Evening star., 1934-08-01
NEW PEACE REIGNS
IN SAN FRANCISCO
City Out TO Regain Prestige
Lost to Los Angeles
in Strike.
BY JAZZ q. HAYDEN.


epeeial Dispatch 70 The star.
SAN FRANCISCO, Calf, August
1 tNANA1.-san Francisco Is be-
ginning 10 rebuild from the most
devastating disaster II has suffered
since It's great earthquake and FIRE,
and not the least Of the things that
are likely to result Is a change in the
social philosophy that has ruled here
for more than a quarter OF a century
The significant tact Is that strike
OF only 300 steyedores was permitted
20 spread until II created a reign OF
terror, which first stopped inter
national and coastal shipping, the
lifeblood OF the community. and final
ly produced a general strike that
paraiyzsd ali business activity for
seven days. The loss has been esti-
mated by the San Francisco Chamber
Of Commerce at sloo,ooo,o0o.
Results Being Evaiuated.
The strikes Of dock workers and
seamen shriveIeId under the blazing
wrath of public opinion The strik-
crs are going back 10 work The city
now is chiefly concerned with assess-
ing the results. material and moral,
and pointing lessons for the future.
One might expect TO find a people
embittered, with class arrayed against
class, but this Is not the impression
derived from talking among them.
First, there Is q great feeling Of pride
that San Francisco has met crisis
not only In It's own affairs but in the
Nation as a whole ana beaten IL en-
tirely by its own efforts. There is
something in the invIgorating air Of
the city that makes for selt-confidence
and hope for the future. and any one
who pictures 1t as cast down and
broken In spirit Is mistaken.
Secondly. there has been a drawing
together of the great majority of or
Ranized workers with the general cit
izenry to wipe out what for better
term are called "reds"--the relatively
small group which injected the terror
into the strike situation. Coupled with
this Is feeling that the large EN-
ployers. and particularly the proprie-
tors of steamship lines, are not blame
less. These sentiments are as much
In evidence among the taxi drivers,
BARRIERS, walters and other workers
who participated in the general strike
as in the lounge of the exclusive Pa
cific. Union Club.
Los Angeles Jeers Help.
And last but not least of the ele-
ments which contributed TO the resto-
ration OF community solidarity was
the jeering from Los Angeles aud the
fact that the militia, which marched
through the streets when the general
strike was in progress, came largely
from that city.
The rivalry between these two port
cities Is traditional. The least tremor
of an earthquake in San Francisco is
heralded in the Los Angeles press in
big headlines and when Los Angeles
herself suffered a quake recently San
Francisco countered In kind. The two
communities quarrel about everything
from politics and business to the
weather.
One of their particular points OF
difference has related to labor policy.
San Francisco is perhaps the most
unionized city In America and Los
Angeles is as definitely open shop.
The one has boasted of the best-paid
and most-satisfled working popula-
tion anywhere on the continent
whereas the other has ascribed It's
great growth to an almost complete
freedom from labor unions.
Thus it happened that when the
ports Of San Francisco, Portland and
Seattle we're tied up by the longshore-
mems strike Los Angeles remained
open and reaped harvest. The Los
Angeles newspapers and radio speak
ers did not fail to herald this situa-
ton to the world. They taunted San
Francisco literally day and night
Second only to the Reds" the thing
that has drawn San Franciscans to.
gether in the past few days Is hatred
of Los Angeles and determination
to regain any losses they may have
suffered. This attitude goes as much
for the unionized working men as fol
the capitalists.
Think Strike Justified.
AS for the longshoremen's strike
lLlC Va kRCae AAAUJcAAbg VA ASHA
Francisco people in the beginning wa
that it was entirely justified. It hae
its roots in the huge mail subsidies
which such lines as Dollar and Mat
son have been drawing from the Gov
ernment. While the companies wer'
paying dividends from this govern
mental source, they had organizes
stsvedoring subsidiaries to beat dow
the wages of their dockmen. Repai
= work. which ordinarily had been don
on the docks. seamen were compelle'
to do in overtime, without added pay
After some 1900 stevedores in Sa
Francisco struck on May 8, however
their organization fell into the hand
OF radical group, headed by Harr
Bridges, an Australian Communis
with p cockney accent. Unde
Bridges influence more than 500
unemployed malcontents joined tn
Longshoremen's Union, bringing il
membership to 4.500. The new grou