage on the part of
those who believed he knew what
he was talking about.
2. Wonder if it was so from
a number of incredulous people.
3. Ridicule from those who
either don’t want to believe it or
are in league with those interests
themselves.
There was a fourth reaction
from a great many people —
apathy. This was the most dan
gerous, because it to a problem
that cannot be ignored or re
garded with a “so what” atti
tude.
Some folks professed the
thought that Kerr Scott was
merely jumping on the band
wagon of reaction to the Kefauv
er report, exposing connections
between crime and politics
throughout the nation. They
seemed to think that the gover
nor was speaking with no founda
tion of fact.
How con anyope who watched
the 1951 Legislature in action fail
to tee the direct connection be
tween gambling, the liquor In
dustry and politics in North Car
olina?
The two dog-racing tracks in
our state are hooked in directly
with racing and gambling syndi
cates throughout the nation. Yet
two bills seeking to outlaw them
were killed in a stacked commit
tee. <
Every attempt to add taxes to
liquor, or to strengthen enforce
ment of liquor control was beaten
down by this same committee—
which asked beer and liquor lob
byists how to vote.
The top liquor lobbyists—al
legedly representing some State
agencies but actually receiving
fat fees from liquor distillers—
openly boasted that he had the
so-called leadership of the House
“in the palm of my hand.” And
you generally had to call the lik
ker boy’s room to find some of
the Legislature’s top brass' when
the General Assembly wasn’t ac
tually in session.
One of, the most recently men
tioned potential candidates for
governor in 1952 is under tbs
domination of this hum kingbee
of the likker lobbyists.
Just add it up jwuiMl. Any
way you figure it, likker and
gambling interests have their in
sidious fingers in the Tar Heel
political pie.
For some reason, North Caro
linians in general have become
blinded to the false face of re
spectability these “industries" arc
wearing.
They are only half-removed
from the hoodlums of crime at
best and in too many instances
are partners in or fronts for even
more vicious rackets.
Do you think for a minute that
a liquor distiller cares -whe hays
his potent brew? He doesn’t care
where it is sold or who drinks
it. All he wants Is his money
and to stay within the lhw him
self. He’d just as soon sell his
liquor to a bootlegger as to a
legal outlet. *,%
Do you think a race-track ope
rator cares who bets on a race
or how much he loses? All hq
(Ceatiaaed On Page S)
LABOR frienos ME
AM MllHf MiimMVfSff1
ON CHIME wJMMiliEC
Three of th® five Senator* on
the Kefauver Committee investi
gating crime in interstate com
merce are strong friends of trade
unionists.
Chairman Estes Kefauver (D„
Tenn.), Charles Tobey <R., N. H.)
and Lester Hunt (D., Wyo.) have
voted regularly in the Interests
of the workingman and the plain
people of America.
On Labor League’s checklist
of voting records of the Senate
luring 1960, Kefauver, Tobey, and
Hunt are recorded as having
voted right—or in the interests
of America and trade unions—
in 20 out of 27 votes among
them. Each, for instance, voted
to repeal the Taft-Hartley Act
Kefauver, in fact, is recorded
u having voted In the interests
of labor in 22 out of 24 issues,
which the League considers criti
cal, from 1946-60.
I
U. S. "PROFLIGATE IN
USE OF FARM LABOR
COMMISSION REPORTS
WASHINGTON, D. C. — The
Nation, by wavering, compromis
ing, dodging, and “bockpassing,"
has undermined employment stand
ards of migratory workers and
impaired the economic and social
position of the American family
farm operator, the President’s
Commission on Migratory Labor
•aid.
In its report to President Tru
man on April 7, the Commission
charg-ed that failure to build or
derliness in farm employment and
particularly in employment of mi
gratory labor, has arisen more
from “a lack of will to do so than
a lack of knowing how to do it."
“We have been profligate In
our use of the human resources
in agriculture,” the Commission
said.
“First reliance should be placed
on using our domestic labor force
more effectively. No special
measures should be adopted to in
crease the number of alien con
tract laborers hevond the num
ber admitted iu *J50. Future ef
forts should be directed toward?
supplying agricultural labor needs
with our own workers and elimi
nating dependence on foreign la
bor."
“Although our Government U
importing Urge numbers of for*
elgn workers for employment on
farms,” the Commission stressed,
“we are convinced that they are
not needed to moot the food re
quirements of the defense emerg
ency.” #
The Nation has “long wavered
tud. ^empromUed oe the issue of
migratory labor in agriculture,”
the Commission said. “We have
failed to adopt policies designed
to assure an adequate supply of
such labor at decent standards of
employment.
“Actually we have done erorao
than that. We have used the in
stitutions of Government to pro
cure alien labor willing to work
under obsolete and backward con
ditions, and thus to perpetuate
those very conditions.’
^by Commission recommended
the following co-ordinated public
program:
1. That a Federal Committee
on Migratory Farm Labor bo ap
pointed by the President, with
three public members and one
member from each of these agen
cies: Department of Agriculture,
Department. of Labor, Depart
ment of State, Immigration and
Naturalisation Service, and Fed
eral Security Agency. Similar
committees in the States are also
rqeom mended.
2. That in meeting demands
(Centlnned On Psge 1)
ASHEVILLE, N.
C. -1951
(Courtesy Asheville Chamber of Commerce)