VOL. XXIX. No. 5
Sacramento, Cal. (ILNS)—Senate
Bill No. 112, by Senator Burley, pro
hibiting the employment of aliens by
contractors and sub-contractors on
public work carried on by the state
and its political sub-divisions, was de
feated in the assembly by a record
vote of 30 ayes to 37 noes.
The bill was sponsored by organized
labor generally and had passed the
senate virtually without opposition.
Then the big contractors of California
got busy, with extraordinary results.
A number of members of the assem-
JUSTICE THROUGH
LAW
THE WOMAN DISAPPEARS
In the early days of the common
law in England when a Woman mar
ried she disappeared as a legal per
son. The old theory was "Husband
and wife are one and that one is he."
Any property that the woman owned
the husband took. He also owned the
services of the wife. Any work she
did for another was as though he had
done the work. He got the pay. She
got nothing.
If anyone injured the wife she had
no standing in court for redress. She
could not sue. She did not exist—
legally. Suppose someone assaulted
her. Her husband had to sue. He
was entitled to money damages for
the physical harm she received. She
had the pain, the suffering, the bodily
hurt. But he got the money which
the jury awarded as compensation for
the hurt she had received.
Furthermore, the wife was practi
cally the slave of the husband. He
Could treat her as his slave. If he
whipped her she could not sue him for
the whipping. She could not appear
as a legal person in court. Of course
he was not going to sue himself for
the whipping he had given her. She
had no redress. If he was particularly
brutal in the whipping he gave her he
might be punished in the criminal
courts. But even here the husband
had the best of the situation. So long
as he did not use a club to whip her
which was more than the thickness of
his little finger he would be left scot
free. He was the "lord and master."
She was the subject and the subordi
nate.
And the law of that time has been
praised most highly. Blackstone says
that the legal position of women at
common law was most praiseworthy
that the subordination of the wife to
the husband was for "her protection
and benefit" and adds, "So great a fa
vorite is the female sex of the laws
of England."
For over four hundred years the
married woman was legally non-exis
tent. But about 1840 a movement be
gan both in England and the United
States which had as its notion that a
married woman was still a human be
ing. And little by little the various
states began to pass statutes which
gave the married woman some legal
position. At first she was allowed to
have and to own some property. Then
she could make contracts. Then she
could work for herself and get the
fruits of her labors. Little by little
she was given control of her body.
And also of her children. Some states
allow her to sue even her husband if
he is brutal to her and compel him
to compensate her in money terms
for the harm he had done to her.
But in no state, and in no country,
is the wife, at the present time, the
equal under the law, of her husband.
In some states the husband still owns
the labor and services of the wife.
She still has to ask him to sue in
ceurt for harm that has been done
to her. She still is not the guardian
of her children. She still cannot sue
him if he assaults and batters her.
In many states in this country the
law of the fifteenth century in Eng
land still applies. The women of the
country are trying to equalize the
118 High Street
i i i i i i i
California Assembly Kills Bill
Barring Aliens on Public Works
Saturday Specials
FRESH SHOULDER RIBS Clr
Per pound
SMOKED CALA 171^
HAMS
FANCY BOILING BEEF 1 A1
Per pound ....
i Chicago Market Co. i
I
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bly, who are prominent members of
the American Legion and talk much
patriotism, refused to vote for prefer
ence to American citizens in employ
ments on public work.
The proponents of the bill pointed
out that thousands of American citi
zens -wer^ unemployed in California
at this very moment, yet recently ar
rived aliens are doing public work be
cause they are available at a lower
rate of pay. This argument appar
ently did not appeal to the assembly
laws which now discriminate against
married women. The League of Wom
en Voters and the national woman's
party are the two large organizations
which are striving for equal rights.
They differ in their methods. The
League of Women Voters wants the
inequalities to be removed by each
state separately. The national wom
an's party believes in congressional
action. They have introduced a con
stitutional amendment called the
"Equal Rights Amendment" which
reads as follows:
"Art. 1. Men and' women shall have
equal rights throughout the United
States and every place subject to its
jurisdiction."
SUBTLE^PIECE
OF PROPAGANDA
By Reds Goes to Wrong
Person
Chicago (ILNS)—A subtle piece of
propaganda work, engineered by the
Russian soviet government in order
to create sentiment in this country
favorable to diplomatic recognition of
Russia by the United States, receiv
ed a severe jolt in Chicago because
of the crude tactics of the American
communist leaders.
The Chicago appearance of the Isa
dora Duncan Dancers was seized upon
as a means of raising money for the
Daily Worker, official publication of
the reds in the United States.
Mimeographed letters were sent
broadcast from the local office of the
Daily Worker, inviting attendance at
the performances of the Duncan Dan
cers and offering preference as to the
best seats to all those who would pre
sent an inclosed printed card at the
box office. Presentation of the Daily
Worker card of course would give the
signal to the ticket seller that the one
presenting it was one of the elect of
the communist party, or at least a
strong friend of the soviet govern
ment.
Through a ludicrous error one of
these letters and the inclosed printed
card were sent to George W. Perkins,
president of the label trades depart
ment of the American Federation of
Labor, who turned them over to In
ternational Labor News Service.
Tne letter concluded as follows:
"Counting on you not to miss this
treat of real modern revolutionary
Russian art, and appreciating your
support for our press at the same
time, we are," etc.
CARPENTERS GAIN
WIN 5-DAY WEEK
Indianapolis.—The five-day week
and higher wages are being establish
ed by ^inits of the United Brother
hood of Carpenters and Joiners, ac
cording to General Secretary Frank
Duffy.
"Our latest report," said Mr. Duffy,
"shows nearly a score of cities from
New York State to Wyoming, and
from Hamilton, Ontario, to Louisiana,
that have secured the five-day week
and raised wages. Our members have
secured these gains through their own
effort. It is our experience that em
ployers will treat with us as we de
velop a 100 per cent solidarity."
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(Copyright, W.
Washington, D. C. (ILNS)—Major
George L. Berry, president of the in
ternational Printing Pressmen and
Assistants' Union, commissioned as
personal representative of Governor
Henry H. Horton, of Tennessee, to
effect settlement of the rayon work
ers' strike at Elizabethton, Tenn.,
puts responsibility for prolongation
of the strike squarely upon the em
ploycrs in the Happy Valley town
that has wondered since March 22
why the mill owners have not kept
their word to the workers.
Major Berry thus adds his verdict
to that of U. S. Labor Department
Conciliator Charles Wood, who gave
International Labor News Service the
same verdict last week. But Major
Berry does more than that. He sets
at rest definitely any question as to
his official status in the dispute, thus
showing that in rejecting his offer
the mill owners have flouted the gov
ernor of the state. Mr. Wood, while
in Washing-ton last week, told Inter
national Labor News Service that
Governor Horton had said to news
paper men in Johnson City, seven
miles from Elizabethton, that he had
not authorized Major Berry to act for
him.
HUMAN ELEMENT
Ignored By Southern Em
ployers
Greensboro, N. C.—The miracle of
industrial growth in the South has
kept its pace on the human side, de
clared Miss Mary Anderson, director
of the United States Women's Bu
reau, in an address before the Pied
mont Organizing Council.
"Along with the rush of industries
into the South," said Miss Anderson,
"have gone many of the old mistakes
made by employers in the North dur
ing its period of development. This
brought low work standards which
could be prevented if plans had been
as carefully laid for the handling of
human problems as of mechanical
ones."
Investigators of the Women's Bu
reau have found good and bad condi
tions everywhere, "but we have found
the lowest wages and longest hours
prevailing in the South," said Miss
Anderson.
"For example we found that many
of the workers still have a day of 10
hours or more and that many of them
work 11 hours at night. We found the
median' wage for women employed for
a full-time week as low as $8.60 in
Mississippi, with the highest among
the Southern States, in Georgia, of
$12.95. The highest among States in
other parts of the country was $16.85
and the lowest was just over $11."
The speaker said labor-displacing
machinery is becoming, a major prob
lem and that no one knows how many
persons are out of employment be
cause of these changes.
In the laundry industry, the speaker
said, reports for the period 1909
1927 show that the amount of work
done, measured in dollars and cents,
increased 349.8 per cent while the
number of employes increased 93.1
per cent and the number of'foundries
increased 54.7 per cent.
"What can be said of this industry
THE BUTLER COUNTY PRESS.
HAMILTON, OHIO, FRIDAY, MAY 10, 1929
Mother
5
Maj. Berry, Representing
Tennessee Governor, Puts
Issue Up to Mill Owners
Berry Quotes Authority
To settle the question of whether
the mill owners had flouted the gov
ernor, International Labor News
Service wired Major Berry and Gov
ernor Horton, in each case asking the
status of Major Berry in the strike
situation. Major Berry replied by
wire at once, but Governor Horton
had not answered. From Major Berry
came the following important and il
luminating wire:
"Under date of April 18 E. C. An
derson, secretary to Governor Henry
H. Horton, communicated with me
and said: 'The governor would be de
lighted if you could find time to go
to Elizabethton and on his behalf
offer either of the two plans of me
diation as coming from him. If you
could render this .service for the
state and represent Governor Horton
in trying to bring about an under
standing between the conflicting in
terests I assure you it would be great
ly appreciated by the governor.'
"In compliance with the request of
Governor Horton through his secre
tary, I communicated with the two
parties at Elizabethton by letter, in
dicating my desire to fulfill the re
quest of the governor if they were
prepared to receive me as the gov-
may be said of many others, including
textiles.
"This expansion of machinery and
decline in number of employes not
only is very serious to the workers
themselves but threatens the stability
and prosperity of our whole country
because the purchasing power of the
people is a tremendous asset to the
prosperity of us all."
OLD AGE PENSIONS
IS NATIONAL NEED
New ,York.—Old age pensions is a
national need, declared speakers at
the National Conference on Old Age
Security.
"For a man to work faithfully the
best part of his life at a meager wage
and then to be ruthlessly thrown out
of employment due to oncoming age
is a social wrong," said Theodore L.
Bierck, chairman of the New Jersey
Commission on Old Age Insurance
and Pensions.
"What is the picture held out to the
worker who sees old age coming upon
him?" said Mr. Bierck. "Is he to be
relegated to the almshouse which in
the future will be looked upon as a
relic of the barbaric, uneconomic
past Today a man of 40, capable and
in full health, is not wanted for em
ployment.
"The increase in criminals is re
ceiving recruits from this class who
are desperate. It is all well and good
to respect law, but we must have re
spectable laws. We, who are more for
tunate, must have regret for those
who are less so. The state by law
should in its sovereign right decree
that those who have reached an age
where their labor is impossible should
be cared for. When this is realized
there will be less crime."
Other speakers included United
States Senator Dill of Washington,
Bishop Francis J. McConnell of the
Federal Council of the Churches of
Christ Dr. John A. Ryan of Catholic
ernor's representative. Copy of my
letter went forth to the governor un
der date of April 20.
Strikers Reply Owners Silent
"To date I have received no answer
from the Bemberg and Glanzstoff
corporations. I have, however, i^e
ceived a letter from the United Tex
tile Workers of America, agreeing
to proceed in an effort to mediate
the differences."
Major Berry does not credit the
reported statements attributed to the
governor at Johnson City and be
lieves the report in error. Regard
less of that phase of the question,
it is made t^ear by Major Berry that
the Bemberg and Glanzstoff mill au
thorities in Elizabethton are solely
responsible for continuance of the
shut-down that holds 5,000 men and
women idle.
Meanwhile Elizabethton business
men charged with complicity in the
kidnaping of Edward F. McGrady and
Alfred Hoffman have freely made
trips to Washington to intercede with
senators. Whether they have been
given any assurances of support is
not known definitely, though the be
lief is that they have not found -any
ready senatorial response to their
appeals.
University Rabbi Stephen Wise
Thomas Kennedy, secretary-treasurer
United Mine Workers of America Dr.
E. M. Burns of Columbia University,
and Miss Frances Perkins, New York
State Industrial Commissioner.
FIRE ENGINE
Strike Won By Machinists
Washington.—Machinists won their
strike against the American La
France and Foamite Corporation,
manufacturers of fire engines, at El
mira, N. Y.
For 12 months more than 300 ma
chinists insisted on their right to or
ganize. They have a record of 100
per cent solidai'ity and were aided by
organized workers throughout the
United States and Canada.
In a lelter to organized workers of
North America, Arthur O. Wharton,
president of the International Asso
ciation of Machinists, thanks trade
unionists for their aid.
"We are anxious to show this com
pany that our friends in the labor
movement are just as much a con
structive asset as they were an ob
struction to the company in securing
orders under a strike condition," said
President Wharton.
"The product of this company is
against being made by union machin
ists who have spent a lifetime in the
business of making fire-fighting ap
paratus and who built the reputation
of the American La France and
Foamite Corporation.
"The company is the only concern
employing union machinists under
agreement and this fact should be rec
ognized and stressed with our friends
and city officials.
"Your co-operation now in securing
business for this company will not
only have a solutary effect on other
companies which have profited by the
recent controversy, but will help to
furnish steady employment for union
men.
New York City (ILNS)—An appeal
for contributions to aid socialist vic
tims of the soviet dictators in Russia
again directs attention to the man
ner in which even radicals who dis
agree with the communist rulers are
treated. The appeal is issued by the
Relief Society for Socialist Prisoners
and Exiles in Soviet Russia, and says:
"The need of aid is urgent and im
mediate. The numbers of prisoners
and exiles in Soviet Russia runs into
tens of thousands. In Solovki Island
and Kem alone there are more than
45,000. The prisons of Leningrad and
Moscow are filled beyond their capac
ity. The conditions under which the
prisoners live are so terrible that
RAYON STRIKERS
Thrown in Jail Business
Men Aid Hunger Plot
Elizabethton, Tenn.—"Persecution,
prosecution and hunger are the weap
ons used to drive young womanhood
and manhood at this place back into
industrial slavery," said Edward F.
McGrady, in a report to A. F. of L.
headquarters.
The A. F. of L. representative said
boarding house keepers are arresting
young men and women because they
are unable to pay their board bill.
Girls from 17 to 20 years of age are
thrown in jail, and one boy of 15 was
arrested as part of the intimidation
scheme.
"The union, of course, is releasing
these workers on bail as fast as they
are arrested," said Mr. McGrady,
"Merchants who have been selling
food supplies to the union to be dis
tributed among needy strikers have
been warned not to sell any more
goods.
"Today a committee called upon
Governor Horton at the capitol. This
committee, I am informed, was com
posed largely of the business men who
acted as kidnappers and violators of
the law in the recent outrage in this
valley. The governor received this
band of intimidators. What took place
at this conference is not known, but
this afternoon the sheriff was in
structed to swear in 50 extra deputies
and I am informed he was given the
names of those who should be sworn
in. These new deputies augment
i
Appeal Is Made for Socialist
Victims of Communist Tyranny
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many of them seek relief in suicide.
The situation of the exiles is no bet
ter. The soviet government con
demns them to seek any work and
thereby condemns them to extinc
tion."
The international socialist organi
zation recently appealed for these
victims of soviet tyranny, saying:
"Thousands of socialists are being
arrested and exiled in Soviet Russia
without trial or preliminary investi
gation, while the same is true even
of communists if they fail to agree
with their government and venture to
express political opinions of their
own."
members of the militia who are on
guard. I am further informed that an
attempt is to be made to bring in
strikebreakers who are not mill work
ers. They will be brought in so that
riots will take place in order to en
able the Governor to declare martial
law.
"Five thousand five hundred men,
women and children are battling
against unheard of oppression and in
addition to this they are facing star
vation.
"Representatives of the A. P. of L.
are still preaching peace and asking
for conciliation, but if trouble arises
the blame can be placed on these in
dustrial autocrats who are secretly
planning for disorder that the militia
may be used to crush the strike."
Mr. McGrady urges that "the ad
ministration in Washington, members
of the United States Senate, the Gov
ernor of Tennessee and the press" be
warned of the true state of affairs.
GEORGIA UNIONISTS
ASK OLD-AGE PENSION
Augusta, Ga.—A State pension for
old-age workers was favored by the
annual convention of the Georgia Fed
eration of Labor.
The unionists also declared for a
State bond issue for highway pur
poses for a State bond issue of $25,
000,000 for the Georgeia public school
system and additional factory inspec
tors and more rigid factory in
spection.
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