The Butler County press. [volume], May 20, 1927, Image 1

About The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946

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VOL. XXVII.
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No. 6
By International Labor News Service.
Chicago.—An extraordinary exhibi
tion of good business management,
coupled with a high quality of skilled
union workmanship, enabled the R. C.
Wieboldt Company, a Chicago con
tracting firm, to make such a remark
able showing in the construction of
two additional buildings for North
western University that Walter Dill
Scott, president of the university, was
prompted to break forth into paens
of praise of union labor and of the
contracting firm, which had refunded
the sum of $153,872 after completion
of the job.
President Scott, on behalf of North
western University, and Secretary
Treasurer Charles H. Sand, on behalf
of the Carpenters' District Council of
Chicago, exchanged some verbal bou
quets through the medium of corre
spondence, as a result of the incident.
Impressed By Good Workmanship
President Scott said in a letter ad
dressed to Secretary-Treasurer Sand:
"During the construction of the
building on the McKinlock Campus I
became impressed with the high qual
ity of the workmanship that was ap
parent on all sides. I was so much
impressed that I felt the university
should recognize it. Accordingly. I
posted upon the buildings typewritten
statements in which I expressed my
appreciation and my desire that each
workman on the buildings should
share in the benefits of the buildings.
I therefore had cards printed and
signed by me and delivered, so far
as possible, to each workman on the
job. This card guaranteed to the
workmen preferential service during
the present year in all medical and
dental clinics that are housed in these
buildings.
"The type of service rendered by
union labor on these buildings is the
greatest possible argument that can
be rendered in favor of unionism. I
want to thank you, and through you,
the unions which have co-operated in
creating this great medical center in
the city of Chicago."
Sand Explains Union Efficiency
Secretary-Treasurer Sand's letter to
President Scott was an excellent brief
and argument for union labor. He
said:
"When a good general is successful,
he usually gets all the praise and
credit, and his army gets little or no
credit. You have been fair enough in
your statement to say that 'the actual
work was done so efficiently and care
fully that the contractors were able
to save this large sum of money.'
That is a fair and fitting testimonial,
both to efficient management ana effi
cient workmanship.
"It is unusual that a contractor re
turns any money to the owners, and
equally as unusual that the owner, in
a public statement, acknowledges the
efficiency of the men who performed
the actual work which made the sav
ing of this large sum of money pos
sible. We take keen interest in your
statement because this job, on which
this large sum of money was saved,
was done exclusively by union men,
and this is the first job done on the
campus exclusively by union labor.
FIFTY
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University Head Pays High
Tribute to Work of Union
Mechanics on New Buildings
S E I A
52 YEARS
&
SATURDAY ONLY
Tells of Union's Policy
"We direct attention to this because
the public in general is not aware of
the fact that it is the policy and prac
tice of the building trades organiza
tions to admit to membership in the
unions only skilled, efficient mechan
ics. Skilled workmen will invariably
join the union of their craft, because
their membership means better wages
and working conditions for them, with
the result that practically all the non
union men working at building con
struction are in the class that can
not qualify for membership in the
unions because of lack of skill.
"Skill and efficiency is not only es
sential, but indispensable to economic
management of building construction.
In competent workmen at lower wages
are expensive as compared to compe
tent workmen at higher wages. Skill
means efficiency and lower cost of
construction. Lack of skill means
higher cost of construction, and often
unsatisfactory work. In the construc
tion of your building the economy in
employing competent labor is clearly
demonstrated by saving of so large a
sum of money!
Skilled Workmen Required
"Modern building construction re
quires skilled workmen for successful
and economic operation, a fact which
R. C. Wieboldt Company recognizes.
The company has learned this from
actual experience, when some years
ago it tried to operate with non-union
help and tried it long enough to be
convinced that its business could be
better and more profitably carried on
with union help.
"There is a reason! It costs less to
operate with union labor and assures
delivery of a satisfactory job."
INJUNCTION JUDGE
IGNORES CONTRACT
Chicago.—Federal Judge Wilker
son's injunction against locked-out
employes of the White Printing
House, and his disregard for a con
tract that does not expire for two
years, again calls attention to the
shameless use of equity powers by
courts.
The White concern is a Delaware
corporation. The management ignor
ed its contract, replaced the 44-hour
week with the 48-hour week ana de
clared for the anti-union shop. When
employes protested against this flag
rant violation of a written pledge,
they were enjoined by Judge Wilker
son.
This court issued the nation-wide
injunction against shop men in 1922
at the request of Attorney General
Daugherty.
There are several injunction judges
in Cook county, but unionists are of
opinion that these jurists believed it
unwise, in view of the judicial elec
tion next month, to make the injunc
tion plea of the White management a
state case. It would be necessary to
pay attention to the injunction limi
tation act, recently passed by the Illi
nois legislature, but which has been
disregarded by some of these jurists.
I
Men's Colored Border
Handkerchiefs
3
for
2 5C
dozen men's fine handkerchiefs in this
special sale for Saturday only. They have
fancy woven borders in various colors all are
very good looking and of an extra good quality.
You'd really expect to pay more for these. Re
member, Saturday only 3 for 25c.
Share Your Loaf—Don't Loaf Your
Share. Help the Community Chest
RELIABLE SEHVICE
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THE BUTLER COUNTY
By International Labor News Service.
New York City.—The Kremlin of
the communist cloakmakers has fallen,
a bit of paper signed by a judge be
ing the instrument of their dispos
session. Foreclosure proceedings for
non-payment of taxes and mortgages
have begun against three properties,
the largest, the joint board building,
which was the stronghold of tjie oust
ed communist joint board. It is val
ued at neai'ly three-quarters of a mil
lion dollars. While attempting to
win the revolution on the sidewalks
of New York, the communists failed
to meet a $325 payment on a mort
gage.
They have not yet been routed by
the "minions of the law," and it is
expected there will be something of
a hullabaloo as the devotees of the
Third International are separated
from their fortress. Soon it is ex
pected the International Ladies' Gar
ment Workers' Union will regain pos
session of the properties by purchase
at foreclosure sales.
On two smaller buildings, the prop
erty of the reorganized Locals 2 and
9, foreclosure proceedings have been
filed by the Bowery Savings Bank and
the Mutual Life Insurance Company.
A receiver has been appointed to col
lect all rents for t|he joint board
building.
Communists Split Bosses
The "committee of one hundred"
organized by communists to win "lib
erals" and wealthy radicals to their
aid has proven to be a fizzle. The
counter-communist movement organ
ized by the committee for the preser
vation of the trade unions has now
the satisfaction of having routed the
bolsheviki in all the needle trades
with one exception. The ousted joint
board of fur workers has won a vic
tory with the splitting of the employ
ers, and a small group of fur trim
ming manufacturers is now aoing
business with the communist joint
board. In these shops the gangsters
employed to terrorize union men
found refuge. Other considerations
also helped to win these employers
to an alliance with the ousted joint
board.
Comment is now general whether
the revival of trade unionism in the
New York needle trades can restore
the full vigor of these organizations.
The losses from communist leader
ship are nearly $3,000,000 cash, the
destruction of the unemployment in
surance fund in the cloak industry,
over $1,000,000 foreclosure proceed
ings against properties worth another
$1,000,000, two disastrous strikes, the
dilution
trade virion
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Anti-Reds Making Progress
But Big Revival of Genuine
Trade Unionism is Needed
morale,
a
-»J
Why do we support
THE
Community Chest
&
Because we believe in building character, feeding the hungry,
clothing the naked, healing the sick, teaching the ignorant,
supporting and educating the orphan, strengthening the
weak, consoling the sorrowing, lifting up the fallen.
Because this is our job, and if we are too busy with other
affairs to attend to it ourselves we must provide a share of
the fund necessary to its accomplishment.
Because we believe that we are our brother's keeper, and that
the strong must help to bear the burdens of the weak. Be
cause it is through the agency of the Community Chest that
we can most systematically, intelligently, economically and
efficiently contribute to these purposes.
Because we want to discharge, at least in some measure, our
obligation to the community in which we live, pay our debt
to civilization, and express our gratitude to the Giver of
every good and perfect gift.
Because we will not be negligent in the unending warfare
against ignorance, poverty, disease and crime.
For our own sake, for the sake of our business, for the sake
of our families, for the sake of the community, for the sake
of civilization, and for the sake of God we cannot afford not
to have a part in the work of the Community Chest.
Communist Cloakmakers' Stronghold Falls
Union Soon to Regain New York Buildings
weakening of union loyalty and faith.
All of this is attributable to dropping
of the safeguards, particularly that of
labor journalism in Ngyr York only
five years ago.
Communist propaganda, mainly
through their press in an incredibly
brief time neai'ly destroyed the work
of a generation of constructive work
ers. No permanent barrier to their
reappearance has yet been raised.
Reform May Be Transitory
Labor in New York when aroused by
the appeals of national trade union
leaders ousted the communists. It is
a matter of common knowledge that
this reform will be but transitory un
less labor interest can be revived per
manently. A labor journalism that
will reach the unions and weld them
into one is the only pi-actical solution
that can safeguard the sprawling and
inherently powerful New York labor
movement.
"The Collapse of the Needle Trades"
is portrayed effectively in The Nation
by Benjamin Stolberg, a discerning
critic. He attributes the communist
mania, first to the effort to place a
Russian revolutionary ideal in Ameri
can industrial life, and a campaign of
madness and "psychiatric mud-sling
ing" against trade union leaders which
the rank and file believed. He reviews
the dismal failure on the part of the
communist leadership to appreciate
the union's advantage from the pro
posals of the governor's commission
the calling of a strike "never more
incompetently, irresponsibly and
wastefully managed" by vacillating
leaders whose strategy was deter
mined in daily communist caucuses
and the final extinction of communist
dictators who refused to "collaborate"
with the governor's commission but
who ended by collaborating with a
non-union employer and a profes
sional gambler to settle the disas
trous 25 weeks' strike.
Future Still Uncertain
Can the needle trades come back?
After the brutal communist experi
ment this is a difficult task. The
cloakmakers seem to be on the road
upward. The fur workers still have
bitter trials ahead. The future of la
bor in New York is by no means cer
tain unless there is a genuine rever
sal of trade union spirit from within.
New York.—Bruce McRae, one of
America's best known actors, is dead
after a six-months' illness. He was
vice president of the Actors' Equity
Association, affiliated to the A. F. of
L. ,During the Equity strike, a few
years ago, which involved all New
York theatres, he took a prominent
part.
.Ci,
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HAMILTON, OHIO, FRIDAY, MAY 20, 1927 ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR
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NEW YORK JUDGE
Enjoins Lockout of Union
Plumbers
By International Labor News Service.
New York City.—Instead of grant
ing an injunction in favor of em
ployers, the usual order in injunction
proceedings in labor disputes, Su
preme Court Justice Churchill re
versed the process and enjoined the
employing plumbers from locking out
members of Bronx Local 4G3 of the
Plumbers' Union.
Justice Churchill said the strike of
plumbers in Brooklyn which precipi
tated the lockout in the other bor
oughs was legal as the agreement had
expired. If the union men won thai
strike, he said, it would benefit meri
working in other boroughs as well.
He held the lockout in the Bronx tc
be a violation by the employers of an
agreement banning strikes and lock
outs.
"The Brooklyn strike was lawful,'
Justice Churchill said, "the agreement
with the union in that borough hav
ing expired, but the agreement ir
Manhattan and Bronx was still in full
force and effect and the lockout was &
plain violation of that agreement, the
essential purpose of which was to
avoid both strikes and lockouts and to
require arbitration of disputes be
tween the employes and their em
ployers.
"The agreement promises wages
equal to any that may be paid else
where in the city. If the Brooklyn
strike for higher wages succeeds it
will therefore benefit the members ol
the plaintiff union at the expense of
their employers. But that is a con
sequence expressly contemplated by
the terms of the agreement. The'
lockout is an unwarranted attempt to
nullify this provision of the agree
ment."
REMEDY FOR CRIME
SOUGHTJN VAIN
New York.—No "general panacea''
for crime has been discovered, but
several preventive and remedial agen
cies were recommended by speakers
who addressed the annual New York
city conference of charities and cor
rection.
In urging a living wage, Rev. Wil
liam A. Courtney said: "Crime is the
price we must pay for living in tre
mendously congested areas filled with
temptations."
Miss Jane Hoey, of the New York
state crime commission, said the com
mission's study of two New York city
areas had disclosed that baa housing,
overcrowding, the forcing of children
to play in the streets and of youth to
seek its recreation in poolrooms and
motion picture theatres contributed
to juvenile delinquency.
MP? 7^
|,
PRESS.
By International Labor News Service.
Chicago.—Every effort should be
made to convince the interstate com
merce commission that it is seriously
in error in its policy as to freight
rates on coal, which are discrimina
tory as between union and non-union
fields, is the opinion of Henry R. Rath
bone, congressman-at-large from Illi
nois, who gave expression to his views
in an address delivered over Station
WCFL, the radio broadcasting sta
tion owned by the Chicago Federation
of Labor, at the formal opening of
the station's new studios.
Congressman Rathbone's views are
especially worthy of consideration and
should carry weight by reason of the
fact that he was chairman of the sub
committee of the house of represen
tatives during the last session of con
gress which investigated the prices
of coal during the recent anthracite
coal strike.
Assails Discrimination
"The fact was forcibly brought to
my attention that the union coal fields
of the Middle West, among which Illi
nois is included, are placed at a very
serious disadvantage in competition
with the non-union coal fields of West
Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia in
the matter of freight rates," he said.
"I feel strongly that every effoi*t
should be made to convince the inter
state commerce commission that this
discrimination, which is working so
injuriously to the unionized coal fields,
should be done away with and that the
union miners, as well as their employ
ers, should be placed at least on a
plane of equality with the non-union
coal industry."
Mr. Rathbone also touched upon the
immigration question, the agricultural
situation and the almost forgotten at
tempt to "deflate labor." On these
subjects he had the following to say:
"We hear no more at the present
time of a 'deflation of labor' being
necessary. To attempt to lower the
standard of living of the toilers of
the nation would not only be unjust
and inhuman, but it simply would not
pay. Employer and employe alike
would suffer. The high standard of
American wages and living must be
maintained.
Praises Johnson Act
"Experience also has shown that in
order to maintain the present level of
wages and living immigration must be
restricted and the barriers raised to
^Spp
Rathbone and Miners' Head
Attack Freight Rates Which
Favor Non-Union Coal Fields
Account Opening
Furniture Sale
•H i ,T
The above Gateleg Table
Only 9C
For Particulars See Our Corner Window Display
A wonderful event to attract new
customers and to reward old custom
ers by giving them the most aston
ishing values.
COME IN TODAY
THIRD AND COURT
prevent a flood of cheap labor inun
dating this country from less favored
lands. I regard the Johnson act, pro
viding us with this protection, as one
of the greatest achievements of con
gress in recent years.
"We should also realize the menace
to all our people in the present tie
pressed condition of agriculture.
Every effort should be made to remedy
this condition and to give to the farm
ers their fair chance for happiness and
prosperity in the world. We should
be prompted to take this stand not
only through feelings of justice and
humanity, but also because we should
realize that if the small farmer can
no longer support himself and fam
ily and is compelled to abandon the
field for the factory, that another in
flux of labor will come to the cities
which will unavoidably be brought in
competition with the working men and
have a strong tendency to undermine
the present high standard of wages
and living enjoyed by the toilers."
Fishwick Assails Unfair Rates
Peoria, 111.—Freight rate discrimi
nation that enables Kentucky and
West Virginia non-union operators to
carry their coal to the Chicago mar
ket and the West for less per ton
mile than from the unionized mines of
Illinois, is the cause for the decline
of the Illinois and central competi
tive field, was the 'charge made by
Harry Fishwick, president of District
12, United Mine Workers of America,
in delivering his keystone address at
the opening of the district convention
in this city.
President Fishwick charged that the
interstate commerce commission
since the war had brought about the
present deplorable situation by
"throwing to the winds it former pol
icy and has initiated a series of in
creases and decreases on the rates for
the carrying of coal that has disturb
ed the differentials and the stabilized
condition of the industry.
"Every single decrease of freight
rates on soft coal has been of advan
tage to the non-union fields south and
east of the Ohio river," he continued.
"And every single increase of these
freight rates as ordered by the com
mission has been directed against coal
produced in the so-called union fields."
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