they lost a season0s work under CIO. Under the
Endal-Bowney^tundeberg tie-up they did sit on
the beach, dida°t they?
5o The 12^ which I recommended for acceptance
was in excess of the formula which the Govern
ment of the United States had established and
.yhich both the AFL ana the CTO had accepted as
the basis for stabilisation during this criti
cal defense period* Fr. EndaX calls a lot of
people "Communists'* *= does he mean that if you
ar@n°t a Communist, the welfare of our country
then beco&e® meaningless?
S* The CIO Is seldom called company dominatedo
Apparently, insofar as Father Endal is concern
ed, failure to subscribe to his dictatorship
causes on© to fall within one of two groups -
either company dominated , or Communist domina«
tedr For your information, neither this office,
the AFU, Ifochiniets or Carpenters is either.I
am sure in my omi mind that Fkther Endal knows
full well that I speak the truth.
7. Then it suits his purpose, this priest reli
es on the arguments of Arnold and the Salmon
Industry to maks his cas®. FhxticuXarly ie this
true in regard to |gie allegation that the strug
gle in Bristol Lay last year was Communism va.
Anti-Conmunism.
Wow this issue to me is on® that I feel T am
qualified to speak on for I have been in this
struggle against Communism for yearsv and in
the CIO in cleaning out Communism w® didn’t
have any help from the Alaska Salmon industry,
Inc-, Fr® Sndal, Downey or even Bristol Eay*and
the only trouble with this worthy Priost is
that he arrived in this great fight after the
battle was over— "Monday Morning Quarterbacks"
is the Club he should join if the Church canH
keep him busy otherwise*
Sine® th® thim® that the CIO expelled IFAWA
for following the Cocacunist leadership, the
door has always been open to the AFU and other
fish unions to return* provided they had no
Communist leaderships There is a difference
between the AFU and the IFAWA «■ the CIO has
never accused the leadership of the AFU of being
Communist® The simple fact is that AFU has not
been Communist dominated* 111® CIO has every rei*p
pect for th® AFU and feels confident that thsy
will be able to bargain on the basis of ©qual
ity with the industry*
T recall Father, that when the CIO and A.VL
unions Jointly sponsored the act creating the
Labor Department for the Territory of Alaska
in 1940* the Canned Salmon Industry and W„Cr
Arnold openly fought the measure, and cried to
high Heaven th&t it was sponsored by the Com
munist So How, since you set such store by their
definitions of Communism and Communists, why
daa°t you denounce that act and the persons
filling offices within the department? Do you
agree with the Alaska Salmon Industry, IteCo
all the time, or just part of the time? Or
may I aek is it necessary for one in your
position to b© consistent?
Tho CIO and this office stand on a record of
democratic trade unionism • of unions run not
by Priests and aorchants, but by tho workers
thornselveso That, Father, is the hop© and
ix'adition of American trade unionissio Bemocra;
cv and democratic rank and file Unions ar©
the type of organization that resist the in
roads of Covjnunism and enhance the wall being
of the average citizen© of this country, and
with such unions, workers can and will defend
their liberty against tryanny of the left or
tyranny of the righto In our Asarican tradi
tion spiritual advisers should be above re
proach, and certainly slander is the last
thing a vested proponent of any faith should
resort to if he would best s©rv® those to
whom his position ic dedicatedo
Very truly youra,
Roy Wo Atkinson
Regional Director,, CIO
State of Waehingtono
o o <m co a c: cn >x* o e.> c* aa o o o o o o o
Dillingham* Alaska
April 7* 1952
The Deacon
Dillingham* Alaska
Lear Mrs* Spears*
Atkinson^! ISSt
lication of
of L!arch 21s
¥.
for permitting mo to read lfr0
or of protest ov«r your pub--"
recent article in the Beacon
In to he charges me with "malicious ala
ndor”,protest3 vehemently against it,and then
proce.ds to obmit his proof*I would appreciate
his meeting my charges head on.He chooses not
to do so.Thus he seems to slander me rather tfa
than vice versa®
He finds fault with me as a priest for
taking a special and active interest
in this labor dispute; and invites me to tend
to the spiritual needs of man, or if I want
to enter the field of organized labor, to
take off the robes of my priestly office•
But in that he is wrong* may not anyone
legitimately come to the assistance of & man
being robbed? Or should assistance be limited
strictly to a police officer? In Bristol Bay
fishermen are victims of grave injustice*
It is the part of the priest to work for
the estabishmsnt of justice and charity in
human relations, and to defend with all leg
itimate means at his command the rights of