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Read The Arizona San The State's Only Negro Newspaper Published in the Interest of the Social, Political and Economic Welfari of 40,(Mi(VJVegrocs of Arizona. Vol. s—sc Per Copy ” ARIZONA, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBERS 1946 No. 17 Veterans Get Taste of Bill Time To Register Is Short, Every Union Member Should Be Sure He Is Able To Vote Only four days remain for Ari zona voters to register for the No vember 5 general election. Regis tration books in county recorder’s offices over the State will be closed at 5 p.m., September 30. Totals for the State, of new reg istration since the primary elec tion, are not yet available, but for Maricopa county the figure stands at approximately 7,000 since July 16, or about 9 per cent of the reg istration at that time, for a total registration in this county to date of around 80,000. Maricopa generally casts approx imately 40 per cent of the vote cast in the State. If the rate of increased registrations in other counties is the same as that in the largest, the registration this year should be considerably over 200,000 as compared to 180,000 in the pri mary. This indicates a heavy interest on the part of file voters, in which the Right-to-Starve amendment bears a dominating share. Both sponsors and opponents of the measure will redouble their efforts throughout next week to increase voter registrations. During the past month there has been marked indications of a changing feeling in certain quar ters which gave lip service in be half of this so-called "right-to work” bill earlier In the year. Many of those earlier advocates of the measure have come to realize not only what the amendment, as worded, would do to organized la bor, but what it would do to both business prosperity and social con ditions in the State, as well. This was specifically pointed out by Gov. Sidney P. Osborn at the Fed eration convention at Yuma and by numerous other speakers else where. During the past month, numbers of prominent business and professional men at many points in the State have openly expressed their opposition to the amendment and volunteered their support to the Citizens committee conducting the campaign against it. Many outstanding newspapers and peri odicals likewise have condemned the measure as vicious legislation which could only result in chaotic conditions that would destroy the had criticised the action of Local 631 in adopting a rule providing for the suspension of eligible vot ers who failed to register by Oct. Ist. A member of the Road-Run ners got up and stated that he con sidered registration an act of good citizenship and saw no reason why any organization should not take steps to get its members registered. He suggested that perhaps Mr. Hill’s objection to the action of the local was based upon the fact that these registrations would not rep resent votes for his side of the is sue. Generally, people who four weeks ago appeared to have made up their minds to vote for the amendment are now showing hesi / (Continued rrom page 2) PROCLAMATION AMERICAN TEAM WORK WEEK WHEREAS, American Democracy has singularly emphasized the need for team work between all groups in our population to ensure the success of our efforts to establish a commonwealth, the human and material benefits of which shall accrue to all; and WHEREAS, a failure in team work as experi ence has often shown perilously impedes an equal and just distribution of the privileges of democracy; and WHEREAS, the task of achieving a fuller de mocracy will require a continued pooling of effort and a wise and patient forbearance between interests at tension, NOW, THEREFORE, I, Sidney P. Osborn, Gov ernor, in support of the valiant efforts on the part of the National Urban League to achieve victory for de mocracy through unity, hereby proclaim the period beginning Sunday, September twenty-second, 1946 and continuing through Sunday, September twenty ninth, 1946, as American Team Work Week in Arizona, and earnestly call upon our citizens in their homes and in their churches, in their public and in their private enterprises to rededicate themselves to the principles of the Bill of Rights and the Four Freedoms which are basic to our American Democ racy, and urge a common front on the part of all groups and races for the achievement of these high and noble principles. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Arizona to be affixed this Sixteenth day of Septem ber, in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Nine Hundred and forty-six. (Signed) SIDNEY P. OSBORN, Governor. ATTEST: CURTIS M. WILLIAMS, Assistant Secretary of State. ARIZONJ#SUN i \ • 25 Negroes On Trial In Tennessee LAWRENCEBERG, Tenn., Sept. 26. —The trial of the 25 Negroes, arrested after a Maury county lynch mob swept through Colum bia, Tenn., last February, finally opened in circuit court here last week. The defendants are charged with attempting to murder white police officers on February 25. No one | was killed during the street fight- I ing that accompanied the invasion of the Negro neighborhood by a white mob. Two days later, two Negroes were shot and killed by police. A capacity audience jammed the courtroom and heard Z. Alexander Looby, Negro defense attorney from Nashville, calmly say, “Not guilty!” each time an indictment was read against a defendant. Five full weeks were consumed in selecting the jury. A total of 850 Lawrence county property owners had their names pulled from the metal jury box. Eight admitted members of the Ku Klux Klan were qualified to sit as jurors by Judge Ingam. The defense had to use its precious per emptory challenges to disqualify i them. Phone Union Moves Toward Their New Wage Demand Washington, Sept. 26—(FP) — Data is being gathered by the Natl. Federation of Telephone Workers (unaffiliated) to help set a coun trywide bargaining program. This announcement came Sept. 16 as the NFTW’s official paper called for “a new round of wage increases coupled with controls that will pre vent a further rise in prices.” The NFTW, which now claims over 215,000 dues-paying members in its affiliated unions, is studying, contracts of its locals to find the extent of the closed shop, checkoff of dues, use of automatic progres sion in the industry, data on shift differentials, sick leave and com mon tremination dates for agree ments. Preliminary reports on these studies will be sent the membership soon after Oct. 1 by the NFTW bargaining planning committee. The national executive board will meet here Oct. 7, according to Pres. Joseph A. Beirne, while the 2-week special assembly and convention of the union will be held Nov. 3-16 at Denver, Colo. Japs Learning Unionism These Japanese women are learning the technique of democratic un ionism from Mark Starr, educational director of Inti. Ladies Garment Workers (AFL), now conducting conferences with leaders of the new labor movement. (FP) Carver's Ex-Principal Asks $50,000 For Slander Mr. Roy Lee, ex-principal of Carver High School entered suit in Superior Court last Saturday, for $50,000 against 2 former teachers and 2 members of Carver’s P.-T.A. Mr. Lee alleged that Mr. Tom Browne and Mr. O. B. Coleman, teachers, and Mrs. M. H. Hagler and Mrs. Ruby Chavalier, members of Carver’s P.-T.A. had caused him to loose his position as Principal and later other jobs which he had aspired for, by their propaganda and circulation of petition against him. It is reported that the whole thing started over a year ago while Mr. Lee was Principal at Carver. A sworn statement was signed by a former student of Mr. Lee, con cerning his conduct, unbecoming a teacher, in the presence of the two teachers and members of the P.-T.A., which led Mr. Lee to ac cuse the defendants of conspiracy to rob him of his job, he said. He is at present employed as Deputy Sheriff of Maricopa Coun ty. The defendants have been served with citations, but no date has yet been set for the trial. DOUGLAS VETERANS' CLUB WILL ACTIVELY FIGHT AMENDMENT The Veterans’ Club of Doug las, at a meeting last week voted to campaign against the so called “right” to work amend ment. Agreeing with other op ponents of the measure, who have dubbed the measure the “right to starve” bill the club pledged its support to Union la bor and began making plans to defeat the amendment in the coming election. The Douglas veterans are said to be much riled at the propon ents of the bill for using the name “Veteran” in their propa ganda, declaring that in so do ing the anti-labor groups are using the veterans for personal reasons without consulting the various organizations composed of veterans. 41 New York Night Clubs Grant Raise New York City, Sept. 26—Forty one night clubs here averted an orchestra tieup by granting mu sicians a 20 percent general wage increase, in line with a request by Local 802 of the American Federa tion of Musicians. The settlement does not yet apply to hotel bands. Under the new contract bands men will also get time and a half for overtime and $5 extra on New Year’s Eve, also minimum “stretch time,” which means reducing to a minimu mthe intervals in the night’s work when the musicians are not playing. BOOKER WASHEVGON SCHOOL OPENS WITH BIG INCREASE Booker T. Washington School opened Monday, September 16th, with a very heavy enrollment. From all indications the enroll ment will exceed that of last year. Added to the faculty this school year are: Miss Merdine Moton, Kindergarten; Miss Zenobia Can non, Fourth Grade; Miss Jacque lin Farnandis, Nurse; and Miss Lexie Anthony, Clerk. JOS. T. McNARNEY DENIES SLUR ON NEGRO SOLDIERS BERLIN, Sept. 23.—Gen. Joseph T. McNarney, U. S. commander in Europe, said Saturday Negro lead ership qualities were “below the standards requried for the efficient performance of certain types of combat duties” but denied he ever had said the Negro was a failure as a soldier. The general commented on state ments he attributed to Truman K. Gibson, Jr., a Chicago Negro at torney who visited the Italian the ater last year as a civilian aid to then Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson. McNarney said he already had notified the War Department of “my known recollection” of con versations with Gibson in Italy. “I did this,” his statement said, “after I was informed that the Pittsburgh Courier published a column apparently written by Mr. Gibson in which I am erroneously quoted as having said: ‘The Negro is a failure as a soldier. It will be 100 years before he can develop to a point where he will be on a parity with Americans.’ Very bluntly, this quotation is inaccu rate.” Noting that Gibson had been permitted to visit all the Negro units in the Mediterranean The ater in which he showed an inter est, McNarney said: “At an informal luncheon prior to his departure from Italy he commented favorably on the per formance of duty by Negro artil lery units of the 92nd Division and Negro service forces of the same division. “He expressed his opinion that the American Negro, due to social and economic conditions at home, entered the army with specific disadvantages compared to the great majority of white soldiers. “He thought that the existence of these difficulties resulted in the Negro’s lack of ability to develop leadership in combat as quickly or as well as the white American sol dier. “Informally, I agreed with Gib son’s view and suggested that since (Continued on Page, 4.) /hire’.s root cot s o*uy.y 27 VETERANS WALKED OUT ON STRIKE MONDAY AT LOCAL PLANT Twenty-seven veterans who had been employed at the Palmer Manufacturing Corporation in Phoenix as ap prentices, walked out on strike Monday, after the com pany refused to advance wages to take the place of sub sistence pay when the government abandoned the appren tice training program at the plant. The men had been making from 65 to 75 cents per hour, which, with their subsistence pay gave them suffi- NEGRO CONGRESS RESOLUTIONS ASK SOCIAL REFORMS LOS ANGELES.—Resolutions to be introduced at the Natonal Ne gro Congress meeting, which opened at 1 p.m. last Sunday, at Elks auditorium, 4016 South Cen tral avenue, keep pouring in at congress offices, 1051 East 41st St. Covering a broad field of social reforms to abolish discrimination against minority groups, the reso lutions have come from AFL and CIO unions and from progressive organizations all over the city, re ports Helen Samuels, executive secretary of the congress. The resolutions committee is composed of Carlton Moss, author; Bob Pate, chairman of the Cole man Defense Committee, and 1 Yvonne Sheppard, of American Youth for Democracy. “One of the largest represen tations of Los Angeles trade un ions to be present at a single meet ing were present at the National Negro Congress,” Miss Samuels said, “since every trade union in the city received an invitation to send up to four delegates.” The opening address was deliv ered by John Howard Lawson, noted screen writer. Other prom inent persons invited to address the gathering were: James Roose velt, state Democratic committee chairman; Philip M. onnelly, CIO Council secretary; Assemblyman Albert Dekker; Charlotta Bass, California Eagle publisher, and Averill Berman, radio commenta tor. Participants from the Mobili zation for Democracy picket lines protesting the Gerald L. K. Smith meeting in Polytechnic High School were expected to join the congress session after completing their march before entrances of the school. Globe Lions Club 2nd Annual Rodeo Globe. Plans were completed this week, for the Globe Lions Club Second Annual Rodeo Cele bration, to be held Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 5 and 6, at the Clay pool Ball Park, midway between Globe and Miami. President Clyde Elrod of the Globe Lions Club announced that Loui “Buster” Mounce, and Gor don “Button” MdFadden would again be producing the annual as- - fair, and that from early reports, some 80 or 90 contestants would be on hand this year, an increase of 30 more than last year’s entry. Mounce and McFadden have in dicated there will be plenty of ro deo stock on hand to provide con testants as well as spectators, a better-than-ever show. A rodeo clown has been engaged to provide even more fun. oupled with the two-day attrac tion, the Lions will also stage three nights of dancing at the Elk’s Plaza, Miami, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 4,5, and 6. With all the members of the local Lions Club sprouting every thing from fuzz to whiskers, all of them dressed like real “cowboys,” the towns of Miami and Globe all decorated, it’s truly a Western spirit which is now prevailing in Globe and Miami. cient money to live and complete their training. When the program was abandoned the company raised some of them 10 cents an hour. They demanded a minimum of $1 an hour, was refused and walked off the job. At noon Tuesday the veterans were picketing both plants of the company, with the avowed inten tion of forcing the company to meet their demands and put them back to work. The strike was precipitated when James A. Smith, acting as spokesmen for the men was dis charged because, as Mr. Palmer told him, he apparently was “not interested in his work.” Mr. Palmer corrected the statement and said what he actually told Smith was that if he “wasn't happy he could take off.” By his action, Mr. Palmer jumped the gun on the so-called “right” to work law proposed at the coming election. That is ex actly what the law will do. It will give the workers the “right” to work—but under the conditions and at the wages the boss wants to pay—and if they are not “happy” they can “take off.” Nothing that has happened re- I cently could have demonstrated more clearly to all people just what the advocates of this vicious proposed law will do to all work ers. The Palmer company has op erated as an open shop non-union concern for years. It has arbi trarily set the wage scale, the hours and conditions. That all three were sub-standard is shown by the fact the place was declared unfit to train apprentices under the apprenticeship training pro gram, which has thousands of men working in the state. That such conditions are bad is also clearly demonstrated by the fact that 27 veterans, in no | way connected with labor unions, striving desperately to prepare themselves to get into the indus trial life of their state, were forced to strike against the company. The apprenticeship training pro gram has been a complete success in practically every case where it has been put in operation. It has the backing of the veterans ad ministration, but Hke all govern mental agencies, there are rules that must be obeyed, regulations that must be carried out. That the Palmer company was not doing that is evident by the statement made by one of the striking vet erans. He said “We were digging ditches, repairing roofs, installing windows, pouring concrete, driving trucks and doing other work. Welders were pushing shovels.” The walkout was a spontaneous action by the veterans after talk ing it over among themselves. La bor unions were in no way con nected with the matter, but every union man and woman in Phoenix stands ready, willing and eager to> help these veterans when asked,, and will go all out to assist them in whatever way they possibly can.. The Palmer company has been on labor’s unfair list for years. It has resisted all attempts to organ ize its employees and has steadily insisted on paying sub-standard wages and working conditions. It has maintained the “right” of its employees to work, but it has retained the right to do everything else, and when an employee becomes “unhappy” he can always “take off.” Mr. Palmer jumped the gun and his action will assist greatly in de feating the proposed amendment. Non-PoUttoai Moot Good For The Greatest Number