Golden Age, September 13, 1922
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Sept 13,1922, Vol. Ill, Na 78
1™J| Published every other IrI week at 18 Concord Street, XjJF Brooklyn, If. T., U. S. 4.
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VbU 8 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1922 No. T«
CONTENTS of the GOLDEN AGE
LABOR AND
Wanted — A Basis for Prices .........
Value of Food
ECONOMICS
Supply and Demand
Labor Coat
Wages of Workingmen ....770
SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL
Only God’s Plan Will Avail .................
Advertising Is not All Waste ......
MANUFACTURING AND MINING
Reynolds Tobacco Company ,................ —
Letter from J. F. Dodge .......................—.......—
Letter from Reynolds Tobacco Company ------------
FINANCE— COMMERCE—TRANSPORTATION
Money
Rich Men Howl _______________________________________._____.......________
Debt ...................................-.............. -----
POLITICAL—DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN
Why a Painless Soldier "Ninety Days for Being
Bonus ____________________________777 Broke!” --------- -----------....780
A Hebrew in Christian Lumbar Camp Life
Florida .......... .770 In Chri.-ii.m Florida
SCIENCE AND INVENTION
to
Visualizing Fulfilled Prophecies ...................
A New Invention
Lamps, Voltage and Screen
The Kinemo Projector
RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY
The Spurious Seed
Worship of Demons 787
the False Promised Seed 789
False Chronological
Cycles ........---------
Pagan Origin of
Nicene Creed ..——^....791
Mexican Deznonism ..........793
Paganized Tales about Jesus
< 'arricsH Inaccuracy ..........795
■:ohh Kvil
Studies In the ‘Hah? OF Gon”
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V«luine III
crtc Golden Age
Brooklyn, N. Y., Wednesday, Sept. 13, 1922
Wanted—a Basis for Prices By a. h. Kent
Number 78
VALUE is a term applied to the usefulness, or possible good to be derived from things. Considering the diversity of product and other things having value properties, the various qualities that make them valuable, and the separate relation each value bears to living, and thus to life, it is useless to look for a common scale that will measure all value. We hear money spoken of as a measure of value, but not seriously; for every one knows that money can no nearer measure value than does price, and we are fortunate to find price even in the same column with value. Then, too, we have many values that are priceless.
We once thought work could be made the measure of value, i. e., each article of product should be given a price to equal its labor cost, but we found that the value of finished products did not graduate with the value of the labor used in their production, that often it cost as much or more labor to produce inferior as to produce the better grades. This is especially true of natural products, such as coals, wood, lumber, ores, oils, minerals and fish. In most cases, we think, the better the grade of material worked the lower will be the labor expense.
If we would use one hour of standard labor as a “measure of value” we would expect that unit to measure the same value at all times; but does it? One hour of standard labor spent in the production of the best grade of coals will produce three times the value that it will if spent in low-grade production. This is proven by the B. T. U. tests of the respective grades. To measure value wherever we find it would mean to be able by some rule or guage to divide it into equal units of usefulness or pleasure, as by measure we divide other things into equal amounts.
VALUE OF FOOD
In edible products our chemists separate the different properties; tests are made by the properties being taken into the human system, or that of animals. The effects are experienced or observed ; the animation or depression of the person or animal is noted by the one who tests. We learn the properties, but not the amount, of food value. Does it remain for us to measure the animation, the pleasure of health, of palate and of other pleasing sensations derived from these properties, by meters of enjoyment, meters of comfort and meters of contentment that make up the value of a meter of life?
Life is the value dependent upon and sustained by the combined value of all values. Each organ of sense or faculty of the mind adds its value to life in proportion as it harmonizes with the others, and with them together images the great mind of Jehovah.
Have we measured value? Do we know or can we measure the value of good advice, a cubic yard of air, a gallon of water, a pound of wheat? Can we even compute which is of the most value? We know that each ministers to life, but to what degree? What is the amount of this value? What is the whole value of life? Can value really be measured? No! We have traced it beyond the limit of possibility. There is nothing with which to compare. The values of all things are in proportion as they minister to life, and the value of life is in proportion as it resembles that of its Creator.
While the capacity of products for service may vary but slightly, the imperfections of being and conditions hinder us from receiving their full service; so the value of product to mankind fluctuates according to the ability and capacity of each to receive it. Under perfect conditions the full value of things would be enjoyed by all.
But supposing we could price things according to their true value in respect to life, there would be no profit in living. The cost would
equal the value. We fear that there is a small margin of profit in life under present conditions for the majority.
The important thing in price-making is that each receive equal and the most value possible for the labor expended. By pricing wood and coal per standard heat unit, edible products per standard food unit, textures per standard service unit, etc., price would graduate with the number of value units an article contained, and the only thing left would be to start all prices on the right level.
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prices, and then regulate the supply at market centers to a reasonable store that will take care of demand when it comes?
We find no way that supply and demand could, or evidence that they ever have, or now do, rightfully function in price-making. Even in case of shortage would it not be better to prorate what we have, than, by high prices, to limit it to one class and change the buying, power of the wealth of the whole nation? How can we graduate prices with both supply and demand at the same time? Think it over.-
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
If prices fluctuated only to the extent that the nation’s supply varied from normal, there would be no extreme changes, and they could be approximated in advance; but when demand, which is always erratic and unsteady, becomes a factor and the receipts and supply at terminal points, in place of the total supply, governs, prices become very unstable.
But the real oscillator of this price-making machine begins when the belt is switched to the guess-work attachment of future supply and demand at home and abroad. This intricate mechanism is so sensitive that the report of a flake of rust in Dakota or a rain-cloud in Kansas will start the indicator up or down a half dozen points. Its main purpose seems to he to keep prices on the jiggle and the swing so that each operator, as it comes his way, can take his toll.
Consumption may be practically steady, the total supply normal, and yet demand may fluctuate wildly. Some days, by force of circumstances, either receipts or demand may be excessive, or practically nothing. And when the year’s marketable product of an individual depends on a price determined by the supply and demand of a day or a week the possible injustice is enormous.
Every one knows that it would be good policy for the nation to have from one to two years’ supplies ahead, and if it did so, is there one good reason why that should affect prices ? Or if the demand varies from week to week is there any reason why prices should follow? Suppose prices could be made to graduate with the amount of surplus product on hand; is there anything about the workings of supply and demand to indicate the level on which prices should start? Would it not be better to determine a fair price-level and establish
LABOR COST
There are several reasons why labor expense and not value or supply and demand should be used as a base for price. While in character, labor is variable and unsteady, its results depending on intelligence, training, skill, and application, yet it can readily be standardized by ascertaining the length of time required at fair speed to perform a given * task; and thus there could be established for each article, or service, a standard labor-timerequirement, the laborer to be paid according to whether the actual time used was, or was not always the same.
This is similar to what is called the "piece work system,” only the time feature should be retained, because time will graduate with mon- • ey and is useful in computing prices. Then by giving labor a standard price per standard labor-hour, product would be given a standard labor expense expressed in terms of money, ' which would be a base for standard product ! prices. ‘
But the real difficulty in making prices is where there are several grades of a product, , each carrying practically the same labor cost, ■ or where several products, as woolens, cottons, and linen, compete for the same use. It is evident that in such cases prices should follow grades or value qualities. The only way we see j that this can be done with equity to all is by .
pricing the low grade article of each class at -
its labor cost, the others as much higher as their grade would indicate, the difference between labor cost and selling price to go into a fund for the common good; the producer to receive labor cost for his product; the distributor to receive an equal wage for his standard I labor time (figured on percentage, mileage, or J otherwise); the price to the consumer (both J
September 13, 1922
producer and distributor) to include the entire cost plus the excess value.
This excess value, as we have seen, is unearned increment and belongs to all and should be used in lowering expense; thus all would receive equal pay for their labor and labor equivalent for their money. The raw material on which no labor has been expended should belong to the people; the only rightful expense is the labor cost from the ground up to the delivered goods; the money received by the producer for his product and the laborer for his work should represent the share of labor each has contributed to the delivered product. Any change in the buying power of that wage by pricing goods on any other level is an injustice.
So we conclude that prices should be based not on value, but should graduate with value, and start on a level as low as will cover the labor expense of the low grade article of each class of product; that product should be standardized by being tested, graded and priced, and to prevent fraud, wherever practical the goods should be stamped with the labor cost, grade, and price. Then the price itself would be an index to value.
MONEY
It is claimed by some that there is not enough money in the world to pay the world’s debt. Some attribute the cause of our indebtedness to a contracted fiscal system or to the gold standard. The fact is that the tendency is away from the use of money except as a base. We write the large amount of our medium and we sometimes wonder if our banking will not become entirely a matter of crediting accounts.
This could easily be done by depositing all the money in one bank, say at Washington, D. C., the accounts there to be kept in the name of states, the state accounts in the name of counties, and the county accounts in the name of local banks, the local bank to keep the personal accounts as now, and report the trade balances to the county bank, the county balances to be reported to the state, and state balances to Washington. The business could all be done by wire or wireless, and no checks or drafts used excepting at the local banks, or possibly, in traveling. This, however, would in no way increase or decrease the making or liquidating of debts, but is stated to show that,
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with our system of checking, every individual in the nation could transfer his entire credit in a day without being hampered by lack of '4 currency.
The ability to pay debts depends on the earner’s balance left after paying living expenses, taxes on his property, and interest on his ob- * ligations. As long as the system in vogue multiplies his expenses to the amount of his earning power, the volume or kind of medium in use, if it passes at face value, can have little e fleet.
Profits increase the cost of living. Interest and taxes consume the earnings alike under the gold standard, the commodity standard, or the product standard. Interest rates can be effectively lowered only by supplying the people with the free (not unsecured) use of money, living expenses only by pricing product so as to eliminate profits, taxes by spending less for expenses and improvements.
Tin* free use of money is not uncommon, but at present the banker gets most of it in bank notes from the government and deposits from the people. I hold that it is unreasonable and unjust to be obliged to furnish security to private individuals or banks and pay for the use of public currency thus secured; that real estate and other values should be stabilized in price according to labor cost of construction, and productiveness (provision being made for their upkeep) and a system adopted by which the owner could issue stock to be used as government bonds are used in securing currency at the county offices where the records are kept; that money should belong to the government and be kept completely under its control; be passed out only in payment of product or other values to be held until the market absorbs them, and then the currency retired; that our money is as good as our bonds; that any government or public obligation should be paid by issuing currency and taxing it back. Under such an arrangement we would at least have the advantage ( if any) of inflation while the debt lasted and would save the interest, which gent*rally amounts to from one to four times the principal.
The value of money is equivalent to the value of the product it will buy, and is determined by the price maker; its value can be stabilized by, and only by, standardizing the price of product and other values; business
can never be fairly conducted as long as the buying Value of money changes.
If necessary to supplement gold as a base for currency, stabilized product or other values are superior to government bonds, as there would be no interest to pay, and a nonfluctuating value would be on hand at all times to redeem the currency.
Usury and profit are responsible for our financial troubles; if their practice is continued the common people will be reduced to serfdom or, if they refuse to lower their standard of liv
ing, dur organization of society will be wreek-t ... ed. Usury and increase are against the Bible
r teachings, and all sound business principles,
. and are doomed to destruction. We can have E; no Golden Age as long as such practices exist, [ but only after their abolishment.
When a practice is found to be wrong, the time has come to rectify it. If our money is used to curse society with a burden of interest, profit, and rents, we should change its use. We are glad to know that the “kingdom of heaven” - is at hand and soon these things will all be righted, but we believe much trouble, misery and a possible reign of anarchy could be avert-ed if we could apply the remedy at once. The question is, Have we as a nation sufficiently ? learned our lesson or will we fight righteous dealing to the last trench? The wisdom of our Lord and King will decide if we must drink this last cup or whether, by the further shortening of the days, it will be allowed to pass from us.
RICH MEN HOWL
“Come now, you rich, weep and lament over those miseries of yours [righteous Government with restitution] which are approaching. Your rich stores have decayed, and your garments have become moth-eaten [Why? Because the wages of the common people are not sufficient to buy the product they produce]. Your gold and silver have become rusted [depreciated in purchasing power] and [that very fact] the rust of them will be [is] for a testimony against you and consume [consumes] your bodies like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Behold, [those treasures] that hire which you fraudulently withheld from those laborers who harvested your fields [in whatever line] cries out [the riches themselves speak loudly that the laborer has not received his full wage] and the loud cries of the rea pers
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[laborers everywhere] have entered the ears , of the Lord of armies of all.[Young’s Concordance]. You have lived luxuriously on the [fat of the] land and been licentious. You have nourished your hearts [with big profits and graft] in a day of slaughter [the World War]; you have condemned [to prison]. You have murdered the righteous One [and the members of His body]; He does not oppose you [but has provided for you a way to eternal life, the joy of which even for one day will far exceed your riches].”—James 5:1-6, Diaglott.
DEBT
Debt is the result of one side of a bargain, interest-bearing security the result of the other. Debt of itself is not so much an evil; but there are so many attendant evils that its practice is inadvisable. The tendency to make unnecessary debts, to avoid the payment of those contracted, to take undue advantage of the debtor, the inability always to pay as agreed, and the increase of debt by accrued interest are evils that possibly cause more litigation than all else. Debtors might be divided into three classes: Those who are allured into debt by prospective profit; those who buy homes on time; and those who, because of misfortune and necessity, are forced to borrow.
Buying and owning homes are praiseworthy and should be forwarded in every way possible. At present there are many draw-backs to home-getting: the speculative value of property renders it unsafe as security for more than fifty percent of its ordinary selling value and this necessitates a cash payment of one-half, at time of purchase; interest rates on the balance are high, and taxes are high. If in the city, street improvement assessments are high, together with water and light bills; then there is always the danger of sickness or other cause to diminish or stop the income, which may result in the loss of all that has been paid.
Under these conditions many a man has paid in rents or interest time and again for the property he occupies, and in the end found himself in the street. War, with the prospect of scarcity, increases prices; as they begin to soar, the incentive to speculate grows; values change hands at increasing figures until both capital and credit are reinvested; the lack of confidence in the future to sustain the higher prices checks the investment of capital in that
September 13, 1922
direction; the heavy interest becomes a burden; and people awaken to the fact that property is worth no more to use than ever.
Only by dint of imagination can we lay the blame other than to the get-rich-quick incentive of the speculator. Debt starts to increase with prosperity, runs with it neck and neck, and outdistances it at the wire. Speculation is the child of price fluctuation, and the two, without flowers, should be laid in the same grave. Men buy houses and land to speculate on and keep them from those who should have them for homes.
Of what use would be an extra farm if the man who rented it received the cost of production for his labor and his product sold at labor cost? Or if the hired man was paid on the basis of labor cost of production, where would the owner get any thing — and why should he? Working at a profit more land than a family can tend to is speculating in labor.
Things priced and sold on a labor-cost base would limit the earning power of real estate and other values to the amount necessary for their up-keep, and would prove no incentive to own more than a home, and the land that could be worked to advantage by the family.
Standardize the price of values on a basis that will make them safe security for stock to the amount of their full valuation; then let the purchaser deposit this stock or any part of it, for a limited time, as security for currency, the same as government bonds are now used. Rents and interest will be eliminated and the home question forever settled.
Either speculation, the desire to own a home, or necessity, gets us into debt; high living cost, interest, and taxes keep us there and encourage others to pay high rents rather than to obligate themselves by buying homes. Because ofi the evils of rents, interest, and profits the vast majority of people are slaves. A panic now and then to cripple investments, also helps to keep the rent business good. That people are shiftless, bad managers, live or dress too well, are reasons given for failure by those whom fortune invites to have softer seats. These reasons contain the usual grain of truth with the pound of error, but the last analysis shows that under our present lack of system one class can be highly prosperous only at the expense of another.
Wages of Workingmen By John Buckley
THE following advertisement appeared in a
Sunday paper recently: “Wanted: College man, five years out. Salary $25.”
The great majority of workers in the United States earn less than five dollars per day. I know one college man that is supporting a wife and four children on thirty dollars per week. The office man or clerk, working for a salary, knows what his income will be. The laborer, factory worker or mechanic knows that for each day lost, whether it be a holiday or because of unavoidable sickness, he will be docked.
The masons, plasterers, carpenters, and other workers at the building trades receive big wages, yet they lose much time during the winter, and few of them average five dollars per ’day. Every effort is being made to bring wages down, and the mine horror at Herrin, Illinois, is but an incident in the. struggle for an existence. The cost of food has been greatly reduced, as have some other necessities, yet the general cost of living is as high as it has ever been; the increased cost of housing more than making up for other reductions.
It is impossible, in our cities, to find a tenement at a price that a man with a family can afford to pay. The man who gathered the rags at my door yesterday is paying fifty dollars per month for five rooms.
Can race suicide be wondered at when each additional room costs ten dollars per month? You cannot put children, like kittens or puppies, into a basket. In addition to the housing, they must be fed, clothed and kept warm. Our laws will not permit of child labor; and until the school age is passed, children are a heavy burden. Many a man will drink, that he may forget his worries, which only increases the trouble, and in despair he becomes a derelict.
A short time ago I heard a man say that only fools and horses worked. A reversal of the Golden Rule to make it read, ‘Do others as they would do you,’ is being more often adopted. Formerly, it was thought good policy
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to believe a man honest until he has proven to be otherwise. We have become a business nation, however, ami business men take no chances. . The present housing shortage is forcing many working people to buy houses, even at the present inflated prices. Interest on the mortgages, high rates of interest, high taxes, insurance, and other expenses, will keep them perpetually hard up. During the business depression of 1875 and 1876 many working people lost their homes. One man offered a brick house to a friend of mine, if he would assume the mortgage.
Two of the directors of a local savings bank bought a large number of homes that were foreclosed by the bank at much less than the face of the mortgage. The bank lost money, as did the owner of the property. The directors gained and, in two years, the property could be sold at its full value.
Speculative buying of farms during the war was opposed by the Government and, with the present low prices of food stuff, many buyer's wish that they had no farms. So troubles aro not alone to the city man.
The man who sees the little that he has struggled to acquire taken from him, and who sees his family suffer for the necessities which he is unable to provide, will become hard and bitter. ‘To him that hath shall be given,’ is taken literally. He has seen it work out, and he is blinded to the goodness and to the mercy.
Divide the workingman’s daily pay of five dollars by his needs. Take from it the fifty dollars per month for rent, or the fraction that would come from five dollars. Divide what is left by six or seven, as the case may be, and then figure for yourself how long it would keep a person at a fashionable hotel, or at the seaside. The prevailing conditions neither stabilize the Government, nor promote nor encourage honesty, nor make Christians.
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& Only God’s Plan Will Avail By T. II. H. Messinger
THE Golden Age articles on the present situation in the world are helpful to me as confirming more and more the things written aforetime for us. They carry me back many years; I am now past the threescore and ten mark; but recall when at the age of fifteen I began to search the Scriptures and at the age of twenty, while working among my fellow mechanics, I began to study with others how happiness could be brought to us all. Then after arriving at the age of twenty-one I got into politics and fraternal organizations to try to help solve the problems of life.
Alas 11 saw that envy, covetousness, and selfishness were deeply imbedded in mortal man, and even among church members it was about the same. I saw, as one expresses it, “Man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn." Among my fellowworkmen those who cried out the loudest against oppression, as soon as they were elevated to positions above their fellows or got into business for themselves, were the worst against their fellowmen. The workman’s worst enemies were from his own ranks, and even the pledges and oaths of the fraternal societies, or the teachings of the churches, were ignored by a large majority.
Having a clear awakening to this in 1878 I turned to the “Old Book” as the only place I could find any explanation of these things; for I knew it said, “Man is prone to evil.” As I searched and dug into that Word the light began to shine and has continued to shine brighter and brighter as the Day is gradually approaching. I saw by faith through the Word Jehovah’s wonderful provision for the restoration of mankind; the return of our Lord and the setting up of Messiah’s kingdom.
How that Government was to be adminstered. on this earth by our Lord and His body was still not clear to me; when in testifying of my hope to one, he gave me a little book (“and I did eat it”), called the “Divine Plan of the Ages,” by C. T. Russell, and here I found pointed out in the Scriptures the “missing link,” which I had failed to find. So I praise the Lord for using the clay, our beloved brother, to anoint my eyes, to show me how I might wash in the Word and see; and as time goes on and I still search the Word the day is growing brighter and brighter, while the condition of things in this old world, as pointed out in the Golden Age, seems to say, “The kingdom is at the door.” May our faith increase at the prospect!
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Why a Painless Soldier Bonus By H. Willis Libsack
THE possibility of a soldier bonus might be more favorable if Congress possessed a
Urim and Thummim.
A bonus for the ex-service man has created a political sensation that almost rivals any in the history of our nation. Congressmen, in order to retain their positions, feel that they must do something to slightly compensate the men who sacrificed all during the months this nation was engaged in barbaric warfare to fight for “Democracy.” But if one extends a helping hand to the ex-service man and thereby imposes an additional tax upon the already overburdened tax-payer, his job will be just as insecure. So between the soldier vote and the tax-payer’s vote, the congressman is left wondering as to the best way of escaping the dilemma and sustaining the least injuries.
Property owners who had no direct participation in the war would be glad to lavish an appreciable gift on the men who fought for them, if only they could do this without draining their own pocket-books. We are moved to raise the question: Why make the bonus a painless one, when we reflect that the war was not painless? It goes without saying that many of the almost generous tax-payers, who so vigorously opposed the Bonus Bill, did not hesitate to call a young able-bodied man who was inclined to procrastinate before joining the American forces during the war a “slacker,” with a Dempseyfied emphasis on the term.
Have they forgotten the horrors of war? When we note their conduct of the past few months we are compelled to declare that they have never been acquainted with the concomitants of war. No American citizen mentally normal will say that war is a pleasure. If there are a few who still grope in darkness on this question, then let us cite, for the benefit of such, only a few of the maladies caused by war, that greet the eye every time one appears in public. Look at the thousands permanently confined to government hospitals as the result of almost fatal wounds. Others are left to contend with the direful effects of poisonous gas. Many thousands of precious human organisms are maimed and, worst of all, must remain that way throughout the rest of their lives. Daily we have with us men in the prime of life who have to depend upon crutches, wheel chairs, and other accessories. Why? Because they were loyal to their country; because they were will-
ing to do their utmost. When called upon te leave home, job, friends, and all the pleasures the civilian life has to offer, they went gladly (excepting a few, the “C.O.’s”). They went with the determination to make this world a fit place in which to live. For themselves only? No! For everyone.
Now let us propound a simple question. Is the man who was not called upon to render his services on behalf of the nation during the war just as willing to pay a few cents more per year ou his taxes and thereby extend invaluable aid to the man who did go, who fought and returned and is now left without a position whereby to provide the necessities of life? Most emphatically, No! At least the recent discussion upon this perplexing question has led us to this conclusion. Why should not taxpayers experience some of the horrors of war themselves? During this international conflict many, yea all, reaped financial rewards heretofore undreamed of.
Ex-service men do not call upon any American citizen to pack up and leave home, family, friends, and good position, nor even such a trifling thing as a pleasure trip. Yet they did it, and never even murmured. No! None dared to murmur. To do so meant a ten or twentyyear vacation at Atlanta or Leavenworth. But the penurious tax-payer can say what he pleases against the Bonus Bill and none shall bid him hush. His arguments are heard and weighed in the Senate. But a poor conscript’s argument (if he dared to divulge his opinion) was heard only by his bunkie in the guard-house, provided he spoke in a sufficiently low tone so as to keep the prison guard from hearing what he had to say.
It is high time for ex-service men to oppose this procedure. Every man must divulge his opinion. He must speak now as he was spoken to during the war, if he seemed inclined to lag behind. The nation demanded a supreme sacrifice of these men. Now they must demand this insignificant gift stipulated in the Bonus Bill.
If our rich Government maintains that it is-too poor to spend four billion dollars for the relief of ex-soldiers, then let employers at least restore them to their former positions. We are inclined to view our national poverty as a camouflage when we take into consideration the fact that Congress has appropriated millions 777
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upon millions of dollars for the construction of battle-ships which after a few years in active service were dismantled to be used as targets for naval aviators to demonstrate the practicability of naval airplanes.
Let men at the head of this mighty power curtail expenses by using cheaper targets, and not refrain from partially paying their indebtedness to the army of heroes by “shelving” and eventually “killing” the Bill.
Reynolds Tobacco Company
WE ARE glad to make correction of an error which appeared in our columns respecting the Reynolds Tobacco Company. Mr. Barnes, the writer of the article in which the error occurred, is generally very careful in respect to his statements of facts, but in this instance was deceived by the clever maneuvers of an unscrupulous salesman for other tobaccos. We have in hand a statement of the facts by a gentleman who lives in the city where the Reynolds plant is located. We guarantee its accuracy and reproduce it herewith, followed by a letter from the Reynolds Company bearing upon the same matter.
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Letter from J. F. Dodge
Mr. Editor: I was surprised to see in No.
76 of your interesting magazine the following statement:
“The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company has closed its doors to all Protestant help. Protestants, therefore, are boycotting all tobaccos and cigarettes bearing the R. J. Reynolds tag. This includes some of the most popular styles such as Prince Albert, Camels, R. J. R., etc. Large shipments have been returned and orders canceled, it is stated.”
In normal times this great industry employs some 11,000 people. It makes no religious test when employing new men. It is probable that in this city of some 50,000 people there are not 200 Catholics and more than half of these are Greeks and Syrians, who are not Roman Catholics, but Greek Catholics; so that, while we have ninety-nine churches in the city, only one, a small one, is for Catholics, and I understand that both Greek and Roman Catholics use this alternately. Thus it will be seen if Protestants were barred they would not likely have more than twenty-five or fifty people to run this great business.
Now, of course, Mr. Barnes believed that this statement was true, and so I am inclined to think he lives in a city very largely of the Protestant persuasion: for if he lived in a city in which the Catholic element predominated, he would probably have written that this great company had closed their doors to all Catholics. My reason for thinking this is because competition is so sharp these days that the salesmen of competing tobaccos and cigarettes have a systematic method of telling in a city largely Catholic that Reynolds employs only Protestants, and in a city largely Protestant that he employs only Catholics, in order to kill the sale of Reynolds goods and to place their own instead.
A short time since one of the labor organizers received a letter from the far West, asking him if it were true that Reynolds would not employ any Catholics and stating that if so he would cut out these brands in his business. The organizer took the letter to the office of the company and handed it to one of the officials, who, after reading it, smiled and from a pigeonhole in his desk took a letter and handed it to the organizer. This letter roasted the company because of antagonism toward Protestants in the conduct of their business.
Mr. Barnes should be careful to have proof of his statements before sending them in for publication.
I am sure you will be glad to correct this statement; for your magazine believes in doing justice to all, whether their line of business is objectionable to you or not.
Letter from Reynolds Tobacco Company
Dear Sirs : On the 15th instant we wired you as follows:
“In your issue of August 16th you publish the statement that this Company has closed its doors to all Protestant help. This statement is absolutely false as are also the other statements in same paragraph relative to the business of this Company and we are putting you on notice that we expect to hold you account- :: able for the publication of same. Wire us what you expect to do toward correcting these statements.” y
And we have received your wire of the 16th instant in reply as follows:
“The author of article referred to in your wire not here today. Investigating facts. Will advise you later. If we have done you an injury we will certainly take every step to retract. Please write us facts and we will publish the same. We do not wish to misrepresent you.”
The statements referred to in our telegram appear on page 714 of your issue of August 16th, 1922, Volume 3, No. 76, which are as follows:
“The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company has closed its doors to all Protestant help. Protestants, therefore, are boycotting all tobaccos and cigarettes bearing the R. J. Reynolds’ tag. This includes some of the most popular styles—such as Prince Albert, Camels, R. J. R., etc. Large shipments have been returned and orders canceled, it is stated.”
This statement contained in the above quoted paragraph is absolutely false and without foundation. This Company’s business was built upon open and above-board methods; in other words, fairness to all. No employe, from executive officer to the most unskilled laborer, is measured by uny other standard than merit and no one of them has ever been favored or discriminated against in the slightest degree because of his political, religious or fraternal affiliations; nor has this Company ever been influenced in the slightest degree in giving or refusing employment to any person because
of such person’s political, religious or fraternal affiliations. ..... ..
You disclaim an intention to deliberately misrepresent us and state that you will investigate the facts and advise us later. The most casual investigation would have disclosed the absolute falsity of the statements published by you and it is amazing that you would assume the responsibility of publishing them without first assuring yourselves that they were correct. Ordinary fairness demanded that before publishing these statements, affecting as they do the business and reputation of this Company, you give us the opportunity of proving their falsity.
We note that yon are willing to “take every step to retract.” This is the least that, in common fairness, yon could do towards correcting the damaging impression which the publication of these statements is likely to create. We assume that this retraction will be full and complete and published in a conspicuous place in your publication. Please send us a copy of same before you publish it.
Awaiting with interest your report as to the results of yotir investigation, also the publication of your retraction we are
Yours very truly,
R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
A Hebrew in Christian Florida By Isaac Herman Schwartz
I HAVE read of the cruelties perpetrated by Arabian slave-traders on their unfortunate victims; I have heard and read of hardships forced upon and endured by American Negroes before the Civil War; eye-witnesses have recounted to me what they saw and experienced in dreary Siberia in the heyday of Czarist misrule—but my most venturesome fancies never approached the experiences I have lived through last year in “free” and “democratic” America.
In October, 1921, I found myself in Mobile and in the position generally described as “flat.” The economic crisis of the period prohibited any encouraging thought suggestive of “seeing it through,” so the painfully obvious thing for me to do was to move on—via the side-door Pullman. I remembered having friends in the city of Jacksonville, Florida, and decided that I could not do better than remain in that city until winter was over.
I had heard much of the “Land of Flowers,” good and bad. Especially had I been told to beware of the deputy who leads the penniless stranger and hobo right into the very heart of Florida’s pride—-aye, even into the midst of the verdant but swampy lumber camps. But I put all these admonishings down to the contrary tastes of these individuals and blithely hopped an east-bound freight.
Sunday morning, October 30th, I had gotten as far as the division called River Junction, Florida, and fairly close to Tallahassee. Having seen neither hide nor hair of the deputy I had been cautioned to beware of, I decided that the hoboes had exaggerated conditions here; and hurling caution to the fragrant Florida breeze, I clambered out of the refrigerator
an
car I was riding and seated myself on its roof. But something occurred to disturb my appreciation of Ponce De Leon’s discoveries. For shortly after leaving River Junction one of the train crew approached me with a demand that I “come across” with two dollars. I informed him that I felt greatly embarrassed at his demand, for it was manifestly impossible for me to raise the amount asked. I had but a quarter and kept it tied in my bandanna for fear of losing it.
“Hain’t you even got a dollar was almost sympathetic.
“The most valuable thing I’ve got is my labor card,” I smiled. “And it’s a red one,” I added with grim emphasis on the adjective descriptive of Ab.p first color in Tie spectrum.
“Cain’t honor ’em,” he whined. “The rest of the crew’d git sore—red or white cards. You’ll have to get off at Tallahassee—cain’t hide you for nothing.”
I saw him look into other cars and apparently talk to other knights of the road. But disappointment clouded his countenance, as he made his way from them to the caboose. Evidently this was not a very lucrative trip.
A few moments after he had gone I was surprised at the sudden appearance of a man approaching across the tops of the cars from the head-end of the train. Something about Ins appearance was at once unpleasant and disquieting. Ue was too well-dressed to be a trainman. When within ten feet of me he lost no
oners to communicate with each other vocally. Facilities for personal sanitation and hygiene were most primitive. I was grimy from head to foot from the train ride, and asked the jail- ' er's son (who does his father’s work before and after school) for some soap. But he was two days in getting it. '
Il is voice to our colored neighbors in the cells beneath
As no towel accompanied the soap, I used 1 my shirt to wipe with. Three auto thieves and two hoboes were the white prisoners we found at the time of our entry; and by calling out ns we learned (hat their number consisted of four persons, including one who said his name was “Sam,” and who was a frequent guest of the county because of his penchant for “devilment.”
The following morning we newcomers were tried. The judge, the deputy and we four hoboes were the only ones in the courtroom.
“You were all caught riding the same freight, so there is no difference in your cases. The offense and penalty is the same in each case. You’re each lined twenty-five dollars and costs or ninety days,” was the judicial decision, delivered so soberly that it made me smile.
“ninety days for being broke!”
“Ninety days for being broke!” exclaimed one of the ex-service men. “Some court!”
The dope-head entreated the judge to send him to some hospital where he might be cured. He exhibited an A. F. L. Boilermaker’s union
time introducing himself; for he whipped out a long-nosed “lead spitter”; and ere I knew what was happening, a pair of nickel-plated “bracelets” adorned my wrists. “Don’t try to get away,” cautioned he, as he started for the next car. I though that I could be just as funny as he; so I retorted that I would not try to get away after trying so hard to get thus far.
He found three other hoboes. One, it later developed, was a hopeless drug addict, and the other two were young ex-service men.
Arrived at the station in Florida’s capital, we found a goodly portion of the native populace assembled to greet us, from which we gathered that the daily arrival of the freight train is quite an event in Tallahassee.
The sheriff’s auto conveyed us to the county jail. The first floor is for Negro prisoners and the second for white culprits. The cell and the jail construction is such as to enable the pris-card and begged the judge to interest local unions in his case. The judge promised he would; and the following day a local union man came to the jail to see the drug addict. He talked with the unfortunate a while and promised to “see about it,” but never returned.
Two meals a day are given the prisoners here: at 8 a. m., and 2 p. m. The first consists of a little grits, a small slice of bacon and two biscuits. Every other morning two tablespoonfuls of syrup are added. Tea and coffee are but memories here. Dinner consists of a few ounces of black-eyed peas, a small piece of fat pork, and a small piece of corn bread. The bill of fare is changed Sunday, when beef stew is given for dinner with a little meat.
When the meals were “served” we four newcomers were astounded at the behavior of the other prisoners. When the food is brought the men are locked in their cells; and after the at-
tendant who brings the food returns to the outside corridor, the cells are opened simultaneously fn in the outside. When the doors were opened the five prisoners whom we had found in the jail when we were first brought in, would make a dash for the food—even stealing the miserable contents from each other’s pans. We newcomers held an “economic” conference, at which it was decided that whoever went after his food at a pace greater than ordinary walking would receive a good lacing—the law to go into effect from that day on. We made our decision known to the others, and it is sufficient to say that we never had to administer punishment as long as we remained in this place.
By this time our number was increased by five—all hoboes. One was a mere child of fifteen, and another a man of middle age. The remaining three were young men, of whom two were fortunate in receiving money with which to pay their fines.
. One night about the middle of the week I
was roused from slumber by sounds as of t weeping. The sobs, mingled with an occasional
i groan, came from beneath—from some Negro , prisoner. A quarter of an hour later the man’s
■ weeping ceased; and he began praying softly,
t in that simple child-like manner so typical of
> the southern Negro. After a half-hour of
; prayer, with mingled sobbing, everything grew
u quiet again and I fell asleep.
s Before breakfast the Negro, whose name was
1 Sam, called up to us entreating us to be quiet.
I We asked if any one was sick; and he told us ? that a prisoner by the name of Ned Thomson ; had died during the night. We urged him to
tell us something about the prisoner; but all f that he would say was that the man was re-» turned from the “road” too ill to work.
I Our blankets were so lousy that one of the
hoboes almost wept from the torture of continually scratching. We raised a disturbance; and when the jailer’s son made his appearance we demanded some disinfectant and an atomizing gun. He brought these not so much to please us as to prevent us from making any more noise. We set to work and annihilated some billions of “cooties.”
All the prisoners were given a “medical examination” to determine where each should be h. , sent to work out his sentence. The “doctor” f ... proved to be a humorist; for his examination
t , consisted of the sole question: “What’s the
matter with you?” If no deformities were apparent and the prisoner was able to walk, he was sent to slave in the lumber camps. AH the ■ rest—and there were few—went to build roads. ■
I was sent to a lumber camp the ninth day ■ after my arrest. First the sheriff drove me in a Ford thirty miles from’Tallahassee to a town -called Perry. Here I remained in jail until ; after dinner. I had one cell-mate, one of Fiori- . - , , da's native sons. To make conversation I asked him why he was imprisoned.
“Oh, nothing much. I jes’ killed a good fer nuthin’ feller in self-defense.” He went on to explain that feeling ran high as a result of his exploit and that a few weeks after his arrest the friends of the dead man assembled about ‘ the jail in anticipation of a “necktie party.”
“As if I was only a dern nigger,” he added, the indignation of injured race-pride flashing from his eyes. “But, you know,” he confided smilingly, “my wife told me afterward that there wuz ten of my frenz to one of his’n; so there wouldn’t have been much of a battle.”
LUMBER CAMP LIFE
The talk turned to my case. He grinned. ‘‘You shore landed in hell, son,” was his comment. Even if you’d paid the trainman those two dollars he wanted, you would land here just the same. They are all in it and get a rakin’ off from each man caught. There ain’t a man in three counties around here that ain’t been a guard one time or another. I’ve did it myself,” and here his chest expanded a trifle. He also began informing me about the lumber camps. The prisoners are hired out to the Putnam Lumber Company for twenty dollars each. The Lumber Company has complete charge of the men and has its own guards, who are very brutal.
“They don’t hesitate none to pull the trigger, bud,” he continued, “’cause that’s the orders an’ if you make a move that looks like it smells siispeecious, the chance is that you’ll be buried in the swamps that night. The guard shoots in self-defense, you know,” and here he gave me an eloquent wink.
“I’ve seen men whipped till they had to be toted to the stockade,” he went on enlighten me.
“But why?” I asked, greatly puzzled.
Sympathy for my apparent ignorance showed on his face. “Well, for one thing, to make
n* GOLDEN AGE
Brooklyn, N. Y.
’em scared; and ’nother, to get all the work out of ’em that they can. A six-months sentence means that a man will be worked within a quarter-inch of his life. The longer the sentence the less hard the prisoner is worked, ’cause if they works a long timer without a limit he’ll die afore his time’s up and the Putnam Lumber Company loses money on him. You see, you stand a better chance of cornin’ out alive without a broken body if you has a long term. Figgern’ the cost of labor at this time, the Putnam Lumber Company gets about $200 worth of it out of nigh every prisoner at the camps every month for only $20 a month, too. If you was doin’ the same work as a free man, you’d only be getting $1.75 a day.”
Here a disquieting thought entered my mind. “Tell me,” I asked, “are the prisoners permitted to send and receive mail?”
“Well, the camp boss reads all your mail; and if they don’t like what you write, they tears ’em up and you gets whipped besides. You dassen’t complain. Sometimes they writes for you.”
He gave me writing material his wife had brought him; and I wrote a note to my folks to send money for me to be liberated. I read it to my cell-mate.
“You better add thirty dollars to it, ’cause the ride will cost that much. You got thirty miles more to ride. When you’re out of here you’ll be in charge of the Putnam Lumber Company.”
I was thankful for all I had heard; and he promised he would mail the letter for me. At 2 p. m. a man unlocked my cell and commanded me to follow him. He was my guard and drove me in a machine to the lumber camp. It is certainly strange that the creatures of the lumber interests should possess the keys to the jails of Florida; but it is true nevertheless.
During the ride to the camp he asked me quite casually if my people knew where I was; and when I told him they did not, he smiled.
We reached the camp at sundown. I felt slightly ill; for I am a vegetarian and sorely lacked the food I was accustomed to eat. My interior was beginning to register complaints, but I thought it best not to mention the fact to the man I was turned over to at the camp. This man I found out was Captain Higgin-bottom. He is in charge of the prisoners and is the one who does the flogging. My clothes were exchanged for convict stripes. I could eat no supper; for my stomach was in revolt. After supper the men were locked in the woollen stockade which served for jail and sleeping quarters. They crowded about me, telling me that I had come to a veritable hell. They showed me their hands puffed and blistered from the fierce toil they were constantly subjected to. I saw ugly running sores, for the cure of which “salve” was applied. Some had venereal diseases, but nothing was done for them. All were weary in mind and body. Eight of every ten were there for hoboing; and they all swore vengeance on Florida for their sufferings.
“They’re so ignorant here,” a tall blue-eyed Westerner told me, “that they must be run down to have shoes put on them and blindfolded when they are first made to put on underclothing. When I told the guard I was from Oregon, he asked which county it was in.”
Several had been whipped that day and they exhibited their backs—red and swollen.
“One never does enough to suit the hounds,” said one. “From the minute the labor-train dumps us in the woods early in the morning until sundown we must work as hard and as fast as we can. The guards are there to see you do it.”
“The doctor comes here once a month unless someone can’t go to work in the morning. Then he gets here oftener,” stated another prisoner.
A Slav prisoner spoke: “I am going to Russia when I finish here; they don’t arrest you there if you have no money.”
One whose face seemed fashioned in perpetual sneer turned loudly on the Slav: “That’s the trouble with you foreigners. You don’t appreciate a free country like this. Why didn’t you stay in Russia?”
The tall Westerner nudged me in the side. “Look out for the guy that’s squawking to the Rushun,” he whispered, “he’s a stool-pigeon. We’re going to corral him out in the woods one of these days, and then he won’t return to supper. Don’t talk to him.”
“You ought to be thankful you are not black,” one prisoner said to me. “They are treated worse than we are. One named Ned Thomson was whipped even though he could not walk, not to mention work.”
“Ned Thomson!” I almost shouted the name; for it was that of the unfortunate negro who had died in the Tallahassee jail.
qolden aqe
“Do you know him?” they asked, assembling about me.
I, told them what I knew of the dead man; and all that they could tell me was that he was sick at the time he was brought into camp and could not work. The prisoners told me that when the captain had whipped Thomson, the poor fellow rose lamely from the ground and smiling bravely told him that he had whipped only a dead body. It was because of this incident that the prisoners particularly remembered him.
I was an extra man at the camp; so a blanketsheet and mattress was spread for me on the floor. I could not sleep. My head ached; and to add to my discomfort the guard rang the hours on a gong, awakening most of the unfortunate prisoners every hour. In addition to all these discomforts, they maintain a useless and inhuman rule which forces the prisoner to ask the permission of the guard if he must get off his bed during the night. Thus at one time during the night I wished to get a drink, and I had to call loudly: “Getting a drink, captain!” Until the guard responded, “Get it,” I could not move from the spot. One can hardly realize how torturing it is to try to sleep under such difficulties. My first night in the prison camp of the Putnam Lumber Company was a sleepless one.
IN CHRISTIAN FLORIDA
At 5:30 a. m. the gong rang for us to rise. My head was nearly bursting, but I managed to get into my clothes and form in line with the others. Two tubs of water in front of the eating shed furnished the daily toilet; but the time for eating was so short that even this luxury was of no avail. No towel, no soap; a dip of the hands in the tubs—and then to “breakfast.” This torture consists of corn bread, syrup and a small piece of bacon. Every other morning two-thirds of a cup of black coffee is added to the “menu.” The dinner, prepared the previous evening and carried along in tin pails by the prisoners, consists of some boiled lima beans, a small piece of fat pork, and a piece of what Southerners call “corn bread”—of the consistency of rubber and just as palatable. This last is invariably half raw. The prisoners are required to return what food is not eaten; and this is cooked and baked into the next day’s dinner! -
The workday begins at six-thirty in these trackless swamps. The guards and overseera wore boots, but the prisoners waded through,, the swamp-water often to their knees.,
Arrived at the place of work, every one was given a shovel and ordered to remove the Florida landscape.
When at work a ridiculous rule is enforced. It compels the prisoner to obtain permission from the guard nearest him when he has to change his position or use another tool. Thus at one time I was working in deep water; and when I wi shed to roll up my trouser legs, I had to remove my cap and ask permission of the guard. Until he deigned to nod assent I dared not move from the spot.
It rained hard that first day, but we were forced to work to our knees in water and mud. After dinner, Captain Higginbottom appeared and whipped two of the prisoners. He used a heavy strap, four feet long, five inches wide and fully a half inch in thickness. I never fully appreciated Tolstoy’s description of the floggings in Russia until that moment. The first to be whipped was a young boy. On his knees he implored the captain not to beat him, while the tears streamed down his cheeks. Seeing what was about to happen the other prisoners spurred their weary bodies to yet greater efforts. The captain grew angry at the boy’s entreaties and shouted to the boy to lie down or he would use the handle on him. Trembling like a leaf and pale as death, the lad lay prone on his stomach on the muddy earth, while the brute employed by the Putnam Lumber Company beat upon him with the strap. The cries of pain as the heavy leather stung the boy’s body will always remain with me. After this the captain whipped an innocent man, but this one did not utter a sound as he was being whipped.
1 ached in every limb; the rain beat down, and made work trebly difficult, while my eyes swam in their sockets from the pain in my head. At length the day came to its merciful close, and so weary were we that it took us nearly an hour to trudge back to the work-train which bore us to the stockade.
Arrived in camp I fell off the train; and because I was unable to walk as fast as the guard ordered me to, he assisted me by planting two vicious kicks on my buttocks. This treatment, served rather to slow up my pace; so Captain; Higginbottom gave me a hard blow on the back
of my neck, inquiring at the same time of the guard, “What in hell’s the matter with that damned Jew?”
I had neither appetite nor desire for food. I trembled in my wet clothing; and my fellow prisoners, seeing my condition, peeled off my clothing and covered me on my mattress on the floor. In the morning I was in a fever; and when I attempted to arise, I fell dizzily to the floor. The other prisoners put on their wet clothing and went out to slave in the swamps and to create dividends for the Putnam Lumber Company. After breakfast Captain Higgin-bottom entered the stockade.
“Jew, what’s wrong with you?” was his greeting.
Too ill to make reply, .1 lay there on the floor where I had fallen after my attempt to rise.
“Oh, I’ll make you talk,” said he, as he left the place. He returned in a little while, carrying “Black Aunty,” as the whipping strap is called.
…