PAGE FOUR Patton Courier, Established Oct. 1893 Union Press, Established May, 19356 THE UNION PRESS Comomed with PATTON COURIER Published Every Thursday by Thos, A. Owens, 723 Fifth Avenue, Pat- ton, Pa., and Entered as second class mail maiier May 7, 1936, at the post- office at Patton, Pa., under the Act of Marcn 3, 1879. F. P. CAMMARATA, Business Mgr. THOS. A. OWENS... EditOF 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 mn eftorts to obtain economic through organizations as advocated by the CIO and AFL, and we solicit the support of trade uniens. Mater- ial for publication must be author- ized by the organization it repre- sents and signed by the President anda secretary, and beat the seal. he Union Press-Courier gives its en the advantage of the combined circulation of ete largest circulated weeklies in Bill pria County and has a reader oo¥ erage that blankets Patton an Major mining OWNS. _______, Le RANDOM THOUGHT Conditions have pretty well approa ched normal in the District soft coa fields, with the completion of the first week and a half of operations since reopening the mines. Railroads have recalled thousands of shopmen and other workers furloughed during the shutdown and the signing of the “captive mine” owners, In this district principally Bethlehem Steel Company, leaves just about all of the mines operating, and rather lively at that—to meet demands of a nation eginning to be fuel conscl- six weeks’ that was b cus. ° Although down in Johnstown, ac- cording to the newspapers, the same old story of “back to work” move- ments, were being started, remind- ing one of the days of the steel strike, the hopes of “Danny vs the old Citizens’ group and ail the rest were nipped in the bud, when Beth- lehem signed the same agreement with the miners that other compan- jes similarly situated have signed. This is a renewal of the oid agree- ment with deletion of the strike penalty clause. For which Johns- town, of course, can be thankful. In fact, Johnstown only found out to what great extent is was depend- ent upon the coal miners, when the miners ceased to work. And any movement again, such as that of the “pack to work” steel strike days, would have made lots of innocent merchats suffer. Johnstown newspa- pers fail to sense that Johnstown, too, is dependent upon its drawing population. For instance, one has had but to read the editorials aimed in condemnation against John L. Lew- is and the CIO generally, during the recent shut-down, to knew their own “sincere” attitude. ® But John Lewis has won a great vic tory, and in winning that great victory he has likewise insured the security of his constituents, the United Mine Workers of America, for the next two years at least. TRink not for one min- ute, dear reader, there are not those amongst us in the Johnstown area, who welcomed in their hearts the Progress- jve Miners of America simply and solely because they might be instru- mental in giving embarrassment to the U. M. W. of A. It might have been in- teresting to note just what would have happened in Johnstown had Bethlehem refused to sign on the dotted line. o The fate of Josephine and Black Lick, once Indiana county bustling mining communities, now seems likely to engulf the nearby town of Coral, which bids fair, too to be- come a “ghost town” because mining has ceased. No work has been the rule in Coral since last July, and it is now said the coal plant will be dismantled. The residents of the town, since that time, have relied nearly solely on WPA. Bat strictly coal mining towns soemer or later land in that predicament. The town that also creates for itself other in- dustries is the community that, in the long run, endures. ° Notice on the first page of the Pat- ton Chamber of Commerce calls to your attention the opportunity local property owners, through arrange- ments made by borough council,, have to secure WPA labor in the improve- ment of their properties, by the con- struction of highways and streets, at the cost of materials alone. This is in- deed, an opportunity, and folks who are at all financially able, should not pass up the offer. It may not be open for long. Read the story. ° A letter from the Rev. Father Mo- destus Wirtner, O. S. B,, informs us that the “Marker” at Hart's Sleeping Place will be dedicated on Memorial Day, May 30th, at 1:30 P. M. The speaker for the occision will be Col. Lewis F. Acker, of Cheswick, Pa. the President of the Pemnsylvania Historical Society, and the Rev. Fa- ther Modesus. The Marker was erected by the Cambria County His- torical Society, and is situated along the Bakers’ Cross Roads amd Has- tings Highway, a scamt mile from the Cross Roads. Its dedication is a significant overture te a pioneer who was perhaps the firs¢ white man to pay periodic visits through the area that is now norfkern Cam- bria county. The title “Hart's Sleep- ing Place” comes from fhe legend that this Indiana Trader had a sleep-.. ing place in the large limbs of a gigantic tree that is said to have stood on approximately the same spot as the marker. eo And this reminds us, too, that while we are constantly bickering and both- ering about our present day troubles, and petty peevishnesses, the Cambria County Historical Society, of which Attorney Peter J. Little, of Ebensburg, is president, of which the Rev. Father Modestus has energetically contributed aid, has been quietly going ahead in preserving for posterity those things most important in our own local his- tory. And the historically inclined will do well to give assistance to the socie- ty, who do their work for no more re- muneration than the satisfaction they get in doing it. * We'll admit the Democrats ap- pear to be having continued troubles within their ranks in Cambria coun- ty, but patronge troubles are even a bigger menace to the County Re- publicans te create bitter Septem- ber primary contests in Cambria, wich may easily ‘operate against any party success in the November elec- tion Prior to the rise of the Demo- crats during the Roosevelt era, the Republicans had little cause for wor- ry among members of their party disgruntled over a primary. There was no place for the disgruntled ones to go in those days, but the story is different now. In this rather evenly politically county of ours any bolt- ing of a considerable number of Re- publicans, would fill the court house with Democrats. ° Little state patronage has been dis- tributed thus far by the James state administration, but knowledge of the general policy in handing out the jobs is causing distemper threatening to produce some bitter primary struggles. In fact there are Republicans, displeas- ed over the situation, who are talking of fighting in the primary, any candi- date backed by the leaders in the pat- ronage distribution. The administra- tion and its political leaders in the state hold that a big majority of the state jobs should go to men and wom- en—and we qoute the Pittsburgh Press in this—who supported Arthur BR. James for Governor in the state pri- mary contest with former Governor Gifford Pinchot. They claim the Pin- chot supporters will eventually be giv- en a share of the plums, but that the original James Republicans constitute a preferred list, which must be given first consideration. This is not going to down so well with the original Pin- chot “boys” here or elsewhere. . And since we are talking politics, and since there is going to be a pri- mary and general election in a few short months, and since the candi- dates are both in fact and rumor be- ginning to be seen and heard about., we can’t pass up the persistent ru- mor we've heard relative to George C. Hoppel, of Patton, being a Demo- cratic candidate for the nomination for County Commissioner. Mr. Hop- pel is a personal friend of the writ- er, and he has been a friend, tested and true through years when we hadn't the easiest life in the world, and, as it was our pleasure four years ago, we will again assure Mr. Hoppel of our support, should he decide to be a candidate. When one fools around with politics and poli- ticians over twenty years of time, one learns a lot, mostly to his re- gret. But when one also over the same twenty years, also has business and social contacts with a man who owes you nothing, and you find him different than the general run of politicians, you can give that man support without quivering. That's the way we feel about George C. Hoppel, and that's why we'll sup- port him in his candidacy. ° Four years ago, George C. Hoppel made a spirited campaign to gain a nomination for the commissionership, and in defeat, he supported the ticket as nominated without reserveations. In that campaign, and since he has gained a large acquaintanceship. He is a contractor, and is peculiarly fitted for the duties of a county commission- er. He fair, just and honest, and is a loyal party man. Yes, if George C. Hoppel decides to formally announce himself for county commissioner ,we’ll support him—and we have the best of reasons for doing it—twenty years of personal knowledge of the man and his qualifications. ° Really writing this column just once a week sometimes is a problem. We can well imagine what a problem it is to write a big eight column page every day, such as is the eternal task of the editorial director of the Johnstown Democrat. Hence, it is with quite a bit of understanding that we, too, grant him the necessity of writing a great deal about not much of anything, as is evidenced quite a bit on Mr. Andrews’ page at times. But to say that we were surprised, amazed and astounded to see the big “send-off” given “Editor Ow- ens” over a few sweet lines we pub- lished last week about the Van Alls- burg bill headed for a pickling in the state senate, and the allegation on our part that bill was political anyway— is putting it lightly. Naturally we won- der what Editor Andrews is driving at under cover—what's thé big idea, and why all the drivel? The fact that Mr. Andrews was the ONLY Democrat in the Assembly that voted for the bill, don’t by any means give him authority tc insinuate that he is giving strictly Democratic viewpoints in defending it, through his Republican owned news- paper. We still maintain the bill was political in the form it was passed in the House. Since the job-firing fea- ——_—pm.. “Not having been in the party very long,” says Editor Andrews, “Editor Owens cannot be expected to recog- mize Democratic principles when he sees them.” Which means, of course, that because Assemblyman Andrews alone among all the Democrats in the House voted for the Van All- | burg bill, it is strictly a Democratic principle. He may be correct in his allegation that the relief executive personnel has but few deserving Democrats. Granting he is, that in itself is sufficient evidence that the set-up can't be very political at the present. Editor Andrews insists that we frequently guide labor down spur tracks. Can he point out an instance where the CIO, for instance, has been favoroable to the Van Allsburg bill? If he can, we're willing to stand cor- rected. Usually, Mr. Andrews will have to admit, we're in the aliey that is labor’s alley, whether that means organization of Johnstown steel plants or not. Has the record of the Johnstown Democrat been as good? ° Aside from whether our thought on the VanAllsburg bill's bad aspects is or is not correct," Editor” Andrews in his whole story appears to be in- clined to attack us from an adjective- denouncing, and more-or-less personal standpoint. Yet if some of the Dem- ocrats in this county had practiced in the past, just some of the “princi- ples” of the writer, as files of the old Patton Courier will prove, and as a lot of Democrats who have fed at the “public trough” well know, there would today be less back-biting and factional jealousies within the party. Reared a Democrat, and working ana voting as a Democrat, the writer came out of a Democratic newspaper office in this county, where he learned his trade, and was a part of the World War army. Out of the uniform, he came into possession of a Republican news- paper, and in those days it did'nt pay to have a Democratic newspaper in that particular ‘town. Yet, despite that fact, and in the early years of his edi- torial guidance the Patton Courier did energetically espouse the candidacy of Warren Worth Bailey for Congress— and we have our newspaper files to prove it. . Over the intervening years, time and time again, the Patton Cour- ier did do its humble bit in assisting deserving Democrats and some of them were elected. True, we likewise also supported Republicans who ap- peared best to us. But it is also fact that in most cases where Democrats were elected, the Patton Courier was found to either have supported them, or to have at least took no part in the campaign. There were instances, too, one in particular, where we did take an active and bitter part in’ defeating a Democratic nominee, for which we had good and sufficient reason. True, for a number of years our registration may have been Republican, but ours was just as independent a newspaper as they make em. Regardless of what the registration of the editor may have been, the files of the Patton Courier too, will prove that in the latter portion of the term of on2 Herbert Hoover, of sad memory, we were completely dis- gusted, and that from that time on, we were in sympathy with the New Deal. What other course was there for us to follow? Our own business caused us to seek a change. So did the conditions and the interests of hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of others in this nation. The result was the Democratic party came into power under the Roosevelt banner, and we were among some of those “new” Democrats who today aren't “deserving” but without whom the Democratic party would still be in the same oblivion that was its lot for years. The Patton Courier in those days made no pretense at being any mou- thpiece for organized labor, but it happened to be the ONLY weekly newspaper in this county of . ours that openly voiced and condemned the then Sheriff Carl Steur, for the enforcement of his two-man “mob- dispersing” practice. The only other newspaper in this county doing more in this manner was the Johns- town Democrat—and it had an en- tirely different ownership then—an ownership by Democrats, both in principle and practice. ® Since it is not our desire to bore our readers with any matter that pertains to us personally, nevertheless, we are today being put on the “spot” in this county, not only by Editor Andrews, but by others, on “being only a new Democrat.” Since Editor Andrews gave us so much of his valuable space, we surely can do likewise, in defense— and still do it without using a lot of blatant, old-fashioned derogatory ad- jectives that we wouldn't hurl at our sometimes “insurgent” house dog, let alone Editor Andrews. And, whether Editor Andrews likes it or not, the incident with us, is closed. GRAVE DIGGERS. (From the UMW Journal.) In previous issues we have told through the Journal about the Frater- nal hook-up between the American Federation of Labor and Wall Street. It is an astounding relationship. It is disheartening to the rank and file of organized labor in America when they see the high command of the Federa- tion hobnobing with Wall Street and working in hand with Wall Street's notoriously anti-union employers to destroy the gains that organized labor has made in the last few years. The rank and file mempership of the Am- erican Federation of Labor does not like it, but the high command has such a stranglehold on the federation that it is difficult for the rank and file to do anything about it at present. Deep resentment over this alliance between the Federation and Wall Street rank- ture has been éliminated in the sen- les in the breast of many a member, ate, perhaps it is'nt so much a partisan but the high command completely ig- bill anymore. : nores all protests and continues to THE UNIQN PRESS-COURIER. play ball with Wall Street's enemies , of labor. Everyone khows that the big Wall street interests operate against labor ! through the National Manufacturer's Association and the United States { Chamber of Commerce, two notoriously anti-union organizations. Because of Wall Street's financial control, those two organizations must do whatever Wall Street tells them to do. There- fore they fight organized labor with all the viciousness at their command. And yet, fully aware of these facts, the high command of the American Federation of Labor joins in with them in carrying out Wall Street's desires and policies with reference to indus- trial and labor relations. Wall Street hates the Wagner La- bor Relations Law because that law is intended to break the bonds that have fettered labor and to establish the rights of labor by legal process. The Wagner Labor Relations law is to la- bor what the Declaration of Independ- ence is to the American nation. What | | | the constitution of the United States does for the nation the Wagner law does for labor. The Wagner law pro- hibits the exploitation of labor. There- fore, Wall Street hates the Wagner law, and it makes this hate known through the National Manufacturer’s Association and the United States Chamber of Commerce. When the high command of the American Fed- eration of Labor joins hands with these | two organizations in their attempt to hamstring labor, the whole perform- | ance becomes a stench in the nostrils | of the rank and file of the labor move- | ment. Right now the high command of the American Federation of Labor, the | National Manufactuivr’s Association, and the United States Chamber of | Commerce are engaged in a campaign to destroy the effectiveness of he Thursday, May 25, 1 939. introduced a bill in congress to amend the Wagner law and President Lewis has correctly charged that in the prep- aration of tnese amenaments the high command of the American Feaeration of Labor consulted and conferred with representatives of the Wail street or- ganizations The amenaments propos- ed by the American reaeration of La- bor are entirely satisiactory to Wall Street. But they are not satisfactory to the rank ana file of labor. Several unions affiliated with the American Federation or Labor have denounced the amendments and acc working ag- ainst their aaupiion. Last week the United States Cham- ber of Commerce held its annual mee- ting in Washington. Leading members, big anti