Fraternity-Testvériség, 1954 (32. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1954-03-01 / 3. szám

IN PLAIN AMERICAN

A monthly page conducted by Edmund Vasvary

The sudden death of the Rev. Dr. Charles Vincze of Perth Amboy, N. J. was one of the most grievous blows to all of us in many a year. For over 30 years he was a respected leader in our church and community life, an active and enthusiastic worker and supporter of our own Federation, a highly valued member of the Supreme Council of the Federation for 13 years. He was a learned and wise man, a sincere and consecrated Christian, a faithful and indefatigable pastor and counsellor, and a good friend of all who are willing to walk on the path of faith, charity and justice. He was only 55 when the Lord unexpectedly called him home. Blessed is the memory of the just.

The change of guard in the American Hungarian Federation should be of interest to every American-Hungarian who takes any part in our community life. When the former executive secretary, the Rev. Stephen E. Balogh (Chaplain in the Army Reserves with the rank of Lt. Col.) bowed out, after six years of intensive and successful activity, the gratitude of thousands follows him. His successor, Bela Bachkai, is a veteran writer, newspaper man and teacher, whose very worthwhile publication during the thirties: “The Young Magyar-American” is well and gratefully remembered. His election to the post was unanimous. We wish the Federation and its new executive secretary every success.

The labor unions evidently like their independence very dearly, this being the biggest obstacle in the path of greater labor unity, which as it seems, is still very much the music of the future. Labor, as it seems, is fearful of too big “bigness” for the simple reason that when too much power is concentrated in too few hands, dictatorship is right around the corner. A few big unions already have proven the truth of this. The spirit of independence, the loathing of dictatorship has been the main characteristic of A- merican labor for generations. It would be a glaring contradiction if the unions would be willing to walk into situations which would breed exactly that against which they were fighting during all their history.

What about this year’s wage demands? The guess is that they are coming, but in a moderate form. There are unions which are willing to admit that the industry could not stand a cost rise this year, which implies that there will be settlements without wage rises. On the other hand, the present slowdown of the auto industry

will vanish when summer arrives, the workers will get a 5% “productivity raise” in May which in turn will not go unnoticed by the steel workers — and so on.

The present production of automobiles is running at the rate of 5 million cars in 1954, but nobody knows whether there are that many future buyers. There is already some “labor surplus” in the auto industry, which is such a giant now that its influence is deeply felt in the whole economic life of the nation. The auto workers’ union has several good reasons for going after a guaranteed yearly wage.

The price of coffee is really high, and more and more people are rushing to the battlefront in righteous wrath to help defeat the common enemy. The coffee producing countries are ready with the explanation: extensive damages from frost, too much demand, and the like. I really don’t know whether the indignant customers are right or wrong. I remember very well that while living in Pittsburgh, more than 30 years ago, I always bought coffee at the best food store in the city (which still enjoys the same reputation) and paid 60 cents a pound for a mixture called Mocha-Java, which was handed to me in a plain paper bag, canned coffee or the modern extracts being then unknown. Now in those days almost everything was fairly cheap and the people’s earnings were much lower than today’s. To say that the price of everything doubled since then is probably an understatement, but on the other hand, if the price of good coffee also doubled, why the bitter outcry against this single item, when the much steeper increase of everything else is taken for granted and paid without any protest? I hate high prices just like anybody else, but I believe also that it is necessary to be reasonable in everything. .

THE DEVELOPMENTS of the “cigarette front” are already noteworthy. The industry itself, already feeling the effects of the adverse publicity, decided to create an independent research center, where scientists will do research work with the aim of finding out: Are there harmful effects resulting from smoking or not? Serious developments preceded this decision. Although the really bad publicity started in April, 1953, all cigarette sales dropped almost 3% during the past year, in spite of the tremendous advertising campaigns.