PAGE FOUR Patton Courier, Established Oct. 1893 Union Press, Egtablished May, 1935 THE UNION PRESS Combined with PATTON COURIER Published Every Thursday by Thos. A. Owens, 723 Fifth Avenue, Pat- ton, Pa, and Entered as second class mail mater May 7, 1936, at the post- office at Patton, Pa., under the Act of March 3, 1879. F. P. CAMMARATA, Business Mgr. THOS. A. OWENS... Editor Subscription, $2 Yearly in Advance. Advertising Rates on Application. The endeavor of the Union Press- Courier is to sincerely and honestly represent Trade Union Workers in efforts to obtain economic freedom through organizations as advocated by the CIO and AFL, and we solicit the support of trade unions. Mater- ial for publication must be author- ized by the organization it repre- sents and signed by the President ana secretary, and bear the seal. The Union Press-Courier gives its advertisers the advantage of the combined circulation of the two largest circulated weeklies in Cam- bria County and has a reader cov- se that blankets Patton and the satpamit— a +e gist ml es Santee —————— compelled to do just that, it was labor. Through their own folly, and through their own indifference, they had for years played no organized or concerted part in elections. Only when times got so bad, when con- ditions became so intolerable that they could no longer bear the bur- den, did labor join in a concerted in politics. If any group were ever THE UNION PRESS-COURIER. 2 Thursday, March 16, 1939. over. But even dropping a judge , would be bad enough to the politi- AUTOMOBILE LIE DET cians of both parties—let alone ab- - olishing a lot of clerical offices and ' putting all under a board of mana- gers. Of course that would be ECONOMY in capital letters, but when Economy comes so close to home, maybe it's not such a popu- lar word, after all. {| movement. That came in the last * days of Herbert Hoover and his sand of “rugged Individualism» | -Afier John L. Elder had been an- And labor has benefitted more dur- | pounced quite generally as the new ing the present administration at Republican Superintendent of high- Washington than it did during all | ways in Cambria County, we join with the years of the existence of this na- | Pundreds of others in wondering who, tion, or what, caused him to withdraw his application? Some of John's north county Republican friends have migh- ty long faces. ° True, in Pennsylvania, an about-face , was given at the last general election, | and there can be no question but that , thousands upon thousands of workers voted the Republican ticket. The bit- ter primary fight within labor itself, and the lack of foresight on the part of Democratic politicians at the 1938 pri- maries to get together on a slate that could win, were largely responsible. It is worthy of note, too, that in all | the bitterness and in all the alleged ! scandal that has developed, not one single! individual has ‘been able to point with any suspicion or scorn to ° The Hastings Fire Company has re- fused to answer fire calls in Elder and Susquehanna Townships, and in this movement they are backed by the Hastings Borough Council. This. action of the firemen grew out of the failure of the two townships to contribute to the support of the vol- unteer company, which like that in other communities, extends its ser- vices lo unprotected areas upon pay- ment of a reasonable amount. One of the townships, it is said, had of- | major mining towns. RANDOM THOUGHT Most interesting news of the day for ihe bituminous miner and his family is the developements that are taking place this week in New York City at the conference between operators and miners on a new wage contract. The joint conference opened en Tuesday of last week. The two year contract which has ruled the relation of the 350,000 miners and the operators in the Appalacian area — backbone of the soft coal industry — will expire on the last day of this month. It is very unlikely that matters will be settled at once. However, it is hoped by all concerned that an agrement will be reached before the deadline. ® Strongest—greatest of all the un- ions in the United States and Can- ada, the United Mine Workers, pre- sent a solid front, and so long as dis- agreement exists they can be coun- ted upon to follow the dictation of their leaders in a general strike if the same is deemed necessary. How- ever, John L. Lewis and his lieuten- ants, seasoned in union matters, can be relied upen to bring the best pos- sible advantages to their constitu- ents. In recent vears, the UMW and the operators, have been able to iron sut their scale difficulties with an understanding given from both sides, that lack of which some years ago, often led to long and sometimes bit- ter strikes, that led to bloodshed, mi- sery, and a great loss to all concer- ned. * And in thinking back over matters and conditions that existed right here in northern Cambria County not so many years ago, the United Mine Wor- kers, and organized labor generally, was looked upon by many citizens as always being at fault — never were they considered a community organi- zation. A very mistaken and false no- tion had developed regarding the place of organized labor in the body politic, and every effort was made to create that feeling, perhaps by the operators, that the UMWA was an “outside or- ganization” and that its purpose , es- pecially in times of strife, was to harm! the communities in which its members lived. The absurity of that idea is of gourse now evident, but we still have many who hove a befogged idea that a trade organization is in some way an enemy of peace and order. We still have ’em right in our own county. ° But the intelligent thinker readily ascertains that the organized labor movement exists primarily to better the employment conditions of its members. Nothing can be of more direct and fudamental benefit to the welfare of any community, large or small, than to improve wages and conditions of work. It is usually as- sumed that Chambers of Commerce, the luncheon clubs, and the chur- ches, etc., constitute community or- ganizations. Labor organizations by their very nature are more directly and deeply concerned with the well being of a community than any other body, club or association. The labor movement is traditionally the fore- most advocate in higher standards of education and the welfare of the na- tion’s childhood. The labor move- ment at all times fights for clean government and clean politics, for honest elections. . It has been our experience during our span of life in the North of Cam- bria county to witness local communi- ties urge workers to return to their employment at wage cuts, even when those wage cuts caused an earning power so low that decent living stan- dards were well nigh impossible. Com- munity organizaticns, manned mostly by business men, failed to realize that where wages were low, there also busi- ness was bad. Where only one or two types of industry dominate a com- munity, the independent merchant has little opportunity to expand or de- velop. There can be no civic pride where the citizens do not participate freely in all community undertakings. The wages of its bulk of workers con- stitutes the life of any community. Happily, in the last several years, since Franklin D. Roosevelt has been in. the White House, the public has learned lots along this line. the candidate that the CIO and Lobor’s Non-Partisan League backed in last year’s primary election for the nom- ination for Governor of Pennsylvania. was deferred oN the grounds that Jt ” was insufficient. hd ° Labor need not be ashamed of its stand in Pennsylvania. If a mistake has been made in the recent general election, it was not the fault of labor. But if a mistake has been made it will soon be ascertained. Labor will watch, and judge, and punish, if it is again to be trampled and scorned in Pennsylvania. fered the company $50 per year for such service, but action on the offer When one comes to think of it, there are a lot of people living in and out of a municipality who are prone to take a volunteer fire company for granted. They never give any thought to the time, trouble and even expense the individual fireman gives to aid in A LARGE CROWD WAS PRESENT power-meter. You can drive your car for the friends and patrons of the AT FORMAL OPENING OF THE | onto this instrument, shifting gears ex- Westrick Motor Company on four ev- WESTRICK MOTOR CO.S NEW | aeny. Ly = he highway. enings during the week. Mr. Howell ; SH ; | Artificial hills can be built under the was assis i > ion8s saving property. They never thing of INDOOR PROVING GROUND. rear wheels while the car is runnin Fras assisted mn them demonstrations the ruined clothing, the arising in the | | twenty, thirty mi ETA W Dunn of the Westsles Mo. . middle of the night, and gs a There are only a few of these in- | "While the. on hes PREANE. {Tor Co, WHS 5 1h8 dyomomeler engi. . 3 3 these | ga ote i wl : A recent news item told of a speech | that may follow. To some re fire | Struments in the state and many lar