THE CHARLOTTE UBOR JOURNAL
AND DIXIE FARM NEWS
ESTABLISHED MAY 12. 19*1
Published each week, on Thursday, at 118 East
Sixth Street, Charlotte, North Carolina. 1
H. A. STALLS. Editor and Publisher -
- . . . _„ ...-1 ---
Entered as second-class mail matter September
11. 1931, at the post office at Charlotte, North
Carolina, under act of Congress of March 3, 1*79.
The Charlotte Lahor Journal welcomes Open Forum
opinions and other correspondence, hut reserves
the right to edit and/or reject libeldus reading
matter and questionable advertising.
Address All Communications to
THK CHARLOTTE LABOR JOl’RNAL
P. O. Box 1661 Charlotte, N. C.
or Telephone 3-7060
Subscription price $2.00 per year. Aoyertiaiog
rates made known upon application. Spee.ai rater
on legal notices. Caretul attention given eqtrf
i
Editorial
THE DANGER OF WAR INCREASED?
Insistence upon prompt and speedy or
ganization of fighting forces in Europe leads
some Americans to wonder whether the
threat of war is mere imminent now than
when the United States began to rearm.
There can be no positive answer. Every
body recognized that there was the danger,
if the Soviet Union was determined upon
the use of force to advance its ambitions,
that, before permitting us to balance the
military advantage of the Russians, the
Communist leaders would take the risk of
war. The theory was that the Russians,
having an advantage, would use it before we
could strong enough to thwart their ag
gression.
While much progress has been made in
the work of creating farces for the defense
of Europe there is nothing like a balance..
as cf this time. The European contingents
are hardly more than getting underway.
The Soviet still maintains an enormous
superiority of armed force on the continent.
This, in the opinion of W’inston Churchill,
has been held in check by our advantage in
the atomic bomb.
The Soviet Union, despite its recent his
tory. may not want to risk a?£out war.
Then again, the Soviet leaders may be con
vinced that the western world, once its
arm 'd forces are expanded, will attempt to
use force against Russia. This latter the
ory would support the belief that r.ather
than let us build our military forces, as
planned, the Russians will take the initia
tive and start the conflict
.We have no w’av of knowing what the
Russians have in their minds, or what the
future wu'll bring. As we see the world
picture the rearmament program was a ne
cess’tv to prevent the possible subjugation
of tV free world and the abolition of much
of what we consider vital personal liberties..
This being trye. we have no cours*. but to
pursue our present policy, whether it brings
war or not. We cannot afford to depend
upon the good will of the Kremlin leaders
for the right to live.
INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING ENTER
BUSINESS FIELD
Our institutions of learning are dependent
in many cases upon the income that they
obtain from their endowments. Return on
investments has shown a tendency to de
cline during recent decades and, consequent
ly, some of our colleges and universities
have been looking around for more profita
ble investments than they have had in the
securities markets.
Along this line Vanderbilt Univesity has
invested $1,250,000 of its endowment funds
in a Mississippi river oil terminal at St.
Paul, Minnesota. The university has also
purchased a textile mill in Charlotte, North
Carolina, a baseball and golf equipment
plant in Tennessee and a warehouse in New
Orleans. . This is along the line of the in
vestments of a leading Eastern university
which owns and operates a gear-makiiTg fac
tory and a macaroni plant.
The matter was argued at considerable
length in Congress last year, jyith opinions
somewhat divided. The essence of the de
bate, it seems to us, centered around the
tax-exemption provision that applies to in
stitutions of learning, with a somewhat in
definite conclusion that whenever a universi
ty goes into business, it should be required
either to pay the taxes that competing en
terprises have to pay or use the equivalent
in money for the benefit of education.
We are somewhat familiar with the vi
cissitudes that plague colleges which are
dependent upon their endowment income for
operating without loss. The investment of
such funds represents a serious responsi
bility. The difficulty is not solved by “go
ing into business,” because there exists the
threat of losing funds in an unprofitable
enterpise. The trend in investments has
been away from real estate and to stocks
and bonds, but occasionally, one hears of
an institution which has invested substan
tially in real estate with extremely satisfy
ing results.
We know some ruffians whose veneer
of civilization is wearing thin.
Few wise men clobber their brains with
statistics.
Private capitalism will work well when
private capitalists work well.
CHEMISTRY MAY SOLVE WORLD'S
FOOD PROBLEM
The efficient application of present knowl
edge of agriculture all over the1 world will
provide nutritious food of high quality for
four billion people, or nearly twice the
world population, in the opinion of Profes
sor Artturi I. Virtanen, a noted Finnish
Chemist and winner of a Nobel prize for
contributions to agricultural biochemistry.
The Professor’s opinion is interesting be
cause there have been rather ominous pre
dictions in the past that the population of
fhft, globe will outgrow its food supply.
the Finnish* chemist may be entirely
T&m’ct. everybody knows that there are
millions of human beings, scattered in the
undeveloped regions, who lack an adequate
diet. Obviously, the perfection of crop
yields opens a way out of the recurrent
starvation in undeveloped areas dnd the de
velopment of new sources of food through
the application of chemistry may solve the
problem.
Professor Virtaren noints out that crop
yields are very' low in many areas of the
world. He says that in the United States
the vield of wheat is 400 kilograms an acre,
whe'-eos. in some countries of Eurone. it is
pv hJ"V, f,<; i.rtOO kilograms. “Onlv in Den
mark. Holland and Belgium are the vields
r>e*- acre relatively high/' declares the Nobel
prize winner.
Dr. Wendell M. Stanley, of the Univer
sity of California, another Nobel prize win
"nr. noints out that at the present only a
fraction of a per cent of the sun’s energv
is utilized bv plants, whereas methods are
known for increasing this utilization bv
f rtv or fiftv per cent. He points out that
f>vrv>pim<wtal work is doing this on a small
srale jn the cultivation of algae, single
ceU»d n’ants.
Somehow, we have never been able to
over the nossibilitv fhat th<» weld’s
-ontdation mav outgrow its food supplies
Faultv distribution mav Produce areas -f
st''wHtion. h„t fn the lone run. the nin^h
of fmn~er will s^iir mankind to develop ade
ouste food supplies.
CRASHES IN AT4«KA CAUSE
CONCERN
Something of a mystery could be de
veloped out of the action of the Navy in
grounding one of its patrol bomber squad
rons in Alaska, following three crashes
that, so far, have been unexplained and are
not believed to have been due to structural
weakness of the aircraft.
The accidents are described as “baffling”
and “distressing.” The long-range, four
'motored planes patrol waters leading to
Siberia where, it is reported, the Russians
have massed thousands of planes. More
over, nine other planes, in addition to the
Navy aircraft, have crashed or disappear
ed in a period of a little more than two
months. «
The prophets of disaster will immediately
conclude that the Russians have some mys
terious weapon, or device, with whiph to
disable our aircraft. This is a violent as
sumption that nobody should believe until
some evidence is available to support the
theory.
GERMANY LOOKS FOR CONCESSIONS
Agreement between the United States,
Great Britain and France to create an inter
national armv in Europe for the defense of
the free nations against possible Russian
aggression removes a barrier to the incor
poration of German troops in the fighting
forces.
The is*’ie is not settled, however, by this
understanding. The people of Germany ex
pect to exact concessions for their partici
pation. being convinced that the world sit
uation is so favorable that the Federal Re
public can get anything it wants from the
Allies.
While this may be a mistake on the part
of German officials, one can readily see that
the possibility of a contest between Russia
and her former allies creates an opportunity
for Germany to secure benefits in somewhat
the same manner that Japan profited from
the tension in the Far East.
OUR “FANTASTIC WEAPONS’*
One of the “fantastic” weapons, referred
to by President Truman a few weeks ago,
is the pilotless bomber, which has been un
der development for six years, and now
comes into the news with the announcement
that the Air Force will activate a squadron
next month to operate the new-fangled air
weapon.
Combat instruction to the members of
the unit for guided missiles will be given
by the Tactical Air Command which leads
. to the belief that the new craft are de
signed for short-range employment in di
rect support of ground troops. Presumably,
only some development of the atom bomb
would justify the use of a plane that would
be expended on its first mission.
The nation is expending more than a bil
lion dollars to develop guided missiles. They
will travel at speeds faster than sound, and
possibly as fast as one thousand miles an
hou~ Their effectiveness will naturally de
pend upon the accuracy of their directive
machinery but. if this is assured, they
should be capable of inflicting terrific dam
age upon an enemy.
A good joke will turn up in a variety of
forms for many years.
Exercise delays the aging process, says
an expert. Exactly.
Hugo Sims Says:
SOVIET COMPLIMENT TO U.S.
i The United Nations has certain
operating costs which must be
met by its members. Because of
world conditions and especially
the devastation of the recent war,
the United States has been pay
ing nearly forty per cent of the
Vnnual budget.
This does not suit the Russians.
The Soviet Union has proposed
that the United States pay half
of the cost of the United Nations,
alleging that this country is bet
ter equipped to pay the expenses
: than countries recovering from
war devastation and, also, that
comparative incomes indicate that
we should contribute fifty per
cent of all costs. i
'
This is an interesting commen-1
tary on the thesis usually de
veloped by Russians, who assert ■
that the economic system in the
United States is “unworkable”
and headed for an inevitable col-'
lapse.
JAP TREATY A GAMBLE
Amid the general satisfaction
over the peace conference in San
■ Fiancisco, with the inability of
the Russians to prevent tne exe
cution of the treaty, one should
not overlook the very Important
fact that our settlement with the
Japanese involves a gamble.
The Japenese, fancying them
selves overlords of the Far East,
row present something of a peace
loving and democratic mien.
Whether this is a sincere conver
sion or represents the example of
a conquered people bowing to the
inevitable remains to be seen and
; t cannot be determined unta a
few decades pass us by.
There is merit therefore in the
statement of the Korean Ambas
sador, Dr. You Chan Yang, when
he expresses the hope that the
seeds of democracy take deen root
in Japan but also the warning
that unless they do, he, and his
people, are against rearming of
the Japanese. V
I This same doubt exists in the
minds of the people of other
Pacific regions, including the
Philippines. Australia and New
Zealand. Being somewhat close
to the Japanese; find easily sub
ject to any future co-prosperity
sphere, they look with suspicion
i »-Pon professions of peace and
democracy and seel: the protection
of a special treaty with the
United States. We had to guar
antee them against future Jap
anese aggression in order to se
cure their consent to the treaty
, with Japan.
SHOULD UNITE
I Secretary of Agriculture Charles
F. Brannan will not increase hia
popularity but he tells the truth
when he warns farmers that the
Government’s agricultural pro
gram is threatened by increasing
, antagonism toward agriculture
and that this has been caused by
some farm leaders’ lack of con
sideration for city consumers.
Mr. Brannan points out that
the farm population has decreased
from 32,000,000 in 1910 to an
estimated 24,200,000 in 1950.
Measured by percentages, the
farm population has dropped from
35 to 16 per cent of the total
population of this country.
It should be perfectly obvious
to everybody interested in agricul
ture that less than one-sixth of
the population of this country
will not possess the political
strength necessary to enforce its
demands upon the balance of the
country. Therefore, it behooves
sensible leaders of agriculturists
to develop strong ties with labor
and with consumers in the metro
politan areas.
This line of thought is not par
ticularly popular in* states where
farm populations still represent a
major political factor. For many
years, the politicians running for
office in these regions patted the
tiller of the soil on the back, pro
claimed him to be the feeder of
the world and secured his support
at the polls, regardless of his rep
resentation of corporate and in
dustrial interests.
We have long maintained that
there exists an affinity of inter
ests between labor and those who
operate our farms. Both seg
ments of the population receive
less income on the basis of their
numbers than the more-favored
groups in society. Conditions and
circumstances that surround them
are vastly different. Labor, in
metropolitan areas, must must by
necessity organise in order to pro
tect its rights, while farmers, liv
ing in sparsely-settled areas, de
velop an independence that while
“Defense” Is New Name
F« Your Samp Bond
WISE AND OTHERWISE
He Shoulda?
A farmer who sent for a book
on How to Grow Tomatoes jyTote
the publishers, “The man* who
writ the ad shoulda writ the
book.”—The Mining Journal.
Familiar?
“She was a woman in her early
fifties, rather well dressed and
generally meat in her appear
ance.”—Christian Advocat% We
know the type well.—Bristol Her
a'd-Courier.
Sad Situation
The melancholy days are here,
* The saddest of our annals.
It’s far too cold for B. V. D.'s
And too blamed hot for flannels.
—Mas. Marshall Hearin in the
Rotarian.
Rea Cloncern
How hard it is for a rich man
to enter heaven concerns us less
than how hard it is for # poor,
man to remain on earth^-4Turns,
Sherman, Texas.
i
Described
And we’ve heard a woman’s
club meeting descibed aa—Gabble,
gobble and etc.—W. O. W.
Magazine.
Why Editors Get Rich
A child ia born. The attending
physician gets $25 and more; the
editor gives the youngster and
the happy parents a send-off and
gets $0. When it is christened
the clergy gets $10. The editor
gets $.00 for his write-up. The
editor publishes another long
winded article and may perhaps
tel* a dozen lies about the beau
tiful. accomplished bride. The
clergyman gets another $10 and
a piece of cake. The editor gets
$.000. In the course of time, she
dies. The doctor gets from $25
to $100 or more. The undertaker
gets from $200 to $500. The ed
itor publishes the obituary, two
columns long, lodge and society
resolutions, and gets $.0000. No,
wonder he gets rich!.—Montana
Press.
commendable, fails to recognize
existing political realities.
The goal of both fanner and
laborer is to increase the standard
of living of the families of those
who work in industry and those
who till the soil.
views i^a
REVIEWS
WMT IHCVMr WICTMS ■
Charles F. Brmnnan, Secretary of
Agriculture:
“Farm leadership should make
clear to labor and to white-collar
groups that farmers are con
cerned with their problems.”
R. B. Spencer, doctor:
“Nature imposes trials and
tribulations and may know what
is good for us better than we do
ourselves.”
laador Lubin, U. S. Delegate to
U. N. Economic and Social
Council:
“A nation of insecure tenants
and ruthless laborers is an un
stable society, subject to sporadic
violence and easily persuaded to
follow false leaders."
Thomas E. Dewey, Governor of
New York:
“Most Americans would like
to forget the rest of the world
and just live in peace.”
Harry S. Truman:
“You can help to defend your
country by buying United States
savings bonds.”
John Foster Dulles, U. S. Am-,
bassador-at-Large:
“The United States, as occupy
ing power, has put up .$2,000,000,
000 for economic relief of Japan.”
Eric Johnston, Economic Stabi
lizer:
“Of course, I’m going to resign
eventually.”
I BIBLE VERSE TO STUDY
”... I, the Lord thy God am a
Jeilous God, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers upon the children
unto the third and fourth genera
tion of them that hate me.”
1. Where are the above words
found in the Bible?
2. Of what are they a part?
3. What author recorded these
words?
4. Can you locate a similar
verse?
(Answers On Page 4)
"Oh* Sue, he's a doll! He's tall fesr
and he's cute, and his father gives
just heaps to the Conmunity Chest."
The race of men ia like the race
of leave*. As one generation
flburishes another decay*.—Hqpner.
Thou cana’t not judge the life
of man until death hath ended it.
—Sophocles.
He who should teach* men to
die would at the same time teach
them to live.—Michel de Mon
taigne.
The thought of death certainly
influences the conduct of life less
than might have been expected.—
John Lubbock.
Live your own life, for you will
die your own death.—Latin Prov
erb.
WILL YOU SMILE
Maybe Grandad Was Right
A psychologist has announced
that laziness in white rats and
probaly in human beings is an
hereditary trait. Grandfather al
ways claimed that the smartest
rr.en were the laziest and that is
why they invented something or
devised new ways of doing their
work.
Information Please
The big railroad terminal was
crowded when a shabby individual
approached a wicket and peer
ed inquiringly at the young wom
an on duty behind it.
“Excuse me, miss,” he apolo
gized, “but do you represent the
Travelers’ Aid Society?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“Den, where’s de freight yards,
please?”
Retreat
The none too experienced hunt
3r from the city drove up to an
old guide’s cabin in the country,
introduced himself , and said: “A
friend who belongs to the Rod
and Gun Club thinks you could
help me bag a moose.”
“Rod and Gun Club, eh?” The
grizzled guide looked dourly at
the visitor’s light-calibered rifle
and grunted: “You wound bull
ti\ with that pea shooter, mister,
and right away you’ll be joinin'
the.‘My God—and Run’ Gub.”
Too Late
This is from a London paper:
First. Workman—Where’s Bill
today?”
Second Workman—“ ’N 'ospi
tal.
First Workman—“Wot ’appen
ed?”
Second Workman—“ ’E came
down a ladder 19 minutes after
it was taken away.”
Three Little Words
The art of pleasing social in
tercourse lies not so much in volu
bility of expression as in “the
right words to carry a delightful
and subtly flattering impression.
To make her guests feel wel
come, the noted French woman
Madame Recamier found that
three words sufficed. When they
arrived, she said, “At Last!” And
when they prepared to depart,
she simply said, “Already?”
A Few Extras
Father—And there, son, you
have the story of the Great War.
Son—Yes, Dad, but why did
they need all the other soldiers?
^ tinou#
1. In what States are the Black
Hills located?
2. Which U. S. President was
re-elected after his successor had
served a term?
3. Who was “Miss America” of
1960?
4. For what does “NATO”
stand? *
5. In what town was President
Truman bora?
6. In what country is the city
of Adelaide situate^?
7. Who was the author of
“Captains Courageous?”
8. Is the town of Meta in Ger
many or France?
9. Who was President of the
Confederacy ?
10. In what State is the Gar
den of the Gods located?
(See “The Answers” on Page 4)
When you see a Union Shop
Card you know the firm which
displays it pays Union wages and
observes Union working condi
tions. Non-Union firms do not
display the Shop Card. Look
for it!