The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 13, 1924, Page 6

2 TE. Page Six THE DAILY WORKER “Wednesday, February 13, 1924 THE DAILY WORKER. | Published by the DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO., 1640 N. Halsted St., Chicago, Ill. (Phone: Lincoln 7680.) SUBSCRIPTION RATES By mail: $6.00 per year $3.50..6 months $2.00..8 months By mail (in Chicago only): $8.00 per year $4.50..6 months $2.50. .3 months Se ta Eden IE AOE SiN CSSA I ERR Address all mail and make out checks to THE DAILY WORKER 1640 N. Halsted Street J. LOUIS ENGDAHL..,....- WILLIAM F. DUNNE. MORITZ J. LOEB...... Entered as second-class mail Sept. 21, 1923 at the Post- Office at Chicago, Ill, under the act of March 8, 1879. <a Advertising rates on application. Dictatorship in America The Senate, provided by the framers of the constitution as a check upon the House of Re- presentatives, composed of the most conserva- tive types in American political life, demands that President Coolidge force Secretary of the Navy Denby to resign. The president cooly tells the senators and the people of the United States who elected them that the senate has not the power to make such a demand and that he will ignore it. Representative government? — Responsibility of elected officials to the elec- torate? The president the servant of the people? President Coolidge is right. The senate has no such power because the framers of the con- stitution saw to it that the executive alone en- joys it. ; The democratic character of the United States government is a myth. It is not respons- ive to the will of the people as expressed thru the franchise and was not intended to be. — Our form of government was planned by in- dividuals who represented the privileged classes of the period in which they lived and who made _ the most careful arrangements to prevent any wave of popular protest being reflected in the government itself until time had tempered mass resentment. Congressmen are elected for two years, sen- ators for six and the president for four. Above all stands the supreme court appointed for life —the highest tribunal’in the land, combining thru both law and custom, executive, legislative and judicial authority. The American form of government is the most inflexible and irresponsible, barring abso- lute monarchy, ever devised by man because its mandate is always conditioned upon issues that have lapsed before it takes office. Its personnel cannot be changed by the popular represent- atives during the term of the president— appointees are HIS and not the people’s. Im- - intents. Chicago, Ilinols Editor «Labor Editor . Business Manager purposes impossible—is the only recourse. In any other country in the world having tho pretense of democratic government, such a scandal as the Teapot Dome steal would have forced the resignation of the executive wing— the prime minister and his cabinet. President Coolidge and his official family would have been kicked out—he and they could not have defied the demands of elected representatives. Never in the history of American government has a similar situation arisen and this of course is taken as proof by the unthinking that it is an unfortunate affair that will never occur again. The contrary is true. The United States has left behind the period in which government could afford to make some show of representing the popular will—the competitive period of American capitalism. The United States is now a world power. It con- ducts adventures abroad of which the American people, badly informed as they are, do not ap- prove. It wages ruthless war on native peoples in its colonies on behalf of financial institutions that choose and dominate the government. It pre- sents an unyielding front to labor at home and it finds it ever harder, in the face of popular discontent, to protect those who have stolen the natural resources of the nation. It is natural that the dictatorial possibilities latent in the American’form of government should have been utilized first to force the pop- ulace in 1917-into an imperialist war against which its opposition had just been expressed in a popular election—in 1916. It is just as natural that the inflexible char- acter of American government should find its second expression in the use of its dictatorial power by President Coolidge to protect his ad- ministration from the righteous wrath of a peo- ple aroused by proof of the corrupt class nature of American government indisputably shown by the Teapot Dome revelations. It is in such times as these, when the nation is seething with unrest that reaches up from the working and farming masses and involves large sections of the middle class, with American capitalism in danger—not of revolution but of far-reaching social and political changes that would make its task of exploitation more diffi- cult by weakening its hold on the mass mind— that the capitalists give thanks for “the far- sightedness of the founders”—the farsighted- ness that was shown by James Madison when he told his fellow-exploiters at the Constitu- tional Convention; In future time, a great majority of the people will be without landed or any other sort of prop- erty. These will combine, under the influence of their common situation—in which case the rights of on age d and the public liberty will not be secure in their hands.******** There will be, particularly, the distinction between the rich and the poor*****. An increase in population will of necessity increase the proportion of those who will labor jer all the hardshi of life, and secretly sigh for a more al bution of its blessings, he Workers Party contends that the Amer- government is a dictatorship of the capi- | talist class, that it was intended to be such by) its founders and that the sops thrown to the democratic leanings of the masses have not weakened but have strengthened this dictator- ship by concealing its real nature. Woodrow Wilson did much to shatter the myth of government “of, for and by the peo- ple”. Calvin Coolidge has continued the good work under the pressure of the forces that are work- ing for uprooting of capitalism. Appealing to the power granted him as pres- ident by the constitution President Coolidge today is carrying out the historic task of Amer- ican capitalist government—protecting the de- spoilers of the people from the consequences of their dishonest and tyrannical acts. To say that such use. of governmental power was not within the ken of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention is to admit ignorance of American history. Not only did they con- template this possibility but they recognized the necessity for it by a system of checks and balances and division of authority which placed the American government beyond the reach of the people at the only times great masses are aroused to action—when corruption, inefficiency and tyranny have discredited completely the people’s rulers. The Workers Party of America calls atten- tion of the workers and farmers to the proof torial class character of the United States gov- ernment and urges them to organize for the establishment of a workers’ and farmers’ gov- ernment that will use its power, not to protect and advance the interests of the capitalists but in the interests of the working and farming masses, A New “‘Hero”’ Maudlin sentimentality has found an oppor- tunity for expression in the welcome accorded Lieutenant Griffis—the would-be kidnaper of Grover Cleveland Bergdoll. / The whimperings of this formerly doughty and self-appointed avenger of America’s honor have cluttered up the pages of the capitalist press ever since his appeal for aid was broad- casted. He and*some others of the American mili- tary caste violated just about all the laws that Germany has in the endeavor to capture and bring back for punishment a young man whose only crime was evasion of military service in a war that even children now know was a crime against humanity. Lieutenant Griffis seems to have reasoned that so cowardly a person as Bergdoll would be easy to handle, but Bergdoll’s pacifism ap- parently is confined only to imperialist military adventures, as he killed one of his attackers and wounded another. -and| We. have little sympathy for pacifists and none at all for Bergdoll, but Griffis and his comnanions, the type of misitarist that is ter- rorizing the workers in Italy, Greece, Spain and ony a short while ago composed the black and ‘Tans in lreiand, are deserving of nothing ‘but contempt. No sooner was Griffis sentenced than he whined like a spoiled child—which is what he is. Lionized on his return, the demonstration in New York is ample proof that the ruling- class of America and its dupes look upon this country as a sort of international bully, who needs to pay no attention to the laws of any country, not even its own. ‘ It is little wonder that Europeans of all classes look upon Americans as uncouth sav- ages when a Griffis gets the front page and a Steinmetz a meager obituary notice. The Negro Assembly Desire for unity of action for all Negro or- ganizations, an intense interest in all labor problems and a very evident desire to co- operate to the fullest extent possible with labor organizations of white workers are the out- standing characteristics of the All-Race Assem- bly, which began Wabash avenue and 38th street. Some idea of the scope of the assembly agenda is given by the following impressive list of questions to be discussed: Labor, Educa- tion, the Negro Press, the African-American’s Relation to Worldwide Race Movements, Fra- ternal and Benevolent Organizations of the Race, Religion, Inter-Racial Co-operation, Agi- tation Against Lynching, Segregation, Dis- franchisement, and Peonage. It is no tribute to American civilization that the lynching question will occupy a large part of the assembly’s time. . Of all committees appointed by the assembly the most important is the Committee on Labor. This body will have to consider the all-im- portant issues raised by the entry of more than a million southern Negroes into industry dur- ing the last few years and upon the satisfac- tory solution of this problem depends much of the success of the movement for racial eman- cipation, The future of the 12,000,000 Negroes in America, most of them wage-earners and de- pendents of wage-earners, is indissolubly linked with that of the white workers and those who have the interests of the American labor movement at heart will await with inter- est the program which the committee on labor will propose for the endorsement of the as- sembly and the action of the assembly upon it. The political and oil activities of Coolidge and McAdoo have made it proper to refer to them as the two leasing candidates. furnished by President Coolidge of the dicta: its session yesterday, at | THE AMERICAN TUT-ANKH-AMEN | ‘D in YP? ay ) 4 an! \ When Comrade Lenin Spoke By CHARLES ASHLEIGH. (This impression of Lenin’s last speech is written by the English poet and journalist, who served two and a half years’ imprison- ment in Leavenworth Penitentiary, for I. W. W. activity, and was de- ported to England.) L; was during the Fourth World Congress of the Communist In- ternational, Ms The Congress was held in the Nikolaevsky Palace—the Moscow res- idence of the Czars—in the Kremlin. It is a huge place, with great halls and corridors, with something of grandeur about them despite the glaring vulgarity of their marble, gilt and mirrored decorations. We knew that Lenin was to speak at the Congress, and that the time for his address was nearing. We knew, too, all of us, that Vladimir llyitch’s health was none too good. In the corridor outside the Con- gress rooms, and in the great hall— where once Court Levees were held— where we used te promenade between sessions, the question wag continually being asked, “When is Lenin going We stood, all of us, and we cheered, in jheaven knows how many lan- guages; and we sang the “Interna- tionale,” and then cheered again. It was a perfectly spontaneous tribute from this World Congress of season- ed revolutionists to that man, with the keen humorous eyes, who stood quietly, absolutely without pose, wait- ing for us to finish. ' ‘Then he spoke. He was dealing with the question of the New Eco- nomic Policy. But, instead of going into its many details, as he intended, he could only speak to us for a couple of hours. His health would not per- mit the great effort he had wished to make. * Lenin’s manner was not oratorical. He spoke in a conversational tone, rather as tho he were endeavoring to convince an intelligent opponent in a discussion, He was perfectly dis- tinct; his voice carried, apparently eae Hehehe be the farthest corners 0 @ long and accousticall anes hall. pha le had none of the flamboyant ges- tures of the platform. oe he ed Proached a crucial point in his ar- gument, he would make a sort ot little lunge forward. His right hand to speak?” In all. languages we!moved constantly in short, incisive, could hear it as we surged up and down the hall, taking our brief ex- | firming. ercise. Big blond Scandinavians, ani- mated Italians, loose-gaited cans, Englishmen—looking intensely crisp gestures, emphasizing, con- It was the tremendous earnestness Ameri-|and mastery of the man which im- pressed one. Thru his coolness, the and rather se‘f-consciously English | unstudied carriage, the pleasant voice amid this motly gathering—French- which he went on, reasoning, con- men, Turks, Bulgars and a score of |vincing, was shining, an intense fire other nationalities; revolutionists |and impeccable will. And it was not from every corner of the world, hard-| the fire, the will of an individual; it bitten, class-war veterans from _al-| seemed as tho the aspirations and most every prison in the world, they , determination of a class were in were eager, like simple children, to | Lenin. see and hear Lenin. It was not Guiostty however; it was not t It was as tho he had been it | made the vehicle for the driving wiil lone | of the awakened workers. Thru him ir respect for a man who had con- | spoke Reyolution. tributed so much new thought to revolutionary history; affection. é He had that incommunicable qual- it was also|ity which is genius, had Lenin. He had that which we call greatness, For Lenin was loved; and loved by { But he was a new kind of great man, millions of plain simple people, as|His greatness was rt, not just of well as by revolutionaries. I have/himself, but of a class, the workers; seen old peasant women, in Russian | it was country towns, gathered round the | not bulletin which announeed the state of | people, Lenin’s health, listening to some one reading it aloud to them. And I have seen the tears streaming down the faces of these old women, as they crossed themselves, over and over again, crying, “God help our Vladimir Ilyitch,” “Christ restore him to health | again!” They knew nothing of the theories of Communism, these simple people, but they loved Lenin, and trusted him. They loved him as one part of the revolution. He did “give” his greatness to the as did the great saint, the great humanitarians, for instance. It was not his to give; it was already the people’s. He was an organic expression of the revolutionary work- ing class; and he knew it, down to the deepest places of his conscious- ness, and acted instinctively always according to this knowledge. His form of greatness could never have existed in a previous historical per- iod. He was the product of the mod- ern proletariat, the mass become conscious. He was the Mass Man. Comrade Lenin had finished. He was tired, you could see that. As he turned away from the tribune, the doctor and nurse came anxiously for- ward; and jhe left, rather slowly, leaning on an arm. And there were some.around me, who had noted this, who were sob- bing. They were men who had been imprisoned and tortured by the master class, and who, dry-eyed and grim had defied their captives. Yet now they we; After years of exile, of poverty, 6f austere/devotion to the cause; and after the five long years of struggle, when Socialist Russia was combating, with every sinew, the enemies within and without; and now, when more light began to shine on the way, now when the roads be- came easier, our Comrade Lenin was ill. We feared he might not see the glorious New Russia, which was now beginning to be built up. Those faithful, fearless eyes had seen the dawn, but they were not to see the full and beautiful effulgence of the day. Our soldier was tired, and his old wounds were bleeding, and he was not to hear the happy songs of chil- dren, crowning his victory, in a new world. We took Lenin to our hearts’ that day—our comrade, loya! and unspar- ing of himself, who had so well fought the fight of our class. And we walked from the Congress Hall, re-consecrated, strengthened and steeled to carry on the work he loved so well, hoping only that we, too, might be fortunate enough to have the chance of giving all our strength, all our blood to the struggle which would one day, make the old earth blossom with a new and radiant life, Loggers Walk Streets as Bosses Luxuriously Winter in Sunny South aaBY, SYDNEY WARREN, respondent of VANCOUVER, B.C. Feb 1 jacks are walking the streets The Federated Press) h J : 2.—While hundreds of lumber- of Vancouver waiting for the of themselves, with a sort of broth-| Camps to open for the spring and drawing up their belts a erly familiarity, entirely untouched | notch each day, the lumber bosses are wintering in California and looking forward to another boom year in the industry. by all. And so we waited to hear this man who had our respect and our love, I remember that I was in the bureau that day, in the great hall of palace where scores of typewriters were clicking out the news of the Congress, in many languages, so that the workers, the world dver, might know what was taking place. Some one came hurrying in. “The Old Man is going to speak!” It was in these famiciar terms that Lenin was affectionately known to us of the English-speaking nationalities. We hurried into the hall. The platform pao. At the long scarlet-covered table of the Presidium sat Zinoviev, Radek, charin, and others, still and intent. ‘y the delegates arose. A stocky man had walked riskly onto the platform, Ye kad walked brisk E The first nine months’ export lumber shipments by. mills belonging to the B. C. Lumbér and Shingle Manufacturers’ As-|luti sociation exceeded the whole export shipment of 1922 by over 34,000,000 feet board measure. The lumber ship- ments from this port to Japan alone have increased during the past three years as follows: 19%1, 52,000,000 board feet; |), 1922, 72,000,000, and for the first nine months of 1923, 54,- 000,000. ‘ vee Fe tat ae et pe cel some ‘est apanese ‘which will in all probability orders ‘ pote beige i St that it is now admitted that the 1923 total scale will exceed that of 1922 when, raagonn| to the government’s figure the total of logs scaled was 1,899,158,273 board feet, The value of lumber products for last year is estimated at nearly $81,000,000, In contrast be these Bk thay there ke} en no increase the wages paid to loggers. Sawmill workers thru- out the province are paid an average wage of from 80 cents to 35 cents hour for a nine-hour day and in some laces ten hours are worked, In the logging camps where the 5) uy and pi work system has been in force most the oe % output has ) accomplished ut a fractiona Seor in the number of men em- The Parisian emigre gives Lenin eredit for much honesty but diag- a AS WE SEE IT By T. J. O’FLAHERTY. “HE rabbis have declared for a five-day week for labor, not seems because they are very muci¥). concerned with the welfare of the je workers but for theological reasons, It hurts the religious sensibilities of the whiskered divines to see the Lord’s Saturday defiled on the Rialtos of America but the greed of the capitalists and the prejudices of the Christians offer no balm to the wounded souls of the Talmudians. The God of the Christians insists on being honored by idleness on Sunday —capitalism and other circumstances permitting—but his double, Jehovah, hag selected Saturday. The division in the ranks of the followers of Jehovah and God was the cause of much shedding of blood in ancient times but in these days of civilization religious folk take it out in cursing and prayer rather than in military combat, ** ® The rabbis are peaceful people and they have leatcak: the manly art compromise. Instead of raising’ fund of several millions of dollars shift the legal Lord’s day from Sur day to Saturday and thus bring joy to the troubled countenance of Jeho- vah they offer a compromise of a five-day week. Let the Gods be pro- pitiated! Give the workers a five- day week. We join in a united front with the rabbis. Let us have. more Gods, that stand for progress, -_e ® One of our readers of this paper resolved on the 13th day of January, 1924, never again to purchase a copy of the capitalist press so long as he found instruction, information and consolation in the columns of The DAILY WORKER. But alas, many a good resolution dies in its cradle and before our comrade had time to recover from the effects of the capi- talist dope to which he was addicted for years he was tempted on the corner of Madison and Clark by a journalistic harlot in the form of the Daily News. Like a reformed in- ebriate on his good behavior who suc- cumbs to the urging of a friend to “take just one little nip’ but never- theless tries to hide his shame from the public our comrade sneaked over to the news stand and purchased a copy of the reptile press. ** @ He was duly punished for his sin. In the privacy of his attic chambe: he turned over the pages of the Dail; News and read in succession a report of a lecture delivered by Pitirim A. Sorokine, formerly of Petrograd, and an article by one Gregor A. Alex- insky, now in Paris. In atonement for his sin he sent the clippings to THE DAILY WORKER so that we could apply the rod of castigation to the political hides of the Russian perverts above mentioned. j ce 8 Sas Dr. Sorokine predicts the rise of Russian democracy and the downfall of Communism. He pictured a state of lawlessness in Russia that can be compared only with that of Chicago cr the average American city. All the “real scholars” of Russia have either committed suicide or were banished. We are sorry Dr. Sorokine was banished. Lenin, he says, was the only real Russian among the Bot- sheviki; all the others are consid- ered foreigners. And. so on. Sovigt downfall sure to come, ete. course the Dr. is not as big a fool he is liar and-does not believe a wor’ of this but an ex-boot'icker to the Czar who is now compelled to shine shoes or clean cusvidors in an Amer- ican hotel for a living likes to make a little easy money once in a while by tickling the ears of the American capitalists who frequent the City Cubs and Rotary Clubs and other Babbit institutions where such lec- tures are welcome. Lenin’s death furnished the occasion for another deluge of filth from these counter- revolutionary sewer-rats, ** & noses his illness as insanity, His main ambition was to slaughter His foes. So intent was he on glutting his desire for gore that he once made the declaration, according to this disciple of Ananias, “We mu shoot our enemies on fhe spot without counting thwn; without makin Fvvently he did no ceed. Alexinaky winds up hi? x umn and a half of fiction with the wish, “Now the sick man is no more. The razor has fallen from his hand. And the friends of Russia are asking | if the time jhas not come for them || to act to prevent some other from recovering this terrible instrument of destruction and death.” Alexinsky and, hig fellow panhandlers will stay in Paris rather than face the ven- weance of the Russian workers they have betrayed. The death of Lenin brings them no consolation. The Communist Party of Russia remains and wel pga hw Sours eaten: | ary who attempts to craw! back and undo the work of the revo- jon, arrest.” _* «* Lenin’s death was not the 1 for a counter-revolution as it hi have been he died a few years On the contrary it was the | for the recognition of the Sov- jet Republic by the powerful British, Empire and by Italy, action soon)try) be followed by other important . These are dark day; stool pigeons of e Our Advertisers help make this Paper possible. Patron- ize our Advertisers and tell you saw their Ad in The Daily Worker, _