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Show Review of Current flews and Comment 11 M. I. T. Axe to Grind It is no wonder that Iierre du Pont of Delaware is so eager to spend his money to bring about a change of administration and a return to the "good days prior to 1021) to which Hoover is so fond of referring. COOPERATE Happy and Comfortable Smith of New York, who used to cut quite a swath in politics, seems to have sort of jelled since d his speech at the du Fonts banquet in Washington re. , cently. After the first few days, even the Republicans who expected to gain so fiivich on account of his bolt, have dropped him like a hot potato and he now ranks with the much-toute- ' war as far as newspaper space is concerned. That was a dud, for sure. As has been well said. Smith could afford to be "happy and comfortable, as he put it, and Italo-Ethiop- an (Continued on page2.) COMMENT ON AMERICAN NEWS Dollars Are Flowing The International Labor News - Service reports that thousands dollars in quarters have rolled into the Presidents birthday ball, labor division headquarters in Washington, accompanying birthday greetings to the President. The flood continues and probably will continue for another two weeks As of February 3, about $12,000 have been received with birthday greetings. The record for any one local union so far is held by the Navy Yard Machinists of Washington, with a birthday greeting accompanied by a check for more than $700. The record for any one in. ternational union is held by the Post Office Clerks, with a total return to be announced later. fhe'- - record for individual work was held by Miss Ronnie Conner, A Question Box Will Be Are Oiling Up The politicians are oiling their machines so that when the party conventions are to be held they may carry out their purposes. The pot is beginning to boil both locally and nationally. The national pot is bubbling quite audibly; in fact, it looks at times as if it were boiling over. y The whole pack led by the (libertine) league and its allied groups, are going full cry, and what they dont say about Frank-i- n D., or charge him with, leaves ittle to the imagination. The Republicans keep up the fire all along the line, and are aided by a number of renegade Democrats like Talmadge of Georgia, and others. Appeals are made to all disgruntled to get on the band wagon. But regardless of the noise, we elieve Roosevelt will again walk away with the presidential plum, n fact, the chances are promising ;'or him to carry 43 states. The talk of defeating Roosevelt or renomination is about as sensible as our writing a letter to John D. and demanding that he send us half his money under pain of refusing to buy gasoline for the . itney. Surely there will be some opposition in the convention, but after the soreheads and disappointed ones have had their say and taken the walk A1 spoke about, there will e plenty more than the eft to put Roosevelt across. Lib-ert- ds Sick Elephant The Republican field js about as adly "shot as can be imagined, t is a sick elephant. Borah will make a play and has entered primaries in several states. Cnox, Hoover and all others are also in the field, with Comrade learsts man, Landon, by no means a bet to be overlooked. The first real test of who is who in-O.- - P-- . camp should come with the primaries in Illinois to be held in April, with Borah and favorite son Knox among the real contenders for the delegates. But the dealers in the Republican party are working their old game, declaring for uninstructed delegates and let the best man win at the convention. It looks as if they will select most of them that way. A convention of uninstructed delegates makes it fine for the best man, who is usually picked by some gentlemen in a back room. The best man in this event may be Hoover. . the-G.- . oers of the American Federation of Labor unions and friends, who believe in a progressive Democrat party and are in sympathy with the New Deal principles of President Roosevelt. The league has endorsed the relection of President Roosevelt, and will devote its efforts to make the Roosevelt vote in Utah larger than it was in 1932. President E. C. Dittman of the league says that it is our duty as friends of the New Deal to combat the propaganda of the American Liberty league and other organizations sponsored by special interests for their own selfish gains, and to the detriment of the average citizens. Is For Labor The American Federation of oclock. Labor is a Are Interested organizaMany members of the League tion and this is as it should be, and their friends are eagerly said Mr. Dittman. This is one looking forward to this meeting. Teason why all trade unionists who They are interested in the ques- believe in the principles of the American Federation should suptions to be asked and discussed. Those who believe in the reelec- port the reelection of President tion of President Roosevelt and in ! Roosevelt. He has done more than progressive Democrat party in any other President to advance the cause of working men and women. Utah are invited to attend. The Trade Union Democratic He has .advanced the cause of or-- J League of Utah membership is ganized labor to the extent of more made up of forward looking mem- (Continued on page 3) non-partis- stock-waterin- to-hi- s an I The 57 Varieties of Communist Organization Communist Leaders Back of Project Union Movement Under Several Names Planning for a Government Project Workers Strike April 1 Herbert Benjamin, Communist Leader, Issues Handbook and Directs Plans for Mass Action Against Government Relief Work Program. ?- American Workers Union. Herbert Benjamin, national secretary, National Unemployment Council of U. S., has issued a Handbook for Project Workers. This booklet tells how to organize the projects, how to organize a strike, and how to gain admittance into the A. F. of L. unions, etc., etc. Mr. Benjamin is one of the big shots in the communist activities of this country. Utah Organizers The organizers of the government project workers are principally those who have been active in the communist activities in Utah and elsewhere in the United States. Among the organizers in Utah are Dietrich of Denver; Steele of Cleveland, Ohio; Black of Salt Lake City, and other well known agitators. It is said that the majority of the relief workers joining the movement are doing so thinking that the' are affiliating themselves with a legitimate labor movement. They do not realize that they are being led into one or the other of the 57 varieties of organizations sponsored by the communist lead- Up Against It Republicans are up against something. Comrade Hearst is running his candidate, Landon, on practically all the pages of his numerous papers, every day and all the time. This sort of makes it tough for the Republican dealers. If they openly oppose the comrade before the convention, the comrade will have to be reckoned with later. And the Hearst papers have some influence in defeating even if they cant elect. It is possible Comrade Hearst may be able to force his man onto the Republicans, but it isnt a bet ers. to put much money on. to 'President Harvey secretary Fremming of the Oil Field, Gas Well and Refinery Workers, with about $500 gathered by her own efforts, $200 of it in one check. These records may be broken by others. It is the intention to announce the final result as soon as the returns are closed. More than 7,000 birthday balls were held throughout the country with labor participating in approximately 300 in organized capacity and with labor men as individuals taking part in hundreds of others. Returns from these have not be Jackasses and Jackasses gun to arrive but should begin to Here is a story that office seekcome to headquarters within a few ers, as well as voters, should condays. sider seriously. Over - the hill Stock Watering (Continued on page 2.) The Big Four tobacco companies are probably the busiest and exg most successful DESERT perts on earth. In the little matof capitalized ter of write-up- s PHILOSOPHIES wind and water and paying dividends on both, the tobacco trust By Johnston has the power trust lashed to the mast. Full details of tobacco Big Four We often wonder if Herbert write-up- s cannot be given. They are cleverly done and they have Hoover has enough comprehension been going on so long that many to realize how many people reach of the records must be lest, but for the radio dial when he starts the U. S. commissioner of corpora- to prattle. If he happens to have tions has put some facts on record a conscience he should have a sort that cannot be disputed. Here are of squeamish feeling in the pit of his stomach when he starts lama few: The American Tobacco Co. was basting President Roosevelt for not formed in January, 1890, by a mer- living up promises. At the administraof Mr. close Hoovers Duke of W. five ger companies: Sons & Co., Allen & Ginter, W. S. tion, if anyone that belonged to Kimball & Co., Kinney Tobacco the middle or laboring class had Co., and Goodwin & Co. The tan- two cars in a garage the sheriff gible assets of these five compan- had possession of the keys to the ies were $3,545,108.02. The Amer- garage. If any laboring man had ican Tobacco company, formed a dinner pail he certainly had no from these five companies, with no use for it. And if he obtained a additions in its investment, issued chicken he would have had to steal $25,000,000 of stock. You can fig- it. Then prosperity just around ure out the proportion for your, the comer that was not exactly a self, but to save the bother, take false statement on Mr. Hoovers this: Of every $100 of that Amer- part, but he had it parked so far ican Tobacco stock, $14.20 had tan-- ( around the comer that it has taken Continued on page 3) (Continued on page 4) ks What is the direct primary elft tion law to nominate party candidates? Why do the big business Interests oppose the humanitarian program of President Roosevelt? Does the New Deal program provide for benefits to the people? IIow can the people overcome the steam roller of the machine politicians in party convention? Do the party platform promises mean anything ? The above are a few of the pertinent questions that perhaps will be asked and discussed in the Question Box feature of the meeting of the Trade Union Democratic League of Utah at the Newhouse hotel, Friday night, March (7, 8 Some of the national organizations directing organization of government project workers in the difNational ferent localities are the U. 8.; Unemployment OrorirflNational Unemployment League, Workers' Alliance of America, and The Strike Date It is alleged that the principal task of the organizers is to have everything on all fronts ready for a general strike April 1. In Salt Lake City the PWA work, ers were organized at 68 Post Office Place. This address was the headquarters for several communist organizations. On February 16 the state convention of the communist party was held at 68 Post Office Place, when a new section committee of that party was chosen. Benjamins Handbook for Pro ject Workers is very shrewdly worded in order to hide the red hues of communism, but those who are familiar with the tactics of Benjamin,' et al.y will readily discover that they are for the same purposes, but under different names, and in different wording. For example under title What Form of Organization Can Best Serve the Needs of the WIA Workers? the author tells about projects, initiation fees and dues, cooperation with existing oragnizations, how to become part of the American Federation of La-- ( Continued on page 4.) ve RULING ON SCHOOL FUNDS February is the month of two great Americana who had similar views as to the Constitution of the United States Washington and Lincoln. Neither of them held the Constitution to be infallible. The reactionary partisan press at present is attempting to put the idea across that the Constitution ia perfect in form and substance. Because of this it is timely that we learn what these great Americans had to say on the subject. Washington, indeed, considered the constitution an experiment, and bluntly called it that, while Lincoln as bluntly declared in effect that if we permit the supreme court to rule us we have lost the right to rule ourselves. Then there waa a third great American Theodore Roosevelt who as bluntly proclaimed against any assumption of improper power by the highest of our courts. Washington in his farewell address had this to say: The basis of our political system is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the constitution designates. He added: We are authorized to hope that a proper organization of the whole with the auxiliary agency of government for the respective subdivisions will afford a happy issue to the experiment. In his inaugural address Lincoln said of the venerable document: The candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the government, upon vital questions affecting the whole people, is to be irrevocably fixed by the decisions of the supreme court, the instant they are made, in ordinary litigation between parties in personal actions, the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their government into the hands of that eminent ... tribunal. . . Theodore Roosevelt, who was a fourth cousin of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was another who in unmistaken terms condemned the practice of the courts in assuming to pass on the validity of acts of congress, the members of which are the chosen representatives of the people in the legislative branch of the government. In a message to congress in 1908 Theodore Roosevelt, then president, said: The legislators and executives are chosen to represent the people in enacting and administering the law. The judges are not chosen to represent the people in this sense. Their function is to interpret the laws, but they are to be blamed when they fail to recognize, under a government like ours, the deliberate judgment of the majority as to a matter of legitimate policy, when duly expressed by the legislature. For the courts to arrogate to themselves functions which properly belong to the legislative bodies is all wrong, and in the end works mischief. That the former President Roosevelt did not look upon the present Constitution of the United States as an infallible document is shown by what he said to the Ohio constitutional convention in 1912: I believe in pure democracy. With Lincoln I hold that this country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they grow weary of the existing government they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it. Another American, one who fought to make the world safe for democracy Commander Murphy of the American Legion also refuses to believe that the Constitution of the United States is infallible. the American Federation of Labor, in convention assembled, .... . . Commander Murphy, said;...., The American Legion does not hold that changes in government are either impossible or impracticable. The world changes, America with it. The basic law of our land has been amended, and may be amended many times. The Constitution was created for the people. Within the elastic limits of that great charter will be found the means to accomplish all that is needed for the common good. The right of the people to change their basic law can not, and must not, be denied. It is provided in the Constitution itself." It appears to be quite evident that the Constitution of the United States, in spite of the claims of a partisan press, is subject to change at the will of the American people. N. Y. GARMENT WORKERS WIN DEMAND WITHOUT STRIKING New York, N. Y. (AFLNS) The strike of 0 dressmakers in the New York City area was finally averted by a two-yeagreement which representatives of the Intermnational Ladies Garment Workers Union secured from the various employer associations. The peace pact was agreed to after two weeks continued negotiations arranged by Mayer F. H. La Guardia. , The new agreement provides for the settlement of piece work rates directly with the jobbers and for the limitation of contactors to whom a jobber may give his work. The contractor limitation provision is designed to prevent the reduction in workers standards from wage cutting resorted to by contractors in order to compete with each other. Under the provision for the settlement of piecework rates, each jobber will guarantee that all his contractors pay uniform wages for the same type of work. An additional provision is designed to end the notorious runaway shops by long-threaten- ed The office of Attorney General Joseph Chez recently made a ruling governing the distributions of school funds. The state superintendent of the department of pub. lie instruction submitted for interpretation the law governing the The distribution of the funds. practice for years has been to hold tax money by the state treasurer until the first 10 days of the following January, April, and November. The taxes reaching the treasurer a few days later were held for another three months, often compelling school boards to borrow money to meet current obligations. A broad and liberal interpretation of the law justified the ruling made by Attorney General Joseph Chez, which has been followed by Superintendent Skidmore and State Auditor Andersen mak. ing frequent distributions irrespective of the time, thus relieving the school boards and saving interest of approximately $80,000 at 4 per cent, or $40,000 at 2 per cent, each year. This liberal interpretation is consistent with the law and has given great relief to the various school boards throughout the state. THE UNION LABEL DEPARTMENT THANKS THE UTAH LABOR NEWS The following resolution thanking the Utah Labor News and other labor weekly newspapers and labor news services was adopted at a recent meeting of the executive board of th Union Label Trades Department of the American Federation of Labor: Whereas, the weekly labor newspapers and labor journals have generously given space to display editorials, short paragraphs, cartoons and facsimiles of union labels, shop cards and goods and union services, buttons, thus promoting union-mad- e and Whereas, the American Federation of Labors Weekly News Service and the International Labor News Service have gratuitously carried the message of the union label shop card and button, therefore be it Resolved, that the executive board of the Union Label Trades Department of the American Federation of Labor hereby expresses its deep appreciation of the hearty support and loyal cooperation of these Labor News services and the Labor press. - Cents Per Copy CONSTITUTION New-- d Friends Are Invited to At-alAre Scheduled A Short house Hotel Memlx tend A Number of I Program of Entertain! Compiled From Reports of Observers two-thir- are of the Gathering at a 5 GREAT AMERICANS ON THE -- Utah For 1936 ' A1 TRADE UNION DEi 5jf:RAT LEAGUE ANNOUP Tti MEET FOR MARCH 6 Political Outlook rs Price: KE CITY. UTAH. FEBRUARY 28. 1936. SAl VOL VI: NO. 34. Itecently, in a speech in the U. S. senate Hastings, Republican member of that tody from Mr. du Ponts state, and one of the great, est order-takefor interests, inadvertently, maybe, let it be known his august masters income in 1920 was $31,490,000, or at least that alwas what he acknowledged, was he it stated not that though had paid income tax on that amount. It may be recalled Mr. du Pont is in the munitions manufacturing business, mainly, with a number of side lines which do well when there are wars, or rumors of war, and deaths of soldiers. Since the advent of the Roosevelt ' administration, considerable of the easy money seems to hove eluded Mr. du Pont and his allies so he has organized and is financing the Liberty league and similar groups with high salaried business agents, who are bent on saving the Constitution and probably would return the seat of the federal gow ernment to Wall Street, from whence it seems to have been re moved to Washington, to a considerable extent, since 1933. No doubt, if our income had been hit as hard as that of Mr. du Pont; who is also interested in the power trusts, we would insist that our hired men go the limit and would try to put on several extras, even if the NRA is dead. THE PEOPLES PAPER EDUCATE ORGANIZE 105,-00- ar which some employers who opposed union hours and wages moved their plants to other cities. The provision on this subject stipulates that no manufacturer may move his plant outside of 5 cent fare limit in New York City. David Dubinsky, president of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, said the limitation of contractors and settlement of prices with the jobbers will help considerably to eliminate the illegitimate competition that existed and the tendency toward depressing the standards of workers, a condition which made the dress industry infamous. He declared the union considered the agreement a great achievement because it had sought contractor limitation and settlement with jobbers since 1924, adding: Although we included reductions in hours and increases in wages among our demands we were primarily concerned with establishing order in the industry. We consider this a great accom- plishment. THE U. S. WILL BE A BETTER KNOWN PLACE TO LIVE IN Five Thousand Reliefers Busy Preparing Huge Guide Book Which Will Contain 2,680,000 Words in Six Hefty Volumes Know Our Country Each State a Unit Utah Has 30 Persons Assembling Material. In order to find employment for and profes5000 needy white-collWPA has unsional workers, the record which will dertaken a task America all the way from the coast of the Atlantic to shores of the Pacithe fic, and from the southern lazy waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the forbidding forests of Canada. Every mountain, every flower, every rock and rill will find itself eventually in between the covers of these books. Altogether it will take 2,680,000 words, carefully culled from the billions that are now already starting to flow to ar rock-ribb- ed sun-kiss- ed , wards the editors, to relate the tale of this, our country. Each state will be allotted so many words to tell of its wonders, natural and historical, past and present. But the exact number of words allotted to each state is a secret. The designers of the project do not want political pressure unduly to emphasize a section that has nothing more to show for added space than a clamorous But it can be said that the most words permitted to any state will be 175,000 and the least Size will have nothing to do with the amount of wordage, but (Continued on Page 3) leg-pull- er. 25,-00- 0. |