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New Deal Laborers Compete With NegroesBahanians Working in Home District Of John S. Rice, Debocratie Candndate For Governor, Complain About Conditions and Tricks Provisions of Contracts.A short distance trom the comfortable Adams county home of John S. Rice, Democratic candidate lor governor, negro workers are living under government control, in conditions that have caused them to complain in the public press.These negroes are natives of the Bahama islands, and are British subjects, brought into this country as“contract laborers through agreements between the Democratic administration at Washington and the British government.These Bahamans are now working for wages that sound good on paper but don't work out well in practice. That’s why they are here.They work in competition with American negroes for jobs that—if the conditions w e r e right—Americans would be only too glad to have.Contract LaborThat's the story—the Democratic administration at Washington, professing to be the friend of the American negro, brings “contract labor”into Pennsylvania because it can be “hired out” in competition with American labor.This is true not of Pennsylvania alone, but of many other states.A lot of these contract workers were brought into Pennsylvania recently to vork in the orchards of Adams county.They are quartered in antiquated buildings that were temporary at best. These structures were abandoned years ago, after the government abandoned me CCC camps.The buildings are almost within sight of the home ot John S. Rice, the Democratic candidate for governor.Rice sheds tears over the negroes of Pennsylvania every time he makesa speech. But they are crocodile tears.Not only did he do nothing about the conditions of which the Bahamian negroes complain, but up to the time this was written he had done nothing at all about the complaint.Laborers ComplainThe complaint, as published by the Gettysburg Times, of September 27,is as follows:“We, the Bahamian laborers which were imported by the American government. lrom the British colony of Nassau in the Bahamas, would liketo make a public complaint of the situation which we are now livingunder by government management here at Camp Sharpe, Gettysburg, Pa.“We regret to say, that the situation here is below the average standard of a decent living. We oelieve that the American government is capable oi rendering better service to their imported employes. We do not ask for too much, only that which was promised to us, before we ventured on this journey to the United States of America.“We have been employed in the U.S.A. as agricultural workers undergovernment supervision until now' for the past three years, and got along fairly well; but Camp Sharpe has failed to measure up to the standard of government agreement.“Your consideration please!“Thanks in anticipation.“Campers.“Camp Sharpe,“Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.”The government officials in control of the camp came back with a long list of * menu” cards, showing chicken and delicacies oi other kinds but the men say they get “too much fish”—and only two meals a day. If they want any lunch they have to “snitch” it from the breakfast table and hide it in their pockets when they go to work.Each man is guaranteed, under the “contract” he signs before sailing for this country, that the United States government will pay him at least $15a week.The orchard men say that many of them earn as much as three times this—but that is before any “cuts’ aretaken out.Although not American citizens, the generous United States government soaks them for income tax and “board.” In addition, they must send back to the British government 25 per cent, of all they make.Low as S7 a WeekFigures are not available for the Adams county workers, but in Philadelphia. where many Jamaicans are employed under similar contracts, frequently ail the men have left in cashafter the numerous “deductions” are taken out of the pay envelope is $7 lor a full week's work.All this within a stone’s throw ofO. L. Stevens, manager of the Erie district, Pennsylvania Electric company arrived in Somerset today to observe operations in this district, it was announced by R. P. Martin, local district manager.En route to Somerset, Mr. Stevensstopped in Johnstown, headquartersfor the company’s southern division, and met with F. W. Warner, division manager, and Penelec general office officials. He also made a short tour of Penelec’s Johnstown properties.Mr. Stevens’ visit to Somerset is part of a plan to encourage uniform operations in all districts of the system. Under this plan every manager in the system will eventually visit other districts for a few days to observe the methods used and the personnel at work and see for himself the way other areas function.On arriving at his scheduled district, a visiting manager is given a brief which includes pertinent facts about it, such as the number of customers served, square mile area covered. principal industries of the community and items manufactured, its population, etc.Other district managers will visit in Somerset later in the year, Mr. Martin said.Gypsy Rose “Stripped Of Precious EarringsDALLAS, Texas, Oct. 22—(JP—Gyp-sy Rose Lee, strip tease artist, is appearing at the Texas state fair.Yesterday she told police someone “stripped her hotel room of a $2,000 pair of gold and sapphire ear rings.It happened in Room 313 but Gypsy Rose said she wasn’t superstitious:“I was married once on the 13th and another time on the 31st.”the comfortable home of John S. Rice,Democratic candidate for governor ofPennsylvania.This is the candidate who pretends to be the friend of the Pennsylvania negro. This is the party which asks Pennsylvanians to believe that the colored race must look to it for protection.Those who know’ something about the importation of these foreign contract laborers, and the whole Democratic scheme look upon this thing as a labor racket, with race discrimination as its outstanding characteristic.The supreme devotion of a citizen of ancient Greece was to his city, and not to Greece as a whole. The laws he obeyed were those of his city, and the city alone was entitled to ask him to give his life for it.3Carthage was founded by Phoenicians about 813 B.C.the
Newspaper Details
Somerset Daily American
Somerset, Pennsylvania, US
Wed, Oct 23, 1946
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 04 Jan 2019
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