The Butler County press. [volume], December 02, 1938, Image 2

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

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TlIE PRESS
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF ORGANIZED LABOR
aWMti.
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be addressed to The Butler County Press, 32f
Market Street, Hamilton, Ohio.
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address to insure regular delivery of paper.
Entered at the Postoffice at Hamilton,
Ohio, as Second Class Mail Matter.
Issued Weekly at 326 Market Street
Telephone 1296 Hamilton, Ohio
Endorsed by the Trades and Labor
Council of Hamilton, Ohio
Endorsed by the Middletown Trades
and Labor Council of Middletown, O.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2,1938.
NO GRAFT COMES TO THE
PAY ENVELOPE
Sometimes one can get a light on
the great skill, financial acumen, and
great constructive capacity of the
masters of big corporations by taking
a look at the financial pages. Here
are two instances.
The United States Rubber Company
announces that it is going to pay $4 a
share this year on its preferred stock.
There are 690,000 shares of this pre
ferred stock and more than twice as
many of common stocks, which do not
even get the smell of a dividend. More,
this is the first dividend that United
States Rubber has paid in 10 years—
since 1928.
During all this time, this holding
company—it has six subsidiaries—has
been bitterly anti-labor. Yet the only
dividend in 10 years comes after the
Wagner Act has guaranteed the rub
ber workers' right to organize.
The Commonwealth and Southern
Company, a very big utility holding
company, reports net income for the
12 months ending October 31, this
year, of 9 cents a share on its out
standing common stock. There are
33,673,328 such shares outstanding—
and there never was any excuse for
issuing 10 per cent of that number.
The bulk of the big corporation mas
ters show high ability mainly in devis
ing ways to get legalized graft. And,
once again, seldom or never does graft
money get into the pay envelope.
:o:
GERMANY HARMS HERSELF
Joseph Goebbels, Nazi minister of
propaganda, says that all the Jews
whose lives are spared must be driven
out absolutely penniless. Spain did
that with the Moors, once and the re
sult was ruinous to Spain. Regions
which the Moors had farmed with suc
cess went out of cultivation 16,000
looms in one Spanish city sunk to 300
silk and sugar manufacture in the
country absolutely ceased.
Germany will not be hit quite so
hard by expulsion of the Jews as
Spain was by banishing the Moors
but the effect will be in exactly the
same direction.
PURGES ENCOURAGE STALIN
WORSHIP
Strang? scene at the Opera House
in Moscow when the Moscow theatre
held a celebration. It was to celebrate
the anniversary of its proletarian art
establishment and Joe Stalin, himself,
was there in person. There were art
ists and artistes with flowers to greet
him, red soldiers freshly decorated
from the eastern front, marching to
salute him, and representatives from
fields and factories to do him honor.
Said their spokesman: "All our feel
ings, all our thoughts are directed to
you." Well, people, if half the stories
they tell of the Soviet purges are true,
all fre've got to say is: "By gum,
they'd better!"—Tacoma Labor Ad
vocate.
WHAT NEXT?
The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Rail
road Company has shipped the first of
12 units of prefabricated metal farm
buildings to sites selected by the Farm
Security Administration in three
Southern states. Each unit includes
five buildings—dwelling, barn, chicken
house, outdoor pantry and sanitary
accommodations. Complete prefabri
cation enables quick erection of the
buildings by bolting the panels to
gether.
:o:
WISDOM
There is something on earth greater
than arbitrary or despotic power, and
that is the aroused indigation of the
civilized world.—Daniel Webster.
Green Opposes Strike
Against German Ships
Washington, D. C. (ILNS).—Wii
liam Green, president of the American
Federation of Labor, telegraphed Irv
ing Caesar, music publisher, that it
would be impractical for union long
shoremen to refuse to unload German
ships because it might cause interna
tional complications.
Caesar had telegraphed Green urg
ing longshoremen to refuse to work
German vessels in protest against
Jewish persecution by Nazis.
The A. F. of L. head said that he
agreed with Caesar's attitude toward
Nazi Germany, but that the unions
could not take that form of protest.
Textile Workers In Swing
From C. I. O. to A. F. of L.,
President Green Declares
Washington, D. C. (ILNS).—Presi
dent William Green of ,the American
Federation of Labor predicted here
that affiliation of 6,000 New England
textile workers with the federation is
the forerunner of large-scale with
drawals of textile workers from the
Congress for Industrial Organization.
Green based his prediction upon
withdrawal from the C. I. O. of the
Providence and Woonasquatucket Val
ley Wool and Worsted Workers' Dis
trict Council. The 6,000 members of
the group joined the A. F. of L.
"This step is only the beginning of
an intensive organizing drive being
conducted in the textile industry in
every part of the country by the Na
tional Council of Textile Unions, re
cently formed by the American Fed
eration of Labor," Green said.
SPY BUSINESS LOT OF HOOEY,
SMEDLEY D. BUTLER DECLARES
Minneapolis (ILNS). "This spy
business is a lot of hooey!" Maj. Gen
Smedley D. Butler, formerly head of
the U. S. Marine Corps, shouted to
10,000 delegates to the Minnesota Edu
cation Association.
"It's all a build-up to encourage the
American taxpayers to spend three or
four billions to build up a war ma
chine," he said. "They're always ar
resting Japs or Germans. Did you
ever hear of a French or British spy?
They're here, but they get in their
propaganda quietly."
Edgar K. Wagner
FUNERAL DIRECTOR
BINGO—Every Friday Nite
MOOSE HOME
329 S. Second Street Hamilton, Ohio
AT 8:45 P.M.
THE BUTLER COUNTY PRESS
COMMENT ON WORLD EVENTS
The U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
publishes each year predictions of the
time and height of high tide and low
tide for 104 chief ports of the world.
The figures for 1939 were sent out re
cently. They are accurate to an amaz
ing degree only an earthquake can
make them really go wrong. With
these predictions go tables of the dif
ferences between a given port and the
nearer smaller ports. For example,
in finding the time of high tide at
Mount Vernon, Virginia, on July 4,
1939, you would look at the chart show
ing the time when that will come at
Washington, and subtract about 30
minutes.
These predictions and tables of dif
ferences are sent to harbor masters
and other port authorities, and to cap
tains of ships. By their aid, you can
read off, so to speak, the high tide
and low tide at 4,200 ports scattered
over the world, at any day of 1939.
And all the basic computations are
made, not by the mathematical calcu
lations of hundreds of experts but by
turning a crank on a machine. They
call that machine "The Brass Brain
and it well deserves the name.
This Brass Brain is located in the
Coast and Geodetic section of the De
partment of Commerce Building at
Washington. It is about 12Jreet long,
a little over 6 feet at its top part, and
not more than two feet wide. It is
composed, roughly speaking, or par
allel lines of plates and braces and
wheels and chains of brass and the
bringing of each bit of the machine to
the required degree of exactness is a
near-miracle of skill. And while it
belongs to Uncle Sam, and is located
WAGE PLAN
IS AGAINST
Ornburn Says General Motors Wage
Plan Is Scheme To Throttle
Collective Bargaining.
Washington, D. C. (ILNS).—"The
General Motors scheme of wage loans
is just another tricky scheme to
throttle collective bargaining," said I.
M. Ornburn, head of the A. F. of L.
Union Label Trades Department, and
one of the busiest union leaders in
Washington.
"This is worse than a company
union," he went on. "There, at least
the workers can get together, and any
one who is willing to risk being fired
can talk to the company. Here, the
company issues a law, without con
sulting any union. General Motors
should have had a conference with the
officers of its unions, no matter what
those unions may be. Instead, the
company issues a decree.
"The plan holds up a picture of
'benefits' to turn the workers aside
from collective bargaining. But there
are no real benefits.
Many Left Out
"The plan divides G. M. workers into
three groups those with 5 or more
years service with the corporation,
those with from 2 to 5 years service,
and those with less than 2 years. The
last are left out altogether.
"Workers who have been with the
G. M. 5 years or more are promised a
loan in times of unemployment to
bring up their weekly income to 60 per
cent of what it is when regularly em
ployed.
"Suppose a man works for 80 cents
an hour—rather more than most auto
workers get—for the standard 40
hours a week. On full time, he gets
$32 a week and 60 per cent of $32 a
week means $19.20 a week If this
man goes on half time, he gets $16.00
a week in wages, and the company
loans him $3.20 a week to make up
the 60 per cent. When full time re
turns, the company deducts from his
pay envelope each week half the dif
ference between $19.20 and $32 or
$6.40 a week.
No Added Income Guaranteed
"In this case, he would pay back two
weeks' loan with one week's work. If
the plant shut down altogether, the
ompany would loan him the whole
sum and it would take 3 weeks' work
pay back one week's loan.
"Even for the 5-year or more work
ers, this scheme does not guarantee a
dollar of added income or a day of
steadier employment. If a man worked
two-thirds of the time, which is a
rather common ratio in the auto fac
tories, he would have a steady income
indeed but 30 per cent below his nor
mal level.
"The 2 to 5-year man will get a loan
up to 40 per cent of his normal wage—
but only up to a sum equalling 72
hours normal pay. Assuming that b§
draws the same pay as the older em
ployes—which generally he doesn't, in
in one of his biggest buildings, he
didn't pay for it. It was built on odd
time.
Along about the year 1900, R. H.
Harris, head mathematician of the
Survey, and E. G. Fischer, top me
chanic, decided to make a better tide
machine than any of the three then in
existence. These took account of only
a few of the factors which affect tides
the two men named meant to account
for all of them. Uncle Sam made no
appropriation for the work but at odd
times, Harris worked out the mathe
matics and Fischer worked out the ma
chine, part by part.
It was finished in 1910 it can give
the results of 37 factors, though not
so many are commonly needed it has
given for 28 years more accurate fig
ures than a corps of mathematicians
could give*
Recent decrees by the Nazi rulers
of Germany have the effect of reduc
ing the masses of the workers to com
plete slavery, says* the Information
Service of the German Trade Unions.
A circular issued by the Minister of
Finance provides for the employment
of pensioners, and for the continued
employment of workers for three years
beyond the statutory age limit of 65.
At the same time hundreds of thou
sands of school children are forced
engage in unpaid agricultural work,
while millions of young workers have
to carry out forced labor tasks on
meager wages. The real income of
wage earners has fallen below the low
level of 1932, the slump year, and the
consumption of goods has shrunk by
nearly 10 per cent.
a case of complete shutdown he would
get loans of $12.80 a week for between
4 and 5 weeks.
"All the power is kept in the hands
of the company. The company admits
that it will make no loans in stoppages
due to fire, flood or war, or those due
to riots or strikes. The company, if
it wishes to dodge, need only provoke
a disturbance, call it a riot or a strike,
and refuse all loans.
"It's a trick which does the worker
no real good, and was intended to turn
him aside from his only salvation
collective bargaining. It ought to be
exposed everywhere."
I'M 1 Where with our
i e a e
WW
we tej, the truth
about many things, sometimes pro
foundly. Sometimes flippantly,
sometimes recklessly
Talk of a big United States arma
ment expansion program is producing
a good deal of hysteria and near
hysteria.
All sorts of fool statements are
being made.
Such as, for example, that South
America is in danger of actual Fascist
and Nazi attack.
Talk that the chief subject of the
forthcoming Pan American Confer
ence at Lima will be "collective se
curity," based on great military and
naval power, has been rife in the press
and elsewhere.
This is another way of saying that
the United States and the South Amer
ican nations will discuss banding to
gether in a military alliance to oppose
attack by Germany, Italy and Japan.
Talk of this kind pleases the arma
ment makers no end and they are al
ready licking their chops over pros
pect of fat profit pickings.
The totalitarian nations are too busy
elsewhere to consider the fantastic
idea of military conquest in South
America.
Everything indicates that the major
expansion of Germany, dominating
totalitarian power, will continue to be
toward eastern Europe, as now.
Italy does not look beyond her Med
iterranean "empire."
China will keep Japan busy for a
long, long time to come.
Much more probable than military
attack on the New World will be at
tempts by the totalitarian nations
extend the Nazi-Fascist idea inti
South America.
Against ideas battleships, airplanes
and bayonfets will be ineffective.
Nazi, Fascist and Communist idea^
only flourish on fertile soil.
Best way to fight the totalitarian
idea in South America and everywhere
for that matter, is to improve eco
nomic conditions.
If the Lima conference Will de
vote its best energies to helping
the South American nations solve
their economic problems so that
there will be no reason for their
turning to the totalitarian powttfs,"®
it will be getting somewhere.
Goading them on to big armament
programs will not help.
Promotion of trade between all na
tions in North and South America will
help.
Encouragement of peace and respect
for international law will help.
Aid to everything that makes for
democracy and the successful working
of the democratic system, will help.
Senator Gerald P. Nye of North Da
kota has been saying some things that
please a lot of Americans.
Nye headed the Senate munitions in
vestigation and he knows the wiles of
munitions interests.
Calling for a slowdown of U. S. arms
expansion, Nye asserted that talk of
threats from foreign powers was "only
a cover for those hell bent on a mad
naval program."
"There is no likelihood of any power
or combination of powers attacking
South America," he said.
Warning that the United States
cannot hope to carry the "terrific load
of taxation" entailed on proposed arm
ament programs, Nye added:
"If there be those who think that
the ai-mament program is going to
bring recovery, they only have to go
a step further and conclude that the
way to bring complete recovery and
the nth degree of prosperity is actu
ally to go to war and turn all energies
to armaments."
BREWERS ARE FOR
USE OF AMERICAN
BARLEY
AND MALT
Washington, D. C. (ILNS). Ef
forts of the American Grains Com
mittee to improve the quality of Amer
ican barley for malting purposes were
endorsed by the United States Brew
ers' Association at its recent conven
tion in New Orleans. The committee
is made up of representatives of all
the associations of brewers and also
representatives of farmers and or
ganized labor. The aim of the com
mittee is to encourage the use of
American-grown barley and Ameri
can-processed malt.
I. M. Ornburn, secretary-treasurer
Union Label Trades Department of
the American Federation of Labor, in
addressing the convention, said that
98 per cent of the beer manufactured
in the United States bears the union
label of the International Union of the
United Brewery, Flour, Cereal and
Soft Drink Workers of America. Mr
Ornbum is chairman of the American
Grains Committee and was instrumen
tal in bringing about its formation.
The resolution reads as follows:
"Whereas, immediately upon the re
peal of prohibition, there existed a
scarcity of American barley of malt
ing quality, and in view of such con
tinued scarcity due to crop and
weather conditions, the importation of
malt was a matter of necessity and
"Whereas, improvement is being
made in the production of American
barleys of malting quality, with re
sulting benefits derived therefrom by
American farmers, labor, and the
malting and brewing industries now
therefore, be it
"Resolved, That the future importa
tion of foreign malts be discouraged
by the American brewers except in
case of grave emergencies
"Be it further Resolved, That it is
the future duty of this committee to
work toward coordination of efforts
by the organizations represented on
the committee with the brewing chem
ists, the crop improvement associa
tions, with the various universities and
with the United States Department of
Agriculture co-operating."
BATHROOM STATISTICS
New York City (ILNS).--Six out of
every ten American homes have bath
rooms, while in England the ratio is
3 out of 10, in Germany 1M: out of 10,
and in France out of 10, according
to a study by Alfred Bemis in the
Evolving House.
Advertise in The Press.
Ambulance Service
Phone 35
Inland Steel Ordered
To Bargain With Union
--FRONT and conn- yrs.—
Washington, D. C. (ILNS). The
N. L. R. B. has ordered the Inland Steel
Company to bargain collectively with!
its workers, through the Steel Work-.
ers' Organization Committee, and to,
sign any agreement which may be
reached. What the agreement may be,
the board does not indicate in any way
but if there is an agreement, it must
be signed, as any other business con
tract is signed. It says:
"We take judicial notice of the fact,
which is also shown by the record, that
in circumstances like those here in
volved—when the bargaining is di
rected toward a comprehensive set of
terms covering labor relations in a
large industrial plant—the prevailing
practice is reduction of such terms to
a signed collective agreement.
"It seems clear to us that conform-*
ance in good faith to the procedure of
collective bargaining requires a will
ingness to enter into a signed agree
ment under circumstances like these."
A $3,000,000,000 PLANT FOR
U. S.-MADE CIGARETTE PAPER
Washington, D. C. The Ecusta
Paper Corporation has begun con
struction of a $3,000,000,000 cigarette
paper mill near Brevard, North Caro
lina, and just a short distance, from
Pisgah National Forest. The con
struction of the mill, which has behind
it several years of intensive laboratory
research and study, is expected to have
a marked effect on the present French
monopoly of cigarette paper making.
WAGE-HOUR LAW I'AISED
BY SECRETARY PERKINS
Washington, D. C.—Secretary of La
bor Frances Perkins opened the fifth
national conference on labor legisla
tion with a statement of high praise
for the new wage-hour law. "While
it was too early to evaluate fully the
effect of the Fair Labor Standards
Act, there is no reason to doubt its
ultimate contribution to social and
economic betterment of this country,"
the secretary said.
Read The Press.
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BILL FINN CAFE
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S E V E A A I I O K S
Robert G.Taylor Mortuary
Formerly
THE C. W. GATH CO.
Funeral Directors
Chairs and Tables Rented
17 So. Street