The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1943-03-11
FACING
THE FACTS
With PHILIP PEARL

to call the UnLteQ States or America
are today becoming divided against
themselves and because of this internal
dissention we may be heading for Il
fall.
It's hard to believe that faced with
hateful and implacable enemies who
threaten us from without, Americans
should still be wasting their time and
their strength fighting each other.
Yet we see it in the high places and
the low, in the Nations capital and
in the villages of our country. Ameri-
cans are still indulging in the luxury
|Of pickering as usual Republicans
Iagainst Democrats, farmers against
|city-dwellers, Congress against the
President, anti-New Deal against
bureaucrats and practically everyone
against labor.
Only Hitler can profit from such dis
cord and division!
Far be it from us to suggest that
intelligent opposition to impractical
policies be choked off or that construc-
tive criticism be censored. We want no
|ratiOning of free speech. What we ask
is less noise, less extreme statement,
loss knitting, less politics and much
more united action for victory.
How To Go About 1t
There is a natural tendency in all
of us when something goes wrong to
blame the other fellow Let's restrain
an nl of
for the duration. We
cannot win this war by pursuing the
policy of the Duchess in Alice in Won
derland-issuing "Off with his head -
orders against whoever dspleases us.
An example in point is the recent
disturbance at the Boeing Aircraft
plants in Seattle. The workers in these
lplantS have waited for almost year
for the Government to give them Il
square deal. Their wages are atrocious-
ly low. Their employers admit this and
want to give them raise The Ma
ltional War Labor Board at this writ
| ing is still holding up the works. These
workers not only have failed to get
lpay increases to make up for extra
living costs but they see other workers
in other nearby industries doing the
same kind of job and getting paid
much higher rates Naturally they are
restless and dissatisfied
Well, what happened? Due to Il mis-
understanding, Il number of workers
left their jobs to attend protest meet
| ing Production was said to have been
interrupted three hours. Immediately
| the press denounced the workers for
striking" Immediately, labor haters
| in Congress renewed demands for anti
But these workers did not go on strike.
| They have no intention of striking.
They are just as intensely loyal as
their misguided critics. They are on
the job and they have stayed on the
job faithfully since the war started
and they have tripled the production
of Flying Fortresses since Pearl Har-
bor.
If any intelligent attempt had been
made to understand their problem and
stead of jumping on them with both
feet, America today would be further
advanced on the road to victory than
| it is.
Other Examples
| Now, for another example in point,
let's take absenteeSm. 1t is Il serious
problem. 1t results in needless waste
of manpower. What's being done about
it? PropagandistS are trying to con
fuse the American people into belieV-
ing that it results from the lazineSs or
1.-The drunkenness of American workers.
! That's the damndeSt lie anyone ever
tried to foist on the public! Absentee
ism results from illness, from pre-
|ventable accidents, from bad tranSpor-
taton, from unsettled labor relations
and from many other serious causes.
Is anything being done to cure or
Ieliminate these causes of abSenteeism!
Not by those who sound off in the
headlines.
Finally, let's consider what's hap
Ipcned to the cost of living. Ten months
ago President Roosevelt announced Il
program to keep it in check. This pro
gram included controls over prices ana
rents, controls over wages, controls
over farm prices and controls over
corporation profits and individual i'll
cOmcS.
What's happened to this program
The ugly fact is that it is now in
danger of being completely wrecked
Congress appears to be determined td
take the lid off farm prices. 1t is also
about to lift the controls from indi-
vidual incomes. OPA officials are let
ting ceiling prices hit the ceiling.
But the National War Labor Board is
continuing to refuse to relax Its
Stranglehold on wages
Thus, instead of everyone working
together to attain economic StabiliZa'
tion, we find various groups pulling
and hauling at croSS-purpOSes and a
sorry picture it is. There seems to be
Il complete lack of realization that any
selfish gain for any particular group
may upset the whole applicant. Amerl.
cans seem to have forgotten that We
Iare lighting Il war against Hitler III