The Butler County press. [volume], November 23, 1934, Image 1

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

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New York City (ILNS)—The Cot
ton Garment code authority has ask
the NRA to withdraw immediately
from prison authorities the right to
use the Blue Eagle label on convict
made products, and has notified Presi
dent Roosevelt that if such action is
not taken, it would "feel itself forced
to relinquish the solemn responsibil
ty placed upon it for the enforcement
of the code."
R. B. Paddock, executive director
of the code, wrote the president, en
closing a resolution passed at a re
cent code authority meeting on motion
of Thomas A. Rickert, president of
the United Garment Workers of
America and vice president of the
American Federation of Labor, who
is a member of the code authority.
'*TJnless some immediate, definite
and vigorous action be taken by
NRA, through executive order or
otherwise, to stem the increasing tide
of competition from products made by
convicts, the effectuation of the code
of fair, competition for this industry
will be impossible," the resolution
said.
It is charged that the prison com
pact authority, instead of aiding in
the elimination of unfair competition
between prison products and the cot
ton garment industry, "has improp
erly assumed its function to be the
protection of prison interests, which
assumption is in utter conflict with
the purpose and theory of the emer
gency prison compact set up under the
act."
INTERNATIONAL
Unions Shown Biff Help To
Canadian Labor
Toronto (ILNS)—The outstanding
result of the union of United States
and Canadian workers has been the
unselfishness and loyalty of the work
ers of the United States to the work
ers of Canada, said James Simpson
vice president of the Trades and
Labor Congress* in a radio-cast ad
dress.
"These characteristics of the
workers of the United States empha
size the difference between the inter
national trade unions and the purely
national and industrial unions in
their respective strength and capacity
to meet the strength of industrialists
and financiers who are internationally
organized, he dcelared.
In 11 years ending June, 1930, the
International Typographical Union
spent for defense purposes throughout
its entire -jurisdiction, $16,599,289. Of
this amount $4,706,361 or 28 per cent
was expended on behalf of its mem
bership in Canada, which has aver
aged about 6 per cent of the total
membership.
Total loceipts of the Typograph
ical Union from the Canadian mem
bership over 11 years was $2,197,260
total expenditures of the Typo's Union
•in Canada was $5,449,088.
"Other examples of high returns on
the Canadian members' investment
in international unions were given
The Toronto Photo-Engravers in the
yeais 1929 to 1933 contributed $50,
009 to the international in benefits
and defense they received $131,971, a
favorable balance of $80,000.
In 1909, the United Mine Workers
spent $1,500,000 in Cape Breton
N S., to peat back the greatest as
sfttilt ever made upon organized labor
Mr. Simpson said the aid given
Canadian workers in the way of rais
ing and protecting wages could not be
estimated.
Our eyes are placed in front because
St is more important to look ahead
than look back. Cultivate foresight
Sands.
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NRA Asked To Bar at Once
Blue Eagle on Prison Goods
CotiM OaTttt^ni Atitliority Declares It Will Quit Unless
Competition of Convict-Made Products is Stopped
HOT WATER HEATERS $5.95
ANTI FREEZE, Only $1.00 a Gal.
STORAGE BATTERIES
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The use of the Blue Eagle on
products made by convicts was
declared "a desecration of the
Blue Eagle itself, a misuse of
that insignia deceiving to the con
suming public and calculated to
encourage rather than stop the
sale of prison products."
The resolution asserted that the
authority to use the Blue Eagle on
certain prison products was granted
without the knowledge or consent of
this industry or labor," and that it
should be immediately withdrawn.
The resolution further said that
"the result of these and other circum
stances, despite the best efforts of this
industry, has been to permit and to
encourage the sale of goods made by
convicts in unfair competition with the
products of this industry made under
the code, and in compliance with the
wage and hours provisions set up by
the national industrial recovery ad
ministration.*'
COURT HOUSE
Stands as Monument to Un
ion Labor
By A. F. of L. News Service.
Santa Barbara, Calif.—The Santa
Barbara county court house here is
regarded as among the outstanding
monuments to organized labor. It was
built, under a segregated contract, by
local contractors, entirely local union
labor—a real feat for a city of only
30,000.
The building cost $1,250,000, believ
ed to be exceptionally low, for it is
truly one of the modern showplaces
of California.
According to C. L. Priesher, who
was chairman of the Board of Super
visors at the time, this community
also has another labor distinction. It
was the first governmental unit in the
West to adopt the 5%-day week, in
1929, and the first such unit to go
under the NRA, with a seven-hour day
and five-day week, without .reduction
in pay.
TIGHE RE-ELECTED
STEEL MEN'S CHIEF
By A. P. of L, News Service.
Pittsburgh, Pa.—M. F. Tighe, presi
dent of the Amalgamated Association
of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers, has
been re-elected, according to a final
report of the International Canvassing
Board named at the recent fifty-fifth
annual convention. Early reports had
it that alleged radical elements op
posing Tighe had accomplished his de
feat.
Louis Leonard, well-known and able
secretary-treasurer, was also re-elect
ed. Other officers elected include
William Gray, assistant secretary
treasurer Ben I. Davis, managing ed
itor Thomas G. Gillis, vice president
boiling and finishing division E. W
Miller, vice president, sheet and tin
division J. K. Gaither, vice president
industrial division John Savage, resi
dent trustee A, W. Armour, trustee
boiling and finishing division, and
H. J. Rose, trustee, sheet and tin
division.
Consider Cigarette Wages
Washington.—The national recov
ery administration has drafted pro
posed wages and hours for the highly
centralized cigarette industry, which
have been under consideration in con
ferences here.
The revised section of the code ap
plying to cigarette workers provides
for a 38-hour work week and sets
minimum wages for various workers
in different divisions of the industry
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VOL. XXXIV. No. 33 HAMILTON, OHIO, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1934 ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR
Citing Record of Notorious Bergoff "Detective" Agency,
New York Industrial Commissioner Andrews Recom
mends Consideration of Withdrawing State Sanction
For Continued Operation of Organization.
New York City (ILNS)—Citing
complaints of "guards" employed by
the notorious strikebreaking Bergoff
Service Bureau and shipped to a plant
of the Bibb Manufacturing Co. in
Georgia, where they acted as deputy
sheriffs during the recent textile
strike, Industrial Commissioner El
mer F. Andrews has recommended to
the Secretary of State that a hearing
be held for the purpose of determin
ing whether the license of the Ber
goff Detective Service, Inc., 2 Colum
bus Circle, should be revoked.
According to eight complaints on
file in the Bureau of Labor Welfare
of the state department of labor, men
were hired in New York city, shipped
to Georgia where they worked for two
days and returned to New York,
spending two days and nights on the
train. The men claimed they were
promised pay for waiting time that
they were not told they were to be
used as strikebreakers and deputy
sheriffs but as "guards," which some
of them understood to mean watch
men that they were not paid for
waithig time nor for the two days
spent in travel to and from the strike
scenc that they were required to
sign a contract of employment which,
by waiving liability for accident or
injury, is in violation of the work
men's compensation law. On October
22 in the Ninth Manhattan munici
pal court, two of these complainants
obtained default judgments against
the Bergoff Bureau for $40 and $20,
the full sums claimed as wages due
for working and waiting time.
Three Bergoff Listings
The Bergoff Service Bureau is list
ed in the county clerk's office as a
firm of which Pearl L. Bergoff is
president. The Bergoff Service Bu
reau is not listed in the public tele
phone directories, but the following
listings do appear:
Bergoff Detective Service, Inc.,
Columbus Circle.
P. L. Burgoff, Detective, 2 Columbus
Circle.
"There is reason to believe that
the Bergoff Service Bureau, Bergoff
Detective Service, Inc., and P. L. Ber
goff, Detective, are, in practice, one
and the same," Commissioner An
drews said. "J. C. Hackett, who ap
peared to explain the acts and prac
tices of the Bergoff Service Bureau
identified himself as vice president and
director of the Bergoff Detective Serv
ice, Inc. Further, P. L. Bergoff, in two
articles appearing in the New York
Post, October 24- 5, 1934, admitted
being the head of the Bergoff Service
Bureau. This organization has been
found to have withheld wages illegally
and the department of labor has infor
mation that jobs and conditions of em
ployment were misrepresented
to ap­
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Day of Thanksgiving
Hearing Asked on Revocation
of Strikebreaker's License
plicants, also that men have been re
quired to sign contracts waiving
claims for accident or other injury,
in violation of the workmen's compen
sation law.
"These circumstances, it seems to
me, constitute suffiicent grounds for
considering revocation of any license
Bergoff or his organizations may
have, either as a detective service or
other agency.
'But there is a more important ques
tion than violation of specific provi
sions of the labor and workmen's
compensation law. It would seem to
be against public policy to sanction
the continued operation of an organi
zation whose head admits its chief
function is to organize armies of mer
cenaries to be hired out to employers
in industrial disputes. In his signed
articles in the New York Post, P. L.
Bergoff made many admissions which
should be of interest as indicating the
type of 'detective service' Ke furnishes
"Small Armies" Mobilized
"He boasts of having 'mobilized
small armies on a few hours' notice,
answering the call of railroads, trac
tion and steamship companies in
scores of American cities ... As
head of the Bergoff Service Bureau,
with headquarters in New York and
Chicago, we have done our part in
recent strikes. Textiles in the South
and public utilities in Milwaukee have
been among our recent clients.'
"Preparation for breaking a strike
resembles the mobilization of a min
iature army for actual warfare.'
Starting with a nucleus of profession
al strikebreakers, "additional men are
mobilized through advertisements and
the help wanted column of newspa
pers. Recruiting has been carried on
CLARA,
despondent,
JOHN. HER CUIg
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through employment centers where
jobless men gather ... We usually
send one guard for every 15 or 20
men. Frequently all we supply is
guards to protect property and men,
who continue at work during a strike.
We equip the guards with whatever
weapons they may need.'
"Bergoff claims the Erie railroad
paid him 'about $2,000,000' for from
6,000 to 7,000 men in the shopmen's
strike that the Interborough Rapid
Transit Company officials paid the
organization more than $1,000,000 to
break the 1916 subway strike that
the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Cor
poration is listed as having paid him
$700,000 in the 1930 strike. He names
many other large employers as cli
ents.
Tear Gas Sent to Georgia
'"We sent tear gas by airplane to
Georgia in the recent textile strike.
There, however, our work was ham
pered by Governor Talmadge, who was
playing both sides against the mid
die. Our men were sent at the re
quest of W. D. Anderson, of the Bibb
Manufacturing Co. He said he pre
ferred one of our men to ten of the
National Guard.'
"The function of preserving peace
properly belongs to government agen
cies. In many states it has been de
clared to be against public policy to
deputize armed persons paid by pri
vate monies. As industrial commis
sioner, charged with the duty of pro
moting industrial welfare, I have rec
ommended that the secretary of state
hold a hearing for the purpose of de
termining whether the license of the
Bergoff Detective Service, Inc.
should be revoked, in view of the cir
cumstances set forth above."
If this civilization is going to en
dure, we've just got to start learning
to mind our own business.—Irvin S
Cobb.
Read the Press.
WE MUST
JOHN. \f
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WHAT IS HOME IF IT /V
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"BIGGEST RACKET"
Says Smedley Butler In
Speech Assailing War
New York City (ILNS)—Bitter de
nunciation of war, which he called the
"greatest international racket" and
the "greatest money-making scheme
for insiders," featured an address by
Major General Smedley D. Butler, for
mer commander of the United States
Marines, at the Congregation B'nai
Jeshurun here.
"The churches pepped up the boys
in 1917," Butler declared. "The next
time the people who believe in God
cannot preach to the soldiers that
war is a holy crusade. It's not. It's
the greatest curse of the civilized
world, the greatest international
racket.
"For thirty-three years and four
months I was an active agent in the
greatest debt-collecting agency in the
world, the U. S. Marine Corps," he
continued.
Cites Huge War Wastes
"In France I couldn't find one
American soldier out of 1,650,000 who
knew what we were fighting for. Do
you want to know why? Not to end
war or make the world safe for
democracy. We went to war because
the allies owed us more money than
the Germans.
"The war never brought this coun
try anything. A few insiders made
the profits. The International Nickel
Company earned 1,800 per cent profit.
''The government bought $20,000,
000 worth of mosquito nets. And there
wasn't a mosquito in France.
"Thirty-five million pairs of shoes,
for only 4,000,000 men when every
)air of shoes would last a year.
"One billion dollars worth of air
planes that wouldn't get off the
ground."
Arms Parleys "Bunk"
"Arms conferences are a lot of
bunk. A lot of admirals and generals
sit around and talk. What difference
does it make if any decide to scrap
8-inch guns and use 6-inch guns?
There's only one way to disarm.
That's disarm."
Urging that none "should shoulder
a rifle outside the United States," the
general gave his idea of the best
means of keeping the country out of
war, saying:
"Amend the constitution and
change the method of declaring war.
Take the power away from congress.
Let on?y those who are going to do
the dying do the voting. The story
would be different. I beg of you not
to espouse a cause of any kin'i that
miglit force us to war outside the
United States. Let's be sure our
homes are in danger before we fight.
"It's up to us. It takes courage.
You may be ostracized. But that's
nothing. Nobody speaks to me now.M
FERA Medical Director
Washington.—Harry L. Hopkins,
administrator of the federal emer
gency relief administration, has an
nounced the appointment of Dr. Clif
ford E. Waller as medical director
for the FERA. Dr. Waller was for
merly assistant surgeon general, in
charge of the state relations division
of the Bureau of Public Health. His
duties will include directing both
the policies and activities of the
FERA in the field of medical relief
to the gl'eat army of the needy this
winter.
Tucson, Ariz.—It is announced that
H. M. Watson, prominent union car
penter of Prescott, and Frank
Brown, former organizer for the
Western Federation of Miners and
long active in Maricopa county, have
accepted appointments to membership
on the Regional Labor Board here.
FRIENDS PITY YOU
TWO WEEKS LATER
OM, JOHNJ' CLARA SWELL IDEA,
has TVNO pities
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8 Pieces
that
SCHEDULED FOR
OUR HOUSE
WIS VslEEK!
The home takes on new beauty with the addition
of a royally beautiful dining room suite. Now's
the time to own one this value is ao unusuaL
A suite rich in ornamentation.
K-R-E-B-S
REFURNISHING
THE MOUSE
A RECORD
A RECOR
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Room Suite
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