The Butler County press. [volume], July 24, 1931, Image 2

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

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THE PRESS
OmCXAL OEGAK OP OBGAM1HB L4101
OP HAMILTON AND VKJDOTT
ntka.
wilt tfiiu
Mcmbm
Ohio Labor Press Amelttili
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Endorsed by the Trades and Labor
Council of Hamilton. Ohio
Endorsed by the Middletown Trades
and Labor Cettncil of Middletown, 0
FRIDAY. JULY 24. 1931
UNIONISM AS A SOCIAL FORCE
The value of the trade union move
ment cannot be measured by wage
increases, unless these increases are
associated with higher living stand
ards, more diffused education and a
more enlightened citizenship.
Unionism is a social force because
its heart is morally and ethically
sound. It is never found pleading for
special privilege. Wage rates it asks
for are met by the non-union em
ployer. Its pleas for the abolishment
of child labor include children of
workers who take no part in the fight
for better conditions. It demands
that life and limb be protected in
shop and mine include all workers.
Its creed is all-embracing—regardless
of sex, religious belief, politics, na
tionality or color—it invites all wage
earners to join with it in the effort
for a higher type of manhood and
womanhood.
The time has passed when the
trade union movement must apolo
gize for its existence or defend its
purposes. Its position is invulnerable
because it is supported by grim neces
sity and by the highest ideals that
have actuated man—a larger degree
of liberty. A movement founded on
these two elements can withstand any
shock, as has been proven times with
out number by the trade unions.
:o:
DEMOCRACY IN INDUSTRY
Two codes of rules and regulations
affect the workers the law upon the
statute books, and the rules within
industry.
The first determines their relation
ship as citizens to all other citizens
and to property.
The second largely determines the
relationship of employer and em
employe, the terms of employment,
the conditions of labor, and the rules
and regulations affecting the work
ers as employes.
The first is secured through the
application of the methods of demo
cracy in the enactment of legislation,
and is based upon the principle that
the laws which govern a free people
should exist only with their consent.
The second, except where effective
trade unionism exists, is established
by the arbitrary or autocratic whim,
desire or opinion of the employer and
ASK FOR
A BEACON Or QUALITY FOPOVEIMOYEAffS
At All Dealers
LABOR SAVING GOES ON, BUT HOW
And nothing was done about it!
is based upon the principle that in
dustry and commerce cannot be sue
cessfully conducted unless the em
ployer exercises the unquestioned
right to establish such rules, regula
tions and provisions affecting the em
ployes as self-interest prompts.
Both forms of law vitally affect the
workers' opportunities in life and de
termine their standard of living. The
rules, regulations and conditions
within industry in many instances
affect them more than legislative en
actments. It is, therefore, essential
that the workers should have a voice
in determining the laws within indus
try and commerce which affect them
equivalent to the voice which they
have as citizens in determining the
legislative enactments which shall
govern them.
It is as inconceivable that the work
ers as free citizens should remain
under autocratically made law within
industry and commerce as it is that
the nation could remain a democracy
while certain individuals or groups
exercise autocratic powers.
It is, therefore, essential that the
workers everywhere should insist
upon their right to organize into trade
unions, and that effective legislation
should be enacted which would make
it a criminal offense for any employer
to interfere with or hamper the ex
ercise of this right or to interfere
with the legitimate activities of trade
unions.
:o:
-NOT SO PATRIOTIC
The owners of an enterprise which
has made good profits out of a coun
try in times of prosperity are un
patriotic if in times of depression
they are more concerned to protect
dividends than the rights of their
workers to a livelihood, declares the
Montreal Daily Star of a report that
ABOUT ALSO SAVING THE LABORER?
In 1929, when the number of wage earners employed in manufactures
was at the peak, there were 192,522 less persons at work than in the peak
year of 1919.
Meanwhile, the population total had increased by 20 per cent. This in
crease had not been absorbed by industry and the proportion of those en
gaged in agriculture had decreased.
Had there been no depression, these cumulative facts alone would have
constituted a social and economic problem mounting toward the first magni
tude.
Meanwhile, there has been a development of the equipment of manufac
tures in all lines, from steel and iron to the making of textiles, shoes and
radios, looking to the further economy of labor costs in industry.
Railways and mining have been making their contribution to these"la
bor-saving" improvements.
Agriculture is increasing the number of tractors and combines and
corn-and-cane cutting machines.
Horses' power, and man-power is being eliminated from the corn, cattle,
wheat, hog, cotton and ginning processes.
The crowding out of the factories seems to have resulted in & "drift to
the land," based upon the hopes of the grandsons of farmers that they can go
back to a little farm—"where they at least can eat."
a
Contributing to the displacement by the machines of the "hands"—hu
man hands—is another important function of the efficiency engineer the
stop-watch counting of human motions, and the co-ordinating of the human
hands to the movements of the machine.
The old Taylor system is being applied in cool, engineering fashion,
qualified with a kind of intelligence which counts the contentment of the
worker while on the job as an industrial and economic asset.
Labor saving is going right on. And no sensible man wants to Stop that.
But who is looking after the saving of the laborer?
Four steel plants, in three different states, have been shut down and
their business concentrated in one steel plant in Gary, Ind., on account of
the new "ribbon," or continuous process, of making sheet steel.
Doubtless it is good for Gary, but how about the folks in those other
four towns?
A new device and process worked out at a plant in Girard, Ohio, has
resulted in an increase of the size of the "bloom" in the puddling of wrought
iron from 200 pounds to 6,000 pounds. By this process 100 men can produce
as much wrought iron as formerly required 1,000 men. This has reduced the
number of puddlers in that plant from 950 to about 500, thus far.
There will be further reductions, unless the management can secure
contracts for material to take the place of Bessemer steel.
Steel rails used to come from the puddlers, but the Bessemer process
stole the market years ago.
Now, if wrought iron can come back, by this new process of cheaper
production, it will build up the puddlers' activity.
But what is to become of these displaced iron and steel workers in any
case?
v
the Canadian Pacific railway was
planning wholesale staff reductions
This leading Canadian paper states
that reducing the purchasing power
of the workers will only prolong the
depression.
It is interesting to recall that the
Montreal Star in its more youthful
days was usually a supporter of work
ers' causes, a good policy evidently,
as it has prospered while rivals, once
formidable, have disappeared.
:o:
WAGES
There seems to be a general agree
ment that maladjustment in distribu
tion was a major cause of the present
business depression. Two main con
ditions producing this result are in
adequate knowledge of markets and
inadequate financing of possible cus
tomers.
The first deficiency can be removed
by governmental statistical agencies
and by co-ordinated fact finding by
organized industries. The second can
be removed only by increasing wage
earners' incomes. All wage earners
must have an opportunity to earn a
living, and there must be no lowering
of standards. Wage earners consti
tue 80 per cent of the buyers in the
retail market. The retail market must
sustain production. This is why wage
cuts disturb the foundation stones
that sustain our economic structure
Wages constitute only one element
in production. A wage cut after it
is discounted by lowering morale,
makes possible such a small reduc
tion in prices that the gain is com
pletely wiped out by reduced buying
power in retail markets.
The problem of overcoming market
difficulty can be better solved by bet
ter sales methods, finding and elimi
nating waste in production, more eco
nomical buying, careful checking up
on overhead costs.
•:o:-
WISDOM
Every generation writes its own
history of the past. The historian
influenced by the prevailing spirit of
national intolerance today as his
predecessors fed the flames of relig
ious intolerance in days gone by.—
Prof. Henry Morse-Stephens.
a a a a
The real science of political econ
omy is that which teaches nations to
desire and labor for the things that
lead to life, ano which teaches them
to scorn and des*,roy the things that
lead to destruction.—Ruskin.
:o:
ADVERTISERS ENDORSE
HIGH WAGES
Confirmation for labor's conten
tions for shorter work hours and
maintenance of wage rates as a relief
program for business depression was
evident in the discussions and resolu
tions of the Advertising Federation of
America.
The president ot the organization,
Gilbert T. Hodges, said: "We must
maintain the high wage scale. The
volume of earnings must be kept suf
ficient to absorb the output of indus
try. While all these rumors of wage
cutting are rampant there is not a
chance of buying power peeking out
from under the bed."
These very homely words correctly
express the fear that paralyzes trade.
The way to dispel this fear is to put
security into the situation by con
tracts that jobs and wages will be
maintained for a definite time—three
months, six months, twelve months if
possible. Upon such a definite under
standing workers will know how to
plan their spending.
The advertising business needs
prosperity and it is interested in re
storing prosperity. This organized
group subscribed to the principle that
business will reach its best develop
ment with "the widest possible dis
tribution among the creators of
wealth of an equitable share of the
profits of production and of the time
economies made possible by the de
velopment of machinery."
The advertisers are right in be
lieving that diverting too large a
share of the products of joint work
interferes with business, and that
failure to distribute evenly the bene
fits of technical progress will unbal
ance business progress.
The Cherry
fTp Where with oar
f*## Little Hatchet
we tell the truth
about many things, semethnee pro
foundly, sometimes flippantly,
sometimes recklessly
From many points come reports of
new interest for union TAOIN AO
new interest in organization work.
Applications for union membership
are coming faster than usual. Men
want to be inside instead of outside.
Perhaps this is merely an expres
sion of the age-old instinct to join the
pack when trouble comes. Perhaps it
is something more than that. Perhaps
it is a realization of the fact that in
dividuals, by themselves, cannot cope
with a situation in which everyone on
the employers' side is organized.
The situation with which a wage
earner is confronted is too big
for
him to meet alone.
The man who comes into a union
because he is so battered that he is
desperate may stay when times Jm
prove, or he may not.
The man who comes in because he
understands individual helplessness in
the face of industry's complexities
and organized strength, will stay,
a a a
But whatever may be the reason
that brings a member in, it is the
union's job to show him why member
ship is valuable, why he should re
main a member, why^J^ should bear
his share of the burden, why it is a
matter of duty as well as a matter of
self-protection to stay in.
The union justifies itself in all
times. It does so a hundredfold
in these times. BUT TOMOR
ROW THE NON-UNION MAN
WILL BE OUT OF THE PIC
TURE, because a lone individual,
going his own way, in a world
where everything is organization,
teamwork and negotiation, will
simply not fit. The day will come
when not even the most obstrep
erous bosses will want a non
union man.
There will have to be organized re
sponsibility as well as organized in
telligence and discipline.
How, for example, would a man
stand if he lived in a state which
didn't belong to the Union? It will
one day be that way in industry.
a a a
Meanwhile for those that see no
further, there «re the dollars and
cents reasons.
It 4s not by accident that the aver
age rate of union wages is TWICE the
average rate of all wages.
Union men are not drawing twice
as much as non-union men just for
no reason at all. They are drawin
better wages because of organized
effort.
Not only are wages better, but con
ditions of work are better. The best
equipped and cleanest plants are the
plants where union men work.
The Saturday half-holiday was won
by the uniojns. Where the five-day
week is in effect it was won by unions.
When the thirty-hour week comes
as it mupt, lit will be because of
unions!
Employment is more regular for
union members. Bosses have more
respect for union members!
a a a
The amazing thing is that there is
any such thing as a non-union work
er. Some day we will look back in
wonderment at the years and years
of effort that were required to win
strength for unions. We will ask how
it was that anybody could have been
stopped from joining a union.
Today we are in a depression, but
we are going places just the same.
We seem to have stagnation, but we
are having tremendous changes.
For one thing, industry is becoming
more closely knit together. The proc
esses of merging and consolidating go
on rapidly.
Vast and astounding new machin
ery is just over the horizon.
The non-union man is more and
more a lone wolf—more and more a
problem to himself and everybody
else.
And he loses more and more by
staying out.
A spontaneous movement toward
organization is in the air. This is the
time to get busy—intelligently!
*0 my children,
Love la sunshine, hata la shadow,
Ltfa la checkered shade and sunshine,
Rule by love, O Hiawatha."
CHILDREN'S DISHES
Tcess
HOSE who have had the most suc
In teaching children to like all
kinds of foods, or at least tolerate
them, have found that where the
grown-ups will eat and express pleas
ure over food, the youngsters will fol
low, especially boys if daddy appears
to enjoy certain foods, son will strive
to do so, too.
A mother has such a world of things
to do to keep the home comfortable,
eare for the babies, feed the family
and as soon as the children begin to
go to school help them puszle over
their school problems. She certainly
needs co-operation and help from the
head ot the house with the child who
does not like the foods that are good
for and necessary for him. Think of
planning three meals a day and trying
to make them palatable with variety
and on a small budget for food. There
would not be many business houses
that would hold up under such a
Strain.
During the summer when the chil
dren are out of doors and do not have
to depend on school lunches, they are
easy to feed, but with the fall and
winter comes the lunch problem for
thousands of children who must carry
a school lunch.
Children crave sweets it seems they
need sugar to supply the energy that
Is so freely used In their natural
activities. The sweets of dried fruits
such as prunes, dates and figs are al
ways good. Pure candy, a piece or
two after meals or between meals
(not too near the meal) are especial*
ly good for children.
Simple puddings like cooked custard,
cornstarch pudding flavored with
cocoa, caramel or maple, are all en
Joyed by the little people. Plenty of
fresh vegetables, when seasonable
and the canned when the fresh are
out of the market, are essential for
good health.
Rice and Carrot Soup.
Take one cupful of mashed carrots,
a few grains of nutmeg, one cupful
oarrot stock (the water In which they
were cooked), two tablespoonfuls of
flour mixed with one tablespoonful of
butter, salt, pepper and a half cupful
of cooked rice with three cupfuls of
milk. Combine the carrots with the
water and milk, add the butter and
flour which have been cooked together,
and when smooth add the rice and
seasonings, finishing with a table
spoonful and a half of minced parsley
on top of the soup. Serve hot. Any
leftover soup will keep In the ice
oh
est for another day.
(A. 1J30, WMttri Newspaper Union.)
GlftUGAGvP
"A
college may be seat of learn
ing," says Coed Cora, "but
It's
student's standing that counts."
(Copyright.)
the
Add Similes
As easy as getting a politician to
pose for his picture.—Ohio Stato
Journal.
"Horseflesh"
The word most generally used for
the meat of a horse is "horseflesh."
Our words for the meat of domestic
animals, "beef, veal, pork and mut
ton," are all derived from the French,
while the Anglo-Saxon words are re
tained for the names of the animals
themselves. The French word for
horse, "cheval," was never adopted
Into the English language to denote
"horseflesh," probably because there
was never any need for it.
Why Do Men Marry?
Bkl Howe remarks that women mar
ry for love, money or to have a homo.
It is not known why men marry.—
American Magazine.
A Leader for
ofc/t Your
Systematic Plan for
Charting of Current®
At eight bells every day, aboard ev
ery ship, the position of the vessel is
ascertained by observatipn, and Its po
sition marked on the chart. When this
Is done, it Is the practice on many
ships to use what are called "bottle
papers."
These are merely slips of white pa
per, but they help greatly In the chart
ing of the world's currents. On them
Is printed a short notice asking any
one who should find one to send it to
a certain address, and In some cases
offering a small reward. A space Is
left to be filled in with the name of
the ship, the master's name, the lati
tude and longitude at the time, the
chronometer time and the apparent
time on the ship. When the paper has
been filled In, It Is signed by the mas
ter and the navigating officer and then
inserted In a clean white bottle which
Is corked hard and sealed with wax.
It Is then thrown overboard.
The bottle may drift for years, but
"In the meteorological and hydrograph
Ical offices of the world men are em
ployed In calculating from the bot
tles, as they are found, the strength
and direction of the currents.
One bottle thrown overboard from
the British steamer Athelqueen In No
vember, 1929, off the south coast of
Ceylon, was found on the coast of Ital
ian Somallland In April. 1930. having
drifted about two thousand miles in
Just over five months.
Mankind Still Clings
to Pomp and Ceremony
It is, of course, mere blindness and
blundering to suppose that monarchy
Is decaying In the modern world. The
danger Is much more that the future
governments will be too despotic than
that they will be too democratic.
But If there is one idea more
ah
surd than the idea that we have seen
the end of royallsm, It Is the Idea that
we have seen the end of ritualism.
Pomp and ceremony were always pop
ular with the real populace.
Nobody who has seen, as I have,
the long procession of the Italian or
ganization of citizen soldiers, passing
the tomb of a new and nameless sol
dier and saluting It with a gesture
three thousand years old, can doubt
that every crowd In the world really
cries out for some such sacramental
sign.
Ceremony will not depart from man
kind on the contrary, as in the case
of monarchy, It is much more likely
that It will be very difficult to get an
English king (even for two minutes)
to enjoy wearing a crown.—G. K.
Chesterton in the American Magazine.
Man's "Rights" in 1881
"The point as to whether men can
be forced to work at a fire, when they
are not firemen, is a knotty one," com
mented the Arkansas Gazette on Feb
ruary 15,1881. "At the recent fire on
lower Markham street, several men
were arrested for refusing to pull on
a rope.
"If they had been asked to take a
pull on a glass of beer, or on the riv
er, It would not have been so Insulting,
but when they were asked to take their
hands out of their pockets and actual
ly pull on a rope, all the pent-up prin
ciples of American liberty and free
dom caused their bosoms to swell. No,
sir the great American citizen does
not need to pull on ropes. What Is
the good of being an American citizen
if we can't stand around and look at a
fire without being forced to help save
another free American citizen's prop
erty from destruction? Did we sever
our connection from England to come
to this? We may stretch hemp, but
we will not pull on roj)es."
Oboe Not Dangerous
There Is no particular vibration
from the oboe that affects the brain
but very early oboe players often had
throat hemorrhages. When this In
strument was invented It was extreme
ly hard to play, having a double reed
and steel buttons. The armies of tho
Huns and the Goths had bands made
up of oboe, players who often had to
wear leather collars to prevent these
hemorrhages. As the Instrument de
veloped, however, the strain on the
lungs of the player became lessened
until today there Is no danger In
playing an oboe. In fact, a prominent
Cleveland oboe "player says that It de
velops the lungs and produces a good
appetite for the player.—Cleveland
Plain Dealer.
Mending Broken China
The Department of Agriculture rec
ommends what Is known as grand
mother's white lead process for mend
lng broken china. The cementing ma
terial Is white lead such as Is used
by artists working with oil paints. It
may be rubbed with the finger on the
raw edges of the dlsli and the piece
which Is to be cemented into place,
but before the white lead cement Is
applied, it is well to rub down the
edges a very little with emery paper
to make room for the thin layer of
white lead, so that the dish when
completed will not be distorted In
shape.
Largest Junk Shop
The world's largest junk shop is the
Caledonian market in London. Here,
according to Collier's Weekly, immense
crowds attend the semi-weekly bargain
days, when in a large open field, a
countless collection of varied cast-off
goods, from cracked egg-cups to brok
en perambulators are bargained for by
thousands of poor folks and antique
dealers.
Mill/
AXTON-FISHER
Tobacco Company Co-Oper
atesWith Labor No Pay
Cuts in Big Plant
^.r
As usual, and just when needed
most, The Axton-Fisher Tobacco
Company of Louisville, Ky., maker of
Clown and Spud cigarettes, is found
co-operating with labor. In the cur-,
rent issue of the American Federa
tionist, in its articles on organiza-^
tion, appears the following, and which
speaks for itself:
J. T. Woodward reports that at
Louisville, Ky., while some indus
tries have put to work a few men
in some departments, they have on
the other hand laid off men in other
departments. The situation as a
whole shows some improvement, but
not enough to indicate any general
upward trend. Practically every in
dustry has made cuts in wages, either
in actual wages or by reduction of
hours. With the exception of the Ax
ton-Fisher Tobacco Company the
writer does not know of a plant that
has not reduced wages in some form
or other. For every job there is about
fifteen men and contractors take the
lowest man they are able to employ—
in some cases men practically bid for
for the job.
In another article in the same issue
of the Federationist, telling of an
educational campaign being conducted
by Louisville organized labor and the
Union Label League, the writer says:
"As prizes we distribute some 300
union-made products, such as bread,
wearing apparel, tobacco and many
others. We are glad to say that in
most cases we have received full co
operation from the manufacturers of
these products. Especially is this
true of W. F. Axton, president of the
Axton-Fisher Company, who has pro
ven himself to be a real true friend
of labor who has given both prod
ucts and funds that this work can be
carried on, and we of the Label
League are proud to acknowledge this
wonderful co-operation."
Boston Carmen Negotiate
For Renewal of Pay Scale
Boston (ILNS)—The Boston Ele
vated Railway Company, now under
state control, and the Boston Car
men's Union have been negotiating
over renewal of a wage and working
agreement. This is to replace a con
tract which expired recently. The
railway executive proposed changes in
working conditions, and these were
the subjects of the chief discussion
between the conferees representing
both parties. The Boston Elevated
railway operates a main line and
branch lines of overhead and under
ground electric railway and all the
surface lines in Boston.
Professional Women
Vision Unemployment
Vienna,Austria.—Forty-three Amer
ican business women, headed by Miss
Lena M. Phillips, a New York law
yer, are here to attend the second
annual meeting of the International
Congress of Business and Profession
al Women. Unemployment is one of
the principal questions to be consid
ered by the congress. Surveys have
been made to ascertain how far wom
en in Europe have been affected by
the business depressibn.
Read the Press.
Men Attention
ALL MEN'S
WALK-OVER
SHOES
CARRY THIS
LABEL
WORKERS UNION
UNIOf^STAMP
factory
Leifheit's
Walk-Over Boot Shop
214 High Street
Jkw
Forty-Five Years
Grocer