The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 14, 1924, Page 4

NEW COMMITTEE * WORKER } THE DAILY WORKER GROWS OUT OF TALK ON STRIKE Oscar Nelson Is_ the Lone Labor Member. As the result of the strike confer- ence held by union officials, members. of the special citizens committee and a representative of the smaller gar- ment employers in the office of Mary McDowell, commissioner of Public Welfare, yesterday afternoon a sub- committee was chosen to take action towards settling the strike, The committee contains only one | representative of labor, Oscar Nel- son, of the Postal Clerks’. Union and representative of the Chicago Federation’s *Gemmittee of 15” at the strike conference. Dean Holgate, | of Northwestern University; Miss | Mary McDowell, commisioner of Pub- lice Welfare, and Earle Dean How- ard, labor manager of the firm of Hart, Schaffner and Marx, are the | other members. They were appointed Seidenberg, of Loyola $ chairman of the citizen’s committee, and is instructed to gather data on | Wages, hours and working conditions, as well as police brutality and to| hold conferences between the union | Tepresentatives and the various} groups into which the employg's are | divided, Optimism was breathed by Miss | McDowell, Father Seidenberg and | Clarence Darrow, who attended the| conference as a union attorney. Bu: the two-score strikers who tried to sit in at the conference, but were kept apart with other visitors at a meeting of their own in the auditorium on the top floor, are replying on the picket lines first and on the negotiators sec- ond. by “Strike Strong” “One thousand workers are back under shop settlements already,” said | President Morris Sigman to a DAILY representative. “The strike is strong.” The lone boss, from the firm of Bleeck and Arnold, of 237 S. Market | Street, talked to a DAILY WORKER reporter after the conference and as- sured his willingness to settle with the union—if he could get some con- cessions, and he said a large group of smaller employers he unofficially represented would do the same. His eagerness indicated that he will soon be willing to settle on any terms. A mock heroic stage play act was indulged in by two big employers who have been hard hit by the strike for union conditions. Arthur Weiss, of the W. Adams street firm, where dozens of pickets have been arrested, came blustering —enound-te-the-Commissioner of Pub- lie Welfare’s office where the settle- ment conference was staged yester- day, with a certain Mr. McLain, rep- resenting the big scab firm of Mitchel. Boss's Bluster As he was entering the conference room, he saw the figures of Morris Sigman, president of the Internation- al Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union, and Meyer Perlstein, vice-president. “What! Meet with union repre- sentatives,” said Weiss; ‘No, in- deed!” Asked whom he expected to see at a “strike settlement” conference, Weiss angrily declared that he had nothing to talk over with the union. that his employes were “working and happy. Ww Backs Down After this little piece of acting, Weiss went into another room to con- fer with the Citizens’ committee | and Oscar Nelson, a representative | of organized labor. * | Nelson refused to discuss the re-| sults of the conference afterwards, | but the talk about the place was that | Weiss was weakening. All this while the crowd that had been shunted off from a conference that they had supposed was to be public, so that whatever arrangement developed, would be a “covenant | openly arrived at”, were sitting in the auditorium on the top floor of the City Hall Square Building. Boss's Lie Nailed Father Seidenberg, fresh from his talk with Weiss downstairs, came up and reported to the throng that » Slatkinm, | witnessed and which have Weiss and the other big employers 14 PICKETS ARRESTED AS CONFEREES TALK; THREE BOSSES SETTLE Fourteen more arrests by May- or Dever’s and State's Attorney Crowe's police late yesterday af. ternoon while the “‘strike sett ment” conference of his commis- sioner of Public Welfare was in session evidenced again the fact that a Democratic and Republican politician act with the bosses no matter how they talk. The girls’ names are: Minnie Glick, Minnie Yerdico, Carrie Siever, Fayelkoff, Dora Samuelson, Ida Kalish, Freda Nitz- berg, Sherley Corngold, Corn Ru- bin, Anna Rothenberg, Ben Silver, Rose Yanlowitz, Rose Finesilver, Sarah Zelinsky. Sarah was arrested at the request of a newspaper pho- tographer so that he could get a good flash of a girl hustled into the patrol wagon. While these pickets were being hustled to the S. Clark street s' tion, three bosses surrendered as the result of picket work. They are: The Apple Dress & Skirt Co., 306 West Van Burea, Novack & 1347 Milwaukee ave- nue, F. Becker, 1360 Mil: kee avenue, Twelve more pickets were ar- rested in Evanston as the DAILY WORKER went to press. Se declared that all théir people were working and happy and that the strike was a far-off thing as far as their shops were concerned. There was a ripple of merriment at this and Miss Julia Reicher, a striker, got up and said that she had been working for Weiss before the strike and that there were 30 girls from his shop on the strike. Two other girls corroborated this later. “Happy” Family Bunk Father Seidenberg went on to re- port Weiss’s story of the “happy” family conditions in his shop and the freedom he gave, his employes—even to circulate “abusive” union circu- lars. , ; Amusement again and Miss Reich- er got up and told how she had been discharged, as had many other Weiss girls for their union principles and activities. She challenged Weiss to allow an investigating committee to see the inside of his shop. Charity For Boss sais Father Seidenberg then gave what he called a little “constructive” criti- cism and said he had seen that cit- cular—(Weiss must have given it to him) and that he didn’t like it. It was “personal”, he charged and actu- ally abusive, in his opinion. He said they should use “persuasion” on Weiss, not such unkind methods. This Christian toleration aroused no enthusiasm from the workers who were battling for the living wage from the most notorious employer of the lot—the one who has inspired literally, scores of arrests by the State’s Attorney’s men. Miss McDowell made a long and earnest plea for “peace”, ‘“settle- ment,” and “toleration.” But all this while the real work of the confer- ence was going on in her office on the eighth floor with the strikers ex- cluded. The Commissioner of Public Wel- fare, however, was anxious to get all the facts that persons present could give her about arrests for peaceful picketing, shoving of strikers. about by police and the use of “sluggers” by employers. She got plenty of them: Miss Helen Tippy, Miss Ella Gates Starr and Miss Elsie Richards of Hull House, who had been arrested that morning on the picket line and dis- charged because they were from Hull House and not from strikers’ homes gave a list of the outrages they had already been reported in the DAILY WORK- ER. Strikers arose and told their story, too. Father Seidenberg arose and told how he went on the picket line in- specting, with his clerical collar con- cealed and a heavyweight individual talked arrest to him. The priest demanded to see his star and the thug replied that he Hadn’t had a star but could arrest anyone he felt like arresting as long as he was physically strong enough to do the job. When the thug saw the clerical but changed his tune when he was treated to a sight of the cloth. Dever Can't Dodge. When Father Seidenberg said that Mayor Dever had told the Citizens’ Committee that he was personally against the injunction, and that he had given orders to his own men to make no arrests of pickets unless there was actual disorder but that he had no control of the’state’s at- torney’s men, William A. Cunnea, former socialist candidate for mayor of Chicago, rose and re:ninded the folks present that the state’s attor- ney’s men were all under the ulti- mate authority of the mayor, who could withdraw them when he wish- ed. This was reaffirmed after the meeting by Alderman Oscar Nelson in a talk with a DAILY WORKER reporter, As to the assertion that arrests are only made when there is dis- order, Dr. Ralph Gerard, of the Gen- eral Medical College and member of the Gitizens’ Comittee, told of seeing numerous arrested pickets discharged in court “by a wave of the hand,” for lack of evidence as to disorder. Farmers’ Non-Partisan League Joins With the Farm-LaborF ederation (Continued from page 1) today. Furthermore he read you a telegram in making argument against Federation before Non- partisan League convention and stated that your telegram was di- rected against Federation plan. Absolutely no truth in statement that Communists dominated con- | ference or confederation conyen- tion. We know you and Frazier are misrepresented and miscon- strued. Irreparable damage will be done if you do not immediately wire denial. Reply to Doctor Schaper.” This telegram read to the conven- tion of the Farmer-Labor Federation caused a great burst of applause. It was read following the report of | Chairman Carlden, of the negotia- | tions committee, appointed yesterday | by the Federation | Every influential leader in the Twin City labor movement has long distance calls in for Johnson and Shipsted and a dozen wires of pro- test have already been sent. There is a determination freely expressed to end once and for all disruptive in- | fluences and make elected officials understand that #0 interference is wanted in the work of organizing the farmer and labor forces in Minne-| sota. | Carldon placed the blame for the lack of unity squarely upon the shoulders of the non-partisan league | leadership and announced their tac- ties as “contemptible” but said plainly that they did not reflect the sentiment of the _ Non-Partisan League membership and convention. The Farmer-Labor Federation now takes the position that its commit- tee will meet no more with the offi- cialdom of the league but will nezo- tiate directly with the convention of the league. | There is no doubt but that the ma- | jority of the delegates to the Non-| partisan League convention will join | with the Farmer-Labor Federation | and that the reactionary position ‘taken bv the officials of the league | means the end of their domination of | what little organization the league has left in Minnesota. Pending further negotiations with | the delegates of the Non-partisan | League direct, the Farmer-Labor Federation has divided itself into | congressional districts for the pur- | pose of nominating state committee- | men and candidates. They have also | elected a new conference committee | based on districts in which the pro- gressive element is well represented as they are also on the state com- mittee and in the list of candidates. I. G. Scott, labor alderman, mei ber of the Plasterers’ Union, has been nominated for congress by the delegates from the Tenth District. The Farmer-Labor Federation has adopted practically unanimously the declaration of principles and program endorsed by the Farmer-Labor con- ference in St, Paul Tuesday and will finish its work late tonight. after which large numbers of the delegates will go on to St. Cloud for the final meeting ofthe series just held which have brought unity in the Farmer- Labor movement of Minnesota. garb he apolqgized. Likewise a po- liceman who told him to move on hehe ruling class is on a tear, There's scandal, scandal every- where. In shipping board and Sin- elair’s tanks, in hospitals for wounded | Yi in “ypu vy oe oy a gold, in ions dearly sold, in to na McLean, in booze transferred for gain, in bought on official tips, in upon the bulging hips, It sure- a slimy mess, e’en icy Calvin confess. Ed McLean must be sum guy, done so much and yet got by. Not ‘wuz lie A. Fall’s pal, but he has around with Cal, For with Teapot on the fire, he gets from a corjul wire. think the meanest deal ! thru his steal, boys | biz. But politicians, all alone, il Epics by Bill UI He robbed ’em of their last tooth brush and stole the sugar from their mush. “The best is yours, for you're all right,” the boys were told when sent to fight. Now wounded vets must be neglected because the man who wuz selected to p ’em fed and free from cold has copped our Uncle Samuel’s gold. I think that Harding musta bin oor judge of men, It is a@ sin. Old augherty he picked to guard our alleys, porches and back yard. To guard our oil, he picked Fall, and those who “answered country’s call” e to For! who wuz a crook and never gave the vets a look, And who picked Harding, that’s my quiz, Why, that wuz the brag to him in the swell Blackstone, Admin- istration needs a licking, and w eu dotiepidig ne Russ Textile Trust Last Year Netted 1,872,000 Rubles |the terrible slip of Sullivan to the \nant factor in the labor movement? \enrolled in the Workers Party class jmorning Secretary Refuses To Use Y. W.C. A. as Garment Scab Agency An attempt to use the South Side branch of the Y. W. C, A, as a strike breaking agency, to secure unknow- ing colored girls to act as scabs in the garment workers strike was frustrated when Mrs, Lula E, Law- son, general secretary of the Indiana branch, curtly refused to send her girls out to do strike-breaking duty. The action of Mrs. Lula Lawson in sending the strike-breaking agencies about their business, has caused much discussion in the Negro district, It was learned by THE DAILY WORK- ER from another source that an in- fluental member of the Urban League | has reprimanded Mrs. Lawson for not acceding to this last desperate at- tempt of the garment bosses to break up the garment workers unions, Mrs. Lawson refused to listen to criticism in advising her girls not to side with the bosses against their own interests. “I told those who ap- proached me to send my girls out that 1 did not want to do anything which would cause race feeling} among the laboring women of this city,” said Mrs, Lawson, “And I told the girls not to go out on a job, even at higher pay, which would make them forfeit their self-respect or be disloyal to the garment unipn, which contains many Negro members.” One girl rooming at the Y. W. C. A. who is now earning sixteen dollars a week refused an offer of twenty- five dollars a week, and police pro- tection going to and from work, said she refused because she “would not scab on either white or Negro work- ers, even at a higher salary”. Sullivan Scrap of Paper Served on Pro-Strike Editor A copy of Denis Sullivan’s injunec- tion which has proved itself a scrap of paper so far as the striking pic- kets were concerned was served on Editor W. N. Koniuszewski, of the Polish newspaper, Dziennik Ludowy, at its publishing plant at 959 Mil- waukee Ave. Koniuszewski’s paper has been run- ning a lot of news on the strike and reciting some of the brutalities of the police and private thugs as well as reporting the bosses who are surrend- ering in job lots to the union. In the opinion of Judge Sullivan and his employer patrons this is very bad stuff and should be enjoined, particularly so as the stool-pigeons allege the union purchased it. So a deputy sheriff, slipped into the news- paper office very quietly and handed editor. Koniuszewski says he will publish the injunction in the paper today. The mysterious document: needs air- ing. So ends the story of another scrap of paper. Molly Maguires To Be Discussed At Workers Class Who were the “Molly Maguires?” Why did some labor men speak of the Greenback Movement of the ’70s as “an American substitute for social- MINERS SPURN. LEWIS CONTRACT IN NOVA SCOTIA Would Forbid Strikes to} Redress Grievances (Special to The Daily Worker) GLACE BAY, N. S., March 12.— The contract signed at Montreal be- tween the Lewis appointees in this district and Besco has been decisively ; voted down by the miners in the referendum taken last Thursday. The returns from the various parts of the district gives the following results: Cape Breton Island. . .2,357 4,105 Pictou County 215 1,098 Springhill 573 414 Totals 3,154 5,617 Majority Against .. 2,463 Had the miners been given time to read the contract carefully be- fore voting the contract would have been defeated by a larger majority. The Lewis appointees only sent a few copies to each local union, and in many cases these did not arrive until the day before the voting. The Lewis appointees, both provincial offi- cers and international representa- tives, urged the miners to ratify the contract, the corporation, meanwhile, coercing, by withholding the miser- able increase. Forbids Strikes. The contract contains clauses which will bind the miners hand and foot to the corporation. A whole net-work of machinery for arbitra- tion of disputes and an arrangement for an umpire to be appointed if the disputes cannot be settled otherwise are written into the contract. The miners are forbidden to strike and the pit committees are given the job of supplying miners to work in the place of those walk out because of grievances. The slavish clauses of the contract, and the miserable in- crease in wages—nullified by a rise in company rents and prices—so far as the miners were concerned. The vote against the coptract shows the stand of the miners re- garding the Lewis appointees who are ruling the district with threats and bluff. The referendum, besides: defeating the slave pact, is also a vote of lack of confidence in the Lewis appointees. These fakers state that such a thing never happened before in the history of the United Mine Workers, and that it is “a direct slap in the face” to Lewis and the rest of the gang. The officialdom | has been used to having the rank and file meekly accept whatever con- tract they signed with the operators and miners of Nova Scotia are es- tablishing a fine~precedent for the | rest of the miners to follow. Responsibility on Lewis. The result of the vote places the whole responsibility for the contract upon the shoulders of Lewis and his appointees. When the miners were ordered back to work last month they protested and demanded that the international union support them in a fight for the 1921 rates. This Lewis refused to do. The referen- dum was taken with the hope that the miners would ratify the contract and thus become responsible for it. ism?” How did the American Fed- eration of Labor become the domi- If you are interested in the an- swers to these questions, and other simliar ones, it will be worth your while to join the 37 students already in American Labér and Socialist His- tory, which meets every Sunday in the Soviet Technical School, 1902 W. Division Street, at 10:30 o’clock sharp, Next Sunday is the last’ date to register. The topic to be taken up then will be “Decline of the Knights of Labor, and Rise of the American Federation of Labor.” The cl will meet regularly every Sunday maming, until the final session, on the last Sunday in April. The class is open to Workers Party members, This did not happen, and the miners have made it plain that they are op- posed to being tied to the corpora- tion by Lewis and his gang under conditions of which they do not approve, The corporation states that the contract was signed and will be car- ried out so far as they are concern- ed. The Lewis appointees do not know what to do, and have wired Lewis to get advice from him. Defense Committee Asks Grand Jury to Probe Farrell Cops (Special to The Daily Worker) FARRELL, PA., March 13.—In aa! sympathizers and the public in gen- mea Enrollment fee is $1.00 for the full course. 3 “Send in your name and address right away. Hungary to Sweat More Taxes Under International Rule 4 ee MOSCOW, March 13.—According to the reports of the Moscow state industrial trusts for the year 1922- 1923 ending Oct. 1, 1923, the textile trusts made 1,872,000 rubles profit, the rural-industrial trust made 858,- 000 rubles, the leather trust made 610,000 rubles, the printing trust made 74,000 rubles, The following trusts ended the year with deficits: The glass trust had 326,000 rubles deficit, the ma- chinery trust had 139,000 rubles defi- cit. Of the separate units the Ustinsk factory shows 282,000 rubles profit and the “compressed gas” shows 46,- 000 rubles profit. CHICAGO’ YOUNG WORKERS LEAGUE MEETINGS TODAY Marshfield English Branch at 1103 South Loomis Ave., 8 p. m. _* * West Side English Branch at $322 Douglas Blvd., 8 p. m. ** * Karl Liebknecht Branch at 1500 Sedgwick St., 8 p. m. a John Reed Branch at 3418 Douglas Bivd., 8 p. m, By FRITZ KREJCSI. (Staff Correspondent of the Federated Press) PRAGUE, March 13.—Budapest’s attention and energy is concentrated upon preparations for the new re- gime of international control, which Hungary—that is, the militarist caste now ruling the country—has serapeee as the Shylock price of a foreign loan. The Hungarian government will introduce a program of internal re- form, as a guarantee to the league of nations and its financial backers. As a preliminary measure, tax pay- ments will be exacted in gold, in- stead of unstable Ne ad money. This will mean that the Magyar tax payer will be obliged to pay higher rates than before the war—despite the fact that workers’ wages lag far be- hind pre-war standards, This reform is of ominous im; ance to Hungarian labor, The Hun- garian work standard of living is already being dragged down by the nation’s shattering economic crisis to this will now be added a heavier burden of taxation, to be met by on Cane ah to worker and sant in order fasten, more tightly the hold of the open letter to the press of Sharon the Farrell Defense Commi'tee de- mands that the Mercer County grand |Russian Communist Party United; Many Seek Membership (Special to The Daily Worker) MOSCOW, March 13.—Reports are reaching Moscow from all over the country of thousands of applications which continue to pour into the Com- munist Party. From the Baku dis- trict comes a report of 3,869 appli- cations, from Grozny 1,300, Vologda 1,000, Vjatka 500, Kazan 395, ete. The all-Union Party Conference, which closed here evidenced the close unity and cohesion prevailing with- in the ranks of the Russian Com- munist Party, The resolution, sub- mitted by the Central Committee, dealing with the questions of Party construction, which had been thor- oly threshed out at the public dis- cussion at Party meetings, and in the press preliminary to the Conference, was passed without a dissenting vote, This resolution declares for liberty of an open consideration and discus- sion by all the members of the Party of all the principal questions of Party life, as well as for the principle that all the leaders and officials of the Party are to be elected, not appoint- ed, to the posts they hold. However, there can be no factions or separate groups within the Party, as it would not be in keeping with the organiza- tional principles of the Communist Party. The closing speech, delivered by Kameneff, declared: Communists Saved Russia. “The countries of the world will soon see that the Communist Party not only has saved Russia from the destruction wrought by the interven- tion, but was also able to call <ipon the workers~and peasants to create a state more powerful and united than any other capitalistic state. The Party is strong enough today to tell our ill wishers abroad that their hopes of a split in our ranks are false, and that the Russian Commun- it Party, united now as before, is ready for the completion of its his- torical tasks.” 300 Per Cent Party Gain. KRASNODAR, March 18th.—The state committee of the Communist party reports that the membership of the organization has grown 300 per cent. means to you! movement! WORKER would also bring jury investigate the police force of Farrell who recently raided and ar- rested six alleged members of the Workers Party and held them over for the gratid jury. The defense pointed out the large expense to be born by the tax payers of Mercer county for the trials of the defendants and asked the voters ana taxpayers of Mercer County if they were willing to bear the burdens of financing the Steel Trust and its lackeys in railroading six workers to prison. Police Fear’ Probe. The police force of Farrell will not welco! a grand jury investigation of, their corruption and scores of leading citizens are approving of the efforts on part of the defense council to bring the anti-labor activities of the Farrell police before the grand jury. a The defense offers to submit the stenographic re) of the hearing and even have fendants appear before a jury of clergymen or any other group of citizens to decide subscribers. The DAILY WORKER will publish in The Power Col- umn every Tuesday and Friday, the names of those who ~are helping to get 10,000 New Subscribers by June 15th Use this Trial Subscription To New Subscribers , 2 Months For $1.00 You know how much the DAILY, WORKER You know how much it means to the labor There are thousands of workers in every city in the coun- try, in every mill and mine and factory, to whom the DAILY It is necessary for them to read the DAILY WORKER for.a few weeks only to make the only real working class daily in America indispensible to them. Build Up Your Local Labor Movement By selling trial subscriptions to the DAILY WORKER in your city, your shop, your union. with DAILY WORKER educated militants in your neighbor- hood and your place of work. Put Your Name on the Honor Roll of militant DAILY WORKER BOOSTERS, by getting new { SOVIET SHIPPING GAINS IN BALTIC AND NEAR EAST Line’ to North Africa Being Established (Special to The Daily Worker) MOSCOW, March 13.—The White Sea, Baltic, and Black and Azov Seas shipping lines connected with tho State Merchant Fleet, are working satisfactorily. The Baltic Fleet has been work- ing all along to its full capacity, its freightage exceeding the tonnage at its disposal, - Tt has established lines from Lenin- grad to London and Hamburg. The steamers are equipped with refrigera- tors, and fitted to export butter, eggs, and other agricultural produce, as well as-such goods as grain and tim- ber. 663,646 Passengers. The Black and Azov Seas Shipping Company has completed the work of restoring its fleet. It now possesses a dead weight tonnage of 70,000 tens. During its last working year it car- ried over 300,000 tons of cargo and 663,646 passengers, equal tor forty- six per cent of the cargo and seventy- three per cent of the passengers car- ried in 1913 "by the Russian Shipping and Trading Company, the greatost enterprise in South Russia. Consid- ering the age and disrepair of the ships remaining on the Black and Azov Seas after the evacuation cf |the Whites in 1920, the percentage are highly creditable. ‘ The Black and Azov Shipping Com: | pany maintains twelve cargo and pas- senger lines. The ships, however, lengaged in the passenger traffic are in great need of repairs and renewal. Alexandrian Line Next. The company has established com- munications with the ports of the Near East. The Odessa-Constanti- nople line runs three times a month. When the “Lenin” (former “Sim- brisk”) arrives in Odessa from Vladivostok it is proposed to establish an Alexandria line, calling at the ports of Constaninople, Smtrna, Jaf- fa, Alexandria, and the Pirasus. light and hope and strength. Surround yourself Coupon whether advocating better working |— —— —— ——— ——— —— ——— —— and living conditions is sedition, The defense committee has mem been threatened with arrest and Chief Leyshock promises to detain them in his cockroach infested jail if they in- vade his town. The committee cares little about these threats and will con- tinue to avail themselves of every teazigti oP in 0; ice chief and his force of labor, ers. Horthy government and its interna- | wreck tional backers upon the grip of power, How many of thop-mates read the DAILY Get x, woman one of them to { ? Great Sine erate | To nue DAILY WORKER:—Your | Rell, Glace Bay, NN. . ie ‘Trial Subseription Coupon Enclosed tteeard find months sul iption to LY WORKER to be sent to: | NAME secseeeseeseereserenenees CITY iisesacccecmmosscsvececcs Beigeiasfondpaomgnte tn 1.00 for two tue Dal | Mi tenet EES TEATT Es POPES Pee UR MO init'e nos ercedacaeeerice State ..cccscsccercsssadenecewes sub. coupons, I'll try to secure more trial subs, ' ‘THIS OFFER GOOD ONLY | UNTIL JUNE 15, 1924. No agents commissions given tilal subscriptions. i |