Pal Re ARY M1Y. > fc ° re AMERICAN TEACHER In Two Parts — Part One ANUARY - EBRUARY EDUCATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE | 1938 By Elmer A. Benson Governor of Minnesota A NEW THREAT TO EDUCATION An Editorial BRAZIL IS A WARNING - - - - - President's Page WHERE A LAW IS NOT A LAW .. -_ by Bernard Forer THE NEEDS OF YOUTH - - - - - - A Symposium BRIGHT, NORMAL OR DULL Professional Problems Committee, Local 192 EXPANDING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES — A Federal Adult Education Program The Federal Arts Bill OFFICIAL ORGAN of the AMERICAN FEDERATION of TEACHERS ie U. S. Policy in Far East Aids Japan Destroys American Ideals In a letter to President Roosevelt, Professor Jerome Davis, president of the American Federation of Teachers, today charged that scrap metal from the United States is being used against China and that the example our nation is setting has a destructive effect upon the moral training of school children. The text of the letter follows: Dear Mr. President: Recent statistics show that scrap metal has been exported from the United States at a rate only slightly less than in the perilous days immediately preceding our entrance into the World War. It is an open secret that most of this metal goes to Japan. There it is turned into munitions of war. Those munitions are now killing men and women and children whose only “crime” is that they were born in China. Mr. President, Americans have long been proud of the thousands of dollars we sent across the Pacific Ocean to build, equip, and staff schools and colleges for China. Now, we send to Japan the metal that is destroying that fine gift. With these same munitions they are destroying those human values we have been taught to hold dear. True, the sale of scrap metal brings huge profits to a few of our citizens. But every cent of that profit adds to the power of those who would lose most when efforts are made to stop the iniquitous traffic. Experience has taught us that efforts to preserve the profits of war trade drag a nation into war. In short, every day that sees us profiting from the power-lust of Japan also makes it more improbable that we will be able to abstain from that profit until too late. Let us turn to another aspect of this situation. What is it teaching our children? They read of widespread death and destruction, of exploding shells and bombs. They read that the leaders of our nation choose to see no war. They learn that deception is exalted. They see an innocent people ruthlessly attacked. They read of agreements violated. They see this wrong stand uncondemned. They learn that might makes right. All this, Mr. President, the members of the American Federation of Teachers view with con- sternation. Therefore, we respectfully urge that you take these facts into consideration when mak- ing the grave decisions which confront you in regard to Far Eastern affairs. Respectfully yours, JEROME DAVIS. POSTAL TELEGRAPH & CABLE EXTRA NANKING, CHINA TO JEROME DAVIS, PRESIDENT AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS YOUR LETTER TO PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT CHARGING JAPANESE WITH USING AMERICAN SCRAP METALS TO DESTROY SCHOOLS COLLEGES IN CHINA DEEPLY APPRECIATED BY CHINESE EDUCATIONAL CIRCLES WHOSE HEARTY THANKFULNESS WE FEEL IT OUR DUTY TO CONVEY TO YOU TSAI YUAN PEI CHINA UNION OF EDUCATIONAL SOCIETIES ™ AMERICAN TEACHER JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1938 NUMBER 3 VOLUME XxXil IN THIS ISSUE: A New Threat to Education—An Editorial...............-.++-- 5 Education and Social Change—Etmer A. Benson.............- 6 The Needs of Youth—A Symposium......... clea, ae ae cee y s Where A Law is Not A Law—BeErnarp Forer............+---+ 11 Bright, Normal or Dull?—Professional Problems Committee, ET cn uth «os #O0e de ele bWaded aed bbe cathes Kaa eas 13 Shall We Affiliate ?>—Continuing the AFL-CIO Forum.......... 14 Expanding Educational Opportunities A Federal Adult Education Program..................4.. 16 I so oc 0b scdsndewsecwegrs avengabiens als 17 The Social Security Act and the Teacher—Irvin R. Kuvenzu.... 31 Drawings by Ar.is, StepHeN Hunt, Josepn Lesorr, M. P.inp, PounD. DEPARTMENTS: EN, can o's nda n nin w ees « 447k ee ee aks wl 3 i «5 6accgedegedieebnsed téevcws seeneecewodent 30 President’s Page—Brazil is a Warming....................0+45 18 i DO iss 600s cepbebecddce e+ 6nsteethoatakeede 19 Labor Notes ..... eh Srey Os a OURW ee + bu hone dnbciasenneee wis 26 Tee NE WrenOts OD AGTIOM. 6 on ccs ccc ccccsccvoccescoaseces 21 i Ces « ieee dchewhvevecsdcbesdbatetnss dem 27 EE chncdsrs Gccaghhotadcsecccessvesetuuseekvndans 30 A study just completed in New York City by the Board of Educa- tion has confirmed the correlation existing between the student’s progress in school and the economic status of his parents. It was found that the chil- dren of higher income families made faster progress than those belonging to poorer families. The same study (begun in 1932, and embracing 785 children) shows a positive correlation between good health and intelligence, and thus disproves the common belief that the bright child is a frail, almost sickly individual who has developed mentally at the expense of his physique. The conclusion seems in- escapable that pupil health is a prime problem of all educa- tion. Those who performed the study conclude, in part, that retardation is not so much a form of pupil maladjust- ment as it is a measure of the school’s failure to provide A Sound Body for a Sound Mind JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1938 fully for the varying needs of pupils, and that any at- tempt to organize an educational system on the basis of I. Q. is inadequate. We agree with Mr. James Marshall, who as vice-president of the Board of Education helped assemble the data, in his statement that additional atten- tion must be paid to the physical and emotional problems of children, especially those problems caused by poor housing, undernourishment, and unsatisfactory social en- vironment. Here is the answer to any who may still think that teachers unions should not concern themselves with social problems. The wages and hours bill was “killed” at the special session by an inglorious coali- tion of 133 Democrats and 83 Republi- cans, many of whom cast aside party programs and cam- paign pledges in an attempt to scuttle a much needed piece of progressive legislation. The A. F. of L. Executive Council members demanded extensive changes in the bill and when these were not made, opposed it. This strengthened the position of the reactionaries in Congress who are against every kind of wages and hour legislation and helped kill the bill. Commenting on the situation, the CIO Union News stated editorially that the enactment of “at least the prin- ciple of federal regulation and some minimum regulation against sweatshop standards” was of pressing importance. Amendments could have been made later to improve the bill, but as it now stands, the fight must be begun again. There are many evidences that the battle will be vigorously resumed in the regular session, this time with better chance of success. If any better sample of the devastating effect of disunity in labor ranks has recently come to light, we are unaware of it. Let labor men back the wages and hours This Fight Must Be Won bill. $ If the policies outlined in numerous speeches Program of at the Conference of the National Manufac- Reaction turers Association are carried to their con- clusion, the temporary defeat of the wages-hours bill is merely a prelude to the scrapping of the Wagner Labor Relations Act and all the gains won by the American people through the New Deal. The political sit-down strike of Big Business—as the present recession was characterized by Assistant Attorney-General Robert H. Jackson—is al- ready menacing public education in many parts of the coun- try and has thrown millions of workers out of employment. The program of Big Business has, however, met with re- sistance on the part of the progressive forces in Congress and the Administration. In a stirring speech on Dec. 30, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes exposed the dis- astrous economic autocracy of America’s “sixty families” and the grave danger from that source of “Big Business Fascism” in America. A few days later, on Jan. 3, President Roosevelt continued the attack in his message to Congress and proposed a counter-program against reaction: farm relief; federal housing; wages-hours legislation; continua- tion of work-relief; abolition of child labor. This firmness under attack is perhaps the best evidence of the united determination of the American people to resist reaction’s program of poverty and suffering. Not often does the dismissal of a teacher follow nakedly the familiar formula of a union man’s being fired for union activity. But out in Montana Professor Keeney, for six years librarian of the University of Montana, was dis- missed last April, just one week after he had organized a chapter of the American Federation of Teachers on his campus. And the men behind that dismissal, President Sim- mons, Governor Ayers and even “liberal” Senator Burton K. Wheeler, who has preserved to date a discreet silence on every aspect of the case, have never explained the reasons for Professor Keeney’s dismissal. This fact was made clear in the hearings on the mandamus proceedings brought by the State Federation on Professor Keeney’s behalf. No question of competence, academic attainments or ability was raised—only the arbitrary right of dismissal, in spite of a state tenure law which provides permanent tenure for higher ranks of teachers after three years of service. The Montana labor movement recognizes that fundamental issues are at stake. AFL and CIO unions are fighting together for Professor Keeney’s reinstatement. Practically every Central Labor Council in the state is on record against the dismissal. Behind the firing of Professor Keeney are the large industrial interests of the state, Ana- conda Copper, Missoula Mercantile Co., etc., who, through their friends on the campus and in politics, control the uni- versity and are fighting Montana labor on every front. Labor Fights for Professor Keeney The third convention of the American Student Union gave evidence of the grow- ing maturity of the student movement in the United States. Five hundred voting and two hundred visiting and fraternal delegates crowded the campus at Vassar College. Representatives of the Mexican teachers, of the Brotherhood of Cuban Youth, of the American Fed- eration of Teachers, several friendly high school principals, and a spokesman for the British student movement, by their presence assured the students of the partial realiza- tion of their aim to broaden and strengthen the base of A Significant Convention 4 the American student movement. Greetings from President Roosevelt, the Canadian student movement, the World Youth Congress, John L. Lewis, Governor Elmer A. Ben- son and many key figures in the labor movement served to tighten the links with which students are forging unity with the progressive movement in America and among the peoples of the world. The convention voted to meet the intensified onslaughts of fascism and the war situations in the world with a realistic peace program. Abandoning the Oxford Union Pledge and voting support of President Roosevelt’s peace proposals the American Student Union unites itself with the forces urging the United States government to take the lead for peace in conjunction with the other peace- loving nations, yet at the same time opposing added war preparations and compulsory military training. Meanwhile efforts to help the Spanish and Chinese people are to be redoubled. Another significant new point in the program is a ruling allowing chapters autonomy in the matter of support of progressive political candidates in local elections. Altogether, the students are showing themselves awake to the world they live in, and able and willing to play a con- structive role in it. AFT Acts In the face of the business recession, the for Unity rising tide of unemployment, and the eco- nomic and political mobilization of reaction, there is every need for the resumption of unity negotiations between the A. F. of L. and the CIO. Labor unity is the very real and practical concern of union teachers, for re- action is already laying a heavy hand on the schools. In this the Executive Council of the AFT has voted to send the following petition to all locals: To be effective in combatting its united enemies, American Labor must attain not only unity, but unity on a basis that will insure the organization of all unorganized workers in America. As steps to this end, we propose: 1. That all members of the CIO and the AFL be brought under one organization. 2. That unity be preserved by suitable democratic structures and practices; and 3. That the principle of industrial unionism be accepted as the form of organization of workers where demanded by condi- tions in modern industry. Because these proposals are essential for real and lasting unity, we the undersigned members of the American Federation of Teach- ers respectfully petition you to adopt them for continued negotia- tions with the Committee for Industrial Organization. Locals of the AFT can do something positive to further the cause of unity by circulating these petitions as widely as possible among their members. | THE AMERICAN TEACHER ENTERED as second class matter , SUBSCRIPTION: $1.00 for the year October 18, 1933, at the post office | —Foreign $1.10—Single copies, 25c. at Chicago, Illinois, under the aet | Published bi-monthly except July- of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for | August. Subscribers are requested to mailing at special rate of postage ive prompt notice of changes of ad- provided for in Section 1103, Act » ae Remittances should be made in of February 28, 1925, authorized | postal or express money orders, draft, November 3, 1926. stamps, or check. = THE AMERICAN TEACHER esident World \. Ben- rved to ty with peoples nsified » world Oxford sevelt’s S itself lent to peace- ed war inwhile » to be rogram tter of ctions. ake to a con- n, the e eco- action, iations is the for re- ls. In o send 1 Labor | insure \s steps under ‘tures s the ondi- ' unity, Teach- regotia- ‘urther widely s, draft, \CHER A New Threat to Education An Editorial closed schools—that is again headline news on education in many parts of the country. The danger signals are out. Funds for education are inadequate; drastic tax-limitation legislation has thrown whole school systems into chaos; propaganda for economy, for reduction of educational programs, for dubious revisions of curricula consequent upon economy moves rise to confront the teacher with the ominous warning that public education is again under attack. Budgetary deficits and inadequacy of tax resources are already producing the familiar signs of strain in the edu- cational structure and the familiar jolts to the economic status of the teacher. In Birmingham, Ala., the first sug- gestion of a local budget committee, as a means of making up a deficit, is to reduce school expenditures and to cut teachers’ salaries. In Minneapolis and Cincinnati and Lowell, Mass., winter vacations of abnormal length have been introduced. In Tennessee, the city system of Chat- tanooga is in difficulty of legal complications which have tied up salary restoration for the teachers and cause the defeat of a tax-levy at the polls. The Hamilton County system of the same state has been endangered by the trans- fer of school funds to social security system. Some rural districts in Illinois have been forced to close the doors of their schools. At Conneaut, O., where a two-mill tax levy was defeated at the polls, the schools were closed for an indefinite period on Dec. 12. ‘ The serious situation facing the schools of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia is a result of a court decision limiting taxation for school funds; such a situation always produces a breakdown of school finances and becomes the pivotal point in those reactionary schemes which attempt to limit and curtail education under the guise of thorough curricular changes which adapt the schools to “present day condi- tions”. Special budget committees, as in Iowa, slash school expenditures in the name of economy and cripple school systems which, according to actual needs, should be ex- panding. R ETRENCHMENT, budgetary deficits, forced vacations, JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1938 Crises in school finances are usually c by inadequate and inequitable tax structures, a failure to use all the re- sources of taxation, and finally by the organization and effective operation of the groups in every community which, out of design or ignorance, desire to reduce public educa- tion to a limited program and eliminate all possibilities of the progressive evolution of education as a socially neces- sary service. We know that expenditures for education are always under attack from specially interested groups in a com- munity; and our experience in the depression shows that in a weakening of the economic structure schools are likely to suffer the most when social services are being curtailed. The progressive teacher now cannot fail to observe, when a recession in business activity again affeeesthe sources of revenue, that the anti-education forces, organized by the same groups that were active against the schools during the depression, have taken a definite direction. Economy may still be their sacred watchword; but the actual motiva- tion behind recent retrenchment moves is appearing more and more as outspoken and thinly veiled opposition to the function of public education in a democracy. However, no teacher should underestimate the difficult and complex problem which school financing is in many communities. For that reason the business of the teacher is to understand these problems and work with and ac- tively influence the people in the community whose children stand to lose most in any curtailment of education. A Fed- eral Aid law will go a long way toward alleviating the in- equities in the resources for educational funds which exist in impoverished communities. In all communities the schools must stay open. The teachers have the responsibil- ity of rallying the parents, the trade unions, the progressive citizens in the defense of the school system; of leading the opposition to the organized foes of education. The local problem is, in the larger sense, the nation’s too; but the initiative and the impulse to lift the whole problem into its proper focus for the nation must be found at home. 5 Education and Social Change school education could bring about certain changes in society. What was the chief social change that he wanted to sce brought about? What was his idea of how school education could bring it about? Have the hundred years that have since passed by shown that Mann’s philosophy of education and social change was right or wrong? Only by asking and answering such questions, will this generation be able to carry on from where Horace Mann left off. | eE MANN had definite convictions about how HE CHIEF social change that Mann wanted to see brought about can be best understood by remem- bering some of the well known features of his time. When he was born, in 1796, the Declaration of In- dependence was only twenty years old. Its noble utter- ances had stirred in the common men of that age the faith that on these shores the class oppressions and ex- ploitations of the Old World would be thrown off, in order to build a democratic and humane civilization, in which each individual would enjoy equal opportunities to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Yet Horace Mann, living only a few years after the Revolutionary War, saw the bold and glorious promises of that Declaration being slowly blotted out by the black shadow of human enslavement that was creeping across the social fabric of the young republic. In the South, the bond slavery of the Negroes doomed a whole race to permanent degradation, and condemned poorer whites permanently to a position of social and economic inferiority because they did not own slaves. In New England and the East, where the factory sys- tem and modern industrialism were rising, Horace Mann could see taking shape before his very eyes a kind of wage slavery. The common people were coming to de- pend entirely upon this new and improved system of producing wealth, without in any way controlling it. Child labor, long hours, pay of a dollar-and-a-half or two dollars a week, and periodic unemployment were dooming large numbers of factory workers to an inferior social and economic rank. By 1837, when Mann became secretary of the newly established Massachusetts Board of Education, there was financial panic and industrial depression. One-third the 6 Today's education must go beyond the conclusions reached by Horace Mann, By ELMER A. BENSON working population of New York City were uncmployed. Through the slums of the cities and factory towns stalked unemployment, hunger, disorganization of family life, and crime, including an increase in the depravity of drunken- ness. When Horace Mann saw these conditions, he accused the wealthy and powerful in our cities of living upon the poor and weak, much as in some waters the great fish live by eating up the little ones. He wanted to see these conditions changed, and he had plans for getting them changed. ere ALSO wanted to see these conditions changed, and had plans to get them changed. Among these were the leaders of the rising young labor movement of 1837. They believed in popular education, and they helped Mann to win support for the idea of free, public, tax-sup- ported schools for the children of rich and poor alike. But they also saw that the widespread and _ periodic unemployment, with its train of misery and _ poverty, was the inescapable result of the way in which our new machine-method of producing wealth had been organized. A relatively few individuals were permitted to regard the rest of the people in society as merely so many possible “hands” whose labor they might buy if they needed it in order to turn out some more goods from which they could make a profit. The question of whether people needed food, clothing, and housing had nothing directly to do with the matter. The leaders of that labor movement saw that the only way to correct this condition was to re-organize the forces which controlled the production and distribution of food, shelter, and clothing; and the first step in doing so was to organize the workers into unions for the purpose of wrest- ing control of their economic lives from complete dom- ination by employers. Horace Mann turned a deaf ear to the arguments of these labor leaders. He argued that if we could make enough individuals into good people, soon the world would be dominated by good people, and then human exploita- tion would cease. The schools, he predicted, could do this by rearing a generation in whose hearts had been implanted benevolence, in whom any disposition toward avarice of greed had been curbed, and who had all been trained in how to earn a living. The generation of “sober, wise, THE AMERICAN TEACHER nust go uSsions Mann. NSON nployed. ; Stalked life, and lrunken- accused pon the eat fish ee these ig them | hanged, ig these nent of helped ‘aX-sup- e. eriodic overty, ur new anized. ard the vssible d it in h they people lirectly ie only - forces f food, was to wrest- . dom- nts of make would ploita- jo this lanted ‘ice oF ned in wise, \CHER good men” that would result from such training, said Mann, would “remove the old and substitute a new social edifice”. This was Horace Mann’s philosophy of how to achieve social change by education. On the whole, he was listened to. On the whole, the labor leaders were not. E ARE NOw in 1938, instead of 1837. We are in W the midst of industrial depression, and we con- stantly skirt the edges of financial panic. One-third our population are still ill-clad, ill-fed, and ill-housed. Through the slums of our cities and across the exhausted farm lands of certain areas, stalk unemployment, hunger, pov- erty, crime, and increasing disorganization of family life. Plainly, after a hundred years, we are obliged to con- fess that Horace Mann’s method of achieving the social change he and others desired has not worked. He tried to cure an ill in the social fabric by doctoring individuals instead of altering the social fabric itself. He tended to regard education as a substitute for action, instead of a desirable accompaniment of social action. These facts do not entitle anybody to say that the public school system which Mann did so much to help establish has failed. We need only to look at the bright young America that today stands by our side, in order to be glad that the schools came, and to resolve, on behalf of unborn generations, that we shall strike down any hand that is lifted to wipe out the schools by depriving them of funds. Further, the educator is not entitled to conclude from the facts I have mentioned that education can do little or nothing in the service of bringing about the social changes on which hang the success or failure of American democracy. HAT, THEN, do the facts that I have mentioned jus- Wits us in concluding? First, we can no longer honestly preach the doctrine that only by improving the personal character of indi- viduals do you bring about social justice. Social justice or injustice depends in part upon the way society itself is organized. No matter how good the wishes of the indi- vidual may be, there comes a point where the social or- JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1938 ganization, rather than the sentiments of the individual, determines how he shall act. Next, today’s educators have the obligation to go be- yond the point reached by Horace Mann. They still have to seek ways whereby democracy’s educational facili- ties may be placed at the service of those citizens who are actively engaged in the effort to abolish economic in- equality and autocracy. Third, today’s educators have the obligation to develop in thei~ students a more vigorous awareness of the reali- ties of present social struggles, as well as a wish to partici- pate in them for the purpose of bringing about economic democracy. Fourth, those educators who want to discharge to the full their civic responsibilities will live not only as teach- ers in the classroom, but also as active members in the struggling groups of their own communities. Finally, we are now obliged to agree with Horace Greeley, who said in Mann's own time that “before Edu- cation can become what it should and must be, we must reform the Social Life from whence it proceeds.” 6 dice IS SOME evidence that before he died Mann was himself drifting toward this view. In 1849 he resigned his position as educational secretary in order to enter Congress and take an active part in the struggle to wipe out Negro slavery. “Recent events,” he said, “have forced upon the public attention the great truth, that be- fore a man can be educated, he must be a free man.” In the same year, in an address, he also described Amer- ica’s new financial barons as being as dangerous to the welfare of the community in our day, as was the baron of the Middle Ages. . . . The power of money is as imperial as the power of the sword; and I may as well depend upon another for my head, as for my bread. The day is sure to come, when men will look back upon the prerogatives of Capital at the present time, with as severe and just a condemnation, as we now look back upon the predatory chieftains of the Dark Ages. From such words as those, we are justified in thinking that perhaps Horace Mann was beginning to see the real nature of the social change that he wanted to bring about. Not long before he died, he said, “T should like to live again, to enroll myself anew in a fifty years’ campaign, and fight once more for the glory of God and the hap- piness of humanity.” Perhaps if Horace Mann were given the privilege of living again and in our times, he would enroll himself in the battle to free men from the threat of war and fascism by fight- ing the economic autocracy upon which these are based. And I believe he would want edu- cation to help in that battle. The Needs of Youth Recently at a mock trial a jury of prominent citizens including the Governor of Nebraska convicted adult society of “ignorance, selfishness, and indifference to the needs of youth"—charges brought by the Nebraska Christian Youth Council. We as teachers cannot be indif- ferent to the needs of youth. Since the young people themselves have begun to speak out through their own organizations, we have asked representatives of a number of well known youth organizations to present their programs in the following symposium. ® William W. Hinckley AMERICAN YOUTH CONGRESS HEN a flood, an earthquake, or a hurricane strikes Ws: land, the story is emblazoned on the nation’s headlines and broadcast on the air-waves from coast to coast. The country deplores the tragic loss of life. But— Five million out of twenty million young people between sixteen and twenty-five are both out of school and out of work. Prosperity in 1937 turned the corner and left one quarter of young America in a blind alley, its steps dogged by poverty, sickness, disease. An average of more than a half a million high school students drop out of high school each year. Low wages and inadequate purchasing power of the people are largely responsible for this school mortality. Forty per cent of young Americans, high school age, are not in our “universal, free, public educational system”’. —And these are tragedies more devastating than a flood, more destructive than an earthquake, more lasting in ef- fect than a hurricane. Yet the newspapers and radio do not treat them as great national catastrophes and they are al- lowed to linger on under our very noses. The total cost is too great to be counted. How does one add up millions of budding lives trampled before they have a chance to flower? The needs and aspirations of American youth are a part of the conscious lives of the young people themselves and in this, of course, is the greatest hope. Not only is young America conscious of its own needs and interests but it is solidifying the unity of all the youth organizations and agencies serving youth, for the purpose of developing and pressing for legislative programs. President Roosevelt in his greeeting to the Fourth Amer- ican Youth Congress caught the temper of the young gen- eration: “This is no time for complacency or indifference,” he said. “It is a time when vigorous and intelligent par- ticipation in the solution of our common problems is needed LEADERS OF AMERICAN YOUTH ORGANI. ZATIONS CONTRIBUTE TO A SYMPOSIUM from every citizen in our democracy.” He commented further, ““The American Youth Congress has become an important instrument in achieving this end, and, as such, has the good will and best wishes of all who are concerned with the future of American democracy.” Seventy national youth organizations and agencies sery- ing youth were represented by Senators at the Model United States Congress of Youth in Milwaukee, July 4. Among these, the American Federation of Teachers together with seventeen other national and international unions sent representatives. At these sessions with the vast majority of American young people represented, legislative policies were developed for states and for the nation to meet the challenge of: 1. UNEMPLOYED MILLIONS: to create job opportunities for all; 2. THE THREAT OF A SECOND WORLD WAR: to guarantee peace and security for all; 3. SLUMS: to build decent comfortable homes for all; 4. CRIME AND DELINQUENCY: to provide healthful recreation facilities for all; 5. DROP-OUTS FROM SCHOOL AND COLLEGE: to increase educational opportunities for all; 6. INDUSTRIAL DESPOTISM: to develop better wage, hour, and working conditions for all; 7. SHARE-CROPPING AND MORTGAGE FORECLOSURES: to achieve a wholesome community life for all; 8. LYNCHING, RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE AND PREJUDICE: to establish democratic equality for all. To enforce the work begun at the Model United States Congress of Youth, the National Council of the American Youth Congress has been established for the year and a seat has been voted for a representative of the Executive Committee of the Teachers Union. It is the hope of all the student organizations of our country and several of the national educational organizations represented there already that with the Union’s cooperation the Education Committee of the National Council of the Youth Congress may begin work toward the development of a powerful American peoples’ education movement devoted to educa- tion for democracy and peace, more democracy in educa- tion, and equality of educational opportunity. THE AMERICAN TEACHER ‘so <« a» > © arnt ~~ = «= ts 6.7}. OO, ANI- sIUM lented ne an such, erned serv- Jnited mong ’ with sent rican loped ns tates rican nd a utive f all al of there ation gress erful luca- juca- SHER ® Molly Yard AMERICAN STUDENT UNION NE OF THE greatest tragedies which faces present day youth is its enforced idleness. The tragedy would not be so great if any steps were being taken to meet the situation, but actually the one thing estab- lished to deal particularly with idle youth, the National Youth Administration, has been curtailed and everything points to its abolishment. One of the obvious reasons for idleness is the general economic situation. Yet as far as youth is concerned lack of jobs might not be so serious now if adequate at- tention were paid to the educational problem. There are thousands of youth forced to idleness because they can- not afford an education. Students in high school find they do not have carfare to get to school, they do not have clothes to wear to school, they do not have the strength to go to school because they are so underfed. If a high school student does manage to graduate, in most cases he does not have the means to go to college. There are few cities with free city colleges. There are few state scholarships. The lack of money keeps young Americans out of school and in the streets. The American Student Union stands for equality in edu- cation. We believe that young Americans regardless of their economic status have the right to a full education. We believe that the American Youth Act must be passed for it provides scholarships for needy high school stu- dents and jobs for needy college students, to say nothing of the jobs it would provide for out-of-school, unemployed youth. We believe that the cost which the Youth Act would mean is nothing compared to the millions of dol- lars now being spent on our youth in the jails and in the reform schools. It is far better that we spend money JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1938 to give youth an education and thus keep them from idleness and then criminal activity, than to spend it after they have become the victims of their environment. Fur- thermore, the United States spends huge sums on the R.O.T.C. The American Student Union believes that the R.O.T.C. should be abolished and that this money should be spent to meet the needs of our youth for education. We believe that the development of future American citi- zens is one of the most important problems confronting the nation and that many battleships could be scrapped and the money used to meet the needs of American youth. ® Edward E. Strong NATIONAL NEGRO CONGRESS EGRO young people are in search of economic security, civil rights, adequate educational opportunities, recreational facilities, and decent housing. Our objective is to become, as rapidly as possible, an integrated part of American life; to contribute, along with the other youths of the country, our best towards the maintenance and ex- tension of democracy. But a hungry, thwarted, frustrated youth is unable to contribute its best to American culture. The paramount cry of Negro youth, therefore, becomes a cry for bread. One-half million of us are unemployed, being forced to re- main on charity and in the bread lines. If so-called “pros- perity” has returned, disinherited Negro youth has yet to learn of it. Those among us who are fortunate enough to have a “job” receive a starvation pittance—certainly not a sufficient amount to be given the sophisticated title of “wages, salary, or income”. There is the sixteen year old Negro lad in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who worked from six in the morning until eleven at night for seven consecutive days, 119 hours, in a restaurant, washing dishes, mopping 9 floors, and cleaning windows, only to be paid at the end of the week the “munificent” sum of one dollar. In Florida Negro young people by the thousands are seized and forced, at the point of rifles, to work the huge turpentine camps, the large citrus and truck farms for board and room—the food consisting of fat meat, sorghum molas- ses, pone bread, cabbage, and black-eyed peas. The slave trade of the New South carries on uninterrupted as unem- ployed young Negro men from Georgia are taken by the truck loads, under the guise of being given good positions, into Florida to work the turpentine camps and truck farms —despite the thirteenth amendment prohibiting chattel slavery, the famed “G” men and the federal anti-kidnap- ping law. How to win economic security! How to find jobs with suitable working conditions and living wages! This is the most pressing, the most acute problem confronting Negro young people. Most of the other difficulties facing us flow from the basic economic exploitation of the Negro people. The Youth Division of the National Negro Congress operates on the premise that this state of affairs can best be solved through the united action of all forces in America believing in progress—the Committee for Industrial Or- ganization, the American Youth Congress, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the American Student Union, the National Negro Congress— pooling their strength to insist upon a comprehensive fed- eral legislative program designed to mitigate these evils. Moreover, we believe that the organized labor movement, as represented by the CIO, presents the greatest single pos- sibility for meeting, in the most decisive and definitive man- ner, the three major problems confronting Negro youth— jobs, civil liberties, education. ® Helen Morton YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION Ty HROUGH work, play, worship, home and friends, youth grows to spiritual maturity and gains the character which is essential to effective living. All that makes for high quality in decisions and choices and provides the setting which makes this possible consitutes his needs. The National Student Council of the Y. W. C. A., made up of students, faculty and alumnae from universities and colleges, judging from its traditions and expressions would give these three needs major importance: First, the discovery of a cause which is larger than the self, a cause which is worthy of giving all one’s loyalty and energy to, something which commands the interest in competition with the self-absorbing activities of everyday life. This cause must be two fold: it must be based on a solid foundation of belief of mind and heart, and it must find expression in specific activities. The moment of awak- ening to a sense of social responsibility, which may come suddenly for some and gradually for others, is the primary need of youth. Secondly, the ability to think for oneself, the cultiva- tion of critical judgment which makes it possible to swim against the current of mass movements in any of their mul- tiple forms, the training in the group methods of a democ- racy which gives respect for the contributions of many different points of view and recognizes the rights of the minority. Thirdly, the kind of experiences which make for knowl- edge of the unity of mankind, the brotherhood of men as children of the One God. This means active participation in a world wide fellowship which transcends national boun- daries, and racial barriers, and class distinctions. The ways which we most advocate to meet these needs include the following: First, through experience in life’s situations where the insight is guided and stimulated towards a desire to accept social responsibility. Family training, the contagion of in- spired personalities, participation in labor unions or co- operatives all contribute. Secondly, through self-running projects, proposed, guided and criticized by a responsible group. All that goes to make up high quality in group discussion and action, such as adequate factual knowledge, resources of help and sug- gestion, thorough consideration of possible action and the use of the best critical judgment. Thirdly, the widest possible contacts with the other people and groups, through meetings, correspondence and sending of representatives on a pooled system of finance to make wider contacts. In conclusion, whatever the needs of youth may be, they should be met in such a way as to provide imme- diate steps being taken in which some tangible accomplish- ment is possible, and they should lead to preparation for meeting the kinds of problems and tensions in which teachers and other professional groups are involved. These call for courage and high calibre characters in the cultiva- tion of which we all must cooperate. ® Hayes Beall METHODIST YOUTH COUNCIL b pri THAT IS TODAY in its late teens and early twen- ties lacks opportunity to make its way in the world. Instead of an open frontier, our generation faces vocational frustration, insecurity and the threat of war. An increas- ing number realize that none of these failures or dangers is inherent in the nature of things. Rather, we see 4 world of infinite possibilities in which society’s injustices are placing a special handicap on youth. The need of this generation is the knowledge and the power to re-order society so that the potential opportunities that abound may be actualized. Basically, this involves replacing the THE AMERICAN TEACHER ers for vis lati no! cou out mu Ed whi fire imary iltiva- swim r mul- emoc- many of the ‘nowl- en as pation boun- needs re the accept of in- or co- posed, t goes , such 1 sug- id the other e and nce to twen- world. tional creas- angers istices f this -order pound g the \CHER profit system with an order in which the good of all is sought cooperatively. To be sure, there are other needs, both personal and social, which youth has, but none is more fundamental. The National Council of Methodist Youth is a body of youth drawn from the churches of the denomination all over the nation and has expressed himself rather definitely concerning the needs of our generation. The Council is committed to working for the cooperative commonwealth which it believes will be vastly more Christian than the Where A Law Is Not A Law present system. As an immediate step in seeking to meet this basic need of youth, the National Council of Methodist Youth favors the adoption of the American Youth Act. None of us can do otherwise than deplore the recently announced decrease in the grant for the National Youth Administration. We feel that education and religion have profound and related responsibilities in helping to inform and motivate this generation so that it can reconstruct the social order in a way that will open to humanity the opportunities there really are in an age of abundance. Combatting direct and in- direct evasions of tenure, the AFT in New Jersey is leading the fight to uphold the law. By BERNARD FORER HEN IS A LAW not a law? Obviously, when it is disregarded. In New Jersey, there is a tenure statute on the books. Yet, if a municipality wishes to give its teach- ers tenure, it may. If it desires to deprive its teaching force of tenure, that too is a simple matter. The tenure law in New Jersey contains three major pro- visions: 1. Teachers must undergo a probationary period before permanent tenure may be achieved. The law itself stipu- lates three years; but a ruling was made, with the amiable non-resistance of the administrators and the State De- partment of Education a few years back, that tenure could not be obtained until the instructor had received a contract for the fourth year. 2. A teacher under tenure may not be dismissed with- out cause, such as inefficiency or immoral conduct,, and must be granted a public hearing before the Board of Education. But two years ago a bill was introduced which would have given the administration the right to fire teachers declared physically unfit by a Board-ap- proved physician. The bill was so vaguely worded that an instructor could have been discharged for an ailment “inimical to the welfare of the school”. Under these terms a teacher could have been fired for anything from dan- druff to athlete’s foot. Luckily a Teachers Union had just been formed in New Jersey. It waged an aggressive battle against this proposal; and despite the fact that the measure had received the sanction of the State Teachers JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1938 Association, it went down to defeat before the Union campaign. 3. A tenure teacher is not to have his salary dimin- ished during his term of office. It is against this stipula- tion in the statute that a most relentless fight has been waged by reactionary interests. The simplest way of avoiding tenure is to dismiss teach- ers at the expiration of three years and hire new ones. This is a forthright method of stating, “We do not wish to give teachers security.” A more subtle way of “beating” the law is the hiring of so-called permanent substitutes. In Jersey City, for instance, it has been almost impossible recently to obtain a regular teaching position with tenure. The victims of this system undoubtedly feel that the word “permanent” has an irony of its own, since many of them have taught five, six, and seven years without coming closer to the promised land of security. This has other implications besides insecurity. Before the last mayoralty election in Jersey City, a “sub” whom I know was visited by a ward-heeler and told to sign certain papers. The papers simply stated that the employe promised to vote for Hague and his followers—and were to be brought before a no- tary public and signed! Another method of evading tenure, and one which is most frequently used, is that of dismissing a teacher for a few days just before the three years are up. The in- structor is subsequently re-hired, and he may begin all over again his attempt to achieve three years employment as interpreted by the administration. This practice is especially prevalent in smaller communities. All through the southern part of the state, one can go from town to town without finding more than a handful of teachers who have tenure, and most of them are old-timers. One of the major offensives of the financial interests has been against the salaries of teachers and public employes in general. The politicians have yearned to repeal the tenure act, but discretion has told them it is dangerous to attack so large a group of voters. Large demonstra- tions of teachers have met “ripper” bills on several occa- sions. Therefore there has been developed an evasive flank attack upon tenure rather than a frontal drive for repeal. Since the start of the depression, however, the foes of tenure and of the salary provisions in the tenure bill have become much more open. First of all, pressure was ex- erted to force “voluntary” cuts upon the instructors; and waivers of legal salaries were signed throughout the state. Even this procedure was not drastic enough, so that a fight was put on in the Legislature to sidetrack the tenure act. After a period of carefully staged coyness to the idea, the senators and assemblymen passed a “permissive” act which gave municipalities the power to reduce salaries to meet their financial “emergencies”. The act was for one year only. However, such an act could be renewed; and it was, year after year. No effective resistance was put up to this legislation until the first local of the AFT came into being, in Mercer County. In the two years since then, five other locals have been chartered, and they have joined in the fight. Mercer has been in the forefront, since from the begin- ning it organized campaigns against the permissive act. The unions have flooded the legislators with telegrams, and have revivified defunct teachers’ associations. The support of the State Federation of Labor was obtained; and the state firemen’s and patrolmen’s benevolent as- sociations were persuaded to join in the fight. Through the efforts of Miss Lois St. John and her legislative com- mittee, the Union obtained the cooperation of that power- ful group, the State Civil Service Association. The big- moneyed interests put on a strong defence, largely through the astute lobbying of experts in the State Taxpayers’ Association and the State League of Municipalities. As luck had it, the Legislature was in a cat-and-dog fight, and neither party wanted to handle a hot potato. The per- missive act was not renewed last year. However, the battle has just begun. Dozens of munici- palities have refused to restore salaries to legal levels as the tenure act stipulates. In such cities as Atlantic City and Jersey City teachers were made to sign waivers. Other towns simply refused to obey the law. The Mercer County local put up a whale of a fight in Trenton. Cir- culars were distributed, meetings held, and the teachers stiffened to the point where they refused to sign waivers, A test case was started, in the name of Herbert H. Cole, vice-president of the Trenton local and president of the State Federation. The other unions rallied to the cause splendidly, and such locals as Camden, Essex and Pater- son did yeoman’s work. Despite a lukewarm and sometimes hostile attitude on the part of Trenton Teachers Association (a company union), the legal action has progressed very favorably. The first decision rendered by the State Commissioner has ordered the Board of Education to restore salaries, and already several other cities have decided to recognize the tenure law. Thirty-nine school districts are still holding out, however, and the case will be carried to the highest courts. The City Council of Trenton, notorious stooges for the local banking and business interests, has fought tenure relentlessly through its controlled Board of School Estimate. It has already appealed the first decision in favor of the teachers. Although it realizes that its case is practically hopeless, it is trying to drag out the verdict and weaken morale. Meanwhile the rest of the state is looking toward the Union for leadership and guidance. Before the recent con- vention of the State Teachers’ Association, the Union was instrumental in the formation of a broad movement called the Progressive Teachers’ League. It banded together teachers from all over the state into an aggressive group; for the first time in history, a platform of progressive measures was pushed through the administration-controlled convention. One significant resolution pledged the Asso- ciation to investigate tenure evasion, and to put up a Legis- | lative battle to correct the abuses discovered. The tide has turned. The AFT has worked to make the | teachers in the state conscious of the problems and the issues. The rank and file has become aroused, has learned what democracy implies. The fight is not finished, but the Union can be proud of its record to date. THE AMERICAN TEACHER | i —=—= * -«- Fs = =o a) Sl JA chers ivers, Cole, f the Cause Pater- de on ipany rably. ar has , and ve the olding ighest tooges ought school ion in ase is ct and rd the it con- m was called gether group; ressive trolled Asso- Legis- ike the | nd the | earned d, but Bright, Normal or Dull? The Proposal HALL father and mother have a voice in selecting S Arthur’s course in high school, or shall it be the re- sponsibility of the school authorities alone to assign a curriculum? Do educators know a child well enough at the end of grade three to route his educational course for the next nine years? Professionally conscious teachers of Philadelphia are pondering these questions, which arise from a series of recommendations made to the Philadelphia Board of Education. The recommendations are contained in a report submitted by Dr. George A. Works, of the Department of Education of the University of Chicago, at the conclusion of an exhaustive survey of the Philadelphia public school system. Dr. Works stated that his recommendations were meant to deal with underlying philosophy only, and that the ap- plication and administration of the plan, if adopted, would of course be determined by the Philadelphia school author- ities. The recommendation of the Works Survey Committee concerning the establishment of a differentiated curriculum plan is as follows: Differentiated curriculum for the normal, below normal, and for the above normal pupils running parallel are easily feasible in a large system like Philadelphia’s. Each child could then have the sort of curriculum that most nearly meets his own needs. Assignment to a curriculum should be the sole responsibility of the school authorities and not dependent on parenta! consent. To give ample opportunity to determine the nature and needs of each child the primary grades (kindergarten through third) should be considered as a single unit with an undifferentiated curriculum but providing for no failures. The curriculum for the below normal pupils should perhaps extend through the compulsory school age period as a unified curriculum. In evaluating this underlying philosophy, the Professional Problems Committee, and later the union membership, while not rejecting the principle of adapting subject matter to student ability, adopted a position which was presented to the Board of Education in a documented brief. Here are the relevant parts of the brief: Is It Psychologically Sound? The American Federation of Teachers (Local 192) op- poses the institution of this plan because it is psychologic- ally unsound and because it is undemocratic. The views of such leading educators as Drs. Dewey, Kilpatrick, Watson, McGaughy, Keliher, Burr and Mort support these beliefs. “It is psychologically unsound because: 1. “It seriously distorts the nature of individual differ- ences. People are not equally capable in all subjects or lines of activity. Differences in emotional adjust- ment, personality type, condition the task of the teacher in working with the individual just as truly JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1938 THE PHILADELPHIA LOCAL EVALUATES A NEW PROPOSAL as do differences in intelligence. Such a sectioning as is here proposed gives the illusion of dealing with only a small difference and has left almost as wide a range of individual problems as would be found in an unselected group. The proposal pretends to sim- plify adjustment to individual differences and does so by ignoring most of the important individual dif- ferences.” (Dr. Goodwin Watson, Columbia University, in a special statement issued to the Professional Problems Committee of the American Federation of Teachers, Local 192.) 2. There is a host of evidence which proves that such factors as socio-economic environment, linguistic background and physical condition (Otto Klineberg, Race Differences) have a definite effect on I. Q. A child lacking in cultural experience and in familiar- ity with the language will be relegated to the “dull” group where the limited curriculum offered would perpetuate his original handicaps. 3. Many errors of judgment may arise from the fact that: a. The true measure of a child’s ability would require repeated testing in all fields of ability which are important for homogeneous grouping. According to Dr. McGaughy in An Evaluation of the Ele- mentary School this would be completely out of the question both from the standpoint of the time required of pupils and teachers and of the expense which would be involved. b. Tests now available are inadequate for testing all abilities. c. Tests must frequently be administered and scores interpreted by persons who are not thoroughly trained in this field of specialization. As a result of the above conditions, Drs. Burr and West and many others in studies on homogeneous grouping assert that it is impossible to secure neity through the use of any combination of the k 4 intelligence tests and achievement tests, even though those supposedly objective measures are supplemented by teacher judgment (McGaughy. ) Is It Democratic? We believe that the Works proposal would create an undemocratic situation in the schools for the following reasons: 1. If we are to do more than lip service to John Dewey’s philosophy that “school is life,” then schools should be so administered as to eliminate artificiality and reproduce the relationships and situations which are 13 desirable in adult society. A division into three groups on the basis of ability is unlifelike and artificial. 2. A division into “bright”, “dull”, and “normal” groups would bring about a stratification of classes in school which might serve as a pattern for stratification in society. 3. “Bright” children would get an exaggerated idea of their abilities and “dull” and even “normal” children would develop inferiority complexes. J. F. Roger, M. D., consultant in Hygiene and Specialist in Health Education in the Office of Education in Washington, D. C., says that “the attempt to get into higher ability groups results in an illness as real as measles and un- fortunately far more drawn out and full of misery.” 4. According to such educational leaders as Dewey and Kilpatrick, the philosophy of modern education throws the emphasis of the school away from the mastery of subject matter and focuses its attention on the development of human, social traits. Homo- geneous grouping places its emphasis on and uses as its basis for grouping intellectual achievement rather than personality and social development. 5. The leaders of our future society cannot be educated for such leadership in a school organization in which they are segregated from the group with whom they are to live and over whom they are to exercise their leadership. According to Dr. William C. Bagley “the Shall We qualities making for democratic leadership, far from being exclusively intellectual qualities, are not even predominantly so. They are rather ‘human’ qualities such as integrity, industry, persistence, courage and loyalty.” (School and Society, April 6, 1922) The American Federation of Teachers therefore recom- mends instead of the parallel curriculum plan a program including: 1. Smaller classes, which would permit the teacher to truly cater to all individual differences. 2. An enriched curriculum, offering varied experiences and vital content which will fit the individual to par- ticipate in society. End of a Bee fh. , ae ee compulsory | 5 is ig | 2 ee a. S 4 attendance €| 3--—|-5 Ee ‘2/3 i#ie |} — “y period E i'Saisu\ 6/8)! & iS ai os 3 EEE S18) 8 lsh -_ 2 melseiola! od loa Beginning <— | een |g of 7th grade | 8 Dull | Normal | Bright S € 20% | 65% | 15% | | Elementary Beginning <— «| a ea — ‘ School of 4th grade Primary Unit | (Kg. to 4th Grade) | | PROFESSIONAL PROBLEMS COMMITTEE PHILADELPHIA LOCAL 192 Affiliate ? Continuing the AFL-CIO Forum for Union Members This is a continuation of the discussion forum on affiliation which has appeared in the past two issues of The American Teacher. The editors urge wide participation in this forum. The present issue contains a supplement on the CIO prepared by a committee at the request of the last convention of the AFT. The next issue will contain a similar supplement on the AFL. These two careful, factual studies are impor- tant contributions to our discussion. FOR THE AFFIRMATIVE: To the Editors: The labor-conscious Negro teacher in America has a special interest in the question of the affiliation of the AFT with the CIO. This special interest arises from the fact that the CIO represents the first opportunity that the Negro worker by and large has had to become an integral part of the American labor movement,—to fight for and share in the benefits to organized labor. Under the obsolete craft union structure of the A. F. of L. there was no place for the great mass of unskilled Negro workers, and as a general rule the small minority of skilled and semi-skilled Negro workers admitted to the Federation were isolated in weak Jim Crow locals. As a consequence of this virtual exclusion of the Negro from the ranks of organized labor, both he and the white worker have suffered. It is not necessary to enter here into a discussion of the various forms of special exploitation of the black worker, or to demonstrate how this condition has operated against the white 14 worker, whether through the vicious practice of employing Negroes as strike-breakers or through the more subtle manifestations of the divide-and-rule principle. This is an old story. The CIO stands for the unionization of our millions of unorgan- ized workers, black as well as white, unskilled as well as skilled. Its principle of industrial organization, the organization of all workers in a plant or industry upon an equal and democratic basis, means the realization of that complete unity of labor which in turn means a powerful labor movement. That this is true is proved by the re- markable growth and achievements of the CIO during the two years of its existence. The record speaks for itself. Negroes constitute a goodly number of the hundreds of thousands of workers who have been organized and who have reaped the benefits of collective bar- gaining in the various CIO industries—steel, automobile, cannery, tobacco, maritime, restaurant, laundry, agriculture, etc. If these gains are possible among industrial workers they are also possible among white collar and professional workers—and teachers. Already the federations of newspaper men, technicians, office and professional workers, government workers, and state, county and municipal employees have enlisted under the banner of the CIO. Will the teachers follow? Certainly, in spite of the progress made in the AFT in recent years, the slogan “organization of the unorganized” applies to them. And especially does it apply to the underpaid and tenureless Negro teachers in our southern THE AMERICAN TEACHER oOo *. w& > ge Se oo ce ow J from even lities and com- pram er to ences par- dary ool ntary ool AITTEE L192 Jegroes of the organ- ed. Its vorkers ans the leans a the re- O years itute a o have ve bar- annery, ey are nicians, l state, nner of of the nization t apply outhern ACHER schools and colleges. In education as in other fields of labor there must be organization of all workers if there is to be effective union progress. In view of these facts and in view of the great success of the CIO the question of whether the AFT should affiliate with the CIO can- not be considered debatable. The A. F. of L., in its present struc- ture and with its present leadership, cannot develop the united organi- zation of all labor. The CIO can and has already shown the way. It is time for the teachers to catch up with the vanguard of labor. W. A. Hunton, Local 440, Howard University * To the Editors: For many years the Teachers Union has been one of the fine forces for progress in American life. The public policies we have advocated for the schools, for the teaching profession, and for the under- privileged in America, haye won us a place of respect and leadership out of all proportion to our size. More than once groups like ours have won a name for them- selves, only to drop out of sight because when a test of some magnitude came they were not quite equal to it. The AFT faces such a crucial test today. I do not say that we will deteriorate and disappear if we do not throw in our lot with the CIO at this time. More than likely we should continue to grow in numbers, though more slowly than necessary. We shou'd undoubtedly reap many benefits from the work of the CIO even though refusing to join with it. The CIO unions, we have found, are very generous in their attitude toward us. In good trade union fashion, they offer their support when we need it, whether we are one of them or not. It is conceivable, should the labor movement remain divided for a long time, that we might calculatingly wait until the CIO had proceeded so far in its organization of the vast body of unorgan- ized workers in America (which the A. F. of L. has refused to do anything about) that we might be almost the last leaf on the old A. F. of L. tree. If we would but wait that long we could be certain none would be able to criticize us for our impetuosity or our ultra-progressivism. But is so faint-hearted and mean a way our way? The CIO stands for the principles we have always believed in. It stands for organizing the unorganized, for an all-inclusive Ameri- can labor movement that will embrace workers of all skills and all categories. It stands for raising the standard of living of the entire American people, so that there shall be a bottom below which wages are not allowed to fall. It advances a program of progressive legislation to which all progressive people can heartily agree. It rejects the business unionism characteristic of the A. F. of L. since its formation, which for so long made of the American labor move- ment a narrow, self-seeking clique of the privileged few. No one suggests that all the members of the American Federation of Labor are like their leaders. I believe that if a referendum of A. F. of L. members could be taken, despite the misrepresentation of the CIO by the A. F. of L. leaders, we should get a vast majority in favor of unity of the labor movement based on the principles and program of the CIO. In most of the unions of the A. F. of L. the members have no such opportunity to express their will. Where then does that place us? So long as there was no move- ment that advanced our position, we could remain a part of the A. F. of L. despite the tragic ways in which it disregarded the well- being of American workers. But now there is a movement, well- organized, with a larger membership than the A. F. of L., embracing the most significant sections of labor in the country, with whose program we are in complete agreement. Do we not stand to lose our integrity if we refuse to throw all our weight on the side of the CIO program now? Can we explain our timidity after the gains have been won, and we come forward and ask to share in the benefits? Can we continue to play a significant part in progress if we reject the opportunity to join our forces with the progressive labor movement that has emerged with such astonishing strength and promise ? KATHARINE LUMPKIN Local 230, Smith College JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1938 FOR THE NEGATIVE: Resolution Relating to the Relationship of the American Federation of Teachers to the Committee for Industrial Organization WHEREAS, certain proposed amendments to the constitution of the American Federation of Teachers involving affiliation with the Committee for Industrial Organization would, if adopted, do great injury to us, the organized teachers of the Canal Zone, And WHEREAS such affiliation would lead to our suspension from the Panama Canal Metal Trades Council and Central Labor Union from whom we enjoy our greatest backing and support and through whom we can exercise our great- est influence in labor and community affairs, And WHEREAS such affiliation would compel us to disband as a local of the American Federation of Teachers and reorganize as a lodge of the American Federation of Government Employees, as the Committee for Industrial Organiza- tion has no strength whatever on the Canal Zone, And WHEREAS we believe affiliation with the Committee for Industrial Organization would only widen the breach existing in the ranks of labor at a time when labor solidarity is needed most, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that we, the members of Local 227 of the American Federation of Teachers, go on record as opposing affiliation with the Committee for Industrial Organization and warn our national officers that such affiliation would force us to give up our mem- bership in the American Federation of Teachers, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge our national officers to take all possible steps to aid in reuniting the ranks of labor, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we oppose any and all special assessments of the American Federation of Labor for the purpose of fighting the Committee for Industrial Organization, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Secretary send copies of these resolutions to our national secretary and to the secretary of the Panama Canal Metal Trades Council. The above resolutions were adopted (by unanimous vote) at a General Meeting of Local 227 of the American Federation of Teachers (Canal Zone) held on Thursday, Oct. 14, 1937. Hervey C. Prentiss, President Rocer C. Hackett, Secretary * To the Editors: In response to your request for expressions of opinions on the momentous question of withdrawing from the A. F. of L. and joining the CIO, I wish to state my emphatic disapproval of the resoiution adapted by the AFT convention in Madison. I am thor- oughly in sympathy with industrial unionism. Our own Local 5 is practically an industrial union. Eventually labor, if it is to survive, will have to organize vertically. The labor movement can only lose by disunion. Its enemies encourage scission and secession. Two years ago we, in New York, had a case of jitters. We were nearly wrecked. A certain discontented element, after an unsuc- cessful attempt to have our charter revoked, withdrew from the union, hoping to paralyze it. For a variety of reasons we survived and grew mighty, but we should welcome the seceders to our fold whenever they see fit to return. In France, soon after the war, the Confédération Général du Travail broke in two and went into decline. After one year the two bodies had fewer members than the original federation. The old guard in the A. F. of L. looks at us with suspicion. We shall be of greater use to the CIO and to the unity of labor by re- maining with the A. F. of L. and exerting persistent pressure, jointly with the rank and file of other unions, in favor of reuniting the two wings. The Nation of Nov. 13, 1937, p. 518, has a very cogent paragraph advocating unity. Surely organized labor has no friend more true and impartial. It is never too late to secede if it becomes inevitable. For the present let us remain with the family and work for reconciliation. Myron Zas_Low Passaic, New Jersey A Federal Adult Education Program HE WPA and Adult Education section of the AFT, Ti a report to the President’s Advisory Committee on Education, has urged the United States govern- ment to launch a large-scale program of adult education, divorced from relief. The text of the report follows: The educational projects of the Works Progress Admin- istration have made an enormously valuable contribution to the cultural level of the United States. Important educa- tional services have been provided to broad masses of our citizens who lacked the funds to pay for them. Cities and states that had slashed educational facilities during the depression or that had never possessed adequate facilities, have benefited greatly from this program. It was a sad commentary on our collective intfljigence that in 1933 there were 200,000 unemployed tgafhers in this country, while millions needed the informatipn that they were trained to impart. In the first four years of the WPA adult education pro- gram from May, 1933, to May, 1937, four million students attended classes taught by 100,000 teachers. In the spring of 1937 almost a quarter of a million men and women were enrolled in illiteracy classes alone. The parent education and college extension programs supplied a genuine need for information, as did the workers’ education program and the other WPA educational activities. This program, however, has been seriously hampered by two factors. The first of these is the policy of placing relief first and making education secondary. The program, under present regulations, is denied the services of many thousands of trained teachers simply because they are not eligible for relief. The second factor, equally disastrous in its results, is the temporary nature of the program. This has been made even worse by the uncertainty as to whether the neces- sary funds will be made available from month to month. Newspaper reports from Washington indicate a $500,000,000 slash in the relief appropriation for the next fiscal year. The educational projects will be in severe danger if this plan is adhered to. We believe that the WPA educational projects, operating under difficult conditions, have demonstrated their value to the country. We believe that they should be continued and expanded, under circumstances that will permit the greatest possible service to be performed. This can be done only if federally, sponsored education is removed from its present status as a relief activity, and made a permanent part of our governmental program. Education for adults is vital in a democracy. Economic necessity forces millions of young people into industry long before they have acquired the training that citizens should 16 Expanding Educ have. Especially do children of working class parents suffer in this respect. The children of under-privileged groups, such as the Negroes, need particular assistance. Whole sections of the country, especially in the South, lack ade- quate educational facilities, and possess limited means. The needed teachers are available now or can be trained. Cur- rent economic trends make such a program vital, both to the teachers and to the groups whom they serve. ~ A federal adult education program, divorced from relief, is essential if the cultural level of the masses of American citizens is to be raised. In a democracy this is not a lux- ury, but a necessity. The teachers are available, the de- mand for their services exists, and the need is great. The richest country in the world can easily afford an adequate program. Indeed, it cannot afford not to have it. Delegates from four WPA locals, and the WPA vice- president at a regional conference held in Philadelphia on January 9, conferred with Mrs. Mary Foley Grossman, chairman of the National Legislative committee on the ways and means of assuring such a program.. It was decided that a bill should be drawn up including adult education, workers’ education, recreation, and nurs- ery schools; that these services should become a permanent part of the school system; that the necessary money should be distributed by the federal government to the states, without any requirement for matching; that administration should be entrusted to a commission with state, federal, and labor representatives; that the present personnel should be used, with qualifications for new teachers to be left to the commission; that the matters of appropriation, sal- aries, and tenure should be decided by the national legislative committee. This bill, like our federal aid bill, is an im- portant part of the AFT program for the expansion of educa- tional opportunities. THE AMERICAN TEACHER suffer ups, Thole ade- Cur- th to elief, rican lux- > de- juate vice- a on man, | the ~HER al Opportunities The Federal Arts Bill ULTURAL DEVELOPMENT, until the inception of the C WPA Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration, was limited only to those whose wealth, position and leisure permitted them to enjoy the benefits of art. With art their special province, they gave to it their own stamp of eclecticism. Today the barriers created by cultural snobbery are at last being surmounted. The dead weight that cursed the arts, tipping the balance towards the privileged, is removed. The scale of culture has been adjusted to greater accuracy. Correcting the unequal distribution of cultural advantages, the WPA Federal Arts Projects are creating a firm founda- tion for the future of art in this country, while they pre- serve for safekeeping, beyond the assaults of time and dis- use, our heritage from the past. What has to be done to keep alive this vital, ener- gizing force that is changing the picture of culture in this country? What is to be done to assure the men, women and children of America that the rich, new experiences they have enjoyed through the Federal Art, Theatre and Music Projects may continue unabated? What is to be done to guarantee the children in our schools today that the magi- cal world given meaning and form through painting, play acting and music-making will not disappear in the dust of a cultural drought! The answer to all these questions is the Coffee Federal Arts Bill, providing for the establishment of a permanent Bureau of Fine Arts, which will make certain the permanence of the Federal Arts Projects. The bill’s declaration of policy States: The Federal Arts Projects have proven conclusively that there exist in the United States the potentialities for a great and flourishing culture, which will, if properly developed, make our country a greater Nation and render upon our people as a whole the occasion to exer- cise with democratic equity their cultural aspirations . . . JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1938 The conditions which made the arts the jealously guarded possessions of the few “have undergone material changes, which have brought into the cultural life of the Nation democratic implications and practices never before known. For the first time millions of our people have begun to re- ceive the benefits of cultural enlightenment beyond an elementary education. . .” Through Federal patronage the arts have been decen- tralized and made available to the entire country. Mural paintings and easel paintings depicting stirring events in American life have made our schools more beautiful and of greater community interest . . . people have attended the theatre in their own community where heretofore no theatre had existed . . . Orches- tras now play in rural communities and in playgrounds there are now all manner and types of classes for children in the arts, crafts and puppet theaters. These have proved to be a great deterrent to juvenile delinquency. Opportunities for musical education are wide- spread and popular . . . The folk art of America, an integral part of our earlier national life has again received encouragement . . . The arts are no longer enshrouded in awe-inspiring shad- ows. Community centers in rural sections of the coun- try are providing all manner of programs that augment and complement the schoolroom studies of children. Through self-expression they are acquiring an under- standing and appreciation of art that provides for a deeper understanding of its significance in their everyday life. In remote sections of the country where there had been little or no opportunity to see paintings, sculpture and prints, to see actors unfold a dramatic tale, or musicians recreate the classics of opera, symphony and song, a meeting ground has been provided for the artist and those who see his work, bringing them into a closer, more understanding relationship. It is no longer consistent with the purposes of democratic Govern- ment to render this program subject to the limitations of the present work relief program. Under this present program it has been impos- sible to establish reasonable tenure and therefore there is required a constant revision of plans and operations due to the emergency character of these appropriations. The personnel employed upon the projects cannot work to the best of their creative ability while subject to momentary dismissal and while under the knowledge that at any time, the public which they serve may be deprived of the benefits of the national services of the projects as a whole and the Nation not granted the assurance of permanency of development for its culture. To accomplish this, there is needed a long range and adequate plan. . . It is the obligation of the Government to recognize that culture as represented by the arts is a social necessity consistent with democ- racy, and also to recognize that such culture must be encouraged and developed in the interest of the general welfare. Nationwide response to the Federal Arts Bill has reached tremendous proportions. From far flung sections of the country educators have rallied in support of the bill and their endorsements emphasize the significance of the bill to the world of education. The conservation of the benefits provided by the Federal Arts Projects is the concern of the Federal Arts Bill, and it is surely the responsibility of all culturally minded citi- zens to urge its passage. 17 in South America. My main task was to observe the political situation in Brazil. I also briefly visited Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Haiti, Cuba, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Panama. In Brazil I found a country larger than the United States in the grip of what might be termed a South American brand of fascism. The teachers are unorgan- ized; strikes are illegal; freedom of speech, of press and of association is non-existent. No one has security. A simple telephone denunciation by anyone may be enough to cause an arrest. Once arrested the victim is held incommu- nicado. Political prisoners may be kept for two or three years before trial. Some are even tortured to death by the police. I talked with two teachers who had been arrested for some unknown reason. They were not communists but were kept for over a year in a jail reeking with vermin and jammed with many other prisoners. Eventually they were suddenly released without trial and with no explana- tion. All power is concentrated in the hands of President Vargas, the dictator. He can make laws by decree and after declaring a state of war, can alter the constitution at will. One of his most recent edicts declares that juries may be prosecuted and sent to jail if they bring in a verdict “contrary to the weight of evidence” or “grossly negligent”. The courts thus become a mockery. How is it possible for such things to happen? It is the old, old story of power and privilege which has been repeated over and over again. In Brazil 93 per cent of the people are relatively penniless, while seven per cent of the middle and upper classes control the wealth and power. This small oligarchy does not provide education for the masses. Some 80 per cent of the children are not in school and remain illiterate for life. The schools that do exist are ill-adapted to the needs of the common people. The present Brazilian dictatorship forces every teacher to spend the first five minutes of every school day edu- cating against communism. Since most teachers do not know what this means, the results are laughable. At present Tarzan and Tom Sawyer have been debarred! No wonder Carleton Beals in his recent book on South America declares that as far as education is concerned Brazil ranks last. Now all of this may seem a far cry from the United States, but is it? Does not Brazil magnify to sordid | HAVE Just returned from flying over 15,000 miles Brazil ls a Warning @ THE PRESIDENT'S PAGE proportions some factors which are latently present in our own country? To be sure we have far less illiteracy, a democracy and better schools, but one must never forget the appalling educational darkness of many rural areas in our country or the inequalities between our states. We are not compelled to teach against communism but some twenty-two states do require loyalty oaths. Again, in actual practice the American teacher is circumscribed in what he can say in the social field. Latin or geometry may be relatively safe. But how about the social science instructor who fearlessly dissects the present economic order and attempts to make plain to the student the reali- ties of exploitation in a world of capitalism? We believe in America and the American people with all our hearts but this should not obliterate the fact that even here we are running a race between educational freedom and catastrophe. Uniess teachers organize and cooperate with organized labor in achieving their aims, they will, in the end, be impotent. We are in a race between war, revolution, and economic collapse on the one hand and peace, constructive change, and plenty for all on the other. Our main reliance must be on education with the hope that we may bring intelli- gent direction of the social process. If education becomes the lackey of the established order we are lost. In edu- cation we need to eliminate useless vestigial remains and focus attention on the realities of the contemporary world. Just as in Brazil the wealthy landowners oppose adequate school budgets, so in America at the least sign of recession many business interests demand retrenchment. We must dare to confront them with the necessity for in- creased educational opportunity for the sake of the child life of the nation. The world can see that education in Brazil is not free. In America we sometimes suffer from the illusion that we are freer than we are. It would be well in our schools to use the recent addresses of Secretary Ickes and Presi- dent Roosevelt. The only way to secure dynamic free education is through organization. Brazil is a warning. If we cannot organize, that means our freedom is an illusion. Democ- racy in the United States is not yet achieved. The specter of fascist dictatorship and war are too near the horizon. If we could but dramatize the real dangers of the present hour every member of the American Federa- tion of Teachers would feel impelled to act. JeroME Davis. THE AMERICAN TEACHER \GE our y,a rget is in some , in d in etry ence omic eali- with that onal and ims, ymic nge, nust telli- ymes edu- and rary pose n of ent. + in- hild free. t we ools resi- 1 is the era- HER Tt 5 Happen in g Now ner Man Bites Dog THE SALUTARY effect of Pennsylvania’s new tenure law may be noted in the news which came in November from the town of Bloomsburg. There the local autocrats of the school board had failed to give ten teachers new contracts and had been paying salaries below the legal minimum since 1935, although funds were suffi- cient. Now the board has been removed from office by a ruling of Judge Charles C. Evans for its failure to com- ply with the Tenure Act. Nazi Notes—from Germany AccoRDING TO a dispatch from Dresden, Germany, one of the major problems facing the Nationalist Socialist regime there is the drift away from the one and only Nazi greeting “Heil Hitler”. Germans, for some reason, are going back to the old salutations. Labor Front chiefs, with their usual perspicacity, have announced that anyone who does not “Heil Hitler” will be considered anti- Nazi and “outside the community of the German nation”. It is clear that the German worker does not appreciate what the regime is doing for him. For instance, his wages are raised by the device of cutting down the amount he pays into the insurance fund thus undermining his future security. The state, in turn, levies on the insurance fund for armaments and business escapes more taxes. So every- body is happy! Nazi Notes—from the USA POPULAR RESENTMENT against the open activities of avowed Nazis in this country has expressed itself in organized opposi- tion in several parts of the country during the last few months. Apparently, Ameri- cans of German descent don’t care much for the Nazis, if the reception which the midwestern regional conference of the “Amerika-Deutscher Volksbund” got in St. Louis can be judged. The last we heard the outfit was still looking for some one who would rent it a hall. In Cleveland, where JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1938 the Nazis work very closely with native fascist organiza- tions, another regional conference of the same organization was countered by mass meetings and picket lines. And at Southbury, Conn., a town assembly recently voted to deny Nazis the privilege of buying land near Southbury for a camp. Nazi organizations in this country are a part of a world network under directions of a Foreign Bureau in Ber- lin. According to Kurt Rosenfeld, exiled former Minister of Justice, 68 Nazi units here are divided into three regional divisions—37 in the Eastern, 17 in the Middlewestern, and 14 in the Western divisions. Federal Judge Upholds Religious Liberty IN AN IMPORTANT decision handed down by a Federal Court in December, Judge Albert B. Maris in Philadelphia held that school authorities have no right to expel pu- pils who refuse to salute the flag in oppo- sition to their religious convictions. Two years ago the children of William Gobitis, a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses, had been forced out of school by the school board of Minersville, Pa., for refusing the flag salute. In his decision Judge Maris, by citing the Pennsylvania Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment, demonstrated that the arbitrary action of the school authorities was a clear infringement of fundamental constitutional rights. He also said in his decision : To permit public officers to determine whether the views of individuals sincerely held and their acts sin- cerely undertaken on religious grounds are in fact based on convictions religious in character would be to sound the death knell of religious liberty. To such pernicious and alien doctrine this court can- not subscribe. Statistics for’ Teachers A REVISED REPORT issued by the National Education Association shows that 23 states now have teacher oath laws. The laws of some states are more stringent than others; Georgia, for example, has a law which makes the teacher subscribe to an oath to “refrain from indirectly or 19 directly subscribing to or teaching any theory of govern- ment, of economics or of social relations which is in- consistent with the fundamental principles of patriotism and high ideals of Americanism”. . . . A study made by Professor Harold F. Clark of Columbia reveals that the public school teacher has drawn an average salary of $1,350 in the years from 1920 to 1936. For doctors the average has been $4,850; lawyers, $4,730; and regular college teachers, $3,050. Draw your own conclusions! “Fordism" in Its Definite Version Ow DECEMBER 23, the National Labor Relations Board issued the report of its “. findings on the labor policies of the Ford Motor Company. In a 22,000 word docu- La ment, Ford is charged, briefly, with the following offenses against its workers: Dis- charging workers for union activities, forming a company union; vigilanteism against members of the auto work- ers union, and its accompanying brutality and invasion of civil rights; restraining in all ways the self-organization of Ford workers. The evidence carefully gathered and brought together constitute the full and final indictment of the labor policy of Ford before the American people. Flash— LATE IN DECEMBER the Supreme Court refused to review a decision of a Georgia State Court upholding the dismissal of a child for refusing to salute the flag. The effect of this decision is to leave this important question of civil and religious liberty in the hands of individual states. In Pennsylvania and California, dismissals of this kind have been opposed by the courts; but in Massachusetts, Georgia, New Jersey and New York, the highest courts (in New York the State Department of Education) have upheld dismissals arising out of local protests by parents whose religious convictions do not permit the salute and the vow of aliegiance. yap tH Catholic Girls Join the Japanese Boycott YouNG WOMEN of the College of New sal Rochelle, a school conducted by Catholic Se NON, Ursuline nuns, through the action initiated by the Peace Club of the college began a boycott of Japanese goods in November. The immediate effect was a noticeable increase in the popularity of cotton stockings and ankle socks among the student body. New Jersey Labor for Political Independence In DECEMBER Mayor Hague of Jersey City. took the headlines with his drive against the CIO. Not attended by so much publicity, at the same time organized labor and its allies in New Jersey rallied to form the American Labor Party of New Jersey. 369 union delegates at- tended the labor party convention. Of 164 organizations represented, 112 were CIO unions and 34 were A. F. of L. In a remarkable preamble to the resolution creating the party, the history of New Jersey under the domination of the old line parties was reviewed, and Mayor Hague’s government was called “a corrupt and un-American ma- chine”. The convention called for an increase in WPA wages and the WPA program, uniform relief throughout New Jersey, and an end to the anti-labor injunctions of the Chancery Court. In the words of the preamble: The time is here when the people are ready to throw off the chains of bondage and become free American citizens fighting for progress and against reaction. * A New School for Unionists IN NOVEMBER, the United Federal Work- ers of America announced the opening of a school in Washington for trade union members with a curriculum designed for labor. Range of subjects to be taught is wide—from economics and the history of labor to literature and dancing. Aside from its frank stand for the kind of education trade unionists will value most, the school is to be com- mended for its willingness to consult the interests of its students. The school extends the following invitation to its potential students: If you find that your personal interests have not found recognition in this catalogue let us know. The Federal Workers School is prepared to give a course in anything that is requested, provided there is a suffi- cient number of requests for the course. Oklahoma Inspects Its School Buses NINETY-SIX THOUSAND children are car- ried daily by school buses in the State of Oklahoma. This is not just one more “little known fact”. An inspection of the school buses has been started to eliminate unsafe vehicles. So far ten per cent of the buses examined have been found dangerous because of carbon monoxide fumes. The danger was lessened only by the fact that most of the buses were ramshackle affairs with broken windows! A new law prescribes minimum safety regulations for school buses. But what about school buses in other states? THE AMERICAN TEACHER ded ibor ican at- ions p* the tion ue’s ma- PA out ; of «row can rk - of ion for of ‘om ion )m- its to not of ore the ate the of ith ety The Teachers NATIONAL For the Unity of the AFL and CIO At its meeting in Chicago Dec. 29-31, the Executive Council of the AFT expressed the deep felt desire of our organization for unity in the ranks of labor. The following letter was sent to William Green. A copy of this letter was sent to John L. Lewis. NEWS Dear Brother Green: We are profoundly disturbed by the crisis developing all over our nation. Hundreds of thousands have been dismissed from em- ployment during the last few months, and renewed attacks are being made upon America’s educational system. Attempts to destroy the tax base of Philadelphia’s schools, the suggestion that 80 per cent of Chicago’s students be deprived of all opportunity for balanced education, recurrent challenges to teacher tenure, property tax limitation, indicate a concerted campaign against education. This simultaneous attack upon the right of Americans to employ- ment and education can only be met by a strong, united labor movement. To be effective in combatting its united enemies, American labor must attain not only unity, but unity on a basis that will ensure the organization of all unorganized workers in America. As steps to this end, we propose: 1. That all members of the CIO and A. F. of L. be brought into one organization ; 2. That unity be preserved by suitable democratic structures and practices; and 3. That the principle of industrial unionism be accepted as the form of organization of workers where demanded by conditions in modern industry. Because these proposals are essential for real and lasting unity, we the Executive Council of the American Federation of Teachers, urge you to adopt them for continued negotiations with the Com- mittee for Industrial Organization. On behalf of our Executive Council and membership, I take this opportunity of conveying fraternal greetings in the sincere hope that the New Year will witness an early and successful conclusion to your efforts to reunite the divided body of American labor. Yours fraternally, Irvin R. KOUENZL1, Secretary-Treasurer. Part of this letter will be embodied in a petition addressed to Mr. Green which members of the AFT in every local will be asked to sign. No action was taken at this time to send out a referen- dum on affiliation with the CIO. It was voted that a spe- cial meeting of the Executive Council to consider this question could be called upon petition of five members of the Council. Fact finding reports on the CIO and A. F. of L. will be printed as supplements to THE AMERICAN TEACHER. JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1938 nion in ction Greetings from the American Association of University Professors The Executive Council sent greetings and an invitation for joint action to the American Association of University Professors meeting in Indianapolis. The following reply was received from the AAUP: The Council of the American Association of University Professors extends its greetings to the Executive Council of the American Federation of Teachers and welcomes the spirit of cooperation in the solution of our common problems in the educational field. This council and a special committee just established will gladly explore the possibilities of associated action for the more effective realization of the social function of the teacher in a democratic society. ArTHUR N. HoLtcomBe Rospert E. MattrHEws Epwarp C. KirKLAND Special Committee of the Council. Academic Freedom Cases The Executive Council sent a letter to Governor Elmer A. Benson of Minnesota commending his action in urging the regents of the University of Minnesota to reinstate Professor William A. Schaper who was dismissed for his anti-war attitude before the declaration of war in 1917. A letter was also sent to the board of regents of the University. All college locals and Minnesota locals were asked to send reso- lutions for Mr. Schaper’s reinstatement. It voted a request that the National Academic Freedom Committee devote special attention to the legal battle of Local 368 in the test case of the tenure law of Louisiana, and to the cases of Chisholm and Hamilton Counties in West Virginia. Publicity was authorized calling upon teach- ers to organize their ranks and join with organized labor in defense of freedom. The American Teacher The Executive Council voted for a paid editor in prin- ciple for THe AMERICAN TEACHER and set up a committee to bring in nominations at its next meeting. Six members from various parts of the country were added to the present Editorial Board which will continue to function till the next Executive session. Miss Celia Lewis was elected secretary of the Editorial Board. On policy, it was voted that the primary function of THe AMERICAN TEACHER is to contribute to the health and growth of the organization; that THe AMERICAN TEACHER further the cause of “Democracy in Education—Education for Democracy”, and that THe AMERICAN TEACHER should, 2! therefore publish material which helps to give the profes- sion its social orientation; that THz AMERICAN TEACHER continue the CIO-AFL forum; that news items and edi- torials specifically involving locals and regions be referred to the local and the regional Vice President involved for verification of fact and local strategy before publication. The Council adopted a resolution which “enthusiastically commends the conscientious and excellent work of the Edi- torial Committee of THE AMERICAN TEACHER.” Other Actions of Executive Council The Executive Council. established committees on edu- cational policies, vocational schools, reorganization of per capita payments, convention arrangements, and a sub-com- mittee to study group insurance. Mr. Kuenzli and Mr. Wattenberg, publicity director, were authorized to prepare a statement on the importance of per capita payments which is to go to every local. Additional funds were allotted to various regions for organizational purposes. Experimental News Service Established Mr. William W. Wattenberg, national publicity director, is establishing a clip sheet bulletin. The clip sheet will con- tain news of the national office and of the several locals. It will perform the function of keeping local officials in- formed of developments in all parts of the country. Dur- ing the experimental period the clip sheet will be available on a strictly exchange basis to all locals that cooperate by. sending in copies of their publications. Those locals not publishing bulletins may secure the service by period- ically furnishing information about their activities. Publi- cations and letters should be addressed to Mr. William W. Wattenberg, Library Plaza Hotel, Evanston, Ill. A Weapon for Academic Freedom The National Academic Freedom Committee has issued the first number of a monthly bulletin, Academic Freedom, intended to coordinate the assistance various locals can give on cases of discrimination. Leading articles concern the Jewett case in California, the Flint dismissals and the Lieb- man case. NEWS LOCALS WELCOME TO NEW LOCALS: No. 539 Brainerd Federation of Adult Education Teach- . ers, Brainerd, Minnesota. No. 540 Rockford Federation of Teachers, Rockford, IIli- nois. No. 541 Inland Empire Federal Teachers Union, Spokane, Washington No. 542 Havre Federation of Teachers, Havre, Montana. from 22 No. 543 Winnebago Co. Federal Teachers Union, Rock- ford, Illinois. No. 544 Winnipeg Hebrew-Jewish Teachers Association, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Educational Program Adopted by Minnesota Farmer-Labor Association At an educational conference called by the Farmer- Labor Association of the Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota, an extensive educational program was incor- porated in the proceedings of the meetings. This pro- gram calls for: 1. encouraging unionization of teachers; 2. full payment of supplemental state aid to schools; 3. establishment of adequate retirement allowance; 4. ade- quate state support for health education; 5. adoption of state tenure law; 6. limitation of class size; 7. equalization of educational opportunity through state aid; 8. discontinu- ation of state appropriations for teacher-training depart- ments in high schools; 9. extension of adult education through vocational training, workers and farmers education, general cultural education; 10. increase of democracy in school administration; 11. state insurance fund for all forms of school insurance, such as fire and liability insurance. Governor Benson was commended for his insistence upon a progressive educational program. Local 5 Wins Court Decision In a sweeping decision rendered Nov. 30, Supreme Court Justice Isidor Wasservogel upheld all of the con- tentions of the Joint Tenure Defense Committee, of which the College Teachers Union, Local 537, formerly a sec- tion of Local 5, is a unit, regarding the constitutionality of the New York State tenure law and ordered the statement of Dr. Miriam Becker at Hunter College with full back pay. This decision if upheld by the Court of Appeals will estab- lish the tenure of teachers in the New York city colleges as well as the constitutionality of the law itself... . . Local 5 has initiated a campaign to secure the same working conditions for teachers in trade schools as those which exist for academic high school teachers. The same status is guaranteed under the law, but in actual fact the trade school teachers of New York work a six to eight hour day. Some trade school teachers have gone back to junior high schools with lower pay, rather than work under the strain of trade school conditions. Chicago Wins Lengthened School Term As a result of a campaign led by the Chicago Teachers Union, the school term has been lengthened two weeks and the 15 per cent direct salary cut has been reduced to 7% per cent. This restores one-half of the reduction made in 1933 when the Board of Education slashed school services and cut salaries. The Chicago Federation of Labor has named C. L. Vestal of Local 1 to its committee on voca- THE AMERICAN TEACHER me on- ich of of ay. ab- as has ons nic der of ide ols of ers eks to ces has iER tional education which is conferring with the Superintendent and the Board of Education on plans for Chicago’s schools. Philadelphia Faces Retrenchment The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled in a suit initiated by the mayor of Philadelphia that the Board of Education does not have the power to levy more than 8% mills in taxes. An emergency decree permits the board to collect taxes at the rate of 914 mills for this year but for- bids an increase in the tax rate necessary to keep the schools at an adequate level. It directs, moreover, that by 1939 the tax rate must be limited to 8% mills. As a result the schools of Philadelphia have sustained severe retrench- ment: 1. salary cuts; 2. lengthening of teaching day; 3. elimination of night schools; 4. no appropriations for school libraries; 5. no new appointments, but consolidation of classes to fill vacancies; 6. reduction of services such as glasses for needy pupils. To meet this situation, Local 192 has called upon Governer Earle, in a petition signed with 25,000 names, to summon a special session of the legislature to provide relief for the schools of the state. Other teacher organizations have followed the example of the union and now the School Board has made a similar request. Successful School Levy Campaign in Cincinnati Through the vigorous campaign of Local 479, with the support of labor leaders and several school board candi- dates, the Cincinnati, O., school levy was carried by a small majority in the municipal elections. The School Bond Issue for building purposes, requiring a 65% vote, was defeated. Because of the failure of the school levy in 1936, Cincinnati schools closed early for an extended “economy” Christmas vacation. Elyria Local Ballots on Proposed Activities In its December bulletin, Local 334, Elyria, O., has published a ballot on proposed activities for the school year 1937-38. Though the ballot is not considered by the bulletin as giving a conclusive picture of preference, the largest vote went to the following: 1. pay for sum- mer school and travel; 2. single salary schedule; 3. pay on twelve months basis; 4. forums on educational and social problems. North Shore Local Adopts Policy on University Broadcasts The College Section of the North Shore, IIl., Teachers Union, Local 460, has adopted a constructive policy in re- gard to radio broadcasts by faculty members of North- western University. Faculty members are continually asked by the University to give radio broadcasts, but the Uni- versity has adopted no policy for compensation, so that the only reward for the time and effort spent in prepara- tion is personal publicity. The college section of Local JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1938 460 has submitted the following recommendations: 1. that faculty members might be expected, as part of their public service function, to take part in one broadcast each year without compensation; 2. that professors or instructors conducting a series of broadcasts should receive a reduc- tion in their teaching load equivalent to the time consumed in preparing for the broadcasts; 3. that for those faculty members appearing frequently on programs, but not often enough to be relieved of a course, either the time be ac- cumulated towards reduction in load or monetary re- muneration be made. Columbus Proposes Democratic Appointments to Board of State University At the request of the Ohio State Federation of Teachers, a committee of the Columbus Federation of Teachers, Local 438, has drawn up a statement of principles as to qualifications for a trustee of a state university. Accord- ing to the bulletin of Local 438, this statement is being circulated in order that “an enlightened public opinion towards the functions of a people’s university be pro- moted.” The statement proposes that “the governor set the precedent of selecting trustees in a democratic manner by inviting nominations from qualified groups such as those engaged in the teaching profession and that the selection be made after a public hearing on the qualifications of the candidates.” Wood County Local Sponsors Nutrition Project Local 382, Wood County, W. Va., has promoted the idea of a nutrition project, which would meet the needs of the many undernourished children in the schools. The pro- posal was presented by Local 382 to the Wood County Central Trades and Labor Council, which endorsed it. After conference between representatives of the Central Trades and the directors of the Community Chest, it was agreed that the Community Chest would supply money and food. WPA will furnish labor for preparation of the food and the Board of Education has agreed to furnish heat, light, buildings and transportation of materials. The project, which has aroused much favorable comment, will serve a daily lunch to approximately 1,000 children for a period of four months. WPA Carries Grievances to Washington On December 2 to 4, Mr. Joel Seidman, national vice- president for WPA, together with Vice-President Doxey A. Wilkerson, was in conference with leading officials of the Works Progress Administration. In part the purpose of the conference was to ascertain, if possible, the plans for the future of WPA and to present a number of griev- ances. On behalf of the Cleveland local, complaints re- garding priority and dismissals were presented and the local is being asked to send specific cases, with some assurance that the persons will be reinstated. A request from the Philadelphia local for a 10 per cent pay increase was likewise presented, since project workers in Pennsyl- vania are not paid at the same rate as in New York City, Milwaukee and certain parts of Ohio. The WPA vice- president has also requested that the President’s Advisory Committee on Education schedule a hearing on WPA. Chairman Reeves replied that no more hearings are being held, but requested that the WPA and Adult Education section of the AFT submit a statement. Cleveland Labor Saves School Revenues Organized labor, in cooperation with Local 279 of the American Federation of Teachers, has prevented three moves which might have crippled the schools of Cleve- land, O. An act providing $2,000,000 of tax refunds was declared unconstitutional by the Common Pleas Court. The State Tax Commission ruled adversely in a test case look- ing to a large-scale downward revision of valuations. A charter amendment giving the city power to levy 5% mills outside tax limitations was defeated at the polls even though this measure had the support of the Chamber of Commerce, the Citizens’ League, and the local newspapers. Buffalo Local Seeks to Mandate Salary Restoration Following the pay restoration in Buffalo, N. Y., Local 377 seeks to make this restoration secure through amend- ments to the state education laws. The local has received word from N. Y. Assemblyman Ehrlich that he is prepar- ing a bill that would effect this purpose. In conference with Mr. Ehrlich early in December, the legislative com- mittee of Local 377 agreed that the fullest cooperation of all teacher groups in support of this legislation should be secured by the local. Many teachers had been under the impression that the restoration could not be taken away from them by action of the city government. That teacher sentiment is now aroused for this legislation to mandate salary restoration is evident in the unanimous support of the measure voted by the faculties of three Buffalo high schools. Los Angeles Labor Supports Teachers at Budget Hearing In petitioning the Los Angeles, Cal., Board of Edu- cation for salary restoration, Local 430 was fully sup- ported by local labor. At the budget hearing, when the budget was under attack from many sides, representatives of the Los Angeles labor movement took the floor and supported the contention of the School Board and the teachers that increases were necessary. . . . Local 430 is continuing the fight for full salary restoration, and is con- ducting a campaign for reduction of teacher load. Under teacher load the local specifies, in addition to number and size of classes, “all those petty daily annoyances which .. . tend to make working conditions harder”, such as “in- clusion of sub-normal children in regular classes, addi- tional playground duty, thousands of reports, lack of proper instructional materials.” 24 Akron Local Protests Lifting of CLU Charter Protests of Local 287 against the revocation of the charter of the Central Labor Union of Summit County, Akron, O., were received by the Executive Council of the A. F. of L. during the Denver Convention. The CIO unions of Akron had been expelled from the Central La- bor Union in accordance with the mandate issued by Wil- liam Green, but a coordination committee was subse- quently formed to maintain cooperation and prevent raid- ing and open hostilities. The charter of the CLU was lifted by A. F. of L. organizer H. A. Bradley following an address which the CLU president, Wilmer Tate, deliv- ered at the convention of the United Rubber Workers in Akron. According to Mr. Chalmers Stewart, president of AFT Local 287, organizer Bradley assumed the chair of the Central Labor Union and conducted the explusion in an undemocratic manner. Local 287 has been active in unity efforts and in opposition to the revocation of the charter. Hammond Teachers Maintain Salary Status The brief of the Hammond, Ind., Teachers Union was presented to the state tax board by Mr. Carl Mullen, presi- dent of the Indiana State Federation of Labor. While no definite statement was made by Governor Townsend or the board, the local has been given to understand that their request will be complied with and that the part of the budget pertaining to teachers salaries will not be dis- turbed. Mr. Mullen also informed Governor Townsend that the State Federation of Labor would not countenance attacks upon collective bargaining rights of teachers and janitors. Governor Townsend concurred in this position. The teachers’ salaries were not cut. Howard Local Plans Educational Meetings Local 440, Howard University, Washington, D. C., has announced a series of recreational and educational meet- ings to take place throughout the year. The bulletin of the local states: “These programs are designed for the explicit purpose of acquainting our membership and the community with the latest developments on the labor, po- litical, and economic fronts, and the teacher’s relationship to them. Attention will be given to socio-economic analyses, to descriptions of Negro higher education, to salaries and tenure, and the relation of these matters to Howard.” The local is also working out plans for organization of teachers, and for involving the local more closely with the community, especially with other Negro labor groups. Bennington Local Issues Important Statement In view of an erroneous Associated Press Dispatch con- cerning the Bennington, Vt., Teachers Union, Local 491, the following statement has been issued by the local: “Last April a committee of the Bennington Local 491 be- gan a series of classes with a small group of workers from several Bennington mills. After the class had been meet- ing for about a month, an organizer was sent into Ben- THE AMERICAN TEACHER wetSFa = °¢ nington by the Textile Workers Organizing Committee. It seemed inadvisable for the Teachers Union to be associated with this group at a time when their interests had turned almost exclusively to questions of joining unions, and the class was temporarily abandoned. It was agreed at that time that if and when a group of workers, organized or unorganized, wishes to organize another class, we should be glad to resume our relationship with them. During the summer all but one of the large mills, and some of the smaller ones, were organized under the CIO and con- tracts signed. In the fall we were requested to provide instruction for one or more classes. We were also invited to send a delegate to the central body, composed of representatives of all the labor unions in Bennington. All of them, with the exception of the Teachers Union, were affiliated with the CIO. At the time of our becoming affiliated with the Central Council, the secretary of the Teachers Union was instructed to write to William Green, urging that all possible steps be taken toward attaining unity among all American labor organizations, and citing our affiliation with the local CIO unions as evidence of our conviction of the importance of such unity. The local newspapers felt that such action on our part was news- worthy and printed a statement prepared by us. It was accurately headlined, using the phrases ‘helpful hand’ and ‘timely gesture’. It contained the explicit statement ‘This is in no sense a bolt from the A. F. of L.’ A local representative of a national news agency, apparently feel- ing that this was a case of a man biting a dog, telephoned certain information obtained from this release to the regional office in Pittsfield, Mass. At some point between the printing in the Bennington Banner of our release and the item as released by the national news agency, it be- came completely distorted to read: “Twenty Members of Faculty of Bennington College join the CIO.’ We regret this error, and the Chicago office of the AFT was immediately informed of the actual events.” Executive Council Supports Governor Benson in Righting Old Injustice Governor Elmer Benson of Minnesota has requested the Board of Regents of the Minnesota State University to reinstate Professor William A. Schaper, who was dis- missed on September 13, 1917, on what is alleged to be a trumped-up charge of Pro-Germanism. In a letter to a member of the Board of Regents Governor Benson says: “Before the United States entered the war against Ger- many, Professor Schaper had expressed opposition to this country’s entrance into the war. Certainly he had a right to that opinion. It was shared by many prominent and illustrious men at that time. . . . Many good Americans today will support Professor Schaper in the correctness of that view.” In endorsing the request of Governor Benson, the Executive Council stated: “His [Schaper’s] rein- statement at this time, when there is war in the world that may conceivably involve the United States and when attacks upon academic freedom are increasingly frequent, would help defend the integrity and security of teach- ers throughout the country.” News from the Northwest The Washington State Federation of Teachers held a highly successful convention in Tacoma on October 23. Resolutions were adopted for continuation of NYA subsi- dies to needy students, cooperation with the state teachers association on tenure, limitation of class size, boycott of all goods made in Japan, Germany, and Italy, and support of the one dollar organizing assessment. The Tacoma local re- ports a doubling of its public school membership. Local 401, University.of Washington, is preparing strong action to insure the retention of Mrs. Florence James and sev- eral others in the English Department. The problem ap- pears to combine discrimination against liberal teachers with an attempt to reduce teaching costs by replacing ex- perienced teachers with teaching fellows at $50 or less per month. The local is also taking part in a fight to protect the jobs of married women teachers in the university. The growth in prestige of the local is seen in the election of two union members to the executive board of the instruc- tors association at the University. Michigan Teachers Seek Extension of Franchise The Michigan Federation of Teachers includes in its legislative program a measure to allow all citizens to vote in school elections. At the present time—except in De- troit, Grand Rapids, and Flint—citizens are not given the franchise in school elections unless they happen to own property or have children in school. “This illogical dis- crimination,” the Federation declares, “should be eliminated. All citizens support the schools, whether through payment of local or state taxes.” JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1938 ,? , ’ a ' a a jeuuae Civil Rights for Labor The previous issue of THE AMERICAN TEACHER carried a Labor Note on the spread and danger of vigilante move- ments. That, however, is but one phase of the concerted attack on labor which is proceeding on many fronts. There are, for example, the exploits of Frank (“I am the law’’) Hague, mayor and political boss of Jersey City, N. J., whose police attacked more than forty CIO organizers, driving twenty-six of them out of the city. This act evoked a furor of protest in labor and liberal circles and among orogressive Congressmen. A mass meeting of protest which followed several days later was unmolested. However, there have been further developments. Unable to rent a single building, CIO leaders have threatened to go to court if a permit is refused for an open-air meeting. Hague’s next move was to call together about three thousand war veterans, most of them jobholders, for the purpose of form- ing a vigilante organization to fight the CIO. As one of the veterans put it: “We ought to put this here amendment in [into a ready-made resolution] so the rest of the country can’t put the finger on our mayor and say he did it.” Equally alarming is the extent to which the courts have entered into the anti-labor conspiracy. An amazing opinion handed down in New Jersey on Dec. 28 de- clares that a strike is ended when the strikers’ jobs have been filled by scabs and a plant can resume business. Thereafter picketing is illegal. The decision accompanied an injunction against striking employes of a Newark plant. Of course, this is by no means a new disease; yet it is one that is constantly breaking out into new rashes. Nor does legal discrimination confine itself to labor alone. It extends also to labor attorneys. Mayor Hague, for instance, made threats of personal violence against Attorney Morris Ernst, should he dare to set foot in Jersey City. Columnist Jay Franklin, in a recent article, wrote, “. . . it has become clear that there isa. . . Fascist tendency to deprive North- ern (as well as Southern) workers of the assistance of counsel, and to terrorize the attorneys who represent strik- ers.” . . . In Baltimore Federal Judge Coleman of the District Court at Baltimore suggested to lawyers represent- ing maritime strikers that it was a violation of their legal oath for lawyers to represent strikers. In Lewiston, Me., a lawyer was sentenced to six months in jail for advising strikers of their rights. In Cleveland, O., N. D. Davis was suspénded for a year for advising the unemployed how to avoid eviction notices. The CIO complains of the court’s attack on their chief counsel in Ohio, after he won a hearing for a union despite determined efforts to deny the union’s right to offer a defense. Judicial autocracy— to employ a euphemism—most certainly did not end with 26 Labor Notes Mooney and Billings. . . . The incredible brutality used against union members by Ford’s hired thugs is matched only by the decision of Circuit Judge Lester S. Moll in dismissing the charges of criminal assault. A glimmer of hope is offered by the formation of the American Associa- tion of Economic Freedom, a new organization of liberals dedicating itself to the defense of democracy and unioniza- tion. Vigilantism and abrogation of civil liberties demand widespread mass organization to combat them. The Eagle Falls The months old strike against the Brooklyn Eagle has at last terminated in complete success for the Guildsmen. This strike is noteworthy in its development of several new and interesting angles, not the least among them being the enthusiastic aid in picketing rendered by the Ministers Union Local 1. Notwithstanding the fact that the news- paper is an independent, it received weighty assistance from the American Newspaper Publishers Association and from big business interests in New York in an effort to break the strike and aim a blow at the Guild. The concessions won by the strikers, including virtually a closed shop through use of a preferential hiring list, discharge for cause, a five-day, forty-hour week, and other significant gains, were largely due to the vertical character of the strike which took in employes of the commercial departments. A new and unusual feature of the strike, “secondary” picketing of Eagle advertisers, produced gratifying results as the newspaper lost heavily each month in advertising. An adverse injunction was granted by a New York court, but the Guild modified its posters to conform. This is sure to prove a potent accessory weapon in future Guild strikes. Milwaukee Trades Council Urges U. S. Run Idle Plants In January the Milwaukee Federated Trades Council is- sued a statement that stands as a landmark in labor pro- nouncements, indicative of a trend of thought characteristic among progressive elements in organized labor found in many sections of the Middle West and adopted unanimously by more than 800 delegates. . . . As membership in the or- ganized labor movement in Milwaukee increased from less than 25,000 in 1934 to 80,000 in 1937 a new social and economic philosophy has gradually emerged. In 1934 it was organization for more pay and shorter hours, but the present document reveals a groping for a fundamental basis for social reconstruction and a more equitable distribution THE AMERICAN TEACHER we sl wr OOORrTlUrhlUh of the elemental wants of the worker. . . . In the present document, the growing militancy of labor is reflected in the demands on government, and it witnesses the birth of a new idea, an acknowledgment that labor must participate in the fundamental problem of reconstructing our social and industrial order. If those in charge of private industry cannot or will not so con- duct industry and business that the welfare of all people is safeguarded and advanced, then it is the duty of the government to take over this task and provide the opportunity for work for all who are able and willing to work. From October, 1936, to October, 1937, members of the Wisconsin State Federation of Labor in good standing have increased from 110,000 to 198,000. This infusion of new blood is reflected in the program demanding that govern- ment take over idle factories, and if necessary make a levy on idle capital, a demand common to both the Trades Coun- cil and the State Federation of Labor in a recent conference on unemployment. Such a program should not be limited to building projects as has been the case in the past, but should embrace every line of employ- Among the Language Teaching for Culture A CULTURAL BASIS FOR THE LANGUAGE ARTS. Walter V. Kaulfers and Holland D. Roberts. Stanford University Press. $1.00. 1937. 115 pp. The essays collected in this little volume represent the contribution of two authors who have investigated various curricular problems of the modern American high school against the background of a changing society, and particularly the vexed and vexing question of modern language study at a time when educational currents are set strongly towards the drastic reduction of language courses in our schools. Writing from an admirably humane and infectiously optimistic point of view, the authors posit a belief or at least a hope on the reader’s part that it will be the increasing purpose of the American commonwealth to provide all of our children with ever greater shares of cultural goods; they are aware therefore that education is inextricably bound up with social change and such specific problems as a more equitable distribution of wealth. At the same time they admit that many causes—disabilities of class as well as talent—operate to reduce to a very small percentage the number of students to whom the practical conquest of a foreign language is immediately interesting or even possible. They therefore propose a type of course (especially for students not entering college) in which stress is placed on foreign culture and civilization rather than paradigms; in which short-cuts and outside aids are unblushingly used to expedite the larger purpose. After all, argues Dr. Kaulfers, if graduate schools of the best repute offer survey courses in Scandinavian, Slavonic, and other literatures based entirely on English translations, why should high schools cling to formal linguistic drill? Teachers will find the concrete suggestions for study and activity in such courses extremely valuable. I should like to commend particularly the proposals for courses in general language, which offer the alert teacher an opportunity to clarify elementary questions of race and language, symbol and sound, cultural heritage, class and speech, through the child’s native tongue, and at the same time tend to arouse sym- pathetic curiosity concerning emigrant languages spoken in the com- munity. These suggestions are a real contribution towards the methods of democratizing culture. Marcaret ScHLAUCH JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1938 ment which will create needed goods and services, and which will give employment to workers in the field of their experience. In whatever field—housing, electrification, manufacture, transpor- tation—if facilities and factories are idle and capital is being with- held when the products of such facilities and factories are needed and workers are out of work, government in the performance of its mandate to promote the general welfare should operate such facilities and factories and if necessary make a capital levy on idle capital to permit such operations. The document concludes with a bitter indictment of cer- tain elements in industry who cry for confidence and who blame recent increases of unemployment on lack of confidence in government. Milwaukee labor raises the question, who can have confidence in such industrial lead- ership? . . . It is a hopeful sign. Understanding business and professional people, teachers especially, know that they cannot thrive in a community existing largely on relief. If labor moves to the left, it does so with a full understanding and a sincere effort to seek a way out of economic dark- ness, and to crystallize its thinking into some form of a social philosophy. New Bo oks "Benevolent" King Henry THE FLIVVER KING. Upton Srvciam, Detroit: United Auto- mobile Workers of America, Griswold Building. 119 pages. 25 cents. Upton Sinclair has written a double-barreled story: one about the monarch Henry Ford, described in his title, The Flivver King, and another, intertwined with the first, concerning a kingdom, described in his sub-title, A Story of Ford-America. Kings are usually judged on the balance between the life and the death they deal out. Sinclair shows King Henry bestowing life, with a creative benevolence, by presenting his subjects with a tin lizzie which answers their con- veniences, business needs, and pleasures. He would make more rapid their pilgrimage to success, he would preserve their bodies; he would regale their souls. His gift was not merely to the rich, for it was priced where great numbers of wage-earners could reach it. Sinclair sums up Henry’s philanthropic purposes: He was going to make them over into people like himself. They would become sober and honest and hardworking, like him; mechanics and lovers of machinery like him; rich—well, possibly not quite so rich as he, but as rich as was good for them. But it was just here that His Majesty’s benevolence struck a snag. Here he was powerless to avoid some deathly gifts. He had achieved kingship in a characteristically American manner, beginning as country farmboy and passing through the steps of machinist, electrician, tinker and inventor. But his benevolent flivvers had made him inordinately rich. A billion dollars became his oversoul. It told him to use the “speed-up” and “stretch-out” systems in his factory. It showed him how to crush the workers with threats, spyings, gougings, and unfair practices of all kinds, while capitalizing on the glory he received from advertising his great kindness to them in the $5, $6 and $7 a day minimum wage. It had him promising the workers unions if they wanted them and using every brutality to prevent their getting unions. It had him, on March 7, 1932 (and later), doling out real, steeljacketed death to four of them and near death to fifty more, all unarmed on a march to him, begging sympathy. Henry’s kingdom had, and has, many peculiar features, and Sinclair lines them up. There are a proclaimed disbelief in economic law, an omniscience about art and science, an absurd peace ship— 27 a veritable ship of fools—a burning anti-Semitism, an antiquarianism which called for reconstructing spurious birthplaces of America’s great and tearing down new highways in order to restore colonial roads, a social and political obtuseness as evidenced by his decency crusades, his suit against the Chicago Tribune and his senatorial campaign, and a business acumen which had King Henry compelling his hardpressed agents to pay their liege’s debts when he was about to lose his throne to vile moneylenders. The crowning touch was the most devastating system of espionage on earth, captained by an ex-Navy boxer, and comprising 3600 ruthless janissaries. All these hobbies are expensive and luxurious, criminally so in the light of the condition of the Ford worker. But a billion dollars, says Sinclair, can do more with a king than a king can do with a billion dollars. Upton Sinclair is a photographer on a mission. His camera is especially equipped to show the minute detail of the worker in a world that is not nearly “social” enough for him. Sinclair's style in The Flivver King is as simple as it ever gets to be, though full of delightful innuendo. More biographies like Sinclair’s will help keep the public sharpened, while the workers march and thrust for freedom against such kings as Ford. The publication of the book by the United Automobile Workers of America is a new departure in both publishing and workers’ education. Joun Lovett, Jr. Writers Against Gentility AFTER THE GENTEEL TRADITION. Edited by Matcoim Cow.tey. W. W. Norton Company, 270 pp. $2.75. For a century or more, native American writers have been pro- testing against tendencies commonly caled romantic: that is, flight from the present, escape to the past or away to the antipodes, or into wild fancy. In 1837, Emerson clearly spoke out against the Margaret Mitchells and Hervey Allens of his own day. “T ask not for the great, the remote, the romantic; what is doing in Italy or Arabia; what a Greek art, or Provencal minstrelsy; I embrace the common, I explore and sit at the feet of the familiar, the low. Give me insight today, and you may have the antique and future worlds.” Not long afterward, Hawthorne, a disappointed old man, re- marked that “it needs the native air to give a writer’s work reality.” Notwithstanding such sentiments against unreality in letters, for a stretch of years between Emerson and Howells, writers of fiction and criticism failed to picture the actual world in which they found themselves. Literature with rare exceptions failed to catch the color, the vibrancy, the rhythm of life. Failure to report hon- estly or interpret faithfully the external world resulted in a kind of pale, over-refined, shadowy vaporing. For decades, the gen- teel tradition as it has since been called, “a sort of inner play or digestion of vacancy” as Santayana defined it, touched literature and blighted it. Within the past quarter-century, pressure from the middle class has produced a crop of writers who have felt the need of expressing middle-class ideals and beliefs and strivings, at variance with gen- tility. Since 1910, in fact, some of our most representative and rugged writers have fought whatever tended to restrict the holder and freer utterance. Fifteen of these literary leaders pass in review under the general- ship of Malcolm Cowley. Fifteen contemporaries from Dreiser on- wards are discussed by as many prominent journalists. In the revolt against gentility, suggested by a challenging address by Sinclair Lewis before the Swedish Academy on receiving the Nobel Prize, the cry for more passion, more candor, more vitality has been con- tinuous. Writers have recognized that literature to be valid and impressive must be stirred by the contemporary struggle. These critical papers suffer from sketchiness and rapid diagnosis, The quick impression is set down for the hurried reader. The best- rounded essays that escape this charge have a leisurely quality: Carl Sandburg by Newton Arvin, and Homage to Hemingway by John Peale Bishop. The genteel clan is still with us, even though they try to cover their writings with a coating of “realism”. Since 1930, the worker with his problems—strikes, trade unions, police brutality, and mass movements—is finding a place in literature. Would it not! have been wise to have included in the survey an article dealing with this emerging literature, done by that persuasive Marxist critic, Granville Hicks? FELIX SPER A History of the Labor Schism MEN WHO LEAD LABOR. Bruce Minton and Joun Stuart. Drawings by Scotr Jonnston. New York: Modern Age Books, Inc., 1937. 270 pp., paper, 35 cents. Within the vivid framework of biographical sketches the authors of this timely book trace the story of the dramatic conflict of forces in the ranks of American labor which have of late resulted in the open revolt against the old order and the formation of the Com- mittee for Industrial Organization. The book is an unqualified endorsement of industrial unionism and its concomitant militancy. It is a no less unqualified con- demnation of the inadequacy, ineffectualness and smug complacency of the old leadership. It goes into a thorough and convincing discussion of basic causes. It illuminates sharply the defects of policy and method in the old set-up, the stagnation of bureaucracy, the lack of integrity, the shortness of vision, the corruption that finally led to revolt. The authors review the traditions of Gompersism which William Green was to observe so faithfully. Gompersism represented the lack of ultimate aim which was responsible for the rejection of independent political action, the refusal to recognize the basic struggle between capital and labor, the policy of concern for no more than immediate economic relief, the stubborn indifference of craft unionism to the fate of millions of unorganized workers in the unskilled classifications. By accepting Gompers’ heritage, Green became responsible for the static role of the A. F. of L. in the face of rapidly changing economic conditions. The trade union movement remained impotent and timid while the employers grew in strength through unification, through the rise of monopolies with their interlocking directorates and through the rise of gigantic trusts with centralized control. The inadequacy of Gompersism was thrown into sharp relief by the dismal failure of the American labor movement to grow. Since Green’s rise to the presidency in 1924 the membership of the A. F. of L., already then on the downgrade, dropped from a little below three million to only slightly over two million by the middle of 1933. Not equal in stature, according to the authors, to his great his- torical responsibility, Green was content to let the industrial and financial powers try to overcome the difficulties of the economic breakdown of the depression, while the labor movement remained inert. He not only failed to launch an aggressive organizing cam- paign when the NRA lent new impetus to the labor movement, but actually ordered organizers to slow down. When organization en a large scale finally began to proceed independently of Green and the executive council and in spite of them, Green and his coterie showed open resistance and animosity. THE AMERICAN TEACHER nt, ion The struggle for aggressive organization and the inevitability of the impending cleavage became clear from this point. The book analyzes the role of Green and the other die-hards on the executive council, Hutcheson, Woll, Morrison, Wharton, as a sinister affair of obstruction, of greed for power tinged with corruption, and, in some cases, of the tyranny of racketeering. The chapter on Hutcheson presents the evidence of the low level to which Gompers’ organiza- tional tactics had descended. The chapter on McGrady illustrates the failure of Gompers’ labor diplomacy. Here is where John L. Lewis comes in. Nursed on the Gompers tradition and not untainted by its attendant evils, he shakes off the fetters like a veritable Samson and rises to the occasion offered by section 7-A of the NRA to lead labor into a new phase in its history. The story of his organizational success holds the promise of a new era of genuine achievement for the American labor move- ment. Back of Lewis is the power of the rank and file whose irresistible drive for organization becomes an epic of labor militancy. Symptomatic of the new urge are the vigorous figures in its vanguard —Bridges, Randolph, Broun, a new leadership possessed of hardy realism and political sagacity. M. J. FrucuTER Labor Organizing WHEN LABOR ORGANIZES. R. R. R. Brooks, New Haven; Yale University Press, 1937. 361 pp. CIO, INDUSTRIAL UNIONISM IN ACTION. J. RaymMonp WALsz, New York; W. W. Norton, 1937. 293 pp. It is both interesting and significant that in a period of rapid development of the labor movement two officers of the American Federation of Teachers should be among the first to interpret the trends. Mr. Brooks, who in 1936-37 was president of the New Haven local, taught at Yale. Mr. Walsh, New England Vice Presi- dent in 1936-37, was at Harvard. It is equally significant that the intimate connection with the labor movement enjoyed by both should reflect itself in the produc- tion of books which show a breadth of knowledge of the field that marks both these works as significant contributions. Brooks and Walsh know their unions from within. They have captured the significance of recent events and say what they have to say well. These books are “best buys”. Brooks is definitely the better volume to put into the hands of a person unacquainted with the ins and outs of the labor movement. His Chapter One is a description of how a modern union organizing campaign is conducted. He goes on to outline the traditional struc- ture of the A. F. of L. and to show the functioning of its affiliated unions. The weapons of the employer and the extent of union organizing success are then vividly portrayed. Perhaps his best chapters are those on strikes and strike-breaking. After taking up the business and welfare policies of the unions, he turns to questions of administration and leadership. His book closes by considering the place of labor in our present political structure. Brooks’s view- point toward the A. F. of L. and CIO controversy follows: The contemporary unpleasantness between the Committee for Industrial Organization and the Executive Council of the A. F. of L. is not . . . an isolated phenomenon in American labor history. It signalizes a rapid increase in the intensity and scope of the process of transition which has been going on for nearly fifty years. Regardless of the personalities and the machinery through which they operate, the principle of industrial unionism can be expected to win if for no other reason than that the problem of the jurisdictional dispute must be met if the labor movement is to survive. (Pp. 43-44) As to the merits of the controversy, Walsh is by far the more outspoken. An ardent A. F. of L. sympathizer might read Brooks’ book with the feeling that while it had a CIO “bias” it was after all a “gentlemanly performance”, employing all the subtleties of expression for which a New England university is famous. Such a person could take no such comfort from Walsh’s more direct approach. A brief paragraph from Walsh will show the difference. In any event, the A. F. of L. was essentially a business, not a social, organization. Gompers didn’t want to build a labor move- ment; he wanted to win certain immediate gains in wages and hours for a limited and unimaginative group of workers—by JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1938 standing on the backs of all the others . . . So far as labor policies are concerned, the change from A. F. of L. policy has meant a shifting from special self-interest to concern for the entire social and economic structure. (Pp. 252-253) In all fairness the Federation must bear the chief brunt for bisecting the labor movement. At no point did it show capacity for intelligent compromise, and since its suspension order, it has added bitterness to stupidity. (P. 280) Walsh goes on, however, to point out the great losses of disunity and urges more emphatically than Brooks the need for reestablishing peace in the labor movement. The chief merit of C/O, Industrial Unionism in Action is the ability of the writer to present in popular style the highlights of recent labor experience. The steel, motor, and rubber campaigns are given at full length. The tactics on both sides are reviewed and are enriched by the inclusion of specific illustrations of their application. The writing is vigorous. Both works express marked sympathy with the formation of a labor party and discuss the political implications of labor’s relation- ship with the New Deal. Since no book review is complete without at least a concluding qualification to whatever praise it bestows, let us add ours: Both books are marred by somewhat loose statements of membership and of union affiliations. Broadly, the totals tell the correct story, but the details suggest more precision than the facts warrant. This flaw is to be sure understandable—one wonders how one can classify some unions which have succeeded for a time in keeping one leg in the CIO and the other in the A. F. of L. Cotston E. WARNE Book Notes and Recommendations A sound view of radio education is set forth clearly in Radio in the Classroom ( Prentice-Hall, $2.50) by Margaret Harrison, who deals critically with radio in the school, presenting it as only one of the modern tools of education whose uses and limitations are relative to the general educational values it may serve. Teachers will find concise and vivid the author’s summaries of classroom activities initiated or supplemented by radio programs. One of the most significant chapters shows how realistic attitudes toward advertising, publicity and propaganda were developed in a school where pupils and teachers learned to evaluate the influence of radio and to become equally critical of what they saw in print. Beryt PARKER No one can fully know America who does not know the story a recent Modern Age Book has to tell. The book is You Have Seen Their Faces by Erskine Caldwell and Margaret Bourke-White, and it is a record of a recent trip through those cotton states that have been associated in our minds with peonage, child-labor, exploitation of sharecroppers, chain gangs, malnutrition; but that are now finding hope and militancy in the tenant-farmers union. The book is an exciting one, both because of Caldwell’s careful text combined with verbatim records of conversations, and because of the dramatic photographs of one of America’s greatest masters of the camera, Miss Bourke-White, whose studies of people are beautiful in their eloquence. At 75 cents this book is a rare value, and it is a pleasure to find so well designed a work carrying proudly the signatures of the unions concerned in every stage of its creation. Incidentally, the presence on the list of Modern Age Books of so many titles of importance to all people alive to contemporary problems, suggests that we have a duty as teachers to see that these excellent and inexpensive volumes are stocked in newsstands, sta- tionary stores and bookstores throughout America. The list is varied 29 enough for any taste and the sooner they become a habit in American homes the sooner will our educational hopes be realized. Those of us who remember the adventure of finding the National Geographic Magazine on library shelves, will welcome the new two volume Book of Birds which the National Geographic Society is dis- tributing from its Washington headquarters at the cost price of $5. One need not be an ornithologist to appreciate the 204 pages of full-color plates showing 950 birds painted by the artist-naturalist, Major Alan Brooks, as well as the 228 action photographs. Birds form one of the most popular subjects of Natural History and this comprehensive treatment of the birds of the North American conti- nent, north of Mexico, should give many teachers a chance to renew an absorbing youthful interest. It is a good means of profitable relaxation in these busy times. The two volumes of the set are, in addition, beautiful examples of the bookmaker’s art. Boris GAMZUE Correspondence Letters dealing with issues of interest to union teachers will be printed in these columns. Inclusion of a letter does not necessarily mean that the Editors endorse its sentiments. We Stand Corrected To the Editors: I have noticed in recent issues of THe AMERICAN TEACHER that the American Federation of Teachers has been given credit for the reinstatement of the six Highland Park teachers dismissed last year for participating in a school board election. The statements imply that the teachers were rehired as a result of a union campaign. This is not true. Our organization participated to the extent of its ability in the campaign to reinstate the teachers. Other groups, how- ever, also participated wholeheartedly. The Citizens Committee in Highland Park was very effective, as were also the Academic Freedom Committee of the NEA and a National Defense Committee. We should appreciate your publishing this statement in the next issue of Tue AMERICAN TEACHER. RENNETTE SELTZER Acting Secretary Michigan Federation of Teachers. (The editorial committee is glad to print this correction. it is the policy of the AFT to work as far as possible with other organiza- tions. Recent examples of this are the joint NEA-AFT committee on federal aid, and the cordial exchange of greetings with the American Association of University Professors. The editors are, therefore, anxious to give full credit to other organizations wher- ever the work of these organizations in a joint cause is brought to their attention.) Bombs Bursting in Air To the Editors: May I ask you to print the following letter which seems to me of great timeliness and importance? Lian _LEFKowI1Tz New York. Shanghai Y.W.C.A., a 999 Bubbling Well Road, Oct. 18th, 1937. Dear Miss Lefkowitz: First I wish to give you my deep appreciation for the letter which you sent some times ago, and beg for your pardon in the delay of this answer. Though I haven’t kept up a close corre- spondence, but you are always in my thought. I am writing this in the midst of machine guns, air bombing and roaring of cannons. It was so bad last night that every one in the city woke up. So we are living under constant horror and terror of air raid. The slaughter of noncombatants and the bomb- ing of unprotected cities has become a common daily news. Our aggressor who has fought here for more than two months and yet cannot break through our first line of defence. Being rather help- less, our aggressor is now adopting the policy of air bombardment so as to break up our morale. But instead “beating Chinese to their knees” we stand more firmly than ever. Millions of people become homeless and penniless but they are calm and ready to give themselves away for the cause. We know that we are fighting for the emancipation of our nation and the good of the masses. To be in the war zone, the Y.W.C.A. has become one of the centers of red cross activities and refugee work. Besides running a camp for homeless women and children, we are making patted jackets for soldiers, bandage and etc. In regard to industrial girls, who are now out of work, the Y. is giving them special training so as to be more equipped to do the above mentioned work. We sent about sixty girls to different refugee camps, red cross hos- pitals and even to work among villagers behind the line. Through our National Office, we have sent out a letter from our industrial girls to the girls in America concerning the present hos- tility. It must have reached you by this time. We need your close attention in the shaping of public opinion in your country to take a stronger measure against Japanese aggression. If you are interested in following up the war events, I would like to suggest a few magazines which are impartial and quite accurate in giving facts—China Weekly, China Critics, and China Today. Hope to hear from you on what you people think about this war. Heten CHUNG THE CONTRIBUTORS ELMER A. BENSON is the Farmer-Labor Governor of Minnesota. BERNARD FORER is corresponding secretary of Local 437 (Mercer Co., N. J.) and secretary pro tem of the New Jersey State Federation of Teachers. MOSES J. FRUCHTER is a member of the Editorial Board of the Philadelphia Teacher, publication of Local 192. Joun Lovett, Jr. is assistant professor of English at Howard University and a member of Local 440. He has just completed a Ph. D. thesis, approved at the University of California, on Cham- pions of the Workers in American Literature of the Forties. He is a member of the Outside Organizing Committee for the AFT. IRVIN R. KUENZLI is secretary-treasurer of the AFT. MARGARET SCHLAUCH is associate professor of English at New York University and a member of the Council of the Mediaeval Academy. She is one of the editors of Science and Society. She is on the Executive Board of Local 537 (College Teachers, N.Y.C.). FELIX SPER is a member of the Academic Freedom Committee of Local 5 (New York). He is a member of the English Department at Hunter College. COLSTON ESTEY WARNE is associate professor of economics at Amherst College, and a member of Local 230. He is a member of the National Council of the American Association of University Professors, and president of Consumers Union of the United States. THE AMERICAN TEACHER ~. eS fee - - F . 7 ~~ |S ws ese ee rr ae Se = a 6 OlUCS Oe ~~ @ Ji mi & te Ss ee ing one and nb- Our yet elp- ent »ple rive for the ling ted irls, rcer ‘ion ard da 1m- e is lew oval She Ce of rent THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT AND THE TEACHER BY IRVIN R. KUENZLI eg CLASSROOM TEACHERS should be familiar with the provisions of the Social Security Act approved on August 14, 1935. This is true not only because of the teacher’s inherent interest in improving the social structure and in providing for children and their parents, but also because of certain phases of the act which directly affect teachers’ economic status. It should be noted in the first place that the act is wide in scope, dealing with a number of distinct though related measures pertain- ing to social security. These measures may be listed as follows: Unemployment Compensation, Old-Age Assistance, Old-Age Benefits, Aid to Dependent Children, Maternal and Child Health Services, Services to Crippled Children, Aid to the Blind, Extension of Public-Health Services, Vocational Rehabilitation. ‘ ; It is obvious that the whole measure is closely related to the social structure which is the foundation on which successful classroom work must be built. It is not within the scope of this brief article to discuss these various parts of the Social Security Act. Of particular interest to teachers are the features of the act dealing with old-age assistance and old-age benefits. The Old-Age Assistance program is designed to help states in providing immediate assistance to the aged purely on a basis of need. Under certain conditions the Federal Government matches on a 50-50 basis every dollar spent by the state for old-age assistance, but does not contribute more than $15.00 per month for any individual. Any teacher or former teacher who is now aged and in immediate need might, as a citizen, benefit under this section of the act. Of greater importance to teachers is the feature dealing with Federal old-age benefits designed to provide an income in old-age based on wages received by an employee in covered employment. It is true that the salaries of teachers employed in a public school, state university, or in most non-profit educational institutions do not provide credit toward old-age benefits, and at first sight such teachers seem to be totally excluded from benefits. It should be carefully noted, however, that if a teacher at any time engages in employment covered by the old-age benefits system, “wages,” as defined in the act, received in such employment will constitute credit toward old-age benefits. This is a fact of consider- able importance to a teacher who is considering a careful plan of lifetime finance. It is possible for a teacher to build up during vaca- tion periods, or during leave of absence, a considerable retirement income available after attaining the age of 65. To qualify for monthly benefits under the act an individual who has attained the age of 65 must have earned a total of not less than $2,000 in “wages” after December 31, 1936, and must have been employed in some five different calendar years after December 31, 1936. This means that should a teacher, during vacation, or other- wise, earn $2,000 in “wages” in five or more different years he would be eligible to a benefit of $10.00 per month after attaining the age of 65 years. This represents a minimum amount which could be augmented in proportion to the “wages” earned by the teacher. Should a teacher earn $3,000 in five separate years in wages as de- fined in the act, he would be entitled to $15.00 per month after 65 years of age. . The table indicates the method by which retirement incomes are calculated. (Not counting wages from a single employer in excess of $3,000 annually) Total wages received after Dec. 31, 1936, and prior to age 65, in covered employ- Per cent of total wages paid as monthly rate of ments. benefit. ee ccsudeske 1/2 of 1% ESS ee aa eR 1/12 of 1% IR a 1/24 of 1% It is possible, therefore, for teachers under retirement systems substantially to increase their retirement incomes. In the state of Ohio, for instance, a teacher might begin a teaching career at 22 JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1938 years of age, earn $3,000 in “wages” by leave of absence (or other- wise), retire under the Ohio Teachers Retirement System at age 59 or 60 at a maximum of approximately $80.00 per month, and at age 65 receive $15.00 per month additional in old-age benefits under Social Security. The amount received would be determined by the amount of “wages” earned exclusive of salary received from the Board of Education. In case a teacher’s wife or husband is employed for “wages” an additional benefit might be provided for the family income in old-age. Even though teachers’ salaries are excluded from the act it is quite possible for a teacher to build up an annuity which would be equal to the income from several thousands of dollars. Teachers benefit from that provision of the act which provides proportion- ately larger monthly benefits for small earnings. Every teacher should study the act in terms of his own position and experience. 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 President Jerome Davis Secretary-Treasurer Irvin R. Kvenzui Vice-Presidents Georce E. AxTELLE Joun D. Connors Hucu DeLacy Micnaet J. Ecx ARTHUR ELDER Mary Forey GrossMAN Harry C. STEINMETZ Cuartes J. HENDLEY Paut W. PreisLer Doxey A. WILKERSON Mary J. Herricx Aire B. Mann Mercepves L. Netson Stanton E. Smita Jort S—EmMAN Board of Editors RicHarp B. Crosscup Epwarp De Brag Dorotuy Dovuc Las Kermit Esy Georce FIncH A. S. Hancock Eucene Ho_mMes I. R. KLIncsBerc Ceti Lewis Aire B. Mann Haze Murray Nancy Lea SMITH Sara T. WALSH WiLLiAaM W. WATTENBERG Georce E. AXTELLE Representative of the Executive Council Contributing Editors Mitprep BERLEMAN Stertinc A. Brown Epwin Berry Burcum ARTHUR ELDER Borts GAMZUE Ipa GLANTZ KLINGSBERG Rosert Morss Lovett Ora McLavcHiIn SELDEN MENEFEE Beryt PARKER Ho.tianp D. Roserts Cotston E. WARNE Joun WoopruFrr Secretary, Board of Editors Cetru Lewis 8 West 16 Street, N. Y. C. Business Offices 506 S. Wabash Avenue Chicago, Ill. WHY | AM A MEMBER OF THE TEACHERS UNION Public education is bound indissolubly with the welfare of the working people. As a worker in public education | am obligated both professionally and personally to affiliate with other workers in an organized effort to advance the cause of labor and education. Therefore | am a member of the American Federa- tion of Teachers. JOHN G. ROCKWELL, COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION. | am a member of the Teachers Union because a broad and an enlightened labor movement is the only effective instrument of constructive social change in a competitive society; because organized labor is the most sympathetic ally and the strongest champion of public education; because the interests of classroom teachers and other organized workers are mutual by identity of status; and because the Teachers Union is affiliated with the organized labor movement a aggressively assumes its role with all workers in the struggle to preserve and broaden our democratic institutions and for the attainment of a true democracy. CLAUDE WILLIAMS, DIRECTOR, COMMONWEALTH COLLEGE. | am a member of the Teachers Union because | could not really keep my self-respect if | were not. The teachers of this country are on the whole underpaid and in many cases tyrannized over by reac- tionary interests in thgir communities. Organization is needed to improve their economic status, and it is only by-organization that they can affirm their right to be free men and women. In such a situation, | believe we all should join the American Federation of Teachers. We will not be respected as a pro- fession until we have the courage to respect ourselves. And we cannot fully function as we should unless we cooperate together. PAUL H. DOUGLAS, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. Because | believe democracy in education and education for democracy can never be achieved unless the teachers are organized; because we are living in an era of group action, where without group pres- sure academic freedom, tenure, adequate salaries and retirement cannot be secured; because affiliation with the American Federation of Labor brings the support of millions of workers behind education and at the same time gives an opportunity to take action on larger questions of national policy; because the American Federation of Teachers is the most progressive and effective organization in the country for work with, by, and for teachers. JEROME DAVIS, PRESIDENT, AFT On broad grounds | am a member of the American Federation of Teachers because | believe that as one of those whose income comes entirely from productive labor my interest lies with that body of the American people who make their living by productive labor. More specifically | joined the American Federation of Teachers because | believed that one of our great ms is the restoration of democracy to the teaching profession, and the American Federation of Teachers is the only nation-wide organization that to my knowledge is controlled by the rank and file of the teaching body. As a first step in the restoration, | believe that the dualism between administra- tion and teaching must be eliminated. As an administrator who also teaches, | welcome the opportunity to join a rank and file organization. FRANK E. BAKER, PRESIDENT, STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE, MILWAUKEE, WIS. The children of mechanics, artisans, and laborers comprise the major part of the enrollment of the schools in which | work, and my affiliation with the fathers of these children through the American Fed- eration of Labor, leads to a mutual understanding which in turn leads me to better help these boys and girls to become more worthwhile citizens now and in the future. MARY V. COOPER, ACTING PRINCIPAL, WALNUT STREET SCHOOL, DARBY, PA. Tbe AMERICAN TEACHER IN TWO PARTS—PART TWO VOLUME XxXil JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1938 NUMBER 3 Report on The Committee for Industrial Organization and The American Federation of Labor The 1937 Convention of the American Federation of Teachers directed the Executive Council to prepare a report on the C. I. O. and to distribute it to each member of the A. F. T. As a committee of three to prepare this report, the Executive Council in August 1937 appointed Mr. Doxey A. Wilkerson, of Washington, D. C.; Mr. Michael J. Eck, of Cleveland; and Mr. Stanton E. Smith, of Chattanooga. The same committee, with the addition of Miss Lillian Herstein, of Chi- cago, was authorized at the December 1937 meeting of the Executive Council to prepare a similar report on the American Federation of Labor and to distribute it to each member of the A. F. T. o Report on The Committee for Industrial Organization Incident to the proposal that the American Federation of Teachers change its labor affiliation from the American Federation of Labor to the Committee for Industrial Or- ganization, the Twenty-First Annual Convention of the A.F.T. directed the Executive Council: (1) to conduct at its discretion, “no sooner than February first, 1938,” a ref- erendum of the membership on the question at issue; and (2) “preceding such referendum, . . . to make an exhaustive study” of certain questions concerning the C.I.O., “a writ- ten report of its findings” to be sent “to every member of the American Federation of Teachers.” There follows' the report of the Committee appointed by the Executive Coun- cil to conduct the aforementioned investigation. Purpose and Scope It is not within the scope of the Committee’s assignment to reach a judgment regarding the proposed change of labor affiliation. Rather, its sole task is to provide certain factual information which should be of aid to the membership in evaluating the proposal at issue. Further, the Committee was not asked to make a comparative study of the A. F. of L. and C.I.0.; but rather, to investigate certain specified questions relative to the latter organization. In accord with these limitations, the present report is restricted to a factual analysis of the membership, organizational struc- ture, and functioning of the Committee for Industrial Or- ganization, together with its status as a labor movement. Attention is given also to a brief statement, from the view- point of C.1.0., of the implications for A.F.T. of the pro- posed change of affiliation. The information here presented was obtained from pub- lications and official documents of the C.I.0., a question- naire to the Director, interviews with national officers, and an exhaustive critical study of the organization by Brother J. Raymond Walsh, an investigator for the National Labor Relations Board. All sources, together with certain sup- plementary data, are set forth in the Appendix to this Report. 1See appended copy of “Resolution on C.1.0. Referendum.” Membership The C.1.0. is a federation of national and international unions, local industrial unions, and industrial union coun- cils. At the time of its inception, November 1935, it com- prised but 8 national and international unions, representing approximately one million members. There are at present 33 national and international unions affiliated to the C.1.0., together with 697 local industrial unions, and 130 indus- trial union councils. In all, its affiliated organizations com- prise a membership of approximately four millions. The affiliates of C.1.0. are representative of over three dozen major industrial fields. Among these affiliates are a number of unions whose membership consists predominantly of professional or other “white collar” workers; notably, the American Newspaper Guild; Federation of Architects, En- gineers, Chemists and Technicians; United Office and Pro- fessional Workers of America; United Federal Workers of America; and the State, County and Municipal Workers of America. Evidence of continuing growth on the part of C.1.0. is found in the recent affiliation of the United Furniture Workers of America (December 7, 1937). Organizational Structure The C.1.0. has its headquarters in Washington, D. C., where its national officers and their assistants are stationed. The personnel of the central administrative staff consists of the Chairman, John L. Lewis; the Director, John Brophy; an Executive Assistant to the Chairman; a Publicity Direc- tor; a legal staff; editorial workers; research workers; ac- countants; bookkeepers; stenographers, and clerical work- ers. The national officers derive their authority from the several constituent unions. For example, at the recent Atlantic City Conference (October 1937), and previously, representatives of affiliated organizations voted unanimously to confer full authority upon the Chairman to conduct the affairs of C.I.O. during the intervals between conferences and other meetings. Each of the constituent unions has an equal voice in the conferring of this authority. In addition to the national officers, and working under their direction, the C.I.0. employs 50 Regional Directors tly the én- Jer ors and 10 Sub-Regional Directors located in 35 states (includ- ing District of Columbia) and in the Northern Provinces of Canada. The distribution of these directors, by geo- graphical regions, is shown in Table 1. Table 1. Geographical Distribution of Regional and Sub-Regional Directors of C.1.O. Number of States Number of Regions? With Directors Directors Northeast (13 states) 12 22 Southeast (11 states) 5 4 Southwest (4 states) 2 2 Middle (8 states) 8 19 Northwest (9 states) 5 5 Far West (4 states) 3 7 Canada (Northern Provinces) 1 TOTAL 35 60 Under the supervision of these 60 regional and sub- regional directors is a large staff of “field representatives.’* Both the regional directors and the field representatives are responsible directly to the national officers of the C.I.0. They “are employed for one primary purpose—to carry out the task of organizing the unorganized. In this, they are instructed to aid trade union organization under the ban- ner of the C.I.O. wherever such aid is needed, and to the fullest extent possible.” In quite a number of localities, affiliates of C.I.O. have gone together to form what are known as Industrial Union Councils. As was mentioned above, there are some 130 of these delegate bodies, six of which are state federations. Their function is to consolidate the strength of individual unions in a given locality for the furtherance of common purposes. An analysis of the geographical distribution of industrial union councils is provided subsequently in this report. Functioning Technically, the original eight national and international unions which organized the C.I.O. are still affiliates of the A. F. of L. Though suspended, they have not yet been ex- pelled. Largely because of this fact, together with the con- tinuing hope for unity between the two major factions of American labor, C.I.O. has never held a general conven- tion or adopted a national constitution. It is pertinent to give attention to its plans in this respect, as well as to current policies and procedures which would normally be defined in a constitution. Conferences: Representatives of affiliated C.I.O. unions now meet at irregular intervals, as in Atlantic City during October 1937, and in Washington, D. C., during the early part of Decem- The regional classification of states here used is that of the Nat’! Resources Board. See Appendix for the list of states included in each region. In response to changing emphases in C.1.0.’s organizational cam- paigns, the number of field representatives fluctuates from time to time and from region to region. An official report dated August 19, 1937, lists 140 of these workers. ber. At such conferences, affiliated unions are represented by their presidents or other officials designated by the or- ganizations concerned, and industrial union councils by the regional officers of C.1.0. “Each representative at such meetings has equal voice in the determination of policy.” Election of Officers: The major national officers—Chairman, Director, and Secretary—are elected in general conference by the vote of representatives of affiliated unions. All presidents of affiliated national and international unions are officers of the C.1.0. Finances: The Charter Fee for an international union is $25.00. In addition to this initial fee, each affiliated union is ex- pected to pay a per capita tax of 5 cents per member per month. Aside from special assessments which may be voted by the national body, an affiliated union owes no other financial obligation to C.I.O. Full financial reports are made at general conferences of the organization. Autonomy: All national and international unions affiliated with C.1.0. are autonomous organizations. By their charters, all of which are similar, they are obligated to comply with “the rules, regulations and laws of the Committee for Industrial Organization.” Contracts: The national office of the C.1.0. assists all of its affiliated unions in the securing of contracts. However, the national organization does not decide on the merits of such con- tracts. “This is left to the discretion of the unions them- selves.” Proposed Constitutional Convention: The recent Atlantic City conference of the C.1.0. unani- mously adopted a resolution which provides for the calling of a national convention for the purpose of drafting a general constitution. The date of this convention was not fixed at the conference. In response to a query concerning the manner in which such a proposed constitution would be drawn up, the Director replied: A national ‘constitution of the C.1.0. will follow the most democratic processes of the labor movement. As is well known, the C.1.0. represents a new concept of trade union democracy in the American labor movement. Without such an extension of trade union democracy as C.1.0. represents, it would have been impossible to organize the 3,000,000 previously unorganized workers now members of the C.1.0. Each affiliate of the C.1.0. is fully autonomous. Since each has an equal voice in the formu- lation of C.1.0. policies, this autonomy will be preserved when a written constitution is prepared. Status as a Labor Movement The extreme youth of C.1.0., together with the precipitous manner in which it has grown, gives rise to the question: Is it really a substantial and effective labor movement? One suggestion in this regard is afforded by the data on 3 eat <— ae) Pee se Ss ee ee Fe rene ptt = abe o Bat ae membership presented earlier in this report. Two further indices are found in the achievements of C.I.O. as an agent for collective bargaining and in the extent and distribution of its industrial union councils. Achievements in Collective Bargaining: The Director reported at the recent Atlantic City con- ference that, out of 374 elections held by the National Labor Relations Board to determine the collective bargain- ing agent preferred by workers in various industrial plants, some 291, or 78 per cent, were won by C.I.O. unions. There were reported also contracts with over 30,000 com- panies covering 3,200,000 workers; sole bargaining rights in contracts covering 2,100,000 workers, and closed shop contracts covering 1,500,000 workers; wage increases ag- gregating one billion dollars per year; shorter hours for two million workers; and vacations with pay for one million workers. These data afford a partial basis for appraising the effectiveness of C.I.0. as a collective bargaining agent for workers. Distribution of Industrial Union Councils: Information is not at hand concerning the geographical distribution of all 130 of the C.1.O. industrial union coun- cils. However, the location of 116 of these central bodies is detailed by an official roster dated November 22, 1937.4 Their distribution among the several geographical regions of the nation is set forth in Table 2. Table 2. Distribution by Regions of C.1.O. Industrial Union Councils5 Number of States with Number of Region Industrial Union Councils Councils Northeast 7 35 Southeast 3 13 Southwest 2 2 Middle 8 45 Northwest 2 3 Far West 3 18 TOTAL 25 116 It will be noted that industrial union councils are cen- tered primarily in the northeastern and middle regions of the country. Among individual states, Ohio with 15 and Pennsylvania with 14 have the largest numbers of coun- cils. There are 10 such delegate bodies in Indiana, 9 in West Virginia, 9 in Washington, 8 in Alabama, 7 in IIli- nois, and 7 in California. In all, these states include over two-thirds of the total number of councils. The remainder are distributed among 17 other states. The percentage distribution of C.I.O. industrial union councils and of A.F.T. locals among the several geographical regions is portrayed graphically in Figure 1. 4See Appendix E. Figure 1. Percentage Distribution of A.F.T. Locals and C.1.0, Industrial Union Councils Among Geographical Regions of the Nation.® Region Midi II 50° CE No. Eas CIE 509% 157K Far West (REE 15% Percentage P t of AF.T. 9% So.Eae MMU% ocro. Locals I. U. Councils 8% No. West 3% 5%| So. West §2% It will be noted that the same general pattern of regional distribution obtains both for A.F.T. locals and for C.1.0. central labor bodies. Regional groupings, of course, conceal variations among communities within a given area. One measure of the ex- tent of such variations among the main centers of A.F.T. strength is afforded by the incidence of industrial union councils among cities with large numbers of A.F.T. mem- bers. The “Statistical Report” of the Secretary-Treasurer, as of October 1937, lists 17 cities with approximately 200 or more members each. These cities are listed below. Crosses designate the ones in which C.I.O. industrial union councils are located. Table 3. Cities with 200 Cities with I. U. or more A.F.T. members Councils (10/22/37) i dil didlals x EES op 6 a REESE Se 2 ea NE SL ee a ae ee ee a ee ES Eee ee POETS, LO EP Pe re are rrr err Es conn bacencdacts ds eR Be eo. Laks indi wee Beemtrnct Of CORMIER... ..5 5c cccccces 0 SE ere eee | ES 8 AER Ses ee eee vodeels SE ie oe) RE ee ae The 18,505 A.F.T. members in these cities constitute 79 per cent of the total paid-up membership of the organiza- tion at the time of the Secretary-Treasurer’s report. In- dustrial union councils of the C.I.O. are located in all but six of the 17 cities.’ “A mK KR OM ww 5As of November 22, 1937, not including 14 councils established since that date. ®Not including 14 councils established since November 22, 1937. 7Some of the 14 recently established councils may be located in cities not shown to have councils in the above tabulations. e al ) saan Included in the Appendix is a state-by-state tabulation of A.F.T. locals, and C.1.0. industrial union councils. Analysis of the data there presented reveals that 165 of the 182 locals reported by the Secretary-Treasurer as of October 1937, are in states which have one or more indus- trial union councils. In 7 states with no C.I.O. central labor bodies, there are 17 A.F.T. locals. Implications for A.F.T. In its instructions to the Executive Council relative to the investigation assigned to this Committee, the Twenty- First Annual Convention specified that attention be given to “the significance to the American Federation of Teach- ers of the proposed affiliation with the C.I.0., as concerns organizational campaigns and national and local legisla- tive campaigns, as well as the future position and program of the American Federation of Teachers in the Committee for Industrial Organization, if affiliation is decided upon by the membership.” In keeping with these instructions, the Committee addressed the following three questions to the Director of C.I.0. 19. What assistance (financial or otherwise) could the Ameri- can Federation of Teachers expect from the Committee for Indus- trial Organization in the former’s campaigns to effect the organization into unions of increasing numbers of American teachers ? 20. . . . In connection with the former’s legislative campaigns (e.g., for a democratic program of Federal aid to education, for state teacher-tenure laws, etc.) ? 21. From the viewpoint of the Committee for Industrial Organization, in just what ways could, or should, the affiliation of A.F.T. to C.I.O. further the goals of organized American labor ? The reply of the Director to these questions is repro- duced without comment below. 19, 20. The C.1.O. has granted financial assistance, both in the form of direct loans and appropriations and in the form of paid organizers, to a large number of its affiliated unions in the past. The details of such assistance naturally cannot be discussed in a general memorandum of this nature. The C.1.0. in many public statements has vigorously promoted the passage of progressive legislation designed to further the interests of workers of all classes and occupations. 21. It is the repeated belief of the C.1.0. that the organization of all workers on the industrial plan is a necessity for the raising of living and working standards throughout the United States. This is evidenced by the way in which the C.I.0. has consistently organized hitherto unorganized workers in all branches of industry and in the technical and professional occupations. The addition of the organized teachers to the C.1.0. would of course be of value in aiding the carrying out of this great task. Respectfully submitted, THE COMMITTEE ON C.LO. Signed: Doxey A. WILKERSON, Chairman. MICHAEL J. Eck, Vice President. STANTON E. Smitu, Vice President. Chicago, Illinois. December 30, 1937. APPENDICES List of Sources. B. “Resolution on C.1.0. Referendum”, Twenty-First Annual Con- vention of the American Federation of Teachers, Madison, Wis- consin, August 23-27, 1937. C. Letter and questionnaire to the C.1.0.; reply of the Director. D. Distribution of A.F.T. Locals and of C.1.0. Regional Directors and Industrial Union Councils, by Regions and by States. E. List of C.1.0. Industrial Union Councils. F. Chart of Membership in the C.1L.O. > APPENDIX A. LIST OF SOURCES 1. Response of the Director of C.1.0. to a Questionnaire (Appen- dix C.) 2. Interviews with the following C.I.O. officials: (a) John Brophy, Director (b) Walter Smethurst, Executive Assistant (c) C. D. Fowler, Publicity Director 3. J. Raymond Walsh, C.J.0.: Industrial Unionism in Action, New York: Norton, 1937. P. 293 4. Report of the Director to the Atlantic City Conference of C.1.0., October, 1937 5. C.1.0. News Service and C1I.0. News 6. C1I.0.: What It Is and How It Came To Be, Publication No. 12, October, 1937. Pp. 46 7. Official documents of the C.I.0. as follows: (a) Regional Directors and Field Representatives, August 19, 1937 (b) List of Industrial Union Councils, November 22, 1937 (Appendix E) 8. American Federation of Teachers, Statistical Report of Locals As of October, 1937 ~ APPENDIX B RESOLUTION ON C.1.0. REFERENDUM Adopted by A.F.T. August 26, 1937. WHEREAS, the American Federation of Teachers stands for unity in the American labor movement; and WHEREAS, a united labor movement is necessary for the continued success, both economically and politically, of the trade union movement in the United States; and WHEREAS, at the 1936 convention the American Federation of Teachers went on record as being sympathetic to the aims and purposes of the Committee for Industrial Organization; and WHEREAS, the American Federation of Teachers is on record as endorsing the principles of industrial unionism; and WHEREAS, the C.1.0. has achieved great success in its organization campaigns in the steel, auto, rubber and other mass production industries; and WHEREAS, the Committee for Industrial Organization has influ- enced and aided both the unionization of teachers and the securing of progressive teacher legislation; and WHEREAS, this convention of the American Federation of Teachers now has before it the question of the next step in its relation to the Committee for Industrial Organization, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED: that the American Federation of Teachers reaffirm its endorsement of the principles of industrial unionism; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: that the American Federation of Teachers at this twenty-first convention direct the Executive Council to undertake a referendum of the 5 membership on the question of affiliation of the Ameri- can Federation of Teachers to the Committee for Indus- trial Organization; such referendum to be conducted in accordance with existing constitutional provisions at the discretion of the Executive Council; such referendum to be conducted no sooner than February first, 1938; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: that, preceding such referendum, the Executive Council be instructed to make an exhaustive study on (1) the structure, functioning, dues, contracts, autonomy, etc., of the C.1.O. in its relation to labor; (2) the significance to the American Federation of Teachers of the proposed affiliation with the C.1.0. as concerns organizational campaigns and national and local legislative campaigns, as well as the future position and program of the American Federation of Teachers in the Committee for Industrial Organiza- tion, if affiliation is decided upon by the membership; and that the Executive Council be instructed to send a written report of its findings to every member of the American Federation of-Teachers; and be it further RESOLVED: that the American Federation of Teachers protest the undemocratic action of the Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor in suspending unions affiliated to the Committee for Industrial Organization ; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: that the American Federation of Teachers refuse to pay the special per capita tax pro- posed by the Cincinnati conference of the American Federation of Labor; and BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED: that for the purpose of unifying the American labor movement this Twenty-first Con- vention go on record as favoring the holding of a national convention of all bona fide trade unions, A.F.L., C.1.0., Railroad Brotherhoods, and genuine independent unions; and accordingly instruct our dele- gates to the 1937 convention of the American Federa- tion of Labor to introduce such a resolution into that convention. APPENDIX C LETTER AND QUESTIONNAIRE TO THE C.LO. and REPLY OF THE DIRECTOR Box 112, Howard University Washington, D. C. December 18, 1937 Mr. Jokn Brophy, Director Committee for Industrial Organization 1106 Connecticut Avenue, N. W. Washington, D. C. Dear Mr. Brophy: As you probably know, the issue which dominated the Twenty- first Annual Convention of the American Federation of Teachers, Madison, Wisconsin, August 23-27, 1937, was: Shall A.F.T. change its labor affiliation from A. F. of L. to C1.0.? The issue was not resolved. Rather, the Convention provided, among other things: (1) that the Executive Council investigate certain questions germane to that issue, a report of its findings to be submitted to every member of the Federation; and (2) that, after February, 1938, and at the discretion of the Executive Council, there be conducted a referendum of the membership on the issue of affiliation of the American Federation of Teachers to the Committee for Industrial Organization. (See appended copy of Convention resolution.) We have been authorized by the Executive Council to conduct the investigation referred to above. Much of the information we seek is available in official publications and reports of your organiza- tion. Other information we desire is set forth in the appended series of questions. We solicit your cooperation in our investigation, and should appre- ciate a prompt response to this inquiry. Our final report must be 6 submitted to the Executive Council at its Chicago meeting during the Christmas holidays. Very truly yours, THE COMMITTEE ON C.LO. of the AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS Signed: Doxrty A. WrKerson, Chairman Micwaet J. Ecx, Vice Pres. STANTON E. Smurtn, Vice Pres. QUERIES OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACH. ERS CONCERNING THE COMMITTEE FOR INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION I. ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION A. Membership: At the recent Atlantic City meeting of the Committee for Indus- trial Organization, the Director reported that the organization’s membership then comprised: (a) 32 national and international unions, (b) over 600 local industrial unions, (c) 4 state industrial councils and 78 city, county, and regional councils, and (d) approximately four million workers. 1. What changes, if any, need to be made in the above figures in order to bring them up to date? 2. What other types of units, if any, are included in the mem- bership of C.1.0? B. Organizational Structure: From the above mentioned report, it is understood that the affairs of the national C.I.0. are administered by: (a) A central body of national officers, located at Washing- ton, D. C. (b) 48 regional directors, (c) 10 sub-regional directors, and (d) a staff of several hundred field representatives. 3. What other types of officers, if any, constitute a part of the administrative machinery of the national organization ? 4. (a) What is the composition of the central administrative body? (b) What is the scope of its authority? (c) From what source, or sources, is its authority derived? 5. What are the functions of: (a) Regional directors? (b) Sub- regional directors? (c) Field representatives? (d) Any other types of administrative officials there may be? 6. What relationships (scope of authority, etc.) does each type of administrative agency (national officers, regional directors, etc.) bear: (a) to the several local, national, and international unions which comprise the membership of C.I.0.? (b) To the several local, county, and state industrial councils? (a) Just what obligations (other than financial) do national, international, and local union affiliates owe to the national organization? (b) To what extent are such national and international affiliates autonomous organizations? (If possible, please append copies of charters issued to such affiliates as the American Newspaper Guild; Federation of Architects, Engineers, Chemists, and Technicians; United Office and Pro- fessional Workers of America). C. Functioning: 8. (a) At what intervals are general conventions held? (b) What is their composition (i.e., basis of representation, etc.)? (c) What is the extent of their authority? 9. At what intervals, in what manner, and by what agency are selections made of (a) National officers? (b) Regional and sub-regional directors? (c) Field representatives? (d) Any other administrative officials there may be? 10. How, and by what body, are national policies formulated (e.g., concerning eligibility to membership, the issuance of charters, organizational campaigns, dues, legislative programs, etc.) ? 11. What function does the central administrative body exercise in connection with the negotiation of a contract by an affiliated union? ~I L D. Finances: 12. What is the cost to a national or international union of a charter with the Committee for Industrial Organization ? 13. The Director reported at the recent Atlantic City meeting that: “. . . A rate of 5 cents per member per month has been established for affiliated national and international unions, becoming effective as of June 1, 1937. All unions which desire to remain affiliated with the C.1.0. are now required to make these per capita payments on the basis of their full membership.” (a) Is it correct to assume that this policy would apply to the American Federation of Teachers were it to become affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Organization ? (b) Just how does the national organization determine the extent of the “full membership” for which an affiliate should pay dues? 14. What other financial obligations, if any, does an affiliated national or international union owe to the C.1.0.? 15. At what intervals, and in what form, are financial reports of the C.1.0. made to its affiliated unions? E. Constitution: 16. Is there a constitution, or other such instrument, which defines the structure and organic relationships of the Committee for Industrial Organization? (If so, please append a copy. In case of any of the above questions which are adequately covered by such a constitution, merely designate sections where the information requested may be obtained). 17. If there is no such constitution: (a) What is there to serve the same function? (b) Is the adoption of such a constitution planned for the near future? (c) If so, when? (d) How will it be formulated ? F. Geographical Distribution of Membership: 18. If convenient, please append a summary statement indicating the approximate total membership of C.1.0O. affiliate in each state of the nation. Supplementary thereto would be desirable a similar breakdown for major cities in the country. In fact, as complete an analysis as can be provided—number of locals, chief industries, number of members, etc.;—would be very helpful. However, do not delay a reply if this information cannot readily be supplied. II. IMPLICATIONS FOR A. F. T. OF AFFILIATION WITH C. I. O. From the general objectives of the Committee for Industrial Organization and its relations to the American labor movement, there are evident certain implications for A.F.T. of affiliation with C.LO. Aside from these, there are certain more definite considerations relative to which information is desired. They are: 19. What assistance (financial or otherwise) could the American Federation of Teachers expect from the Committee for Indus- trial Organization in the former’s campaigns to effect the organization into unions of increasing numbers of American teachers? (In addition to a direct answer, please cite illustra- tions from the experiences of other national and international affiliates) . 20. What assistance (financial or otherwise) could the American Federation of Teachers expect from the Committee for Indus- trial Organization in connection with the former’s legislative campaigns (e.g., for a democratic program of Federal aid to education, for state teacher-tenure laws, etc.)? (In addition to a direct answer, please cite illustrations from the experience of other national and international affiliates). 21. From the viewpoint of the Committee for Industrial Organiza- tion, in just what ways could, or should the affiliation of A.F.T. to the C.1.0. further the goals of organized American labor ? Please send responses to: Doxey A. WILKERSON, Chairman Committee on C.1.0. American Federation of Teachers Box 112, Howard University Washington, D. C. December 18, 1937. RESPONSES OF C.1L.0. TO A.F.T. QUERIES Committee for Industrial Organization 1106 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington, D. C. December 26, 1937. Doxey A. Wilkerson, Chairman, Committee on C.1L.0., American Federation of Teachers, Box 112, Howard University, Washington, D. C. Dear Sir and Brother: In response to your questionnaire of December 18, permit me to set down the following answers. A. Membership 1. There are at present 33 national and international unions affiliated to the C.I.0. The latest is the United Furniture Workers of America, affiliated December 7, 1937. As of December 15, 1937, there were 697 Local Industrial Unions, 124 Industrial Union Councils, and 6 State Industrial Union Councils. Present membership of the C.1.0. is approximately 4,000,000. B. Organizational Structure 2. The C.1.0. has its headquarters in Washington, D. C., where the Chairman, John L. Lewis, the Director, John Brophy, and other officers and employees are situated. The number of Regional Directors, Sub-Regional Directors, and Field Representatives fluctuates. There are at present over 60 Regional and Sub-Regional Directors, with offices in the United States and in Canada. 3. Remaining officers constituting a part of the administrative machinery of the C.I.0. consist of a Publicity Director, an Execu- tive Assistant to the Chairman, a legal staff, editorial workers, research workers, and the necessary accounting, bookkeeping, steno- graphic and clerical staff. 4. The authority of the officers of the C.1.O. is derived from the unanimous action of the constituent unions of the C.1.0., expressed in the Atlantic City Conference of the C.1.0. during October, and previously. Full authority was conferred on Mr. Lewis, as Chair- man, to conduct the affairs of the C.1.0. during the intervals between conferences and other meetings. Each constituent union has equal voice in the conferring of this authority. 5. Regional Directors and other field representatives are employed for one primary purpose—to carry out the task of organizing the unorganized. In this, they are instructed to aid trade union organization under the banner of the C.1.0. wherever such aid is needed, and to the fullest extent possible. They are responsible to the National headquarters of the C.1.0. 6. Regional Directors and other members of the field staff are not responsible directly to the affiliated national or international unions, though they are instructed to cooperate with them to the fullest measure. Their responsibility to delegate bodies depends on their membership or affiliation to such bodies. Here again they are in- structed to aid such bodies as fully as may be needed. 7. As stated on the charter of each of our affiliated unions, national and international bodies are obliged to comply with “the rules, regu- lations and laws adopted by the Committee for Industrial Organiza- tion.” All affiliated national and international unions are autonomous. All national and international charters are similar in provisions. C. Functioning 8. The Atlantic City Conference of the C.1.0., held in October 1937, provided for the calling of a national convention of the C.1.0. The last general conference of C.I.0. unions was held in Washington, in December 1937. At this and similar meetings in the past, each union was represented by its president or by some representative or repre- sentatives designated by the Union. Local Industrial Unions are rep- resented by regional officers of the C.I.0. Each representative at such meetings has equal voice in the determination of policy. 9. National officers of the C.1.0. are elected by the vote of repre- sentatives of affiliated unions. At the time of the formation of the C.1.0. in November, 1935, Mr. Lewis was elected Chairman, Mr. 7 Charles P. Howard Secretary, and John Brophy Director. All presi- dents of affiliated national and international unions are officers of the C.1.0. Regional Directors and other field officers are chosen on the basis of need for their services, and selected for their experience and their loyalty to the principles of industrial organization. 10. The policies of the C.I.O. are promulgated, as indicated in the answer to question B. 4, above, by the Chairman and other officers of the C.I.0., acting under the direction of the constituent unions. 11. The national office of the C.I.O. assists in the securing of contracts by all affiliated unions, but does not pass on their merits. This is left to the discretion of the unions themselves. D. Finances 12. The Charter fee for an international union is $25.00. 13. All affiliated unions are expected to pay the per capita tax, which constitutes the income of the C.L.O. The determination of membership is based on the figures of the affiliated unions. 14. An affiliated union owes no other financial obligation to the C.L.O. beyond the payment of per capita tax or other assessments that may be voted by the C.LO. 15. Financial reports are made at meetings of the C.I.0., such as the conference at Atlantic City, N. J., in October, 1937. E. Constitution 16. In the absence of a full national convention, in which delegates are represented on the basis of a certain number per unit of mem- bership, the C.1.0. has not yet prepared a written constitution. The C.1.0. is governed throughout its actions by the policies and wishes of its affiliated unions, represented in conferences and other meetings, as indicated in the answers to questions C. 10 and B. 4 above. 17. Each of the affiliated national and international unions possesses a constitution or similar body of governing principles. Since these affiliates are the ruling bodies of the C.I.0., the C.1.0. is therefore governed by these governing principles. The Atlantic City conference of the C.I.O. unanimously passed a resolution providing for the calling of a national convention, at which time a constitution will be discussed. The date of this convention was not fixed at the conference. A national constitution of the C.1.0. will follow the most democratic processes of the labor movement. As is well known, the C.I.O. repre- sents a new concept of trade union democracy in the American labor movement. Without such an extension of trade union democracy as the C.L.O. represents, it would have been impossible to organize the 3,000,000 previously unorganized workers now members of the C.1.0. Each affiliate of the C.1.0. is fully autonomous. Since each has an equal voice in the formulation of C.1.0. policies, this autonomy will be preserved when a written constitution is prepared. F. Distribution of Membership 18. The pamphlet, “The C.1.0., What It Is and How It Came To Be”, a copy of which is appended, gives an accurate record of mem- bership and accomplishment of the affiliated C.1.0. unions. IMPLICATIONS TO A.F.T. OF C.1.0. AFFILIATION 19, 20. The C.I.O. has granted financial assistance, both in the form of direct loans and appropriations and in the form of paid organizers, to a large number of its affiliated unions in the past. The details of such assistance naturally cannot be discussed in a general memo- randum of this nature. The C.1.0. in many public statements has vigorously promoted the passage of progressive legislation designed to further the interests of workers of all classes and occupations. 21. It is the repeated belief of the C.I.0. that the organization of all workers on the industrial plan is a necessity for the raising of living and working standards throughout the United States. This is evi- denced by the way in which the C.I.0. has consistently organized hitherto unorganized workers in all branches of industry and in the technical and professional occupations. The addition of the organized teachers to the C.I.0. would of course be of value in aiding the carrying out of this great task. Fraternally yours, Joun Bropny, Director. APPENDIX D DISTRIBUTION OF A.F.T. LOCALS and of C.I.O0. REGIONAL DIRECTORS and INDUSTRIAL UNION COUNCILS by STATES AND REGIONS No. of No. of No. of C.1.0. A.F.T. C.1.0. Industrial Locals Regional Union (Oct., Directors Councils Region State 1937) 12-15-37 11-22-37 Northeast Connecticut ........ 2 2 — CE ieidaa Lon acqe< — 1 — ans 1 -- -- New Hampshire .... — 1 — Massachusetts ...... 6 1 3 Rhode Island ....... — 2 ~ New Jersey ........ 6 4 3 eee 8 2 3 Pennsylvania ....... 11 4 14 DL. dines sae ens _— 1 — Ee 1 2 2 West Virginia ...... 6 1 9 a 3 1 1 ES RE eR 44 22 35 Southeast Virginia ........... 1 1 3 De EN, o's a sees — 1 — Pree —- — — DEE Rikicnvekees 5 ~- -- ce 4 xp - — — DE acco kicee a ae 1 1 8 Mississippi ......... — — ~~ CO ee 2 — —_— A 2 2 — Tennessee ......... 5 1 2 Kentucky ..... ey — _ Re 16 5 13 Southwest Texas .............. — 1 1 ES eee 1 New Mexico ........ — — — I re de tear db — — — Wika dee 1 2 2 Middle re 15 7 15 DD, onc endwon ae 4 1 10 EE, cae ckdseus’ 9 3 7 DD: ncasewawen 9 1 4 SD kv ow mnswaie 20 1 3 CO ae 21 1 3 eS ere ~- 3 1 SE aw. Ge ban 1 2 2 eae 79 19 45 Northwest N. Dakota ......... 4 — — ON wo cwewawwan 1 — — 0 Eee — 1 - A ee rae ge — 1 -- SE ee 4 1 1 RE ie a ee cad -- — — WOE wiaccccaues 2 -- — 0 Saree 1 1 — SES See Foe eee 2 1 2 Se ee 14 5 3 Far West Washington ........ 12 1 9 SE -toceces0enes 3 2 2 ENED nsec cance 13 4 7 ee _- — — WD aiascavenn 28 7 18 NOTE: The above tabulation does not include 14 industrial union councils established since November 22, 1937. APPENDIX E LIST OF INDUSTRIAL UNION COUNCILS November 22, 1937 K. L. Cole, Ex. Sec. Toledo IUC #Z-1 1605 Jefferson Ave. Toledo, Ohio Paul Rusen, Chairman Steubenville, IUC #Z-2 104 S. 3rd Street Steubenville, Ohio William Leader, Pres. Philadelphia IUC #Z-3 1420 N. Broad Street Philadelphia, Pa. Persa R. Bell, Sec. Birmingham IUC #Z-4 ist Nat’l Bank Bldg. Birmingham, Ala. J. D. Kimberling, Sec. Ark.-Okla. IUC #Z-S 720 Metropolitan Bldg. Muskogee, Okla. Bill Busick, Chairman Los Angeles IUC #Z-6 116% W. 9th Street Los Angeles, Calif. John Frank, Rec. Sec. Northern Cambria IUC #Z-7 Box #133 Marsteller, Pa. Andrew Loyek, Sec’y. Marshall County IUC #Z-9 10 Hickory Ave. Moundsville, W. Va. Bernard Borah, Sec’y. Knoxville IUC #Z-10 218 S. Gay Street, Box #1492 Knoxville, Tenn. Chas. F. Stedman, Rec. Sec. Vigo County IUC #Z-11 2043 N. 4th Street Terre Haute, Indiana Alma Nickerson, Sec’y Wheeling IUC #Z-12 Box #3 Triadelphia, W. Va. Hugh Wilson, Rec. Sec. Sullivan County IUC #Z-13 Sullivan, Indiana I. G. Stone, Pres. LU.C. of Appalachia #Z-15 Imboden, Va. Robert Crawford, Rec. Sec. I.U.C. of Fredericktown #Z-16 Box #3 Richeyville, Pa. D. Keane, Sec’y. Indianapolis IUC #Z-17 168 W. 9th Street Indianapolis, Indiana O. S. Wensel, Sec’y. Kiski Valley IUC #Z-18 411 Linden Street Vandergrift, Pa. Mr. Robert Light, Pres. Logan IUC #Z-19 Box #347 Logan, W. Va. E. E. Ward, Sec. Treas. Alameda County IUC #Z-20 936 Broadway Oakland, Calif. W. R. Norman, Rec. Sec. Stark County IUC #Z-21 1327 Cleveland Ave., S.W. Canton, Ohio Mr. M. Vranesh, Rec. Sec. Allegheny Valley IUC #Z-22 Box #56 Rural Ridge, Pa. Mr. A. D. McLeod, Pres. Montana State IUC #Z-23 1217 8th Ave. S. Great Falls, Mont. Chester Black, Sec’y. Walker County IUC #Z-24 Box #148 Jasper, Ala. Elmer Fehlhaber, Sec. Cleveland IUC #Z-27 Room 614 9th Chester Bldg. Cleveland, Ohio Edward A. Brown, Rec. Sec. Huntsville IUC #Z-28 410 Shannon St. Huntsville, Ala. John Carnahan, Pres. Lower Thumb of Mich. IUC #Z-29 1914 Stone Street Port Huron, Mich. William Donahue, Sec. Belmont County IUC #Z-30 3512 Trumbell Street Bellaire, Ohio Mr. R. Labounty, Fin. Sec. Treas. Sandusky IUC #Z-31 1508 W. Tylor Street Sandusky, Ohio E. B. Shannon, Rec. Sec. Welch IUC #Z-32 Box #828 Welch, W. Va. Thomas Walmsley, Sec. Roslyn & Cle Elum IUC #Z-34 Roslyn, Washington C. L. Pegues, Fin. Sec. Treas. Bessemer IUC #Z-35 1726% 3rd Ave. Bessemer, Ala. Mr. A. Brilliant, Ex. Sec. Kansas City IUC #Z-36 813 Walnut Street Kansas City, Mo. Mr. Wm. B. Vernon, Sec. Shelby County IUC #Z-37 Box #57 Underwood, Ala. Mr. Wm. Shaw, Rec. Sec. Mercer County IUC #Z-38 Box #484 Princeton, W. Va. Mr. Leo Kish, Pres. Beckley IUC #Z-39 Glen Morgan, W. Va. Agnes M. Hutton, Rec. Sec. Trenton IUC #Z-40 355 Garfield Ave. Trenton, N. J. Bess Meblin, Rec: & Cor. Sec. South Bend, IUC #Z-41 919 S. Michigan Street South Bend, Indiana Mr. D. J. Davis, Sec. Herrin IUC #Z-42 217 N. 20th Street Herrin, Ill. Paul A. Nolf, Rec. Sec. Indiana IUC #Z-43 Box #33 Ernest, Pa. Mr. H. G. West, Fin. Sec. Bibb County IUC #Z-44 West Blocton, Ala. G. George De Nucci, Pres. Franklin County IUC #Z-45 180 E. Long Street Columbus, Ohio Carl Rush, Sec. Treas. Zeigler IUC #Z-46 319 Walnut Street Zeigler, Ill. F. G. Hunter, Dist. Org. South Jersey IUC #Z-47 2332 Broadway Camden, N. J. Luther Slinkard, Rec. Sec. St. Louis IUC. #Z-48 3412 N. Union Street St. Louis, Mo. Gunnar Mickelsen, Dir. Wisconsin State IUC #Z-49 3022 Plankinton Arc. Milwaukee, Wis. Paul Witte, Pres. San Diego IUC #Z-50 852 8th Street San Diego, Calif. Leon J. Buckman, Sec. Des Moines IUC #Z-S51 707 Center Street Des Moines, Iowa Mr. J. W. Atwood Grundy IUC #Z-S2 Big Rock, Va. J. H. Cheeks, Rec. Sec. Richlands IUC #Z-53 Pocahontas, Va. Mr. M. Adelman, Sec. Treas. Milwaukee County IUC #Z-54 Room 3026 Plankington Ar. Milwaukee, Wis. John L. Reano, Pres. Vermilion County IUC #Z-55 414 S. State St. Westville, Il. Michael Howard, Sec. Baltimore IUC #Z-56 1720 Eastern Ave. Baltimore, Md. Wm. Kelly, Jr., Sec. (Rec.) Tarentum District IUC #Z-57 Rear 863 3rd Ave. Brackenridge, Pa. Wm. J. Moulton, Sec. Treas. Perry County IUC #Z-58 46 S. Buckeye Crooksville, Ohio C. E. Hoskins, Sec. Hocking & Sunday Creek IUC #Z-59 R.F.D. #2 Nelsonville, Ohio Lawrence G. Crowe, Sec. Anniston IUC #Z-60 1316 Mulberry Ave. Anniston, Ala. Tad C. Micheals, Sec. Treas. Erie County IUC #Z-61 213 Root Bidg.,86 W. Chippewa St. Buffalo, N. Y. William Gettings, Pres. Del Norte IUC #Z-62 Box #431 Crescent City, Calif. E. H. Foley, Rec. Sec. Williamson IUC #Z-63 Box #558 Williamson, W. Va. Harry McAtee, Rec. Sec. Greene County IUC #Z-64 990 Roosevelt St. Linton, Ind. H. C. Price, Rec. Sec. Mullens IUC #Z-65 Mullens, W. Va. Marie Andrus, Rec. Sec. Erie IUC #Z-66 817 W. 20th St. Erie, Pa. Mr. P. R. McGraw, Pres. Duluth IUC #Z-67 207 W. Sth St. Duluth, Minn. Carrie Jones, Rec. Sec. Winfield IUC #Z-68 R.F.D. #1 Winfield, Ala. George A. Ford, Rec. Sec. Springfield IUC #Z-69 222% E. Allen St. Springfield, Il. J. C. Donald, Act. Pres. Clay County IUC #Z-70 R. R. #3 Brazil, Indiana W. J. Carney, Temp. Pres. Greater Newark IUC #Z-71 81 Academy St., Newark, N. J. Charles Foster, Sec. Fort Wayne IUC #Z-72 248 Farmers Trust Bldg. Fort Wayne, Indiana Frank E. Patton, Rec. Sec. Barberton, IUC #Z-73 505 Hopocan Ave. Barberton, Ohio Joseph Loffini, Sec. Treas. Gr. N.Y. Joint Bd. of Barbers & By-Cul- turists #Z-74 St. Dennis Bldg. 799 Bdwy. New York City, N. Y. John B. Easton, Pres. West Virginia IUC #Z-75 308-10-12 Peoples Exchange Bank Building Charleston, W. Va. John Kurtz, Rec. Sec. Tuscarawas County IUC #Z-76 213 E. 11th St. Dover, Ohio Otto Craft, Rec. Sec. Vermillion County IUC #Z-77 940 S. Sth Street Clinton, Indiana Dell Frank, Rec. Sec. Eau Claire IUC #Z-78 120 Illinois St. Eau Claire, Wis. Kelsey Cottle, Sec. San Joaquin County IUC #Z-79 209 E. Channell St. Stockton, Calif. L. Goldblatt, Sec. San Francisco Dist. IUC #Z-80 Room 509, 593 Market St. San Francisco, Calif. Thomas Bay, Sec. Treas. New York Maritime Council #Z-81 10 Bridge St. New York, N. Y. Robert Decker, Sec. Treas. Delaware County IUC #Z-82 922 Market St. Marcus Hook, Pa. Ruth Tennes, Rec. Sec. Princeton District IUC #Z-83 R. R. #2 Mt. Carmel, Il. James Powers, Rec. Sec. Lake County IUC #Z-84 822 Muirfield Ave. Waukegan, IIl. J. T. Dudley, Treas. Sacramento IUC #Z-85 905 6th Street Sacramento, Calif. C. L. Skinner, Pres. Akron IUC #Z-86 313 S. High St. Akron, Ohio Arthur Hartmen, Pres. Greater Cincinnati IUC #Z-87 812 Keith Bldg. Cincinnati, Ohio Irene Dawson, Rec. Sec. Portsmouth District IUC #Z-88 514 6th St. Portsmouth, Ohio Robert Stevenson, Rec. Sec. Saginaw IUC #Z-89 1150 S. Warren Ave. Saginaw, Mich. Henry Hansen, Pres. Coos Bay Area IUC #Z-90 1 L.W.U. Hiring Hall North Bend, Ore. Benjamin Silver, Rec. Sec. Worcester IUC #Z-91 30 Oread St. Worcester, Mass. Philip Curatels, Rec. Sec. La Salle County IUC #Z-92 606 E. 6th St. Peru, Ill. Alta Rosendahl, Sec. Treas. Willapa Harbor IUC #Z-93 Box #424 Raymond, Washington J. J. Wright, Sec. Lake County IUC #Z-94 560 Broadway Gary, Ind. T. K. Hedrick, Sec. Treas. Chattanooga IUC #Z-95 207 Ferber Building Chattanooga, Tenn. E. V. Bennett, Ex. Sec. Seattle IU Labor Coun. #Z-96 3141 Arcade Bldg. Seattle, Washington Bennie Howell, Pres. Floyd County IUC #Z-97 2218 Beeler St. New Albany, Ind. Jean J. Bellefenille, Rec. Sec. Lowell IUC #Z-98 59 Barlett Street Lowell, Mass. B. M. Patten, Sec. Pro. Temp. Snohomish County IUC #Z-100 2 Wisconsin Building Everett, Washington Norman H. Lange, Sec. Treas. Tacoma IUC #Z-101 1113 Fawcett Ave. Tacoma, Wash. G. Brick Moir, Sec. Treas. Grays Harbor IUC #Z-102 305% E. Heron St. Aberdeen, Wash. Fred Petoskey, Gen. Sec. Bay City IUC #Z-103 504 Mosher St. Bay City, Mich. A. C. Bishop, Sec. Richland County IUC #Z-104 50% Lily St. Mansfield, Ohio Fred Pezzini, Pres. Western Mass. IUC #Z-105 172 Chestnut St. Springfield, Mass. David J. McDonald, Sec. Steel City IUC #Z-106 3600 Grant Bldg. Pittsburgh, Pa. O. P. Taylor, Sec. Thurston County IUC #Z-107 314% Capitol Way N. Olympia, Wash. Sidney R. Katz, Sec. Washington IUC #Z-108 1422 N St. N.W. Washington, D. C. L. H. Ammarell, Pres. Berks County IUC #Z-109 632 Washington St. Reading, Pa. E. P. Geiger, Fin. Sec. Treas. Greater Flint IUC #Z-110 2117 N. Stevenson St. Flint, Mich. H. W. Wier, Pres. Corpus Christi Area #Z-111 Box #152 Ingleside, Texas George Miller, Ex. Sec. Bellingham IUC #Z-112 901 Newell Street Bellingham, Washington R. W. Parry, Sec. Treas. Cowlitz County IUC #Z-113 206 Ross Bldg. Longview, Washington James S. Fantz, Treas. Portland IUC #Z-114 816 Guardian Bldg. Portland, Oregon Anthony Rago, Vice Pres. Lower Bucks County IUC #Z-115 1025 N. 15th St. Philadelphia, Pa. Erwin Leppert, Pres. Washington IUC #Z-116 370 McKinley Avenue Washington, Pa. Sidney R. Katz, Sec. Treas. Maryland & Dist. of Col. IUC #Z-117 1010 Vermont Ave. N.W. Washington, D. C. Martin Mackie, Fin. Sec. (REC.) Iron Range IUC #Z-118 310 1st Street, N. Virginia, Minn. E. M. Royle, Sec. Treas. Utah State IUC #Z-119 322 Beason Building Salt Lake City, Utah Margaret Larson, Rec. Sec. Hennepin County IUC #Z-120 702 Pierce St., N. E. Minneapolis, Minn. A. H. White, Rec. Sec. Carbon County IUC #Z-121 P. O. Box #507 Standardville, Utah R. F. Caskey, Sec. Lancaster County IUC #Z-122 Box #654 Lancaster, Pa. APPENDIX F. CHART OF MEMBERSHIP IN THE C.LO.* Approx. Maximum Membership Approx. Poten- Date of Before Membership tial Mem- Original 8 Unions Affiliation Affiliation(!) Sept.,1937(2) bership(3) I SE Is 660. 4 Fé ce ccces+seceeses ss Nov. 1935 400,000 600,000 620,000 Ce BEE MOOD 6. kc cece cewccwa ease ces " 73,400 80,000 82,000 i ee Ce. cc owetebsevedeeeceacwn m 100,000 200,000 200,000 4. Int'l Ladies Garment Workers.................... “ 160,000 250,000 300,000 5. United Textile Workers (T. W. O. C.)............. 100,000 400,000 1,250,000 6. Oil Field, Gas Well and Refinery Workers........ a 42,800 100,000 1,000,000 Be rr eee 7 21,400 35,000 60,000 8. Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers.................. “6 14,600 50,000 150,000 Nationals and Internationals Added Since Formation of the C.1.O. 15 9. Federation of Flat Glass Workers................. April 1936 14,000 18,000 18,000 10. United Automobile Workers... .................. July 1936 19,000 375,000 500,000 rr re Ce, nw. tases ctieewheedbhéew - 3,500 75,000 120,000 12. Amal. Association Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers (S. W. ED is. cick eedinhobabusdig'soinaBebereate June 1936 9,200 500,000 800,000 13. United Electrical and Radio Workers........ ...+ Nov. 1936 30,000 130,000 347,000 14. Marine and Ship Building Workers................. » 10,000 25,000 75,000 SE re ene April 1937 20,000 51,000 300,000 16. American Communications Association............. a 10,000 350,000 | 17. Aluminum Workers of America......... ........ sy 12,000 15,000 40,000 a ol a sig w'ew enn a pa.eehwn hs «ak May 1937 16,000 90,000 1,500,000 19. Architects, Engineers, Chemists, Technicians. ....... . 6,000 7,000 250,000 20. National Leather Workers....................... “3 15,000 15,000 80,000 21. United Retail Employees.................. ve oN = 15,000 40,000 3,000,000 re eee Pe MD... occccuvcce ckneseessene 30,000 t a 23. Office and Professional Workers................... 10,000 25,000 3,800,000 24. American Newspaper Guild......... ............. June 1937 5,000 14,000 200,000 25. United Federal Workers................... st 25,000 5,000 485,000 ts Ae CN RO ose. covsndessences’s 9 2 Seales [a ... Saga 27. State County and Municipal Workers............... July 1937 40,000 2,000,000 28. Agricultural, Canning, and Packing Workers...... a Pe 100,000 4,400,000 29. National Maritime Union............ ........... - 38,000 38,000 300,000 30. Woodworkers Federation ....................05-. 100,000 100,000 1,000,000 31. Marine Engineers Beneficial Association............ Se... een iin ~~ «aa 32. Int’l. Longshoremen and Warehousemen’s Union... .. os 25,000 75,000 1 Figures taken from the report on membership of the American Federation of Labor Convention, 1936. 2 Figures from the offices of the Committee for Industrial Organization and the individual unions. 3 Figures drawn from the Statistical Abstract of the United States. * From C./.0.—Industrial Unionism in Action, J. Raymond Walsh, P. 156. Report on American Federation of Labor At the December, 1937, meeting of the Executive Coun- cil, the “Report of the Committee on C.I.0O.,” ordered by the Twenty-first Annual Convention of A.F.T., was re- ceived and directed to be published in THe AMERICAN TeacHER. The Executive Council also ordered a similar study to be made of the A. F. of L., it, likewise, to be published in THE AMERICAN TEACHER. There follows the report of the Committee appointed to conduct the latter investigation. Purpose and Scope As in case of the “Report of the Committee on C.I.0.,” the present report is restricted to a factual analysis of the membership, organizational structure, and functioning of the American Federation of Labor, together with its status as a labor movement. Also, from the viewpoint of the A. F. of L., attention is given to the implications for A.F.T. of continued affiliation with the A. F. of L. The information here presented was obtained in confer- ence with officers and from official documents of the A. F. of L., and particularly, from the very full response of the Federation to a questionnaire submitted to its President. The complete set of data supplied by the A. F. of L., upon request of the investigating Committee, is included in the Appendix to this report. Membership The American Federation of Labor, organized in 1881, is a federation of national and international unions, directly affiliated local unions, and central labor union bodies. On January 1, 1938, it comprised 104 national and international unions, 1,503 directly affiliated local unions, 49 state federa- tions of labor and 738 city central labor unions. In all, its affiliated organizations comprise an individual membership of approximately three and one-half millions. The national and international unions affiliated with A. F. of L. are representative of scores of different crafts and dozens of industrial fields. Among these affiliates are several unions whose membership consists predominantly of professional or other “white collar” workers; notably, Associated Actors and Artists of America, American Fed- 12 eration of Musicians, and American Federation of Govern- ment Employees, and, of course, the American Federation of Teachers. During the two-year period ending in August, 1937, the number of affiliated national and international unions de- creased from 109 to 100. However, during the same period, directly affiliated local unions increased from 1,354 to 1,406, and the aggregate number of individual members from 3,153,913 to 3,271,726. Between 1928 and August, 1935, membership in A. F. of L. increased from 2,596,063 to 3,153,913, a gain of nearly nine per cent. Since the latter date, even with the loss of the unions which formed the C.1.0., the individual membership of A. F. of L. i: creased to 3,468,885 by January 1, 1938, a gain of six per cent over August, 1935, and a gain of 19 per cent over 1928. Organizational Structure The officers of A. F. of L. consist of a President, Sec- retary-Treasurer, and 15 Vice-Presidents, all of whom con- stitute the Executive Council. The authority of officers is derived from the Constitution, significant sections of which are quoted below. Article VI, Sec. 6. The President shall be authorized and empowered to discipline State Federations of Labor, City Central Unions, and Local and Federal Labor Unions, including authority to suspend and/or expel any officer or member thereof, and/or to suspend and/or revoke their charter subject first to an appeal to the Executive Council and thereafter to the next regular convention immediately following. The President with the approval of the Execu- tive Council shall likewise have authority and be empowered to safeguard and protect and if necessary take immediate charge of all equities and properties, tangible or intangible, acquired and/or possessed by State Federations of Labor, City Central Labor Unions or their subsidiaries or agents, whenever or however such equities and/or properties may be jeopardized through disobedience to the constitution, laws, rules and requirements of the American Federation of Labor or for any other reason or cause deemed impera- tive by the President and the Executive Council, and shall hold same in trust as provided by the laws of the American Federation of Labor.” Article IX, Sec. 8. The Executive Council shall have power to make the rules to govern matters not in conflict with this Constitution, or the constitution of affiliated unions, and shall report accordingly to the Federation. Article IX, Sec. 12. The Executive Council of the Amer- ican Federation of Labor shall only have power to revoke the charter of an affiliated National or International Union when the revocation has been ordered by a two-thirds ma- jority of a regular or special Convention of the American Federation of Labor, by a roll-call vote. Article IX, Sec. 13. The Executive Council shall be authorized and empowered to take such actions and render such decisions as may be necessary to carry out fully and adequately all provisions contained in the constitution and general laws as well as declarations and decisions of the conventions and it shall be authorized and empowered to take such further actions and render such further decisions during the interim of conventions as may become neces- sary to safeguard and promote the best interest of the Federation and of all its affiliated unions. The national office of A. F. of L. is located in Washing- ton, D. C. There stationed are the President and Secretary- Treasurer, together with the Legislative Committee, Di- rector of Organization, Research Staff, Director of Pub- licity, Editor of the Weekly News Service, and other employees. In addition to the central administrative staff, A. F. of L. maintains regional and local representatives “in every metropolitan center in the United States.” There is a staff of 263 paid organizers, including those acting in the capacity of regional organizers. In addition, over 400 general organizers are employed from time to time on specific assignments. There are also 1,317 duly certified district organizers who serve on a volunteer basis. “The total number of organizers, including regional, general and dis- trict organizers, available to serve the needs of affiliated unions is 1,975.” This force is under the supervision of the Director of Organization, who, in turn, is directly responsible to the President. “The services of the organiz- ing staff are available at all times to national, inter- national, and local unions” for assistance in connection with organizing, negotiating agreements, etc. Attention should be called to one other cnputlantionsl structure of the A. F. of L., namely, its “departments.” According to the Constitution, “Each Department [is] to be considered the official method of the American Federa- tion of Labor for transacting the portion of its business indicated by the name of the Department . . .” There are at present four such Departments: Building Trades, Metal Trades, Railway Shop Employees, and Union Hotel Trades, together with 712 local department councils. At one time there was also a Mining Department. Each such unit consists of affiliated national and international unions relating to a given type of industrial work. Each has its own officers, maintains its own local department councils, holds its own conventions, finances its own program, and sends one delegate to the general A. F. of L. Convention. In a few instances a department (e.g., the Metal Trades Department) has negotiated an agreement covering all unions (e.g., all metal trades unions) in a given industrial establishment. Functioning The Constitution of the A. F. of L. defines explicitly the policies and procedures of the organization. Several of these warrant brief mention here. Conventions : The general conventions of the A. F. of L. meet annually at ten o’clock in the morning on the first Monday in Octo- ber, except during the years when a presidential election occurs, in which years the conventions meet on the third Monday in November. Election of Officers: The President, Secretary-Treasurer, and 15 Vice-Presi- dents are elected annually by the Convention. Organizers, regional representatives, and other employees are desig- nated, appointed, or employed by the President. Finances: A fee of $5.00 is charged national and international unions for a Certificate of Affiliation. There is also a fee of $10.00 to cover the costs of a seal and a set of books for financial records. Aside from these initial fees, each affiliated national and international union is required to pay a per capita tax of one cent per member per month on full paid-up member- ship. The Executive Council is empowered to declare a levy of lc per member per week on all affiliated unions for a period not exceeding ten weeks in any one year to assist in the support of an affiliated national or international union engaged in a protracted strike or lockout. Other as- sessments may be levied when and as ordered by a majority vote of a regular or special convention. Illustrative in this regard is the 1c per member per month organizing cam- paign fee assessed by the Cincinnati Conference in May, 1937, and ordered to be continued by the Convention in Denver, during November, 1937. Detailed financial reports of the A. F. of L. are rendered to affiliated national and international unions four times a year. Autonomy: From time to time, conventions of A. F. of L. have stated explicitly that affiliated unions are autonomous or- ganizations. The following statement was adopted by the 1922 Convention: “Firmly in accord with the principles and methods of democracy, the A. F. of L. has opposed the spirit or methods of dictatorship, within or without the trade 13 union movement. We believe that only through volun- tary association, through voluntary cooperation and fed- eration, can the American workingmen successfully and effectively work out their industrial problems. Twenty- one years ago the policy of the A. F. of L. towards its affiliated organizations, their jurisdiction, their right to self-government, their freedom to develop and apply such form or organization as seemed most advantageous to them was adopted. It is most advisable that every trade unionist and every friend of our movement should be thoroughly familiar with this policy, and with this pur- pose in mind, we now reaffirm and re-endorse the decision relative to the rights of affiliated organizations adopted by the Scranton convention of 1901.” Contracts: “Whenever called upon by an affiliated national or in- ternational union, but only at the express request of such union, the President may authorize any available regional or local organizers or representatives to render every pos- sible assistance to such union in order to bring the negotia- tions of a contract to successful conclusion.” Constitution: A more complete statement of the functioning of the A. F. of L. may be gained from its Constitution, “As Adopted at the Fifty-Seventh Annual Convention Held at Denver, Colorado, October 4 to 15, Inclusive, 1937.” Cer- tain portions of that Constitution are here reproduced in the Appendix. Status as a Labor Movement The long history and development of the American Fed- eration of Labo. are well known to all persons interested in organized labor. It should suffice, therefore, here to present merely one index of its status as a labor move- ment; namely, the number and distribution of its city central labor unions. Attention has previously been called to the fact that there are 49 state federations of labor and 738 city central labor unions affiliated with A. F. of L. The distribution of 735 of these central bodies, by geographical regions, is shown in Table I. Table I. Distribution by Regions of A. F. of L. City Central Labor Unions No. of States with City Number of City Region Central Labor Unions Central Unions Eg a ee 12 187 ES ef a ee ll 88 iS SL SRE a 4 59 A Re a. i sain es 8 231 RT ee 9 68 RE EEE 4 78 ee a ee ee ee 1 2 LE a ag i a 1 I A hcg e Unk va dees 2 een edeees 19 Total Continental U. S.......... 49 711 ec Ga ke beebesceceesence 735 14 It will be noted that city central labor unions are con- centrated primarily in the northeastern and middle regions of the country. Among individual states, Illinois with 60 and Pennsylvania with 54 have the largest number of city central bodies. There are 48 such delegate bodies in Ohio, 40 in both New York and California, 32 in both Indiana and Texas, 30 in Wisconsin, 27 in Massachusetts, and 24 in Washington. In all, these ten states include over one-half of the total number of city central unions in continental United States. The percentage distribution of A. F. of L. city central labor unions and of A.F.T. locals among the several geo- graphical regions is portrayed graphically in Figure 1. Figure 1. Percentage Distribution of A.F.T. Locals and A. F. of L. Central Labor Unions, by Geographical Regions of the Nation. Region 3% i Middie > 24% No. East 2S 9% 15% RE Far West M11 % Percentage °% ZZ So. East ae 2” Percentage of “Locals, 89MM No. Wese MMO % TS. Unions 5%| So. West HS % It will be noted that, by and large, the same general pattern of regional distribution obtains both for A.F.T. locals and for A. F. of L. city central labor unions. The most notable variation occurs in the Middle Region, where A.F.T. locals are more greatly concentrated proportionately than are A. F. of L. central bodies. Regional groupings, of course, may conceal variations, among communities within a given area. One measure of the extent of such variations among the main centers of A.F.T. strength is afforded by the incidence of central labor unions among cities with large numbers of A.F.T. members. The “Statistical Report” of the Secretary-Treasurer, as of October, 1937, lists 17 cities with approximately 200 or more members each. These cities are listed below. Crosses designate the ones in which A. F. of L. central labor unions are located. Cities with 200 Cities with A. F. of L. or more A.F.T. Members Central Labor Unions TS GR a a xX a errr xX AE IE ROS ae ne x Atlanta .. ee RO SA era xX i. cay cant cevebesd dae detsenes x RR Ae ae ee ea xX ee a om bad wee as xX EN aac a A cg ee ap x EE a xX SE 6565, aU de ghndee cn cesses xX Re ks ea edly ake X i PPT ere xX Gary (affiliated with Lake County Central Es tie e i ea whébewenveceens a Ne xX ie. don cidad cud gok hake query sais xX LS ois hike dann anda eh caae ae ees x eS ake sckdaras aeebedwseentés xX ns The 18,505 A.F.T. members in these cities constitute 79 per cent of the total paid-up membership of the organization at the time of the Secretary-Treasurer’s report. Central labor unions are located in all but one of the 17 cities. Included in the Appendix is a state-by-state tabulation of A.F.T. locals and A. F. of L. city central labor unions. It will there be noted that there are one or more central labor unions in each state. Implications for A.F.T. The Report of the Committee on C.1.0. quoted the reply of the Director of that organization to certain questions relating to the implications for A.F.T. of the proposed change of labor affiliation to C.I1.O. Similarly, the Presi- dent of the A. F. of L. was asked the following questions concerning the “implications for A.F.T. of continued af- filiation with A. F. of L.”: 18. 19. 20. What assistance (financial or otherwise) can the American Federation of Teachers expect from the American Federation of Labor in the former’s campaigns to effect the organiza- tion into unions of increasing numbers of American teachers? In connection with the former’s legislative cam- paigns (e.g., for a democratic program of Federal aid to education, for state teacher-tenure laws, etc.) ? From the viewpoint of the American Federation of Labor, in just what ways could, or should, the continued affiliation of A.F.T. to the A. F. of L. further the goals of organized American labor? The responses elicited by these queries are too long to be reproduced here. They may be found in the Appendix. A brief digest thereof, together with selected quotations, is provided below. 18. 19, “The resources of the American Federation of Labor in fur- thering the success of organizing campaigns among teachers throughout the United States are at the disposal of the American Federation of Teachers by virtue of its affiliation. These resources fall into several specific catagories.” The cate- gories mentioned are: (1) an experienced organizing staff, (2) city central labor unions, (3) state federations of labor, and (4) “the influence and prestige” of the national organization. “The record of achievement through the utilization of all of these channels in the past is the strongest basis for successful organization of those teachers who are still outside the ranks of the labor movement.” “The American Federation of Labor has always furnished financial aid for organization and other purposes to its affiliated bodies, including the American Federation of Teach- ers. The policy of the American Federation of Labor in granting financial aid to its affiliated bodies still continues. The nature and details of such financial assistance are so varied that they cannot be fully discussed in a general report of this kind.” “The extent of the ability on the part of the American Fed- eration of Labor to effectively assist the American Federation of Teachers to serve the interests of organized teachers through legislation can be best judged in the light of the record as it stands to date. The American system of public education owes its existence to a very large extent to the labor movement for it was organized labor’s agitation for free public schools that has served to translate this demand into a realty.” Attention is called to numerous convention resolutions relating to improved educational conditions, and to several definite achievements said to result largely from A. F. of L. activities. Included among the latter are: (1) enactment of teachers’ pension and retirement legislation in the District of Columbia around 1917, 1918, and 1919; (2) defeat in 1927 of a proposed Massachusetts measure to take State aid away from schools whose teachers joined the union; (3) “beneficial legislation for teachers in Illinois and Min- nesota” in the same year; and (4) abolition of a “yellow- dog” centract provision for teachers in Seattle in 1928. . “The organization and growth of the American Federation of Teachers was made possible by the unswerving purpose on the part of the American Federation of Labor to build up a strong and effective union among the teachers of America. The record of organization of teachers’ unions is a record of courageous struggles against heavy odds. Organized teach- ers have often met with critical situations and obstacles which could not be surmounted without the support of unions united within the ranks of the American Federation of Labor. The best test of the significance of the continued affiliation of the American Federation of Teachers with the American Federation of Labor is provided by the past record, which speaks for itself. Officers and members of the American Federation of Teachers have brought within the ranks of the American Federation of Labor outstanding leadership and a record of achievement. At the same time the American Federation of Teachers needs now, more than it ever did before, the support of the American Federation of Labor in order to successfully carry out its progressive program in im- proving the conditions of American teachers by means of democratic organization into unions.” Respectfully submitted, THE COMMITTEE ON A. F. of L. Signed: Doxry A. WILKERSON, Chairman LILLIAN HERSTEIN MicHaEL J. Eck STANTON E. SMITH APPENDICES A. Letter and Questionnaire to Mr. William Green, President of the American Federation of Labor. B. Response of Mr. Green to Letter and Questionnaire. C. National Principles Incorporated in American Federation of if Labor Educational Policy Relating to Teachers at the 1919 i Convention. D. Actions Relative to Public Education Taken by 1937 Con- i vention of the American Federation of Labor. E. Excerpts from the Constitution of the American Federation of Labor. F. National and International Unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. G. City Central Labor Unions of the A. F. of L. Distribution of A.F.T. Locals and A. F. of L. City Central Labor Unions, by Geographical Regions and by States. APPENDIX A Box 112 Howard University Washington, D. C. January 26, 1938 Mr. William Green, President The American Federation of Labor Ninth Street and Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D. C. Dear Brother Green: As you probably know, the issue which dominated the Twenty-first Annual Convention of the American Federa- tion of Teachers, Madison, Wisconsin, August 23-27, 1937, 15 was: Shall A.F.T. Change its Labor Affiliation from A. F. of L. to C.1.0.? The issue was not resolved. Rather, the Convention provided, among other things: (1) that the Executive Council investigate certain questions germane to that issue, a report of its findings to be submitted to every member of the Federation; and (2) that, after February, 1938, and at the discretion of the Executive Council, there be conducted a referendum of the membership on the issue of affiliation of the American Federation of Teachers to the Committee for Industrial Organization. (See appended copy of Convention resolution. ) The above mentioned investigation of C.I.0. has been completed and ordered ‘to be published by the Executive Council of A.F.T. We have been authorized to make a comparable study of the A. F. of L., the report thereof to be similarly printed and distributed among our members. Much of the information we seek is available in official publications and reports of the American Federation of Labor. Other information we desire is set forth in the appended series of questions. We solicit your cooperation in our investigation, and should appreciate a prompt response to this inquiry. We are eager, if at all possible, to have the reports on A. F. of L. and C.I.0. appear simultaneously next month in our official organ, The American Teacher. Fraternally yours, THE COMMITTEE ON A. F. of L. Doxery A. WILKERSON, Chairman LILLIAN HERSTEIN Chicago, Illinois MicuHakEL J. Eck, Vice-President Cleveland, Ohio STANTON E. Situ, Vice-President Chattanooga, Tennessee QUERIES OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACH- ERS CONCERNING THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR I. Membership and Administrative Organization A. Membership: 1. Aggregate numbers of individual memberships in A. F. of L.: (a) During 1928? (b) Just before the organization of C. I. O.? (c) At the present time? 2. Number of national and international unions affiliated with A. F. of L.: (a) During 1928? (b) Just before the organization of C. 1. O.? (c) At the present time? 3. Number of local unions which are not members of national or international unions, but which are affiliated with A. F. of L. at the present time? (Please append a roster of national and international unions, indicating the membership of each.) 4. Number of central trades councils: Local? State federations? (Please append a list of such councils, noting the location of each.) B. Organizational Structure: 5. (a) What officials comprise the central administrative staff of A. F. of L.? (b) What is the scope of their authority ? (c) From what source, or sources, is such authority derived? 6. (a) What, if any, regional or other officials constitute a part of the administrative staff of the national A. F. of L.? (b) What are the functions of each? (c) What is the relationship of each: To the several local, national, and international unions which comprise the membership of A. F. of L.? To local and state federations? (Please supply a roster of such regional or other offices as are a definite part of the national administrative machinery, though not located at the central office.) (a) Just what obligations (other than financial) do national, international and local affiliates owe to the national organiza- tion? (b) To what extent are such national and international affiliates autonomous organizations ? ~ C. Functioning: 8. (a) At what intervals are general conventions held? (b) What is their composition (i.e., basis of representation, etc.) ? (c) What is the extent of their authority? 9. At what intervals, in what manner, and by what agency are selections made of: (a) national officers? (b) such regional or other officials as there may be? 10. How, and by what body, are national policies formulated (eg., concerning eligibility to membership, the issuance of charters, organizational campaigns, dues, legislative programs, etc.) ? 11. What function does the central administrative body exercise in connection with the negotiation of a contract by an affiliated union? D. Finances: 12. What is the cost to a national or international union of a charter with the A. F. of L.? 13. What per capita membership payments are required of national and international unions? 14. What other financial obligations, if any, does an affiliated national or international union owe to the A. F. of L.? 15. At what intervals, and in what form, are financial reports of the A. F. of L. made to its affiliated unions? E. Constitution: 16. Please append four copies of the Constitution of the A. F. of L. (In case of any of the above questions which are adequately covered by the constitution, merely designate sections where the information requested may be obtained.) F. Geographical Distribution of Membership: 17. If convenient, please append a summary statement indicating the approximate total membership of A. F. of L. affiliates in each state of the nation. Supplementary thereto would be desirable a similar breakdown for major cities in the country. In fact, as complete an analysis as can be provided—number of locals, chief industries, number of members, etc.—would be very helpful. However, do not delay a reply if this informa- tion cannot readily be supplied. II. Implications for A.F.T. of Continued Affiliation with A. F. of L. 18. What assistance (financial or otherwise) can the American Federation of Teachers expect from the American Federation of Labor in the former’s campaigns to effect the organization into unions of increasing numbers of American teachers? 19. What assistance (financial or otherwise) can the American Federation of Teachers expect from the American Federation of Labor in connection with the former’s legislative campaigns (e.g., for a democratic program of Federal aid to education, for state teachers-tenure laws, etc.) ? 20. From the viewpoint of the American Federation of Teachers, in just what ways could, or should, the continued affiliation of the A.F.T. to the A. F. of L. further the goals of organized American labor? PLEASE SEND RESPONSES TO: : Doxey A. WriKerson, Chairman Committee on A. F. of L. American Federation of Teachers Box 112, Howard University Washington, D. C. January 26, 1938. art b) 1ip nal To ich ral ial, nal nal ted ; of ican tion tion ican tion igns ion, 1ers, tion ized APPENDIX B February 11, 1938. Mr. Doxey A. Wilkerson, Chairman, Committee on A. F. of L., American Federation of Teachers, Box 112, Howard University, Washington, D. C. Dear Sir and Brother: I am glad to furnish to the American Federation of Teachers answers to the questionnaire you submitted in your letter of January 26. All information contained in the answers to your queries is based on the official records of the American Federation of Labor, and is documented throughout. As you well know, teachers’ unions began their organization within the ranks of the American Federation of Labor at the turn of the century. Every inch of the growth of the American Federation of Teachers, since its formation in May, 1916, has been achieved as a result of the unceasing assistance and close cooperation on the part of the Amer- ican Federation of Labor as your organization’s parent body. In view of this, the extent of this cooperation, as reflected in the official actions of officers and members of the American Federation of Labor in annual conventions, is briefly reviewed in answer to specific questions raised in your questionnaire. I trust that the accompanying information will satis- factorily meet your requirements. Fraternally yours, Wo. GREEN, President American Federation of Labor. I. Membership and Administrative Organization A. Paid Membership: 1. Aggregate number of individual memberships in A. F. of L.: i i aE iia is eta a is led ai ane 2,896,063 TEE. sou eenn sieeve ealenn 3,153,913 I oc ae ck ween den eae 3,271,726 DE Be, ON od vs Kw ecw .. .3,468,885 2. Number of national and international unions affiliated with A. F. of L.: Number Paid Membership MD 6 cs wis Pea e woken 107 2,870,777 (b) August 1935 .......... 109 2,933,858 CP ee BO ow cuwcws 100 3,039,026 3. Directly affiliated unions: Number Paid Membership eres 373 25,286 (b) August 1935 ......... 1,354 111,489 (c) August 1937 ........ 1,406 132,700 On January 1, 1938, there were 104 national and international unions and 1,503 directly affiliated local unions. A list of national and international local unions is appended herewith. Paid membership figures and figures indicating the number of unions for 1937 do not include those of the suspended national and international unions or those which withdrew. 4. At the present time there are 49 state federations of labor and 738 city central labor unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. There are also four departments and 712 local department councils. A list of city central labor unions indicating their location is appended herewith. B. Organizational Structure: 5. (a) The officers of the Federation consist of a President, fif- teen Vice-Presidents and a Secretary-Treasurer. The officers are elected by the Convention of the American Federation of Labor annually. The officers of the Federation constitute the Executive Council. The administrative work of the Federation is carried on by the President and the Secretary-Treasurer. In the performance of their duties the President and the Secretary-Treasurer are assisted by the Legislative Committee in charge of the legis- lative work, Director of Organization in charge of the organ- izing staff, the Research Staff in charge of information and research services and of publications, Director of Publicity in charge of public relations, Editor of the American Federa- tion of Labor Weekly News Service, which furnishes news to the labor press, and other employees on the central staff of the Federation performing duties incidental to the adminis- trative work of the Federation. In addition special committees of the Executive Council of the Federation are designated from time to time to carry out duties arising from specific mandates of the Convention or from decisions of the Executive Council in connection with special legislative and administrative matters. (b) and (c) The scope and source of authority of the Presi- dent, Secretary-Treasurer and the Executive Council are in accordance with the requirements of Articles VI, VII and IX of the Constitution of the American Federation of Labor. Excerpts from the Federation Constitution indicating the scope and source of authority of the officers of the Federation are appended herewith. 6. (a) Regional and local representatives of the Federation are maintained in every metropolitan center in the United States. Regional offices of the Federation, each in charge of a general organizer, are maintained in: New York City, N. Y. Detroit, Mich. Buffalo, N. Y. Flint, Mich. Rochester, N. Y. Grand Rapids, Mich. Utica, N. Y. Minneapolis, Minn. Des Moines, Iowa Kansas City, Kansas Denver, Colo. Little Rock, Ark. Seattle, Wash. Portland, Ore. San Francisco, Calif. Los Angeles, Calif. Houston, Texas San Antonio, Texas Fort Worth, Texas Phoenix, Arizona Tulsa, Oklahoma Atlanta, Ga. Savannah, Ga. Charlotte, N. C. Birmingham, Ala. Tampa, Fla. Toronto, Canada Montreal, Canada Boston, Mass. Philadelphia, Pa. Pittsburgh, Pa. Erie, Pa. Newark, N. J. Jersey City, N. J. Baltimore, Md. Washington, D. C. Roanoke, Va. Norfolk, Va. Charleston, W. Va. Cleveland, Ohio Akron, Ohio Cincinnati, Ohio Toledo, Ohio Lima, Ohio Ironton, Ohio Indianapolis, Ind. Chicago, IIl. Springfield, Il. Milwaukee, Wis. (b) Each general organizer in the locality enumerated has general supervision over the work of other organizers in his region or territory. Through his regional office organization problems arising in a territory entrusted to such general or- ganizer are cleared, assignments of organizers are made and organizing work is otherwise directed so as to make possible the most effective servicing the organizing needs of the workers 17 | | | as well as the current needs of national, international and directly affiliated unions in negotiations of agreements, collec- tive bargaining and in other problems. The Federation maintains a staff of 263 paid organizers throughout the country, including those acting in the capacity of regional organizers. In addition, over 400 general organizers and organizers for the trade are employed from time to time on specific assignments made by the Federation. There are also 1,317 district organizers throughout the country who hold credentials as organizers and whose services are available with- out compensation when need for their assistance may arise. Although district organizers serve on a voluntary basis their expenses are defrayed by the Federation where specific assign- ments are given them by the Federation. The total number of organizers, including regional, general and district organizers, available to serve the needs of affiliated unions is 1,975. The entire organizing force of the Federation is under the supervision of the Director of Organization, who coordinates and directs organization activities from the Federation head- quarters in Washington. The Director of Organization is di- rectly responsible to the President of the American Federation of Labor. (c) The services of the organizing staff are available at all times to national, international and local unions for every type of assistance that may be required in organizing work, in conducting wage negotiations, in drafting and submission of agreements to employers, and otherwise carrying out the ob- jectives of the American Federation of Labor in the service of its membership. In each state and locality to which the paid organizers are assigned they are charged with the duty of establishing a close basis of cooperation with state federa- tions of labor and local central labor bodies in furthering the interests of every affiliated organization in each locality. (a) Obligations of national and international unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor arise from the com- mon objectives pursued by the unions joined in the Federation. The American Federation of Labor was founded in order to “adopt such measures and disseminate such principles among the mechanics and laborers of our country as will permanently unite them to secure the recognition of rights to which they are justly entitled”. To achieve this purpose it is the object of the Federation to encourage the formation and to bring about a closer federation of unions through the organization of central trade and labor unions to provide further combina- tions of unions through state federations of labor for the pur- pose of securing legislation in the interest of the working masses. Furthermore, it is the object of the Federation to establish national and international trade unions and to pro- mote and advance such bodies. It is also the purpose of the Federation to aid and encourage the labor press of America. The basic non-financial obligations of national and inter- national unions are stated in Section 4 of Article II of the Federation’s Constitution: “to aid and assist each other; to aid and encour- age the sale of union label goods, and to secure legislation in the interest of the working people, and influence public opinion, by peaceful and legal methods, in favor of organized labor.” (b) Autonomy. Section 2 of Article II of the Constitution of the American Federation of Labor, adopted in 1886, declared as one of the objects of the organization: “The establishment of national and international trade unions, based upon a strict recognition of the autonomy of each trade and the promotion and advancement of such bodies.” This constitutional pro- vision became effective on March 1, 1887, after approval by affiliated unions. Out of this basic principle of the guaranteed autonomy of the affiliated organizations grew the entire pro- cedure for the adjustment of jurisdictional disputes and the adjudication of jurisdictional claims by the Federation. The Scranton convention of the American Federation of Labor held in 1901 declared that the American Federation of Labor 8. did not have mandatory power to legislate for national and international unions. A declaration of principles on trade autonomy affirming union democracy and voluntarism as basic to the union structure was adopted by the Scranton conven- tion and reaffirmed at subsequent conventions, notably in 1922. The 1901 declaration stated that: “The American Fed- eration of Labor, being a voluntary association, cannot direct and should not adopt methods antagonistic to, or in conflict with, established trade union laws”. It further stated that “the American Federation of Labor pledges its officers to aid and assist in the adjustment of such craft encroachments as disputants may be willing to submit to its arbitrament. The 1922 convention, in dealing with the question of autonomy, adopted the following statement: “Firmly in accord with the principles and methods of democracy, the A. F. of L. has opposed the spirit or methods of dictatorship, within or without the trade union movement. We believe that only through voluntary association, through voluntary cooperation and federation, can the American workingmen successfully and effectively work out their industrial problems. Twenty-one years ago the policy of the A. F. of L. towards its affiliated organizations, their jurisdiction, their right to self-govern- ment, their freedom to develop and apply such form or organization as seemed most advantageous to them was adopted. It is most advisable that every trade unionist and every friend of our movement should be thoroughly familiar with this policy, and, with this purpose in mind, we now reaffirm and re-endorse the decision relative to the rights of affiliated organizations adopted by the Scranton convention of 1901.” (a) The general conventions of the American Federation of Labor meet annually at 10 o’clock a.m. on the first Monday in October, except during the years when a presidential elec- tion occurs, when the convention in those years shall be held beginning the third Monday in November. (b) The basis of representation in the conventions of the American Federation of Labor is prescribed by Article IV, Section 1 of the American Federation of Labor Constitution as follows: “From National and International Unions, for less than four thousand members, one delegate; four thousand or more, two delegates; eight thousand or more, three dele- gates, sixteen thousand or more, four delegates; thirty- two thousand or more, five delegates, and so on; From Central Bodies, State Federations, National Departments, Federal Labor Unions, and Local Unions having no National or International Union, one delegate; provided, however, that Local Unions and Federal Labor Unions herein referred to, located in one city, shall have the right to unite in sending a delegate to represent them unitedly. Only bona fide wage workers who are not members of, or eligible to membership in other Trade Unions, shall be eligible as delegates from Federal Labor Unions. Only those persons whose Local Unions are affiliated with Central Bodies, or with State Branches and who are dele- gates to said Central Bodies or State Branches shall be eligible to represent City Central Bodies or State Branches in the Conventions of the American Federation of Labor.” The procedure for the election of delegates to the convention and the basis on which votes are cast and other regulations governing convention representation are set forth in Sections 2-6 of Article IV of the Federation constitution, which are quoted in full. “Sec. 2. The delegates shall be elected at least two weeks previous to the annual convention of the American Fed- eration of Labor, and the names of such delegates shall be forwarded to the Secretary-Treasurer of this body immediately after their election. Sec. 3. Questions may be decided by division or a show of hands, but if a call of the roll is demanded by one- tenth of the delegates present, each delegate shall cast one vote for every one hundred members or major fraction thereof which he represents, provided that the delegate’s union has been affiliated with the Federation for the full fiscal year preceding the Convention. When affiliated for a period of less than one year, each delegate shall cast one-twelfth of one vote for each one hundred members or major fraction thereof which he represents for each month per capita tax has been paid upon the members of his union. No City or State Federation shall be allowed more than one vote. Sec. 4. The Secretary-Treasurer shall prepare for use of the Convention printed poll lists, containing the number of votes the delegates from National and International Unions are entitled to, based upon the average member- ship during the year, from reports made to the office of the Federation not later than August 31, preceding the Annual Convention. Sec. 5. No organization or person that has seceded, or has been suspended, or expelled by the American Feder- ation of Labor, or by any National or International or- ganization connected with the Federation shall, while under such penalty, be allowed representation or recogni- tion in this Federation, or in any Central Body or National or International Union connected with the American Fed- eration of Labor, under the Penalty of the suspension of the body, violating this section. No organization officered or controlled by Communists, or any person espousing Communism or advocating the violent overthrow of our institutions shall be allowed representation or recognition in any Central Body or State Federation of Labor. Sec. 6. No organization shall be entitled to representa- tion unless such organization has applied for and obtained a certificate of affiliation at least one month prior to the Convention, and no person shall be recognized as a dele- gate who is not a member in good standing of the organ- ization he is elected to represent. (c) The convention of the American Federation of Labor is the supreme governing body of the Federation. The actions adopted by the majority vote of a convention are final and binding upon the constituent organizations and cannot be changed or rescinded except by a majority vote of a subsequent convention. Provision for special conventions is made in Section 2 of Article ITI of the Federation’s constitution as follows: “Sec. 2. A. Special conventions may be called by direction of a regular convention, by order of the Executive Coun- cil or on request of National and International Unions rep- resenting a majority of the total membership of the American Federation of Labor, as evidenced by the rec- ords of the Secretary-Treasurer to the last regular con- vention. B. Special conventions shall not be called unless at least 30 days’ notice of such special convention together with statement of particular subject or subjects to be considered has been given to all affiliated organizations. C. Representation to special conventions shall be on the same basis and subject to like qualifications and procedure governing regular conventions. D. Special conventions shall be clothed with like author- ity and power conferred upon regular conventions, its decisions shall be equally binding and it shall be governed by the same procedure applicable to regular conventions; however, such special conventions shall be limited solely to the subject or subjects specifically and definitely indi- cated in the call for such special convention.” 9. (a) The officers of the Federation consist of a President, fif- teen vice-presidents, and a Secretary-Treasurer. The officers are elected annually by the Convention on the last day of the session, unless otherwise determined by the Convention. 10. 11. (Article V, Section 1, American Federation of Labor Consti- tution) (b) Organizers, regional representatives and other employees of the Federation are designated, appointed or employed by the President. Whenever the interests of the Federation re- quire, the President may, in his discretion, authorize any such organizer or representative to represent him and act in his behalf on specific matters. National policies of the Federation are formulated and adopted by the Convention. During the interim of conventions the Executive Council is vested by the Federation Constitution with the following powers and duties related to formulation of policy: ARTICLE IX—EXECUTIVE COUNCIL Section 1. It shall be the duty of the Executive Council to watch legislative measures directly affecting the inter- ests of working people, and to initiate, whenever neces- sary, such legislative action as the Convention may direct. Sec. 2. The Executive Council shall use every possible means to organize new National or International Trade or Labor Unions, and to organize Local Trade and Fed- eral Labor Unions, and connect them with the Federation until such time as there is a sufficient number to form a National or International Union, when it shall be the duty of the President of the Federation to see that such organization is formed. Sec. 8. The Executive Council shall have power to make the rules to govern matters not in conflict with this Con- stitution, or the constitution of affiliated unions, and shall report accordingly to the Federation. Sec. 13. The Executive Council shall be authorized and empowered to take such actions and render such decisions as may be necessary to carry out fully and adequately all provisions contained in the constitution and general laws as well as declarations and decisions of the conven- tions and it shall be authorized and empowered to take such further actions and render such further decisions during the interim of conventions as may become neces- sary to safeguard and promote the best interest of the Federation and of all its affiliated unions. ARTICLE XIV—MISCELLANEOUS Section 1. Certificates of affiliation shall be granted by the President of the Federation, by and with the consent of the Executive Council, to all National and International Unions and local bodies affiliated with this Federation. Sec. 2. The Executive Council is authorized and empow- ered to charter Local Trade Unions and Federal Labor Unions, to determine their respective jurisdictions not in conflict with National and International Unions, to determine the minimum number of members required, qualifications for membership, and to make rules and regu- lations relating to their conduct, activities and affairs from time to time and as in its judgment is warranted or deemed advisable. It will be noted that under Article IX, Section 12, of the Constitution, the Executive Council of the Federation shall only have power to revoke the charter of an affiliated National or International Union when revocation has been ordered by a two-thirds majority of a regular or special convention of the Federation by a roll-call vote. Whenever called upon by an affiliated national or international union, but only at the express request of such union, the President may authorize any available regional or local or- ganizers or representatives to render every possible assistance to such union in order to bring the negotiations of a contract to siccessful conclusion. D. Finances: 12. The certificate fee for affiliated unions granted certificates of affiliation by the President of the Federation, by and with 19 ra 13. 14. 15. the consent of the Executive Council to all national and inter- national unions is $5.00. A per capita tax on full paid up membership of national and international unions is required in the amount of 1c per mem- ber per month. At the time of the issuance of the charter an affiliated national or international union is required to pay $10.00 to cover the cost of the authorized official seal of such national or inter- national union and of a set of books for financial records furnished by the Federation. The payment of $10.00 covers the cost of the entire outfit and is in addition to the $5.00 fee payable for a certificate of affiliation. The Executive Council is empowered to declare a levy of Ic per member per week on all affiliated unions for a period not exceeding 10 weeks in any one year to assist in the support of an affiliated national or international union engaged in a protracted strike or lockout. Other assessments may be levied when and as ordered by a majority vote of a regular or special convention. Such a special assessment of 1c per member per month for the pur- pose of carrying on an organizing campaign by the Federa- tion was endorsed and approved by the conference of repre- sentatives of national and international unions held in Cincin- nati, Ohio, May 24-25, 1937. The fifty-seventh annual con- vention of the Federation held at Denver in November, 1937, authorized the continuance of this special assessment. Financial reports of the American Federation of Labor are rendered to the affiliated national and international unions four times a year. These quarterly reports contain a detailed itemized statement of all receipts and of all expenditures made by the Federation during the quarter next preceding the issu- ance of each report. E. Constitution: 16. Four copies of the constitution of the American Federation ot Labor are appended as requested. F. Geographical Distribution of Membership: 17. No figures are available indicating the distribution of the Federation membership by states. Although repeated attempts have been made to secure figures from affiliated national and international unions showing the geographical distribution of the membership, the method of record keeping used by most unions made it impossible to secure such reports. At the same time attempted checks of union membership through state federations of labor showed that complete figures could not be secured by this method. There is, however, a close correlation between the geographical distribution of union membership and the distribution of population and industrial concentration. Il. Implications for American Federation of Teachers of Con- tinued Affiliation with the American Federation of Labor 18. Assistance in the organizing campaigns. The resources of the American Federation of Labor in furthering the success of organizing campaigns among teachers throughout the United States are at the disposal of the American Federation of Teachers by virtue of its affiliation. These resources fall into several specific categories: (1) Organizing facilities and financial assistance. The accu- mulated experience of many years in approaching, plan- ning and carrying out an organizing campaign among teachers makes possible assistance from the organizing staff of the Federation of the type that could not be \ secured from any other source. (2) The American Federation of Labor has always furnished financial aid for organization and other pur- poses to its affiliated bodies, including the American Fed- eration of Teachers. The policy of the American Fed- eration of Labor in granting financial aid to its affiliated bodies still continues. The nature and details of such 19. financial assistance are so varied that they cannot be fully discussed in a general report of this kind. (3) City Central Labor Unions. Through the affiliation with City Central Labor Unions, the entire strength of or- ganized labor in a community is ready to give its backing both to the organization work and in making representa- tions to the city government. With the mass support of Federation unions in individual communities, organizing work can be successful in many instances in which a local teachers’ union could not succeed if it acted alone. (4) State Federations of Labor. In many phases closely related to organizing work, especially those dealing with state legislation, the affiliation of teachers’ unions with the State Federations of Labor and their participation in the formulation of the state legislative program is essential to the success of the organizing campaign. (5) National Representation. In dealing with the legis- lative and administrative problems requiring representa- tion before Congress, and administrative agencies of the Federal government, the American Federation of Labor again offers the facilities of its national organization in backing the National program of the American Federation of Teachers. The influence and prestige of the American Federation of Labor is as indispensable to the success of a Federal educational program as is the cooperation of State Federations of Labor in individual states and of Central Labor Unions in individial municipalities. The The record of achievement through the utilization of all of these channels in the past is the strongest basis for successful organization of those teachers who are still outside the ranks of the labor movement. The extent of ability on the part of the American Federation of Labor to effectively assist the American Federation of Teachers to serve the interests of organized teachers through legislation can be best judged in the light of the record as it stands to date. The American system of public education owes its existence to a very large extent to the labor movement for it was organized labor’s agitation for free public schools that has served to translate this demand into a reality. By 1881, compulsory school attendance laws had been en- acted in 16 states and the District of Columbia. Every state now has a compulsory school attendance law. It was in 1902 that the public school teachers of Chicago took the historic and courageous stand in applying for a union charter from the American Federation of Labor, a move which promptly invoked the wrath and opened oppo- sition of a Board of Education dominated by a book trust. It was the 1902 Convention of the American Federation of Labor that welcomed the public school teachers into the ranks of the American Federation of Labor and pledged the support of organized labor to the work of organizing teachers throughout the nation. In 1910 and 1913, the Conventions of the American Federa- tion of Labor went on record as demanding higher salaries for school teachers, salaries sufficient to secure the services of teachers best qualified to raise the educational standards of the country. These conventions also stressed the need for increasing the number of school teachers so that a substantial and competent teaching force could be developed throughout our school system. The 1915 Convention of the Federation declared: “The spirit of unfreedom has characterized the policy of many of the boards of education of our cities. These boards of education consist of individuals who are either elected by the people or usually in the larger cities ap- pointed by the mayor. As a general thing they represent not the masses of the people but the employers and the corporate interests. Their direction over school affairs is a ‘business administration’ and is responsible for many policies that are out of harmony with democratic ideals. School management is generally upon a despotic basis, fully ition or- nta- t of zing ocal sely with the the tial nta- the bor 1 in tion can Cess ‘ion | of The all for still ion of ugh s it wes r it has en- ery ra- ‘ies ces rds for ial ut and regulations are arbitrarily fixed for teachers who are required to submit without question. This auto- cratic regime has been bolstered up by fostering the notion that teachers are employed in so high a calling that they must sacrifice all of their own interest, all of their own welfare, rather than interpose their best judg- ment or in any way interfere with what is termed ‘school discipline’ and school regulation. Of course no one denies the necessity of proper school discipline or regulation, but we insist, as do the teachers, that an association of teachers conducted in the interests of the teachers, for their proper protection and welfare, does not and can not interfere with such school discipline and regulation as concern the education and the character development of the pupils. On the contrary, we insist that the reverse has been and must result.” i. & 4 “There is no way to aim more directly at the freedom of the wage-earners and the masses of the people than through suppression of the individuality, the thought and the activities of the teachers. The educational tendency is toward freedom and adaptability, independence, greater opportunity, not only for the teachers but for those who are taught. These are most splendid conceptions of the schools of the future, of an education that shall reach out and up to greater and broader things. That ideal can not be realized with a tyrannical system of school administration, suppressing and thwarting those who con- trol and direct instruction. The school boards must be big enough and broad enough in mind and heart to com- prehend the ideals back of the schools of the future and to exert their influence in school management for the realization of those ideals. If the members of the school board are out of harmony with progress and democracy, it is the business of the citizens to see to it that others are substituted. If this can not be accomplished directly, it must be accomplished by replacing the one who has the appointive power. As the school boards become more powerful, it is essential that control should be demo- cratic and that those in authority should be responsible to the people. The vital relationship of the common life is industrial. Schools are more and more dealing with industrial problems and matters. Industrial in- struction and vocational training are becoming more gen- eral. The industrial aspects and relations of all instruc- tion are now recognized and are given greater thought and understanding. This again makes it all the more essential that schools should be upon a democratic basis. As free people we can not tolerate despotism or autocracy or bureaucracy in politics, in social relations, in industry or education. The teachers of our country must not be left behind in the great foward progress toward demo- cratic ideals, greater freedom and greater opportunity. If they are not lost behind, they must join in the effort.” It was in 1916 that the American Federation of Labor Con- vention laid down the fundamental principles of cooperation between the American Federation of Labor and the American Federation of Teachers; which was chartered in May of that year. “The American Federation of Teachers consider them- selves workers in a vitally important field and believe its members should stand shoulder to shoulder with the other workers of the country, to whom democracy is not a machinery for private gain, but a hope and means of completer living. And believing that all forward looking workers appreciate their vital state in our public schools, this convention, for the sake of our common democracy, records its approval, and urge upon its affiliated bodies the support of the following principles: ‘1. The right of teachers to organize and affiliate with labor must be recognized. 2. If our children, during their most impres- sionable years are to have the benefit of daily contact with examples of upstanding American manhood and womanhood, and not to be exposed to an atmosphere of servility in the schoolroom, teachers must be given warn- ing and a hearing before being separated from the service. 3. The teacher must be guaranteed the opportunity to make his due influence felt in the community, working through the schools chiefly, but free to work through all the avenues of citizenship. 4. The control of the teaching staff should be removed from the lay Board of Education, and placed in the hands of the professional expert, the Superintendent of Schools. 5. If our democ- racy is not to be crippled at its source, democratic school administration must be secured by insuring to the teacher an effective voice in that administration. 6. The schools must be removed from politics by the application of the merit principle of civil service to the employment, ad- vancement, and dismissal of teachers, thus securing tenure during efficiency. 7. The work of the teacher, now no- toriously ill-paid, determines the quality of our future citizenship, and should receive financial recognition more nearly commensurate with its importance to the com- munity. 8. Vocational education should be encouraged, but only under a ‘unit system.’ 9. The people should directly control educational policies through the popu- lar election of Boards of Education. 10. A system of free text-books is an essential of genuinely free and democratic public schools. 11. Enlightened public policy demands adequate pension provisions for public school teachers.’ Every affiliated union is urged to do everything possible to secure the early affiliation of every school teacher with the A. F. of L.” In 1917, 1918 and 1919, the American Federation of Labor strongly campaigned for teachers’ pension legislation fer the District of Columbia. As a result of this campaign, the re- tirement law was enacted for public school teachers in the District of Columbia, the retirement age being fixed at 62. Concerted attacks on the part of the open shop and other reactionary interests upon the union movement among teach- ers were made repeatedly in 1919 and 1920 and resulted in a senatorial investigation of the schools in the District of Co- lumbia in which the American Federation of Labor was in- strumental in bringing before the public the true facts under- lying the attacks upon the teachers’ organization. At about the same time, the Board of Education of St. Louis adopted a rule whereby any school teacher who became a member of a trade or labor union would be subject to imme- diate dismissal. In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 86 teachers were given the option by the Lancaster Board of Education either of withdrawing from the American Federation of Teachers or losing their positions. When the teachers refused to re- nounce their right of free choice in trade union affiliation, their positions were declared vacant. Similar attempts were re- peatedly made by autocratic boards of education in a num- ber of communities throughout the country in the years im- mediately following the War. The 1920 Convention of the American Federation of Labor stated in this connection: “If the schools are to develop free, unafraid men and women, American citizens of the highest type, the teachers must live and work in an atmosphere of freedom and self-respect. The officers of the A. F. of L. are in- structed to use every effort to protect teachers against intimidation and discrimination on account of affiliation with organized labor; and affiliated state and central labor bodies are urged to resist with all vigor any attempt to coerce the judgment and conscience of the teachers in the public schools. The history of the actions of many auto- cratic boards of education shows an urgent need for tenure of position for teachers based on efficiency. The A. F. of L. directly, and through its affiliated locals will use every effort to secure laws granting tenure of position for teach- ers based on efficiency. The A. F. of L. directly, and through its affiliated locals will use every effort to secure 2\ rca thee ie wb 1 Number of* Number of City Regions A.F.T. Locals Central Labor Union Far Western Washington ............. 12 24 EE cS 0s ess eaetsiees 3 11 a 13 40 SEE: cdénwtenees nese - 3 WEE weédacsenteancesen 28 78 Outlying Areas t DEE cucsneaeeeecveows 2 SE ccccadesondewece 2 Puerto Rico ............. aa 2 RMD cccccvcesecescue aa 19 WD weécccvcnescesens 2 24 GRAND TOTAL.......... 182 735 *As listed in the Secretary-Treasuger’s “Statistical Report of Locals as of October, 1937".