Daily Sitka Sentinel
Home-Owned Newspaper
and The ARROWHEAD PRESS
Member of The Associated Press
10c a Copy
fOLUM£ XVI
Thursday, December 1, 1955
NUMBER 248
A. F. of L. votes to merge with
0.0. at convention today
lewis duns CIO for
money 'loaned" in
tarty days
SPflBW YORK </P) The Ameri
can Federation of Labor gave
final approval today •to merging
with the CIO into a new 16 mil i
lion memlber single labor union
federation.
Approval was by a standing !
vote toy shouting delegates at
the AML. convention.
A similar okay for the merg
er was expected later today or
tomorrow at a separate conven j
tion of (the Congress of Indust
rial Organizations (CIO)
Completion of the merger |
will end a 22 year old split a
mong major American labor un
ions.
The AML delegates gave sep
arate approval to a new AFL
CIO constitution and three oth
er merger documents.
AFL convention approval
came after presidents of two
AML unions spoke about cer
tain abjections (they have to
terms of the merger.
Woodruff Randolph, presid
ent of the AFL International
Typographical Union, said the
merger vested too much power
in AFL-OO officers.
A. Philip Randolph, presid
ent of (the AML. Brotherhood of
Sleeping Car Porters, wanted
more power for the AFL-CIO
leadership to deal with unions
practicing racial discrimination
However, AFL president Geo
ige Meany argued the merger,
while imperfect, was the beat
arrangement that could be de
vised after long study.
He denied AML-CIO officers
would have any greater powers
than have (been lodged in the
AML. leadership.
Earlier Meany said the ifter
ger will enable organized laibor
to “make a great er contribution
to the well being and security
of our nation.”
Former president Harry S.
Truman, in a message to the
CIO convention, expressed hope
that laibor would “use good
judgement in electing public
officials.”
V eatchcombing
% With mayors around the
council taible — a lot of ideas
can be exchanged without vot
jng (for the record) which will
affect Southeastern cities.
• An AP member in Alaska
sent oult a story today and the
bureau in Seattle said that, a
clause in it “might be” libel.
All the papers in Alaska cut
'the clause “and fast.”
H November was one of ithe
dryest months on record — but
that “ain’t the way I herd it.”
gt First high school (game of
the long, long, lonlg, basketball
season gel s underway tonight.
It isn’t the first game which
counts but the last game — pro
the All-Alaska
vided it’s for
(Championship.
CIO (president Walter M. Reu
ther, addressing the convention,
called plainly for defeat of the
Republican administration in
Washington in next year’s elec
itions.
Describing the administra
tion as having a “banker men
tality,” Reuther said 1956 wou
ld offer “a great opportunity to
turn the government back do the
people.”
The CIO president said the
combined AFL-CIO must not
become merely a large econom
ic pressure group but must use
its power in the interests of
moral and social responsibility.
He bit out at communism, cor
ruption and racial intolerance
and said none of these had any
place in the labor movement.
The CIO ignored a damning
note from John L. Lewis for al
leged past-due debts.
Lewis, president of the In
il.ediMine Workers, an independ
ent labor organization not a
party to the prospective merg
er, sent bis payment demand on
the eve of separate AFL and
CIO conventions called to rait
Lfy the amalgamation.
AFL and CIO leaders unruf
fled by the Lewis move, sum
moned delegates to the merger
convention this morninlg.
Lewis is a maverick in the
union movement who in the
paslt has been a leader in both
the AFL and CIO. Last night
he demanded that the CIO, be
fore any merger action, pay up
SI,665,000 which he claims to
be the balance owed the UMW
from early CIO organizing days
Lewis headed the CIO at thal
time.
“Why he’s got the second
biggest bank in Washington
and wants us to help him make
it the biggest,” James B. Carey,
a CIO leader, l old a reporter.
“Lewis has got three balls hang
VVJUIltlll
Cold weather break
seen in most of
United States
by The Associated Press
The cold weather over most
of ithe eastern two-thirds of
the country appeared breaking
a little in sections of the mid
"continent today, Ibut not much
relief was in prospect for the
eastern part of the country.
( Early morninlg temperh
tures were (higher from Texas
northward into the Dakotas,
But they still were below freez
inig as far south as Oklahoma
and northwestern Texas and
between 10 and 18 deigrees in
the Dakotas.
The warming trend was ex
pected to spread over much of
the north central region dur
iing the day.
| Temperatures in the eastern
areas were mostly in rhe 20s
this morning and the cold air
i extended southward as far as
Jacksonville, Fla., which re
ported a chilly 39.
. Rain fell along the western
coasts of northern California,
Washington and Oregon. One
t to five inches of snow fell in
eastern Washington, northern
; Idaho and western Montana.
Southeast mayors
meeting in Sitka
this week
Mayors from several cities
and towns in 'Southeastern Al
aska will open their discus
sions here this morning at the
annual Southeastern Alaska
Mayor’s Conference.
Already in town are Joe
Goding, mayor of Ketchikan;
Bertha McKay, city cleric of
the First City; J. W. Thompson j
mayor of Haines; and Richard
Dalton, mayor of Hoonah. Ex- j
pected to arrive on the morn
ing flight is mayor Haugen of
Pa ersfoung, the city clerk of
Haines and Cyril Coyne, may
or of Skagway.
Although no replies to the
invitations to the city officials
of Wrangell, Douglas, Kake,
Hydaburg, Klawoek, Pelican,
Craig and Metlakatla have
been received, it is possible
one or more of these may he
represented also.
First meeting of the confer
ence was set for 10:00 a. m.
today at the council chambers,
On the agenda for discussion I
are workmen’s compensation!
for volunteer firemen, ques- j
tion of taxation of boats as,
personal property, personal
property assessments and their
collection, sales tax and Its col
lection, financial problems in
general, membership in the,
League of Alaskan Cities, prob
lems relating to federally-own
ed land within a municipality
and operation of ci.y-owned
hospitals.
A tour of Mt. Edgecumbe
installations will occupy this
afternoon. while tomorrow
mornirtg and afternoon will be
devoted to meetings. Friday
evening the visitors will be
guests of honor at a dinner ar
ranged (by the Sitka Chamber
of Commerce. On Saturday
morninfg, final meetings will
be held; followed by a tour of
the city, visit to the pulp mill
site and a trip through the
Sitka Community Hospital,
where the visitors will be
guests at an informal tea for j
which the Soroptimist Club is
hostess. ;
Conference calls
for more teachers
in public schools
WASHINGTON (IP) The
White House conference on
education today called on the
American public to remember
there is a tremendous shortage
of teachers who “work with
our moat precious resource —
our children.”
The calls for ttempts to get
more teachers came on a day
when the conference seemed
almost certain to go strongly
on record in favor of federal
"aid to schools, particularly for
buildings.
The report on teachers list
ed three thinigs in every com
munity to keep in mind:
1. Teaching must have pres
tige comparable to other pro
fessions.
j 2. The salaries must be high
| enough to keep teachers in the
j classroom and not permit them
| to be lured to other fields
' where the pay is better,
j 3. The teachers’ job must
(continued on page four)
Delegates favor two-house
legislature for new state
30 delegates talk
on subject in 32
hour debate
FAIRBANKS </P) Members
of the Alaska constitutional
convention expressed a strong
preference for a two-house lerfg
islature in a 3 ¥2 hour public
session here last night.
'With 30 of 55 delegates
speaking, a ipoll on that con
troversial subject indicated a
strong majority in favor of ithe
territory’s present bicameral
system. A few delegates were
undecided and only four ex
pressed a strong preference
for the one-house (unicameral)
legislature. However, there
was no official vote.
Four members of the audi
ence were allowed i‘.o speak.
The entire evening was spent
discussing the topic. One del
egate said the question had
caused an uneasy “undercur
rent” in the first weeks o? the
convention.
The open airing of conflict
ing views is believed jio have
cleared the way for further
consideration of other matters
before the convention.
John A McNees of Nome led
Germany will not )
deal with Russia
on unification
BOMN <7P) Chancellor Kon
rad Adenauer’s government
stood solidly 'today with the j
western allies on German re-:
unification policy, ruling out
any (bilateral German-Russian |
negotiations on the subject. j
Foreign minister Heinrich j
Von Brentano made the gov- j
ernment’s first declaration in
parliament on foreign policy
since the Big Four foreign min
isters’ meeting in Geneva fail- j
ed to resolve the problem of
German unity.
He told cheering members
of the Bundestag, lower house
of parliament, that the “Ger
man people are not prepared
to strike any deal (with the
Russians) jeopardizing their
freedom.”
The foreign minister ack
nowledged the Moscow agree
ment for West Germany and
Russia to exchange diplomatic
relations. Bui. he added it was
up to the Kremlin to make re
lations between the two peo
ples anything more than a
technicality.
“As long as the Soviet Un
ion proceeds on the assump
tion of the partition of Ger
many and the existence of two
German states,” he declared,
“there can toe no normal rela
tions be'ween our two coun-'
tries.”
Von Brentano declared that
“the fate of the German peo
ple would the sealed if it tried
to exchange the confidence
and friendship of its allies for
the sympathv of the Soviet
Union. Nor will the German
people be induced by any
threat or temptation to veer
from this straight course ”
the proponents of the unicam
eral structure. He (told the as
sembly that the traditional
two-house system was an out
growth of democracy’s pro
gress against royal powers and
declared thait a bicameral set
up in a modern democratic
state was “unreasonable and
illogical.”
McNees explained that both
houses are now elected “by
the same people of the same
class.”
“There is no need.” he said,
“to (give two blocks the same
authority to do the same
thing.”
He said a unicameral form
would offer (greater efficiency
better consideration of legis
lation, increased prestige in
membership, closer relations
between the governor and
lawmakers, and elimination of
inter-house rivalry. McNees
added that a one-house legis
lature would result in “sub
stantial savings” to taxpayers
by cutting out double staffs.
The only state operating un
der (the unicameral system is
Nebraska.
Delegate George D. Cooper
Of Fairbanks spoke in defense
of the bicameral legislature.
He said that system was pre
ferable because it makes pos
sible the safeguard of checks
and 'balances.
Several delegates cited cases
in the Alaska legislature when
they said, consideration of the
same suibject by the house and
(continued on page three)
Radical-Socialists
Vote to expel
Faure from party
FARiliS (IP) Leaders of Pre
mier Edgar Faure’s own party,
the Radical-Socialists, voted to
day to expel him .from the
.party.
The vote toy members of the
partv’s steering committee, was
19 to 1.
The decision does not affect
Faure’s status as acting pre
mier nor his decision last night
to dissolve the National As
sembly.
The action toy party leaders
had toeen foreshadowed when
the steering committee sum
moned him to explain his de
fiance of partv policy in dissolv
in? the assembly.
The roarty session had (been
called tov .former premier Pier
re Mendes-France, who has be
come Faure’s bitter rival with
in the Radical-Sovialist group.
The steering committee’s de
cision is not immediatelv effec
tive. It must be submitted to
the oartv’s executive commit
tee where a two-thirds major
tv approval is required.
Marine forecast from Thurs
day to Friday.
Outside waters Dixon En
trance no Cape Spencer south
easterly winds 15 to 25 mph.
Cloudy with occasional rain
showers. _