Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1949-04-29
Continued from Page l

1
in st. Louis-all of them great
cities in themselves-the situa-
ton was not much better, if any.
Lay offs were taking place
everywhere. More and more
people = by the hundreds of
thousands = are applying daily
for unemployment compensa-
ton. Employment offices are
once again sporting signs that
were kept out of sight for many
years now: mo Help Wanted" :"
And sullen, detected looking
men-workers, young and old
i were tramping the str e S
from place to place, seeking a
job.
True, newspapers carry stories
almost daily about the excel
lent prospects of our future.
Presidential advisers and econ
omistS issue statements that we.
have nothing to worry about"
All this, however, only reminds
Workers-especially those who
remember the fearful days of
the thirties-that then, too, such
statements were issued daily.
They even wrote songs to cheer
people up. You remember Hap
py days are here again?" But
the happy days didn't come, not
till many years later when our
country became the Arsenal of
Democracy" preceding our entry
into war after the Japs in
famous attack on Pearl Harbor.
Boom Country"
There was one part of our
journey, however, that led us
through 'boom country" That
was the oil lands of fabulous
Oklahoma and Texas. Here
giant oil derricks were support
ing huge pumps, pumping crude
oil from the depths of the earth.
Here people seemed happier,
certainly more prosperous and
optimistic. Oil, that magic fluid
without which modern civiliza-
ton - particularly national de-
Tense and War-are inconceiv-
able, is flowing freely. In these
lands the only fear seems to be
the thought that if peace should
ever come again our defense
forces will cut down their re-
quirements and then we'll,
look what's happening in other
parts of the country already.
Plight OF Indians
Much has been written about
the plight of our Indians living
in New Mexico and Arizona.
Navajos and Appaches - once
great and proud and feared
tribes - are now living in ap-
palling destitution. The misery
of these people, most of them
living in mudhuts in the treach-
erous wastelands and deserts of
our country, is simply unbe-
lievable. No wonder the child
mortality rate among them is
fearfully high; that tuberculosis
is rampant; that most of them
seldom have enough to eat.
Housing? 1t is simply non-exist-
ent.
We may be proud of our
civilization" so-called-but
believe me from what l have
seen the white man has nothing
to be proud of in this connec-
ton. 1t is tragic and it is
shame, if not actually crime.
Some Terrific Changes
In the course of events six
teen months is seldom regarded
as a long period of time. It
isn't, not even in a mans life.
But the last sixteen months has
brought about some
terrific changes in Golden Cali
ornia. When | came out here
just about sixteen months ago, .
prosperity was still booming.
Prices were incredibly high.
People were working and
full of hope. Grapes, for ex-
ample, we're selling for $100
ton. But already last summer
grapes dropped catastrophically
to around $50 per ton. What the
price will be this year? Who
but everybody knows
that the Sl00 price is a thing
Of the past.
Two or Three Days Work
People are gloomy. And their