AN ATTAINMENT OF THE LARGEST GENERAL WEEKLY
NEWSPAPER CIRCULATION IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA,
A GENERAL NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTE
OF ORGANIZED LABOR IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVA
UNION
Union Press, Established
VIA.
Our Shop Is Equipped
to Do Job Printing of
All Kinds. Nothing Too
Large or Too Small
We Cater Especially to
Local Union Printing.
Recognized and Endors-
ed by More Than Fifty
Local Unions and Cen-
tral Bodies Over Cam-
bria County and Ad-
jacent Mining Areas.
May, 1935. Patton Courier, Established Oct., 1893.
VOL. 45. NO. 34.
SUBSCRIPTION, $2.00 PER YEA
LEGISLATURE TEARS AWAY MOST GAINS OF ORGANIZED WORKERS
ES MADE HONORDEADAT | Primary Ballot This Year Jill BIG WPA WORK ‘MILLION OF AFL
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA AREA. THURSDAY, JUNE 1. 1939
725 South Fifth Ave
PATTON. PA.
G.0.P.
Tat
viatl
Kol- |
ANNUAL EVENT | Be Limited--Only Four Parties DEMAND HAS MEMBERS WANT
|
[
OF THE LEGION | Only voters registered as Democrats, | so gained recognition due to }
R | Republicans, Prohibitionists or So- | Jar obtaining 2,254 votes as the candi-
| candidates for county offices at the | 1n 1037 Mrs. Benneds received 50 | Would Give WPA An Opportun.
ies a : , 3c \ Th Ye Sap. more La he Bet Mesdov. Ber. ) I Mrs. 2d} 2celv : i Ce v ‘har : ‘
Labor Takes A Severe Slap in Cambria County Group’s Ser- | primary to be held on Tuesday, Sep votes as the candidate of the Indepen-| ity to Provide Kind of Pro- CIO Pamphlet Charges That
vices at Sunset Park. Sy Tal | dent Citizens’ party and 170 as the can- Number Opposes Amendments
| the county commissioners’ office. The | itate of the labor Party tor lars o |
i Independent Citizens, Labor and Roy-| '-a€ oi ihe labor party for jury com-
INSTATE LABOR DLA ue ;
| Two Thousand Persons Attend | S2liSts: Will be eligible to vote for| gate for the same office. Ts NO REVISMEN
the Final Hours of the Hectic | tember 12th it has been disclosed at | seam Really Needed.
: 3 to the Wagner Act.
missioner. This vote was not ufficient |
Cambria county’s war dead were
Harrisburg Session. |
A bill setting up sharply defined
limits within which employes and labor
groups can carry on union activity in
Pennsylvania was passed on Monday
by the Legislature, which came to its |
|
at 6:25 a. m. on Tuesday,
final end
after an all-night session. Labor has |
per- |
lost ground in the session, but
haps not as much as many of the leg- |
islators had hoped for. i
“Sit down strikes” would be
lawed an unfair labor practice and
an illegal act.” Employers are given
the right to petition the state labor
board for a collective bargaining elec- |
tion, under the measure. The check-
off of union dues, a clause contained in
r contracts - prohibited, |
norized by a secret, majority
e employees and written in-
thorization from each em-
many lc
unless
vote o
dividual
ployee.
au 1
tate labor act is now really a |
code,” protested James L.|
McDevitt, president of the Pennsylv-
Federation of Labor, AFL.
1ew bill just about nullifies
Relations Act. Certainly
justification for these
“The
criminal
ania
* The 1
the Labor
there
sweeping changes.”
P T. Fagan, president of Dis-
trict No. 5 of the U. M. W. A, and a
member of the State Board that ad-
ministers the Labor Act, declared: |
“The bill destroys every vestige of
advance that has been made by the
worker in this state. Labor would even |
be better off if the entire (labor rela-'
tions) act were repealed.”
John A. Phillips, president of the |
State CIO organization, commented: |
“We're cut all the way down the line. |
virtually wipes out all the accom- |
all the way down and |
an anti-labor act instead of
ended to protect the right ot
and bargain |
no
1s
tri
atricx
1
plishments
organize
to participation in
the measure declares
bor an em-
it
orce
or
the
in-
"coerce
lence or
by threats of
> person of said employer |
ne intent of compelling the
er to accede to demands, con-
1 terms of employment.”
principal changes in the pre-
sent act:
Prohibiting any officer or agent of |
a labor organization from intimidating |
or coercing any employe “by threats |
of force or violence.”
Require the board to respect craft
unions, rights to decide for themselves
by majority vote, who should be their
bargaining representative. |
Curtail the board’s power to inva- |
lidate legal contracts between em- |
ployers and employes.
Give Secretary of Labor and Indus-
try Lewis G. Hines power to pass on |
the board's regulations.
The Senate struck out a provision |
that would have permitted an em-|
ployer “to express opinions with re- |
spect to any matter of interest to em- |
ployes or the public provided such ex- |
pressions are not accompanied by acts |
of discrimination or threats.”
The bill ordered a reduction in the
$9,000 salary of the three members, |
cutting the chairman to $7,500 and fix-
ing the pay of the other two members |
at $7,000.
CHERRY TREE PLANS |
FOR OLD HOME WEEK |
employ
|
s
|
|
Cherry Tree Old Home Week cele- |
bration, postponed from the week of |
May *29 due to labor conditions re- |
sulting from the coal strike, will be |
held during the week of July 17, it|
was announced by members of the]
Cherry Tree Volunteer Fire Company, | should seek to change the Wagner | o
sponsors of the affair.
Plans are being made for a parade |
to be held each evening during the
celebration. Committee chairmen are
outlining a program of entertainment.
FOR SALE—Electric stove; West-
inghouse; 16 months old, as good as
new; $75.00; inquire at Yerger Apts,
second floor, 505 Palmer avenue, Pat-
tor, Pa,
out- |
| ductory address. Rev.
honored by approximately 2,000 per- |
| son's attending the annual American
| Legion Memorial Service on Sunday
| afternoon at Sunset Park.
| In the principal address, President
Judge John H. McCann praised the ac- |
| tivities and the farward movements |
instituted and supervised boy the Am-
erican Legion, Veterans of Foreign
Wars and other veterans’
tions.
Pleas for tolerance were issued by
the judge. He urged tolerance, both ra-
cial and religious. He said there was no
place in this country for intolerance.
both racial and religious. He said there
1s no place in this country for intol-
erance.
In citing the history of the great
wars in which the United States par-
ticipated he pointed out that the world
in which many American lives
were lost, not only protected Democra-
cy, but made the United States a worla
power a leader among nations.
Necessity of adequate national de-
fense was ed by District Attor-
Stephens Mayer, Johnstown, wha
d speaking honors with Judge
inn.
“The United States
str
entered the
| World War woefuly unprepared and it
is absolutely necessary that those men
who served with the army in that war
see to it that this country again is not
caught in that embarrassing situation,”
the attorney said.
“While we do if
not want war,
ganizations are doing all in their pow-
er to prevent a repitition of that cat-
astrophe,” Attorney Mayer said.
“Although many people would have
us believe that we went into the War
to help munitions makers and big mon-
€y Interests ,it is absolutely true that
we went to far to save Democracy.”
Seventeen of the nineteen legion
in the county participated in the
services. Special music was provided by
| the
Spangler high school
the Colver Boys’ Band.
An exhibition drill was given by the
ational Championship Gallitzin Drum
d Bugle Corps. The affair was spon-
sored by Fox-Peale Post 506, Carroll
town, and Lynn Weatherson Post, 569,
Spangler.
band and
N
Several patriotic selections were giv-
en by the Holy Name Glee Club of St.
Benedict's Catholic church Carroll-
town under the direction of M. D. Con-
nell.
Edward W. Green, Portage, chairman
of the Cambria County Committee of
the American Legion, gave on intro-
W. W. Hall, the
county committee chaplain, gave the
Invocation and benediction.
MURRAY SHO
REAL ENEMIES
OF WAGNER ACT
A lineup of reactionary Republicans,
tory Democrats and anti-New Deal
AFL executive council members look-
ing to defeat of the New Deal in 1940
was described as politically responsible
for the drive to emasculate the Wagner
Act in a coast-to-coast radio speech
from Washington by Philip Murray,
vice president of the CIO and chair-
man of the Steel Workers Organizing
Committee, recently.
The same forces, Murray said, also
want to keep labor divided to pro-
| mote this aim. “The reactionary poli-
ticians are fully aware of the effect
their amendments will have in keep-
ing the CIO and AFL divided,” he
said, “but they desire to continue this
{ labor division in the hope that it may
lead to victory for reaction in 1940.
“In this hope they are joined by re-
actionaries on the AFL
council who have been constantly try-
ing to throw the AFL weight on the
tory side, regardless of the ovewhel-
ming pro-New Deal sentiment of the
AFL membership.”
Benefits Both Sides
“There is no reason in the world
why the American Federation of Labor
Act, which has brought so much free-
dom and so many benefits to all work-
ing people,” Murray said.
“Great gains in membership have
been made by both the AFL and the
CIO under the act. And if the workers
in the mass production industries have
voted chiefly for the modern indus-
trial unions of the CIO, when given a
choice between them and the craft
unions of the AFL, this is certainly
| votes either in the elections of
al Oak parties will not be able to put
tickets in the field for the September
primaries not having polled sufficient
1937
or 1938 to gain representation.
The only tickets in the field for the
only state office to be filled—justice of
the supreme court to succeed Justice
John W. Kephart—will be the Demo-
cratic and Republican
The election code of 1937 rea
for these parties to hold a place
on the be year. The same is
true a candidates of the
parties te cast at last year’s
election.
The R«
qualify
this
val Oak party also failed
the county James Ge
who the candidate of the
last November for Johnstown C
sembly fell below the required
Ww D
two |
organiza- |
it |
does come we must be ready. The Am- |
| erican Legion and other veterans or-
executive
per cent.
To obtain a place
statewide
poll onl;
vote ca
party, or political body, one
candidates at either general
elections preceding the
t five per cent-
{| “Any
of whose
or municipal
primary polled at leas
oe
t
{
1937 municipal
ty, Cyrus W.
ldate for sheriff, was top man
re 26,017 votes.
of his vote the minor j
to have a candi- | }
Davis, success
f
f
ve had 't hav
) received at least 1,300 votes | quired unc
in order to qualif s year. This re- The pr
quirement was me y the Prohibition | on June ¢
Ss Mrs. Sarah Kennedy received to ol
>s for jury commissioner
HOUSE KILLS THE
“GET UNION SHOP | BILL HITTING JOBS
IN AGREEMENT OF WED TEACHER
United Mine Workers and Oper- |
ators Come to Terms on Tem-
porary Pact.
Will Put Teachers
Years’ Probation.
New York—Granting the unior
| to one hundred thousand miners
Pennsylv: anthracite
“tempc wage and hour pact
tween the hard coal opera
United Mine Workers of
came effe 1 Saturday
The ag
formally
The state
industry Saturda
: Sil 1 g school
g sch
rning
ania
e
memb
Presi
w
support” bj
At a final
of eight oj
™M
vould
teachers
boards
{ al condu
{ ‘The
aimed at
d eight
presentatives, Secretary Treasurer Tom
Kennedy, of the union and Major W.
W. Inglis, head of the Alden Coal Co.,
{ and chairman of the operators, signed
the past. |
{ The union shop clause gave the U. | the co
| M. W. of A. exclusive bargaining rights | €d Dyer l
| and made union membership a condi- | €arly In the session. ° :
tion of employment for all anthracite | The bill was dropped from the c
| employees “except those in classifica- | €Rdar by unanimous vote. :
tions recognized as “exempt,” a group | BY @ vote of 116 to 82, the house :
which is negligible. | proved tenure law amendments I
The work week and wage standards | put all teachers on two years’ proba-
were kept at present levels, including |
$4.62 minimum for “outside mine |
workers.
Operators’ demands for penalties
against ilegal strikes were abandoned
| and it was agreed to form a permanent
committee of six union representatives, BODY OF MINER IS
| and six operators to function for the |
| duration of the contract, which is two
| years.
|
benefits, and which
system for determing
may be dismissed in case
petency.
ratin
set up
how
of
n a
a
t
Body of Steve Kocopi, si
= year old unemployed miner, : uck
y ADUATE A 3 . Ae
9 WILL gBAl A SCHOOL | Run, near Clymer, was found Saturd
i . | afternoon in shallow Two Li
St. Bendict—Twenty students recel- | as EE oe ear Tn
v iplomas at the annual gr: | a aL
| ed diplomas at e, nual grade Coroner John Woods
| school commencement exercises on! nina Th Bi Ve nsiis
ii Gill - SE , | county, joined in an investigati
Friday evening of last week in the | Bvt Jobin BR. Rena of the oo
{ Presbyterian Church. Dr. A. M. Stull, | onn th og. en BS ne
| county superintendent of schools was his home 1 Gated -
. . . > Ji AL I ii
{the principal speaker. American | The in vestisaty rs = id
| . \ i I investi tors sai y V
| Legion awards were presented by Wal- | he arose ir 1 a a
ter Conrad and Mrs. Oscar Van Kokel- |, 2Y0S€¢ and complained of
| J | his head and chest and 1e
| berg, both of Cresson. { Pt it
A % oe . 1.4 | threatened to kill members of his
Music for the occasion was furnished | fly. He then disappeared. Woor
| by Farabaugh’s Orchestra. Presenta-| 7; © ‘1€n disappeared. Woods
g ove ’ 3 ._ | Private Regina discounted
tion of gifts was in charge of Louise | : A
Leech and Pad McDevitt theory, expressing the belief t
sch = aul McDevitt. : 5
ah Po man fell in the creek while
about suffering from the pai
probably suffered a heart
fell into the stream.
2
|
|
|
|
| police, said
+h
th
tne
| not the fault of the act,” he said.
| “As a matter of fact, there is every
| evidence that the great majority of
AFL membership are fully as much
pposed to amendment of the Wagner
Act as are the members of the CIO.”
Murray, speaking over a coast-to-
coast network of the Columbia broad-
casting system, pointed out that the
demand for amendments to the act
comes from big business in alliance
with “backward-looking craft union | broken hip. The pair were caught un-
leaders” in the AFL, who are willing | der a fall of rock in the Maurer Mine
to sacrifice the interests of all labor! near town. Both were taken to the Mi-
for the sake of their own petty con- ers’ hospital. Yeckley’s back may be
| cerns, broken. Both are about 23 years old.
PATTON YOUNG MEN ARE
HURT IN FALL OF ROCK
Just at our press time, Wednesday
noon, we learn of an accident that may
have seriously injured Herman Yeck-
ley, and caused Reuben Yahner a
New Tenure Law Amendments |
on Two |
‘| WIDOW OF MURPHY
tion before they may enjoy tenure law |
FOUND IN A CREEK |v
7 | period.
id |
suicide |
Casey
WPA |
was
| bill, providing r
jobs dur the next
pledged by the CIO Monday.
{ The bill, H. R. 6470, was introduced
| by Rep. Joseph E. Casey of Massachu-
[ 5, Democrat, and follows out recent
. Lewis
imum of
Washington.—At least one million
members of the American Federation
of Labor are already on record against
the Walsh amendments to the Wagner
act, sponsored by their President Wil-
liam Green, the CIO announced this
week, in launching a drive to inform
all AFL. members of the dangers to
labor involved in the proposed amend-
ments.
Detailed evidence of the extent of
the revolt within the AFL against the
amendments is made public for the
first time by the CIO in a pamphlet
entitled, “Whose Amendments?” and
sub-titled, “The AFL vs. William Green
and the Natl. Asociation of Manufac-
turers.”
Ten big AFL
1
io
million
cal year,
inree
ing
mg
international unions
and scores of state, city and other AFL
rganizations are listed having ta-
ken a stand against the Walsh-Green
amendments. Statements and corres-
pondence of AFL officials are quoted,
expressing their opposition. Evidence
that the amendments were drafted in
collusion with manufacturing intere
is also produced in the pamphlet.
The pamphlet was mailed on Mon-
day to every Senator and Congress-
man. It is also being circulated to ev-
ery CIO affiliate with the request that
CIO unions in every locality mail a
copy to each AFL local in their area,
and see that all AFL members are in-
formed of its contents.
In a covering letter the CIO affilia-
| tes, Lee Pressman, general counsel and
secretary of the CIO legislative Com-
| mittee, declares: “The pamphlet shows
conclusively that the membership of
the AFL does not want to see the Wag-
ner act amended, and that in
_ | sharp opposition to the stand for am-
endments taken by Green and his as-
sociates in collusion with NAM
and other reactionary corporation in-
terests.”
1S
sts
I 000 carried
the than was spent
WE
WPA
1tain everything
vide a real pro-
ed,” the state-
) n, t does establish
n a much sounder basis than
it has ever had before.
“It will give the WPA an opportun-
ide the kind of program
lly needed. The sound prin-
ve been established
C
it 1s
Le
the
s that the Walsh
1troduced in
been
The pamphle
Green
Congress
submitted
convention or it
amend
with
to
L
INDUSTRY FAIL
TO OFFER CURE
Harrisburg—A
of Pennsylvania's oil
approximately $100,000 ir and fed-
eral funds, ended last Saturday
without definite recommendations for
regulatory legislation
The 1938 join oil investagating com-
mission of which Representative Mich-
ael C. Chervenak, Democrat, Cam-
bria county, is chairman. submitted
the report to the house and senate
without regulatory suggestions and ur-
ged its discharge or another appropria-
| tion to continue the inquiry.
It was pointed out that the “integ-
ropoly of Pennsylvania's oil industry
is an immediate problem for a more
comprehensive investigation and rem-
edial legislation.”
tigation
costing
2-year
was
KUSH IS GRANTED AN
AWARD BY THE BOARD
) , Unit-
died
election will
of $9,944.83 in accord-
ard made by the
Compensation Board.
1e terms of the board’s ward,
and her children, Anna
will receive the fol-,
pends
! ed Mine
the mornir
| receive a
with
Workmen’
| Under ti
Mrs.
ance
| Mae
| lowi
week for 600
week for 136
to begin
to Rob-
weeks, payment
f the 500-week
ST. FRANCIS COLLEGE
HAS COMMENCEMENT
The ninety-third annual commence-
ment exercises of St. Francis College,
Loretto, was held at 2:30 o'clock on
| Monday afternoon at Doyle hall on the
| campus.
for her- Justice James B. Drew of the Penn-
! sylavmia Supreme Court delivered the
principal address.
Rev. Father Patrick D. Harkins of
Altoona Catholic high school, preached
the baccalaureate sermon Sunday af-
ternoon to a large audience assembled
at the colleges. Activities Sunday open-
ed with a solemn high mass by Rt.
Rev. Msgr. Charles D. Wood, P. A., of
Middletown, N .Y. followed by the an-
nual hood bestowal services conducted
by Rev. Father Edward P. Caraher,
TOR, college president.
to tell them to re t later in the day In addition to degrees conferred up-
at the United Mine Workers compen-| on members of the graduating class on
1 office in the First National Bank Monday afternoon, honorary degrees
Building, Johnstown. | were conferred upon Monsignor Wood
It was testified that Kush attempted | and Justice Drew.
to repair punctured tire while en-| -
route to the Feist home. Lacking pro- | Kush,
per tools, he had tried, with the help of | Hearings were held before F
a companion, to lift the car. On arriv- | W. Lloyd Hibbs.
ing at the Feist home, he was stricker:| Counsel for the state fund attempted
with a heart attack. | to show in the testimony that Kush
The Kush case was unique from the | was, at the time of his death, engaged
beginning in that the United Mine| in election day activities, It was tes-
Workers of America, which usually| tified that he spent much of Novem-
seeks claims for union miners, was a “ber 8th, helping to “get out the vote”
defendant with the State Compensa- and collecting returns until late that
tion Fund in the claim filed by Mrs. night,
to begin
M s of the ver-
ation
en until the end of
fund
18 years
| 500 wee
the 3
pays
9, 1938,
Conemaugh
Testim
tlaim
the
and © t the
rout the home
the
ted that
of duty
abor men
in
w
leferee