The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1929-11-18
,officiai City. state and County Newspaper
Labor Moves Upon South

I4dUUi AlONCS opoI oooeh
Orcanizcd labor seems TO be on the threshold oil an
cpocllal undertaking. II is about - make q Sherinans
march through TIC South, as a result OF the mll aus
tarbanccs iii North Carolina and Tennessee. That IS,
it Ii about 10 start a drive to unioni1c TINS non-slHioh
country. where the cncrgcncc OF the hill whites INTO
The cotton mill towns has given rise to the biggest labor
problem since the Homestead steel mill riots 81 1917
II those riots Pinkertons shot down strikers IN pa.
ricadc battles. In this disturbance OF tho South, shcriffs
posses have shot down men, women and children III the
policy to keep ~hillbilys hillbilys. or common white trash.
There Is Il trial at Marion, N. c.. now to try and con'lc.
tour labor defendants Of rebellion and insurrccilon
against the state OF North Carolina.
The executive committee OF the Pan-AnlerIcan Fedora
ton OF Labor in the latter part Of October called OIL
indefinitely tho siH;h Pan american labor congress SCI
for January 6 in Havana, Cuba. on the ground that
the very csistence OF the organized labor movement was
threatened by conditions in the Southern states. Press-
tent William Green, also head of the American Fedora
ton Of Labor. at the time stated that the labor move
mcnt in tho South finds Itself confronted with one Of
tho most gigantic campaigns ever launched by employers
TO prevent organized labor from doing its duty. Thus
it will be seen that with more than a million members
to be called upon. the American Federation Of Labor
finds it necessary to concentrate all its energies and re-
sources on this titanic slrugglc in which the very cX-
istcncc of the organized labor movement is at stake.
Those who have been following the developments IN
southern labor will recall that much OF the trouble in
North Carolina and Tennessee was caused by comrun-
istic elements taking advantage Of the opportunity to
fomcnt a labor war on a rcd basis. Organizations IN line
with the American Federation Of Labor went before that
body IN tho recent international meeting at Toronto and
enlisted tho sympathy Of tho organization in trying to
clear up the North Carolina situation. A big unionizin2
drive was decided on as the remedy Of advantage both
to the South and to the labor movement.
At a meeting in Washington Thursday labor moved
10 the attack on the problem. The senate was asked %
pass a resolution for an investigation Of tho whole South
crn textile industry and to SO act that those responsible
fer the loss of life in North Carolina should be brought
to justice" The conference pledged its support to the
Southern workers in their efforts to organize into trade
unions affiliated with the American Federation Of
Labor and to secure higher wages, reasonable hours OF
work and tolcrablc conditions Of employment
The situation in the South is the result OF transferring
q portion Of the cotton mill industry to that country to
benefit from the supply OF idle whites in the hills.
These workers were q cheap supply. They we're obtain
able at low wages. The result has been very much like
tho institution Of slavery in the field Of competition.
The South could sell its cotton products to the disad-
vantage of the northern, or New England, mills.
Then something that had been overlooked began 70
express itself. The sociological and psychological factor
hogan to operate. The hilubillys became industrial
whites. The desire for further bctterment developed as
they tasted the joys Of their contact with industrial
civilization. AS the labor conference in Washington
stated it. when brought in touch with a new social and
industrial order, the desire of Southern workers for the
enjoyment Of higher living standards and for the possess
sion Of those attributes which are inseparably associated
With a higher standard Of living became quickencd and
intensified.
They had been transferred from their isolated homes
In the mountains and small communities into q new
environment where mass association and collective in
tcrcst had been substituted for indiyidualisni. Discon-
tent and dissatisfaction, aggravated by the imposition
Of the strctch-out' system In many places. caused strikes
and disorder in a number Of mills and factories"
The American Federation does not express its view a.
Southern conditions wholly In selfish terms. but looks
on It's plans to unionize the workers there as an economic
cause by which the whole South will benefit financially
and commercially as well as industrially from the view
point Of the lahorcr. At Toronto the Federation said:
The South has raw materials. American workers.
power resources and q need for more industries. But
unless these industries arc prepared to give q square deal
to workers they are not only pillaging the resources of
the South but are sowing the seeds OF class conflict in
most dangerous soil. The Southern worker win not
meekiy. bear injustice when experience teaches him stan
daYds Of justice"
At the Washington conference the Federation added
to its prior statement the declaration that the social
and industrial unrest manifested by the workers In the
unosgantzed industries Of the South can only be inter-
rreted = an expression Of a decp-scatcd desire to secure
md enjoy higher wages. proper and humane conditions
e employment and the exercise Of economic. industrial
and social freedom.
"Ihe Southern worker has long been regarded BY en-.
rloyers' q labor - doclc and submissive. satisfied II he
received small compensation and susceptible to exploita.
tim.
IT = . most ~opportune time for Ill organizations 70
strengthen their unions In the South. The development
e unions simultaneously with further industsialization
k IT, South Win assure sounder. better balanced pro-
6res. pernanent urogress cannot Be built on low wages,
1pug hours md special eoncessions,'
ne6oemoss who s. 70 - motion pictures to make
80 - wn ut hurt TIE publtcs morals are 50 often
6sApDotnte1
- Insus : 1881 -. - - = tain thro,gh 4.