gram of WPA days and I confess you are bringing back a lot of the past; but what you are bringing back is the main reason I am in the CIO. I used to help handle for Mr. Forsythe certain young victims of the depression and I would go out in the homes, and I could tell you story after story of that experience. Senator DONNELL. Over what period did you teach in Ann Arbor? Mr. EBY. From 1931 to 1937. Senator DONNELL. You never at any time have been connected with the University of Michigan? Mr. EBY. No. Senator DONNELL. What did you teach in the high school at Ann Arbor? Mr. EBY. Civics, government, international relations. Senator DONNELL. And from the high school in Ann Arbor where did you then go? Mr. EBY. Chicago Teachers Union. Senator DONNELL.. What is the Chicago Teachers Union? Mr. EBY. It is an American Federation of Teachers Union of some 8,000 members, an organization that grew out of the respective union groups, men teachers groups, women teachers groups, and so amalgamated into the Chicago Teachers Union. Senator DONNELL. What was your position with that organization? Senator DONNELL. How long were you with that organization? Senator DONNELL. Until 1943? Mr. Eby. That is right. Senator DONNELL. And from 1943 what did you do? Mr. EBY. I came in as assistant director of research and education for the CIO when Mr. Raymond Walsh was there and in about a year's time was made head of the department. Senator DONNELL. Now, you had not taken any degree other than an A. B. degree, as you have explained? But you had prepared for a doctorate. Mr. EBY. That is right. Senator DONNELL. You mentioned being with the American Education Commission in Japan. Mr. EBY. That is right. Senator DONNELL. Were you a member of that Commission? Mr. EBY. No, it was on invitation of General MacArthur, concurred in by the State Department. Senator DONNELL. How long were you in Japan? Mr. EBY. Five-and-a-half or six weeks. Senator DONNELL. You speak of being with the UNESCO in Paris. Mr. EBY. That is right. Senator DONNELL. In what capacity were you there? Mr. EBY. Technical adviser. Senator DONNELL. Who appointed you as that? Mr. EBY. I was appointed by the State Department; Mr. Benton, Assistant Secretary of State. There is a technicality there so I want to complete my statement. Most of the appointments are confirmed by Commission. I am also a member of the executive board of UNESCO, I mean the American Executive Board, and of the National Commission; and most of the people are chosen from that. But the invitation came direct from Mr. Benton. Senator DONNELL. What type of commission was this in Paris? Mr. EBY. This was a commission consisting of the representatives of some 31 or 32 nations who met to draw up the constitution, to adopt. it and to set up the entire international United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Senator DONNELL. Were you a member of that particular commission? Mr. EBY. I was a member of the commission because, even though I went as a technical adviser, all of us have a voting privilege. The five representatives were appointed by the President and were to be confirmed by the Senate, by law. The Senate was not in session. Five alternates and the rest of us went along as technical advisers but we were given voting privileges, a very democratic situation. Senator DONNELL. Do you know Dr. Compton of St. Louis? Mr. EBY. Yes, Dr. Compton and I are very closely associated. Senator DONNELL. Closely associated? Mr. EBY. Yes, even to sending Christmas cards. Senator DONNELL. You spoke of having the report that was written.. Did you participate in the writing of that report? Mr. EBY. Yes, sir. I was chairman of the personnel subcommittee of UNESCO who had the job of handling the interrelations between the governments and I learned a lot about many of these highly controversial issues. I would be very glad to talk to you about them. The thing I learned in Paris more than any other is how political ideas are. I had always suspected it, but I really learned it. Senator DONNELL. That is all. Senator AIKEN. Are there any more questions of Mr. Eby at this time? (No response.) If not, thank you, Mr. Eby. (Mr. Éby submitted the following brief:) STATEMENT Of Congress OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS PRESENTED BY KERMIT EBY, DIRECTOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION, BEFORE THE SENATE LABOR and. PUBLIC WELFARE COMMITTEE ON FEDERAL AID TO EDUCATION About a year and a half ago I appeared before the Senate Committee on Education and Labor to express the CIO's support of Federal aid to education. Today, I wish to reiterate certain of the opinions expressed on that day, and to reaffirm CIO continued support for Federal aid to educationl Since my former appearance, the deterioration of public education in America has continued apace, fortunately, however, public awareness has developed of the plight of our schools and teachers. Today, it is our job to give expression to the desire of the American people to help their schools, and thus strengthen their democratic institutions. The CIO's support of Federal aid to education is consistent with labor's historic support of free public education as early as 1825, as you know. When the first workers' political party was set up in Philadelphia, the establishment of free schools was a prominent plank in the party's platform, and historians. in the field of education agreed that it was the workers' organizations which gave continued aid to Horace Mann and other pioneers in public education. Before mentioning the CIO, our brother organization, the American Federation of Labor, consistently tried to secure better schools, properly paid and trained teachers, and Federal support to equalize educational opportunity. The labor movement led the way to establishing vocational education; each convention of both the CIO and the A. F. of L. has expressed continued concern through resolutions supporting education. At the present moment, the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations through a joint labor committee and in cooperation with other civic-minded groups are about to have a bill introduced which should provide a labor extension program of labor education similar to that now enjoyed by the farmers in America. Almost one-third of the resolutions of the recent eighth constitutional convention of the CIO had to do with education and welfare. On teachers and education the CIO had this to say: An unprecedented crisis exists in the American school system. The underpayment of teachers, the underfinancing of school systems and the consequent undermanning of the classrooms have created a reduction of educational opportunity from the elementary school to college level and threatens the very basis of our entire educational system. Since 1939, while the cost of living has risen to inflationary heights, teachers at all faculty levels have received an average wage increase of less than 20 percent. Since 1939 more than 60,000 teaching positions have been closed. This means that 60,000 classrooms have been abolished and the work thrown onto other teachers. Since 1939 more than 350,000 teachers have left the profession. In 1940, 2,000,000 children from 6 to 16 were not in any kind of school. Despite the desperate Nation-wide shortage of teachers, our teacher-training institutions report their enrollment at its lowest in history. Although our colleges and universities are filled to overflowing, less than percent of the students are preparing for teaching. Hundreds of thousands of veterans are unable to take advantage of Government educational support because teachers, classrooms, and schools themselves are undermanned and underfinanced. In thousands of communities, Negro teachers and women teachers are receiving unfair and unequal salaries entirely because of discrimination due to race and sex. Ten percent of the classrooms of the country, covering 2,000,000 children, actually spend less than $500 per year for all classroom expenses, including teachers' salaries. This crisis has been accelerated within the past 12 months. It continues to undermine the possibility of equal educational opportunity for our children and the children of workers everywhere in America. This convention calls on all CIO affiliates to aid and encourage all teacher campaigns for increased wages and improved educational conditions. We of the CIO have always believed also that it is not enough to provide good teachers and good schools. The boys and girls of America, our most important natural resource, are conditioned by the nature of their families, their communities and their economic environment. We believe that it is the economic undergirding which gives stability to our family institutions. Because we so believe, we support legislation for a decent minimum wage, social security, and an adequate health program. May I call your attention to certain other positions, consistent with our broad approach to education, which we advocate on education and child care, on maternal and child health, child labor, and housing: EDUCATION AND CHILD CARE The most advanced industrial nation in the world still does not have adequate provisions for the education of its citizens and care of its preschool children. Almost half of the adults in the United States did not finish elementary school. We still have 6,000,000 illiterates. The average annual salary of teachers, principals, and supervisors in 1942 was $1,550, with rural teachers averaging only $900. Facilities for the day care of working mothers, even at the height of the wartime demand, met less than 10 percent of the basic need: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That we urge that minimum educational standards be established by the Federal Government based on the principle that every boy and girl is entitled to free education through high school, with advanced study for those of demonstrated ability. We urge an adequate minimum wage scale and proper security for teachers. We urge a program under which hot meals will be made available to school children without cost. We urge an adequate nursery school program to assure proper daytime care for the preschool children of working mothers. These objectives can be secured through Federal aid in cooperation with State financing, such Federal assistance to seek the elimination of existing discrimination because of race, creed, or color. Every American must enjoy full opportunity for, and receive, an adequate education. MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH Whereas (1) Year after year the United States Children's Bureau reports to the Nation on the great numbers of children who die needlessly, who don't get good medical care when they are sick, who have to grow up handicapped for life because their parents can't get the expert care needed to correct their children's physical and emotional defects; (2) The Federal Government has a direct responsibility for this neglect of child health and life; (3) Despite the social-security programs for child health and welfare services which have been in existence for 11 years, the Federal Government has never yet faced up to its full obligations to our children; (4) Continued neglect on the part of Congress to make adequate provision for a broad program of child health and welfare services is a threat to the very basis of our democracy; Now, therefore be it Resolved, (1) That the CIO reaffirm its position that all mothers and children have a right to all diagnostic and curative medical services needed for good health, and that it is a responsibility of Government to see that such services of good quality are within reach of all mothers and children; (2) That the CIO, while continuing to press for a national health program for all the people, work for the attainment of a complete system of hospital, medical, nursing, dental, and mental health services to serve all our mothers and children so that every child born in the United States is well born and is assured every possible chance for good health while he is growing; and (3) That the CIO also support legislation that will help all communities to provide programs for the day care of workers' children, good home care for every dependent and neglected child, wholesome recreation for all children, and whatever other child-welfare services are needed to give our children security and the opportunity for full development of their capacities and talents. CHILD LABOR Whereas (1) A nation as rich as ours in manpower, technical skills, and natural resources has no need to depend on the labor of its children to produce the good living that our economy is capable of providing and must provide for all families; (2) The employment of children, before they have had ample opportunity to mature and to obtain all the training and education they can use, is a rebuke to the Nation; (3) Simply barring such children from employment, without increasing their opportunity for growth and development and helping them get the cultural, education, and vocational training they should have during youth, is equally reprehensible and injurious; (4) Right now great numbers of children and young people are in special need of help. Hundreds of thousands, younger and less experienced than our youngest veterans toward whom the Federal Government has recognized some obligations, cut short their education and went into plants and shops to help win the war. Many of them are now the forgotten youth when opportunities for jobs and schooling are passed around. Young people who grow up during a war need help in facing a particularly difficult period of postwar change and adjustment: Now, therefore, be it Resolved (1) The CIO work for legislation that will broaden the child-labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act to cover all interstate commerce and industrialized agriculture; (2) The CIO work for State legislation that will bring State child-labor laws up to a standard that fully protects young workers from harmful employment, including a minimum age of 16 for employment in factories, at any time, and for all employment during school hours; (3) The CIO support adequate appropriations for the enforcement of State and Federal child-labor legislation and regulation; (4) The CIO work for the expansion of public employment services so as to make possible a high quality of employment counseling and placement services to all young people in need of them. HOUSING The democratic goal for a sound society is a decent home for every family; Meet one of the foremost problems through a reinforced and strengthened over-all housing program based on a recognition of the magnitude of the needs 60144-47-pt. 1-15 of the homeless veterans and our slum families, while at the same time appraising realistically America's potential productive capacity to meet this need. Wage an all-out campaign for the maximum use of existing facilities through temporary requisition of unused housing, the allocation of hotel space to veterans, the use of feasible and convenient resort facilities and immediate stoppage of discrimination against families with children. Limit profiteering in housing so as to assure occupants that they will have decent homes at a cost they can afford. The accomplishment of these ends would go a long way toward giving us healthy young citizens. As I said, when testifying formerly, we of the CIO are particularly interested in direct Federal aid which will equalize the educational opportunity of the boys and girls of America. One of our most pertinent reasons why this is so grows out of the nature of our organization. Today, some 6,000,000 workers are members of the CIO, and more than 8 or 9 million are members of other labor groups. These 15,000,000 Americans are spokesmen for the unorganized. Advancement in the economic and educational standards of the organized workers has a tendency to lift or to better conditions for the unorganized as well. So we feel that our contribution to bringing about Federal aid is in the interest of America and her children. The population of America is not a static one. We are a mobile people. The ICIO has within its membership hundreds of thousands of migrant workers— men and women who move from one community to another, from one State to another, to better their economic conditions in the industrial centers of America. For example, according to the United States Committee to Investigate Migration Workers, from 1930 to 1940, 4,000,000 workers moved from one locality to another; from April 1940 to November 1943, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 31⁄2 million people moved from one State to another. These last figures show only additions and subtractions from State populations at given dates, exclusive of births and deaths, and do not reflect nearly all of the comings and goings and the multiple moves of war workers, but inter- and intrastate. California, for instance, has received 1.7 million in-migrants; Michigan, Washington, Maryland, and Ohio more than a quarter of a million each. States which have lost population are predominantly rural-Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, and New Mexico. Arkansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Oklahoma lost about a quarter of a million apiece, in 1940 to 1943. Now what does this mean to the CIO? The answer is obvious. The surplus children and workers from our rural areas migrate to the city where they seek jobs in industrial cities. The war accelerated this trend. At present, it is temporarily reversed; but I am told the development of the cotton picker and other advanced farm machinery will once more accelerate the exodus from the country. Now what does this mean to the CIO? It means workers are leaying the States whose economic circumstances make it impossible for them to give their people the quality of education which every American citizen deserves. It means that when these workers move to Detroit or Flint they are moving from the simple rural economy and life to a complicated industrial economy and life. These transient Americans come to the city illiterate and inadequately trained for the adjustments they are called upon to make. I remember very well the development of the Black Legion in Michigan. While teaching in Ann Arbor, a friend of mine did his doctoral thesis on the origin and attitude of its members. I used to go with him to gather data, and come away with the impression that the members of the Black Legion, to a large extent were former citizens of the South who had moved north and brought their social attitudes and prejudices with them-attitudes and prejudices which were responsible for the development of indigenous Fascist groups, in their way just as intolerant as the Nazis of Germany. The first person murdered by Black Legionnaires was a Catholic youth of Pontiac who was seen in the presence of a Protestant girl. Fortunately, the Black Legion did not develop to the same extent as the Ku Klux Klan, perhaps because economic conditions in Michigan got better and the pressures which developed between Negroes and whites, native Detroiters and imported workers competing for jobs, abated. However, all of us who are acquainted with the race riots in Detroit know that they were a byproduct of the social tension which was precipitated when people with an inadequate understanding of American ideals live in an inflammatory environment such as is ascribed to modern Detroit. |