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Tuesday, March 4, 1924 THE DAILY WORKER Page Three VETERANS GRAFT QUIZ BRINGS NEW THRILLS Gives Teapot Dome Close Run When the special grand jury in- vestigating charges of graft in the connection with the expenditure of large sums of money by the Veterans’ Bureau indicted former Director Col. Charles R, Forbes, Harding’s favor- ite appointee, brought in an indict- ment of that official and of J. W. Thompson, millionaire builder for accepting and giving a bribe, the cur- tain was raised on what promises to be one of the snappiest exhibitions of robbery ever staged in this coun- try to a capacity audience, _ The crooks are now getting so ex- cited that there is no longer any talk of honoring “gentlemen’s agree- ments” to hang together. It is now “every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost.” Col, Forbes knows that he is in bad shape but in his desperation he is willing to drag others down with him, ‘ad the Teapot Dome not been be- fore the public. the scandal in the Veterans’ Bureau alone would be more than enough to wreck the Re- publican administration. The worst of it is as far as the eapitalist par- ties are concerned that every scan- dal appears to be shared equally by both Democrats and Republicans, President Harding’s sister will ‘come to the defense of Col, Forbes, it is reported. People are now ask- ing if the relations between Forbes and the late president were not more than friendly. Two Congressmen Involved. Two congressmen are involved in the graft of the Veterans’ Bureau. Who are they? Others high up in government circles shared in the loot that was supposed to take care of the wounded veterans. Will Calvin Coolidge be as silent about these “high government officials” as he has been about those involved in the Tea- pot Dome scandal? The Boston Post declares that the revelations of Teapot Dome and Vet- erans’ Bureau scandals are not near so fruitful a soil fh radical propa- ganda as the activities of millionaires whose illicit love affairs with women of the underworld are causing the working class to lose confidence in the masters. The Post thinks the sex angle is the most important. Even that is not lacking in the Vet- erans’ Bureau scandal. In fact the story might not have been told but for the attentions paid by the gal- lant hand shaker and shoulder slap- per Mr. Forbes to the wife of M Mortimer, his associate in the looting. Mortimer resented the attentions, and the expose followed... ‘ Forbes claims that other crooks higher up than himself in govern- ment circles framed him. “I know the exact day the plot was laid and the individual who directed the frameup. He is a high individual unofficially connected with the. gov- ernment.” Accuses Sawyer. This individual may be Brigadier General Charles E. Sawyer, physician to the late president. Forbes charged that Sawyer had more to do with the prevention of the proper ad- ministration of the Bureau funds than any other individual. Referring to the freedom from ar- rest of Elias 2, Mortimer, Col. Forbes states: “Why has he been at large on bail nearly a year, under an indictment for conspiracy to violate the prohi- bition law, returned in the United States District Court in New York, with no action taken in the case since he gave bond June 3, 1928, Col. Tom Felder, Daugherty’s associate in the Morse pardon case, appearing as his counsel? “Why has not the Department of Justice taken action against him and certain officials for conspiracy to vio- late the liquor laws, based on docu- mentary evidence furnished by me to the Department of Justice eighteen months ago, the discovery of which was the first intimation I had of Mortimer’s real character?” The grand jury report will turned over to President Coolidge. Harry M. Daugherty hinted that the disclosures in the Veterans’ scandal may provide him with a club to use over his enemies. But it is signifi- cant that the jury reported, “Money ‘was accepted by certain individuals for the purpose of obtaining clem- ency from prisoners thru their inti- hoe ne officials.” ‘ rv weds soy to refer to charges by Senator Wheeler that Daugherty’s Jesse Smith, sold Federal par- dons in Washington up to the time of his suicide last year. Meanwhile reacti congress- men are bewailing the that the workers are losing confidence in the government. opment Poisin Liquor Brings Suit. TAYLORVILLE, Ill, March 3.— Suits for $50,000 damages have been in here against John Tokoly, pro} of a Pana soft drink parlor, Mrs. Lucy Bald- win, wi husband died from the effects liquor said to have been sed in the defendant’s ‘effort to unite the trade unions which be | with Garment Workers! Tell Your Story The DAILY WORKER invites the striking garment workers in the city of Chicago to use its columns i in bringing their working conditions to the attention of our readers and the workers in other industries. Thousands of dressmakers are on strike, The bosses say their employes receive high wages and that the stri! ke is caused by agitators. Write in and tell us how long you work and how much you get for your work when you do work. Here is a letter from a “home worker”: The DAILY WORKER: * I was * working for Samuel Goldstein, 1384 * Milwaukee Avenue, doing “homework” and I still had work unfinished on Wednesday last when I read in the DAILY WORKER that a general strike in the dress industry was declared and that the dressmakers of the North West side would meet in Schoenhoffen Hall that morning. I went to the hall and asked the comrades what I should do, not finished beading a dress so they I had told me I had better fetch it back to the shop and when I did the boss told me if I join the strike that I will never get any more work from them. He said I was a rebel. Now I want to tell you about the wages we are receiving. It takes twenty-five hours to bead a dress for which I receive $3.50, Other dresses are paid for in proportion. matter. this.—R. P., Chicago. FRENCH PARTY'S CONGRESS SHOWS RISING STRENGTH! United Front Offered to Socialists (Special to The Daily Worker) The Congress of the French Com- munist Party just held ¢t Lyon showed a strong closely knit party, purified of its opportunist and re- formist elements, with a growing membership, with close contact es- tablished between itself and the Ger- man workers. The party's record is Now is the time to discuss this I think some more of the Home Workers will bear me out in Flat Janitors Get Stay of Sentence Despite Crowe Lies The nine men convicted with W. F. Quesse, of the Chicago Flat Janitors’ Union, for conspiracy were granted a stay of sentence by the Illinois supreme court yesterday. The stay will be effective until the United States supreme courtrules on a mo- tion for a writ of certiorari made by Quesse and the other defendants. On Feb, 6 the state supreme court refused to grant the men a new trial and\they were ordered to prepare to go to prison. The defendants at once took their case to the United States supreme court. The capitalizt press is continyally saying that Quesse and the other men convicted with him were con- one of great accomplishment in the trades unions, with no internal con- flicts or differences with the Com- munist International. At the beginning of the Congress Albert Treint, one of the leaders of the French Communist Party, was shot at as he passed a local of the Anarchist organization at Lyon. Luckily he was not harmed. Urge Workers’ Bloc. The Congress decided to call upon the Socialists to enter into a united front with the Communist Party in the coming elections with the lower middle class against the National bloc. The Communist Party would form the united front with the So- cialist Party: only on the condition that the Socialists renounce all col- laboration with the middle class. In- stead of the “Left Bloc” of the So- cialist-Middle Class elements, it is proposed to form the Block of Work- ers and Farmers, « It was.decided to .put.forth, every are now split. The Party is also to start immediately to reorganize on a shop nuclei basis. Clasp German’s Hand. On the question of the Ruhr occu- pation, the Congress proclaimed the utter incapacity of the capitalist gov- ernment of France to solve any of the international questions, and pointed out that only the common ac- tion of the French and German work- ers against their governments can bring about a solution, | The Communist Party of France, the Congress has shown, is constant- ly advancing, and will soon become | strong enough as a_ revolutionary | party to bring about the downfall of the Rad capitalist government. Charged Australia for | Keeping Junk; They | Must Now Destroy (By The Federated Press) MELBOURNE, Australia, March 3. —tThe Australian government has or- dered the breaking up of the subma-' rines donated to it by the British government at the close of the world war. The submarines were obsolete at the time they were donated. The Australian taxpayers have been saddled with the cost of their upkeep, and are now to be saddled cost of their destruction. In- cidentally, Britain is saved that cost. Under the terms of the Washing- ton treaty, Australia is now dismant- ling her largest battleship—the “Aus- tralia.” Protests have been made by the jingoes. Coal Miners of New ‘South Wales Take Action for Big Union (By The Federated Press) SYDNEY, New South Wales.— Representatives of all unions con- nected with the coal mining industry miners, engine drivers, firemen, en- ahd blacksmiths, carpenters, yers—held a conference at Sydney to bring the various unions into one organization as an an tig part of the mining secti: of the One Big Union, Prelimina: difficulties were overcome, and a fur- ther conference will be held in a few time to draft a new consti- tution and rules, IMPEACH COOLIDGE! Workers Party Throng Will Make — Teapot Bubble at Cooper Union oid. a sescatte, milan. matting a qreehe Waren’ penn Workers Party where nationally known speakers will part and Democratic parties took and are taking in the Teapot Grenier ter bi will March at Cooper “about the the victed for extortion. This is not true. They were indicted and tried on nine counts. The jury dismissed eight of the counts and convicted them on one count. The count on which they were convicted charged conspiracy. All the counts charging bribery and extortion were dismissed by the jury. Robert T. Crowe, states attorney, has been chiffly . instru- mental in spreading the lie that the men were convicted of extortion. Convicted with Quesse and linked with him in subsequent litigation are Eugene Fosdick, John D. Sullivan, Claude F. Peters, Robert Osterberg, Frank MeWaters, George Waters, John Mattis, Peter Lagy and Gus Anderson. House Committee Goes On Record Today For Philippine Freedom (Special to The Daily Worker) WASHINGTON, March 3.—The house insular affairs committee de- cided today to report a bill providing for Philippine independence. The Philippine press bureau made public a cablegram from Manila stating that the Filipinos were boy- cotting American goods and Ameri- can papers owing to the suspension lof Ben F. Wright, insular auditor of the one million peso independence fund. Wright is said to have the backing of the American press and American business, The Philippine nationalists replied to the suppression of their fund by launching a nation-wide campaign for voluntary subscriptions which | promises to soon pass the two mil- lion mark, Herrin Grand Jury Called For Probe of Klan Shootings (Special to The Daily Worker) HERRIN, Ill, March 3.—A special grand jury is being sworn in to investigate and bring indictments for the shootings that have taken place in Herrim since the Ku Klux Klan disturbances began. 4 Membership in ¢he Klan ‘or the Knights of the Flaming Circle a the only reasons outside of sickness sufficient to bar jurors from service, City Judge Bowen declared in his instructions. The shooting of Dep- uty Sheriff John Layman, an anti- klansman; Constable Caesar Cagle, a pro-klansman, and the attack by klansmen on the hospital are among the things which will be probed. Yellow Socialists of Pennsylvania Defeat Lenin Condolence Vote HARRISBURG, Pa., March 3rd.— The state convention of the Socialist party of Pennsylvania today by a vote of two to one defeated a mo- tion to send condolences to the Rus- craft |sian workers and government on the Pe of is neo Fae Bed pledge e party’s, effo: ing pres- aR OG gah. hors overnment for me ition of Soviet Homie, 1 ide This places a section of the Social- ist party on record in one of the most Cig de 7 acts that the contempti- ble 8. P. has ever been guilty of. -eemntemenneinnamiiomtaat Belgian Socialists Beg King Albert to Let Them Take Office BRUSSELS, March 8.—The social- ists of in conjunction with ‘the Flemish ar are trying to per. seid, Hing Albert, nme Gen in to the socialists and the cable tickets to} group. They have a complete - met ready to submit to the king. \ LORE, NEARING, TRACHTENBERG, SPEAK IN BOSTON Good March Schedule by Workers Party (Special to The Daily Worker) BOSTON, Mass., March 3,—Lud- wig Lore, Scott Nearing and Alexan- der Trachtenberg will be among the speakers appearing at mass meetings here this month, Robert Zelms, secre- tary of Boston local of the Workers Party announces, The first big meeting at Scenic Auditorium next Sunday, will be a rotest against the Davis laws and is called by the Boston council for the protection of foreign born we@k- ers. Lore will speak. Admission is free. Moscow Art Film March 11. The next important affair comes Tuesday, March 11, at 2:30 and 8:15 p. m. when “Polikushka,” the Mos- cow t Players’ film, will be pre- sented at Symphony Hall, in behalf of German relief, Tickets are 85 and 55 cents. The Young Workers League will hold its Second Annual Dance Fri- day evening, March 14, at Scenic Auditorium. Admission 55 cents. Friday, March 21 at 8 p. m. Alexander Trachtenberg, who was one of the delegates of the Workers Party at the Fourth Congress of the Communist International and who spent an entire year’in Russia and other countries of Europe studying the revolutionary movement, will speak on “The International Com- munist Movement,” at Paine Me- morial Hall, 9 Appleton St., Friday, March 21 at 8 p. m. Admission 25 cents. Nearing Speaks March 25, The Labor Defense Council, with Scott Nearing speaking, holds a mass meeting at Paine Memorial Hall, 9 Appleton street, Tuesday, March 25 at 8 p.m, Admission 19 cents. Saturday, April 26 at 7:30 p. m. an International Concert will be given by the City Central Committee of ‘Local Boston, at Dudley street opera house, 113 Dudley street, Roxbury, Mass. Admission 50 cents. Booze-Backers Form Bloc to Put Over Rum Amendment WASHINGTON, March 3rd.—The “beer bloc” now being formed in the House, expects to get a 2.75 per cent beer law thru the next congress. As the first step towards this goal, each member of the “bloc”, which it is claimed, now numbers: 60, will in- troduce a beer bill in the House this weekw Manat in No claims are being made of vic- tory in the present congress, altho Representative John Maryland, organizer of the bloc, said today favorable reaction thruout the country has followed formation of the bloc. The sixty beer bills will be identi- cal, They will provide for legislation of the manufacture and sale of 2.75 per cent beer, cider and fruit juices. The new movement comes as the result of many conferences of the wets at Hill’s Washington home. Un- der the present plan, with each wet sponsoring a beer bill of his own, he is actively working for the “cause.” | The wet leaders believe they have | thy owners. selected the psychological time to Sen the movement. Shooting of nator Greene of Vermont during a fight between dry agents and boot- leggers has resulted in a strong re- action in Congress against prohibition enforcement. German Police Aid Fascisti in Assault on Communist Workers BERLIN, March 3.—Two hundred Communists, including two deputies, were arrested at Jena when they clashed with a Fascisti mob. The Jena police, reinforced by men from) other towns, used their weapons ifi- discriminately on the Communists. Attempt to Assassinate Zogul. ROME, March 3.—A fresh attempt has been made to assassinate Pre- mier Zogul, a dispatch from Soutari said today. . . A young student fired six shots at the premier as he was entering the hall of the national assembly, wounding him slightly in the right |and neighbors have never seen arm and left foot, Food Workers Holding Ball. NEW YORK, March 3.—A grand masque and ball will be held Mon- day night, March 10, by the Hotel and Restaurant Workers branch of the Ami ated Food We¥kers at Terrace , 58th St.'and Lex- ington Ave. Ten orchestras will play. ——__——. Big Fire in Lumber Yard. MIN: LIS, Minn., March 8.— More than a million feet of lumber was destroyed by fire in the Malone- Bovey yards here Sunday, The damage was estimated at $90,000, Ole P, Milby, fireman, burned. Courtland S. Dines, ver n, Feng Res A. Greer, chaufreur for Mabel Normand, New Year's , has left his hospital room here aramdee tlds... Canadian Living Costs U, OTTAWA, Ont., March 3.—The re of living in rhe has nics made yorlie by the government, re- was slightly] BY MAIL— Henry Ford, Flivver Maker, Rushes to Aid of Mellon, the Savior of Rich Tax Dodgers By LELAND OLDS (Federated Press Industrial Editor.) Henry Ford shows his solidarity with the multi-millionaire! \Mrs. Dudley Malone clique which dominates the country in an interview with Sam- uel Crowther for Colliers Weekly in which he lends the weight | of his name to the propaganda for Mellon’s help-the-rich tax | reduction scheme. In an ‘argument characterized by misstatement and bad economic reasoning he cleverly appeals to the common man to | support the program on the ground that it will bring lower living costs and higher wages. Ford’s premises, that high taxes add to the cost of living and that the reinvestment of profits makes possible cheaper| | $720,000,000. production and higher wages, are broadly correct. But his idea that Mellon’s plan to reduce the taxes on large incomes is the road to the desirable results and that opponents of this plan favor higher general taxes is un- warranted by the facts, While his conclusion that high surtaxes stand in the way of the reinvestment of Profits is completely refuted by the actual history of the United States Steel corporation, not to mention the development of his own Ford in- dustry, Some Ford Bunk. Ford says: “It is time we start- ed to think of taxes in terms of the cost of living: Any adminis- istration or any set of legislators that adyocate high taxes ought to be run out of office because they are really advocating the high cost of living. We have to pay some taxes but the greater part of what we pay ought to go for productive purposes—for good roads, for schools, for better healf: and all those things which make life easier, But we ought to pay as we go and not attempt to have things we can- not afford to have.” Now Ford should understand that the outstanding burden which the people are carrying as a result of failure to “pay as we go” is the war debt of some $24,000,000,000, If the country had heeded the ad- vice of economists and paid for the war out of current income by much. higher taxes on large incomes the present tax burden would be lower by at least a billion dollars. In- stead the advice of financiers was followed to their enormous profit and ag a result the country is rais- ing each year by taxation a billion dollars to pay the wealthy classes interest on this loan. Those who oppose Mellon’s plan propose that the country ask not lower but higher taxes from the rich in or- der.to retire this debt and get rid of the huge interest burden a&’soon as possible. That sounds like a Philip’ Hill, | more sensible road to lower taxes, doesn’t it? Another Ford Fake. Dealing with the reinvestment of profits in the building up of the Ford industry, Ford says: “If the present income tax had been in force we should have had to pay most of what we earned to the gov- ernment.” This is a plain misstate- ment of fact. The present tax law takes only 12% per cent of a cor- porations net income unless it is paid out in cash- dividends to weal- But Ford continues his argument on the basis of that fal- Jacy. He says: “We did not have to do that and so we were able to put that money into more and more machinery which enabled us not only to bring the price of the car down but also to raise our wages first to a minimum of $5 and then to a minimum of $6 a day.” This is a clever appeal to the man of low wages, but it is en- tirely at variance with the plain facts of industrial history. The de- velopment of the modern plant of the United States Steel corporation did not come from the inves of large personal incomes but from the reinvestment by the corpora‘gon itself of $1,100,000,000 of its undi- vided profits which would not have been touched by the personal income tax or surtax, When the steel cor- poration was organized in 1901 it was overcapitalized by more than That is, its entire common stock and part of its pre- ferred stock represented no real in- vestment at all. As a result the reinvestment of $1,100,000,000 out of surplus profits in new vonstruc- tion has increased the property ac- count by only $306,311,623. Built by Surplus Profits. Similarly the great Ford plants were not built up out of huge per- sonal incomes reinvested but out of surplus profits retained in the indus- try instead of beirfy paid out in dividend checks. The interesting thing is that to the extent that high surtaxes dis- courage the taking of excessive per- sonal incomes out of industry they actually encourage directors to re- invest profits in the improvement and building up of the industry it- self, just the reverse of Ford’s proposition, When it comes to relieving the tax burden of the ordinary man it is universally agreed among careful students of the problem that of all taxes those on unearned incomes are the hardest to pass on to the under dog. Here lies the real rea- son why rich men favor Mellon’s plan. Unskilled Workers Given Wage Raises Thruout Australia (By The Federated Press) MELBOURNE, Australia, March 3.—Increased rates of pay have been granted to unskilled laborers in the building trade, by the federal arbt- tration court. “All such workers thruout Australia are affected. In New South Wales the casual rate has been increased from 51 1-2 cents to 55 1-2 cents an hour, ana the rate for continuous workers from 41 1-2 cents to 44 1-2 cents an hour, South Australian casual rates ave been ingreased by 4 cents to 3 1-2 cents and continuous rates by cents to 48 cents; Victorian casual rates by 5 1-2 cents to 57 cents and continuous rates by 3 cents to 46 cents; Tasmanian casual rates have been increased by 4 cents to 55 1-2 cents, and continuous rates by 3 cents to 44 1-2 cents an hour. Simi- lar increases have been made in Western Australia and Queensland. Fall Certainly Was Good to His Oily Pals When in Office (By The Federated Press) WASHINGTON, March 3.—Ship- ping board records reveal that for- mer Secretary Fall cancelled the con- tract between the Shipping Board and the interior department, on the one hand, and the Midwest Refining Co. on the other, whereby the board secured its oil fuel at 75 cents a barrel. Then he had a new contract made with Sinclair’s Mammoth Oil Corporation, at about $1.60. The loss for one year was $10,900,000, at the present rate of consumption of oil by the government fleet. ‘48-HOUR WEEK OPPOSED BY BOSS'S LOBBYIST Wants Non-Sex Laws (By The Federated Press) ALBANY, N. Y., March 3—A heated debate ensued before the New York state senate and assembly com- mittees here, when bills proposing 4 48-hour week and the establishment of a minimum wage commission were discussed, The. bills apply only to women aad minors. Three divergent attitudes emerged during the argument in the assembly chamber. Intransiggnt opposition to the bills was expressed by the employers’ re- presentative, Mark A. Daly, It wil! be remembered that Daly’s role as the paid lobbyist of the Associated Industries was exposed recently dur- ing the bosses’ unsuccessful attack upon State Labor Commissioner Snientag. On that occasion, it was shown that the Associated Industries have been expending immense sums to maintain a lobby, devoted to sabo- taging every measure of social or economic progress. In the present hearing, the employers’ spokesman again stood for the factory owners’ prefits as against a living wage and decent working hours. Mrs. Dudley Field Malone, Na- tional Woman’s party, an opponent of the bills—for very different rea- sons—declated that she would vigor- ously indorse them, if the contem- plated laws were applicable to men as well as women and minors. “Legislation fixing hours of labor,” asserted Mrs. Malone, “should be on a non-sex basis. It is gallant enough of the legislature to offer womer special privileges, but we are con- vinced that in the end it will do the women more harm than good.” Others who identified themselves with this opinion stated that the pas- sage ‘of the bills would mean whole- sale dismissals of women from fact- ories, since men would be retained te perform a greater quantity of work during the same hours, or by oyver- time. Sponsors of the bills included re presentatives of the State Federation of Labor, the Consumers’ league, the Women’s Trade Union league and other labor groups. Their policy in advocating the measures was gener- ally that half a loaf is better than no bread at all. Governor Smith had already recommended the bills in his annual message, and the Democratic senate has lent them approval. In 1923, both the minimum wage commission and 48-hour: week bills were defeated, but it is considered that the latter- stand fatr-chz being passed this year. IMPEACH COOLIDGE! — Sentence Three to Die. NEW YORK; March 3.—Morris and Joseph Diamond, John Farina and Anthony Pantano were sen- tenced today by Justice Cropsey in the Brooklyn supreme court to die in the electric chair in Sing Sing during the week of April 7, for the murder of two west end messengers November last. Court Hits I. C. C. Order. WASHINGTON, March 3.—The order of the I. C. C. authorizing the New York Central to purchase the Chicago River and Indiana Railroad and permitting the latter to lease the Chicago Junction Railroad, was re- versed by the supreme court today. IMPEACH COOLIDGE! Smith Still Candidate. SPRINGFIELD, Ill, March 3.— Governor Al Smith of New York still is a Democratic candidate for presi- dent in the [Xnois primary of April 8th, despite reports from New York that he does ‘not want to run. IMAGINE BEING WITHOUT THE DAILY WORKER! Not a very pleasant thought. But many of your friends, shopmates some of them have such funny notions. 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