The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 12, 1924, Page 3

Wednesday, March 12, 1924 DEVER'S POLICE ASSAULT STRIKE COMMITTEEMAN Then Crowe’s Men Give Him Third Degree While Mayor Dever was saying that he saw nothing wrong with the police conduct of the strike the thugs who form one of his “flivver squads” un-"and visitors, of violence and foul language. der Officer Charles W. Lodding were inflicting a severe beating on Sol Flack, a member of the strike com- mittee. Flack, absurdly, was charged with “assault with intent to kill,” but the police have not had nerve enough to produce a formal complainant or to say whom he assaulted and Judge Trude threw the case out of court yesterday. Arrested for Nothing. Flack was walking along Market and Jackson streets Sunday on his way from his home to a Loop theatre when he was picked up by the flivver squad, thrown into the car and the beating began. The cold-bloodedness of the affair aroused Isador Tendler, another striker, who asked the police what. they were doing. For answer they threw him into the car also. Tendler says the police beat Flack all the way to the station on La Salle street. The beating continued,at the station. He was held until 8 p. m. The lack of any kind of a case against the strike committeeman was shown by the action the police then took. Flack was allowed to go home on his mere promise to appear again next morning. In Crowe’s Office. ‘Crowe entered the plot Monday: When Flack and Tendler appeared in ‘the police station they were quickly transferred to the state’s attorney's office and given a rough inquisition. The upshot of it was that when the unionists refused to answer the ques- tions-of the strike breaking assistant state’s attorneys they told him that he would “get it.” Flack and Tendler were taken to the So. Clark St. police station, where they were held for several hours. In the meantime the assist- ant state's attorney who had ques- tioned them went berore the grand jury and had them indicted. When Crowe’s servile grand jurors had re- turned the indictment Flack and Ten- dler were charged with assault with intent to kill. They had assaulted no one, The only assault was the one committed on. Flack and it was a brutal one and he still carries the marks of it. The police and the grand jury did not have gall enough to charge them with assaulting anyone in particu- lar, Both were bailed out on $5,000 bonds When if appeared before Judge cone th +g th soviet shat em on the at the police had failed to prove “prob- able, cause,” which means in plain English that they should never have been arrested. Public Ownership Friends Fight Ford’s Muscle Shoals Gift WASHINGTON, March 11.—Gov- ip advocates today raised a barrier across the path the Muscle Shoals bill must travel in the senate before Henry Ford gets eontrol of the great nitrate and power project, The Teh presented yesterday by g a “super- and te all natural resources in the answer of the public ownership to the Fi program for Muscle Shoal: s. ee ee of the new bill, ot ready been an avowed oppone of turnii Muscle Shoals over to Ford. He introduced his public own- ership bill a few hours before the house, by a decisive vote, the bill to give Word a 100- siti & = 3 : - = ey HEE 2 ne : il : 25 gis i ik : ? - Dever Is Guilty, With Crowe, For Police Violence In Garment Strike, Report of Citizen Probers Shows Mayor William E. Dever’s claim that State’s Attorney Robert E. Crowe’s police, not his, are doing all the dirty work on the picket line in the garment strike is torn to tatters by the text of the report which the special Citizens’ Committee made to him. ) ithat the regular uniformed police ‘have been taking orders and have be- come willing tools of the state’s at- torney’s men and that both sets of officers have been obeying the struck employers. A day by day account of brutality and illegality by the police forces is given, with the charges clinched by names and dates in a way that can- mot be evaded. * * The report of the committee of im- partial observers which was read to the mayor follows: Police Serve Bosses. As representatives of Chicago citizenry we are not in a position to take sides with either party in the present disagreement between the I. L. G. W. U. and the various employers’ organizations, and we believe that the persons represent- ing the citizens should be similarly impartial in their enforcement of the law. Unfortunately, the police and detectives have not acted just- ly in the majority of instances, but have used their power to further the interests of the employers as far as possible. A large portion of the workers who are on the street are women, certainly numbering two hundred in the vicinity of Market and Jack- son streets. To insure peace there were present in this same region at one time over 30 uniformed po- State’s Attorney Crowe’s office, and well over 25 private detectives. The lice, 86 plainclothes detectives from following statements as to the be- havior of the agents of the law apply with few exceptions. . Abusive and Violent. They use profane abusive and ob- scene language in the presence of and addressed to women. They threaten strikers violence and arrest.. They violently handle passers by with no provocation and without arresting them. They arrest persons indiscrim- inately on the charge of disorderly conduct and are often ‘unable to state what constituted the disorder- liness. with Crowe Bosses Cops. The uniform officers act largely under orders from the state’s at- torney’s men, and both groups act directly or indirectly under orders @ the struck employers. Of the arrests to date over 200 are to have been made by men from the state’s attorney's office. The following specific instances were observed and accurately re- corded on the spot by members of a group of persons who were pres- ent for the express purpose of se- curing the facts. y suffice to illustrate the above statements. During the period covered by this report these observers saw only three instances of physical violence on the part of the strikers and many violences of which they were the victims. ‘ February, 28—Afternoon. A well known woman, not connected with the strike, was shoved by one of the state’s attorney’s detectives, A uniformed officer at once warned him, “leave her alone. She is the wife of .” Her arm is still, eight days later, sore and dis- vt red where the detective grabbed it. More Weiss Arrests. March 1—8:30 a. m. A group of girls were arrested in front of Arthur Weiss & Co., charged with stopping pedestrians, Four ob- servers on the spot for thirty min- utes did not see anyone sage March 3—7:65 a. m, arket St., between incy and Adams. An officer south turned from his path and as he passed severely jostled two girls walking by The action was unquestion- al deliberate. ir, Thomas Holland, one of our group, makes the following state- ment which is substantiated by with whom he was convers- Holland’s Story. “T was walking down Adams street accompanied by an observer and a striker whom I was ques- tioning. Near Market street we met two girls of our group and stopped to speak with them. We had paused for a very short time when a man in clvilian clothes, irked by his for roughness, but said nothing and was about to move along when he roughly took my arm saying, “Yoh are under ar- rest.” is was shortly after five o'clock, The officer took me into the corridor of the Arthur Weiss & Co., where a group of arrested ‘ls were being held and there showed me his star and e. Officer No. 338 who r, shoved me ze z ca ees z H agi; if the girls held in the Weiss & Co. E = i | This document, which is printed in full below, gives the findings of the special investigators of the committee. fact is revealed that Mayor Dever’s uniformed police have been ‘guitly with Crowe’s men of indiscriminate arrests of pickets The It is further shown not speaking to or molesting them. Miss Freda Riquart was arrest- ed at five o’clock for asking the officer who had arrested her friends to what station they would be taken. Brutality to Women. At the corner of Adams and Market streets three more girls were put into the patrol carrying Mr. Holland. An observer who was present learned the following from them between their sobs: They were walking together when one of them, Florence Corn stopped to ask a friend about a striker who had been injured. Officer No, 390 shoved the friend from behind. Miss Corn asked why ‘he did so and was arrested. The officer grabbed her arm and so squeezed it against her breast that she cried from the pain, Nora Hoffman, her companion, asked to which station Miss Corn would be taken and was also arrested. The girls wera almost hysterical when put into the patrol wagon and spit at the ar- resting officer. Later they all maintained that they had smelled alcohol on the officer’s breath and that he acted as if intoxicated. March 4—4:55 p.m. Adams and Franklin. Two girls were arrested for speaking to some_ workers. Three other girls asked the offi- cers why the arrests had been made and were also arrested. March 5—8:30 a. m. Corner Market and Jackson. Ralph Ger- ard makes the following state- ment: “A crowd was gathered about a girl who was crying and demanding damages, and an officer was shoving her along and threat- ening arrest. Acting as reporter, I was allowed to question her and was told the following story: Ethel Birn, entirely unconcerned with the strike, was walking on Market street between Van Buren and Jackson, unknowingly follow- “ing a group of strikers. As she passed Sergeant Parode of the state’s attorney’s office he gave her a severe shove and tore her coat. When she remonstrated with him she was ordered on and soon after was seen by me. Sergeant Identified. “One of the state’s attorney’s officers who was in the crowd, as- sured me a striker had done it and gallantly offered to avenge Miss Birn and ‘crack his head.’ I asked Miss Birn to identity ner assail- ant and the whole crowd followed us to where Sergeant Parode stood. When he was pointed out I asked the volunteer Sir Galahad what he thought, but he murmured as he walked away, ‘Oh, this is differ- ent.’ On seeing Miss Birn Parode said: ‘If you were a man I'd bust your jaw. Now get the hell out of here.’ I said I wes report- ing and asked if she had done any- thing to merit his action, His de- meanor at once changed to a quiet one and he said she had called scab and spit at him and scratched him when he asked her to move on. Later five of the persons who had followed us had been present from the start stated to me that Pa- rode’s accusations were entirely false.” Crowe Men Get Rough. March 6—7:55 a. m. Evelyn Byron made the following state- ment, substantiated by « number of companions; “I was walking slowly k and forth with Ben- jamin Silverman asking him ques- tions when a crowd gathered in front af the doorway at 234 So. Market street and began to shout ‘scab.’ As we approached the edge of the crowd one of the state's attorney’s men who had come up behind us pushed Mr. Silver in the back of the head causing him to lose his balance and pushing his hat over his'eye. The officer also said, ‘Get out of the way, you big bum.’ The man had not spoken a word up to that time except to answer to my questions. When addressed he said, ‘Leave me alone, T'm not fre d anything.’ gle was arrested across the street, and called as he went, ‘Scab, scab.” Nothing had been said till after the officer had pulled him away from me.” 8:00 a. m. 229 West St. A group of cloakmakers iting for the elevator of the building to take them to work were pre cursed at and threatened Ls - vate detective in the employ of a dress manufacturer in the same building. One of the state’s attor- ney’s men also present said, “Just show us ‘who you want and we'll get them.” ” Weiss. 8:00-8:15. Mr. Arthur Wei of Arthur and Co., was giving ders in very strong language rh Ha E593 le iE THE DAILY WORKER Page T\ aces een eseeeNeonrnenae erat-sneenrannbs/tntineithenreieneseentrt = $cc nan NALIN RH/AL AANA AM REN RUSS MONARCHISTS PREFER COMMUNISM ~ 10 U, S. TREADMILL (By The Federated Press) SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., March 11,—Evidently to the expatriated Russian White or monarchist there are worse things than Commun- ism. Every ship which leaves this port for Japan is said to carry a quota of Russian ex-refugees, who have decided to go back home and risk even the horrors of hay- ing to earn their own livings rather than face unemployment or the drudgery of unskilled labor in America. “We are thoroly dis- gusted with American conditions,” stated one of these refugees, who refused to give his name but said he had belonged to a “noble” Rus- sian family before the revolution. “We would rather put up with Bolsheviks than with the machine treadmill of industry or the lack of cultural life in the United States.” bystanders in the doorway were not molested. Three Abreast—A Crime, March 7, 4:25 at Market and Jackson streets. One girl had been arrested and officer No. 3181 was heard to remark, “Let’s get some more in so we can fill the wagon.” At 4:30 he roughly arrested three girls. When asked why he answer- ed, “They were walking three abreast.” Numerous more trival happen- ings have been omitted as has also other evidence indicating that the police force, especially the plain clothes men detailed to State’s At- torney Crowe’s office, is not at- tempting to enforce law and order but rather is aiding the employers in breaking this strike. With the hope of securing a more just be- havior we bring these facts before our mayor. Hull House Probers. The Hull House residents who have been investigating the strike and whose findings were read to the mayor are: Dr. Margaret Gerard, Hel Tippy, Elise Richards, Mi rion Palmer, Evelyn Byron, Morris Topchevsky, Alex Elson, Sarah Tower, Ellen Gates Starr, Thomas Holland and Dr, Ralph Gerard. At the very moment the commit- tee was reading the above report to the mayor the police at the insti- gation of the men from the state’s attorney's office arrested four girl pickets and manhandled them as they were thrown into the patrol wagon, The girls arrested were, Eleanor Sadlowska, Emma Gold- berg, May Borncynski and Jennie Lieberman. They were taken to the S. Clark street police station where they were charged with dis- orderly conduct. They were re- leased on bonds and will be arraign- ed in S, Clark street police court . Morning. DETECTIVE FIRM OFFERS HELP IN by Russell Co. hands of the DAILY WORKER. Un- pany in Chicago “guards” to garment bosses who are on their hands at present and it en- deavors to discover “agitators.” It is a Mil- waukee agency writing to Milwaukee manufacturers; The letter follows: HOWARD W. RUSSELL, INC. Secret Service Caswell Bldg. MILWAUKEE | Seventy- Three Per Cent of Chicago Workers Pay Greedy Landlords Tribute For Homes The problem of securing apartments and -dwellings at a reasonable figure directly concerns the majority of the people of Chicago. The population of Chicago in January, 1924, is estimated by the telephone companies as 2,925,000. In 1923, 2,162,400) MINNESOTA STA\, FALSE TO LABOR, ON AUCTION BLOCK Highest Bidder Will Get AGITATOR HUNT Bosses’ Dough Sought The letter of another industrial stoolpigeon agency offering its serv. ices to a FE has fallen into the at the mercy of the tenant should the like the letter from the Smiley Com- which offered trying to break a strike this letter is to employers who have no strikes sell under cover men to Only 27 per cent of the 623 | were owned by occupants, seve | enty-three per cent being rent- ed. Of the 27 per cent owned, {17.2 per cent were mortgaged. | Chicago is a city of home renters and flat dwellers. | And yet this large majority has no voice as to what kind of homes are to be built, or in the building program in any way. The housing of almost the entire city is left to the discretion of the selfish real estate shark and the grasping contractor. What does the public’s lack of control of the housing situation lead to? The hous- ing shortage does not seem to disturb the large business interests. Let us read one of the most recent surveys of the Chicago building situation, | here given I believe the light of news- paper publicity for the first-time, “A Study of Building Costs and Rental Returns,” by William J. Moore, presi- dent of the American Bond and Mort- gage Company of Chicago and New York, The housing shortage and the high rents do not alarm Mr, Moore. On the contrary, he admits that a housing shortage is highly beneficial to the real estate men, Speculators Control Homes. “Today current advertisement of the larger real estate bond houses stand out conspicuously as a class be- cause of their solemn and indisput- able declaration of no loss to inves- tors on their real estate bond offer- ings secured by improved city prop- erties. Such unequivocal statements of safety have properly won the in- creasing confidence of the investing public.” Mr, Moore then goes on to show that the reasons for the safety of these bonds are the housing shortage and the high rents. He says: “Reasons for outstanding safety: Payment of the months rent, which in turn is applied to the payment of principal and interest of the mort- gage bonds is the first and foremost obligation of the thousands seen on the streets of our great cities. Shel- ter is the most vital and unescapable need. New inventions do not and can not interfere in the payment of rent- als which in turn pay the real estate bonds, These considerations account for the outstanding safety of real estate bonds as a class. Landlord Against Tenant. “Because of an accumulated hous- ing shortage of large proportions, and because of permanently higher land values, and construction cost levels, the 1921 propaganda for lower rents ‘was destined to fail and it did fail. It now appears—April, 1923—that the causes for rentals remaining firm still continue to a very considerable degree, and these underlying causes for firm rentals promise to prevail for several years. The housing shortage is far from being made up, and the prospect for a considerable reduction in rents by reason of over produc- tion is at least several years off.” This statement shows clearly the wide opposition of the interests of the tenant and landlord. The real estate man does not want rents re- duced,nor does he want a plentiful supply of vacant houses from which the tenant may choose to suit his needs. As the bond house president goes on to say, “The owners would be ( *t city be overbuilt, When there is housing shortage it is a building ow: ers’ market and rents will go up gardless of either building or operat- ing costs.” City Allows Suffering. It is evident from the foregoing that just when overcrowding is at its worst, is the period of high rents and most profit for the landlord. This crazy system and shortsighted policy the city has unwisely allowed to grow until it has ripened into an unpre- cedented menace to the comfort, ja oe and very lives of thousands of er citizens. The Department of Health has for some time realized the Can you answer these questions |its weakness in coping with the evils about your own business? Are you going to have labor trouble this year? Are all your employes satisfied with their wages and working con- ditions? Ave there any agitators, chronic kickers or trouble makers, drones Bape iin dishonest or ming loyal employes on your pay roll? Are Fb? production and labor costs what they ought to be? Are your department heads and foremen serving your faithfully? Are leaks, waste, care- lessness or other irregularities af- fecting your profits? arising from the housing shortage and its attendant overcrowding. “A large number of the people in certain parts of our city are living in basements and cellars which were never intended for habitation, but have been converted into living rooms without the approval of the author- ities,” said the bulletin of the rt ment. “There are many rooms which, by reason of the lack of light and especially sunshine, are unfit for human occupancy, Such rooms are on the increase.” Out of all the cases re} d to the United Charities in February, over 50 per cent of them were concerned If you cannot answer every one of | with problems of housing. The evil these questions to your entire satis-|effects of the system of, private ex- faction, then sell, Service which has been rong Ta and created to do this very thing and help you solve ge ele Is there anything at all in business in’ would like fidentially connec- tion with either your personal or you have need for Rus. | ploitation of the building industry, with which the government seems powerless to cope, are seen on every: side. No Children Allowed. Miss Marie Merrill, of the Public 8 on which you| Welfare Department of the city, told able information, con-| me this week of a typical case which has come to her attention, illustrating To consult one of our represen-|the misery caused by the lack of con- tatives right in your own office will|trol of the people over the landlords. entail no Simply write letter, return it and he will call. Ve HOWARDEW. RUSSELL, INC, people were living in apartments, flats and over stores. »910 homes in Chicago in 1922 to taking in her three children, even \at higher rates. In desperation Mrs. X— came to the Department of Pub- lic Welfare for relief. They were |foreed to tell her that there is no law jwhich can at present be brought to bear to make the landlord take in per- sons who are objectionable to his over-sensitive discrimination, M. X— is now being housed by relative: and is still unable to secure an apartment at a moderate price. The department of welfare handles many such cases every month, We will next tell how the landlords have become increasingly overbearing as to their choice of tenants, have raised rents arbitralily, and have in- stituted almost no repairs since the shortage gave them control of the housing market. White Collar Slaves Drift to the Trade Unions After Strike (By The Federated Press) VIENNA, March 11,—A settlement has been reached in the three weeks’ strike of Austrian bank employes. The agreement provides a slight ex- tension of the working week to 42% hours, to be compensated by a 5 per cent wage increase, More significant, however, is the influx of white-collar workers to the militant movement during the strike. Organized labor in Austria has been conducting vigorous opposition to the government’s and league of nations’ “economy” measures at the work- ers’ expense. In this struggle, the Socialists have now won thousands of recruits among the salaried labor- ers, The Federated Press learns that the Socialists are about to open a powerful campaign for the swift abolition of league control in Aus- tria. The indignation of the workers against this class regime, backed by the clerical government and foreign bankers, has now attained a point where it holds promise of success. The fiction of “how the league saved Austria” is rapidly being dissipated. Even the liberal and conservative press here admits that~all the sav- ing that has been done under the foreign regime in Austria is limited to the native profiteers and alien investors. Disabled Vets to Be Trained in Fink Art By “Defective” Burns (Special to The Daily Worker) _ WASHINGTON, March 11.—Wil- liam J, Burns is training the dis- abled war veterans in the art of crime detection, particularly finger print study. As soon as they are proficient in the art they will be employed by the famous criminal defective Wi- lliam J. Burns. He may put them on at the rate of $1 a year ala McLean. The students are enrolled in the vocational training course of the Vet- erans’ Bureau, One of their first tasks after graduation may be to get the goods on their teacher, Wil- bir os urns, 8 the rate of graft scandals are breaking in Washington the entire American Expeditionary Force, if trained could be assured of steady employment running down grafters for the next decade. Jap Co-operatives Lose $25,000,000 In Great Earthquake TOKYO, March 16.—One of greatest losers by the soon phd ese earthquake disaster is the Jap- anese co-operative movement, re- sag the co-operative news service, ‘he All’ American Cooperative Com- b cesccged Rian 8 oe handed a report ‘om a leading Japanese coopera’ an ae roe al Japanese pea rs e] more than $25,000,000. hry Every new DAILY WORKER reader means a IAM Mabon rte ranks of cows and pi late years even roosters and on their animals. ions on your part. | Mrs, X—- Whose husband, before the ”” anywhere on this beget housing crisis, earned a salary enough to support his family at a decent standard of living, is now hard put to get rooms which the By, Walker C. Russell, Secy. roy he afford, and at the same s F Yan eave Onat fat ve iy enough to exist. The ' family was week forced to vacate WASHINGTON, March 11.—Satur- that npartiannk in Woodlawn because day is the last day for filing your) of an excessive raise of the already income tax return. IMPEACH COOLIDGE! rent. Mrs. X— tried to secure another Apesinen but was turned away by the landlords who objected we we fresh air and sunshine. greedy for gain.” workers consent to live without protest at a standard : lower than the animals of the bosses? Workers Live In Hovels Horses, 's are worth money. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent every year by rich men to house their thoro-bred stock in palatial stables. special trainers to see that they are bred right and that their offspring are healthy and strong. Some of these same men employ Chicago’s workers at low wages, and use the profits garnered from their labor to shower care Meanwhile the workers live in hovels not fit for the animals raised, by their employers, and pay the big landlords exorbitant rents. Chicago Commissioner of Public Welfare, says. “If ever T apog a 08 ph to put money value on a baby lo on blooded colts and calves, then see to it that every child shall be born and Marie as we will reared in We had better not wait to be Van Lear Sheet (Special to The Daily Worker) MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., March 11 —The Minnesota Daily Star, founded nearly four years ago by 6,006 farmer and labor stockholders tc champion the farmer-labor moye ment, will be sold in a few weeks to the highest bidder, if nothing in- tervenes in the meantime fo prevent |the execution of an order of sale |issued by Judge Buffington, The sale of the Star was authorized after a |recently appointed receiver, A Dollenmeyer, a Minneapolis bu man, reported that he was unable to obtain funds to keep the paper going. The cause of the death of the Star, as seen here, was defective co-operative organization, which gave it into the control of a few | individuals who ran it in opposition to the wishes of its founders. Townley Original Orgenizer. | | | A. C. Townley, Nonpartisan League leader, organized the Star on the basis of the same kind of | “co-operative” organization. hf em- | ployed in other lines. Along with | the preferred stock selling for $106 |per share was the common stock | selling at $1 per share, The pro- |moters, Townley and Thomas Van Lear, former labor leader and near socialist, obtained the only blocks sold of this common stock. The re- |sult was that with these votes and | the proxies they were able to obtain | they were able to control practically every stockholders’ meeting. A Townley regime which lasted only about a year was succeeded by a Van Lear regime which has lasted ever since. Under both these regimes was the business manager, John Thompson, who gradually obtained possession of the paper by borrow- ing money and signing iron-clad and ruinous agreements with creditors. | Quit Farm-Labor Policy. | Under the Van Lear-Thompson Management the paper ceased to be- come a farmer-labor paper and pan- dered to the advertising interests and an imaginary middle-of-the- |road “progressive” publicity. An at- |tempt was made to succeed purely |along “business lines.” Costly comic | strips and popular features were in- troduced and the news ran largely to sensationalism and the editorials were designed to entertain rather than educate, This policy was entirely at vari- ance with the serious spirit of the oppressed and struggling workers and farmers of the Northwest, The militant and progressive Mean were thoroly alienated and embitter- ed. The Star lost the only support it could depend upon to keep it in existence. On the other hand, this policy did not obtain enough adver- tising from the business interests to pay the expense. In three years a deficit accumulated amounting to more than the entire assets of the paper. Several months ago Townley put his Producers’ Alliance and Non- partisan League organizers in the field to obtain proxies for the pur- pose of recapturing the paper from | Van Lear. At the annual stockhold- ers’ meeting last fall Townley had enough proxies to control the meet- ing. He retained both Van Lear and Thompson on the board of directors and elected three men of his own choice. Lesson to Workers. Van Lear and Thompson soon after discovered what they claimed to be a legal flaw in the election of the Townley directors and refused to recognize them, thus again re- gaining physical possession of the paper. The resulting struggle of these individual owners of the com- mon stock has wrecked what was left of a onetime labor paper and onetime co-operative enterprise of world-wide fame. The workers and farmers of Minnesota have learned a valuable lesson. They will not be caught again in the fake co-opera- tion trap, nor will they depend upon the business interests to maintain their newspapers. Spring Is Coming. BELVIDERE, Ill, March i1,— Robins have been seen hopping about in the snow, and the true harbinge/ of spring, the bluebird, has been re- ported seen here recently, | | Of. ducks and pigeons have had