The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 24, 1924, Page 5

Monday, March 24, 1924 eee eeeeeneneetneennsensseenenessiosssneesiessssstttesceenee THE DAILY WORKER RAILROAD LABOR BOARD IS TOOL “OF MANAGERS Average Wages Have Declined Since 1920 By LELAND OLDS (Federated Press Industrial Editor) The United States railroad labor board is revealed as a tool of man- agement in the statistical picture of railroad wages during 1923 just is- sued by the interstate commerce com- mission. The commission shows that the average wages of the 1,879,770 employes, including the high paid ex- ecutives, officials and supervisors amounted to only $1,588 for the year. This average wage marks a decline of 114%% since 1920 when average annual earnings amounted to $1,794. Rajlroad wages are today only 91% above those paid during the year 1914-15. Such figures completely refute the propaganda about high railroad wages put out by railroad interests to influence farmers and small consumers @gainst co-operation with the railroad woekers, Kept Wages Down. Comparison between the present level of railroad wages and the level of wages in outside industry shows clearly the extent to which labor board regulation supported by Daugherty injunctions has been used to hold railroad wages down. Factory wages, free from the control of such tribunals, are today within 314% of the peak of 1920 and considerably more than 100% above the pre-war level. During the period of industrial de- pression factory wages were deflated to a point approximately 11% below 1920. But they responded to the in- creased demand for labor during 1923 with a rebound while railroad em- ployes held in the labor board vise were unable to take advantage of the favorable turn of the labor market: Hit Unorganized Worker. The policy of the labor board has been to hit the lowest paid and least organized worker hardest. This is shown in the following table which pictures the average annual earnings of 14 typical railroad occupations in 1920 and 1923; 1920 1923 P. Ct. Machinists .... . $2,288 Boilermaker: + 2,817 Blacksmiths .... 2,129 Common shop labor ... 1,811 1,058 19 Section labor .. 1,192 888 25 Work train labor 1,355 972 28 Yard engineers.. 2,616 2,412 1% Yard firemen ... 1,973 ' 1,800 8% Yard brakemen . 2,207 1,956 11 Freight engineérs 3,422 8,085 10° Freight firemen. 2,440 2,148 12 Freight brakemen . 2,813 2,028 12 Passenger conductors .. 2,990 2,810 6 brakemen --2,081 1,872 10 Train dispatchers .. 3,043 3,096 .. Section men whose wages have been cut 25% since 1920 earned only $888. by a full year’s work with con- siderable overtime thrown in. There are over 200,000 of them condemned ‘to a boxcar existence as witness from their ranks told the labor board in 1922. Another. 60,000 work train laborers whose wages have been cut 28% earned only $972 during the war. While still enother 100,000 shop laborers whose present annual earnings barely exceed $1000, were cut 19%, 4 Phone Spaulding 4¢70 RB “ii vale MASS MEETIN Negroes and at the mass meetin; ing conditions under which they G OF TENANTS LEAGUE OF CHICAGO MONDAY, MARCH 31, AT 8 P. M. ODD FELLOWS’ HALL, 3335 South State Street Speakers: Lovett Fort-Whiteman, Bob Minor, J. Louis Engdahl, Gordon Owens, Otto Huiswood, and Others. The League has just been organized by prominent South Side safe fos ses Decien vam eretae ape eee ing real estate sharks who have been The DAILY WORKER repoetec, who investigated housing tions among Chicago’s Negroes will speak for 15 minutes summar- izing the results of his investigation. “ath s, DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU — Come to my office and wet 2000 N. CALIFORNIA Unorganized Mine Fields Threaten Miners’ Union While Lewis Wars On Many Rebel Union Members By SCOTT NEARING Miners hold a conspicuous position in the labor movements of the world. There is scarcely an important coal producing country in which they do not figure prominently, both as to the extent and solidarity of their organization and their fighting spirit. The United States is no exception. Since 1902, the American miners have been looked upon as one of the strong- holds of the American labor movement. The recent Indianapolis convention left’ many important issues unsettled, but none. was —————————_—_—______—- of more vital concern to labor than the disorganization of the American mine workers. j There are not many figures avail- able regarding the membership of the United Mine Workers, but tucked away in the United States coal com- mission report (release for Oct. 17, 1923) there is a detailed table of union membership since 1899. Here | changed to a non-union basis in 1921, this state may be included in this group.” The urion mines are concentrated “near industrial centers and consum- ing markets,” Except for the non- union araas in Pennsylvania, “the nonunion areas are located away from the manufacturing centers in the mountains of West Virginia and eastern Kentucky and in states com- are some of the figures: Faratively undeveloped from the \ Table Tells Story. | standpoint of industrial organiza- # tion.” Relative strength of unionism in various coal areas as shown by the paidup membership, U. M. W. of A, for fiscal years ending Nov. 30, per- centages fared on average num of employed in the industry as re- The importance is seen when il is realized that “when the present {system of bargaining was estab- lished, the central competitive field embraced the bulk of the miners and the tonnage of the bituminous d by United States Geological | industry, Today 65 per cent of the jurvey: tonnage is produced and a similar proportion of ‘the wage earners are State 1902 | i tlyi ty bo oo EE eres » 64.9 ocated in the outlying fields. | Serions Danger. Ark., Okla. and Texa: 15.1 he ‘Mes 13.6{ Let this process go on for a few Colorado and New Mex Mlinois: ...... . 90.7 more years and the nonunion fields Indiana . 84.8 will be sufficiently productive to sup- Towa . 93.3) Ply most of the normal industrial Kansas ...... . 49,5 |needs. Then at any time, the cres- . 80,5; cent can be hinged in the center, Tenn. and Va. aa rhe 7.0 “pincers can be applied and the lo. Maryland and W. Va Michigan ..... 100) cals in the central ‘competitive fields Missouri . . 52,0, can be starved into submission.” Montana ey In 1919 the United Mine Workers Ohio ..... 75.0 had organized coal mines that were Pennsylvania . 23.0, producing about 72 per cent of the Washington j total tonnare (Coal Situation, April 1, 1922. Chamber of Commerce, sah Washington, D. C.) The depression Wyoming and 1912 1918 1921 tf beginning in 1920 resulted in heavy 0.2 25.9 5.0 loss in membership, The Alabama 79.6 88.6 61.0 organization, like those in Colorado 6.7 14.7 29.0 and New Mexico was practically 94.2 100.0 92.0 wiped out. In Washington, the or- 82.7 88.9 73.0 ganization was reduced to a fifth 95.9 100.0 100.0 of its 1921 strength. The organiza- 89.3 88.0 19.0 tions in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and i 228° 28.0 Texas were cut in half, Illinois and 29.9 29.0 Ohio report losses. Among the 17 67.4 82.0 districts listed by the coal commis- 75.1 85.0 sion, only three show gains, 100.0 93.0 1! This is a matter of vital concern 84.7 78.0 to every man who mines coal, and 33.3 29.0 to every man and woman who 1s 100.0 49.0 ‘9 working to build up the American 66.9 32.8 66.0 54.4 labor moventent. (U S. Coal Coramission, Sept. 22, The miners must gain back their 1923. “To the President and Con. 10st membership. They must organ- ize the outlying nonunion fields, The health and strength of the American labor movement are both sériously involved. . Labor Party Is Formed at Meeting At Reading, Pa. (Special to The Daily Worker) EADING, Pa., March 23.—A La- bor Party was formed in this city at a conference of several Labor Unions, the Federated Farmer-Labor Party and the Workers Party held at the Prey Lyceum here. Provisional officers and an Executive Committee of nine was elected, An appeal will be sent to all labor organizations of Reading urging them to affiliate and to send dele- ates to the Executive Committee. he question of national affiliation and of sending delegates to the June 17th Convention was laid over for ac- tion to the next conference which will be held May Segond. The So- cialist Party was not represented. The Executive Committee was gress. %) Among other things, the report states: “The non-union areas lie around thé union fields ina broken crescent. The northern end of this crescent juts up into the Pittsburgh district’ and central Pennsylvania, This non-union portion Pennsyl- vania compris the Connellsville, Latrobe, Ligonier, and Greensburg regions and most of Westmoreland and Somerset counties. “From nonunion Pennsylvania the crescent extends towards the south. It includes practically all of Mary- land, West Virginia (except the Fairmount district and the upper half of Kanawha), Virginia, eastern Kentucky, most of Tennessee.and all of Alabama. Washington Non-union. “West of the Mississippi iver, the second half of the broken cres- cent begins with the lignite areas of western Texas, passes around the unionized mines of western Texas to New Mexico and extends north- ward, taking in the states of Colo- rado and Utah. In’so far as the operations representing half the ton- hage of the state of Washington ie eis to - merce to the next con- erence for adoption. NEGR' . Newton Brown, of the American Federation of Railway Workers, was unanimously elected chairman, and James Master was elected secretary. The . resolution introduced by Dele- gate Keiser, of the Moulders’ Union, and adopted unanimously by the con- ference follows: “Whereas, Events of last several years have shown conclusively that {|the governmental power is constantly eee against labor, “Whereas, the Teapot Dome in- ve tion has again ven that both the republican and democratic will present the Negroes of Chi- is practical, capable of immediate hot condi, on the misera Negroes to live. “Whereas, a nation wide move- ment for @ labor party is now taking place for the purpose of uniting: poli- tically the workers and poorer farm- oritBe it therefore resolved that this conference, consisting of representa- my personal attention. best—My the corner. 10% to all readers of DR. ZIMMERMAN «DENTIST... AVENUE CHI ELECTRONIC 748 Halsted Street Tel. Cc South destroys the hidden CAUSES of DISEASE. CLINICAL RATES. FREE LITERATURE sent upon request. % Hours:—Daily, 6:80 to 9:80 p. m. Saturday, 9:00 a. m. to 6:00 p,m. | igation e office Z| prohibition commissioner by a com- mitee of five members appointed by OUT WITH DAUGHERTY! y in- structed to prepare a draft of a plat- form and by-laws of the organiza- the federal IST, LOUIS DICKS BRUTALLY BEAT LAD T0 DEATH His Mother’s Agonized| . A Cries Infuriated Brutes) By MARTIN A. DILLMON, (Stafl Correspondent of Federated Press) ST LOUIS, Mar, 23.—A dramatic scene was enacted at the coroner's | inquest into the fatal shooting of Claud Mitchell by city detectives when the unfortunate lad’s broken- hearted mother took the witness chair. | Mitchell was fatally attacked by detectives last week, who say he attempted to escape after his auto- mobile had figured in a minor colli- sion. The accident was so slight that no damage or personal injuries resulted. The officers claim young Mitchell failed to heed their com- mand to halt. They pursued him a distance of one block where a num- ber of officers joined the chase and opened pistol fire on him. Five blocks from the scene of the colli- sion, Mitchell reached his home, | alighted from his car and fell to the sidewalk, wounded by one of the bullets. In front of the home, Mrs. Mit- detectives set upon chell charges, her wounded son and fatally beat him with the buts of their pistols, | the effects from which he died soon afterwards at the city hospital. Evidentiy the police picked wit- nesses with caution. Of a score of | witnesses to the attack, the police summoned one. Fourteen came vol- | untarily to testify. The pathetic | testimony of Mrs. Mitchell brought Many spectators to tears as she re- cited the events which robbed her of her s6n and chief support. i “IT was in bed,” she told the} coroner’s jury, “when suddenly I ran to the window at the front of the house. I saw three men beating & man who was on the pavement. They were kicking and punching him and stamping on him. They just kept it up. “Finally,” she said as she clenched her wrinkled hands and choked back sobs, “I saw that they were beating my boy. I ran out in my night- gown and cried, ‘You’re beating my boy! Stop! You're beating my boy!’ One of the men grabbed me and threw me against the side of the house. ‘How in the hell do you know it’s your boy?’ he scowled at me. My boy was on his hands and knees and I took his head in my arms. ‘Oh, Claud,’ I said, ‘they’ve killed you—they’ve killed my boy.’ “They grabbed me again,” con- tinued the scantily clad little mother, whose weight is below 100 pounds, “and they pulled me away from my boy. They threw him down on the sidewalk. I could hear him moaning, ‘Oh, Lord, oh, Lord, over and over again. “*Yéu've got to let me help my boy’ I oried, but one of the detec- tives said, ‘Get to hell out of here or we'll arrest you.’ I told them 1 wanted to be with my boy on the way to the hospital, but they told me, ‘Get to hell away from here.’ They picked up Claud, dragged him to their machine and threw him on the back seat. He was ail crumpled up and bloody, and I ran to the ma- chine to be with him.” They shoved me back and I fll to the sidewalk. Then they took my boy away.” Indentified Killers. Asked if she could identify her son's assailants from the detectives Present, she pointed out Detective Sergeant Linder and Detectives Moran and Hefele in the courtroom as the sluggers. Detectives on the stand sought to strengthen their case by telling of the finding in Mitchell's car three bottles which contained “wine and whisky.”’ Young Mitchell was an employe of a furniture store, and his mother contends the bottles found were furniture polish contai ers. Circuit Attorney Sidner testi-¥ fied he examined the bottles.” Pred of them, he said, contained what appeared to be furniture polish and the other two were empty. No Whisky in Car. Edward Lietner, whose car the detectives commandeered to chase Mitchell, was probably a_ surprise witness so far as the police were concerned. He said he remained in his car upon arriving on the scene, for fear of being shot. He said he saw “ten men jump on Mitchell like 80 many flies on fly paper.” The inquest has been continued pending further investigation of the affair. At police headquarters there are indications of a desire to white- wash the. slugger-detectives. The police board has ordered a “thoro investigation,” and says conviction of the officers -will cost them their jobs. It is recalled, however, that previous probes of cases of this nature have not resulted in convic- tions, : Must Not Fraternize. Seemingly, the spirit of the brute and autocrat is a necessary qualifi- cation for the rank of commanding officer on the St. Louis police force. It is reported several sergeants are complaints being that the sergeants in question “pal rol A with the patrolmen em under \. “We find’ that many sergeants still cling to the old- ioned belief that of the patrolmen member of the it old system is to eliminated. If they hobnob with their patrolmen, the efficiency of the department is null. When a sergeant treats his men as pals the morale of the force is at stake.” to be reduced in rank, one of the | Prominent Speakers at T, U, E, L, Meeting HE MONTHLY meeting of the local T. U. E. L. holds much in T store for Chicago’s militants pathizers of Labor. This meeting is to be held on Wednesday, March 26, at the North-West Hall, North and Western Aves., has additional features for those: coming to hear Leland Olds, Earl Browder, whose monthly summary of the most interesting events in the world of Labor have proven so popular, will speak on “The Situation in the German Trade Unions”, a subject so much in today’s discussions. Both of these lectures, of interest to every militant trade unionist will be augmented by the short reports from each important trade in the city—a true picture of every development of local labor. The executive board of the Trade Union Educational League is bending every effort to make the monthly meetings of interest and educational value to every thinking worker. meeting promises to be duplicated in the coming one on March 26, Press, well-known economic writer and statistician will speak on “American Imperialism and Unemployment”—a lecture that pro- mises to further establish the Local Chicago T. U. E. L. meetings as the monthly treat of educational value for all miltiants and sym- Leland Olds of the Federated The siccess of the last New York Launches LaFollette Boom on Third Party Ticket | NEW YORK, March 22.—The La- Follette-for-president boom on a third party ticket in New York has now been definitely launched. As in Pennsylvania and Idaho, the third party movement in this state has adopted Progréssive party as its name, A state convention in New York City early in May will be a pre- liminary to the Farmer-Labor meet- ing in St. Paul June 17. A third party committe has al- ready been entrusted with the task of circulating the petitions, required to place the party and its candidates on the November ballots. Fifty sig- natures from each New York coun- ty, or a total of 12,000 names thru- out the gtate, will be mustered at once, and the blanks will be dis- tributed in April. Conflicting reports are being cir- culated concerning Wall Street’s at- titude toward Coolidge’s re-election, While it has been admitted at Repub- lican party headquarters here that influential banking groups during the past week openly expressed their op- position to Coolidge’s candidacy, the same Republican spokesmen now de- clare that a reconciliation with the recalcitrant financiers has been ef- fected. Hold Up White Slave Charge. DANVILLE, Ill, March 21.—Law- rence T, Allen of the office of the district attorney stated today that no warrant charging Rev. Lewis Hollo- way of Attica, Ind., with white slav- ery had been issued, and that none would be until a thoro investigation has been made of the charges against him. Every new DAILY WORKER reader means a new recruit in the ranks of militant labor. Canadian Pacific Sacred Cow of Dominion Papers By SYDNEY WARREN. (Staff Correspondent of Federated Press) VANCOUVER, B, C., March 21. —Oliver Twist had nothing on the Canadian Pacific railway when it came to asking for more. Canada’s railway octopus with its tentacles into every phase of Dominion activ- ity, despite the fact that in 1922 it cleaned up $129,000,000 surptus over operating expenses, is asking for the right to take more in the shape of higher express rates. The Canadian Pacific railway has been given millions of dollars worth of concessions in the form of tim- ber, mineral and coal lands, apart from outright cash subsidies. The total of these would easily reach thy $400,000,000 mark, The C. P. R. owns a vast system of railway and steamship lines, wharves, hotels and fleets of vessels plying) in all ports of the world. Its employes are notoriously poorly paid, skilled as well as unskilled, and in many cases the latter are forced to compete with coolie labor to hold their jobs. The company has grown to regard Canada as its private preserve for exploitation and guards its privilege zealously. The C. P, R. heads the Sacred Cow list of nearly every newspaper of any size in the Dominion and in the columns of these newspapers, as on the lips of the old line politicians, nothing must be said against the railway company and at all times must it be shown the profound re- spect due a Sacred Cow. Pitteburgher Goes to Greece, WASHINGTON, Mar. 21.—Presi- dent Coolidge has selected Irwin B. Laughlin of Pittsburgh and now a resident of Washington as American minister to Greece, it was learned today. Page Five ower ne eins CHILD SLAVERS ~ IN BITTER FIGHT ON AMENDMENT |Mobilize in W ashington | Before Hearings Special to The Daily Worker) WASHINGTON, D. C., March 23— Representative Israel M. Foster }of Ohio, Republican, sponsor for the federal child labor amendment 1n the house of representatives, and a ;member of the house judiciary com- | mittee, brought this question té a vote in the committee, after the long extended hearings having closed a few days previous. Notwithstanding the fact that a majority of the committee say they are in favor of he bill, the opposi- tion of the chairman, Representa- jtive George §. Graham of Philadel- phia, Pa., one of the “old guard” Republicans of that state, has pre- vented a tavorable rdport. The |chairman took the position that the committee should not report the ;amendment until the hearings had been printed, and he himself had had an opportunity to make an ar- gument to the committee members against the amendment. So it went over until April, Textile Bosses There, During the hearings it became ap- parent that the opposition was Strengthening its lines and throw- ing in its heavy forces. The last two days brought before the eom- mittee the Washington representa- tive of the National Association of Manufacturers, James A. Emery, and representatives of the southern textile interests led by David Clark of the Southern Textile Bulletin. Mr. Clark introduced to the commit- tee two members of the State Wel- fare Board of North Carolina to testify in opposition to the federal amendment. There was no indica- tion on the part of either of these two members of the State Welfare Board that their appearance in open alliance with manufacturing inter- ests was anything unusual for pub- lic officials in North Carolina, In addition to the National Man- ufacturers Association representa- tive there appeared two or three representatives of the Manufactur- ers Association of Yennsylvania, Chairman Graham’s state. Sabotaging the Amendment. On the senate side the child labor amendment is still in the sub- committee of the judiciary commit- tee. Meantime, the Wadsworth-Gar- rett amendment, which proposes a change in Article 6 of the Constitu- tion, in order to make the ratifica- tion of all constitutional amend. ments more difficult, is being pushed by {ts sponsors, 100 NEW READERS EVERY DAY 3,000 New Readers Each Month O00 NEW SUBSCRIBERS BY JUNE {5th THAT IS THE GOAL SET FOR MILITANT DAILY, WORKER BOOSTERS TO REACH Can We Do It? You Said It!! WE ARE DOING IT. 100 New Subscribers Are Being Added to the List Every Day and the Figure Is Mounting. A RED-HOT CAMPAIGN |. FOR RED-BLOODED MILITANTS FOR RED-BLOODED WORKERS FILL THE NEED. SUPPLY THE DEMAND. BE ONE OF THE THOUSANDS WHO ARE HELPING MAKE THE DAILY WORKER GROW BY SELLING SOME OF THE j Trial Subscription Coupon ! | Enclosed please find $1.00 for two | months subscription to THE DAI- | | LY WORKER to be sent to: | | | STREET No, .. cITY TH A Tt aR | My name fa... WP Beeabe Malaise vvsdeess ww dete State ..... | ota | Please send me........more trial sub. coupons. 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