The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 27, 1924, Page 6

/ f THE DAILY »OkKER ‘THE DAILY WORKER. Published by the DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO., 1640 N. Halsted St., Chicago, Ill. (Phone: Lincoln 7680.) SUBSCRIPTION RATES By mail: 3.00 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. .8 months 8 LS SRA EELS SDRTENT ESTE, ONS a Re ET Address all mail and make out checks to . THE DAILY WORKER 1640 N. Halsted Street J. LOUIS ENGDAHL ; WILLIAM F. DUNNE | jeans MORITZ J. LOEB Business Manager Entered as second-class mail Sept. 21, 1928 at the Post- Office at Chicago, Ill., under the act \of: March 8, 1879. bi alates nA ced eck ite ls a2 ithct Bie = Chicago, Illinois Advertising rates on application. Teapot Dome and Gompers The Teapot Dome scandal is.the topic of discussion in every. city and hamlet in the United States. Farmers lean across the fences and cite the latest revelation to their neigh- bors; wage-earners on their way to: and from work and during lunch hour in the shop talk of little else. In other nations the scandal that has ripped American political life wide open is of major importance and its effect on the coming presidential campaign is made the sub- ject.of comment by scores of writers. The headquarters of the American Feder- ation of Labor in.Washington is silent as the tomb. Not a single official pronouncement on the. most important national event since the declaration of war in 1917 has been issued for the guidance of the organized workers, no word has been uttered or written that would give the membership any idea that the shat- tering of political reputations and the panic in the ranks of the capitalist parties is anything out. of the ordinary. Surely this is a remarkable circumstance and one that should occasion serious thought on the part of organized workers. Here is an administration that broke the shopmen’s strike by mobilizing the full power of the gov- ernment against it; involved in the scandal is the attorney-general, who secured the is- suance of a nation-wide injunction that made the strike illegal and who used the bureau of investigation with its thousands of employes to frame evidence against the strikers, yet no word of condemnation has passed the lips of Samuel Gompers. On the other hand, the acknowledged lead- er of the democrat party and a candidate for the presidency has publicly told that in re- turn for.a fee he attempted to prevent the recognition of the republic of Mexico until it had come to terms with his oil company em- ployers. « The American Federation of Labor was in favor of the recognition of Mexico at the time = “these attempts were made—successful “at-|' tempts, by the way—but no condemnation of these nefarious acts has been made by Samuel Gompers. Here, then, is a situation in which both par- ties of American capitalism have furnished indisputable evidence of opposition to the most ordinary demands of labor—political and eco- nomic. He who runs may read but Samuel Gompers is as silent as the sphinx. There are times, and this is one of them, when to remain silent is to condone great abuses; Samuel Gompers must know that here. is an opportunity for onganized labor that may come but once in a life time, an op- portunity to hold the enemies of labor in both capitalist parties up to public scorn, to strengthen immensely the position of organ- ized labor. He will do nothing, as usual, except to cast around for some “friend” in ‘oné or the other of the capitalist parties to whom labor sup- port can be thrown. He is opposed to inde- pendent working class political action and he prefers to continue the policy of trading and truckling for petty favors rather than boldly explore the vast fertile spaces in which a political party can grow like the green tree. The comment in the official labor press on the Teapot Dome scandal differs not at all from that in the capitalist press. Both regret the impetus it has given to radical criticism of the government and both deplore: the blight upon the fair name of America. Here is the key to the Gompers position. He does not want the people to lose faith in “their” government and far from welcoming the scandal as revealing the inner corruption of capitalist rule he worries over it because it confirms the statements made by the Com- munists whom he fears. Only individuals like Fall for whom no one has a good word will incur the Gompersian displeasure—no criti- cism of the government as the instrument of oppression will fall from his lips. « Truly the American labor movement is well ‘led—for the capitalists. Military Prisoners" Since the release from a German prison of the American Legion thug who tried to kidnap Grover Cleveland Bergdoll, the draft evader, a movement has sprung up here in Chicago to bring about the release of those victims of mili- tarism who are serving terms of imprisonment _ in Leavenworth federal prison from a few years ‘to life. Far be it from us to favor the incarceration of these unfortunate victims of capitalism who were seduced into the service of their masters and for a slight infraction of the rules perhaps, or in some cases for a serious crime, were con- i ed to a life of isolation, but we protest ‘against the hypocrisy of the Chicago Tribune ‘and other organs of the very interests in whose ‘pehalf these hapless creatures shouldered the ‘a , i \ ay 8 Handing it to the Boy Scouts rifle and risked their lives only to be rewarded by a punishment worse than death. The organs of plutocracy regret that con- scientious objectors have been released while those who have worn the uniform have not. Why no voice has been raised in their behalf is incomprehensible to them. The answer is obvious. Those who campaigned to force the government to release the war objectors did so because they were of the opinion that these men were impelled by worthy motives in de- clining to participate in the work of slaughter- ing their fellow workers jn other countries. On the other hand the unfortunate victims of court martial committed the very serious crime of violating military discipline and must be offered on the altar of patriotism as examples to others. The reactionaries who put them in jail are now of the opinion that enough dis- satisfaction already has been created by the refusal to grant the returned soldiers a bonus so they try to win back the good will of the veterans by a belated attempt to secure the release of those serving time for infractions of the military code. Another war will surely come if capitalism is to live for some time. Soldiers will be needed. It would never do to release the conscientious objectors and keep those who wore the uniform in prison even if some of them committed henious crimes. It will not do to completely eliminate the “pay” in patriotism. More Liberal Criticism We pointed out the other day that Norman Thomas, in the press service of the league for industrial democracy, had falsely accused the radicals at the miners’ convention of joining forces with the Klan. _ Mr. Thomas, inthe latest issue of the serv- ice, corrects himself as follows: One of our correspondents writes regard- ing our editorial about the Mine Workers’ Convention (Service No. 5): “The miner radicals did not ally themselves with the Klan. A number of radicals were the only ones that attended the small Klan meeting and asked heckling questions. However, the radicals seemed glad to have the Klan issue come up because it helped put Lewis in a hole no matter which way he jumped.” We are glad to circulate this point of view as we would any other sincerely pre- sented. From this long range it seemed to us that the trouble with the radicals or progressives was that they were more anxious to put Lewis in a hole than to get the miners out of one. And we say this with no love for the spirit and methods re- vealed by President Lewis and his jour- nalistic errand boy, Ellis Searles. Might we point out to Mr. Thomas that the only way yet found to get any group of work- ers out of a hole is to put their misleaders into one? This, of course, is a somewhat different method than the liberal-pacifist one of ap- pealing to the humanitarian sentiments of re- actionary blackguards, but the record to date shows that it is the more effective. It neces- sitates much unpleasantness, however, and makes absolutely impossible any traterniza- tion with the enemy, the one thing that our liberal brethern cannot bear to sacrifice. Radicals make many mistakes; sometimes they make the mistake of thinking a friend | is an enemy, but they never make the habitual liberal mistak2 of mistaking an enemy for a} friend. The class struggle is not fought over the teacups and toasted marshmallows at the Civic club and as far as we are concerned we lean strongly towards the point of view expressed by John S. Clarke: You’ve got to stick a mental pin in this: The warfare of the classes Isn’t honey or molasses, And you'll need a sharper weapon than a kiss. Washington dispatches carry the news that Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt is about to withdraw from political activity and take up some other line of en- deavor on which the white light of publicity does not beat so fiercely. His friends are suggesting, according to one news item, that he “engage in some big con- structive enterprise of a philanthropic na- ture.” The idea is, we are justified in sup-| posing, that charity will/serve to cover up some of the Roosevelt-Sinclair sins. It is also suggested that he become the na- tional head of the Boy Scouts and we rise with alacrity to second the motion. Young Roosevelt is so besmirched with oil that he is undesirable in politics and is there- fore eminently fitted for the post of guardian of the boys who are being taught that George Washington never told a lie, to believe that “Black Jack” Pershing is the finest flower of Americanism. We heard Teddy, Jr., speak once and at that time cudgeled our brains for some role in public life that he could fill and we feel moved to say that the suggestion that he be- come national commander of the Boy Scouts is a stroke of genius. The Scouts need not feel at all embarassed in his presence because he is a child like them- | selves—mentally. If the Teapot Dome scandal does nothing else than reduce the crown prince of the Roosevelt dynasty to the status of a Y. M. C. A. secretary. it will have been worth while. The foisting of a discredited politician upon the youth of the land as a leader in ethics is something we leave for bourgeois moralists to ponder over. ge JOIN THE WORKERS PARTY “Sg 4 i The Destiny of Public * * J * By A. W. LUNACHARSKY. Feo the beginning the Soviet Government was filled with the consciousness that the only real sup- lement. to the conquests of the pro- etariat and the peasants, can be the mastery of science... . It is’ neces- sary that the proletariat forms from out of its ranks a -wide section of various specialists, who will replace the old semi-bourgeois intelligentsia in the ideological and technical -lead- ership: of the political and social life. It_ is ‘also abautniaiss necessary to raise the level of the whole of the people, in the field of ‘general culture as well as in the field of political self-consciousness. Now, on the fifth anniversary of our Revolution, we hear many autho- rative declarations which deal with the relations of the Communist Party to the problems of Public education. Leaders Put Education First. Comrade Bucharin declared at the trial of the S. R.’g that the question whether the new economic policy will end with the victory of Communism or the reappearance of the bourgeoisie depended upon how quickly and te what extent the proletariat can provide its own specialists. Comrade Trotzky at the Youth Congress described the question of the education of the youth as a vital question of the revolution, Comrade Rykov, pointed out at the Trade Union Congress that the third froht, i. e., the cultural front, (the first being the military and the second the economic), was. the most .important. We must divide the history . of public ‘education during the Revolu- tion into two parts: the years 1918 and 1919 were the period: of revolu- tionary enthusiasm; the years 1920, 1921 and 1922 the years of clear reckoning. Our heritage from the first period are: our Declaration, our fundamental ordinances. regarding the Unified Polytechnic Workers’ School, the work of political exposi- tion and its methods, a correct for- mulation’ of general. vocational ed- (the provinces. ucation, the properly formulated methods for the ‘capture of the higher educational» institutions thru. the most intelligent forces of the prole- tartiat. Workers Increased Schools. But these first years of enthusiasm created much more, They created almost out. of nothing a network of tcame 4 institutions for children. be- iow school age which embrace more than 200,000 children. They raised the number of schools in Russia to 60—70,000. They ‘created a whole series of educational institutions in Unfortunately these real successes, which arose uring the severe war, have proved to be unstable or at least for the time be- ing,—untimely.. The desolation: which the war wrought in Russia has also affected public education. All means which remained in the country after the war had to be used to heal those wounded organs of the republic, without whose restoration nothing can live: the heavy industry and transport. Public education can only receive the crumbs. Poverty Handicaps Schools. We have to effect a great reduc- tion in the number of the pre school establishments and a great reduction in ‘the elementary schools; in addi- tion to this, the second grade schools are also in poor condition. ‘In a word: the foundation of the Russian people’s education is in a greatly shaken position. The ideal. Socialist schogl which we had in view, has. not only ‘been retained but in some of the better schools we evensee an exemplary extension of many. of. its main features. For the realization of. this .plan we simply’ and solely lack. the. funds. What else could we expect? The richest countries, America not x- cepted, maintain their schools out of municipal funds and out of. private means, and only a relatively small percentage is defrayed out-of the national treasury, 'In Russia ‘the conditions during the revolution were quite otherwise. :There were no private means available for the main- tenance of the schools, there were no MADE By J. O, BENTALL ‘TH announcement that the Pull- man Co., has increased the wages of its porters an annual total amount of $1,000,000 looks mighty big. You would almost get down on your knees in adoration of that great corporation that has as bloody a his- tory of starvation wages and com- pany tenements as the steel strust it- self if you did not stop to figure out that when divided among the 10,000 porters it amounts to only about $100 a year for each. But let us thank the newspapers for laying stress on the million, It gave us a moment of faith in the good old promise our young school- maams always give us that we may some day become president of the United States or a millionaire or both, Our disappointment at the actual figure is lessened by the thought that the income tax will be smaller and’ that the porters do not have to make | many “uppers” as during the up Th of the porte e ‘average way rs was about $1,200 a year. ie dar dition of another hundred spree be to help some? but no one n that the porters\are in a “yet. bain ano) buy out the co The capitalist press. al LOOK BIG ents the most favorable figure in re- porting the wages of the workers or the increase that the bosses may grant. This same press tells us that the miners get $7.50 per day which looks big to the casual reader. It does not tell you that the miners work less than 200 days in the year and that no work means no pay. It is interesting to watch the capi- talist press and see how consistent it is in always showing the most ad- gantageous angle to the class it repre- sents, _* read the DAILY WORKER? ; Get ne of them to subscribe today, ing the fence. — The palings are made of As a fence, it is a masterpiece, ungry men to play. tho-Rala, ont Tt Passing and ‘Tomorrow. “Si, How cihsip of your shopcbiaites * . Self for’us. iron bars with’ steel out of any man who falls on them. municipal: budgets, and the’ central | material resources rested ‘entirely on the requisitioning of gtain in the village and the printing of bank notes. Educational System. Improves. On the other hand the. results achieved by ‘public’ education are somewhat ‘comforting. Altho the equipment of the, higher institutions has suffered greatly’ thru poverty, energetic measures have~ been re- cently: adopted ‘to raise the standard of living ‘of the teachers." The for- mation of Workers’. Faculties, “i. e., preparatory ‘schools: thru which the most capabl proletarians ‘can pass directly. into. the universities, have almost éntirely won’ the’ sympathy of the students. : The last elections to the Petrograd Soviet and the eléctions to the stu- dents’ councils in: Moscow: proved that the real leaders of the student body are Communists.. We cannot boast that our: universities are in good condition, but we-can.-at least say that they are living. i Support Scientific Centres. _ Up to now. the People’s Commis- sariat for Education has succeeded in supporting the, chief centre of: scien- tific.and artistic life and’ almost en- tirely. to maintain it and to collect great treasures which had been stored up by the Czar’s aristocrats and monasteries, ." The. enormous work in this. field will one day be adequately appreciated. Russian art and science constitutes an. important element of. human culture, in’ the sense of preserving the old’ traditions as well as in the sense “of.the new Se pasa, Education in Soviet Russia discoveries» evoked by the revolution. Taken altogether we may say: all roads. that the ‘revolution has taken are right.. We know what we have to do and how it must be done. The ideal machine must only be set into movement’ by steam power and for this we must.obtain the necessary fuel in the form of material re- sources, The country is for the time being frightfully poor, but a better future awaits it. Therefore we can look with confidence -into the future of the Russian people’s. education. R TWEEDLEDEE __| TWEEDLEDUM OR TWEEDLEDEE The Poor | is soon acrifice him- will get no tich man to sa points ‘that ‘can stab the life will shut off the rabble and all vaga- . looking a 47, 19. emcee see mee, AS WE SEE IT By. T, J, O'FLAHERTY. T! CHICAGO TRIBUNE cannot § understand why those organiza- tions that actively or passively fa- _ vored the release of the class war “\ prisoners and conscientious objectors show no concern for the fate of the soldier convicts who are serving terms of imprisonment for such crimes as rape, murder, sodomy and burglary. It is quite possible that many of those now suffering in the United States prisons are only guilty of trivial offenses agaihst the mili- tary code,;as in the case of the young lad Fischer, mentioned in this column yesterday. But the machin- ery that sent these men to prison is the military arm of the system that represents the Tribune’ and is supported by the Tribune. It is the power with which the capitalist class of which the Tribune is an import- ant unit suppresses the workers who are exploited by that class, 2. + © When the war to “end war” was declared by Woodrow Wilson, agent of the American capitalist class, a small minority among the - workers looked upon that war as a erime [+ against the workers and against hu- manity. Rather than participate ~in such a crime they refused war serv- ice and expressed their opinions on the question. For being true to their ideals they were given long. prison terms by the agents of the political mountebank, Woodrow Wilson, The Chicago Tribune applauded the sen- tences, It never raised a voice for ]| the rciease of those men and women. * 0 @ © It was no uncommon sight dur- ing the war to see soldiers and sail- ors led by members of the bourgeoisie raiding headquarters of workers or- ganizations, destroying their prop- erty and assaulting those found on the premises. The writer witnessed such an event in Boston, Mass., on May 1, 1919, during which women were beaten by young thugs in the uniform of the United States navy. Many of those thugs were afterwards jailed for crimes of various kinds, principally for sex perversion, At the moment they were hailed as he- roes, and got their pictures in the press, the same pictures could be seen in the rogues’ gallery. = eef ef * Radical and progressive organiza- tions exerted themselves to secure the release of those prisoners who were imprisoned for holding political views in opposition to those held by the administration of the moment. *! The prisoners were not criminals. Intellectually and morally they. were of the highest type. They believed the war was a crime. They had the courage then to say what ninety per cent of the people of this coun- try now openly admit. sere The men in whose behalf-the Tribune is exerting so much energy are not in prison because they stood for their convictions. At best th are the victims of a society whic’ breeds criminals. They did not at- tempt to improve their environment. They followed the line of least re- sitance and willingly aided the mas- ter class in perpetuating the sys- tem. Because they, at a critical time violated discipline in their mas- ters’ army they were punished by the servants of the Chicago Trib- une, the democratic and republican administrations. Why does the Tri- bune wail because the radical, pro- gressive, liberal and labor move- ments take little interest in its ef- forts to get a little publicity out of a movement to free its own pimps, rapists, panderers, sodomists and murderers? We suggest that the Tribune simply call on Calvin Cool- idge, unless he is too busy clearing his skirts of the oil bubbles and say, “Cal’, old top. It seems to us that our lads who slipped a little bit have now been sufficiently punished. Af- ter all we may need them again, and a rapist, sodomist or pimp can fight just as valiantly for capitalism as a church deacon. Suppose we turn them loose now.” There is hardly a doubt but ‘Cal’ would call up Sec- retary of War Weeks unless he is: driven out by the fumes from the Teapot Dome investigation and ad- vise him to open the gates of the Leavenworth penitentiary and free the military offenders. Why call on the radical organizations who have no friends in the White House? e+ # ® The Reverend Norman Thomas felt quite uncomfortable while at- tending the St. Louis session of the Cleveland Conference for Rewarding Our Friends and Punishing Our Enemies because of the presence of C. E, Ruthenberg, executive secretary of the Workers Party, In an article in the Nation the progressive divine tells us that the C. P. P. A. shortly before that meeting showed indica- tions of desiring to lay down and die after making a final wiggle by endorsing William Gibbs McAdoo. But one squirt of oil made all sec- tions of tl Conference akin, So- cialists, Democrats and put up a united front against any motion that looked as if it originated in the brain of a communist, Under @\the influence of Liquor people are known have lurched back and forth and show signs of activity, not generally associated with progress, but the unsteady behavior of the » ve inactionists at St. Louis, warmed up Mr. Thomas and even “Socialist. war were a t "Ruthenbere tearing tl from his seat in the gallery had be- legates which was ble fe h Uresresia esoletiony” ae favoring trial i at ae contempt of court cates elimrnation of graft hol, howe tel politics. » We must war ee og Thomas, “