Austin-Wadsworth Mobilization Bill Borrows Fascist Technique
Austin-Wadsworth Mobilization Bill Borrows Fascist Technique Victor Reuther Present Labors Program For Manpower Use By VICTOR G.REUTHER SB^HtliMpiM^ petosnsr-- jndgment on ...
...What kind.of a viwory de we seek, to win...
...There is no provision in it___ for the maintenance of an adequate system of public employment offices...
...of the degree to which it involves giving up social gains and civil lhrnttlm The extrenusts even go so far aa te contend that aw must employ the techniques of Fascism to ordspr t»vaMaui a military triumph...
...Most of the CO's are anxious to perform constructive service if it is not con...
...We •ware' gflml to demonstrate to society oar sincerity of purpose by rendering great service and by paying our own way in the process, even though many of us were not members of the peace churches and had not authorised them to speak for us, . The churches, therefore, assumed the complete financial and administrative responsibility of runping the CPS camps and...
...j ¦--a i i,i wmmj v. — ..i...
...demands eo****WB^3 tion of the activities of those sgenctos riave judisdlttion over orocai uinaaWJaYV snce oi> contracts, and the duposltioa ot^sw' terials, with those of the War hU»s*ey L*w mission...
...Church of God who quotes scriptures a< the] drop of a hat, and the Pentecostalist, whe is perpetually happy because he is "serving the Lord Jesus (jhrist, my Master...
...Early this year, through the intervention of President and Mrs...
...If the poll-tax is only a tax, can its constitutionality as a tax on the privilege of voting be sustained...
...This, in our opinion, is not the way to win the war against Fascism, X WANT to emphasize the fact that the voliin-.^Ja^ajnamas^^r fwm being exhausted, has Oar nrsetem » ea* ef'peeTaJJecattoe° and distribatiea of labor, as well aa improper Msilfsrwai Is stiil being wasted through labor hoarding, under'utilisation, high turnover snd slipshod management...
...We want to fight Fascism with democracy...
...so that it may be a question of paying $4.50 rather than only $1.50 before one may vote...
...In Brunswick County, for example, 1260 persons paid the tax for 1939 or 1940 or 1941, but only 492 paid for all three years...
...Justice Douglas: "It is a license tax—a flat tax imposed on the exercise of a privilege granted by the Bill of Rights...
...Nowhere in the bill is there piiWlees aff legal obligation requiring employers memaet those workers conscripted and aeaagnseVU** plants...
...The members of this Committee believe that the people of this nation are unsurpassed rn initiative, resoureefumess...
...In all, our democracy has imprisoned 2,000 sincere Americans of deep libertarian principle, whose only crime was refusing to compromise with their conscience...
...Even Axle nrisoaers of war fas this country get 80 cents a day...
...In the middle are those who neither think nor believe...
...Vociferous, in opposition are those who insist man must first be changed by giving hjm religious faith before he can create the Utopian state...
...Provided .fortbsTi Sat every person assigned to service nmtof tan set including every accepted volunteer, sheE hem the right to join any union or manlier— sf employees, but no such person shall be osnpn to join any suah union or oTgaaatomto X b or she should not freely choose to do as" This could easily be construed to mau usJ the employer had tbe final right to fix tat net of compensation and the hoars of week, If nt worker submitted s grievance, what swat prevent the employer from pointing to tat be and saying: "You 'shall receive tbe cempaaa-tkm and work the hours applicable to the kesi of work' which you are 'required to perfera, and I determine what they are," Aa collective bargaining functions saw, f* matters are subject to negotiation litsi w o» workers and the employer, with a at horny vssal in the War Labor Board to adjust lumettU^de putes...
...The Bishop is against Congressional legislation out-la wing the poll-tax in eight Southern States because, he Says, such an act would be unwise and it would be unconstitutional...
...Said Mr...
...And in jail, they again meet up with the same bru tali tar ian evils of Jim Crow and other forms of racial discrimination boring away at our democratic institutions on the outside...
...except for one government Camp at Maneoa, Colorado, created recently at the insistence of these who refused to "accept charity" from the church, still have that responsibility...
...the anther of thin article, assistant editor of The Conscientious Objector, is sn assignee at the Civilian Public Service Camp in Big Flats, New...
...Austin-Wadsworth Mobilization Bill Borrows Fascist Technique Victor Reuther Present Labors Program For Manpower Use By VICTOR G.REUTHER SB^HtliMpiM^ petosnsr-- jndgment on the '^H-wjetwf^eraWjp^tMlleifeili Institutions and our American way'of life shall continue...
...Obdy in all things those who are masters'1 (Celossians 3:22) to obey any order so long at it does not require him to kill...
...before the depression...
...went be to violate this most sacred ) i ifblW of si bask constitutional law...
...It does not protect against unwarranted discharge of workers...
...not to be forgotten, too, is the member of the...
...Large numbers of qualified work«ja,.«npseisUyr Negro and women workers, are still, barred from essential employment, eithes because of discriminatory hiring practice*, or because of our national failure to provide adanuate housirig...
...COME of us think that salvation will come by f'ehanging the system, which will then change man...
...fc 117 HEN the CPS program waa first, nay and V upon* IT Clarence tJfhatpa, thetf bend of i Selective' .Service, and the pasfi...
...government at all...
...Most of us are bucking a social system consciously...
...Tbe words, "impossible or unreasonskav could be exploited by an employer to ckmi ssj kind of flimsy excuse for not rehiring • wertot Through this device, all lands of duKxisamettSJ practices could be used to bar worsen ftss their former jobs...
...Vast numbers of workers are still Sapphisms...
...Tbe picture, therefore, shows 7.000 America n citizens 47 per cent of • hem have dependents, all ef whom have full civilian rights, working at hard labor II hours a week for government agencies and on a number of privately owned farsan, at ae salary, except for a MONTHLY allowance of *XM: '. Oar neighbors, drafted, as we were, bat serving instead as privates far the armed forces, receive 150 a month...
...This bill would compel citizens to tabor a tb employ of private owners engaged m amsajZ turing war materials for a profit Th» * a different from military conscription, hy *fcm men are assigned by law to serve m the anna) forces of the nation...
...than ed- contracts, and ineffective manpower* ¦ tihzation rather than of inadequate over-ail supply of labor...
...One believes and does not think...
...They are cap traced that: 1. Ilw'Amiricaa people will provide greater oatput under a voluntary system than easier eae ef com pa Men and regiaaen-tatiee...
...From an administrative point of view, the bill is equally bad...
...Our armed servient da an operate for profit...
...We believe, however, that the conscientious scruples of honest pacifists, whether religions Or political, should be respected...
...McGokLriek v. Berwind-WkiU Coal Mining Co...
...Some people Jay that our only objective in this war is to batter the enemy to his knees by ansMisaUr physical force, rearsrrflsss...
...There are about 160 of us in this camp, belonging to 29 different religious and non-religious denominations...
...Their abilities should be utilized in civilian work aad in reconstruction in Europe...
...transportation, child care facilities, and other services necessary to their employment These waalnnssej in our •manpower program are not new...
...Many conscientious objectors, desperately in need of funds and sorely embittered and frustrated at a system' which refuses to make use of their talents, are leaving camp to join tbe army as non-combatant soldiers...
...The CCC boys, oar predecessors in ssaay ef tbe camps, received |1 | day...
...Legion pressure snd anti-Mrs...
...Roosevelt, the State De^ paiftment agreed fa provide the passports arid* Selective...
...Shall we, at this time, take the tat iter to ward revoking that cornerstone of lieerb tovaaj which men straggled for so many ysaa* Sato we legalise one kind of slavery, in vktauee 4 1 our basic law, on the pretext that aajf benonb necessary to wage total war agasatt ano-ja* form of slavery...
...u-fl 2. All available manpower such as P«s"j >r racial groups and women must bp Complete equality of opportunity fw enaapaama nent must be made available ind under the basic principle of^^emrrMy «jual work...
...It would load on the Selective Service System a burden of administrative responsibility which the draft apparatus is not technically equipped to serve...
...and the will te de when their course is clear...
...Have freedom of conecieme and war been reconciled...
...They meet ironclad medieval disciplinary techniques in many of our federal penitentiaries' which stress punishment for the sake of punishment rather than correction—and they protest...
...want to serve humanity and rush to the aid of the downtrodden masses in China, India, A|H«a and wherever else there may be need, i' We want to be prepared to meet the demands of ja barren post-war world...
...America's Capacity to Consume," showed that in 1929...
...The necessary features of an effective manpower program'are totally absent from tne provisions of the Austin - W ads worth Bill...
...The top Labor-Management Advisory Commit-tee of the Wm Itaapawer Commission has concurred in ear oppenmesKto conscription of manpower...
...Selective Service recently has found it necessary and advisable to grant to labor and management, at the factory level, the right to pass jointly on deferments of industrial workers...
...both of whom look askance at their fellow Negro, who enjoys playing pool, discussing vital social issues ol the) day and denouncing capitalism...
...They rrrojrnixe tant under the American farm ef government the people of this country hare established the gran test productive machine in history...
...Hundreds of others walked out of camp and into jail because they came to believe that they were, in effect, prisoners with a few more privileges and better company than is ordinarily to be found in jail...
...Whatever the evils of war, fascism is the concentration of all evils and its triumph would be the worst calamity the world has ever known...
...Selective fSsiprlce prefers to have us plant seeds for fear we may plant thoughts...
...To call these people "shiftless, improvident or lazy" is to add insult to injury...
...I submit the foltoa^aj erete program which offers the only approach to a a slut inn of our maaneasar nrssj lems, because it hits at its underlying asaeavj 1. The maximum mobilization of, avsn*m| manpower resource...
...pioyets to the same obligations and P*"!*^ as are specified for the working pob*m*aos ^ Jest aa tbe Smith ConnaHy A******* Bill baa led te more strikes, as abyjbMmj Wads worth Bill will lead te less Sewaya*j.| lees ntilizatMHi of manpo«er aad{JS?~*t ceafeaioa ef oar whole maaaenabr^p...
...v . ,vn Mg n ,ni...
...M 8. Kmpioyment stabilisation eaa ****\^M hrough the operation of joint labor-b^1*"* nent stabilization agreements to b« IJ1' "Jm sffect wherever they may be needed ss» **1 a ted upon the following basic priarisess^_^ s) Plants to be covered under suAf^**'?^ ion agreements should be >n,,«rtie*t**?Tj|| -!rtifled that they are complying with (CaaxbMed ea Page cWvearLife in a Conchie Camp By MAX M. KAMPELMAN e^AN freedom of conscience and war be reconThere are in the United States today 7?00 young men who, "by reason of religious training and belief, are conscientiously opposed topw-ticipation in war in any form...
...The members of the local draft boards are not equipped with the industrial know-how which is essential to any administrative body charged with the duty of recruiting, classifying and assigning workers to the numerous industrial occupations...
...They are apposed to Nations...
...In that case the Court had before it the question of the constitutionality of a municipal tax on the right te distribute religious literature...
...A State may not impose a charge for the enjoyment of a right granted by the Federal Constitution...
...j If this bill were conceived snd dralsal a * spirit of democracy, it would saU)aW*tbS...
...The youngest camper happens to be his nephew, age 18...
...fascism...
...Thus the number of Negroes in Virginia who met the three-year poll-tax requirement in 1942 was 28345 (which means 7.9 per cent of the 365,717 Negroes of voting agt...
...This is no argument in favor of the proposition that Congress may not- outlaw the tax, for It does not meet the real question, which is this: it the poll-tax a qualification for voting in the constitutional tsnsef * •:>¦>- 4 In the first place, she State laws which provide for the imposition of the poll-tax are referred to by the legislatures which enacted them as tax laws, and not as election laws...
...Are we proud of this record...
...Tbe U. S. Army has never released the figures showing how many conscientious objectors there are in the army who, like Lew Ayres, the former film star, chose to serve in the medical corps rather than in CBS camps...
...a To compel a citizen against his or her vil a labor for a private employer, as the A ma* Wadsworth Bill would most certainly At...
...In a statement' released November 6, 1943, this committee, expressed the following views: t...
...One could hardly maintain that the privilege of carrying on interstate commerce is of a higher order than the privilege of voting for one's representatives in Washington...
...in the name of expediency, drift across the Una '-Bat separates democracy from Fascism...
...churches, the latter agreed to demonstrate 'Jfcpt conscientious objectors were ready, wiSingaSf able to serve their country for a year aljjfcs cost to the...
...ajpear,after the war abroad and all without '_ Then, with many in the midst of eager study and a unit already in South Africa enroute to China, anti-labor and poll-taxer Kepresentative Joe Stames of Alabama, • i eeponding to American...
...While they may .have been intended to function as election laws, there...
...Must Ajamm always go through such painful and Vassal periods of trial and error...
...There are the vegetarian atheists and the religious fundamentalists...
...It provides no protection for workers frozen in or assigned to jobs under unreasonable terms and conditions of work...
...In the irrnadjilani Ihr Supreme Court in Breedlove «. Sums* held that poll-tax ea are ordinary taaaaianaVeina qnejaVa tiom for voting, tit his opinion Tor" a unanimous court, Mr...
...In the third- place, while qualifications for voting for Fedtral omcers--may be .determined pririkga^tf iBBbtea is in itself the Supreme Court said that "the right to vote for members of Congress is fundamentally based upon the Constitution of the United States and was not intended to be left within the exclusive control of the states...
...J Max M. K am pel man...
...The oldest camper is past 45, anxiously awaiting from Selective Service his long overdue release...
...they are essential fa tat av fens* of our sovereignty and independence, anj military duty is in no way comparable to srbak employment Article XIII of the aaanesaaa to the United States Constitution "»ti "Neither shivery nor involuntary servitude...
...In lieu of service in the armed forces, they--are dWrig^*Srorit of national importance under civilian direction" in scores of...
...The Supreme Court has also held, in numerous eases te.g...
...but it hag been reliably estimated that about 50.000 more had paid the tax for 1942 but not the arrearages...
...Labor is keenly aware of this danger...
...One-half of aU the farmers had incomes of less than $700 in 1923...
...With such circumstances existing in normal times, is it any wonder that so many Negroes (and.white persons, too) find it impossible to pay the poB-tax...
...Now*, whether a man must pay for one year or three years, he may tad it impos-fable to nay at all...
...Fully effective mobilization and utilization of tbe national manpower will be achieved: "When all agencies of government concerned with procurement, production and manpower are administered under a coordinated and well understood arrangement ia which government defines the war needs, enunciates the fundamental policies of - rules of the game,' confines itself to a minimum of control and administrative detail, and provides tbe maximum of real assistance te those who mast do the work...
...War sersice LegisUtion ia the unanimous belief that com passion la nay form whether by lnw or by ad mia intra five order, does no* go to the heart of the problem- They behove the need goes beyond that which can be secored by compulsion...
...Some look to the consumers to organize and assume control...
...Is it not b>Tj learned from past mistakes and in the stKtf of our manpower problem start in the irstjS on the right track by granting labor and am agement, those close to production, rati than well-meaning but nevertheless asmrastal people, full authority and reeponsibilib/to 1*2 out a voluntary program for ihtlining —JT mum utilization of manpower...
...Nor are there any legal obJsgstooSi * employers or the Government to gimaaatet ill conscriptive , workers' employment #se> » omission of responsibility is entirely toe otoial to be an error or oversight...
...Many hundreds of men volunteered, even though" it meant spending at least...
...long before Pearl Bar-bos and before tajs invasion ef Rnssis we insisted upon the ne...
...Another thinks aiu}- does not believe...
...But service for a year has now become service "for the duration" and conscientious objectors are still not being paid...
...The Virginia statutes require that the poll-tax be paid for the three years preceding the year of election...
...sit -work wholly, unrelated to the .-area'ogee...
...If as implement our mobilization of resesntees for tbe war effort in terms of strictly military anas kit rations, there it a grave danger thst we may...
...User's Setoff*, ef M Monpower Problems : ] f ABOR'S approach to this probtemJt "^e negative one...
...There, they join in person as well as in spirit, their fellow "prisoners of conscience" labeled as felons by our law because their draft boards, with varying interpretations of "religious,'' refused to recognize their conscientious objection —a most unfair discrimination in a country which believes in freedom of conscience rather than in the special privilege of certain religions denominations...
...Nor does it specify authority to require the employment of assigned workers under proper safeguards...
...It is apparent, then, that a strong ease may be made out for the constitutionality of the anti-poll tax bill pending in the Senate...
...4e per cent of our families had an income of less that $1,5+* per year...
...I *i Klein re> ftiejkt re Lebee msiJ * Section 4 of this bill states: *Hata%iJ •# son assigned to service under thai Set-'mehSs ing every accepted volunteer) shall isml'i til compensation and worb tbe hours spptmMt fj the kind of work which he or she bJsnsiini I perform in the place of employment to wham as or she is assigned...
...A number of campers have managed to get "detached service" to mental institutions, where tbey act as orderlies, or^to/bospitals as "guinea pigs" for medical experiments...
...Roosevelt feeling, suddenly and quietly attached a rider to the 1944 } Car Department Appropriations Bill which prohibited men in Civilian Public Service from participating in the foreign relief program, by providing that no War Depart-1 lent funds could be used for that purpose, i [t is to be noted here that even though, by jajjfcaj ute, (the "woi k of national importance'' is ' Sei rtWoKewgwenarge'^^^e ^rogTam are Atfiy'Wneerf...
...fHENew Ltad-" er baa consistently supported the war...
...There is the objector who refuses to set his watch to war time, and his work partner, who is permitted by "Servants...
...Tbe present critical manpower situations are reaalts ef dislocation maWistribu...
...They are there because Congress was persuaded, after learning.from the hitter experience of the last war when many thousands of conscientious objectors were brutally treated for remaining steadfast to their religious convictions, that the same blot on our democracy should not occur again...
...Justine Butter said: "Levy by the poll has long been a fanaiiimr focm ai taxation...
...The Austin-Wads worth Bill would throw a monkey-wrench into this machinery which offers the only real hope to untangm^ fcmm trial selective service problems...
...Yet 7.000 Americana are being kept to 'in vol ante ry servitude" because of their conscience...
...on the subject of the poll-tax...
...The Court held it was unconstitutional aa a tax on a privilege guaranteed by the Federal Constitution...
...By MILTOM R.KONVITZ IN the New Xork Times of November 21 there * appeared a long letter of Bishop J antes Cannon, Jr., of Richmond, Va...
...his argumentative companions who subserve to Socialism a la Norman Thomas...
...i r. • • a » • Tfct Pb«-tf3t Mat CeaaWHoeeJ Low A -S': te • -the...
...w On a Vital Social Issue ^r^r'C^^-T-- , - v What Are the Facts on the Poll-Tax...
...Those were averages for tbe entire ,,Tte South's average income 'whs Tower, "and the share of the southern Negro was still lower...
...That is why we oppose tins bill: we see in it the beginning of a strategy of borrowing the tactics of totalitarianism...
...We want to help build a better world...
...is no reason compelling a* to seek- the unexpressed, motives of lawmakers...
...that a state license tax on the privilege of carrying on interstate commerce is unconstitutional...
...constitutional question, Bishop C arm on cites the argument that the Federal Con itltrti tion provides that the States may fix the' qoalineatxiDs of voters...
...It does not provide authority to regulate employer's authority to assure that full use is being made of the existing labor force...
...The Breakings Institution study...
...It was net until aa income of about $3.00© was reached that families spent enough oa food to obtain the adequate diet at moderate east," said the authors...
...We condemn those who decry decent treatment of conscientious objectors as "coddling...
...we have steadfastly unged totality of planning, with the unions exercising s full share of responsibility...
...Vmike England, which provides for absolute exemption, our Selective Service regulations require the local draft boards to assign every conscientious objector to a Civilian Public Service (CPS) camp, usually a former CCC camp, where he works 51 hours a week in forestry or soil conservation...
...Justice Doaglas for the majority of the Supreme Court in tbe Murdoch case, decided May 3, 1943...
...Labor has known about them all along, and has exerted- every influence at ita command to correct tbe deficiencies...
...cept as a punishment for crime nasiauf tb party shall have been duly convicted, shall txtft within the United States, or any pans iat>jaa to their jurisdiction...
...others look to the workers...
...Instead, we are djwrinientjpg with grasses and trees...
...neeted with waging wsr...
...Tbe solution depends upon leadership, coordinated and understood plana, and efficient administration, net upon broadened control sad regulation...
...Poll taxes for support of government or some more specific purpose are laid upon persons without regard to their occupations or property to raise money for the end...
...Britain has a better record than Americas in handling this problem...
...Let us look at a typical CPS camp, one ad-mimstered by the American Friends Service Committee (Quakers...
...His letter cannot remain on-answered, « Bishop Cannon argues that a man who is "too shiftless, improvident, or lazy to earn and P»y" f 1.50 as the annual poll-tax levied by Virginia, would not be helpful in the selection of Federal and State officials...
...The fact is that while a person may be able to pay the tax for one year, he cannot pay the arrearages if he has become delinquent...
...Service agreed to permit a limited number of CPS men to study and then undertake a' foreign relief and reconstruction program, all expenses' to be paid by the private peace' churches...
...Well, just how is the conscientious objector being- treated during this war...
...They use the only available weapon they have, hunger and work strikes...
...The Court pointed out that tbe tax is not limixed to electors,.for aliens, who may not vote, are none the lees required to pay the poll-tax...
...As to this there is instructive language in the opinion of Mr...
...The vast majerny, however, are still in wont camp*, financed and administered by the traditional peace churches—the Quakers, Mennonites and Brethren...
...work camps and institutions throughout tbe United States...
...There is the camper whose world panacea takes the form of Socialism a la Daniel DeLeon, and...
...and persons over sixty sears of age, though they may coatinne To vote, need net continue to pay the tax...
Vol. 26 • December 1943 • No. 50
