Montana labor news., 1934-08-16
'Dailies Broke Strike.
They Boast

NEW YORK-(FP)-San Francis
cos dailies now claim that they broke
the general strike, under the leadership
OF William Randolph Hearst.
The story is told in Editor & Publi-
sher, trade magazine, under the FLAIR
ing headlines, Dailies Helped Break
General Strike. 1t is a featured story
in the July 2 Sissue.
The publishers met early on the
morning the general strike began and
set up a council to fight the workers,
it is revealed. John Francis Neyland,
general counsel for the Hearst papers,
was made the leader. Hearst telephon-
ed directions from London.
Then a deliberate campaign was be-
gun to paint the leadership in certain
striking unions as radicals and to whip
up the hysteria which finally led to
mob action and the killing Of one man.
The program wa to arouse the city
against labor, to split the unions, to
force the hand OF federal officials and
to crush the strike. 1t is so stated in
so many words in the Editor & Publish
er article.
The day before the general strike,
The Examiner & Chronicle carried edi-
torials saying that radicals had seized
control by intimidation and that the
general strike was a revolution against
constituted authority" the story re-
lates, as part of the program. A story
cabled from London by Hearst the day
the strike began told 'how the general
strike in England in 1926 had been
crushed" This was published by all
the plotting papers, not limited to
Hearst's chain. by this time, the
general public which had been gener-
ally sympathetic toward the alleged
wrongs of the longshoremen, awaken
ed TO the menace and that the general
strike was revolution" the story goes
on.
Newspaper editorials aided in split
ting the conservative membership
away from the radicals" by similar
talk about revolution and threats Of
what would happen to the unions, the
story boasts.
Then Gen. Johnson arrived. Even
this n%onunion employer who has fought
unionism bitterly was too friendly to
labor for the publishers. 1T wa evid-
ent that he might undo all the publish
ers' council was trying to accomplish,
the tale goes on. HE proposed tc
grant the request that the longshore-
mems demand for control of hiring hall.
as a condition before arbitration" Sc
the publishers sat up with johnson
until 3 a. m. Tuesday" Neyland tolc
him they might even have to ask hin
to leave San Francisco - the genera
then e%ndeavored to be as helpful az
possible = and the next day denounced
the general strike as revolution"
Sec. Of Labor Frances Perkins wa.
roundly scored for failing to see eye tC
eye with the publishers, who believed
that the situation might spread into t.;
revolution that would sweep the coun-
try" the weird tale continues.
"The strategy of Neyland and thC
publishers council had now begun t.
work on Thursday the genera
strike wa called off"
1T was the first time l was evel
up against a newspaper oligarchy,
Gen. Johnson is quoted as saying OF
leaving San Francisco. No mentor
was made OF the mobbing, killing
burning and beating which was part O
the publishers campaign.
The same issue of Editor & Publish
er has an editorial scoring the use Of
such hysteria as the San Francisco pa
pers created, although it doesn't men
ton that city. IF newspapers that dc
most of the Red crying have it as
their purpose to defeat the spread Of
Communism it is our view that they
have not considered the psychological
effect Of such publicity" it says. "Red
is a word that does not scare an EN-
FILTERED citizen who thinks it will cure
his ills. We Americans lost sight o.
the fact that Communists have as much
right under our laws to organize, pro
test, petition and voice sentiments a,
have Republicans, Democrats, Social.
lists, Farmer Laborites and all Other
parties. Red exaggeration has gone
to extreme lengths"