GREETINGS
> Sootier Scole Shop
t ..
Soles end Service
| 1508 Eost Ozark
Phone 9791
GASTONIA. N. C.
Kennedy's Drug
Store
Prescriptions
Carefully Compounded
Free Fast City Delivery
Ed. C. Adorns. Prop.
* 213 W. Main Ave.
Telephone 5-3401
GASTONIA. N. C.
Rankin & Armstrong
QUALITY FURNITURE
"One of the Oldest—
Established Over 40 Years"
124 S. Marietta So.
Phone 5-0611
GASTONIA. N. C.
GREETINGS
Saunders
Dry Cleaning Co.
319 E. Franklin Ave.
Tel. 5-4012
GASTONIA, N. C.
Smith's Cut Roto
Drug Storos
Prescription Specialists
157 W. Main Ave.
121 W. Main Ave.
Telj^-2354 of 5-2191
GASTONIA, N. C.
GREETINGS
D. Glenn Stroupe
GENERAL BUILDING
CONTRACTOR
111 Oakdale Phone 5-3822
GASTONIA, N. C.
GREETINGS
Terminal Restaurant
r
Always Ready to Serve You
141 W. Franklin Ave.
Phone 5-0206
GASTONIA. N. C.
Labor Sunday Messages from National Churches of Christ, U.S.A.
(Approved by the General Board
of the National Council of the
Churches of Chriat In the United
States of America and issued
through the Department of the
Church and Economic Life.)
"Yoo Am AN •mltwoa ....
Yea Ham Oao Father"
The health of any society de
pends upon the well-being of the
members of all of its groups. Every
segment of society is important.
Efficient and honest work is neces
sary for our economy. But our com
mon responsibility does not end
there. In a highly industrialised
society, it is not-a luxury but a
Christian and practical necessity
to help the sick and the crippled,
assist the needy aged, and care for
the young. Neglect of large groups
of people who cannot fully help
themselves weakens the sense of
community and violates a principle
from which our society draws its
strensrth.
We believe that Christianity pro
vides sound and sure principles as
guides to action; it gives a sense
of direction and creates a will to
work together. The American peo
ple have common basic aims. As
productive efficiency increases,
there are more goods and services
to share and costs of production
are lowered. As workers’ purchas
ing power expands, management
finds larger markets. And we all,
as consumers, benefit by this co
operation.
Furthermore, if equitable solu
tions to the common problems of
employers and their employees are
mutually sought in good faith they
can be found. Thousands of labor
contracts are negotiated by union
and management representatives
each year without bitterness or
strikes, and with regard for the
public interest. Unfortunately these
settlements are rarely featured in
the newspapers, while strikes are
headlined. Fair settlements arrived
at through ^free and honest bar
gaining by men of good will open
the way to a better economic and’
social life for all people. Leaders
of labor and management know
that the progress of American in
dustry depends largely upon their
ability to co-operate for the com
mon good. This is the road for free
men of enlightened consciences to
follow. Christianity may ask for
more, but can ask for no less. Since
God is our Father, we must ever
strive to work together as brothers.
Sine# the first Labor Sunday
Message was issued nearly forty
years ago, the economic status of
workers has been raised, produc
tivity increased, .hours shortened,
real wages increased, working con
ditions improved, the economic well
being of the nation lifted, and the
democratic way of life strength
ened. During this period the at
mosphere of public opinion has
changed. Increasing numbers of
workers have exercised the freedom
to decide for themselves whether
to organize and have dealt with
employers through representatives
of their own choice. This freedom
of workers has been endorsed and
the important social contribution
of the labor movement recognized
by almost every branch of the
Christian Church. During the past
years working men and women
have made unprecedented gains;
the years ahead offer new oppor
tunities but also enlarged responsi
bility f8r labor to join with man
agement, farmers, consumers, and
rther groups in working for the
ommon good. .
On this Labor Day it is fitting
hat the National Council of
Churches recognize the many Chris
tian laymen who have worked to
schieve these benefits for them-,
selves and their fellow men. We
join in mourning the loss of Wil
liam Green and Philip Murray,
outstanding Christian laymen in
organized labor. Leadership in the
| labor movement should be increas
I ingly appreciated by the people of
our churches as an important
Christian vocation.
"Beer Om Another's Burdens"
We are grateful to God for the
generally high level of well-being
in the United States which has de
veloped under conditions of free
dom. But these favorable circum
stances call for more than grati
tude in word of feeling. They sum
mon Christians to a deep sense of
humility and an earnest commit
ment to* shdre with people as
worthy as ourselves who are less
fortunate. We know that tome mu'
liona of the people even in this
country are living below standards
which we accept as important to
the “rood life”; but grim hunger
is faced by nearly three out of four
of the jrorld’s population. Our
present position in the world places
upon us the responsibility to help
Ices fortunate people to help them
selves. We must give with an un
derstanding heart; the extent of
our help can be measured only by
Today powerful and insidious
a sensitive Christian conscience,
forces threaten freedom. Enlight
ened men and women of labor were
among; the first to see the evil and
danger of both fascism, and Soviet
communism and have long and ef
fectively opposed them. Through
the leadership which the American
labor movement, together with that
of many other important segments
of our society, has given to the
cause of world freedom, all our
freedoms have been made more se
cure.
In working for civil rights, in
creased production, job opportuni
ties, adequate wages, social respon
sibility, and a free world communi
ty we are working for each other,
for ourselves, and for God who
seeks to realise His purpose of jus
tice and freedom in the affairs of
men. Toward the achievement of
these aims, aQ groups in our na
tion are interdependent, and we are
bound together in the need and
purpose to promote our common
freedoms. Freedom to worship and
to speak according to the dictates
of one’s conscience is inseparable
from freedom of the mind and
freedom to work under conditions
which the worker has had a part
in determining. A threat to one
freedom is a threat to all freedoms.
Labor-Management
Partnerships Are
Desirable Goals
By Rev. R. A. McGowan, Director
Social Action Department
Xational Catholic Welfare
Conference
Labor Day, 1953, is an occasion
for qualified gratitude and for
guarded and ■ realistic optmism.
Genuine, if limited progress has
been registered in recent years.
| More people are gainfully employed
than at any other time in the his
tory of the United States. More
employees than ever before are now
organised into bona ftde trade
anions. The standard of living of
most of pie working people is rela
tively good in spite of the continu
ing problem of inflation. Significant
progress has been made in recent
years in the field of race relations,
and there are many encouraging
indications that even greater pro
gress can be expected within the
foreseeable future.
For these and other recent ad
vances in the field of social justice
we can be very thankful. Never
theless, we are still faced with a
numbei of serious economic prob
lems, thoughtful consideration of
which will serve to put us on our
guard against the deadly virus of
complacency.
The ft rat and by far the most
serious of these problems has to
do with our ability to avoid the
chaos and disaster of another major
depression if and when the cold
war, through the mercy of God,
eventually comes to an end. So
long as this problem remains un
j solved, our country cannot afford
I to be complacent about the condi
tion of its economic health. At the
present time we are operating,
simultaneously, two fabulously suc
cessful systems of production—one
for the implements of war and an
other for the necessities and lux
uries of civilian life.
It would be presumptuous on the
part of the American people and
their elected representatives to
minimize or underestimate the dif
ficulty of maintaining full employ
ment if and whan war production
is severely curtailed. This is not ’•
an insoluble problem, but its solu
tion will require the greatest pos- i
sible measure of intelligent and un-1
•elfish cooperation. There is every
reason to anticipate that our na
tional economy will continue to im
prove under peacetime conditions.
The history of the United States1
clearly demonstrates that our peo
ple have a genius for adapting and
applying the techniques of wartime
production to peaceful purposes.
Neither can we afford to be com
placent about the fact that so many
families live so poorly in the weal
thiest country in the history of the
human race. Surely a nation which
can do as much as ours is doing at
the present time—and Very prop
erly no—to resist Communist ag
gression in the Far East and to
prepare itself aad other countries
vcainst possible Communist aggres
sion in other parts of .the world is i
economically capable of supporting
minimum standards of frugal com
fort for all its citixens.
InSamaHeasI ItsipisiibiHUsi
Closely related to this problem is
our growing reluctance as a nation
to come to the economic, as opposed
to the purely military, assistance
of less favored nations. Some of
our impoverished allies in the cold
war are beginning to suspect, per
haps with a certain degree of at
least superficial justification, that
we attach too much importance,
relatively, to bombers and battle
ships, too little to tractors and hy
brid corn and elementary sanitary
improvements for the disadvantag
ed people of the so-called under
developed areas. Let us hope and
pray that the American people will
quickly dispel these ominous fears
and suspicions by continuing to
keep faith with our national tra
dition of charity and generosity.
We owe it to ourselves and to the
rest of the world to be as generous
as possible in administering the
abundant riches which Almighty
God has temporarily placed in our
trust as stewards of His posses
sions and almoners of His gracious
bounty.
In view of these and other prob
lems confronting our beloved coun
try in this period of continuing
crisis there is room today for grat
itude, surely, but there is also room
for humility and penitence and a
firm resolve to change for the bet
ter with the ever-present and
never-failing assistance of the
grace of God.
In** of IrAvMmKmi
There was a time in the history
of this country when many prop
erty owners and workers regarded
their personal rights as absolute.
In economic life—as contrasted
with domestic life, which at that
time was more directly influenced
by Christian morality—they acted
as though they were alone in God’s
universe or as though they and
their neighbors were meant to be
enemies one of another. This was
utterly false in theory and trag
ically harmful in practice.
Thanks be to God, we are slowly
getting over that way of thinking
and acting in the Held of economics.
The right to own property and the
right to secure an adequate income
from ownership, and the right to
work and secure an adequate in
come from ownership, and the right
to work and secure an adequate
income from personal labor are
genuine rights, necessary for the
welfare of the individual as well as
for the common good of society. It
should have been obvious all along,
however, to a Christian nation that
these are qualified or limited rights
—qualified and limited so that oth
er people, too, may live from the
bounty of the good earth over
which God alone, as the Creator
of the universe, can lay claim to
an absolute right of ownership.
Cn«h for Hm Better
The basic reason for gratitude
and optimism on Labor Day, 1953,
is the fact that more of us than
ever before in the history of the
United States are beginning to
recognise the importance of the re
lationship between the persona]
dignity of the individual on the ohe
hand and the brotherhood of man
on the other. The basic reason for
humility and penitepce is that not
enough of us have turned our backs
once and for all on the theory of
individualism* which exaggerated
personal lights and prerogatives
beyond all reason, at the expense
of human brotherhood.
This is a very serious matter.
For several hundred years the
dominant emphasis in the economic
life of the so-called Western world
was placed, exaggeratedly, on per
sonal rights and personal strength
at the expense of human brother
hood. Similarly, in the larger field
of political and economic action, the
dominant emphasis was placed on
national rights and national
strength at the expense of interna
tional brotherhood. One might leg
itimately substitute here for per
sonal strength and national
strength the more theologically ac
curate words personal pride and
greed and national pride and greea. |
The fearful crisis of this gener
ation arises, on the one hand, from
our own failure in the Western
world to complete the urgent task
of combining in practice personal
and national rights with personal
brotherhood and inter nation nl
brotherhood, and, on the other hand,
from the ruthless and absolute re
jection or denial of personal digni
ty and national worth by aggrrs
site totalitarian governments. We
are reaping the bitter fruits of the
two great errors of our time. The
one error magnifies and exagger
ates the importance of the isolated
individual without regard for tin
rights of others and without regait
for the rights of the community
The other magnifies the group
lie race, the class, or the nation—
without regard for the God-given
dignity and rights of the individual
person*
If we in the United States have
not yet fully recanted and repent
ed of the former error* we have
done so in part. We have made a
good beginning in our efforts to
reconcile the rights of the individ
ual in economic life with the cor
responding rights of the communi
ty.
Increasingly as time goes on, we
are coming to recognize the im
portance of human brotherhood,
and we are honestly striving to
give it practical expression in the
economic institutions of our eouri
try.
As we pause on the occasion of
Labor Day to express our gratitude
for this salutary improvement in
our national life, let us ask Al
mighty God for the grace to make
even greater progress in the criti
cal years that lie ahead. There
hangs over us the ever-present
threat of virtual annihilation by
atomic warfare. Atomic war or no*
atomic war, let us place our trust
in the mercy and goodness of God,
and confidently go about putting
our own house in order, asking
Christ our Brother to show us the
way to effect a more perfect recon
ciliation, in our economic life, bo
tween the respective claims of the
individual and the community.
The most serious defect in the
economic life of the United States
is that some employers and em
ployees, even when they have re
pented of the old error of exag
erated individualism, have yet to
establish an adequate system of
labor-management cooperation as a
practical expression of their broth
erly dependence upon one another
and as a practical means of ful
filling their mutual responsibilities
to society as a whole. The fault is
on both sides. The chief fault of
some in management has been that
of Opposing or hampering union
organizing, opposing adequate leg
islation for the protection of the
working people, and of not taking
enough initiative in fostering new
methods of labor-management co
operation. On the other hand, the
fault of some in the labor move
ment has been one of apathy and
indifference in face of the need for
labor-management cooperation apd
the need for labor participation in
management, profits and owner
ship. _ ,
Signs of fngsw
Let it be emphasized, again, how
ever, that in several important re
ipecta labor and management are
ioing a better job than ever before.
Collective bargaining is becoming
more mature, thanks to the more
^operative attitude of both par
ties. Joint production committees
in individual plants or companies
have proved effective, and their
number is increasing. Profit shar
ing is rapidly expanding and is
now considered to be compatible
with bona fide trade unionism.
These and similar developments at
the plant or company level are
very encouraging and deserve to be
extended as widely and as rapidly
as possible.
Industry-Wide CssperaHen
In addition, however, labor and
management must be encouraged to
raise their sights beyond the plant
or the company level to the industry
level and to the level of the na
tional economy. There is a natural
community, a natural brotherhood,
as it w|re, of all the people in any
given industry, employers and em
ployees alike, in addition to the
natural brotherhood which exists in
individual plants or companies. It
remains for labor and management,
with the encouragement of gov
ernment, to establish industry-wide
organisations or associate* through
which this natural community ean
effectively carry out its functions
and fulfill its responsibilities. The
natural brotherhood of employers
and employees at the industry level
cannot be expected to sustain itself
and express itself effectively with
out benefit of adequate industry
wide organisation.
furthermore, inasmuch as all
industries, including agriculture,
intimately depend upon one another
in the common task of furnishing
consumers with the proper quan
tity and quality of goods and serv
ices on fair terms to consumers and
producers alike, it is necessary that
these industry-wide councils or
associations be extended across in
dustry borders and federated into
a national economic council which
would be charged with the respon
sibility of coordinating the activi
ties of the separate industry coun
cils in such a way as to safeguard
the interests of consumers and
promote the general welfare.
Such sin integrated pattern of or
ganised economic partnership can
not be expected to develop over
night, nor should it be imposed
from the top by government. It
will have to be developed gradually
by means of a connected series of
voluntary agreements among the
interested parties. On the other
hand, however, the principle 'of
gradualism should not be ration
alised or perverted into an excuse
for apathy or indifference. If it is
advisable to make haste-slowly, it
is also imperative to keep moving
uninterruptedly in the right direc
tion.
Happily, we have already begun
to advance towards the desired
goal. There is already a greater
degree of effective labor-manage
ment cooperation in the United
States than is generally recognised.
The process of growth is relatively
slow and sometimes rather dis
heartening. Nevertheless there is
no reason to be unduly pessimistic
•boat the future. The tide hu un
mistakably turned in the right di
rection. A self-organised and self
governing partnership, by indus
tries and professions, is definitely
in the making. Let us hope and
pray that labor, management, ag- ,
riculture, and the professions will
do everything they possibly can to
hasten its establishment, for the
good of our own nation and, fur
thermore, as a shining example of
Christian brotherhood to a world
which is now being sorely tempted
to sell itself into slavery of totali
tarianism for generations or cen
turies to come.
ItespeusIhMfrles of Leber
•ad Menagsmsur
As they continue to work towards
the desired goal of a full-fledged
partnership in the interest of the
general welfare, labor and manage
ment are called upon to examine
and appraise their current prac
tices in the light of Christian social
ethics. In spite of the encourag
ing progress of recent years, both
groups have need of self examina
tion and could, with benefit to all,
instruct their members on the
harmful effects of dishonesty, self
ishness, and avarice.
' Heretofore, the efforts of labor
have been concentrated, necessarily,
on organising the unorganised,
achieving recognition of unions and
establishing the basic procedures
of collective bargaining. These ob
jectives have yet to be attained
in certain areas. In those areas,
however, where employes are now
protected by strong unions, these
unions have an obligation to carry
out faithfully certain responsibili
ties to their own members, to the
employers with whom they bargain,
and to the general public. Specifi
cally, for example, they should do
everything possible to make union
ism the hallmark of honest, compe
tent, and responsibile workmanship
and shoved effectively disciple those
workers whose performance on the
job falls short of the standards
agreed to with their employer
through the process of collective
bargaining.
(Continued on Page 7)
GASTONIA BRUSH COMPANY
QUALITY TEXTILE BRUSHES
S^ond b L in wood Streets Phono 5-2422
Gastonia, N. C.
COMPLIMENTS
SHELBY SUPPLY COMPANY
, 4
General Mill Supplies and
Hardware
Phone 5271
Shelby, N. C.
\
Greetings
Gaston County
Dyeing Machine
Company
Stanley, N.G