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Show UTAH LABOR NEWS, SALT LAKE CITY. UTAH. FEBRUARY 24, 1939 Page 3 Coa- lBusinesses Burn Utah-Mine- d Support Utah-Ovne-d Make Utah Prosperous and Safe for Men, Women and Children MONOPOLY HAS RUINED THE AMERICAN FARMER AND INDUSTRIAL WORKER ACCOUNTABLE INCOMES CHAIN-STOR- E (Continued from page 1) by a congressional committee. Prostitute Opinion The A. & P. Tea Company, whose headquarters are at 420 Lexington avenue. New York City, is a corporation with about two million shares of common stock, which are practically all owned, by the Hartford family in trust. They spend annually about six million dollars on advertising, which, of course, gives them a tremendous leverage on the editorial opinion of many newspapers throughout the country. With the secret rebates, etc., the independent local merchant is placed on an unequal basis with these corporate chains. If the independent merchant does not receive fair treatment at the hands of the manufacturers, it merely means the elimination of the independent retailer and the eventual concentration of the retail business in the hands of a few concerns, which means the absentee ownership of retail business in most of the cities and towns throughout the country. It will be interesting to many people who are not familiar with the facts to know that one New York banking house has a very active voice in the management of many of the large corporate chain-stor- e organizations and department stores of this country. 15,000 Stores The A. & P. Tea Co. owns and operates more than 15,000 stores. John A. Hartford is president of the concern, and practically all of the common stock of the corporation is owned by the Hartford fam- chain-stor- e octopus. We also have information of a number of manufacturing establishments bankrupted by chain-stor- e methods of doing quantity buying. Have Information important information to the legislators who are interesttax legislation in ed in chain-stor- e Utah and other states. The Utah Legislature owes it to the people of Utah, to the independent business concerns of Utah, to the farmers of Utah, to the workers of Utah, and to the boys and girls of Utah, to give serious consideration to the bills in the senate and house proposing a chain-stor- e tax. The chain-stor- e problem is one of the most important questions in America today. It is more important than was the question of slavery in the days of Abraham Lincoln. The chain store menaces the future welfare of every American man,' woman and child. This i3 A FEW FACTS ABOUT COAL Coal deposits in the U. S. are classed by geologists as of four different ages, the Carboniferous, the Triassic,' the Cretaceous and the Tertiary. So what!' The successive geological processes that resulted in the creation of coal deposits on our planet are believed to have commenced 250 million years ago and continued for a term of 35 million years. ily. According to reports released today by Allen T. Sanford, state director for the National Emergency Council, the per capita accountable income received by the people of the United States was, in 1929 $652. In 1933, it had shrunk to $353 and by 1935 it had picked up to $432. The people of the District of Columbia lead with an average income of $1171 in 1929. It shrank to $797 in 1933 and increased to $966 in 1935. For the same years, New York state was second with $1080 in 1929;' $605. in 1933 and $700 in 1935. Connecticut .follows with $892; $507; and $607 for 1929, 1933 and 1935 respectively. California was a close third with $932; $523 and $605 for the same years. Utah had $594; $274 and $348. Nevada $879; $397 and $545. Arizona $616; $298 and $402. Idaho $551; $247 and $345. Virginia $402; $245 and $305. Wyoming $706; $385 and $526. Montana $638; $307 and $482. The lowest income states were: Mississippi with $268; $129 and $170. Arkansas with $294; $148 and $182. It is interesting to compare the amount received by each state for each inhabitant from the beginning down to November 30, 1938, under the FERA, CWA and WPA. For the United States as a whole, the average received was $72.80. In a comparison of states, Montana was high with the receipt of $127 for each man, woman and child. South Dakota was next with $115; Nevada follows with $114.60; New York, $106.80; California $104.10; Arizona $103.20; Utah $92.90; Idaho $77.40; Wyoming $81. Mississippi, with the lowest average income received an average of $42.70, but Virginia was low with the receipt of $28.90 for each inhabitant. The General Foods pay the comIf the scientists are right then ultimate exhaustion of the namonth or a the $360,000 $30,000 pany a year for advertising; that ar- tions present petroleum oil rerangement has been in effect since serves need occasion no serious May, 1934. worry. The U. S. Geological SurA. & P. has received 5 per cent vey currently reaffirms the con- A. F. L. PRESS quantity discount from California tention that with the progress of Packing Corporation on Del Monte invention the nations coal deposits NOT GIVEN products, which was in the form will be able to provide, in addition TRUE STORY of cash rebate. (This is the cor- to the regular uses for coal, all poration that broke 'up the inde- domestic requirements for petro(From the Brewery Worker) pendent packers and peach farmers leum substances for 2000 years to The A F. of L. Weekly News in the west last year.) come. The Utah Labor News office has Service, which supplies the labor a list of several hundred concerns Opinion is a medium between press with information, includes the following dispatch in one of its who gave secret rebates to the knowledge and ignorance. Plato. late issues: The Executive Miami, Fla. Council of the A. F. of L. in session here intervened in the strike of the brewery drivers in Detroit which threatened to spread throughout Michigan. The ' Council directed President Green to send a telegram to the secretary of the Detroit Federation of Labor overruling the arbitration decision made by Frank Martel, president of the Detroit Federation. Mr. Martel, agreed upon as the sole arbitrator by the local Brewery Workers Union and the local Teamstes Union, ruled that the teamsters belonged to the Brewery Workers Union. The dispatch then devotes several hundred words to the Teamsters side of the controversy, as voiced by Daniel Tobin, president of the Brotherhood of Teamsters, but omits any reference to the Brewery Workers side. The information given out to the labor press in the above news item does not present an accurate picture. The Executive Council did not intervene in the controversy until after Mr. Martel had rendered his decision, and then it sent a telegram repudiating the decision, which had the effect of the controversy to some extent. Mr. Martels decision resulted in bringing a peaceful settlement to the entire situation in Detroit, but upon hearing news of its repudiation, some of the irreconciliables were given courage to continue their disruptive tactics. Had that telegram not been sent, the Detroit controversy would have become a closed incident. In examining the evidence pre20 alcohol by volume sented to him, as arbitrator, by both the Brewery Workers and the (jRQDon Teamsters, Mr. Martel found that he could come to no other conclusion but that the employing brew CALIFORNIA BRAND ng Brand California ocai!pgnraB&, aoet the United States as a whole, but the extent of the downward movement after and of the recovery in the second half of 1938 appears to have been more moder- , ate in this district. At the year-endoutput of several of the more important district industries was somewhat higher than at the close of 1937 and, allowing for seasonal factors, production generally was being maintained at the highest levels of the year or continuing to expand. At the beginning of 1938, district industrial production was decreasing, employment and payrolls were declining, new orders for goods were generally at depressed levels, profits were contracting and in same cases disappearing entirely, agricultural and industrial prices were declining, and many firms held inventories that were burdensome in relation to their current or Conprospective 6ales volume. in the sumption succeeding few months generally exceeded produc8 stocks of retion, and by tailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers generally had been reduced to satisfactory volumes. This reduction in stocks enabled firms to repay a portion of their loans at district banks and total loans contracted moderately during this ers and Beer Drivers Local Union No. 38 had entered into a valid and binding contract. The Honorable DeWitt II. Merriam, Judge of the Circuit Court, had previously arrived at this same conclusion, when he found that under the terms of the contract none but members of Local No. 33 could be engaged as beer drivers by the breweries. Both the Court and Mr. Martel upheld the validity of the closed shop agreement signed by the breweries with out International Union and there was no other issue in- mid-193- volved. The Executive Council of the A. F. of L. has, in this instance, abandoned all former precedents. They have always upheld the sacredness of such contracts, have fought for them in every manner, and are at loggerheads with the National Labor Relations Board on the same question. It should also be noted that Mr. Martel, as arbitrator, did not render his decision as president of the Detroit Federation of Labor. He entered the case upon request of all parties and solely as an individual, a citizen of the State of Michigan and the city of Detroit, and the decision was made in that capacity. Although the Detroit Teamsters, like the Brewery Workers, had previously agreed to abide by his decision, it has been difficult for them to do this in the face of the misleading news service broadcast by the A. F. L. and the telegram of repudiation made public by the Executive Council. even now mid-193- period. Revival in Building Revival In Business The following is the report of business conditions in the Twelfth Reserve District furnished by Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The report follows: Following the marked decline during the latter part of 1937 and the moderate further decrease in the first half of 1938, business activity expanded considerably in the Twelfth Federal Reserve District in the second half of last year. Timing of these movements in the Twelfth District corresponded generally with changes recorded for IpGGVGDnti In the meantime, a marked revival had appeared in residential building, which had declined about 40 per cent from April to December, 1937. An upturn took place in this major industry in January, 1938, and was followed after March by a sharp expansion. This substantial revival in privately financed residential building rested basically upon a strong demand for additional housing and was greatly facilitated by liberalized financing terms under the National Housing Act, as amended February . 3, 1938. The marked increase in building during the spring months, both locally and in other parts of the United States, resulted in an increased demand for various building materials and thus aided in the reduction of inventories of many dealers and producers. In the lumber industry, this increased demand (Continued on page 6) 5all mm nJcnGDoaipIl57EiiaGiati2 IPacc ttEnG Nattuhcall ac ffanl Natural gas displaces 550,000 tons of Utah coal every year. Such displacement takes away the subsistence of 2,500 Utah people. It destroys pay rolls to Utah men of $1,250,-00- 0 annually. It deprives Utah railroads of $1,000,000 in freight revenue each year. Taxes paid by natural gas in the State of Utah amounted to $183,278 last year. Taxes attributable to coal exceed $1,500,000 annually. (Not including taxes paid by railroads engaged in Utah coal transportation.) Pay rolls attributable to Utah coal mines amount to $50,000 per day. 9li NOTE If you believe in supporting the Coal Industry and bringing back employment to workers of Utah, mail a Post Card to your Legislator and Senator from your district TODAY, urging him to VOTE for H. B, 45, which proposes a tax on natural gas. i SOUTHEASTERN UTAH ASSOCIATED PniCE, UTAH INDUSTRIES r |