Robeson scores on So. Side; Deep South next!
Steel, packing, rail workers
hear Negro leader speak here
Steelworkers, railroad workers, packinghouse workers
-—they all turned out this week to hear one of the greatest
of the greats, the mighty Paul Robeson.
Largest of the three labor meetings at which Robeson
spoke and sang was the mass rally in the Union Stock Yards
called by the Packinghouse
Workers for Wallace and
Taylor.
An estimated 5.000 stockyards
workers poured oul of the Swift.
Armour, Wilson and other plants
to gather on the street, on over
head runways, and in the build
ings overlooking the famed ' CIO
Corner”—43rd and Packers—
where a temporary stand was
set up.
“Packing is a union that must
understand the problems that
face tin working man today,”
said Robeson, urging his listen
ers to join the Progressive Partv.
He said they must “see the
link” connecting the Meat Trust
that fights their union with the
Democratic and Republican poli
ticians who work on behalf of
the Meat Trust in Washington.
He told his listeners not to be
discouraged by the seeming pow
er of their enemies.
“In the end.” he declared, “the
people — the people — are the
power.”
Cheers greeted his announce
ment that he intends to follow
Henry Wallace's footsteps in a
tour of the South beginning ear
ly in October.
The setting for Robeson speech
was possibly the most colorful in
Chicago. Truckloads of bawling
cattle rolled past as he spoke
at the corner where the United
Patkmghouse Workers of Amer
ica (CIO) first organized the
stockyards workers.
The thousands of workers,
with only a half hour for lunch,
munched sandwiches as the full,
rolling voice filled the dusty
lanes of America's slaughtering
center.
Enthusiastic response greeted
his songs: “Joe Hill,” “Water
Boy,” “Old Man River.”
It was the same spontaneous
roar of approval which two pre
vious audiences had given him.
More than 1.00, ...eelworkers
and their families, drawn to the
auditorium of Corliss High
School in the Al*~eld Gardens
housing project on the Far South
S'de bv the Steelworkers for
Wallace and Taylor, had shaken
th< jam-packed hall with their
applause.
And later some 400 persons
had given the famous progres
sive a standing ovation when he
addressed them in the DuSablc
Community Center, 49th and
Wabash, under the auspices of
the National Railroad Labor
Committee for Wallace and Tay
lor.
Other candidates who spoke
with Robeson at one of the three
meetings included Sam Parks,
ex-president of the Wilson local
of UPWA and nominee for sani
tary district trustee; Grant
Oakes, candidate for governor:
Sidney Ordower, nominee for
Congress from the 6th district;
and Oscar Brown. Jr., candidate
for state representative from the
1st senatorial district.
Western Electric crisis
In an attempt to avert a strike
set for Sept. 17, CIO Vice-Presi
dent Allan Haywood entered
negotiations between the Asso
ciation of Communication Equip
ment Workers (CIO) and West
ern Electric Co.
Wrigley Field highlights
Here are some highlights from
speeches delivered by local Pro
gressive Party leaders at the
Wrigley Field Wallace rally this
week:
CURTIS I). MacDOUGALL,
candidate for U.S. Senator:
“It is not yet too late to call
a hall: not too late to reach a
peaceful understanding with
Russia by reall*- keeping the
door open; not too late to re
store the Big Three unity which
won the war; not- too late,
through a strong United Nations,
to resume our march toward one
friendly, rather than two hos
tile, worlds. It is not appease
ment to reach a peaceful agree
ment with another nation. It is
suicide r ot to try."
GRANT OAKES, candidate for
governor and president of the
United Farm Equipment & Metal
Workers of America (CIO):
“There is no choice between
an incompetent Republican gov
ernor and his Democratic rival
for that job. One man, of course,
speaks with a voice from the
Tribune Tower. The other
speaks the more gentle accents
of a LaSalle Street bank. But
■HI l*r vH’:
OAKES McDOUGALL
their message to the people of
Illinois is one word—reaction.”
MRS. PAULINE KIGH REED,
candidate for secretary of state:
“Negroes are running for of
fice on Progressive Party tickets
all over the land. It is like
something out of the old Recon
struction period in 1868. It is
no wonder, therefore, that the
Negro people are in a mood to
make an historic break with the
two old parlies.”
JUDGE SAMUEL IfELLER.
candidate for state's attorney:
“Of the two fronts (Republi
can- and Democratic'), the latter ,
is the more dangerous because
its election campaign pretense of
liberalism divides the progressive
forces in the US”
MISS PEARL HART, eandi
date for chief justice of the Mu
nicipal Court:
“The Municipal Court of Chi
cago is . . . the supreme court
of the poor. If you are arrested
on e picket line, you are brought ,
into the Municipal Court. If you
arc arrested for any reason at
all, you are brought into the
Municipal Court. If you are a
be evicted, you are brought into
the Municipal Court.
“The poor must seek protec
tion in the Municipal Court, but
it and its leaders are indiffer
ent to your needs because the
Chicago Real Estate Board dom
inates that court. The judges
who are now on that bench and
who are seeking re-election will
continue to ignore the needs of
the poor if by your indifference
\vou permit them to remain on
the bench; but if you oust those
who have ousted you, their suc
cessors will be very sensitive to
your needs”
THIS San Francisco butcher didn't set a national trend when he lowered meat prices under pressure
of consumer boycott. Is your butcfter selling prime ribs of beef for 65c a pound?
U. S. Supreme Court may
get Illinois ballot case
The Progressive Party this week hinted that it might
take its fight for a place on the Illinois ballot all the way
up to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The suggestion came after the Illinois Supreme Court
refused to hear Progressive arguments that the state elec
non law. Dy wnicn me Demo
crats and the Republicans had
barred them from the ballot,
is unconstitutional.
Richard Watt, speaking at the
great Wrigley Field rally, an
nounced:
With your support, with your
taith. and. above all. with your
righteous anger, we are going to
battle for our rights—if need be.
to the highest court of the land.”
Watt headed the battery of
Progressive lfiwyers who pre
sented the new party’s plea for
a hearing to the Illinois Su
preme Court.
With all our strength we say
Wallace and Taylor are going
on the ballot!” Watt cried.
Lashing into the Democratic- |
Republican deal tc keep the
Progressives off the ballot, the
University of Chicago legal ex
pert charged that ‘ the effect . . .
was to rob hundreds of thous
ands of voters of this state of
their right to vote for candidates
ol their own choice.”
The state election law is ‘'ar
bitrary, unreasonable, and un
constitutional —- in violation of
both the Illinois and the US.
i institutions," Watt contended.
He expressed his shock that
the Illinois Supreme Court ' re
fused to give us a hearing, even
though any schoolboy can see
that that law is unfair, undemo
cratic. and completely subver
sive of our whole scheme of gov
ernment.”
Watt pointed out:
"Under this unheard-of law,
every registered voter in Cook
County could sign a petition to
out Henry Wallace i n the ballot,
and still Wallace's name would
not go on the ballot.
"Think of it! Over 2'> mill
ion voters in Cook County could
1O1 legally put Henry Wallace on
the ballot! And yet, if he were
an the ballot, those very same
voters could carry the state of
Illinois for him!
"This is a law the political
bosses love. This is a law winch
makes it impossible for the peo
ple to do anything but vote for
the old parties or stay home
This is a law which keeps you
in bondage. I say this is a vi
cious. un-American law
“As K. M. Landi II of the
Chicago Sun-Times wrote in his
excellent article the other day:
In the coming free election,
more Americans will be disfran
chised in the state of Illinois
than in the state of Bilbo '
Fear was the motivating force
that impelled the Democrats and
the Republicans to join forces
against the Progressives, Watt
maintained.
“The political leftovers of the
once great Democratic Party of
Franklin Delano Roosevelt are
afraid. They are s jred to death
and because of that fear they
will do anythi g to keep us off
the ballot, even though what
they are doing is morally wrong,
legally wrong, and politically
stupid!”
The battle for political free
dom is "not just a question of
law." Watt held
“This is a matter involving the
very survival of our democratic
institutions.
“You have been robbed! Your
birthright as an American citi
zen has been taken from you by
a crew of professional political
thieves. If ever there was a
time for you to stand up and
cry steal that time is now "
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