Evening Star Newspaper, December 27, 1936, Page 4

STRIKE PARLEYS - T0 BE RESUMED Maritime Troubles Enlivened by New Accusations on Both Sides. B7 the Associated Press. SAN FRANCISCO, December 26.— Opposing sides in the maritime strike fired more accusations at each other today, but at the same time arranged for a resumption of peace negotiations on one of the most tangled problems of the 58-day tie-up. The Joint Strike Publicity Commit- tee accused the shipowners of using labor spies and falsely quoting Harry Bridges, longshoremen’s leader. This committee asserted it would send a full report of the “published misrepresentations” to Senator La Follette'’s Investigating Committee, which the strikers said “is looking into anti-labor practices still existing in the more backward industries.” In full-page newspaper advertise- ments the shipowners charged the Joint Strike Committee, “dominated by Harry Bridges” forestalled the sailors and marine firemen from vot- ing immediately on peace proposals tentatively reached last week. Balloting Is Deferred. ‘With the shipowners expecting an immediate vote, the unions deferred the balloting pending the negotiation of agreements with the four other major unions in the strike. The ship- owners charged Bridges was delaying peace. The strikers retorted that the shipowners were trying to disrupt union solidarity. In Seattle the Sailors’ Union Strike Committee indicated the membership there would ballot on the settlement proposal next week. Despite the heavy firing on the pub- Hcity front, representatives of the Masters, Mates and Pilots’ Union and the employers planned to meet to- morrow in an attempt to negotiate an agreement. ‘That phase of the negotiations was eomplicated by the union’s demand for preference for its members in the hiring of licensed deck officers, and the employes’ stand against any cur- tailment of their freedom to select the men commanding their ships. Assistant Secretary of Labor Edward P. McGrady has termed this issue “the toughest nut to crack.” Telegram to Miss Perkine. E. B. O'Grady, secretary of the Of- ficers’ Union, made public & telegram to Secretary of Labor Perkins saying the desire of his organization was to see that all officers return to the jobs they held the day of the strike “with- out prejudice or discrimination and that advancements be by seniority in the respective companies.” O’Grady asserted this would neither impair eficiency, change present pro-' cedure nor increase operating costs. Various union seamen began a drive against the “continuous discharge book” requiring of sailors by the new Copeland shipping act, charging it would enable employers to discrimi- nate against individuals. Under the law each sailor is to carry a complete Tecord of his employment. The San Francisco strike organiza- tion put its pickets on wheels during & driving rain. A few of the pickets remained in water-front shacks, but others patrolled the Embarcadero in automobiles. An attorney for about 100 seamen filed charges of aggravated assault against aix Houston policemen as the result of the water-front clash there Thursday in which more than 150 sallors were reported beaten. 3,000 STRIKERS PARADE. Placards and Banners Invile Support at New Orleans. NEW ORLEANS, December 26 (#). «=Some 3,000 striking maritime work- ers and strike sympathizers paraded through New Orieans streets today in orderly fashion, bearing placards and banners inviting public support for Cheir strike. ‘The marchers displayed American flags at the head of each section of the parade while pretty girls carried the colors stretched out to receive contributions of coins tossed to them. Behind the white demonstrators col- ored sections marched to the tune of “Anchors Aweigh.” The banners urged support for the strike. An announcer from s sound truck oalled out that “shipowners receive millions of dollars in sub- sidy” and “all we want is decent wages and working oconditions.” ONE DEAD, ONE HURT IN SHIP EXPLOSION Coast Guard Asked to Send Plane for Injured Man on Steamer Dillwyn. By the Associated Press. MOBILE, Ala., December 26.—Coast THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C. DECEMBER % Fight Over Hiring Halls Has Been Raging 50 Years Union Seamen Have Sought Control of Halls and Elimination of Dis- charge Book Since the 80s. The hiring hall issue, which has stymied settlement of the West Coast maritime strike for more than two months, has been a sore spot in rela- tions between ship owners and the seamen’s and longshoremen’s unions for the past half century. ‘The unions’ fight for better wages and working conditions, which began in the late 80s, has centered on secur- ing control of the hiring halls, or the equivalent of the closed shop, and upon elimination of the continuous discharge book, which union leaders claim is a constant threat to their very existence. i Both unions have sought to control employment in an industry which is as seasonal as the weather. The sea- men, in addition, have been hampered in their struggle by conditions pecu- liar to their calling and, until only recently, by-laws which prevented them from exercise of their strongest ‘weapon, the strike. When the seamen first began to organize in the late 70s and early 80s, their first objective was the elimina- tion of the “crimp,” the term applied to the water front rooming house keepers because they not only charged ship owners for obtaining crews, but charged the seamen for giving them Jobs. Owners Turned to “Crimp.” The ship owners turned naturally to the crimps for their crews because it was easier to aecure them that way | than to hire them at the docks. As long as & sailor had money then, he ‘was permitted to stay at the crimp’s establishment. When his money ran out, and he was in debt for food, drink and perhaps clothing, the cromp found him a ship and took an allot- ment note for what was due him, and which he could cash in at the steam- | ship company’s office as soon as the | sallor was out at sea. Efforts to remedy this condition ‘were hindered by the fact that about | 60 per cent of available union mem- | bers were at sea and another 15 or 20 | per cent in port under contract, which provided for imprisonment or forced labor until the contract e_xpired. ’x‘mcl left only 20 or 25 per cent of the men avallable to fight for better conditions. | . Desertion Law Abolished. ! By the early '90s, however, branches | of the International Seamen’'s Union had been established on the Pacific and Atlantic Coests and the Great Lakes. With the aid of the American Federation of Labor they were able to secure passage of the McGuire act | in 1895, which abolished the penalty of imprisonment for deserting in the United States from vessels in the coastwise trade; and in 1898 of the | White act, which amended the Mc- Guire act by abolishing the impris- onment penalty in all cases except American seamen deserting ships in | foreign ports. Not until passage of the La Follette act in 1915 were all penalties for desertion abolished. The 1atter bill also extended the same pro- tection to foreign seamen leaving ships in United States ports. ‘The McGuire act not only released the seamen in the coastwise trade | from a form of serfdom, byt it also abolished assignment of wages, either to the crimps or ship owners, and prohibited the attachment of a sea- man’s clothing. The White act lim- ited the penalty for desertion in any | port of the United States, Mexico, the | West Indies, Canada and Newfound- | land to loss of pay due and clothing left behind and reduced the penalty for deserting ship in a foreign port from three months to one month. Garnishment of wages and corporal punishment by the ship’s officers were South Pass to the Mississippi River. The steamer Jarva Arrow was stand- ing by the Dillwyn. of the victims, extent of the damage to the ship or cause of the explosion. COLLEGE GRADUATES - FINDING JOBS EASIER Head of Harvard U. Placement Service Cites New Interest of Employers. BY the Associated Press. abolished and other improvements in conditions were secured. Standards Are Raised. Partly in response to public clamor for greater safety at sea following the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, and partly in an effort to force foreign ship owners to pay wages equal to those paid by American firms, the La Follette act was passed in 1915, which further raised the standards for sea- men, even going so far as to specify | conditions aboard ship, such as food and quarters. The provisions of the act limiting sailors to & 12-hour day snd firemen to an eight-hour day, and prohibiting seamen from working alternately in the fire room and on deck, are a commentary on conditions existing at the time. The provision requiring payment of at least half the wages due in any port was con- sidered another distinct gain. M Attempting to consolidate its gains the 1. 8. U. sought to secure strict enforcement of the La Follette act and strengthen itself for a campaign to secure union recognition when the United States entered the World War. The United States Shipping Board dominated maritime conditions in all its branches during that time and in- stituted a Sea Service Bureau to do all its hiring. After the war one of reau. It lost a strike in 1921 over that issue and pay cuts and the bureau still exists and handles all employ- ment for Shipping Board vessels. practice, however, the bureau’s func- tion today is limited to formality, as it secures its crews almost entirely from the union hiring halls. . Lake Seamen Strike. The fight to otain control of the almost drove the International Long- shoremen’s Union out of existence. During & strike in 1919 a group of foremen of longshoremen gangs formed the International Longshore- men’s Association of San Francisco, which was immediately recognized by the: Water Front Employers’ Associa- tion. For 15 years, the blue book which it issued was a requisite to getting a job and the longshoremen's union membership dropped almost to the vanishing point on the West Coast. Not until 1934, under the N. R. A, did the blue book pass out of water front life in San Francisco as the longshoremen turned again to the LLU During the blue book era the hir- 1ng halls were the saloons and board- ing houses along the water front. The longshoremen felt that their wages, which were so low, according to the Department of Labor, that “a very conservative estimate would probably place more than 50 per cent of all the longshoremen on the relief rolis,” were due to the method of hiring as well as unemployment conditions, which provided an abundant supply of longshore labor. In a study of these conditions, & department report stated: “A longshoreman can get work only for the period a ship remains in port for the purpose of discharging or loading cargo. Ships may arrive and leave port every day, some after | & stay of only a day or two, others after a week or 10 days. Sometimes they straggle in one by one and some- times they come in numbers. In ad- dition to this irregularity in the ar- rival and departure of ships, the ship- ping industry as a whole is seriously affected by cyclical trends, by sea- sonal fluctuations, by changes in the tariff regulations, by the weather and hiring halls has been closely associated with the seamen’s fight against the continuous discharge book. In 1909 the seamen on the Great Lakes struck af a “wel- “Ships arrive and leave port at any hour of the day and night, and the ‘work of loading and discharging cargo also begins and ends at any hour of the day or night . , , Certain union restrictions, such as limiting the hours, penalty rates for night and Sunday work, extra pay for waiting time have tended somewhat to im- prove these conditions . . . Because of the difficulty of getting s job and the uncertainty of its duration, the individual longshoreman prefers to re- main at work, as long as his endur- ance will last or the foreman will permit him to remain. Stretches of 20 to 30 hours of uninterrupted work, except for short meal stoppages, are not uncommon in the ports of New York, Philadelphia and Balti- more. Even longer stretches of work may be found in New Orleans, Gal- veston and Houston in the peak of the cotton season.” Even in normal times, the depart- ment bulletin states, “only a small part of this supply (of labor) is earning what may be considered a decent ‘wage. Probably a larger proportion is earning a subsistence wage, ie, just about enough to make ends meet on & comparatively low standard of living. The balance is always on the brink of starvation and depends largely on out- side support, chiefly charity.” Foreman Makes Choice. Concerning the hiring system in effect prior to 1934, a Bureau of Labor Statistics bulletin has this to say: “It is obvious that the hiring fore- man occupies a position of the great- est importance on the waterfront. It is largely left to him to decide who shall be employed and who shall be left behind. He is seldom hampered in his choice, especially in regard to the more casual men. He can take them or reject them. He can call them today and ignore them tomor- row. It would indeed be strange if such concentration of autocratic power in the hands of & single person con- trolling the jobs of so many men did not result in some cases of abuse of this power. This may be as mild as acceptance of an occasional drink or & cigar, or it may go so far as to amount to a systematic sharing by the HULL SAILS FOR U.S., GRATIFIED BY WORK Tree Planted With Ceremony in Garden of Embassy in Buenos Aires. By the Associated Press. BUENOS AIRES, December 26.— United States Secretary of State Cor- dell Hull sailed for New York today aboard the steamship Southern Cross, expressing his satisfaction with ac- complishments toward peace of the Inter-American Conference. He was recovered completely from the slight cold which kept him from delivering personally his farewell ad- dress to the conference Wednesday. The peace pariey, he sald, “is an illustration of what great things can be accomplished when 21 good neigh- bors animated by mutual understand- ing and real friendship sit around the conference table.” Before sailing, Secretary Hull plant- ed a tree in a ceremony in the garden of the United States Embassy. Al Giant Pumpkin Grown. GLENVILLE, W. Va., December 28 (). —County agriculture officials said the Gilmer County pumpkin crop ex- ceeds that in previous years both in the number grown and in the size of the vegetable. One weighs 95 pounds, is 6 feet, 11 inches in circum- ference and is 4 feet, 10 inches long. STRIKING SAILOR ACCUSE POLICE Charges Filed Against Seven After Fight on Houston Water Front. B7 the Associated. Press. heads, aggravated assault against seven Houston policemen today in é¢onnec- tion with & Christmas eve water-front disturbance. Police officials are investigating the fight which sent 20 sailors to hos- pitals. Among those charged was Lieut. J. E. Murrsy, in charge of the water- front detail since the strike was called two months ago. Night Chief R. T. Honea, who became acting police chief todsy, removed Murray from the post. Justice of the Peace Tom Maes re- leased the policemen on their own dn.eo(nhm. pending & hearing Mon- y. Arthur J. Mandell, attorney for the seamen, said he was ready to “file on as many other policemen as the court will take” and strike headqusrters announced s grand jury investiga- tion would be sought. After about 150 strikers' pickets were driven from their posts three times and seamen were ejected from water-front cafes and beer parlors by police, Honea granted them permis- sion to resume peaceful picketing. Murray said the raids resulted from the strikers’ refusal to comply with his order against picketing. Fishy Fish Story. WILLIAMSPORT, Pa., December 26 (#).—PFireman Andrew Hinds tells this one: He saw an angler pull an old slot machine, minus its back, from the Susquehanna River. The fish- | Wife Is “Office Congressman” for Pierce of Oregon Secretaryship Awarded According to Promise, He Says. BY the Associated Press. L Unofficially & “Mrs¥, as well as s “Mr.” will represent the second Oregon district in the forthcoming Congress. 3 She will be Mrs. Walter Marcus Pierce, wife of Representative Plerce, Democrat. The former Oregon Governor an- nounced that his mate would be the district’s “office congressman,” and that he would be the “House and committee Congressman.” the campaign I told the voters I would make my wife my secretary,” he said. “They apparently spproved, for I was re-elected by the largest majority I ever received for Congress.” MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE ALUMNUS SOON 102 Norfolk Man Claims to Be Oldest Living Graduate n America. By the Associated Press. MIDDLEBURY, Vt., December 26.— Middlebury College officials said to- night their oldest alumnus, Edward W. Wileox of Norfolk, Va., will cele- ‘brate his 102d birthday anniversary December 30. They claimed for him the distinc- tion of being the oldest living college graduate in America. A veteran of the Confederate army, he was graduated from the college in 1854. Until he retired he worked as & teacher and business man. He still walks a mile every day. His memory carries him back to the stringing of the first telegraph line between Washington and Baltimore erman pulled the handie. Out came | and the declaration of war on Mexico & bass. by the United States. Begins Tomorrow—Monday When The Mode has a clearance sale it is really VERY VITAL news. Tomorrow is the first time since August that you may have your choice of our complete stock of FASHION PARK and RICHARD PRINCE SUITS and O'COATS at these substantial saving s. ONLY FINE CLOTHING is offered. The very smartest models and choicest woolens. Your attendance will be well rewarded. \fl\\ 1 \) Were $50 and $55 Were $65 and $75 e Were $45 and $30 Richard Prince Suits $26.50 $ 31 .50 Were $35 3 Were $40 Richard Prince 0’Coats 526.50 5 3".50 Were $30 and $35 Were $40 and $45 Fashion Park Suits 6.50 $46.50 Were $55 to $65 Fashion Park 0’Coats Very Important Notice New Richard Prince 1937 Spring Top Coats ’ $27-50 Worth $35 $34-50 Worth $40 SEGURITY PROBLEM AGTION IS FAVORED Labor Legislation Group Meets Ngxt Week in Chicago. B3 the Assoclated Press. CHICAGO, December 26.—The. American Association for Labor Legis~ Iation ecalled today for prompt solu- tion of the administrative problems of the social security laws, A special program of the amsocis- tion’s thirtieth annual meeting here next week was set aside for discussi of administrative organization, nfl:’-‘ cation of labor treaties and Federal and State co-operation $o make the legislation successful. “Pressure of events is making imme- diate consideration of this subject (national labor legislation) impera- tive,” the announcement of the three- day meeting said. “Despite traditional beliefs national labor legislation has ‘arrived.’ Con- stitutional questions still arise, but in some directions the way is clearly open for immediate action * * *.” Convening Monday, the association will hold some of its meetings jointly with the American Statistical, Amer- ican Economic and American Political Science Associations and the Amer- ican Sociological Society. Urgent administrative problems aris- ing under recently adopted unemploy- ment insurance, cld-age pension and other social security laws will be debated by economists and prominent State and Federal Government offi- clals. Speakers on the topic of national labor legislation will include Joseph P. Chamberlain of Columbia Univer- sity, Leifur Magnusson of the Inter- national Labor Office, Tracy Copp of the Federal Vocational Rehabilitation Service and Murray W. Latimer, chair- man of the Railroad Retirement Board. Fashion Park and Richard Prince Clothes Reduced Olhe cHdlf cy@m’[cg Sa v Blue and Oxford Suits Included, % No Charge for Alterations. % A Smll_ Deposit Will Reserve: Your Free Parking N.W. Cor. E and 12th Sts. and N.E. Cor. 11th and N. Y. Ave. $ Charge Accounts— Settlements— or 12-Poy Plon Eleventh & F