The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-12-15

souls they plead In broken English for their union bosses. When their placards and Marxian eloquence fail to affect a patron of 8 struck shop they sideswipe the dirty capi- talist" Or hiss him with a sibilance that would do justice tooa bootblack on a Staten Island ferry boat. If the cop isn't looking they mutter something about the "feelthy" rich. And they even put on monkey suits to frighten women away from stores.
 Naturdally the pickets enjoy their professional status. Being paid to spit at man who has @ job and wants to keep 1t is much better than being the object of a man hunt in Old Country or holding down 8 real job in the New. As a matter of fact before the dawn of professional pic keting, many of these disturbers of the peace never did an hours work from the day they slipped by the immigration officials at Ellis Island. But now they have found a voca- ton and are determined to pursue 1t just as many of their brothers have bedded down for life on a soft WPA career. The pickets are truly the sandwich men of the Lewis era and before long they will probably have a union of their own to picket the pickets who are picketing the pickets.
 For picketing is now organized on a big-time basis. It is no longer an honest and peaceful means of call- ing the public's attention to the fact that Nick the Greek pads his ham, burgers with pork and lump mashed potatoes. It is a science, an art, and above all a racket. Everything goes, or did until Supreme Court Justice Meier Steinbrink issued an injunc- ton restraining the Newspaper Guild from picketing beauty par Tor that had the audacity to adver- tise in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle aft CT the Guild declared a strike against that newspaper. Henceforth the Guild pickets will not be allowed to mention advertisers on their placards as they go about their business aof intimidating and coer- cling those who do not give a hang about the Guilds present or future welfare. SG..
 { But that is one of the Guilds many faults. It's members are SC self -centered that they labor under the naive belief that the entire world should come to their rescue when the labor conscious and poll tically ambitious Haywood Broun blows his little trumpet. Fortunate ly they have. been curbed in that belief, for the present at least.
 What is ironically amusing about the tactics in Brooklyn is that the Guild, like a Lewis union, has nc qualms over the sanctity of con tract, unless that contract specitical- ly works to its advantage. While It's noisy picketeers are belly-aching for Q contract it uses the Nstrong-arm methods of the guerrilla to frighten advertisers into breaking their con- tracts with the Eagle. Happily the Guild has been checked.
 This secondary picketing, or the picketing of establishments which are not on strike but which do busi- ness with one that is, has been mildly successful. But like all. ex- treme measures 1t ultimately defeats It's own purposes. If anything Il should help to break the strike at the Eagle despite the flow of CLIO funds to keep that strike in prog ress. After all the ultimate solution of strike still rests with the pulp lie and not with the heetle- -browed Lewis even though he may thinh he is the public.
 We are not attempting to give the Guild advice. We have no sympathy and no respect for It's present lead. ership. We merely pass the inforrna. ton along for the benefit of those who may stumble across Q copy oi the Daily Worker of'newspaper riaet' ---the Guild Reporter-or its of. spring, the spasmodic strike editions in which are presented the exalted aims and ambitions of the Guile proletarians. We are sI1lugiy satis- fled to present the other side, Y If - ..---L..I.i ! A. 4. -. a -.ta l1a1.