Montana labor news., 1939-12-21

VIC may Aoht iAAN AARo4lAAA( III tAAt
Kaimin of Feb. 81, 1899, to the effect
that Students Back Simmons-lis-
tened to him present a request for
immediate action and cooperation,
signed his affirmation pledge as
representatives of student organiza-
ton" But in not one single instance
was any vote or other authorization
made by the members of any of the
groups. 1t mattered not that protest
meetings were held later; the "Kai-
min" ignored communications con-
corning the article.
AS a junior in the Law School with
his future in school put in jeopardy,
l ask that you withhold my name
except to affirm that the above state
ments are true.
Respectfully,
Similar letters like these could
have been obtained from a number
of students now enrolled at the uni
versity but for good reasons did not
dare to testify before the committee
for fear of being chased off the
campus.
Last week we had one of the at
taches of this assembly testify before
our subcommittee. Two of the stu
dents were over here at that same
time and they were to wait outside
of the committee room until we got
through quizzing the attache men,
Der. When we were ready for those
two witnesses they were gone and
upon inquiring I found they were
afraid to testify for fear of conse-
quences.
A few of the notable faculty cases
are to be mentioned. Dean Stone,
Dean of journalism, had devoted
years of service to building up the
School of journalism. In the spring
of 1886 DR.. Simmons started to de-
mote Dean Stone and push one Pro-
fessor Housman into his place. He
cut Dean Stones salary to S 1000, but
through pressure on the part of Dean
Stones friends and in recognition of
his years of service to the institution,
his salary was increased shortly to
$4,000. Professor Housman, a close
friend of Wallace Brennan, was
pushed to the front as head of the
School of journalism.
The committee unanimously
agreed to keep the Keeney case and
the Phillips case out of our reports
as we felt it had no bearing upon the
matter we were to investigate.
However, 1 wish to call your at
tention to the Keeney case. mas
much as Montana has now the most
liberal supreme court I feel conf
dent that that case will be decided
in favor of Keeney and if so it will
mean that the state Of Montana has
to pay Professor Keeney's full salary
from the time he was discharged up
to the time if rehired or regularly
discharged, amounting to $4,000 or
$1,000. I am also informed the last
few days that the Phillips case will
also be filed in the courts in a short
time
Similar threats have been made
against other members of the faculty,
such as: Professor ]. P. Rowe, At
kinson, Merriam, and Thomas, but
fearing court action similar to the
Keeney case, these threats have not
been carried out. Professor j. P.
Rowe, who has been in the service
for 81 years, was put on the month
to-montt basis, but was recently put
back on tenure basis. When the
Keeney case came up, a committee
of three composed of Associate Pro-
fessor Harry F. Clemens of the State
College Of Washington, Professor
Charles Mckinley Of Reed college,
and Professor Stevenson Smith of
the University of Oregon, was ap-
pointed by the American Association
of University Professors to investi-
gate both the Keeney case and the
Rowe case. A record of their find
ings is to be found in the April, 1888,
issue of the bulletin of that associa-
ton. This report shows plainly the
unhealthy situation existing at the
State University of Montana. Ac-
cording to testimony, Dean Line of
the Business Administration depart
ment was appointed as chairman of
a c%onvocation committee last year.
Through consultation with other
faculty members and DR.. Simmons,
that committee brought into the uni
versity campus a variety of speakers
for the benefit of the students. The
committee held that students in the
university are of a more mature
mind, and are entitled to hear both
sides of the question so that they
may judge for themselves. Through
the committees efforts the follow
ing speakers were invited at convo-
cation meetings: H. D. Rolph, presi-
dent of the Farmers Union; Con-
gresham Jerry j.. O'Connell; James
D. Graham, president of the State
Federation of Labor; Kirby Page, an
outstanding advocate against war
and fascism; Senator Wheeler, Sen
ator Murray, etc. Dean Line was
taken off the convocation committee
and replaced by another member of
the faculty. There appears to be no
effort made to bring in any out
standing speakers. The excuses Of
Ea.ol 90 4Ln4 E...la 49, - a..nsI