Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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t News Review of Current Events the World Over Disastrous Flood Moves Down the Mississippi—Mass Evac uation Prepared—Secretary Perkins Moves to Compel General Motors Strike Parley. By EDWARD W. PICKARD C W«*tem Newspaper Union. TM Barawtll Psopla-S—Unel Baniwell. 8. C, Thnraday. February ll.^W7 General Malin Craig G RADUALLY the terrible flood in the Ohio valley subsided, but the yellow torrents were pouf* inf down the lower Mississippi and the nation was mo bilized to save the people there. By di rection of the Pres ident and Gen. Mal in Craig, chief of staff, the army made all prepara tions for the evacu ation of all inhabi tants along the riv er between Cairo, 111., and New Or leans. The details for this mass move ment were worked out to the last point by commanding officers in the region and thousands of motor trucks and railroad flat cars were collected. Headquarters for the evacuation were set up at Jackson, Miss. Lieut. Col. Eugene Reybold, dis trict engineer at Memphis, ordered the prompt delivery of 5,000,000 bur lap sacks for the erection of sand bag bulwarks, 15 cars of lumber, 210 outboard motorboats, 300 small boats, 300 life jackets, and 1,500 lanterns. The secretary of war authorized the use of not only regular army troops but also members of the Civilian Conservation corps, the National Guard, and the Red Cross. General Craig said that if the bil lion dollar levee system, erected after the great 1927 flood, failed to hold, about the same area affected then would be inundated. Many thousands of people already had been removed from homes along the Mississippi, but cities like Memphis and Vicksburg, being on high ground, were believed to be safe. At New Orleans river experts re fused to admit danger of a super- flood along the lower reaches of the liver. But Secretary of War Wood ring in Washington had reports from engineers which said the levee system on the lower Missis sippi probably would not be able to withstand the present flood when it reaches its crest. At this writing the effects of the flood may be thus summarized: Homeless, nearly a million. Dead, probably more than 500, including 200 in Louisville. Damage, conserv atively estimated at more than $400,- 000,000. Congress hurried through a defi ciency appropriation of $790,000,- 000 which the President promised would be made available for flood relief; and the American Red Cross, working at high speed, was raising a fund of $10,000,000 to which the people of the entire country con tributed liberally. Supplies of food, drinking water, clothing and medi cines were poured into the stricken areas. Cincinnati, Louisville, Ports mouth, Frankfort and Evansville - were the worst sufferers; but every city, town and village along the Ohio and its tributaries shared in the disaster. Fires broke out in the Mill Creek district of Cincinnati and destroyed property valued at $1,500,- D00 before the flames could be con trolled. Throughout the entire re gion transportation was crippled, pure water and fuel supplies were shut off or greatly reduced, and outbreaks of typhoid and pneumonia were threatened. In Louisville the light and power plant was forced to shut down. In Frankfort, Ky., the state re formatory was flooded and the pris oners were removed to other quarters with the aid of troops. The convicts took advantage of the emergency to start a riot and about a dozen were killed. All of southern Indiana was placed under martial law by Governor Townsend. leader of the senate, ahe asked the prompt passage of a bill empower ing her department to subpoena per^ sons and papers in connection with investigations of strikes. To the press Miss Perkins said that once she had this power she would sum mon Sloan to a meeting with Lewis PORTY THOUSAND employees of * General Motors returned to part time work in reopened plants in Michigan and Indiana, and were un molested by the strikers. But the deadlock was not broken, and the sit- down strikers con tinued to occupy the plants they had “kidnaped.PresU dent Alfred P. Sloan Jr., of General Mo tors had refused the invitation of Secre tary of Labor Per kins to meet John L. Lewis, chief of the striking unions, while the strikers were still in forcible possession of plants, and President Roosevelt ominously termed this refusal “a very unfortunate decision on' his part,” intimating, also, that there was a prospect of labor legislation unfavorable to the corporation and to employers generally. Sloan persisting in his attitude. Secretary Perkins started a move for legislation that would compel him to meet Lewis. In identical letters to Speaker Bankhead and Senator Joe Robinson, majority A. P. Sloan in Washington; but she was not swe she could compel him to nego tiate a strike settlement. Sloan had posted in all General Motors plants a denial that the cor poration was responsible for the breakdown of negotiations and was "shirking our moral responsibil ities.” He reiterated his refusal to treat with the union so long as the sit-down strikers held the plants, and continued with a promise to employees: “We shall demand that your rights and our rights be protected” against “a small minority who have seized certain pltrnts and are hold ing them as ransom to enforce their demands. “I say to you once more, have no fear. Do not be misled. General Motors will never let you down. You will not have to pay tribute for the privilege of working in a General Motors plant.” Sloan contends that more than 100,000 G. M. employees have ex pressed a desire to return to work. Lewis scoffs at this claim but will not countenance the holding of an election to determine whether his unions command the majority nec essary to constitute them the sole collective bargaining agency. The federal labor relations board could order such an election but it has not intervened, and probably will not. Governor Murphy of Michigan had not modified his refusal to per mit the National Guardsmen sta tioned in Flint to be utilized in carrying out a judicial order that the plants be vacated by the sit- down strikers. TPHE six-week strike of 7,100 em- ployees of the Libbey-Owens- Ford Glass company ended with ap proval by the union committee and company officials of a wage agree ment giving a flat eight-cent-an-hour increase in all plants of the com pany. A one-year-contract was signed. The agreement provides for ap pointment of a committee of five to investigate wage rates of the Pitts burgh Plate Glass company with a view to establishing uniformity of rates throughput the flat glass in dustry. Sen. Guffey \/f AYBE it was just a promotion stunt for the book, but Senator Joseph F. Guffey of Pennsylvania, Democrat, introduced in the senate a resolution calling for an investigation of the truth or falsi ty of scurrilous charges made against the Supreme Court in “Nine Old Men,” a volume au thored by two con ductors of a Wash ington gossip col umn. In offering the resolution Guffey made a bitter attack on the Supreme Court, saying: “The President of the United States, with his characteristic frank ness and courage, has opened for debate the most troublesome prob lem which we must solve if we are to continue a democracy. “That problem is—whether the Supreme court will permit congress, the legislative branch of our gov ernment, which was equally trusted with the Supreme court by the framers of the Constitution, to per form its duties in making democra cy workable and. effective.” The senate heard Guffey’s speech in silence and referred his resolu tion to the judiciary committee. A RTIFICIAL scarcity of farm ** products is abandoned as a pol icy for the time being by Secretary of Agriculture Wallace. He said in Washington that the two drouth years of 1934 and 1936 have brought more thought on farm production by consumers and farmers than ever before. While a year or two of nor mal weather would tumble wheat prices, if full acreage is planted, the time has come for a lifting of the restrictions, he said. “In the year immediately ahead, I feel that farmers should think primarily of their duty to consum ers,” Wallace said. “I think that in the coming year it is wise for us to produce as much as we can. We should, of course, divert a certain amount of*corn and cotton acreage to soil conserving crops, because that will make for greater long time productivity of our farm land. “But for the most part, let’s All up the storage bins this year. It is good policy to vary the plans for storage of crops in the soil accord ing to the state of supplies in the granary above the ground.” ■ft JA 'Dfumkbb about Hollywood “Rifts” and “Probes.** B everly hills, calif.— Out here, bur two favorite headlines are ,4 Rift ,, and “Probe,” one signifying that some ideal marriage between movie stars has begun to split at the seams and the other that some functionary has been in office long enough for the pro fessional investigators to start investigating. In between, somebody is either trying to put Sister Aimee McPher son in a hole or get Tom Mooney out of jail. So far, neither undertaking has succeeded, but folks keep right on trying. Last month, it was Sister Aimee’s turn. This month it’s Tom Mooney’s. But when other sources of news fail, it’s fine to be able to fall back on good old reliable “Rift” and dependable, “Probe.” Cat as Prized Weather. Forecaster On Japanese ships in the Seven teenth century the tortoise-shell tomcat was so highly prized as a weather forecaster, because it w’ould rush up the mast before the ap proach of a storm, that it was often classed as a member of the crew and given a rank higher than that of the cook.—Collier’s Weekly. Friendly Encouragement A friendly slap of encouragement on the shoulder, a little well-timed smile of approval, a cheerful look for a comrade when he slips—these are the inexpensive little things that get the important big results. National Topics ^Interpreted by William Bruckart Irvin S. Cobb stanch old Poor Lo’s Renaissance. TpHE government says the surviv- ing Indians are actually in- sreasing in number. I started to add that this proves the Indians are holding their own, but, since we’ve left them very little of their own to hold, I stayed my hand. The Navahoes always have been the most independent and aloof of all the tribesmen. For the most part, they continue to live a nomadic ex istence, following their ancient be liefs and ceremonials, refusing to be caged in towns, yet, numerically and in material possessions, they out grow any other tribe. Can it be that the white man’s culture, which we so jealousy strive to cram down the gullets of red people and black and brown and yellow, isn’t always what the victims need? But, of course, to say that is prac tically to admit our civilization might have a few tiny flaws in it, whereas we know it to be the one perfect creation of man, and for proof point to its crowning achieve ment, the late World war. • • • The Spoils System. 'T'HIS isn’t a criticism, it’s a timid * little prediction based on all the political experience that the past yields to us: Pledges of curtailment in govern mental expenditures, as eman ating from White House sources, are undoubtedly sincere. But Andy Jackson or whoever it was first coined the line, expressed the correct idea when he said that to the victor belonged the spoils— and not to let them spoil too long either. So it shouldn’t surprise anybody or deeply shock anybody, except the few G. O. P. boys still scattered through congress, if Pennsylvania and Missouri and certain other states should go right on getting plenty out of the treasury for con tinued relief work on behalf of Sen ator Guffey and Mr. Pendergast and such-like benefactors of the human race. Not that the ins are any greed ier than the outs; they’ve merely improved in sagacity since the days when nearly all the smart wolves seemed to be Republicans and near ly all the half-witted sheep seemed to be Democrats. But Passamaquoddy might as well make up its mind to being sort of neglected from now on. Maine, she ain’t been actin’ right. • • • France’s Inconsistency. C'RANGE has just lent a vast sum ^ to Poland, and Poland, it is admitted, will use the money to increase its war strength. If Poland should repudiate the debt and de fault on the interest, a howl will go up from “La Belle France” that’ll ring around the world. But, of course, it will continue to remain an evidence of soulless greed for Uncle Sam even to inti mate that France might pay us a little something on account against the enormous amount she owes us for borrowed money which she has used to build up her army and also, it would appear, to pass along to Poland so that Poland may build up hers. If consistency be a jewel, France is practically out of jewelry. IRVIN S. COBB ©—WNU Service. Washington.—The arrival of the first robin is only a sign of the com- ^ .j ing of spring. It Danger does not bring Sign* spring weather. Nevertheless, we Americans watch for signs all our lives and lately there have been sev eral of them in national affairs that are worthy of notice. There never has been a time in our country’s history, as far as I Rave been able to discover, when the tension surrounding labor con ditions has been as dangerous as it is right now. I do not believe any- one can forecast what the results are going to be; what all of these strikes and factional fights in or ganized labor mean and I am con vinced that they represent some thing much deeper than just dis satisfaction with wages or growing pains of expanding business. In other words, there are many stu dents of national affairs who are attempting to analyze current labor conditions as signs of new times. Most observers with whom I have discussed the present labor prob lems, are hopeful that these trou bles mean only continued increases in the demand for labor. That is, they want to accept these signs as indicative of a returning and sound prosperity in commerce and indus try. Yet, none of them is quite sure. There are too many “ifs” and too many uncertainties for anyone to attempt a complete diagnosis of the circumstances. Some weeks ago I ventured the opinion in these columns that the rift in organized labor between Wil liam Green as head of the Ameri can Federation of Labor and John L. Lewis as sponsor of the indus trial union idea, likely would result in serious trouble for the labor un ions themselves. I was unable to report then that which I can write at this time, namely, that the schism in organized labor appears certain to set back the cause of organized labor many years. In deed, it seems that the split, tan gled as it is with partisan politics, may prove to be the uncharted rock in union labor’s course and its ship may founder on it. • • • But the situation is fraught with graver possibilities, I am sure. _ There are ele- K»rave ments and influ- Poesibilitiee ences at work in the labor situation today that easily could lead to riots and bloodshed. From riots and bloodshed it is only a step to revo lution of a political sort. None here knows exactly what the administration’s labor policies are beyond the exaggerated prom ises made during the last Presi dential campaign. Of course, Pres ident Roosevelt and the bulk of his New Deal spokesmen are exceed ingly friendly, overfriendly some be lieve, to organized labor. The New Dealers had organized labor with them in the last campaign. Now, however, it is made to appear that the support of labor in the cam paign is proving more or less em barrassing to the administration which has just started on its second four-year term. Some of the critics of the admin istration are outspoken in their statements that Mr. Roosevelt is trying to dodge, trying to avoid, get ting mixed up too deeply in labor’s problems. Some of his subordinates have been active but the President has stayed out of the picture just as far as he could and as Ibng as he could. I am inclined to believe that these assertions that Mr. Roosevelt is afraid to take leadership too fre quently in labor’s problems are un fair to the President. They amount to a statement that he lacks cour age—which is not true. On the con trary, there are many who believe with me that Mr. Roosevelt senses developments yet to arise in the la bor situation and he is, therefore, being cautious as to is steps thus early in what threatens to be a national labor crisis. On the other hand, it is difficult to explain why the national labor rela tions board has been so nearly qui escent through such strikes as the plate glass and portions of the auto mobile workers. If there ever was a situation made to order for use of the agency set up under the so-called Wagner law, that situation was to be found in the two strikes just mentioned. The board did so little in those cir cumstances that its existence can be said to have been forgotten. It amounted to a dead letter insofar as the law itself is concerned. In some quarters one can hear discus sion to the effect that sponsors of the national labor relations act and board were unwilling to have that agency and the law receive a real test at this time. I have been un able to confirm this thought at all but frankly the circumstances that one sees indicate there is some truth in the rumor that too much of a burden should not be unloaded on the board for its first real test. Business interests never have be lieved the law to be constitutional. The New Dealers, however, have contended vociferously that it is valid and yet we have the picture of a New Deal agency failing to perform the very functions for which it was created. • • • I mentioned earlier some of the signs and portents that are visible „ in the labor situa- “Sit Down” tion. One of the Strikee most important of these is the sig nificance of the “sit down” type of strike. I find many informed au thorities who refer to the “sit down” strike as a key point in present la bor problems. It is something new in this coun try. It is a program of striking in which labor is entirely passive but by which it usurps the rights of own ership. The workers simply stay in the plants, offering no trouble and for the most part avoiding destruc tive tactics. But it is the fact~that they remain in the plants, the prop erty of their employers, that is caus ing considerable worry in govern ment circles. The reason why this phase of strike tactics is creating concern lies in the fact that it amounts to the seizure of private property by individuals who have no right or warrant in law. It would be the same thing as far as legal rights are concerned if a group of strikers went to your home or mine and announced they expected to stay there. There is no difference in the two situations. While the ef fect on you or me would be less important to the country as a whole, it remains as a fact that our rights would be violated in exactly the same manner as rights of corpora tions were violated, say, in the Gen eral Motors strike. After all, you and I are merely units of the great mass of people that make up the United States of America. Now, it takes no great stretch of the imagi nation to recognize that if union labor establishes its ability to oc cupy the property of others and fixes that as a precedent, then where are the rights of any person who owns property. It matters not whether it is a small cottage, a farm home or a great industrial plant—the right to own property, guaranteed to us by the Constitution of the United States, is virtually nullified. One of the rights of American cit izenship is a right to own prop erty. It is a principle that has grown to be sacred with us since the Boston tea party. Yet, it is being challenged and thus far the federal government has made no move to break it up. As long as employers organize and tread on la bor with a steel boot, just so long the workers are entitled to organize to combat mistreatment from busi ness. But it does not seem to me to be a right of labor to actually take private property. To that extent I cannot feel very kindly toward those strikers at present asserting such a right through use of the “sit down” strike. Now, there are reasons why the federal government has not acted. If troops were sent into private fac tories to drive out the “sit down” strikers, one can readily see what a riot would result. But if the federal government fails to enforce this in herent right, it is not doing its sworn duty to the rest of the people. And it was only a few weeks ago that Mr. Roosevelt again took the oath of office as President, swearing to enforce as well as defend tire Constitution. Then, another phase of the situa tion is being discussed. The Wag ner law says employers must nego tiate collectively “with the major ity” organization of employees and it decrees further that the labor re lations board shall determine which is the majority organization; that it can decide this question on evi dence or order an election among employees. None can tell usually whether union or company organiza tion employees are in the major ity in some of these strikes, so the labor relations board has kept out of them. Taking this labor situation as a whole, I believe I am justified in saying, as I said earlier, that it portends a crisis. Preaching .of class hatred has been the main occupa tion of certain elements in the ..last three or four years and now those elements are reaping what they sowed. The tragedy of it all is that the rest of us have to reap the same reward. C Western Newspaper Union. Wisdom Teeth Such appellations as “wisdom teeth” to indicate the third molars or “eye teeth” to describe the ca nine teeth are the carryover from the Middle ages to our own time of the relationship generally ac cepted between tooth and wisdom, tcoth and eye, says Hygeia, the Health Magazine. Striking Wild Rose Design in Outwork Simplicity of design—simplicity of needlework combine to make these wild roses effective in cut- work. Do the flowers in applique, too — it’s very easy to combine with cutwork. Use these designs on sheets and pillow cases — on scarfs and towels — on a chair back. Dress up your own home or make them as gifts. Pattern 1337 Pattern 1337 contains a transfer pattern of a motif 6V4 by 20 inches, two motifs 5 by 14% inches and pattern pieces for the applique patches; illustrations of all stitches used; material requirements; color sug gestions. Send 15 cents in stamps or coins (coins preferred) for this pattern to The Sewing Circle Needlecraft Dept., 82 Eighth Ave, New York, N. Y. Write plainly pattern number, your name and address. XlnclaJQlul^^ £<Uj6i Life Is Short Life appears too short to ba spent in nursing animosity or reg istering wrong. Love of money is the root of all evil; but curiosity oft leads to wickedness. If you don’t think you can do it, try it anyway. Then you will find out why you can’t. People who haven’t morals al ways say morals are a matter of geography. Correcting Errors Correction of error is the plain est fruit of energy and mastery. Think about it pretty often and one will daily find a gratifying op portunity of being kind. We believe in applying the mind to art, culture and literature—but not every instant. Somalimes we. like to think of corned beef and cabbage. Jtet LUDEN’S Menthol Cough Drops 1. Clear your head 2. Soothe your throat 3. Help build up YOUR ALKALINE RESERVE 5/ Sleep Talk May Be Legal Words spoken in sleep are not evidence of a fact or a condition of the mind, yet, says Collier’s Weekly, some courts of the United States have ruled that such testimo ny is admissible. FALLOW 5^1 ^ TD SUCCESS MEN WANTED AT ONCE to train for important work, in stallation, engineering, servicing, maintenance and trouble-shoot ing, in all branches of Domestic, Commercial and Industrial AIR CONDITIONING Sound, practiced treuning without interfering with present employ ment. Endorsed by leading manu facturers in this fast growing field. Men with fair education and some mechanical inclination preferred. Low cost instruction; easy terms. For fall dotaila writ* ot one*, giving ago andproaont amploymant ATLANTIC UTILITIES INSTITUTE •89 McCarter Highway a NEWARK C LAS ST FI ED DEPARTMENT REMEDIES NEVER has there been a remedy for Rheumatism like RUMO. Three weeks' treatment tl.OO. RUMO REMEDY OO.. IIS N. 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