e At a oe NATIONAL EXECUTIVE | A. F. of T. Proportional Representation PA COUNCIL ISSUWE ]|j ment Proposed; Organizing the College Teachers “AMERICAN TEACHER March-April, 1936 Loyalty Oaths at Harvard - - - - - - - - - - Editorial The Labor Movement in the School Curriculum - Henry Harap A Communication to A. F. of T. Local Unions Youth on Relief in Minneapolis - - - Margaret M. Thomson State Federation of Labor - - - - - - - John A. Phillips “The 3 R’s of Economized Education” - - - Ernest Lundeen The American Newspaper Guild - - - - - - David Scheyer The Teachers’ Union in Action — Labor Notes It’s Happening Now — Among the New Books The School Activities Magazine Dr. Harry C. McKown, Editor Offers you an invaluable educational engi- neering service that no progressive school, educational director, or teacher can afford to be without. Each issue will be of material assistance in your work of vitalizing all educational procedure. It will enable you to attain with greater ease the true objective of all education—a better citizen, a more whole- some life. Subscription Price $2.00 Special offer to readers of American Teacher (Good until May 15th) aed po subscription voy tong Activities and one Builder, both for only $2.25. You save 75 cents by answering this ad promptly. THE SCHOOL ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE TOPEKA - - KANSAS I Talks to Trade Unionists on Health Topics —_-_—_—~_~!, 9. Sleep and Insomnia: Sleep is just as necessary as food. Eight hours of restful sleep daily are needed to prepare the average man’s mind and muscles for the day’s work. A healthy person should not suffer from insomnia. Business problems should be shed with business clothes. Some degree of weariness, but not over- tiredness, is necessary, and there should be a relaxa- tion of mind and muscles in a quiet, dark room. For light sleepers the evening meal should be mod- erate, and the quantity of fluid taken, limited. A warm bath is often helpful. Fresh air and avoidance of eye strain before retiring are also helpful. Night clothes should be loose and comfortable, and a good bed and mattress are of importance. If, after heeding the above suggestions, insomnia still persists, consult your family physician. The Union Labor Life Insurance Company pro- vides a policy form to fit every purse and purpose for Juveniles and Adults. Experienced life insurance agents will recognize the many opportunities for the sale of our attractive insurance contracts. We also welcome applications from persons interested in en- tering the life insurance field. The UNION LABOR Life Insurance Company MATTHEW WOLL, President 570 LEXINGTON AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY Canadian residents should apply to our. CANADIAN AGENT— S. J. McMaster, 465 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario a 4 w—w ea a PesSyasagyg a4 | FEESE 32 ag = Fae PRESS Be FESS BR 8 t AMERICAN TEACHER MARCH-APRIL, 1936. NUMBER 3. VOLUME XX. = CONTENTS “The 3.R’s of Economized Education”. . Representative Lundeen 3 Loyalty Oaths at Ee ne 4 The Case History of a New Local................- 0. ..0-e000- 5 Butte Local Secures Single Salary Schedule....Margaret Lowney 6 A Proposed Proportional Representation Plan for the A. F. of T. 7 The Labor Movement in the School Curriculum...Henry Harap 8 A Communication to Local Unions of the A. F. of T........... 10 Reply by Frank R. Kennell................6..4.-4. 2000s. 12 Bamly ty George Davis... .......c.cecceccccscesseccevces 13 The Rating System: an anti-Union Weapon... .Matthew Besdine 14 Why College Teachers Should Join the A. F. of T.. Jerome Davis 19 ahs bbe sds db.dc os bees nicsoseesen Anna Dart 21 The American Newspaper Guild................ David Scheyer 22 Youth on Relief in Minneapolis......... Margaret M. Thomson 23 About a State Federation of Labor............ John A. Phillips 25 A. F. of L. Education Committee Report..................... 28 DEPARTMENTS nD, . 25. wodastbedaaddddaunien toe+skdceaded 1 mueumeners’ Union in Action... ..............ccccccccccces 16 i, << 60ndes Skt ecweihs t¥bcescocchunve cuss 26 eno s0gncuedinin s6uadbllsiveberse ached sevens 29 i. 4 otek Bek css Uhh eahvess dbseecb ee ikea 30 EES RES a One Ae 31 De 5 Side diy wilnkgh asian Kod 608 vobes aes ante 31 Rising Opposition Professor Kirtley F. Mather’s dra- to Loyalty Oaths matic opposition to the Massachu- setts Loyalty Oath Law (described in this issue) is a hopeful indication. There is a growing awareness that behind the simple and appar- ently innocuous wording of these laws is a desire to stifle free inquiry, to gag expression of opinion, to interfere with civil tights. The list of the opponents of loyalty oaths for teachers includes such eminent names as: James Conant, President of Harvard; William A. Wilson, President of Smith College; Mary Woolley, President of Mount Holyoke; Robert May- nard Hutchins, President of Chicago University; Felix Frankfurter; Alexander Meikeljohn; Charles A. Beard; Dixon Ryan Fox, President of Union College. A meeting of college heads declared that “such compulsory oaths of loyalty are copied from Fascism.” Among the sponsors of such legislation are the American Legion, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Hearst press, and the Cham- bersof Commerce. It is clear to everybody that the patriot- ism of Hearst and of the Chambers of Commerce is not entirely disinterested. Teachers intimidated by oaths of loyalty are less likely to have the courage to organize in defense of their economic interests. Academic freedom, tenure, salaries, are all directly or indirectly threatened by the type of legislation which Dr. Isaiah Bowman, President of Johns Hopkins, has characterized as “an assault on free- dom.” But such legislation cannot be killed by individual opposition. Members of the American Federation of Teachers can rally teachers, workers, and all the progressive forces of the community to fight against loyalty oaths. We can prevent their passage where they do not yet exist. In the 22 states where loyalty oath laws are now on the statute books we must return to the attack year after year until they are repealed. Democracy In this issue we print a communica- in the A. F.T. tion from several A. F. T. members, and the replies written by Mr. Frank R. Kennell, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and by Mr. George Davis. These documents should and do speak for them- selves. Since they were written, however, certain actions have been taken which have an important bearing on the situation. Mr. Smith states that the method of voting in convention has been inequitable. The Executive Council in its December, 1935, meeting appointed a Committee on Voting Procedure to look into the matter, and we publish in this issue its official report and recommendation for early action. . . . The Executive Council, at the same meeting, also placed a restriction upon proxy voting to minimize the use of this indirect form of representation. The pro- posed Equalization Fund would give small remote locals some financial assistance in the matter of sending their own delegates to conventions . . . With these facts in mind, open discussion of this matter should result in a program which will benefit the A. F. T. as a whole. Sentiment for Industrial The American Federation Unionism Crystallizes of Teachers is not one of the eight A. F. of L. inter- national unions represented in the Committee on Indus- trial Organization. Nor are many other organizations which, like our own, voted with the Industrial Union Bloc at the Atlantic City Convention of the Ameri- can Federation of Labor. But these organizations en- dorse the stand that in the basic mass production indus- tries the industrial union is the only effective form in which it is possible to organize and unify the workers in their struggle for union principles against a powerful, concen- trated ownership of industry. The international officers who set up the Committee on Industrial Organization have con- tinually stressed, as they did at the Convention, that they are not seeking the abolition of craft or amalgamated craft _— eeretagress ethene eat enemas unions where these have been effective in protecting the workers in an industry or occupation. However, they take the position that the persistence of the craft unions in drain- ing off skilled workers, who had not previously been organ- ized, from the newly formed industrial unions in the basic industries made effective organization in them impossible. They have also stressed time and again that they are seeking to organize the workers in these basic industries within the American Federation of Labor. Finally, they stand on the right of constituent bodies within the American Federation of Labor to agitate for their program in a democratic way. The recent stirring Convention of the United Mine Workers endorsed the stand of its president, John M. Lewis, in the formation of the Committee and in serving as its president. The miners’ dramatic threat to permit their officers to with- hold from the A. F. of L. their per capita dues, together with the Convention’s failure to respond favorably to the stand taken by President Green (formerly Secretary-Treasurer of the miners’ union) by no means indicates that the miners have seceded from the A. F. of L. Nor can they be expelled without action by a majority at the next Convention. Opin- ions may differ as to the wisdom of the use or potential use of so drastic a weapon, publicly announced. Two decades ago, when the question of an industrial charter to the metal miners was being disputed by the Executive Council, the coal miners’ organization threatened to withdraw—and the char- ter was granted. Now the struggle has become more serious because of the die-hard attitude of some of the craft union officials. But the sentiment of the miners, as of the needle trades unions which are in the Committee for Industrial Organization, is decidedly against a split. These eight inter- national unions, including a crait international—the Inter- national Typographers’ Union—represent a membership of almost a million workers. The vote at the last convention represented 40% of the total membership. It is unthink- able that, in the final test, the American Federation of Labor will wish to lose so large and powerful a section of the organized labor movement, even though it may utter dire warnings about the “dual” character of the Committee. Broadening the Perhaps the final test of a belief in in- Teachers’ Union dustrial unionism comes in the ap- plication of that principle to one’s own organization. The test is a difficult one in the case of professional workers’ organizations. Carried to its logical extreme in the Teachers’ Union, it would involve the inclusion of every employee in the school system and per- haps the renaming of the organization as the American Federation of Educational Employees. At the last meeting of the Executive Council of the A. F. T. it was resolved that the Council “urges all locals seriously to consider the prob- lems of the W. P. A. and substitute teachers and to make every effort to organize them within the ranks of the A. F.T.” The question of the form of inclusion is one which can be The AMERICAN TEACHER solved along the general lines of industrial unionism, with flexibility for varied situations. This flexibility is exempl. fied in the needle trades. In cities where each craft or branch of the industry is small, a single local is created; in the cities where this is impossible, a Joint Council or Joint Board represents and unifies groups and branches formed on occy. pational or other bases. The Executive Council of the A.F.T. leaves to the existing locals the decision as to whether W. P. A., substitute, and other teachers are to join existing locals or form separate locals. In New York City, wher large groups of W. P. A. teachers are involved, it has beeg decided that they should form a separate local. Thus far, private school and college teachers are part of Local §, Should the private school or college teachers’ groups acquire a large membership, similar recommendations might be made for them. But unity of action is provided in the decision that all teachers’ locals should be part of a Joint Council in the city. A Source Reports from locals throughout the country of Power show the value of intimate contact between teachers’ organizations and the Labor move ment. Of particular importance is the evidence of sup port given to teacher locals by the central trades bodies, THE AMERICAN TEACHER Official Organ of THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS 506 South Wabash Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. Organized April 15, 1916. AFFILIATED WITH THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR a President Secretary-T reasurer RaYMoOnD F. Lowry Gerorce Davis Vice- Presidents Maynarp C. KRUEGER ALuz B. MANN W. T. McCoy MERCEDES NELSON W. B. SATTERTHWAITE R. WEINBERGER Cottn G. WELLES CLAUDE WILLIAMS ——@———_ Board of Editors Epwin Berry BurcuM I. R. KiincsBerc R. J. AHLSTROM WALTER G. BERGMAN Anna C. Dart Mary Fo.tey GrossMAN FLorence Curtis HANSON C. J. HENDLEY Mary Herrick E.ste GLucK Cevia Lewis Sara T. WALSH —_—__—>—_——_—_ Editorial Offices Business Offices 506 S. Wabash Ave. 72 Fifth Avenue Chicago, Illinois New York City anne ENTERED as second class matter Octo- ber 18, 1933, at the post office at Chi- — Foreign $1.10 —S cago, Illinois, under the act of March 3, 25c. Subscribers are < a 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special | give prompt notice of rate of for in Section | dress. Remittances should be made 1103, 28, 1925, au- | in or express money ordem, thorized November 3, 1926. draft, stamps, or check. 0 SUBSCRIPTION: $1.00 for the yeat ingle —t — 5 On OO 86 ot Sm ee LD STorsowmverrnerwenpr Ere rs 22S 2. 23. ¢ Sons’ ovuevea«x Sei RBSRRFPARBEREE FB BS SES s whbterl March-April, 1936 These bodies, representing as they do all of the organ- ized workers of a locality, are of strategic importance in any campaign where pressure must be directed against the local board of education. A number of teachers’ union enter- prises reported in this issue were terminated successfully only because of the weight carried by the support of the central labor unions. The single salary schedule in Butte, Montana, was effected after an eight-month campaign in which the central labor union cooperated fully. The local in Wisconsin Rapids, only one year old, but fully cognizant of its Labor connection, won from its board of education a salary adjust- ment hearing and a promise of future cooperation when it fortified its case before the board by the presence of central labor union members. From Duluth, Atlanta, and Mercer County, New Jersey, come reports of the support of the central labor unions in salary restoration campaigns. The Philadelphia local entered upon a state-wide organizational campaign by first calling upon these bodies for assistance in the sponsorship of organizational meetings. Central labor union officials in Camden, New Jersey, played an important part in the formation of a local in that city by their response to a call to present the case for salary restoration to the board. Organized teachers know that the central labor bodies constitute an able and impressive reserve support for 3 many teacher projects. We have felt unity’s strength. *‘ American The present “National Executive Teacher” Plans Council Issue” of THe AMERICAN TEACHER is built around the delib- erations and decisions which marked the recent sessions of the Council during Christmas week. The forthcoming number will be the “Convention Issue.”” These two issues of the mag- azine are being edited by a joint board chosen from the Phil- adelphia and New York locals, under the temporary plan de- cided by the National Executive Council. . . . We of the Board of Editors are in many respects new to the task. For this reason, and also because we are to present at the Convention recommendations for next season’s AMERICAN TEACHER, we ask that locals and individual members give us the benefit of their advice with regard to content, form, or any other matter relating to the magazine. Criticisms and suggestions should be sent to THE AMERICAN TEACHER, in care of The Teachers’ Union, 72 Fifth Avenue, New York. ... The January-February issue of the magazine was omitted to release additional funds for organizational work. . . . The changes in the physical appearance of the magazine were dictated by considerations of readability and vigor. “Eleven Crimes Agaimst Youth” REPRESENTATIV® LUNDEEN SPEAKS FOR EDUCATION Speaking upon THe THREE R’s or EcONoMIzED Epv- CATION—RETRENCHMENT, RETROGRESSION, AND RUIN, Representative Ernest Lundeen of Minnesota at the close of the last session of Congress performed for education a valued service. Charging the captains of industry and finance with “a vicious, organized campaign of destruction” against the schools, he brought to the attention of Congress the motives, extent, and deplorable results of the activi- ties of these groups. Mr. Lundeen cited the eleven points of the Chamber of Commerce program directly involving children, and vigorously characterized them as “eleven crimes against youth.” We print from the ConGRESSIONAL Recorp the following excerpts from this speech, the full con- tent of which is worthy of the attention of every teacher: Over 3,000,000 American children in 25 states (in the past year) either had no school at all or had their school terms short- ened from one to eight months. . . . Fourteen thousand more schools in 21 states would have been forced to close during the 1934-1935 school term if teachers’ salaries were required to be paid in cash. There are today 200,000 certified teachers unem- ployed. Yet the size of each class per teacher is increased, edu- cation curtailed and qualified teachers thrown in the bread line. . . . A total of 600,000 pupils are improperly housed during their school hours. Eight per cent of our school buildings date back to the Civil War period, and 34 per cent were built between 1870 and 1899. . . Enrollments in public schools have in- ee creased about 200,000 children per year. Yet the cost per en- rolled child declined from $90.22 in 1930 to $68.47 in 1934. At this rate it will take 25 years for our schools to climb back to the position they held 5 years ago. . . . Today the average salary of teachers is less than $100 a month and this includes principals and superintendents. . . . About 250,000 teachers, teaching 700,000 children, receive less than the minimum wage for factory hands under the blanket N. R. A. code. This is the situation facing America’s most cherished institu- tion, the school. What are the great civic and patriotic organi- zations doing to save the schools? I know of no great mass meetings by the chambers of commerce to halt retrenchment. I see no organized campaign of the public press to obtain Federal aid for schools, while billions are appropriated for armies and navies to meddle and muddle on continents across the sea. In contrast with this hig business campaign to foster ignorance, Mr. Lundeen presented the historic role of or- ganized labor in securing free public education and in fight- ing for educational improvement and expansion. He noted the American Federation of Teachers, specifically, as “a militant, progressive body to which friends of education everywhere owe a debt of gratitude for its unceasing efforts on behalf of legislation.” We recommend that members of this organization secure this speech for their own infor- mation and note particularly the list of bills affecting edu- cation appended at the conclusion. (The material used below is taken from letters, speeches and articles compiled by Professor Kirtley F. Mather of Harvard University. En1Tors. ) In June, 1935, a loyalty oath law was enacted by the Massachusetts Legislature. All professors, instructors and . teachers at any college, university, teachers’ college, or pub- 7 lic or private school were required to take the following oath: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Consti- tution of the United States and the Constitution of the Common- wealth of Massachusetts and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the position of (insert name of position) according to the best of my ability. On October 2, The AMERICAN TEACHER Loyalty Oaths at Harvard Oniverstty sonal and tell you that I do not see how I can possibly conform to a law which I believe violates my constitutional rights as a citizen and teacher.” At the conclusion of Professor Mather’s address Repre- sentative Dorgan stood up in the back of the hall. “T am the originator of the Teachers’ Oath Bill,” Repre. sentative Dorgan dramatically declared, “and I want to say that I admire your courage.” At this announcement the crowd, much surprised at the presence of the sponsor of the bill at the hostile meeting, burst into applause. As they craned their necks to look at Dorgan, he revealed his identity. “Why should you 1935, Professor Kirtley F. Mather of Harvard Univer- sity speaking at the Boston Center for adult education, de- livered his now fa- mous broadside against loyalty oaths. The following is an excerpt from his address: “The real danger which democracy faces in America to- K day is a result of the ; increase of undemo- cratic tactics in the guise of loyalty to democratic ideals. Take as a contem- object to a bill that is in accordance with the Constitution?” Representative Dor- gan demanded of Dr. Mather. As Dr. Mather was phrasing his an- swer, Dorgan shot another question at him without wait- ing. “Ts the teachers’ oath repugnant to the American Con- stitution?” Dorgan asked. “That is a ques tion for the Supreme Court to decide,” re- THe Hearst OLYMPICs plied Professor Ma- porary illustration the oath of loyalty which has lately been imposed upon all - teachers in both public and private schools in Massachusetts. As an editorial appearing in the Boston Herald stated, this measure is ‘aimed directly at freedom of thought.’ Free- y dom of thought and of speech are the very essence of our constitutional democracy. Without both a free press and a free scholarship, democracy is doomed. No wonder I have entitled this address ‘The Twilight of Democracy’; four- teen states now have laws requiring loyalty oaths from their teachers. There is much reason for suspecting that such statutes constitute the entering wedge in America for additional legislation which would eventually regiment all schools, churches, and cultural institutions in obedience to the orders of whatever state officials happened to be in power. Education would then become the crassest of propa- ganda and the fascist spirit would dominate a land from which liberty had been banished. “You will pardon me, therefore, if I become frankly per- ther. “As for my personal opinion, yes, I think it is.” “What’s the matter with the Constitution?” Represen- tative Dorgan heatedly interrogated. “There’s nothing the matter with the Constitution,” Pro- fessor Mather answered. “That isn’t the question. The question is, why should I take any oath as a Professor of Geology at Harvard University?” The crowd applauded this answer. “Answer me this,” Dorgan boldly ordered. “Aren’t you a member of the American Association for Cultural Rela tions with Soviet Russia? I think you are. Your name was among those given me.” At this veiled inference that the distinguished educator's Americanism was not all that it might be, the crowd be came angry at Dorgan and began hooting and jeering at” him. “Yes,” said Dr. Mather, “I am a member of the Amer can Association for Cultural Relations with Soviet Russia. § ~~. >, zaearascewrertwtyrme a ye BBSEeS rs —-s ses laa anal — ta z82e8 _ as =~ a7 sea & > 8 ot ~ as 7° Ss > a “Att HANDs TO THE PumP!”’ The AMERICAN TEACHER Today the Yale local has enlarged its functions and js beginning to enroll others outside the university circles, Meetings are therefore held frequently and the topics of dis- cussion broadened. The local has also gone into other com- munities in Connecticut and has organized other locals, so that little by little a stronger teachers’ organization is being built in the state. In the last analysis, in a democracy, »rganized group cooperation is the only way to secure public attention and respect and to make possible the forward march of educa- tional progress. (A. F. T. members in several universities were asked to state what they believed to be the best form of organization, We print below the two replies received to date —Eptrtors.) New York Locat Has Co.Luece SECTION. For several years a group of college teachers in New York City has been searching for the right sort of organization through which to protect their economic interests and their freedom of research and expression. They made several efforts to set up an independent association, but these in- variably failed. It was apparent that college teachers, un- less faced by some immediate and flagrant outrage upon their profession, were wary of joining an organization weak in numbers, conspicuously isolated from the labor move- ment as a whole, and therefore impotent to aid them materially. But only after the drastic reorganization of Local 5 of the A. F. T. in New York City was a practical step pos- sible. In the fall of 1935 a College Section of this local was €. £6418@ E25, FSEREEGE. geyser. p wT ron o fp = ae =~ - *8SOfOR®r BPE Se = March-April, 1936 created. Now the New York college teacher finds that he can present his grievance and otherwise act through a union of teachers that at the last counting numbered 4,516 local members and that has an enviable record of efficient action in the teachers’ interests. As a consequence, the college membership has grown from about 30 to 300 mem- bers within less than four months, and applications are being received at the average of ten weekly from more than a dozen institutions of higher learning, both municipal and private, in the New York City area. > <> The fact that college teachers have in some respects dif- ferent problems from the teachers in a municipal school system made impractical their direct reception into the local. But the aim of the type of organization chosen was to create a united front of all teachers through the organ- izational consciousness that their fundamental problems are the same and that their methods of attacking them must be fundamentally the same. For this reason, the Col- lege Section is not an autonomous body. All legislation that it passes, all action that it would institute, must re- ceive the sanction of the local as a whole, and can be car- ried out only through and in the name of Local 5. The Section acts independently only in certain matters of re- search and investigation, and in the issuance of resolu- . tions to the press and to public officials, and other forms of protest where independent action will tend to strengthen rather than to weaken the influence of the local as a whole. It has its own committees, but these act, wherever feasible, in conjunction with similar committees of the entire local. The College Section believes that the organization of teach- ers of all categories, and in fact, of all educational workers, is essential to a successful teacher movement. New York University. Epwin Berry BuRrGUM. BALTIMORE LocaL PLANS COLLEGE SECTION The Baltimore Teachers’ Union, Local 340, established in the fall of 1934, has grown slowly from a charter group of ten to a membership of sixty. Its activities thus far have been confined to problems of public school teachers, in particular the question of the resumption of the salary in- crements. Primarily as a token of their sympathy with the labor _ Movement, a dozen college teachers are now in the Union. | These include members of the faculty of Goucher College, Morgan College, and the Johns Hopkins University. Our plan is to call them together shortly to form a semi-auton- _ omous college section of the local, with adequate represen- 7 tation on the local executive board. We believe that it is | unwise to organize a separate college local until the union _ becomes much stronger. Our central problem, of course, is to make the college sec- { tion an instrument of action for improving the conditions | iS college teachers. This will entail, among other things, fying the relationship between the Union and the 21 A. A. U. P., and demonstrating through practical activity that union organization does offer something to college teachers. The rapid growth of the New York college sec- tion, the Harvard local and others, proves that the problem can be solved. Johns Hopkins University. ALBERT E. BLUMBERG. Tenure in California ANNA DART In 1921, the California Legislature passed a tenure law extending tenure to all teachers, even in very small schools, and in isolated communities. The California State Federa- tion of Teachers played a leading role in securing this excel- lent legislation. In the years from 1921 to 1927, salaries were high, tenure seemed secure, and there was a sort of deadly apathy regarding teachers’ organizations. Member- ship dwindled in the Federation until only the Voorhis (at San Dumas in Southern California), the San Francisco, and the Sacramento locals remained. Meanwhile a whispering campaign against tenure was being waged throughout the state. “Teachers feel they own their jobs for life.” “Life diploma and tenure need revision. Four year diplomas renewed only after examinations instead of saddling a teacher on the community for life.” So cleverly was this insidious propaganda dished out to the teachers that they paid for it as subscribers to SrerraA EDUCATIONAL News (the organ of the California Teachers’ Association, our company union). They paid for it again in their sum- mer schools where the teachers were harangued, by super- intendents turned professors, on the necessity of changing the California Tenure Law which allowed teachers a sinecure. Principals gave to the superintendents a not entirely dis- interested support. There sprang up then in Southern California an independ- ent classroom teachers movement. “Save tenure!” was its battle cry. -It distributed by the thousands its little maga- zine, THE CLAssrooM TEACHER, which exposed the propa- ganda of the company union and put up a valiant fight to maintain the good 1921 tenure law. Nearly all members of the American Federation of Teachers joined the new Asso- . ciation of California Classroom Teachers and worked har- moniously in both organizations. There were many teachers thoroughly disillusioned with the California Teachers’ Asso- ciation, who were ready to join a fighting organization, and who had not yet decided “to affiliate with Labor.” This association of Classroom Teachers joined with the Teachers’ Union in an attempt to rouse the teachers to their impending fate. The axe fell in the form of a change in the Tenure Law by the 1927 Legislature, a change which swept tenure away from all districts having less than 850 A. D. A.* *Average Daily Attendance. mae i ska) ip tl “ 3 " ¥ = Se ies Se RS EE a a a a 60 eS ee 22 One two-line clause guaranteed tenure in such districts to those already possessing it. Thus was worker divided against worker. In little country school districts, those whose tenure was not attacked did not fight on to save it for others in their districts. And when the city teacher sent to the country teacher expensive printed circulars urging financial support, and telegrams during the legislative fight, the an- swer was, “What have the city teachers ever done for us?” Nor has our state department kept its hands entirely off. Assistant Superintendents have warned publicly that the California Classroom Teachers must be subsidized by public utilities. Lies have been told from one end of the state to the other by persons whose official capacity should make them have greater care to preserve their integrity. Yet the fight has been carried on. Isolated cases have been fought and won for tenure in California. Our Instruc- tors’ Initiative Amendment on Tenure goes on the ballot this fall. How signatures were secured by teachers who remained in the cities during the general strike, how these teachers The AMERICAN TEACHER were welcomed in meeting after meeting of strikers who signed en masse, and how our message of self-protection and guarding rights of workers’ children was received by men on strike rations are proof of the source of our strength. The down-and-out, the unemployed, the Union sympathizers, the liberals, these are the people who understand why teachers must have tenure. On the other hand, paid officials of the California Teachers’ Association have warned classroom teachers to stay away from the Legislature. We are very hopeful of our situation in California. Some of us have clamored rather loudly for the State Federation of Teachers to get into action again. Our state convention was a success, and we now have in California eight locals, We have banded together in the tenure fight the bravest and most knowing school men and women in California, all of whom enjoy the “storm and stress” of fighting things to a finish. We know that academic freedom, organization, and tenure are all parts of the same struggle toward a better life for all workers. Lhe American Newspaper Guild DAVID SCHEYER Stanley Walker, in Ciry Epiror, drew from his experi- ence the conclusion that reporters were an unorganizable breed, since every “leg-man” and “re-write man” had in his desk drawer the great American novel or the smash hit of Broadway that was to lift him from the ranks. Newspaper men in New York and throughout the country are disprov- ing Walker’s contention by building the American News- paper Guild. The Newspaper Guild came into being in 1933 in the tremendous wave of organization that rebuilt unionism in the United States. The specific call to organization was sounded by Heywood Broun in his WorLp-TELEGRAM col- umn. The prestige of Broun in the newspaper world, and the love all newsmen have for this shambling and shabby iconoclast, have been powerful factors in building and guid- ing the Guild. Many will remember the ranting in the holy name of “freedom of the press” when the Newspaper Code was pro- posed late in 1933. All this had its effect because, when the code was finally drafted, it was an even feebler chick than most of the brood of the Blue Eagle. The editorial staff of the newspaper got a forty hour week—applying only to large papers in large cities—and a fifteen dollar minimum which, in practice, often went as low as nine dollars, a provision applicable largely to copy-boys. The Guild early had its baptism in NRA politics when Dean Jennings was fired from the San FRANcIsco Exam- INER for union activities. Because the case was twice brought before the Labor Board and won, the Newspaper Industrial Board, publisher-controlled code authority, de- manded jurisdiction. As a result of these incidents, Presi- dent Roosevelt, in February, 1934, wrote to Francis Biddle, chairman of the Labor Board, telling him to keep his hands off certain cases and certain code bodies. The guild was born but never sheltered under the wings of the Blue Eagle. The Guild grew with an amazing rapidity that blasted the fiction that all newspapermen had incomes of seventy-five dollars a week, homes in the country, and cars. Nerve- wracked men in Minneapolis and Columbus, in Lansing and San Francisco, in Newark and Sioux Falls had been looking for the Guild, looking for even the flimsiest screen to protect themselves from hours of unpaid overtime, from drastic pay cuts, from arbitrary hiring and firing in this most arbitrary of industries. There are varying degrees of trade union consciousness among the five or six thousand members of the Guild. There has been, of course, a tremendous amount of narrow pro J fessionalism, an attitude of distaste for “unionism” reflected 7 in the very name of the organization. But there are also > elements, especially in the larger centers, which realize that} the Guild, to live, must fight as a Union. The point of view, }_ a minority opinion at first, has grown in two years, until f affiliation with the American Federation of Labor received some 65% of the votes in a recent referendum, failing to carry the required two-thirds by the slimmest of margins. “Professionalism” in the Guild received its strongest sup- port from the publishers. These mighty molders of national 7 thought tended at first to ignore the Guild, secure in their ~ er yu os = ae = 6h. CO 1) fe SS FReESBBY" BBS SSst Boe Rg, i wo Wee See FF RP SP co am. =-§ © tt *- &o @ + = FT March-April, 1936 belief that reporters couldn’t organize. Then they tried to domesticate it. Marlen Pew, head of Eprror AND Pus- LISHER, generally hoped that the Guild would turn into a sound organization devoted to the advancement of better writing. But the Guild gradually learned the lesson that all labor learns through organization. Cheated by the Newspaper Industrial Board, its mildly phrased requests to publishers rejected, its leaders fired or sent to the “doghouse” for union activities, the Guild developed teeth. During its first year the Guild attempted to have big con- ferences with publishers to establish “collective agreements” for all the news workers in a given city. The publishers participated in these conferences quite cheerfully, finding them the best possible run-around. For the present, the Guild has abandoned this attempt and concentrated on in- dividual papers. The Guild is still far from attaining widespread formal recognition, but it has an impressive string of victories to its credit. In some dozens of cases it has obtained written con- tracts or verbal concessions covering a variety of sore points in newspaper employment—the five-day week, adequate dis- missal notice, vacations, overtime pay. It has behind it two significant battles in the Newark Lepcer strike, which gave a tremendous impetus to the labor orientation of the Guild, and the strike on the AMSTERDAM News, the leading Negro paper in New York. The latter fight, besides bringing a sweeping victory for the grossly exploited Negro reporters, marked the Guild as an outstandingly progressive union in its inter-racial relations. ; Since the abolition of the NRA the Guild has been fight- ing against the publishers’ sniping at the five-day week. Either by bulletin board mandate, or by a skilful juggling of shift assignments, many newspapers have been trying to 23 resuscitate the longer work week. This is especially true of the papers, news and photo services owned by Hearst. Recently, publishers have chosen to strike at the Guild through the Associated Press. This astute move renders use- less many of the weapons in the Guild’s arsenal—reader boycott, advertising boycott, picketing, etc. The specific action of the A. P. was to fire Morris Watson, Vice-President of the Guild, for alleged “incompetency.” The Guild has brought the matter to the National Labor Relations Board; the A. P., through its attorney, John W. Davis, outstanding Liberty Leaguer, has challenged the constitutionality of the Labor Board. At the moment it appears that the Watson case will go to the Supreme Court for decision—quite possi- bly the first Wagner Law case to get to the august tribunal. The real-life newspaperman may not have the swashbuck- ling derring-do of his cinema counterpart. But he has plenty of fighting courage, exemplified just now in the strike against the sweatshop conditions of the Hearst-owned Wis- CONSIN News of Milwaukee. These men of Milwaukee, paid $15 and $18 a week, dared to strike against America’s most powerful chain-newspaper magnate, went out on the picket lines in sixteen below zero weather, and rallied the broadest support the Guild has as yet won. Not only have the trade unions of Milwaukee and Wisconsin endorsed the strike, but John L. Lewis, William Green, and dozens of other leaders and organizations have pledged aid. Stormy days lie ahead for the Guild. The newspapermen of America are vitally interested in these fights—unfortu- nately, in most cases, as interested spectators. The Guild is an alert, growing, and militant organization. The hardening process of its short history has strengthened it, and has done much to supplement the “professionalism” of the newspaper- men with a trade union consciousness. Youth on Relief in Minneapolis MARGARET M. THOMSON In September of this school year, government relief came to the students of the high schools. First came rumors, ; # then plans were announced, changed and re-changed; but | at any rate it developed that students could obtain aid, either from federal funds or state funds, depending on the Status of relief acceptance of the family. Relief could be | in amount up to $6.00 a month. The recommendation for | the amount is made by the school; but whatever the sum, ‘itisearned. In our school, Miller Vocational High School, _we have always had a number of students receiving some ‘tid in the form of car tokens or lunches, and we have had _@he or two on scholarship aids, part of a city wide project. Never before has a requirement been set up that the relief earned. This was a problem thrust almost overnight on the school. Jobs must be made. Teachers now had to become employers and as such keep accurate time card records. The employment had to be after school hours. If possible the job had to" have some educational value. But this was a problem thrust on the school without ade- quate planning. Like most relief projects it has merely a temporary aspect and has not been fitted into the edu- cational program as it should be. At the present time Minneapolis, with a high school popu- lation of 14,000, has 1300 young people receiving federal and state aid. A few of those receiving the aid are in junior high school, so that the proportion is not exactly correct. One can say, however, that about 9% of the high school population is receiving this aid. But this so- ee ee ee called “aid” reaches only those young people whose relief problem is so acute that their families have reached the community fund or the relief line. Recently, a father came to the office of our school and said that he was earning $11.00 a week as a salesman in one of the department stores. This was his basic wage; he was given the privilege of earning a commission, but he often found this impossible. There must have been some miracle worker in the family. The problem of keeping his boy in school, however, was almost greater than he could solve. Does not our social system have some responsibility for the thousands of such cases? The group which presents the most serious problem, is composed of young people from sixteen to twenty-five who are unemployed and are not in school. It is estimated that there are 5000 in this group in Minneapolis. The number in this group in Minneapolis who can be given aid under the National Youth Administration is 650. All those who are eligible must be certified by the Works Progress Administration offices. At the present writing 500 have been certified. These young people, ranging from six- teen to twenty-five years, include hundreds who have fin- ished high school. A great many of them have never had the opportunity to work for a wage. The National Youth Administration allows them $20.00 monthly for forty-six hours of work. Suitable jobs must be found by the Na- tional Youth Administration. The recreational department of the city uses them. A small municipality outside of the city limits but inside the country boundaries has, in its municipal projects, jobs which are not done by paid employees. None of the jobs provided are within the field of private industry. The young person whose training has been general is more easily taken care of than the young man with mechanical abilities, whose place, I was told, is really in private industry which is not employing him. Miller Vocational High School has opened an entire new shift of classes for this group, meeting in the late afternoon. Two hundred young people have been enrolled. Thirty eight of these are certified for the $20.00 a month under the National Youth Administration with the forty-six hour work requirement. The classes opened are in business sub- jects, beauty culture, power machine operating, printing and bookbinding, cooking for tea rooms or household em- ployment, and waitress work. The Young Women’s Chris- tian Association and the Young Men’s Christian Association have also established classes. Seventeen hundred young men came to the Y. M. C. A. to enroll in a class the object of which is to visit and study industry. Only twelve hun- dred cotild be accommodated. What is in the minds of these young people who never have had jobs? They come back to school with this query, “What can I do to get that $20.00 a month?” They say to us, “I haven’t anything to do but stay home, I might just as well put in my time.” “Well, if this course is full, The AMERICAN TEACHER I will take this other.” The girls crowd into the business classes. Business is the only vocation for which the high — schools have provided education. Plans for a way to eam their living are vague. A high school used to mean a bet- ter job. Statistics showing the money value of an educa- tion are now out of date. But it is more pleasant to be in school for some activity than to be at home sitting around, And some way they will be cared for, they think. This attitude of indifference and lassitude in these people is the most difficult problem to be met. They have ceased to expect to get a job. If it were possible or desirable to go back to an ap prentice system some of these young people might be put into industry. But a young person who goes into indus. try at a learner’s wage is more than apt to be taking an adult’s place. To replace the experienced worker with the young worker only intensifies the evils of industry. Tue NaTION in the article “Education as a Racket in Missis. sippi” by R. G. Swing reports the misuse of federal funds for so called “vocational training” in the South. Certain factories are receiving their labor and even their buildings free under a set-up of vocational education. Where Labor has any strength, an apprentice or a learner is prevented from breaking down wage scales. Vocational education either in school or factory is needed but it must be car- ried on with Labor’s cooperation. The American Federation of Labor at the Atlantic City Convention in October, 1935, recognized the problem of youth in the following statement: “It (the Convention) in- structs the Executive Council to continue its efforts for relief and protection of youth and that it be further instructed to support such legislation as may be effected for this purpose 4 in accord with the principles and policies of the Ameri- can Federation of Labor.” The American Federation of Teachers must also recog- nize its responsibility toward the youth in the sixteen to twenty-five year range. The federal government should be urged to continue and increase its help to students capa- ble and desirous of a college education. The Federation — must work toward the end that both federal and local governments give such support to the schools that they may provide for the education of the sixteen to eighteen year old group with that type of study which will best | help the young person to use his abilities. The Federation 7 must further insist that these young people be given aid | so that they can stay in school and that this aid shall be earned by worthwhile jobs. The teacher’s responsibility 7 for planning and supervising these jobs must be made @ part of teacher-load and not just another burden. | Even if we should be on the “road to recovery,” the problem for this group is not solved, because all too quickly ” they may become a cheap labor force. Our efforts should be directed toward the ratification of the C Labor Amendment. There can be no permanent pe toward this group until that is carried. PRERPT. GSES. BEBS. SS ESRBER* EFSBEF SSE RABE seer March-April, 1936 Much of the activity of a State Federation of Labor centers around the secking of social and labor legislation, obtaining proper enforcement of existing laws, and the daily performance of many other functions that serve to maintain a running contact with those in public legislative and administrative posts. Because of this, an erroneous impression prevails that a State Federation is an integral part of the political machinery of the State Government. This impression as to labor has, perhaps, its roots in the knowledge that governmental agencies do extend to the business side of industry many subsidies and services. The fact remains that labor is not such a recipient, and must, in fact, struggle for every gain or concession made. oa wo - = However, there actually is something of an analogy between the structure of our government and that of the labor movement, for a State Federation of Labor bears about the same relationship to the American Federation of Labor as does the individual State to the government of the United States. Chartered by the American Federation of Labor, there is a Federation in each State and in Porto Rico, the Dis- trict of Columbia being combined with the State Federa- tion of Maryland. In effect, these Federations are verti- cal organizations, designed to promote undertakings of common concern through the application of the combined influence of all labor groups within the boundaries of a given State. They are, however, without authority to in- terfere in the domestic affairs of constituent bodies. Organized March 10, 1902, with 124 affiliations, the Penn- sylvania Federation of Labor now has 1262 member or- ganizations, 492 of which are local unions of the United Mine Workers of America. Workers in all organized occu- pations have some measure of representation. seawseweaTremweeaeNestlhlUmDUTlUrhUmDLTD is Tae SRT SB The Federation convenes annually and on special occa- sions when deemed expedient. Policies for the ensuing year ' ate determined by these conventions and the Executive - Council (composed of the President, Secretary and seven _ Vice-Presidents elected on the basis of geographical dis- tricts) is the governing body between conventions. SPPeeseeasekekser ase? 1 Local unions of International organizations and local | Federal Labor Unions (chartered directly by the American _ Federation of Labor) are entitled to proportional represen- ‘tation. City Central Labor Unions (the municipal com- “plement of the National and State bodies) and individual “Trade Councils have single votes. (At American Federa- of Labor conventions, the State Federations are each itled to a single vote only, since their constituent oe - About a State Federation of Laie JOHN A. PHILLIPS bodies are already represented proportionally to their membership.) Cooperating associations (unaffiliated) may be given representation without vote. Funds are de- rived from a per capita tax payment by local unions and a flat annual payment by central bodies. State Federation activities fall largely within these cate- gories: Education. Cooperation with the Workers’ Education Bureau of the American Federation of Labor and other educational movements in the field of labor, and assistance in the development of adult education classes under gov- ernmental auspices. Union Label propaganda is a sustained feature. Organization. Acts as a clearing house for the dissem- ination of information relative to the organization of groups of wage-earners, and as a promotional link between Inter- national trade unions and newly formed local unions dur- ing the formative period; assisting Federal Labor Unions in the drafting of trade agreements and in their negotia- tions with employers; supplying speakers for mass meet- ings incidental to local organizing campaigns, and other- wise cooperating in the general organizational effort. Legislation. Development of legislative programs for Federation approval through the conference method, among member unions and in collaboration with civic groups and welfare associations; the drafting of bills and their presen- tation to the General Assembly; advocacy of these bills before legislative committees and in public hearings; solici- tation of support of legislators during sessions of the Gen- eral Assembly, and the bringing of local pressure upon them from their own constituencies during week-end recesses. Political Action. Compilation of the records of mem- bers of the General Assembly with respect to their atti- tude on labor bills that have come to a vote, similar record- ing of the action of members of legislative committees to which bills have been assigned and killed, and the trans- mission of the information so compiled to labor organiza- tions and cooperating groups in the respective legislative districts for use in subsequent election campaigns, and ac- tive participation in campaigns against recalcitrants. Although operating in a State which has a political and industrial history that is without parallel in its sordidness, the many salient achievements of the Pennsylvania Fed- eration of Labor have fully demonstrated the practical value of this type of organization in the never-ending strug- gle for human advancement. Ee er er ae: ate. PES arta SO ee eee 26 The AMERICAN TEACHER It 5 Happen in g Now Thorough Preparation for a Ual-Ual Incident THe MANcHESTER GUARDIAN reports the discovery of a significant change in the Japanese war department’s official maps. A year ago these maps were changed to include as Japanese territory the Lake Bor area, previously designated as part of the Mongolian Peoples’ Republic. Recently border “incidents” have occurred at this point with the Japanese claiming that their territory has been violated. Fair in London LEON C. STAPLES, school’ superintendent at Stamford, Connecticut, stated to the N.E.A. that the marriage of women teachers was unfair. A. F. of L. news service reports that by a vote of 76 to 37 the London County Council granted married women the right to be employed as teachers and doctors. The ban on women in these professions was decreed by the Council in 1923, when it was controlled by the Conservatives, who believed that the married woman’s exclusive job was in the home. It required twelve years for women to over-ride this discriminatory rule and secure equal rights with married men. Racket Exposed HARRY L. HOPKINS, W.P.A. Administrator, ordered immediate cessation today of work on four vocational schools being built in Mississippi, upon finding truth in charges that in reality they were factories. It was charged that the municipalities which constructed them had already made contracts with textile firms for the use of the build- ings, and in one case for its sale at less than one-third its cost. . . . These firms planned to hire workers under the guise of learners to produce saleable merchandise, discharg- ing all but a few workers at the end of the training period and taking on new learners at no salary. The foremen and supervisors for the companies were to be listed as instruc- tors. The exposures were made by the American Federation of Hosiery Workers. The Unmentioned Fourth Leg PROFESSIONAL optimist, Charles M. Schwab: “The steel industry is going to be developed by personal initia- tive. I like to compare it with a three legged stool—capital, labor and management—it won’t stand if you take any leg away.”. . . The U. S. Steel, after denying all these years that Charles Tuttle ever had a spy office in Pittsburgh, now announces that it is closed. Good Treatment Pays Dividends THE Office of Education reports that only about seven percent of the larger cities do not have some plan for grant- ing sick leave. The percentage rises to 25 in cities of from 5,000 to 10,000 population. At least five cities grant un- limited sick leave at full salary, and in Bristol, R. I., where this plan of leave has been in effect for more than 10 years, there is the lowest average absence of teachers on account of illness of which the Office of Education has record. The average loss of time for 85 teachers was 1.17 days. . . . The granting of sabbatical leaves is rare, especially in cities of fewer than 100,000 population. Supply Your Own Title LOUIS POST, United States Department of Labor investi- gator, sent up to Vermont to look into the three-month-old strike of marble workers there, states in THe RUTLAND HERALD that he had seen bad industrial conditions else- where, but that this was the first time he had ever seen a weekly pay check of two cents. . . . Vermont marble workers, after a year’s negotiation, walked out three months ago when a new pay cut faced them. They had been making $13.30 a week at most. They wanted $17. . . . Lined up against them is a marble monopoly with strong utility and political connections, aided by a vigilante group called “The Minute Men of Vermont.” The name, curiously enough, is the same as that of the vigilante Fascist group in Sinclair Lewis’ Ir CAN’t HAPPEN Here... . For some reason, Mr. Post’s report is still unpublished. . . . THe CLEVELAND Press reports the discovery, in Washington, of an organization calling itself “The American Union Men,” lobbying for a bill on Congress to put all labor unions under a commission of high-ranking Army officers—an incredible proposal, but seriously broached by its Fascist- minded backers. Pay and Pensions Increased ABOUT one-third of the pay cut imposed upon teachers of Jersey City and Hudson County, New Jersey, will be restored next July 1. The state of Illinois passed a bill raising from $1,000 to $1,200 the maximum pensions for Chicago teachers. Canny Scott REPRESENTATIVE Blanton of Texas introduced to — the Howard University appropriation bill a rider which — would have caused the appropriation to cease if the Univer- sity were found to be teaching communism. Shortly after- te “ TETEEET ERAT ES 7 —_— oo aie March-April, 1936 ward, Representative Scott, of California, added to an In- dian appropriation bill an amendment to prohibit the teach- ing to Indians of the legislative program of the American Liberty League. Ridicule defeated the Blanton amend- ment; the Scott amendment was then withdrawn. Benefits Derived from Fascism HERE’S what a young worker in Germany with a monthly wage of 160 reichsmarks, or about $64, has to pay in taxes and mandatory contributions: Income tax, 10.62 marks; citizens tax, 3.50; winter relief fund, 1.10; insurance (em- ployees share), 4.00; sick benefit, 4.50; unemployment insurance, 4.88; and labor front dues, 2.20; total 30.80 marks, or slightly less than one-fifth of his income. Unprintable Epithet Department MICROPHONES have been installed in Winnipeg’s sec- ondary schools. They are connected with a loud speaker in the office of school inspector Andrew Moore. With the press of a button he can listen in on any classroom... . Moore said the apparatus was designed to get first hand information on teaching methods. Scranton Needs an A. F. T. Local SCHOOL teachers of the Borough of Jessup, near Scranton, Pa., went on strike on March 1, asserting that the walkout will continue until 68 teachers have been paid back salaries totaling $45,000. On Our Way? UNEMPLOYMENT increased more in January, 1936, than in any other January in the past five years, according toan A. F. of L. release dated March 1. The number of jobless persons jumped by 1,229,000 between December, 1935, and January, 1936. The increase places the number _ of unemployed for January at 12,626,000. Twelve To Go TWENTY-FOUR states have already ratified the child labor amendment, but twelve more must do so before the _ Amendment is incorporated in the Constitution. . . . The _ organization of a Catholic Committee for Ratification of the Federal Child Labor Amendment, headed by Frank P. ’ Walsh, prominent New York lawyer and chairman of the | Power Authority of the State of New York, has been an- } Bounced. The Committee includes in its membership priests, " lawyers, educators, industrialists, labor representatives, and Civic leaders, and will seek to organize Catholic sentiment for the Child Labor Amendment in those states which have yet ratified. .. . In New York City during the period 2 June 1 to’ December 1, 1935, the number of working 27 certificates issued to children under sixteen years totaled 16,485, as compared to only 1,685 during the same period of the previous year while the N.R.A. was in effect. Sixty-two Teachers Were Too Much THE Hearst newspaper of Seattle attacked four faculty members at Washington University for their participation in the sponsorship of a lecture by Dr. Harry F. Ward, chairman of the League against War and Fascism. The four teachers, members of A. F. T. Local 401, were strongly supported by the Washington faculty. THe Seatrie Star stated “The case at issue is that of Hearst against almost everybody.” Fifty-eight teachers at the University signed a “declaration of independence” defending the right of their colleagues to freedom of speech and freedom from domina- tion by the Hearst press. Wall Street Points to a New Method of Strengthening Steel THE JOURNAL OF COMMERCE, in commenting on the drive to unionize steel, reports that steel company officials are generally more concerned with the organization drive led by the Lewis faction than that sponsored by the A. F. of L. executive council. Confusion over the rdle that the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, ex- isting A. F. of L. unit in the industry, may play in the rival campaigns of the two union factions may prove a handicap to union organizers. Frugal Frill FEW have criticized educational frills more rigorously than THe SATURDAY EVENING Post, states Hich Scnoor. There are certain extra-curricular activities which Mr. Lorimer of the Curtis Publishing Company does approve. A town in Pennsylvania reports the cordial cooperation of that organi- zation in a subscription-selling contest held by the students in the high school. The campaign added 334 more to the circulation of THe Saturpay Eventnc Post. The winning team was presented with ten pounds of chocolates. These Business Men Are Educators BUSINESS men of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, recently paid for a full-page advertisement urging citizens to provide higher salaries for teachers, instead of the present average of $396 a year for all teachers in the state. Of All Things! IN his latest blast at the President, Harper Sibley, president of the United States Chamber of Commerce, is quoted in THe New York TiMEs as saying: “Government has usurped the taxing power. ...’’ by ( i! | Se ele A. F. of L. Education Committee Report SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION (The November-December AMERICAN TEACHER carried the first portion of this report as it appeared on pp. 467-477 of the printed Proceedings of the A. F. of L. convention of 1935. The paragraphs below summarize the remainder of the report.—EDITORS. ) Federal Funds Used to Prevent Labor Organization of Vocational Teachers . The committee wishes to point out again that it is indeed to be regretted that the U. S. Government, while urging labor organization for private industry, permits its own funds appropriated for education to be used to prevent organization.” a“ With this preface, the Committee urges legislation that will withhold such funds from any state or political sub- division thereof “which denies to its employees the right to join any organization affiliated with the American Federa- tion of Labor.” The only insurance of the enactment of such proposals would be labor participation in the formula- tion of plans, and the committee therefore recommends the support of such a program by a permanent Committee on Education in each Central Labor Union. Emergency Educational Projects The committee warmly commended the promotion of Nursery Schools and urged that “Labor in each community should make sure that the community has its full share of funds for this purpose.” Educational Committees of Labor Bodies The Executive Council urged Labor’s active participation in the educational program of each community through the appointment of a standing trade union committee on educa- tion in every community with labor representation on boards of education and the directorates of public libraries. These local committees should in turn report to the standing Com- mittee on Education during the year. Textbook Study It was suggested that the study on “who selects our text- books,” presenting data on the treatment and amount of space in school texts on the American Labor Movement, should be brought up to date. Federal Emergency Workers’ Education In the two years of the emergency educational program, more than 25 millions of dollars has been expended, and 30,000 unemployed teachers employed last year. In the field of workers’ education over a million dollars has already been expended and upwards of $100,000 of private funds appro- priated to assist the government in this phase of the program The AMERICAN TEACHER which provided 5000 teachers with employment in the past two years. . Candor compels the conclusion that the results have been less than notable.” Criticism is pointed at the direction of an educational program under a relief authority; of divi- sion of responsibility in local communities between educa- tional and relief authorities. “The result has been ineffi- ciency and inaction. This dualism has furthermore resulted in some local authorities’ refusing any cooperation with the program.” . “The change and modifications of relief aims, the shifts in administrative control have further im- paired any long time gains from the program.” The com- mittee also stresses the demoralizing effect of insecurity and uncertainty. Finally, “while at times there has been a gesture at cooperation with the American Federation of Labor” in this part of the program which is “so intertwined with the labor movement” it has not been a permanent part of procedure. Supervisors have been appointed with little or no consultation with officials of the State Federation of Labor; “they have functioned with even less active col- laboration.” The program to “train teachers for this branch has been well conceived” but unfortunately less than half of the teachers recruited “have proved to possess the qualifica- tions for such a workers’ education program.” This has led to deficient quality of work even with a quan- titative expansion. The outstanding exception has been on the Pacific Coast where the Emergency Educational Program has been integrated into an active workers’ educational pro- gram, which for the past ten years has been worked out by cooperation between the state universities and the State Federation of Labor. Workers’ Education Bureau In 1934-35 there has been great expansion of the work of this Bureau by means of labor institutes, especially in the automobile industry of Detroit and in the Pacific Coast projects. This, as well as the educational work on radio programs, was brought to the attention of the convention. The entire report of the Committee was unanimously adopted. Present “Safety” vs. Future Danger “For various reasons it has been considered safer to keep youth busy with a study of the technical forms of govert- ment than with a study of the current problems which involve the social welfare. “While this policy may be safer for school administrations — which like to see things running smoothly with the least of controversy, the side-stepping of vital social and economic problems is decidedly dangerous to the welfare of American democracy.”—J. W. SrupeBaKer, U. S. Commissioner of — Education. Y soe fae - m FB pw Pras. BEREE gets, ZEEREE-§. FLEE za8 Pe ¥ and se why er PA 1 _ Brot 2 March-April, 1936 Correspondence Letters dealing with issues of interest to Union teachers will be printed in these columns. Inclusion of a letter does not mean that the Editors endorse its sentiments. Teachers, the Duponts, and Labor (In The Kansas Teacher of January, 1936, there appeared an editorial which enumerated several objections to joining the Union. Appended herewith are the letters in full written by the officers of The Kansas State Teachers’ Association and The American Federation of Teachers—Envt1rTors. ) February 1, 1936. Mr. Chester O. Wright, Assistant Editor, The Kansas Teacher, Topeka, Kansas. Dear Mr. Wright: Will you permit space in Tae Kansas Teacuer for a review of your January editorial “Does the Union offer the Best Way?” 1. Teachers render a “different” service. Actors’ Equity, the Musicians’ Union, the Federal Employees’ Union to which 1200 of the leading scientists of the country belong, the Civil ineers’ Union, the Firefighters’ Union, and the Teachers’ Union are all affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. None of their members produce goods yet all of them function effectively as labor unions. Even the New York ministers have a Union. 2. Teachers are “professionals.” So are Walter Damrosch, Helen Hayes, George S. Counts, John A. Lapp, Harry A. Overstreet, Edward F. Keating and hundreds of others who belong to unions. For generations public school teachers have salved their pride with this pitiful substitute for adequate remuneration and a position of influence in the community. They have refused to face the obvious fact that whereas doctors, lawyers, architects, and other professional men can control their hours, the conditions under which they work and the amount of their fees; teachers, as individuals, have almost no control over these matters so vital to their welfare. The results are that the vast majority of teachers receive a smaller annual wage than unskilled laborers, and exert far less influence in their calling and in the community than any other skilled workers. 3. We must educate communities into giving us support and not depend on labor organizations to force action. I don’t see how anyone knowing the history of the founding of free public education in America could make that comment. Do you know who paraded in Salem and Boston amid showers of sticks and stones to force the establishment of the first public school system? Labor Guilds! On whom must we depend to vote up our school levies in time of need? Let’s let one of our professionals answer. Professor John Dewey says: “Why is it that teachers who have not had to live by the labor of their hands, nor suffered the privations and difficulties of many _ of the members of the trade unions have found it necessary in time _ of need and extremity to turn for active support, not to manufac- turers’ associations, not to bankers’ associations and lawyers’ associa- g, tions, and the so-called respectable elements of the community, but _ have had to turn to these bodies of organized labor? I think that it iS cause for shame and humiliation on the part of the so-called respec- “table classes; but I think on the other hand it is a source of pride "and self-respect for the members of these labor unions and is a reason "why every teacher should feel proud to be affiliated with labor unions.” ” 4. Teachers should not align themselves with either capital or labor. Brother, the fact that you work for a living aligns you whether you : it or not. May I respectfully refer you to that section of the 29 1929 report of the American Historical Society Report called “Status of Teachers.” - 5. Teachers should belong to professional groups (teachers’ asso- ciations). What Are the Essentials to a Profession? Adequate compensation for services rendered. Tenure during ef- ficiency. Participation in school administration. Determination of the standards that control teaching and teachers. Just as medicine and law were made professions chiefly because their own members fixed the standards of their callings, the standards of the teaching pro- fession must be determined by ideals that find favor not merely in the eyes of those who control these positions, but in the eyes of those who do the actual work. If it is not an imposition on your space may I ask and answer one question ? What Benefits Accrue to Teachers from Affiliating with Labor? These labor affiliations make possible our strong and courageous positions on all matters which affect public education. The story of free education in America is the story of the constructive efforts of organized labor whose children comprise the great majority of the attendance in the American public schools. Whenever well considered, progressive, courageous proposals have been made for the improve- ment of public education, labor has supported them and fought to bring about their adoption. The outstanding benefit, therefore, which comes to teachers from affiliation with labor is the sense of security which the individual has who knows that in standing for public- spirited educational objectives he does not stand alone. The courage engendered by this support makes of the teacher a self-respecting American citizen, able to make constructive suggestions for the welfare of the schools, fit to train the future citizens of a democracy. i teacher has the ability and time to handle large issues, because he is unworried by small ones. The teachers’ unions associate themselves with their fellow workers because they recognize the necessity for understanding and working upon community problems with groups having interests other than teaching. Very truly yours, (Signed) Grorce Davis, Secretary-Treasurer, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS. February 5, 1936. Mr. George Davis, Secretary-Treasurer, American Federation of Teachers, 506 South Wabash Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. My dear Mr. Davis: I am very much interested in your letter of February 1, and have been reading the national journal of your organization, Tae AMERI- CAN TEACHER, and the journal published by the Union in New York City. I have also been following the articles that have appeared in Tue Socirat Frontier, Toe New Repusiic, and Tue Nation. I notice that you have a letter in the last issue of Tae Nation. It seems to me that there is a tendency among the leaders in your organization to align class room teachers against administrators and boards of education. In isolated instances some temporary improve- ments may be gained in teachers’ salaries and tenure by this action, but it seems to me that in the long run the teachers will lose. As I view education, it is a cooperative endeavor, and no permanent good can come from developing class conflicts among those who are engaged in the work. Administrators and boards of education should be as interested in better teaching conditions as teachers, and I think that as a rule they are. ; According to your words, I would conclude that you think there are two elements in society—capital and labor. I believe there is a third element more important than either of these, and that is the public. I think the téacher’s interest must be centered in the public or, to state it more accurately, in the welfare of society. Under point three in your letter you talk about the labor guilds in the earlier days supporting education. I should be the last one to say that labor unions should not support education, but at the same time I have no objections to the Du Ponts building magnificen schools. I deplore the munition profits of these capitalists the same as I deplore the violence that is sometimes used by labor in strikes. Both of these menace the welfare of society. I should not have nes groups and sell their academic souls. I think teachers must iy yet protest against both the tyranny of of =" in the interests of society. As I have must say that I have no more faith in a by labor have in a dictation by capital. In other I think that labor can be as tyrannical when given dictatorial as has ever been. I say this with some background as a member of the labor group, for I once worked in a shoe factory, and later for eight years I was a garage mechanic. In addition to all this, my father was a laboring man, and I have a working class background. I’m not and never have been a member of the capitalist class. Under item four in your letter you state that “the fact that you work for a li aligns you whether you admit it or not.” Of course, one could auibtle quite a while on this subject, but I presume that an trepreneur does some work whether he is an owner of stock or not. I don’t know just where you would place a teacher, but perhaps he is more of an entrepreneur than either a laborer or a capitalist. I note that you quote John Dewey and refer to George Counts. I admire both these gentlemen, but I am inclined to think that Mr. Dewey in his older years may have grown a little impatient with orderly progress and now wishes to take the “bull by the horns.” I can’t see that this is the way to solve our problems. Tolstoi probably offers the teachers a better cue. In closing I wish to say that I feel that teachers should cooperate with labor and maintain a vision directed toward improvement of society from the point of view of all the people. I don’t believe that teachers can be true to the ideals’ of the profession if they become narrow and partisan and engage in a class conflict such as joining a union implies. Sincerely yours, (Signed) C.O. Wricut, Assistant Secretary, Kansas STaTe TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION. Labor Notes A Successrut GENERAL STRIKE In the United States, public school teachers, like other government employees, have viewed the utilization of the strike with misgiving and in fact are often committed to a no-strike policy. On the whole, however, none of the public employee unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor has denied the value of the strike weapon to those in private employment, in the struggle against unfair employers. A general strike in the community is regarded by organized labor itself with considerable doubt and questioning. When, therefore, local central labor bodies, as in Seattle in 1919, San Francisco in 1934, and now Pekin, Illinois, declare for such a general strike, it is safe to assume that the provoca- tion is great, and that the cost of restraining from a general protest is more serious than engaging in it. In San Fran- cisco, the cause was the united action of all employers’ bodies and the aid given to them by government officials presumably committed to impartiality in the waterfront strike. In Pekin, the immediate cause was the unbridled brutality of the police chief in a strike of distillery workers against the dis- charge of a union member. In both San Francisco and Pekin the response of the organized labor movement was magni- ficent and the period of the general strike was one of organi- zation among hitherto unorganized workers. The Pekin strike, planned for a definite short period as a demonstration, ended after 48 hours, with victory not only for the union and the worker involved in the original dispute, but for or- ganized labor’s protest against misuse of public office. The AMERICAN TEACHER CaN TEACHERS LEARN FROM DRESSMAKERS? The victorious settlement, without a strike, of the dispute involving 105,000 union dressmakers in the Metropolitan New York area assumes special significance for teachers. We have often been told that one of the obstacles to a strong teachers’ organization is the large proportion of women teachers. Over 80% of the members in the Dressmakers’ Union are women. Their effective organization is all the more remarkable when we consider that the membership includes Negro and Spanish speaking workers, side by side with Italian-speaking, Russian born, and native white work- ers. It is the Dressmakers’ Union, a part of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union, which initiated workers’ education under union auspices, workers’ summer homes, labor art, and similar projects. The union is known as progressive and, as a union, ready always to help other groups of workers. In its dealings with the employers, the Joint Board of the Dressmakers’ Union is an “industrial union.” Since it would be impossible, however, for 105,000 workers to be members of a single local, the Joint Board is the unifying body for several craft, amalgamated craft and language locals for the Italian speaking members. These locals are, however, limited in their power. This form of organization might well meet the needs of teachers’ unions in large cities where effective organization could include all workers in the educational field. The effects of an industrial form of organization are shown in the outcome of the settle- ment: although limitation of contractors and the method of settling prices were the basic points of dispute, the agreement provided for increases to the less skilled workers and pro- hibition of the employment of those under 18 years of age. ComPANY UNrons INto REAL UNIONS It has been interesting to note the growing use among teachers of the term “company unions” to describe those teachers’ organizations which are dominated by administra- tive groups. The term originated in the practices of private industry, but trade union teachers are correct in seeing cer- tain teachers’ organizations as applications of the practice in the schools. In the correspondence column of this issue, we see both points of view expressed as clearly as ever they were in the field of private capital employment. It has long been a contention, however, of certain students of the labor movement, among them Dr. William L. Leiserson (formerly of Toledo University and Antioch College) that when the “honeymoon” period of inter-relations between employees and employers in this company union is over, and particularly under economic pressure in a depression, the employees will utilize the lesson of organization and trans form themselves into real, independent unions, affiliated with ~ the broad labor movement. This is occurring in the steel — industry (which the employers claim is 85% company union — dominated). Last year 2000 of 6000 company union rubber — workers in a secret poll voted for a strike; in the independent ~ rubber workers’ union, the organization, confronted with — SBE R@POvc st &@ & act she a uni to ary ga in ¢ the uni mal legi was usec March-April, 1936 the traditional strike-breakers and deputized thug power of the monopolistic corporation, resorted to a new technique— a “sit-down” strike inside the plant, at the machines. The increasing power of banking interests in governmental budgets and their distribution, the drive against teachers’ economic conditions and their civil rights, makes it not at all improbable that individuals and groups from “company union” and “strictly professional associations” among teachers will, in the not too distant future, join the ranks of the American Federation of Teachers. MINE WorkKERS Move Forwarp Labor gains, commented on elsewhere, at a time when, according to the A. F. of L., 11,500,000 are still unemployed, show that the 1933-35 increase in the membership of or- ganized labor is not of a temporary nature. Wide-awake unionists, such as were represented by the 1800 delegates to the convention of the United Mine Workers held in Janu- ary in Washington, do not rest on their laurels. The or- ganization voted to include workers in the industries engaged in coal processing, such as coke and gas plants. It reaffirmed the stand taken by its president on the question of industrial unionism. It voted for a constitutional amendment to make impossible action of the Supreme Court voiding social legislation. Fortunately the doubling of officials’ salaries was refused by them in the knowledge that this would be used by foes of labor and of progressive unionism. Lasor Fors ACTIVE rr ee ee ee ee ee ee Te | In addition to the usual anti-labor and anti-strike activi- _ ties, new devices are being tried. It was recently discovered ' that New York hotel owners were requiring and charging | for the fingerprinting of employees. The use of such a de- vice in framing a blacklist is obvious. Less obvious but even more dangerous are proposals like the New York anti-crime Among the A Realistic View of American Society “CAPITALISM AND ITS CULTURE. Jerome Davis. Farrar and Rinehart, New York. 556 pages. $3.00. Professor Davis has written an account of our contemporary : society that is of particular interest to teachers. He has brought together into a single volume and into a well-rounded the salient details of dozens of separate researches. His phy reads like a list of those works the busy teacher is ys planning to read but for which he can never find the time. _ reports of President Hoover’s committee on Recent Social , the articles of John T. Flynn on the World of Finance, Gifford Pinchot, Professor Counts, Professor Beard: from such tes, in addition to an extensive reading of contemporary period- Professor Davis has drawn his conclusions. His book is a ng of the many intellectual forces of liberalism that are compelling us to see our society as it actually functions. The result is a startling, perhaps disconcerting, breakdown of illusions. We can scarcely leave Professor Davis’ book believ- ig any longer that American society is democratically organized. 31 bills. Provisions for compulsory fingerprinting in charges of disorderly conduct will be used against pickets and strikers; the admission of the uncorroborated evidence of an “accom- plice”’ would make possible frame-ups by labor spies of active union members and organizers. Several other provisions are potential anti-labor measures. To combat these, a union of all labor and pro-labor forces is necessary. Contributors’ Column Jerome Davis is Professor of Religion at Yale Uni- versity, and chairman of the A. F. T. Committee on Col- leges. ErNEst LUNDEEN, Farmer-Labor Congressman from Minnesota, introduced the Frazier-Lundeen Bill, a com- prehensive unemployment and social insurance measure. Joun A. Puttuips is President of the Pennsylvania State Federation of Labor. MarGAaRET M. THomson is a teacher at the Miller Vocational High School in Minneapolis. Davip ScHEYER is a member of the Labor Press Unit of the New York branch of the Newspaper Guild, and has contributed articles to THe NATION. ANNA Dart is an A. F. T. Executive Council member. She has been active in the tenure fight, the Jewett case, and in organizing California teachers. Henry Harap is Professor of Education at Western Re- serve University. He was chairman of the Education Com- mittee of the A. F. T. in 1935. MATTHEW BESDINE, an executive board member of New York Local 5, has been active in the defense of the Eastern District High School teachers. New Books The desire for profits, which we have always accepted as the proper basis of economic life, is here shown as dominating and corrupting those interests which we have termed ideal and have falsely supposed to wield their own independent spiritual power. To the teacher, certainly, the pe absorbing chapters of the book are those devoted to religion and se. At the time when the Teapot Dome scandal was rocking the Harding Mr. Davis can find scarcely an allusion to it in the religious press. Only one paper, the Caristran Century, consistently and vigor- ously supported the investigating committee. The remainder either ignored the issue or actually gave comfort to the grafting politicians. One religious paper saw fit to caution its readers that such investi- a ee ee eee t As for education, Professor Davis is not absence of workers and union leaders and the ne en ee from an immediate superior that some august presence upon board of trustees has lisped a disapproval is often quite enough to paralyze an instructor. But there have been occasions also when — secret service men have attended the classes of suspected At the same time the utility corporations have repeatedly paid professors or established funds for the impartial investigation social aspects of a gen and power; and no case is on record such research has resulted in an approval of government So thorough an indictment would be depressing if it were not for the buoyancy of the author. Professor Davis cannot believe that we are going to sink much deeper into the mire. He is certain of our capacity to evolve some escape from the present organization of our lives which so flatly belies the intention of our democratic tradition. It is no gesture on his part apparently that he is Pro- fessor of Religion at Yale and chairman of the Committee on Colleges of the American Federation of Teachers. EpwIN Berry BurcuM Great American Strikes AMERICAN LABOR STRUGGLES. SAMvueEL YELLEN. (Harcourt, Bruce & Co., New York, 1935, 398 pages. $3.50.) One of the surest signs of the great renascence of interest in the labor movement is the increasing number of newly published books on labor problems. During the years 1926-1933, the number of such books was small and their sale poor. Especially significant are the new books on labor struggles. Edward Levinson’s epoch- making story of the nature of strike-breaking agencies (“I Break Srrrkes”) is now followed by this book on ten major strikes chosen because of their significance in five major industries. The described are: the railroad uprisings of 1877; the eight- hour day strikes of 1886-7 culminating in the Haymarket cases; the Homestead, Pa., lockout in steel in 1892; the Pullman strike led by Eugene V. Debs in 1894; the anthracite coal strike of 1902; the strike in textiles at Lawrence, Mass., in 1912; the struggle at Ludlow, Colorado, in coal in 1913; the great steel strike of 1919; the awakening of the southern cotton mill hands in the textile strikes of 1929; and the San Francisco general strike of 1934 aris- ing out of the marine transport workers’ strike. The high spots of the labor struggles of over fifty years in the basic industries are thus dealt with, and for the first time included in one compre- hensive volume. Oddly enough, the author of this book is not an economist, a labor historian, a labor leader, or a journalist, but instead, an in- in English in a mid-western university. However, we are was raised in a family active in the Socialist party. His sympathies are not easy to guess, because of his avowed desire to present the material objectively. What does emerge clearly from the book, however, is a sense of the great suffering and deprivation of the workers which gave rise to the struggles in these basic industries, the power and unscrupulousness of the employ- ers in fighting the workers, and the sad rdle played by the press and by — agencies and authorities, with outstanding exceptions Governor Altgeld of Illinois. The author also lists among his aims an indication of “the contribution left to the total current of the labor movement after the expiration of the struggle.” Thirty-five pages for each of these major struggles is but a scanty allowance, particularly when the bibliography shows that the author has attempted to exhaust all available documentary and secondary material on each of the conflicts. The book fails in that it does not carry out one of its author’s aims: to give a clear pic- ture of the contribution and eventual influence of these struggles. Eight of the ten struggles ended in apparent failure for the work- ers; the author seems to feel that the anthracite “victory” was me in reality a failure. This leaves only the Lawrence textile strike a victory. Because he has selected individual struggles and has failed to reldte them to the dominant trends in the general struggle between capital and labor, we get no clear idea that many of these defeats had, in fact, a salutary effect by calling to the attention of the public the plight of labor. Thus, for instance, it is hard to understand why, in 1935, the author did not follow up the 1929 strikes by the account of the greatest protest of all—the strike of 1934. In recounting the anthracite strike he fails a true picture of the wide sectors of the public which were sympathy with the strike. Nevertheless, taken as a whole, the book is a valuable contribu- in its selection of struggles which show how sick is our society basic industries have an almost unrelieved record of injustice o workers. Phe sai Exste Giiick The AMERICAN TEACHER ~ An Indispensable Novel “IT CAN’T HAPPEN HERE.” Srnciarr Lewis. ‘Double. day, Doran and Co., New York City, 1935. : The Hollywood banning of a film version of “It Can’t Happen © Here” focuses our attention again on the ironical significance of the title of Sinclair Lewis’ new book. Smothering anti-fascist opinion, | of course, is but one of the weapons in the repertory of fascism, What the others may be in America, Sinclair Lewis depicts in a horri- © fying yet convincing manner. Having chosen a small New England © town as his scene and having taken characters of widely divergent © economic position, social status, and political view, he shows how an American fascist movement takes over the life of a small com- munity, how social disorder and individual tragedy inevitably follow, and how the counter forces are brought into action. : The teacher will be alarmed to discover that what happened to 7 education in Germany under the Third Reich can be recapitulated © here in rapid stages. The small town superintendent, who has never made a secret of his devotion to the interests of the “right” people, - becomes a local fascist official. The college teacher who has main- tained the traditional aloofness from everyday events is fired just because he believes in scholarly devotion to his subject. Some college presidents gladly become coordinated and help to organize | Corpo youth formations. Higher education is absorbed into the” Corpo bureaucracy by the elimination of all smaller colleges and by making the “state” universities the only instructional units,” Secondary education falls into the hands of incompetents, the 7 friends of the Corpos and local “leaders.” Fascism opens wide the” gates of the educational system to corruption of school officials” to complete domination by favorites, and to the nation-wide intro- | duction of military training as the first subject in any curriculum, In a word, the educational system is reduced to the role of @ propaganda unit in the American Corporative State. All this is terrible and plausible, for the novel cannot be dis- missed as fantastic. Such things are happening. Sinclair Lewis’) virtuosity in this subject matter may be set down to his unde standing of the characteristics of German fascism and the fact that he is still a good student of life on Main Street. He knows where a fascist movement would find its backers and allies in a small town; he understands the masks American fascism would wear,) the genuine appeal it would have for unthinking discontented peo ple. Above all, he sees that even in our America the forces of | reaction could bring about the degradation in intellectual and social” life, the lowering of living standards, and the stifling of demo cratic rights, which the careless still believe can only happen “there.” 7 Georce A. Finci™ Our Changing Social Frontier AMERICAN POINTS OF VIEW, 1935. Edited by Wu- LIAM H. Corpect and KatHryn Cor Cornett. Doub day, Doran & Co. 461 pages. Text Edition, $1.00. This is the second volume of what promises to be an anf series of the best magazine essays. The editors of fifteen magazi ranging from Harpers, THe ATLANTIC MoNnTHLY, THE Review to weeklies like THe Saturpay Review of LireraTul Tue Nation, and THe New Masses nominated 182 essays fi their publications. These were submitted to three distingui judges, Burton Rascoe, John Gould Fletcher, and Erskine C well, who selected four prize essays and thirty-two others inclusion in the 1935 volume. While American Pornts oF View contains many names f quently found in collections of readings for college students (EB Seidel Canby, Joseph Wood Krutch, Charles A. Beard, Newton Baker) there are also other names (Ernest Hemingway, Van Kleeck,. Earl Browder, Archibald MacLeish) whose pf message cannot be ignored by those who believe that a Mik education should include a knowledge of the major issues and ¢ flicts of the time. The recent conference of school administrators of the N. E. at St. Louis showed that all ranks of people sincerely interested # education realize the necessity of defending more forcefully t ever before the spirit of free inquiry and free expression in schools. This book is a stimulating collection of diverse opi for the inquiring minds among our students and teachers. For the busy teacher, particularly, it offers a short cut to knowledge of the problems and points of view that dominate 1 American scene today. Boris GAMZz