OCR Text |
Show THE AMERICAN WAY By GEORGE PECK Chairman of the Board, National Labor-Management Foundation THE "MAN" FOR THE JOB History is a-making in Mississippi this year. For the first time a woman has tossed her hat into the ring- for the governorship of that state. Mrs. Mary D. Cain, publisher and editor of the Summit Sun; a weekly newspaper, is the little lady who is flaunting Mississippi tradition. Mrs. Cain's platform is predicated on one idea and I quote her: "To restore to the people of Mississippi their sovereign rights as citizens of their state and the United States." Space does not permit enumerating all the planks in the Cain platform, but here follow some that should be of absorbing interest inter-est to all sound-thinking Americans: 1. Refuse any further Federal Grants-In-Aid. 2. Reduce taxes. Specifically, abolish state income tax, black market tax, admission tax, estate tax, chain store tax, slot machine tax George Peck and mait tax. 3. Reduce cost of state government by consolidation, con-solidation, transfers and eliminations of existing (106) state bureaus bu-reaus and agencies to a total of 26. 4. Tax the cooperatives. (Mrs. Cain believes they would prefer pre-fer to be taxed as a matter of fairness. They've never had an opportunity to pay). 5. Sound public health program pro-gram but within the bounds of state and county aid only. No federal funds. 6. Opposition to all New Deal socialism which includes subsidies for farmers, unemployment unem-ployment compensation, federal aid to education, socialized medicine med-icine and compulsory health insurance, in-surance, arbitrary wage and hour regulations, public housing, hous-ing, the Brannan Plan, the Valley Val-ley Authorities, federal aid for the aged and needy and social security to state, county, district,-school and municipal employes. em-ployes. 9. Purge present Welfare Department De-partment rolls, repudiate further fur-ther federal aid and make sure that only absolutely destitute people are aided by that de- i partment. j 11. Suitable laws to protect the right of Labor to belong to a labor union or not, as it sees fit. That, my friends, is quite a platform. But, if elected, will the lady live up to it? Is it just another candidate, making a lot of promises for the sole purpose of getting elected? Well, let's look at the record Mary Cain's record. In 1943, during World War II, U. S. Senator Bankhead introduced intro-duced a bill, part of which pro- posed to subsidize small-town weekly newspapers. Reaching j for her typewriter, Mary Cain dashed off an editorial that I was copied in thousands of ! newspapers across the nation. Part of that editorial' follows: "And now the press of this nation is being approached with an insidious scheme to PAY for our patriotism. My paper is small so small that I wonder at my temerity in speaking thus. It is poor so poor that it depends almost entirely upon the job work I do to sustain it. I am a young woman who could use a goodly sum such as this would net me. But, I tell you frankly, even if this bill passes, I shall not accept the money. This is an independent newspaper. newspa-per. It accepts no pay for government gov-ernment advertising and pub- lishes only what it deems best 'for the needs of this town." In large measure due to this editorial the Bankhead Bill was not enacted and the free voice of the rural press was saved. Again space does not permit recounting the many other things Mary Cain has said and done to prove she is bitterly opposed to paternalistic govern- ment, even when it promises to feather her own nest. : Not being a citizen of Mississippi, Missis-sippi, I have no vote there. I wish I were, as it would give me great pleasure to vote for Mary Cain as often as the Mississippi Mis-sissippi law would permit. She strikes me as being just the "MAN" for Mississippians to install as governor of "Ole Miss" |