The labor world. [volume], December 02, 1922, Image 1

About The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current

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1
WaH Street Mad With Stock SMdend Deals Before Conpss
Awakes to tUe Slluatloi and Puts End to
By International Labor News Service.
Washington, D. C., Nov.' 30.—The plan of the American
people to apportion taxes according to income, enacted into law
by congress, is being defeated by the millionaire group by means
jof the stock dividend. Billibns of dollars are manipulated into the
coffers of the moneyed kings 6f the United States that cannot be
touched by the surtax. The $upreme Court's decision and Sec
retary of the Treasury Mellon's example have caused the biggest
tax evasion in the history of the country.
Mad Hnsh of Wealth.
fric Standard Oil gioup alone- ii
ilystrates the jftadrush of wealth to
.=ver before congress awakes to the
situation knd stops the swindle. Ten
1
companies of ibis group have in the
|luat few weeks, distributed $75i",l04,
r: il in the .form of stock dividends
and only $128,856,373 has been- is­
sued in cash, a total of $881,960,684.
Twepty-sevGn more companies in this
I jtep'ip ar« scheduled to take similar
['ticftwi. The ppess is predicting stock
dividfettds in the next week by the
^Atlantic Refining Co., Standard of
jlndianaA y*Mrie Oil & Gas and the
|Prairie Line.
Standard* of Indiana is the com­
pany which has practically absorbed
atha wealth stored in Wyoming oil
Ifielda whicfi was recently, taken away
from the United States through the
Teapot Dome oil grab, which has so
groused. the country.
Old Tricks Encouragde.
Since the. dissolution-, of the old
^Standard Oil Co. in 1911 there has
|been paid to this group $2,389,593,
j252 in dividends. Before 1922 there
fwas distributed $92.4,855,968 in cash
land $388,200,000 in stock. T$io amaz
fing facts are revealed by -tfteSe fig­
ures. The first is that distribution
rof earnings through'stock dividends,
although ijot a new trick, has run
,wiid as a result of encouragement by
v.he
present administration, especial
tfyO example of Secretary Mellon,
one of the richest men in the
nited States, whose Gulf Oil com­
pany took the lead in stock dividetid
distribution. The second fact is that
'extraordinary earnings ~are being
ittk'de ibjr the oil companies- In spite
af thG lower price of gasoline, earn­
ings that in 1925 Wire more than
half the earnings of the preceding
ten years.
What Will congress do about it^
^Several things arc under discus­
sion.
Firfet of all congressmen are har­
assing Secretary Mellon to know
why the surplus of a company is
lot taxed, and the tax collected as
contemplated by congress under Sec
rfm 220, which reads:
What tile Lnw Says.
"If any corporation is
availed of for the purpose of pre­
senting the imposition of the surtax
jpofi its members by permitting its
profits to accumulate Instead of be
ng divided there shall be levied and
collected for such taxable year upon
he net incomo of such corporation
tax equal of 25 per centume in ad
ition %6 the tax imposed' by Sec-
'^co^rding to Congressman Frear
•tecretaV'y Mellon has "failed to an
,wer or| explain any of the inquiries
.nereto£ere made by me regarding
he exaction of tax penalties under
section 220."
When a company lifre Standard
)il«has a net profit after ten years
775 per cent and declares a divi
lend approaching a billion dollars in
ne year there is admittedly a sur
)lus "nto in fact needed in the busi­
ness," which is taxable according to
he law.
Save 60 Per Cent.
It
is
interesting to rermeraber that
xuen of wealth like Mr. Rockefeller
,nd Mr. Mellon would have to pay
the United States 60 per cent of
Jl&'\
dividends if paid in cash, hut
-—then paid in stock they are not tax
ble, according to the court's'deci
ion. The stock distributed as.divi
lends can
%of
'out
course be sold imme­
nsely by the recipient and the cash
'alue realized.
."As you well appreciate, Mr. Sec­
tary," says Congressman Freah
of the wealth of your experi
nces more financial crimes are com­
mitted in the name of 'stock dlvi
tetfds' than by all. the tax exempt
ecurity transactions which you de
lOtipce past, presept or future."
KnooUifages Tax Dodging.
"The stock dividend fever," says
tr. Fr^ajr.."encourages tax dodging
spreads out And. furnishse sur
luses for gobbling up small compe
Itors .and it freezes out the little
fockholders of the same company."
Attention (ft. Mr. Mellon is called
ISO to the Internal Revenue ,B.u
eau's demand upon congress "tor
?,000,0(H, only a fraction of the to
——al amount needed, with which to re
urid taxes rebated in secret to se
retcompinief, or individuals." and
ranis to knot*r why theitf Tiames can
nfcjbe published.
believed that the mad rush
r,cover•fc&rnings into the pockets
ft wealthy stockholders has heftn
recipitat^dby the pettdtag Invest!
at
ion inti» the.oil business by con
rejps. an investigation that to
lude not only the Teapot Dome graft
ut the ntie.thods of money makng
hich pfcfevail throughout the in
HEW YORK UNION
LABOR TO START
BIG STATE BANK
First Steps Taken to Organize
Federation Trust Company.
A bank to carry the title of Fed­
eration Trust company of New York
with, a proposed capital of $1,000,000
and a surplus of $1,000,000, has been
launched by the financial- officers of
various New York- trades unions.
About $150,000 for stock was sub­
scribed or pledged on the spot by
union organizations and individuals
toward the first" labor operated and
controlled banking institution in
New Xjyk cits*.
WallV ""McCaleb has been
named as president and general
manager of the Federation Trust
Co. He has tendered his resignation
as vice president and general man­
ager of the Brotherhood of Locomo­
tive Engineers' Bank of Cleveland,
and already is actively engaged
in the' preliminary work of organiz­
ing the new metropolitan institution.
Application for a charter for the
Labor bank has been filed at Albany
with George B. McLaughlin, state
auperinten^eaU^.^ banJ^}.
Brady, chairman of the banking
committee of the' New York State
Federation of Labor, announced that
inimediate and favorable action on
the application has been practically
.assured the committees in charge
of the organization of the bank. Jan.
3 is the expected date of the open­
ing, and 28 legal day£ must elapse
between the filing of the applica­
tion and the starting of a new bank
in New York state.
Mr. McCaleb declared at the meet­
ing that "Some "of the evils of the
world could be done away with by
the people taking hold -of the instru­
mentalities that -v Jiave to do with
credit. A few men control the credits
of the entire country and a score
of bankers in New York control the
railroads of the country. You have
no right to kick so long as you per
mit the Wall Street interests to dom­
inate you ift this manner. One doesn't
have -to spring from the thigh of
Zenus to be able to run a bank.
"It is the small handfal of money
concentrated in the control of bank
stocks," concluded Mr. McCaleb,
"that absolutely fixes4 the control of
the liquid credits in the country, and
the control of liquid credits controls
the ceonomic destiny of the c6un
try."
SYRUP TRUST IS
UNDERSCRUTINY
Federal Trade Commission to
Turn Searchlight Upon It,
All eg^d rponopoly by the Corn
Products Refining company in the
table syrup industry is under inves­
tigation by the Federal. Trade com
mission. A preliminary inquiry has
been conducted by the commission
on the subject of guarantee
cline in pripe .in tne coi
ucts industry. A six months' guaran­
tee' given by the Corn Products'- Re­
fining company on table syrups for
the past year is alleged as the meth
od used fdr eliminating competi­
tion the Corn products' company be­
ing able, by *repison of large finan­
cial ... resource* to manipulate the
price of its gyrup regardless of the
mai&et price of maize, tlte -princi
pal raw material, and has in certain
instances paid more than $1,000,
0Q0 per annum to make good its
outstanding, guarantees against de
cline in price.
Smaller concerns cannot success
fully compete against such expend!
tures of millions' t'o hold markets.
Corn Products has a capital stock-of
$80,000,000.
lng capacity is '45,000.000 bushels
per annum. Its nearest comRgtltor
grinds 9,000,000' bilshels. Of maize a
year.
The commission has reason to be^
lleve tha^ the price guarantees of
Cojrn Products defining company,
coiffi^ftute- -Unfair methods of com­
petition and has issued a formal
complaint requiring mk anawer in
thirty days,
Labor Department Reports
Trend of Pay Is Upward.
Washington, D. C., Nov. 30.—The
trend of wa&es is again upward. The
wage cutting efforts of reactionaries
have failed. The U. S. department of
labor reports,this week that in-37 of
43 industries considered, in monthly
reports there were changes In wage
schedules, all of which were-increases
in wages, except in one plant in each
in the automobile, brick,, and men's
clothing industries. The foundry an^
machine shop-industry reported in­
creases in. 29'- establishments, .iron
and steel 20, fcrick 16, leather 16,'
lass 12, cigar making ,11, furniture
10, hardware'9, arid silk 9* The in­
creases reported in the several in­
dustries ranged from 1 per cent to
20 pier cent, with one agriculture im­
plement establishment reporting an
increase of 28 per cent.
The department of labor also re­
ports that earnings are increasing in,
practically every industry. Those
shoeing increases of per capita
earnings' in' October as compared
with September a*e, floui', tobacco,
chewing and smoking pianos, glass,
automobiles, leather yatoves, hosiery
and knit goods, carpetsj carriages
and wagons, silk, iron' and steel, elec­
trical machinery, apparatus and sup­
plies,
paper
and pulp, shirts and
collars, furniture, lumber, mill work,
foundry and machine Inops, agricul­
tural implements, women's clothing,
hardware, stamped ware, paper'box­
es, printing,., newspapers,- wooieil
manufacturing, 'cotton/ finishing,
lumber, sawmills, chemicals, brick.
The industries showing decreases
In per capita earnings in October, as
compared with September are, bak
i*g, car building and repairing,
printing, book and job,-* shipbuild­
ing,. slaughtering and meat-packing,
boots and shoes*' tobacco, cigars and
cigarettes, automobile^ tires, petro­
leum, cotton manufacturing, millin
efy and' lace goods*, fertilisers, men's
clothing, pottery.
These decreases in per capita
earnings are practically all in sea
^whicli in October
ed their off' -Seastfn. The ex-
ceptlon is in the. pottery industry,
whei-h. is tied up with A strike.
HARRY 0RCHAR0
Idaho Officials Head Petition
Asking His Release.
Officials and ex-officialh of the
state of Idaho have headed a peti­
tion to the state pardon board to
free Harry Orchard, private, detec­
tive, stool pigeo-i and self-confessed
slayer of Governor Steuenberg in
1905.
These were the times of bull pens
for Idaho unionists, who w^re de­
manding' better working conditions
in the mines.
Moyer, ^aywood and Pettibone of
the old Western Federation of
Miners were actually kidnaped in
Denver and carried, into Idaho by
t^cgrs'-of.-the law and there placed
on trial for complicity in the kill­
ing of Steuenberg. The kidnap­
ing aroused labor. The three men
were acquitted. Orchard, a private
detective, confessed that he killed
the governor and was sentenced to*
life imprisonment. The trial re­
vealed th^Lt Orchard has a long rec­
ord as stool pigeon and' spy. Now
Idfeho'p "best citizens" want him
pardoned.
Bj fcEVI STEVENS LEWIS
In it's issuo of March 23, 1921, the
New Republic said editorially: "the
railroad system, as now organized
and operated, appears unable to earn
enough money to guarantee- to its.
employes, their existing standard of
livipg- and to return'an adequate rate
of interest on their capital."
Two weeks later. April, 13, UW4,,
it repeated the. same error thus: "It
is generally admitted that, ttye net
return on. the national railway in­
vestment are inadequate," and agaiu.
"current railway earning are inade­
quate to take proper care of tlie
capital now invested in railway in­
dustry."
It is difficult:,to believe tiiat.-such
intelligent, writers as* the editorial
writers of the New Rdpiiblic-A)Boutd
innocentry give? crfrrei^^Kto
gross misinformation.
It is not generally adn|itted, by
any means, that railwa^\ profit is
Its total maize grind- "inadequate" to. pay most exorbi­
tant profit" to all the labor alfd "all
the capitalr now invested in' rSitway'
1
tence^ qaoted above there.
and there ls abwv
dence to the,-' cpntrarj^
'He
:v i-
.It is true enough .that mich Clialtna
are voiced by the. N«w Repute, are
advancedv. most persistently in the
PJiteiitii Prfnts,.
pm
In a series of articles written for
The Labor World by Robert C. Bell,
formerly special assistant to the at^
torney general, in charge of with­
drawn oil lands in Wyoming, he has
shown that Secretary Fall was in­
formed that his excuse Of drainage
was without foundatino.
This week Mr. Bell discusses the
secrecy with which the deal was af­
fected and the failure to provide for
competitive bidding in^ the opening
up ©f the Wyoming oil lands: He
states 'the following:
^Apparently it is admitted that
there was no competitive bidding
but, it is asserted that "three or four
other companies" (all that were con­
sidered sufficiently equipped to
carry out the required conditions)
were called in and offered an op­
portunity' to bid. To our knowledge
the names of these "three or four
otl^r companies" have not been an­
nounced, and/we wonder "if they are
members of the Standard group.
"It is true that the Standard com­
panies have a practical monopoly of
overy branch of the oil industry in
this country and are able to meet
large obligations, but we are inform­
ed this great field was leased to the
Mammoth Oil Co., ^concern recently
organized by Sinclair and associates.
Surely there are responsible inde­
pendent companies as able to carry
out the. conditions required in the
lease as this new company, even
though it does have the support of
Standard Oil interests?,"
"The lease provided for, a pipe line
from the field to some point near
Kansas'City,. Mo., wherq it would
qprthect with: th e"Mid-66h?inettflines
to the east, which would probably
cost $15,000,00^ and undoubtedly it
is this provision that is supposed' to
disqualify all companies except thr
"three or four."
"in our opinion, this proposition
is a condition ostensibly imposed to
eliminate numerous responsible bid­
ders, and unfairly' to favor certain
TEXTILE STRIKE SWAYED
RHODE ISLAND EltCTIOH
Striking textilo workers of Rhdde
Island capried their fight onto the
political field, and the feudalism of:
textile barons was dealt two frard
blows by the increased demand for
the passage of a 48-hour week law
and the abolitidh of the property
qualification for voters.
In Rhode Island a voter must own
property and pay taxes before he
can vote for any officer who super­
vises the expenditure of r.ioney. The
mill barobs have given-all power to
the senate, which has proven a bar­
rier to progress. Other gains secured
at the election include Jhe dinpet
election of judges, increasing..-4he
powers of the governor and prohibi
ing working by women iand children
at night. Women supported the at­
tack on property qualifications.
RESIST ANTI-UNIONISM.
Organized labor's fight against the
anti-union shop at Streator,*Ill.,, is
nearly entering its. third year. More
than 1,500 workers have been on
strike for nearly 24 months, and are
as determined as ev$r to maintain
their right to join a trade union,.
roup Wiich Believes Government Was Swindled
tor Searching Inquiry.
The Congressional group which-believes that the United States
was swindled out of-millions of dollars worth of oil in the Teapot
Dome oil grab are preparing a thorough investigation that they say
will not be a tea party for Sscretary Fall, the chief sponsor for the
deal which is expected to net Standard Oil millions of dollars.
Secretary Fall is going to have difficulty maintaining bis argu­
ment that the deal was made with Standard Oil, through' Sinclair,
because the oil from the Wyoming field was being driained by ad­
jacent oil wells because the operations of the Standard Oil since
the lease was made entirely discounted that statement.
interests. If any preference
,shown it should have been to some
fairly substantial independent con­
cern,* and not/o one of the greatest
monopolies in existence..
"Had this field been leased at
open, competitive bidding, the bon­
uses received would have been suf­
ficient* to build storage and furnish
the navy with fuel oil for many
years, greater royalties would have
been paid, and all the proceeds
thereof would have been net to the
government but there was no com­
petition or chance for competitive
bidding in the leasing of this im­
mensely valuable property, and none
was desired by any of- the parties
who negotiatedVlhe contract.
It is contended that the leases
were negotiated secretly in order not
to reveal storage locations. This de­
fense is a grasp at a straw. It was
not necessary to the leasing of this
field at competitive bidding to ad­
vertise the prospective locations of
storage tanks.
"If secrecy was desired or could
be maintained, the navy should re­
ceive the oil at designated Atlantic
and Gulf coast points and transport
it to the secret locations itself How­
ever, secrecy, has not been main­
tained, because the twenty-seven
"points at which the leases is re­
quired to deliver oil has been pub­
lished throughout the Jarfd and is
now,a matter of common knowledge.
If Teapot were left intact, the
building of artificial storage and the
effort to keep the locations' thereof
a secret, would be unnecessary aad,
aftKe iSSHfe
oil always would bfe at the imme­
diate command of the navy.
"The more the transaction is.ana­
lyzed, the more it appears to be a
clandestine scheme of greedy pluto­
crats and government officials who
are wholly unmindful .of the public
interests to exploit a possible means
of national defense."
HOW WAR PROFITEERS
STOLE $2,150,000,000
One
LEWIS HOW AMAZING RAILROAD PROFITS ARE CONCEALED BY TERMINOLOGY
that such claims are advanced by
false witnesses.
Whether the' editorial writers ,of
the New/iRepiiblic are ^intentionally
false witnesses, or unintentionally so,
of course the writer is^inopftipetept
to pass ju^gwent,. and, moreover,
the Good Book says, ud^ not that
ye be not judged." ,*
Let us. reiterate, for it's. true, and
mu'st necessarily be iterated and re
,iterated until tlje truth of-jbhe matter
is'universally recognized and the
evil remedied, that eteca?j}ing to the
highest authority in the -land, the
Interstate Commerce commission, the
clear net profits of the railroads of
the: United States ,durinr the four
years Jbeginh in Japiiary. 1916, and
ehding December SI, -1%19,- Was not
less than $5,682,844,876,-every dol­
lar' of .which '#Ss ab»rJe% by the
owneVs of the capital iti^estea, namef
lv, those who'.o^hed the atoc^ and
thfe bonds.
And moreover, there isn rooth for
the shadow of a dofibjt |haJ- the acti^al
profitp were .aany of mil
lions more thin these ^flcial reports
indicate. M.uch -othfer p&fit is ap­
pa re is os is
o£ expense.
For illustration:,, included" in(
Athe
operating e*pehse&- for ^j»e- y^r
(1919) something/in, of otie
billion and '24
fa hft£e
of the most sordid stories of
war profiteering is contained in re­
ports turned over to the department
of justice by the Aero club of Amer­
ica,- which charges,,that the govern­
ment's aiiy craft board and manufac­
turers of air craft acted in collusion
and robbed the government of* more
than $2,150,000,000'. since 1917.
It is alleged-that the manufactur­
ers were on the "inside,' 'and that
they ..knew of the armistice before it
was announced. These men, who
were in Paris at the time, arranged
with their confederates in Washing"
ton to have large contracts awarded
them by the air craft boai'd. Later,
•when the contracts were annulled
by the government because of the
armistice, -the .manufacturers collect
ed large sums from, the governmen
as "liquidated awards."
DEATHS AT STONE QUARRIES.
Accidlhts at! stone quarries
througout the United State In 1921
resulted in the death of 100 em
ployes and the injury .of 10.465 oth­
ers, according, to the federal bureau
of-mines.
pairs to locomo^ves, cars ahb'"rifcis
cellaneous- equipment." That amoitht
is more than sufficient to construct
5,000. miles of fhrst class' lirie Of Trail
way,-•. including^ up-to-date, Equip­
ment, or.. "Stated otherwise, a lne
reaching from Portland," Maine, -to
Rortland, Oregon, with hundreds of
mlliOns to spare.
Ah,out 125 millions appear also to
have .tfeen paid out the "same year
for "depreciation" of property. The
fact that railroad property, like all
other property,. depreciates, requires
no argument to sustain, '.but to whpm
were: these scote« of millions paid?!*
There is no satisfactory answer to
this ,query in the official report^pf
income ani^ eipendittttfSS. But "th^e
millions of tnpiey were deiuc|ed
from" the trahsporta^on income and
figures .that report: the wages paid
totaled dpjJn. the same columns. of
to the track walkers^ or the sums
paid for posiagek^or pltnting, or sta­
tionery, or what1 not. But to whom
was^it all pai^?^ 4-pd vher©Js it all
now'?
Your-property, gentle reader, and
mine, certainly depreciates in value
but we don't hand out any mon^y to
any- person* or persons to insure: us
against this unavoidable wear and
tea#l^j^'
7":^.
T|ie bperarthg «3tp«nfes were fur^
dollar? *P-4j^?r %uCnenied /^li'jkillielifeAtoQ
Kansas Election
Doom of Industrial Court,
A Jollification parade ,Jn Topeka
following definite information that
the industrial court, law had been
repudiated at the polls by the elec­
tion of Jonathan Davis as governor
was a hearse" depicting the death
of the Kansas industrial court.' The
hearse bore' a sign reading:
Kansas Industrial Court.
Wanted Grave Diggers. Apply
Henry and Me.
A. team drawing a wagcua loaded
with farm implements was next in
line. It carried a sign reading: "A
farmer came to town." Governor
elect Davis is a 'dirt farmer.
The parade was followed by a
mass meeting at the city auditorium.
Speakers devoted their, remarks
mainly to attacks: on the industrial
court and Gov. Henry Alien.
There is much* to indicated that
the results of the election already
have impaired the efficiency of the
industrial- cOurt. Attorney General
Hopkins has refused to participate
in' ttie trial of William Allen White,
publisher of the Emporia Gazette,
i^ho had displayed in his newspaper
office window placards expressing
his sympathy with the striking rail­
road shopmen, ,in violation of an or­
der of the'industrial court that these
placards be reiftioyed. White defied
the order so as to bring on a test
case. He was arrested, and- his case
after being much 'continued several
times, is "to be hea^d this month.
Governor Allerl has stumped the
country with eulogies of his anti
strike court.'His claims were to the
effect7 that the people of Kansas
were friends of his court, and that
its only opposition came from a few
radicals, in the labor unions. But
Allen is reversed by the' election of
Nov. 7. -j?
Throw Out
The hopes^ which were cherished^
by the French women tft&t the^vote
Would at last be accorded by the'
senate were not fulfilled. Neverthe­
less it was pnly by a?narrow ma­
jority, the voting being*156 against
134,- that the senators decided not
to proceed to the consideration of
the articles of Jhe -bill. ..^Thers has
been a long, general discussion on
the question but it-may-be declared
that, not a vote on the merits of 'he
ppoject but" only on the procedure,
has been -taken.
There isf nothing thenr-to prevent
the reintroduction of a similar meas­
ure at a:n early dateV The' opposition
in the senate may however,-be hard­
er to overcome than is supposed by
the enthusiastic woman, suffragists.
The following anecode, which is ,au
thentic, illustrates the point. A sen­
ator in Conversation expresses hiip
self as a feminist. "Then you' will
vote for the bill?" he was asked.
"Certainly," he replied. "Do you
think you will win?" he- was qufea
tioned. "I sincerely hope not," he
replied, "else I would nto be voting
for the bill."
This really serves to convey thb
character of much of the support
which the bill, passed by the Cham­
ber of Deputies years ago, obtains in
the senate, and this kind of siipp^t
is nearly as bad as downright op­
position.
by no other word or "words just-re­
tirements of locomotives, -cars, etc.
This mfan. of course, just so much
expenditqrcL for ".junked" property.
But when a locomotive for instance
that originally cost $15,000: or $20,-,
000 is worn out and j-educed to scrap
iron, -is it the practice to pay some­
one theoriginal price of the machine.
We dotf know.- Who does?
Let us! turn now to the "Con­
densed'Balance Sheet," as reported
for the calendar year1919, the latest
report, accessible to the public Here
we. find: the total assets of'iall ro*ds
in the-: United States is- reported to
be just f27,506,«LW.14. And-the lia
bilities^tb offset these assets niay be
.stilted briefly thus:
Capital invested (stocks and bonds
otherwise described as "long-term
debts"), $20,608,339,395.
All other liabilities, $7,498,339,709.
TOtal liabilities, $27,506,679,104.
Included in these, liabilities other
than the capital invested,, (the stock
and-, long term debts), which is, of
course, so much assets to thq, indl- Jl:
VlduaU stock and bond holders,- is
something in excess of ^odr billions
and 290 million dollars -, reported as
-''corporate surplus," and "unadjust­
ed credits* which- beipg' interpreted,
-means, of course just ~so much rnoce-:'
undivided .profit. And here we have
another Jfund held^over^as so mqch
Sl^v^Coitttaued on page ^2^
Bait Thrown
Pnunoters
~~—"T':
1
Union Asks John D.
John D. Rockefeller, jr^, almost
weeps in sympathy for coal miners
of Somerset county," Pa., but refuses
to permit them to: do. tlie one thing
that would improve their conditions,
declares the United MiAe Workers'
Journal in scathing comment on
Rockefeller's recent expression of
sympathy for Pennsylvania miners
on strike at his mines.
The editorial. is headed "Rocke­
feller Hypocrisy" and is a straight*
from-the-shoulder notice that the
coal, miners will not accept Sympa­
thy as a substitute for remedial ac­
tion.
"The one great institution in this
country that would and could im­
prove conditions of these people is
barred by Rockefeller," says the la­
bor paper.
"He refuses to. deal with the Unit­
ed Mine Workers of America. He
hates labor, unions with a bitterness
that is well known:* That's the rea
(ftoii why his ca«l- and^hTs
other intgit^f lrefuse" t6s%ave any
thing^ to dO 'jffth the riiij^ers* union.
''The minima in SqaferSet county,
a»but whonr^ Rockefeller appears to
so -deeply 'concerned, would join
the unioh-if they were-not absolute­
ly prohibited from, doing so. They
want the union to -teoriio'to- themv
"But Rockefeller, while' deploring.
the
.condition
of
these miners
1
"If ^Rockefeller is really interest"
edMn the welfare of miners in Som­
erset dbi^iity ^sewhere -he will
accord-.ithem" the. rightV of voluntary
"OrgariizatibnT"
The immigration law should be
changed so the ^numbeM)f "worthy
applicants for citizenship" could be
increased. accortiing to J. M^Earkin
of the. Bethlehem steel corporation,
speaking before 'the national- persons
net convention id Pittsbtfrgh.
Later in his talk Mrr Larkin un.
cautiouslyi revealed.' that -he is. less
interested in "worthy applicants for
citizenship" than in changing the
immigration.v la^, whieh: ^worki a
hardship on lst^ra en^ployers," he
said..
These. eentiments: are. in line with
the'i.'iabor shortage" propaganda. In
ithis city the steel- mills and--other
manufacturing plants are: holding
wages to the lowest level. iThe steel
barons then cry "labor. shortage.
The same conditions .prevail thrpugh
outrthe westerni/part- of ,thJs state,
where men c.re refusing to work long
hours for startatltonv^tfgjMC
Reaction's plan is to create a^be
lief in the public, mind that labor
shortage exists. This public opinio^
will be capMallted to secure free
mmigration and .permit industrial
corporations to* have- a liquad Of un­
employed at every factory sate/
These employees- are now-affect
ing patriotic interest-in the-class
of immigrants ^hat should be ad
itted*: This Is Ons of greed's favof
il? clajmsJ it sounds, good at banquet
.talks and elves their. cheap labor
4|uest' patriotic ao(^4
SUawrence Deep Waterway
JeH libflr in Fgiit Against Subsidy,
Every sort of deal has been mkde at Washington by agents
and repregentatives of the administration ojam'the^ship subsidy
bill through Congress./ It probabty will pass the house before this
issue of The* Labor World tifeches our .readers. However, the big
ship bonus grab will not have such easy sledding in the senate.
?This much is certain. La Follette, Borah, Johnson and other pro*
gressive Republicans promise to give battle. The Democrats will'
vote solidly against ship subsidy.
.- Anti-Saloon League Too.
The Anti-Saloon league, it is stat­
ed in Washington, has agreed to
support, the .shipping bill in ex­
change for stopping the sale of
liquor sn the high seas. Bait has
been thrown out to the middle west
by inserting a clause in the bill to
promote the Great Lakes-St. Law­
rence waterway project. It is said
that the promoters of the latter have
been invited to make an alliance
with the ship subsidy interests and
the bill will carry an amendment
favorable to the waterway interests.
President Harding attempted to
appease the farmers with a general
reference in his message to the ne­
cessity of providing them with re­
lief of some sort. The day aft^jrthe
addr.ess the National Board of Farm
organizations was put on record in
the senate with a resolution express­
ing a clear-cut opposition to the ship
subsidy bill, a, resolution:adopted by
the semi-annual conference of the'
board. It reads:
!an*iei^{nnil8e^¥ote'st
offers
cth'em nothiiig. His: notorious.'Rocke­
feller industrial rlan,' with ^which
he iias experimented for ieveral
years in Coltimdo, has proven" a fail­
ure. Under. that plan, the employe
is/ as tightly tied'to the employer as
he would be in a place like -Alaba­
ma. Miners in the'Rockefeller camps
of Colorado have nothing' to say
about wages or Working conditions.
They take what they" get from the
company or they get-out. The 'Rock­
efeller industrial plan' gives the em­
ployer final. decision in all matters
affecting his relations with his eij»
:ployei ... 'f
"And that is wlrat^RockefeHer of­
fers as,a substitute for the trade
-union.'
1
Farmers in Protest.
"Whereas it is apparent that the
question of granting subsidies to our
merchant shipping will soon be"
brought to a vote in congress and
"Whereas'the farmers of the Unit­
ed States have been traditionally op­
posed to the granting of such "sub­
sidies and
"Whereas, the plan embodied in
the Jones-Greene bill, which is now
under consideration, contains many,
'provisions that are extremely objec­
tionable and would, in our opinion,
be detrimental to the best interest
Of the country as a whole, if enact­
ed:'Therefore be it
"Resolved^, That this body record
against the pas­
sage of this proposed legislation."
This1 opposition to the ship sub­
sidy bill confirms the position taken
by the directors of the National
Board of Farm Organfasations-in reg­
ularly called session, July 5-6, in
which it was stated that "the board
desires-emphatically to go on record
against the ship subsidy bill, known
The resolution
•adopted at that time, in part,
stated:
'State Tlieir Reasons.
"Whenever bona fide groups ofj
organized farmers have assembled
in the ,past to consider this long-J
agitated question of ship subsidy the,
sentiment against' it lias been over-,
whelming and during the recent
months as* farmers have been learn­
ing of this p^tlbular measure their
voices have been raised against it
niore forcibly than ever.
jas H. R. 12021."
\.
In- addition to being opposed in
principle, to subsidizing private ship­
pers or shipping corporations we wish
to point out a few of the many ob­
jectionable features of the bill.
Unprecedented and unwarranted
autocratic powers are vested! in the
shipping board, as may be gathered
from the fact that it is not required
to make any financial accounting
to congress or the president, while
at the same time, it is permitted to
sell government-owned ships at pri-.
vate sale without competitive bid­
ding.
"Ships costing several billions ot.
dollars can and probably will b*
sold at 10 cents on the dollar, it ir­
es
timated. We shall lend over $100,«
000,000 at 2 per cent interest to re­
condition these ships when sold, and
then pay the owners ill round num­
bers, $150,000,000 in subsidies be­
sides in the next few years.
Disaster to Nation.
"The National Board of Farm Or­
ganizations protests the contemplat- .N
ed program, the effect of which can
only end. in disaster to the-nation.
We- earnestly request congress to re­
ject: the measure."
The president's pathetic plea for
labor support for -the ship subsidy
was based upon the statement ot one
operator that it cost more to
Meintlme.^"-
hlte
House.
-i
oper-
file an- American ship because Amer
ican wages were so high and there
fore the operators should be com
pensated. The president 'completely
ignored the facts, presented repeat
edly by Andrew Furpseth, president gg,
of the Seamen's union, that wages
and subsistence of American seamen j.|
are below those/ provided by English ^-4
and Norwegian ships and that Amer
ican shipowners have led- in cutting |g|
'^^'^F'"^c^u^v:to
downed that Chairman A. B. Lasker^rT
^11. W $hip^ihg JBoa^-^i be^.
the head ot a gigantic ship combin^^|
operating in the Atlantic as soon
he has put ov£r his subsidy" deal. He*^.
•is£J^^fcii^Sh»t^y and is apparently^
the 'dominating personality in the^
1RNKR8 WOHTI RETREAT.
There will/be no backward step in
wages' ci working conditions.,of the
miners, ^declared John Lewis,- pre8i- 3
dent oi the United Mine Workers of,
America, at a mass. meeting held a%||
H^pl^t^wn,, Pa., commemorating