St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1947-03-14
Webster Attacks
Negro Press in
Scathing Address
CONTINUED from page II


organization had filed law suits for
! $4,000 each against five large Ne
gro newspapers for alleged libelous
statements printed about tn e
| Brotherhood.
According to the speaker these
big five Negro newspapers had
printed stories to the effect that
Pullman porters were quitting the
Brotherhood which is affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor
and joining the Committee for In
dustrial Organizations (CIO) and
the officials Of the Brotherhood
were not giving a financial state
ment.
"These newspapers lied on us"
Webster beloved, land we are 60
ing to find out why they did" He
did not name any of the big FIVE"
newspapers which the Brotherhood
is suing.
Webster asserted that when the
Pullman porters were trying to or
ganize the Brotherhood that they
had no greater enemies than the
Negro press, which he said received
money from the officials of the
Pullman Company in the cOmpany's
attempt to prevent the Pullman
porters from becoming strongly
organized. "If these newspapers
were as honest as the Brotherhood
they would not carry such dishonest
advertisements as these" Webster
said. He held up to the audience a
copy of an eastern newspaper and
pointed out several advertisements
Of Love Portions" Lucky Dice"
etc.
Negroes Misguided About CLIO
Webster declared that the
Brotherhood has no fight with the
CLIO and that they contributed
thousand dollars to the CLIO during
a strike. eve believe that many
Negroes have been misguided about
the CLIO. Some believe that it was
organized to smash discrimination
but that was not the case" He said
that some of the worse cases of
determinations that came to the at
tentiOn of the Presidents FEPC
were reported against CLIO unions.
Discrimination is not peculiar to
the AFL and Clio, but to America.
Racial discrimination against
the Negro and other minOrities is an
American pastime," Webster said.
In most belligerent mood Web
ster referred to the United Trans
port Workers Union of America.
without calling the name of the or
ganization when he asserted that
The joker who heads the Red Caps
and others have boosted that they
were going to break up the Brother
hood"
He was evidently referring to
Willard Townsend, International
President Of the UTSEA. an affil-
late of the CLIO. Townsend is in
Japan at the present time having
been sent to the Orient to study
conditions for the CLIO. of which he
is an executive board member.
Local Newspaper Lied
Webster told his audience that
"a local newspaper told lie on me
two years ago, but have not
gotten around to that yet"
According to Webster the
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Port
ers is twenty-one years old and
the present brotherhood is
doubtless a capitalization of many
efforts to organize. THE success
of the Brotherhood is due largely
to the Pullman porter, who was
pushed around and was the victim |.
of many labor abuses" The pay
roll of the Pullman porters was
~ million dollars a year when the !
Brotherhood was organized, and it |
was 3S million dollars last year, |
Webster said. "The Pullman
porter now has the monopoly Of
his job, because he controls the
bargaining processes" the Inter
Vice President declared.
Webster scored the Brotherhood |
of Railway Trainmen for their eff
forts to drive the Negro out Of the
good paying jobs in the railroad |
industry. He stated that several
years ago there were 1900 Negro
fremen and that now there are only
$500. He cited the recent victory
Of the Brotherhood in its fight to
prevent 50 Negro head men" on
the NIX and T, from being taken
off their jobs, at the insistence of |
the Brotherhood of Railway Train
men.
Master Reginald Jones. son Of