Sm—— ett cle my rda art ev. ent ry. nd ur n= for Recognized and Endors- ed by More Than Fifty Local Unions and Cen- tral Bodies Over Cam bria County and Ad- jacent Mining Areas. Union Press, Established May, NO. 46. V. OL. 45. REGISTRATION OF VOTERS SHOWS A NEAR BALANCE Republicans Have An Advantage of 604 With Rather Heavy Lead in Johnstown. "st time since 1336 the Re- y in Cambria county has 10crats. This was revealed on Saturday istration st was completed at the office of county commissioners. The figures ow t of 43.471 voters registered as Republi- cans, compared to 42,867 registered Democrats in the 171 districts in the county, including Johnstown, the Re- publ s have a lead of 604. BF: year ior the November elec- tion 43,607 wer sgistered Republicar and 45,170 © stered Democrats, giving the Hatter a lead of 1,563. In 193 the Democrats nad a lead of 1,592. In 1936 the Republicans held a sparse lead of 18. The new registration shows that in the 43 districts in the city of Johns- town 16,393 voters are enrolled as Re- publicans compared to 11,734 register- ed as Democrats, giving the Republi- | cans a lead in the city of 4,659. In the 128 districts outside of the | city, 31,133 are registered as Demo- crats, while 27,478 are enrolled as Re- | publicans, giving the Democrats in the districts outside the city a lead of 4,- 055 in those districts. The total registration in the county shows a decrease this year, as com- pared to the November, 1938, figures, of 2.402. The total registration this year is 86,734, which includes besides the Republican and Democratic enrollment 90 registered as Prohibitionists, 154 Socialists and 152 non-partisans. Last year's registration for the November election was 89,136. The decrease is due, in part, to the fact that many persons who had resid- ed in Johnstown removed from the city and evidently did not reregister in other districts in the county to which they removed. Ano hee factor in the decrease in i tion was that the registration E OS as of persons residing vn were removed from the they had failed to vote 1ccessive years as provid- ed by the permaner egistration act. The following table shows the regis- tration by districts: during Rep. Dem. Adams Twp., No 1 164 62 Adams T , Dunlo 220 474 Adams T Elton No. 1 146 46 Adams Twp. Elton No. 2... 45 145 Adams Twp., Gramlg'tn 138 56 Adams Twp., St. Michael 251 39€ Adams Twp., No. 7 .. 78 68 Allegheny Twp. .. . 92 364 Ashville Boro .. 65 186 Barnesboro Bor, No. 1 ... 294 306 Barnesboro Boro, No. 2 .... 307 231 Barnesboro Boro, No. 3 .... 250 308 Barr Twp., Northeast .... 36 182 Barr Twp., Northwest ._.... 142 228 Barr Twp., South rine: 12D 375 Blacklick Twp., No. 1 257 170 | Blacklick Twp., No. 3 ...... 154 507 Brownstown Bor., No. 1 . 101 344 Brownstown Bor, No. 2 .... 26 153 Cambria Twp, No. 1 ..... 345 205 | Cambria Twp., Colver __.... 350 531 | Cambria Twp., Revloc ..... 154 263 | Carrolltown Bor.,, East ... 91 193 | Carrolltown Bor, West _.. 124 211 | Cassandra Bor. 39 166 Chest Springs Bor. Chest Twp, Clearfield Twp. ...... 8 Conemaugh Twp., Lower __. 193 243 | Conemaugh Twp., Upper .... 120 91 | Cresson Bor, No. 1 289 Cresson Bor., No. 2 368 Croyle Twp., No. 1 ...... 119 Croyle Twp., No. 2 352 | Croyle Twp., No. 3 94 Croyle Twp., No. 4 111 Daisytown Bor . 116 | Dale Bor. No. 1 : 246 | Dale Bor, No. 2 .. iene O21 141 | Dean Twp, ..... 143 East Carroll Twp., ‘North 142 222 East Carroll Twp., South 91 270 | E. Conemaugh Bor, No. 1 539 508 E. Conemaugh Bor., No. 2 235 179 | E. Conemaugh Bor.,, No. 3 271 246 | East Taylor Twp., No. 1 .... 165 115 | East Taylor Twp., No. 2 .... 133 169 | East Taylor Twp., No. 3 .... 7 178 East Taylor Twp., No. 4 .... 151 75 | Ebensburg Bor. Center ... 348 192 | Ebensburg Bor., East 275 | Ebensburg Bor., West .. 263 Eider Twp. i. 594 | Ferndale Bor. No. 1 .. 149 Ferndale Bor., No. 2 138 | Franklin Bor... 214 788 | Gallitzin Bor, No. 1 .... — 194 380 Gallitzin Bor., No. 2 612 Gallitzin Twp., East 208 | Gallitzin Twp., West 164 | Geistown Bor. ....... 196 | Hastings Bor., No. 1 351 | Hastings Bor.,, No. 2 259 | Jackson Twp., No. 1 ackson Twp., Vinco .. ..(Continued on Page 7.) | (Seal) by John L. Hite, Prothonotary of Cam- filing of 606 wage liens—the largest known number ever filed in Pennsyl- this matter the workmen of the Logan Coal Company were saved the expen- | diture of approximately one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) at a time when they were in financial distress, and, titude towards Labor in therefore be of, | and members of Local Union No. 2233, 90 | United Mine Workers of America of 100! Beaverdale, Pa., of which the work- men of the Logan Coal Company are A GENERAL NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF ORGANIZED LABOR IN UNION CENTRAL 1935, PENNSYL VANIA. PENNSYLVANIA JOBS FALL FAR SHY ON RELIEF Only Enough Work Found to Care for 3 Per Cent of the 175,000 on Eligible Rolls. the Pierson work- I 1 me effective three go, Pennsylvania's sixty-seven have provided only enough jects to give employment to 5,200 relief recipients, or fewer three per cent of the 175,000 cer- ified as able to work for their dole. It has been disclosed that more than half the c¢ s had produced no pro- jects under the Pierson act, the terms of which require the son on re- rork a sufficient number of hours at » prevailing rate of pay to “work out’ relief. State relief officials had hoped that the Pierson act would make relief less attractive and would put “professional” relief recipients off thp rolls. Despite its apparai® ineffectiveness lief must w so far, because of the failure of many municipalities and .other agencies to provide work-for-relief projects, the plan was defended by Howard L. Russell, State Secretary of Public Assistance. Asserting that he was not at all dis- turbed, Mr. Russell predicted that the state would get plenty of projects in spite of the figures given out present. So far 32 counties have certified 2,- 083 jobs under more than 100 projects, and each job, because of the limited time many relief recipients will be required to work, will take two or three men. Estimating 2.5 men per job, statisti- cians of the Public Assistance Depart- ment figure that 5,207 relief roll mem- bers would be working for their dole enis week. Mr. Russell said the plan would not be in full swing before mid-Septem- ber and estimates of the persons ev- entually to be employed under it ran- ged up to 50,000. Pennsylvania relief heads have been banking on an improvement in busi- government ness to reauce tne immense relief load | during the coming fall and winter. Mr. Russell said a few days ago that “all of the factors except WPA” were pointing toward recovery. Since then the WPA has increased its September quota of jobs for Penn- sylvania by 21,000 to 150,000. On the basis of proposed monthly quotas an- nounced by WPA headquarters the winter peak in Pennsylvania should be reached in January or February, with this commonwealth getting about 8 per cent of the nation-wide total of 2,- 400,000 jobs, or about 190,000. This, however, is 80,000 fewer than the WPA jobs available in Pennsyl- vania last January. HITE ENDORSED RESOLUTIONS FROM TWO UNIONS LAUD PROTHONOTARY FOR FAVORS RENDERED. The Press-Courier is in receipt of the following two communications, in which the candiacy of Prothonotary John L. Hite is indorsed for re-election: From Local Union 561, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employ- | ees and Moving Picture Machine Oper- | ators, Johnstown, Pa. August, 1, 1939. | | To whom it may concern: We, the members of Local Union No. | 561, of Johnstown, Pa., have endirsed | | | John L. Hite as our Republican candi- date for the office of Prothonotary for the reason Mr. Hite has proven in the past that he is friendly to, and co-oper- | | ates with organized labor. Respectfully, Gene Risher, President. | Corbin Burtnett, Secy. | The other communication is a reso- | lution from the United Mine Workers | of America, Local Union, No. 2233 at | Beaverdale, and is dated August 17th, | 227 | reading as follows: Resolution Endorsing John L. Hite for | Re-Election. | Whereas: Because of the aid given | bria County, Pa., to the workmen of the Logan Coal Company, in their re- | cent efforts to recover back wages due | them, in setting up his office in Bea- verdale and thereby facilitating the vania—and Whereas: By Mr. Hite so facilitating Whereas: Because of his friendly at- general, | RESOLVED: That we, the officers | ies will be introduced, and will speak. | Mr. Emil Schwing, of Johnstown, vice- CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA AREA. JERS, AUGUST 24, 1939 No Prospect Coal Prices Will Be Set Washington. mum prices for the at the mi coming effe the first of the year are r government and private coal agree. The Bituminous coal division has not yet reached the half way point in hearings on the proposed prices. Possibilities of mini- sale of soft coal re before The hearings started four weeks ago—for coal fields only the big est- ern districts—still have at least six ks to go. Hearing dates have not been set for other districts. The division now is receiving of six if the district boards in the eastern fields for or against the prices recom- mended shortly before the Bituminous Coal Commission was abolished early this summer. When that testimony is finished an even bigger job is due—the hearing of This Autumn argume individual consumers from each district. After the hes are Director How ard Gr of n of the nous Coal Div of the can pega direct tion t¢ inal order setting the proposed J > effect. Gray's , probably gs. It is upon reaching his de- ision, will allow between the date of the effectiveness. It all ¢ say the coal experts, “to a final order, not much, if any, be- january 1.” added, too: the ¢ ost certain contest in the ec . Some operator undoubtedly will ck the price-fix- ing order and if possible carry it to tne supreme court. ‘two to laps yrder and ore “The there’ Evcellent Racing Program T, 0 Be Feature at Ebensburg Fair An elaborate program of trotting and running races will be one of the many features of the Cambria County Fair, which opens at the Ebensburg Fair Grounds on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 4th, and continues through Saturday, September 9th, James A .Wilkinson, race secretary of the Cambria County Fair Association has announced that entries are coming in rapidly. Joseph McGraw of Washington, Pa., will be in charge of the races. He is one of the best known starters in the coun- try. The races will be run Monday, Wed- nesday, Thursday and Saturday after- noon with purses totalling $4,800 of- fered as prize money. The complete race program is follows: Monday, Sept. 4. Handicap Trot—3 dashes at a mile wurith ponatics, 400. All horses eligible and te be handi- capped at time of entry. Winner of each dash 40 ft. additional. Limited to 120 feet. 17Class Pace , i $300 25 Class Trot $300 Half Mile Run . $100 Three Fourths Mile Run $100 One Mile Run $100 Wednesday, Sept. 6. Pace $300 20 Class Pace .. ; $300 | 22-18 Trot, Claiming price $800, 3 dashes at a mile with penalties $300 22 class, scratch; 20 class, 35 feet; 18 Class, 70 feet. Winner of each dash 35 feet additional. Limited to 105 feet penalay. If entered for $500, allowed 35 feet. Half Mile Run $100 Mile Run $100 Thursday, September 7. 14 Class Trot $300 25 Class Pace $300 21-17 Pace. Claiming Price $800. Three dashes at a mile with penalties, $500. 21 class, scratch; 19 class, 35 feet: 17 class, 70 feet. Winner of each dash 35 feet additional. Limited to 105 feet penalty. If entered for $500, allowed 35 feet. Half mile run $100 | Mhyroa. Rannthe Mila. Tan e100 Mile Run $100 Saturday, September 9th, Handicap pace 3dashes at a mile with penalties, $400. All horses eligible and capped at time of entr to be handi- Winner of each dash, 40 feet additional. Limited to 120 feet. $300 $300 $100 Mile Run $100 Printers’ Union Ousted From American Federation of Labor Atlantic City, N. J.—William Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, announced last week that the A. F. of L.’s executive council had de- clared the International Typographical Union “automatically suspended’’ for nonpayment of a special assessment. Green said the I. T. U. could obtain automatic reinstatement by paying an assessment of one cent a member per month which was levied in 1937 for an | organization fund during the heighth of rivalry between the A. F. L. and the Committee fo* Industrial Organization. | Unless the payment is made, Green | | but the I. T. U. was said, the I. T. U. will be denied seats at the A. F. L.’s national convention opening in Cincinnatti, Ohio, on Octo- ber 4th. A fight over its seating occurred at the last convention in Houston, Tex., admitted with what Green said was an understanding the assessment would be paid. The I. T. U.—powerful and domin- ant—has consistently refused to pay any assessment levied for the purpose of fighting organized labor—CIO or otherwise, and likely takes the ouster from the AFL with but little care. REPUBLICANS WILL HOLD A RALLY IN EBENS- BURG COURT HOUSE NEXT TUESDAY EVENING. A joint rally held under the auspices of the Northern Cambria Republican | | Club and the Central Cambria Repub- lican Club will be held in Court Room No. 1, at the Court House in Ebens- burg on Tuesday evening next, August | 29th, starting at 8 o'clock. There will be music and entertain- | ment, and Republican candidates for nomination at the forthcoming primar- chairman of the party in the county, will preside as honorary chairman. All | Republican voters are cordially invited | to attend. The annual harvest home reunion of | VETS CLUB PICNIC WILL BE HELD NEXT SUNDAY AF- TERNOON AT SHAFFER’S PARK, BEAVER VALLEY The first annual picnic of the John White Ex-Servicemen’s Club of this place will be held at Shaffer's Park at Beaver Valley on Sunday next, from | 10 in the morning till 7 in the evening, and will be for the club members and their wives and children. There will be plenty of ice cream, pop and other re- | freshments. There will be free coffee | but bring your own cups or other con- | tainers. Those who do not have trans- portation will be accommodated. Ev- eryone attending the picnic will have an equal chance of winning a grand | prize of a large basket of groceries. The Patton Band will be on the St. Michael's Church at Loretto, will | grounds 10 furnish music and the con- be held on Sunday, September 3rd. Wo- | men of the parish will furnish the | afternoon and evening meals with | chicken and noodles as the menu. — fs — | members, assembled in regular session August 17th, 1939, do heartily Lu the re-election of Mr. Hite to the of- | filling, . JAMES T. PARKS, JOHN A. TOWNSEND, LESTER BATEMAN, (Seal) Resolutions Committee, | mittees are planning for a gala day. State Senator John J. Haluska, is tions, and will give a demonstration of | sleight of hand that will truly amaze | you. Lately the Senator has been gain- ing a reputation that is extending far | | phrey and Edna Walker. | There will be games, contests and fice he now holds and is so capably | rey announces the engagement of two | amusements for old and young during | regular picnic speakers, in the persons! the afternoon, and prizes will be given | of William Jones, President and Gener- al Manager of the Fairview Hog Asso- | ciation, whom we presume will talk and wide. Publicity chairman George Humph- on affairs of the association, and John at least a week or | | AN ATTAINMENT OF THE LARGEST GENERAL WEEKLY NEWSPAPER CIRCULATION IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA, 723 South Fifth Ave PATTON. PA MINERS VIEW OF LAST CONGRESS IS NOT PLEASING Claim They Did About All the Harm They Could to Common People Before Quitting. . W. Journal.) its session, quit and had done about ali n it do to the common f the nation. It cut down re- the millions of unemployed. that, but it threw 600,000 more L f work by forcing the WPA | to reduce its working force to that ex- | tent. It went further and cut the hour- 11 most WPA workers in ly wage rate half: by requiring them to work about wice as many hours a month as they formerly worked for the same amount of pay. Thus, Congress made a vicious ! assault upon the wage structure of al! | industry. The House refused even to | consider a bill backed by the President { to establish an $800,000,000 fund for a | building and housing construction cam- paign, which would have afforded em- ployment for many thousands of con- | struction workers. The House also re- fused even to consider a bill passed by the Senate to create a fund of nearly $2.000,000,000 for lending to industries to help them to increase their business and thus give employment to other thousands of unemployed. These are but a few of the things that Congress left behind when it adjourned. On the other hand, however, Con- gress made heavy reductions in taxes cn corporations and other big inter- ests, at the behest of Wall Street, the National Manuflacturer’s Association, the United States Chamber of Com- merce and the other big interests. All of which goes to show what kind of a Congress it was. The record would have been much worse, had it not been for the stren- uous opposition of the CIO and other progressive labor influences. They suc- ceeded in Preventing the crippling or PET Tar a Law and the Wages aE Hours law. These two splendid laws give to la- bor the right to organize and protect itself against constant attacks by anti- union employers and hard-shell re- actionary industrialists and polit Wall Street, the Chamber of Commerce and the Manufacturers’ Association had amendments introduced in Congress to alter these two laws by pulling out all of their teeth and rendering them prac- tically useless. These proposed amend- ments would have destroyed the rights and benefits that labor had won. And be it said that the American Federation of Labor, which hypocritically profess- es to be a friend of labor shamefully joined Wall Street, the Chamber of Commerce and the Manufacturers’ Association in urging Congress to ad- opt these destructive amendments. The high command of the AFofL did every- in its power to help the bitterest ene- mies of labor to nullify labor's laws. WU aveia dius icians. But John L. Lewis, Philip Murray, | Thomas Kennedy, Sidney Hillman, Lee | Pressman, Ralph Hetzel and other rep- resentatives of the CIO made such a determined fight against the amend- | ments that they prevented their adop- | tion by Congress. In this fight, these men were ably supported by repre- sentatives of several AFofL unions, in- cluding the Typographical Union, the Machinists Union and others. The AF of LL was split wide open on the issue, many of its affiliate unions opposing the amedments while the high com- mand, without any authority from the ' rank and file, joined hands with Wall Street to cripple labor's laws. The thing developed into a beautiful AFof L family fight. Scars were left that never will be healed. Anyhow, the session of Congress is over, and the country is safe, at least for the next few months, until the same Congress comes back to Washing- ‘ton. STATE FUND SET FOR DISASTER RELIEF | Harrisburg.—Pennsylvania is ready to repair the ravages of the next flood, tornado, or other disaster with a $2,- 000,000 fund set aside for an “emergen- cy” WPA project. Govenor James’ signature made the money available last week. The feder- | i al government authorized the project | without requiring the state to contri- | bute, billed as one of the outstanding attrac- | Sl can | George Wilson, of this place, who will discourse on “Why I Am A Republi- | { can.” Another feature will be a foot | race between Publicity director Hum- | winners in a number of the contests | All in all, the club has arranged a big | time for its members and their famil- ies. Our Shop Is Equipped to Do Job Printing of All Kinds. Nothing Too Large or Too Small, We Cater Especially to Local Union, Printing. Patton Courier, Established Oct., 1893. SUBSCRIPTION $2.00 PER YEAR DIGEST OF NEWER SOCIAL SECURITY PROGRAM GIVEN Emphasis in the Revised Act Is Placed on Insurance and Aid to the Family, Washington.—On Au cial security act was four Four days earlier the Pr amendments to the law recent session of congres The keynote of all the was a liberaliza 1 and expansion of the entire program of social security coordinated under the act. Greater funds were made available for public health, child welfare, and vocational rehabilitation; more liberal grants made possible for the state programs of public assistance to needy old peo- ple, needy blind people and children bereft of a family bread winner. A few changes were made in Federal pro- visions relating to the Federal State unemployment compensation program. But of greater significance were the changes made in the Federal old-age insurance system. Under the amendments it became the old-age retirement and survivors’ in- surance system, and annuity rights, formerly limited to individual insured workers, were extended, in part, to wives and children of retired workers and to widows, orphans and dependent parents of those deceased. Wives and dependent children are entitled to 50 per cent of the annuitant’s monthly benefits, widows of insured deceased workems to 75 per cent, orphaned chil- dren to 50 per cent, and aged depend- ent parents, in the case where a dece- ased worker left neither widow nor children, to 50 pe rcent. The size of the benefits varies with the individual account, but the least that any retired worker or any sur- vivor can get is $10 a month. The max- imum monthly benefit paid on account which covers a family, either during the lifetime or after the death of a worker, is $85. Jn no instance, _howev- : 4 asa ws 14 the so- years old. sident signed ssed in the amendments ar ceed twice the worker’s Indiv} fdual benefit. Thus the maximum payable to the family of a man whose individual ben- efit amounts to $10, is $20 a month. There are, in addition, other modifica- tions and definitions pertaining to benefits, essentially design to pro- mote efficient administr cial insurance system ition of a so- already number- ing more than 45,000,000 individual ac- counts. Fully to understand the amended program a little background on the original law is essential. Beginning with January, 1937, workers in indus- try and commerce were insured under a federal contributory insurance sys- tem designed to give them security up- on retirement from gainful employ- ment at the age of 65 or over. A wage tax was imposed on workers and em- ployers. For the three years between 1937 and 1940 it was one. per cent for each group; in 1940 it was scheduled to £0 up to one and one-half per cent and | continue at that rate for a three year | period. The retirement age was fixed | at 65; after a worker reached that age, | both he and his employer ceased to pay taxes on his wages and the worker had no further opportunity for credits to- ward benefits. Two kinds of benefits were provid- ed under the original law, monthly payments for life to qualified work- ers retiring after age 65, a single cash payment for those who on reaching 65 had some credits but not enough for monthly benefits. The emphasis was put on the individual. If he died his account was closed. Framers of the law set 1942 as the opening year for the payment of mon- thly benefits. The amended law ad- vances the date to 1940. Beginning with 1940, the new pro- gram, with the emphasis on family in- surance, swings into action. The am- ount and kind of benefits to which a worker is entitled depend on his sta- tus in the insurance program. Some workers are fully insured, some cur- rently. Broadly speaking and subject to closer definition, a fully insured work- er is one whose social security account shows employment for at least half the time he has been in the insurance system. A currently insured worker is one who was actively in the system at the time of his death but had failed to | meet the requirements for full insur- ance. Workers who fail to meet either | requirement are not eligible for any benefits. A fully insured worker is entitled to retirement benefits for himself, supple- | mentary benefits for a wife of 65 or | over, supplementary benefits for chil- dren less than 18. When he dies, either after or before retirement, his widow is entitled to an annuity for the rest of her life after she reaches 65. If she is less than 65 at the time of his death and is left with young children, she (Continued on Page 1.)
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers