Newspapers / The Charlotte Labor Journal … / Aug. 30, 1951, edition 1 / Page 4
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THE CHARLOTTE LABOR JOURNAL AND DIXIE FARM NEWS Published weekly at Charlotte, N. C. OLDEST LABOR PUBLICATION IN THE TWO CAROL1NA8 H. A. Stalls, Editor and Publisher W. M. Witter, Associate Editoi Entered as second-class mail matter September 11, 1931, Post Office at Charlotte, N, C., under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. Endorsed by Charlotte Typographical Union, Nomber 338, An Af* tliate of Charlotte Central Labor Union and . the North Carolina rea •ration of Labor. The Labor Journal will not be responsible for the opinions of cor respondents, but any erroneous reflection upon the cha™c*er’ teg or reputation of any person, firm or corporation wh,c“. pear in the columns of The Labor Journal will be corr » called to the attention of the publisher. Correspondence i» Forum opinions solicited, but The Journal reserves the right to rejecv objectionable reading matter and advertising at all times. The Carolina Labor Journal (boptember, 1949) is a necessary State-wide Expansion of The Charlotte Labor Journal, established May 12, 1931. ___________ SAM GOMPERS* CLASSIC ON LABOR OAl Over the years since 1882 much has been said concern ing the significance of Labor Day. One of the best state ments was made by Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, in an editorial written 48 years ago for the American Federationist. while the ret erence to the 19th Century is remote, Gompers’ remarks are timeless in point. He wrote: “No day in the calender is a greater fixture, one which is more truly regarded as a real holiday, or one which is so surely destined to endure for all time, than the first Mon day in September of each recurring year, Labor Day. “Labor Day differs in every essential from the other holidays of the year of any country. All other holidays are in, a more or less degree, connected with conflicts and battles, of man’s prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed or power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. “Labor Day, on the other hand, marks a new epoch in the annals of human history. It is at once a manifestation of reverence for the struggles of the masses against tyranny and injustice from time immemorial; an impetus to battle for the right in our day for the men, women and children of our time and gives hope and encouragement for the at tainment of the aspirations for the future of the human family. “It is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, sex. race or nation. It is founded upon the highest principles of humanity, i3 as broad in its scope as the universe. “It was not given to but conquered by labor, and estab lished as a holiday before any legislature, state or national, enacted it into law. “The marching toilers in the Labor Day demonstrations signalize no martial glory, brutal domination, conquest or warlike pomp. They are, in their essence* the manifesta tions of the growing intelligence of the workers who rec ognize that peace is as essential to successful industry and real progress as air is to lung-breathing animals; that jus tice to the toilers has too long been denied; that in the midst of the civilization at the close of the 19th Centun^. wrongs too gross, widespread and well known to require mention here, still abound; that if man is to be free in the time to come, eternal vigilance must be exercised, organiza tion of the workers proclaimed, maintained and extended; education of the educated as well as of the masses be fur thered and nurtured, and agitation of labor’s wrongs endured and rights denied undertaken, with all the zest and energj* begotten by devotion to a cause which is at once holy, noble, pure, lofty, just, wise and humane.” Newspaper accounts have preserved for us the color at tendant upon the celebration of the first Labor Day in New York City when American labor led by Peter J. McGuire, paraded in orderly fashion through the streets of the city in 1882. Of the picnic in Elm Park following the parade one news paper said: , ,, _ “It had been arranged that each union would have a cer tain portion of the grounds marked out for itself, and this facilitated a greater fraternizing than otherwise could have been observed. “As it was fellow workers and their families sat together, joked together and caroused together . . . American and English, Irish and Germans, they all hobnobbed and seemed on a friendly footing as though the common cause had es tablished a sense of closer brotherhood.” SLAVERY OR FREEDOM Communism already has enslaved 71,000,000 people be hind the Iron Curtain. It has stripped from these prisoner peoples of seven Curtain countries, their right to live and play and work as they choose. This same enslavement could happen to our community, our neighborhood, and our families unless the Kremlin tyrants are stopped. Peace and freedom cannot prevail as long as the \World is half slave and half free. That is why the Crusade for Freedom was launched last year by such outstanding Americans as General Dwight D. Eisenhower and General Lucius D. Clay. Tiiat is why, too, the Crusade for Freedom will seek to eivoll 25.000.000 Americans and raise $3,500,000 in voluntary contributions during the month of September thus year. To the world, your enrollment in the Crusade is evidence of your belief in peace and freedom. To the pa'soner peo ples behind the Curtain your enrollment in the Crusade is evidence of your sympathy for them and a measuiv* of hope Vor their ultimate liberation. \ By contributing to the Crusade you will make posmble an expanded freedom station network abroad to fight the Big life of Communism with the Big Truth. Today two sta tions, one each at Frankfurt and Munich, are broadcasting daily to the prisoner peoples behind the Curtain. These " programs of Radio Free Europe are designed to undernftne the authority of the Red quislings, expose spies and In formers, and maintain the hope of the enslaved peoples. Last year’s Crusade campaign, in which 16.000,000 enrolled to contribute $13,000,000, made possible the hanging of the Freedom Bell in Berlin’s Western sector and the erection of RFE’s Munich station. This year’s Crusade campaign, it is hoped, will enable RFE to build at least two more freedom stations to carry the truth behind the Iron Curtain. This is a meritorious goal, independent of governnment and supported by the rank and file of American citizens. For in the words of General Clay, winning the cold war may well mean the prevention of a shooting war. It can also mean preserving our own freedom from the dangers of Communism with its inbred terror, violence and death. Your Crusade enrollment and whatever you can afford can help humanity prevail over inhumanity. JOURNAL THANKS ITS FRIENDS This edition of The Charlotte Labor Journal would not be complete if the publisher failed to express deep appreciation to those advertisers who appear in this issue and who have appeared in each Labor Day edition for the past 20 years. Were it not for the friendly co-operation of North Carolina firms and individuals whose advertisements have appeared in The Journal throughout this long period Labor would have had no chronicler of Labor events in this section of the State, and also in other sections as well where no labor publications have existed and where this newspaper circu The Journal is gratified that it has withstood the many storms that have blown its way during the pkst 20 years which enables it to produce its 21st Labor Day edition. Dur ing this nearly a quarter of century this newspaper has en joyed the loyal associations of thousands of readers and ad vertisers, members of organized labor and others. It has since its first issue warned the populace against the evil of communism, and chastened some employers for not recog nizing the workers as human. It has endeavored to pro mote, in is lowly way, every civic enterprise and Christian fellowship between men. It has endeavored to foster better labor-management relations. As we celebrate this Labor Day The Journal’s editor and associate editor, founders of this newspaper, feel as if many of their efforts have been magnificently rewarded, but they are aware much more needs be done. For many years The Charlotte Labor Journal had the field all unto itself but in late years other publications purporting to be Labor publications have entered the field. Some have endeavored to destroy The Journal’s influence and its ability to serve North Carolina Labor. But thanks to those splen did relationships The Journal has built. They now encour age us and reassure us in our labors. Again this newspaper warns North Carolina firms to be careful in paying heed to wolves in sheeps’ clothing. Watch your step vyhen placing advertising with socalled labor news papers and labor magazines. The field is full of promoters who prey upon the good intentions of those firms who desire to support Labor and worthy Labor projects. Phone calls are coming into North Carolina all the way from New York to Tampa, Florida, from high-powered advertising solicitors who w’ould have advertisers in this State believe that they represent North Carolina Labor. That is far from the truth and North Carolina firms should beware. Some of these solicitors would have you believe you are giving your permission to run your advertisement in The Charlotte Labor Journal. Then they bill you under some other publication’s name. You are within your rights to re fuse to pay for advertising so grossly misrepresented to you, either directly or by innuendo. Understand to whom you are talking. Remember The Charlotte Labor Journal has been here for more than 20 years and is the oldest continuously published Labor publication in the two Carolinas. Its editors are members of the International Typographical Union, and the local subordinate union, Charlotte Ty pographical Union. And all Typographical Unions are affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. Therefore it appears to us this news i paper is an AFL organ, propaganda to the contrary. GOT THE BELLYACHE? Bellyaching signifies but one thing: that the bellyacher actually has the bellyache. Hear him out, and you’ll find that he is a man of conviction—hungry convictions. These, like any other functional part of man, must be fed. If they • go hungry, they gnaw; thus, the retchings of a sick con science. It is oftimes noted that the bellyacher is the very im pediment standing between himself and cure. Not few complaints about the labor press and its present policy have been issued by non-subscribers to their local labor organ; and the plaintive wail of the malcontent, and yes, even the strikebreaker, is time and again, heard to cry, “peace, peace, but there be no peace!’’ together with manifold criticism, but offering little cure. It is the policy of this organ of the labor press to feed the famished convictions of the populace with the truth; the raw truth, when it comes to that; and the truth all the way. When the carious portions of the conscience are probed there are bound to be bellyaches. But the Miami Labor [Citizen cannot humor the sensitivities of the select and ! honored few, who are with us but not of us; the summer soldiers and the sunshine patriots who have come alohg for the ride, but shirk the revolution. Sam Gompers, founder and first president of the Ameri can Federation of Labor, said: “What workingmen of Amer ica have obtained in improved conditions, higher wages, shorter hours . . . was not handed to them on a silver plat ter. They have had to show their teeth, they have had to strike ... in order to impress upon the employers their determination to be larger sharers in the products of labor.” inis organ oi ine iree laoor press must, m oraer to | be absolutely honest with its subscribers and the public to which it is accessible, voice its latent conviction. If there be any truth, any virtue, it must be voiced; and with all due respect to prudence, militantly so, if we are at last to have done with the confusions, complications, frustrations and gnawing convictions standing in the way | of conciliation and the establishment of a compatible state | between the integral factors -of our economic and social i structure, Management and Labor. i The Miami Labor Citizen is in full accord with the basic and fundamental policy of Labor as prototyped by Sam Gompers, and holds no brief for namby pamby tactics in a * movement whose very name is Union. The muskrat will gnaw his third leg off to be free. Does' this principle of conviction appeal only to the animal king dom and not hold true for all of nature? This rugged little creature of nature responds to the challenge of tyranny by way of the most obvious and supreme sacrifice; and the spirit of revolution is well drawn through the courage of the lowly muskrat. Then how far above the realm of tjie muskrat is that of man? The revolution of such a movement of the people, by the people,^ and for the people, demands, of necessity, the people s fair share of the adversity and sacrifice, and these ,n ,f£e ?*me °f truth’ if .not that of its martyrs. To be or not to be” is yet the universal question; and whether or not we have a labor movement depends solely and essentially on the people's decision to go all the way if wnty bids; for without unity of motive, sentiment and action we have no Union—no labor movement. There can be no halfway measures in this revolution. Labor represents the unity of the American people, little men all; and there can be no law of the land in contradis tinction to the moral principles of the people great enough to tyrannize that body. “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately,” quoth Ben Franklin. Have you got a bellyache? —Miami Labor Citizen. I, BALLEN6ER BROS. GOXLv m oil co. COAL. COKE AND FUEL OIL 420 W. Second St. Phone 3-5135 CHARLOTTE. N. C. Labor Day Greetings Charlotte Paper Co. 224 South Cedar Tel. 3-7104 CHARLOTTE, N. C. Labor Day Greetings Charlotte Theatrical Printing Co. 223 W. Second St. Tal. 4-7882 CHARLOTTE, N. C. GREETINGS Chesapeake Paper Stock Co. “WE BUY ALL GRADES OF WASTE PAPER” 701 West Fifth St. Tel. 3-9512 CHARLOTTE, N. C. GREETINGS Central Hat Shop Cleaners—Hatters 30 Minute Service 127 West Trade Phone 8349 CHARLOTTE, N. C. Labor Day Greetings The Cornelius Co. Wholesale Dry Goods 324 So. College St. Tel. 2-1334 CHARLOTTE, N. C. GREETINGS Cochrane Grocery ~ Telephone 9450 519 Bradford Drive CHARLOTTE, N. C. Labor Day Greetings COPAL CRILL Regular Dinners, Plate Lunches STEAKS. CHOPS SEAFOOD IN SEASON Wilkinson Boulevard Dial 9293 CHARLOTTE, N. C. CAROLINA RADIO AND TELEVISION WE DO OUR OWN INSTALLATION 209 South McDowell St. Dial 2-9815 CHARLOTTE, N. C. CHARLOTTE VENETIAN BUND REFINISHING CO. "Yours for Permanent Service" 300 N. McDowell St. TeL 2*1010 CHARLOTTE, N. C. We Make Hie Best a»d Remodel the Rest GREETINGS TO LABOR J. L. COE CONSTRUCTION CO. Room 508, Build erg Bid*. Tel. 4-3041 CHARLOTTE, N. C. COCHRAN REGRINDING CO. COMPLETE MOTOR REBUILDING 435 West Liddell Street Phone 3-7205 CHARLOTTE, N. C. MANUFACTURERS’ REPRESENTATIVES FOR WATTS: Temperature and Pressure Regulating Safety Devices. LAWLER: Automatic Regulators and Mixing Valves. K-MASTER: Inverted Bucket Steam Traps and Kleenair Filters. SULFLO: Metal Working Lubricants STOCKED BY LOCAL WHOLESALERS FOR THE RECOGNIZED TRADE THOS. A. COOPER CO. 121 E. Third St. Telephone 4-4448 CHARLOTTE. N, C. LABOR DAY GREETINGS DELPH HARDWIRE COMPANY 2109 Hutchison Ave. Telephone 6-3671 CHARLOTTE, N. C. RENT A NEW CAR For Business or Pleasure Special Rates On Long Trips and to Large Users Drive-It-Yourself, Inc. 212 West Fourth Street “ Phone 3-4513 CHARLOTTE, N. C. RS DICKSON 6 COMPANY ERNEST ELLISON, INC L. R. Teal R. E. Edison "JUST INSURANCE" L'berty Ufa Bldg. TeL 3-1146 CHARLOTTE, N. C.
The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Aug. 30, 1951, edition 1
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