The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1950-06-08

~ INV ohAO Jbot WiiAN S'C
Workmen's Circle is, but it's on our
side, that's for sure" SO spoke a
delegate at a recent meeting of the
National Farm Labor Union. He
was one of 500 migrant agricul-
tural workers in Bakersfield, Calf,
whose families had received warm
hearted and generous assistance
from the Los Angeles branch of the
Workmen's Circle during the long,
heartbreaking strike against the
notorious DiGiorgio fruit ranch.
The Workmen's Circle celebrated
its 50th anniversary at it's biennial
convention in New. York City, May
28 through June 2. The delegates
represented 10000 members in rs
branches throughout the United
States and Canada.
That's a small enough number
measured against the total union
movement, or against some of the
major unions; but there's hardly a
union member in this country, even
if he has never heard of the Work
mems Circle-or if he has, is not
quite sure what the Workmen's
Circle is-who does not owe that
organization debt of gratitude for
a labor law on the statute book,
financial aid in a strike, bed in a
tuberculosis sanitarium, a step for
ward in the fight for fair employ
ment practices.
For fifty years, in all the battles
for a better life for the common
man, in all the skirmishes and
small battles that add up to the big
battle for a better world, the
Workmen's Circle has been on hand
and "for sure"
At the turn of the century immi-
grants were streaming to this coun-
try from eastern Europe. They
were coming to "the golden land" +"
the land of opportunity; they were
fleeing oppression, poverty, racial
and religious bias.
Most of them stayed on the east
ern seaboard, in the big cities, es-
pecially New York. Packed into the
slums, they found life bitter. Here
were no streets paved with Gold.
Here were hunger, unending toll,
children forced to work at a tender
age, sweatshops,-and the newt
able companion of such sweatshops,
tuberculosis.
One night in March 1892, a scant
dozen workers gathered in the New
York tenement flat of Sam Green
berg, cloalmaker, to talk over a
new idea-a fraternal society
whose members would work to-
gether to build a better world, but
in the meantime would help each
other in whatever way possible.
They would form "ring of friend
ship" Thus was born the "Arbeiter
Ring" the Workmen's Circle.
The aims wereato be mutual aid
in time of need or misfortune, edu-
cation for the membership, encour-
agement and assistance to workers
in organizing unions, and all the
time, with the ultimate dream of a
world where great public and CO.
operative undertakings would make
such palliatives unnecessary.
Their aims were visionary fifty
years ago. They wanted an end of
sweatshops, minimum wage laws,
protection of women in industry,
public housing, social insurance.
Yes, their ideas were revolutionary
in 1900. But so were the ideas of
the Socialist party then-and many
members of the Workmen's Circle
were ardent Socialists. But al
thought it is fashionable today for
the Republicans to shrek social
ism, many of the planks in the Re-
publican party platform for years
past were originally the proposals
of the Socialist party, and the
Workmen's Circle.
Today, the workers who used to
carry their sewing machines on
their backs in the grey dawn, going
from their tenements to the sweat
shops, are organized into the great
and powerful needle trade unions.
But these achievements came slow
ly and painfully, and meanwhile
worker in need could come to the
general office of the Workmen's
Circle for advice or help without