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[[unreadable]] B. letter on Strick 
[[watermark]] COPY [[/watermark]]

A representative of the Hammond-Tole striking group came to see Kuniyoshi and Harry Sternberg to ask for some expression of support from Equity. The request seemed simple and it was presented to the Executive Committee.

The Hammond-Tole Company employes artists to do hand-decorating of household objects. The group presented to us a series of facts. It was alleged by them that wage conditions in their shop were below standards for that industry, that the owners had refused to negotiate with the strikers, and that there had been evidence of police brutality towards the pickets. This representative who came to see us had suffered a broken bone thru being pushed or knocked over by a policeman while doing picket duty. She asked for support from Equity, the extent of the support being dependent upon what Equity would be willing to do. It was proposed at the Executive Committee meeting that a minimum action be taken: two letters and two telegrams were proposed. The Executive Committee then passed a notion unanimously to send the following letters and telegrams.

(Read telegrams and letters)

At the time the only objection raised was by Ernest Fiene who questioned our acting for non-members. We felt however that Equity had acted for non-members before this.

By this action in the following days, there gradually developed the awareness of the size and complexity of the new field that had been opened for Equity to consider. Questions were raised about the action. There were discussions and phone calls. It finally became evident in this specific instance that two actions could be taken in regard to the decision of the Executive Committee. One was to call an emergency meeting of the Executive Committee to reconsider its action. This, unfortunately, was not feasible because it was just before Xmas and getting a quorum was impossible. This left only the second step which was to carry out the decision of the Executive Committee, because of the time element in relation to the strike which [[strikethrough]] was [[/strikethrough]] called for immediate action.

In presenting a report to the Bd. of Directors at the meeting of Jan 5th it was intended to clarify the extent of the powers of the Executive Committee because for the first time the Exec. Com. had made a decision that was questioned.

There [[strikethrough]] was [[/strikethrough]] is this to gain from the whole experience: It brought up forcibly, for our examination, basic questions relative to the structure and the policy of Equity. One is a need doe clarification of the powers of the Exec. Com. The second is the need for Equity to explore its attitude towards the economic problems of artists in fields other than the fine art field.

That this last question should be considered is obvious from the fact that probably more than 90% of our members and potential members are involved in some such work to supplement their income. The economic trend is such that an increasing number of artists may have to move into peripheral fields by sheer economic pressure. Even casual examination of this problem indicates that it is extremely complex. Also, there is the ever-recurrent problem of the balance of needs against the abilities of Equity to act on these needs without spreading itself too thin.