The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1940-04-24
1910 May DAY Statement OF The JOINT MAY
DAY CONFERENCE OF SILVER BOW COUNTY

Keep America at peace! Give all
willing workers jobs made in Amer
ica!" Protect civil rights, the founda-
ton Of our democracy
May Day, International Labor Day,
this year comes in a moment Of war
crisis. The fifty-three May days that
Labor has celebrated since its birth
in America in 1886 have all in their
turn registered the forward march Of
workers the world over to a new and
better world Seldom, however, in
the history of all these May days have
the toiling masses of capitalist and
colonial lands had greater obstacles
thrown in their path.
| In Europe today the He'll of a new
World war has been turned loose.
Rulers of two imperialist groups
England and France on the one side,
Germany on the other-are pitting
| their finest sons of the working class
against each other in bloody conflict
A victory of one or the other of these
imperialist powers, contrary to the
false slogans of democracy and free
dom that are put forward, will only
mean the further subjugation Of work
ers. Only by freeing themselves of
the yoke of political and economic
depression will workers in these war
ring nations win a real victory over
their monopoly-capitalist exploiters.
And just because we in America, we
In, Montana ORC fhouoondo of mjlaQ
from the cockpit of the European
mess let us not be lulled into think
ing we ARE out of danger of involve
ment. Powerful forces in our coun-
try are determined to have us direct
ly involved as solution to the eco
nomic crisis we are facing. Wall
Street, ably assisted by the present
administration, has taken the first
steps to active participation in war
with their loans and supplies of war
implements to the Allies. Who does
not recall that identical steps were
taken during the last war and finally
brought us into the slaughter? ON
THIS MAY DAY WE MUST MAKE
OUR CENTRAL SLOGAN KEEP
AMERICA OUT OF WAR"
Here in Montana, with very little
increase in employment, the copper
barons have doubled their profits and
lined their pockets to the tune Of $780,
100000. In a period of crisis for
American people, 100000 Of whom
are unemployed, 100000 of whom
need medical care and 50000,000 of
whom have sub standard incomes,
practically every one of Americas mo-
concerns have expert
enced similar gains in profits.
While this Roman Holiday of pro-
fit-taking has been going on we find
and the administration cal
lousy and arbitrarily firing close to
1 100000 workers from WPA rolls. |
New deal legislation for increased low
income housing, medical aid and farm |
aid to needy Americans has been |
shelved Government aid for Ameri- |
can youth has been forgotten. La |
Dor, FARM, RELIGIOUS AND |
OTHER PROGRESSIVE ORGANIZA-
TIONS AND GROUPS MUST ON
THIS MAY DAY INSIST THAT THE
OF AMERICAN PEOPLE
BE MADE THE NO. l PROBLEM OF
DUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT.
The vicious assaults of the depart
nent of justice on ALL and CLIO or
through misuse of the
antitrust laws is danger
signal of dictatorship to come. The
campaign of reactionaries in congress
% change labor legislation so that it
will better suit employers must be
stopped. The repeated violations of
,asic civil liberties by the FBI and
Dies committee raiders, their mid
light invasions of innocent citizens
ZONES, their persecution and prosecu- {
ion of minority political parties are
oddly calculated to lessen the resist '
nee of American people to our entry
nto this second World war. May L
Jay legislation now before congress {
would rob all labor organizations of
very fundamental right it has won in
is hundred years of struggle since |
he days of the Molly Maguires and
Knights of Labor. May Day, 1910, S
must see general rallying of all &
abor and progressive forces in de- 6
ense of civil rights guaranteed by the
constitution of the United States of S
lmerica. {
Also on this May Day let us recall
he glorious beginning of this Labor I
oliday in America. I
We can look back through the dim e
ears to 1886, to the great and grow /
lg Industrial city of Chicago. The i