ustxtxb_obs_1955_09_07_50_00002-00000_000.pdf

Bartlett Appears Exclusively in The Texas Observer DOWN ON THE FARM -I Let those flatter who fear, it is not an American art. JEFFERSON And They’re Trying to Mongrelize the Race’ 5he Juture /or Zalo Most of us condemned to a shadowy stay in this shadowy place have to work for a living. It is far better to be born rich, and better yet to live someplace where you can be poor and happy, but for the body of us who parent children here and therefore pay taxes, work is a partand quite a large partof life. It is very well to sing the praises of work, but it is a little like praying for rain as it falls. Just why they set aside a workless day to celebrate work has always been a puzzle to us, unless it’s that the consolation for reality is its idle contemplation. But it is, at any rate, our day the day of we who work. It is ours whether we are in a union or not, whether we run a drill or pour hot steel or sell insurance or merely punch a typewriter. In Texas, 450,000 workers are in unions, and 1,800,000 are not. The ones in unions are better paid. They can stand up for their rights better. They have better security plans for sickness and retirement. Unions are good for people to belong to. They are also good for the economy. By getting more money into the hands of J consumers, they cause more of it to be spent, which creates demand for more products, which means that industry has more to do. It is underOandably difficult for employers to take comfort in this larger view, but once a man’s employees have decided they want a union, he should not resist their wishes. Unions, like all human institutuons, have faults. Sometimes they are not democratic enough_ In Texas, most of them are “for whites” or “for Negroes,” but not for both. We do not believe Texas unions will be able to advance other idealistic social programs consistently until they do away with union segregation. Unionization has this one further drawback : those who need it most find it hardest to get. The really unorganized workersthe retail store counter girls, the car hops, the waitresses, the filling station workers, the workers in small factories, the itinerant farm workersthose who are most at the mercy of employe f’s, who are most notoriously abused with long hours and low pay, have to bow low and hold their tongues to keep their jobs. With no union to back up their redress of grievances, they are still legally in the servant-master relationship of the common law. Employers, like other human beings, generally do what is accepted. In Texas, 20 years of reac SEPTEMBER 7, 1955 Incorporating The State Observer, combined with The East Texas Democrat Ronnie Dogger, Editor and General Manager Bill Brammer, Associate Editor Sarah Payne, Office Manager Published once a week from Austin, Texas. Delivered postage prepaid $4 per annum. Advertising rates available on request. Extra copies 10e each. Quantity orders available. Entered as second-class matter April 26, 1.937, at the Post Office at Austin, Texas, under the act of March 3, 1879. We will serve no group or party but will hew hard to the truth as we find it and the right as we see it. We are dedicated to the whole truth, to human values above all interests, to the rights of man as the foundation of democracy; we will take orders from none but our own conscience, and never will we overlook or misrepresent the truth to serve the interests of the powerful or cater to the ignoble in the human spirit. tionary State Government \(ever since Pappy O’Daniel, to be expliworst anti-union laws in the country. Our governors and other officials, selected by the corporate interests that control the state, do all they can to create a hostility to the unions, even though the unions could make life much better for hundreds of thousands of Texans. With the propaganda pouring out of Austin and getting full vent in the Dallas News, the Houston Chronicle, and most of the rest of the state press, many Texas employers are convinced. The larger out-of-state corporations go along with unions in their Texas plants because they have experienced mature and peaceful relations with working people in unions outside of Texas. We should, on Labor Day, remember most those who have the least chance of getting into unions_ It is inevitable that unions will become a larger part of the life of the South; we hope that they will also apply themselves vigorously to bringing the benefits of the union to the scattered, often helpless Texans who now seem to have to work all the time for next to nothing, and with little thanks at that. h e Can,cliciateJ Every good newspaper clearly separates its news from opinion. Often, interpretation of the news involves personal judgments about the structure of the facts; but any judgments about the facts, themselves, are opinion.. This is a fine line to draw. In practice, all newspapermen of good will and good intention con do is to try to be true to their code and resist every impulse or temptation to slant the news and its interpretation. This we do. Editorially, the Observer tries to defend the rights and hopes of the people. As individuals, the people who work on the Observer have opinions about such questions as who would make the best governor for Texas, but as a newspaper, the Observer will strive to debate principles, not personalities. We may not always succeed in being impartial among the candidates, but we will try. We will criticize them a 11 o n policy grounds henceforthfor the political season is begun, and the political remark is fair gameand we will appreciate our readers not jumping to any conclusions about the Observer’s stand on candidates. Staff Correspondents: Bob Bray, Galveston; Anne Chambers, Corpus Christi ; Ramon Garces, Laredo ; Clyde Johnson, Corsicana ; Mike Mistovich, Bryan ; Jack Morgan, Port Arthur ; and reporters in Dallas, Houston, Beaumont, El Paso, Crystal City, and Big Spring. Staff Contributors: Leonard Burress, Deep East Texas ; Minnie Fisher Cunningham, New Waverley, Bruce Cutler, Austin ; Edwin Sue Coree, Burnet; John Igo, San Antonio; Franklin Jones, Marshall ; George Jones, Washington, D.C.: J. Henry Martindale, Lockhart; Dan Strawn, Kenedy ; Jack Summerfield, Austin ; and others. Staff cartoonist: Don Bartlett, Austin. Cartoonists : Neil Caldwell, Austin ; Bob Eckhardt, Houston ; Etta Ilulme, Austin. MAILING ADDRESS : Drawer F, Capitol Station, Austin, Texas. EDITORIAL AND BUSINESS OFFICE: 504 West 24th St., Austin, Texas. Phone 7-0746. HOUSTON OFFICE: 2501 Crawford St, Houston, Texas \(Mrs. R. D. Randolph, director, sub\(This is first of three articles on what’s wrong “down on the farm,” written especially for the Observer by Alex Dickie, Jr., president of the KRUIVI, Texas For years the farmer has fought a lonely battle for recognition. When things got too bad, as they did during the early years of the century, the farmers joined together to give themselves a voice that could be heard. The Farmers Union was born right here in Texas. For the past 50 years, the organization has spoken up for the farmers at every opportunity. It is now the fastest-growing farm organization in the country, and it still fights for the family farmer. In addition to having a strong voice through organization, the farmers have also found many important friends who speak for themmen of vision, who realize that the prosperity of this nation depends upon what sort of deal the farmer gets. The farmer has many such friends here in Texas. To better understand the situation ‘down on the farm, a citizen need only listen to storm warnings raised by the representatives from Texas in Washington. “The national economy may set a record for producing goods and services in the spring of 1955. We are told the gross national product for the first quarter of 1955 will be close to a $370-billion annual rate, equaling or perhaps slightly exceeding the mid-1953 record. In the midst of this prosperity, however, times are getting harder for the farmer. Farm prices are continuing to fall and future markets are weak. While other people may be prospering, the farm recession is getting deeper and deeper. Farmers are not only getting less for their crops, but they are being forced to grow less while their costs are being kept high. Farm income is daily shrinking. The extended recession in farming will affect the other sectors of the economy. The history of the 1920’s showed that when the farmer continued to suffer over a long period of time, other businessmen were affected sooner or later.”. The above was written by Texas Representative Wright Patrnan. Insight into the farm situation was also given by Rep. W. R. Poage, who said: “The Department of Agriculture had many red faces when it developed that it had over-estimated farm income for last year by a half-billion dollars, In pointing out that farm prices had ‘stabilized’ and that we are ‘moving in the right direction,’ Benson produced figures to prove that the net loss in farm income last year was only $800 million but the very next day his own department stated that there was a half-billion dollar error and that farm income had actually dropped $1.3 billion. Add to this the fact that the price of things farmers buy has advanced at least one percent, and we find the farmers about eleven percent worse off than .in. 1953. “Even some Republicans are beginning to wonder how long our country can continue to move in this direction. I think we are certain to get new farm legislation or a break in the economy. The big question is, will we get a change in time to prevent a depression?” Answering propaganda directed against the farmer, Rep. Walter Rogers wrote recently: “There has been a propaganda campaign going on in many urban areas against the American farmer. He has been portrayed as a scoundrel who has been milking the public treasury and is responsible for the consumer prices of food products. This vicious campaign is, in my opinion, closely akin to treason. It is false, it is deliberate, and it is malicious. Some of the accusations and innuendoes directed against the American farmer would lead one to believe that the beads of sweat on a man’s brow have now become badges of dishonor. God forbid that we ever reach that state. It would definitely denote the complete failure of Christianity and civilization.” ALEX DICKIE Texas-at-Large John ‘White, Commissioner of Agriculture, is having a private meeting with some of his supporters in Austin Sept. 10. He willget reports from them on what his prospects are for the governor’s race. …. Jimmy Phillips arranged to have members of the Capitol Press flown down to Galveston for his island appreciation day last week. Eight reporters signed up for the trip. A Transcontinental Gas DC-3 was scheduled to pick them up. There was a snafu down the line somewhere, however, and a fivepassenger Twin Beach arrived instead, forcing three newsmen to drop out. Phillips, who likes reporters, tells them “I don’t care what you say about me, just spell my name right,” was distressed. …. Ralph Yarborough has told friends that as of now he thinks he may be in a run-off with Will Wilson next summer. Jim Lindsey, the House Speaker, is shopping around for money to run for attorney general. He is almost a certain candidate, whether Shepperd runs for re-election or not. alp &Imo Ofistrurr