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

Page Six THE DAILY WORKER a eo) tah ea saaveoncaameeanccmciag 3 | Thursday, March 27, 1924 THE DAILY WORKER. ee Published by the DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO., 1640 N. Halsted St., Chicago, Ill. (Phone: Lincoln 7680,) SUBSCRIPTION RATES By mail: $6.00 per year $3.50..6 months By mail (in br. $4.50..6 months $2.00..3 ménths only): $8.00 per year $2.50..8 months Address all mail and make out checks to THE DAILY WORKER 1640 N. Halsted Street Chicago, Ilinois ae Soi } acceneseaeeece . Editors WILLIAM F. DUNNE MORITZ J. LOEB..... tered second-class mail Sept. 21 1923 at the Post- Giice at Chicago, ll, under the act of March 3, 1879, — The Legion Up In Arms The self-appointed defenders of the country from the American Legion are in a fit of rage over the speech delivered by a young pacifist, Brent Dow Allinson, at the Northwestern Uni- versity. The fumes emanating from the rage that has overwhelmed these flag-wrapped pa- triots are poisoning the atmosphere far and wide. i This is not the place for an examination of the fallacies of pacifism, theoretically or other- wise. What is of importance here is that the reactionary capitalist spokesmen and their lackeys have taken up the cudgels for their capitalist masters and have forthwith made a class issue out of it. The Tribune is shrieking Wengeance. The Herald and Examiner is swearing volleys at the Communists. The Young Workers League and its publications come in for a special lacing at the hands of this most saffron sheet of capitalist newspaper- dom. The Legionaires are threatening to call in the notorious red-baiter Comerford. The black Crowe, state’s attorney, is on his hind legs sparring for trouble. ‘Why the rage? The American Legion officialdom is playing the game of the capitalist exploiters who are responsible for having misled this country into the last imperialist war. These sycophantic lickspittles of the bosses, who are attempting to build another huge strike-breaking appa- ratus to supplement and strengthen the al- ready existing powerful state strike-breaking apparatus, the government, are in panic be- cause the youth of the country, particularly the working-class youth who do the fighting in wars, are becoming aware of the fraud and delusion of patriotism as preached and prac- ticed by the employing class of this country. The attempt to let loose a wave of flag-loving hysteria and to flood the district with spread- eagle orators are the. first answer of these defenders of the enemies of the workingmen and farmers. y These same self-chosen saviors of the coun- try are the ones who always try to wrap them- selves in, or hide behind, the stars and stripes in order to smash strikes more effectively, in order to break up the organizations of the poor workers and farmers more easily. Just now they are attempting to utilize their attack on Allinson and pacifism as an entering wedge for a far more deadly onslaught—an attack on workingclass opposition to militarism. Con- sequently, all men and women who have to work for a living, whether on the farm or in the factory, will not be led astray by this smoke screen which is merely dangerous camouflage for a general attempt to uproot all workingclass resistance to capitalist militarism. The New Year and Now In view of the continued disclosures reveal- ing to an open-mouthed nation the exceedingly spotted record of Attorney-General Daugherty and the prevailing opinion in well-informed circles that morally he is somewhat below the level of the white-slavers he has had pardoned for’a consideration while class-war prisoners rotted in their cells, it is interesting to read again the new year’s statement issued by this red-baiting upholder of the ethical standards of the republic. We reproduce this document for the amusement of our readers, but urge those with weak stomachs to have a large- mouthed receptacle handy while perusing this masterpiece of hypocrisy: “It is my opinion that a good New Year's resolu- tion for every American citizen to make and keep is that he will respect and obey the written laws of his country in their letter and spirit, and that he will keep constantly in mind that the law and the constitution are the guarantees of his own peace and happiness, us well as the peace and happiness of his neighbors and the nation. With all our people living in the realization of these truths there is little room for the pessimist in America. “While our republic is blessed with high ideals and marked material progress, it is always becom- ing that every individual contribute to the fullness of his ability in the attainment of a still higher standard of social, political and economical moral- ity. Progress is an elemental factor in the lives of nations and men, which even time can not check. But the kind of progress we should aspire to is that progress which will establish still more firmly the foundations of law, liberty and justice.” To any reader who can name the contribu- tion made by the author of the above to a “higher standard of social, political and eco- nomic morality” we will present a drop of genuine Teapot Dome oil. The American workers and farmers have been fed for years on this and similar brands of hokum; morality, réligion, the sanctity of the home and mother love have been the catch-phrases of every oleaginous too! of the exploiting class, but we predict that from now on the market price of such platform phrases is going to drop to zero. Already loud and cynical laughter is heard in more than one section where the proletariat Manager Advertising rates on application. was accustomed hitherto to listen gratefully to the purveyors of superheated atmosphere and in some districts where the going has been unusually tough word comes that a bounty has been placed on the heads of capitalist party politicians. All of which is encouraging to everyone ex- cept the capitalist class and their army of thugs, grafters, mental prostitutes—the horde of camp-followers of capitalism whom the real rulers retain to do the dirty work of fooling and oppressing the masses. Welcome Evidence Two facts just disclosed in the Teapot inves- tigation overshadow nearly all of the revela-| tions brought out by the Walsh committee to this day. When Hays, former chairman of the national committee of the republican party, admitted under pressure that Sinclair had donated $75,000 to cover the deficit incurred by the 1920 Harding campaign, and when Sinclair himself confessed to giving another sum of $25,000 to the party which handed him over the Teapot lease, we were introduced to a basic fact explaining the wherefore and the why of the whole mess. This evidence, tho less sensational than some |. of the other facts adduced to date, is far more fundamental and is most welcome. The finan- cial facts thus established should make every workingman and poor farmer think. It is evi- dent that such level-headed business men as Sinclair would not invest $100,000 in a business proposition which wasn’t sound. The republi- can party has proved to be a mighty sound source of profit to the capitalists. (he Hard- ing-Coolidge administration will go down in history as an example of the most brazen form of capitalist control of government in the United States, in all its vilest and most cor- rupt forms. Just now it-seems as if the democratic party, competing for the favors of the big interests, will soon be chosen as a better field of invest- ment in the capitalist 'game of control of gov- ernment against the workingclass. Some of the employers, like Sinclair, had been financing the two parties for some time. The late Franklin Lane, who was a consummate oil politician, once well said: “The donkey and the elephant feed from the same crib.” By this time it is plain to every worker and farmer that the democratic and republican parties, owned and controlled by big business interests, can only serve the exploiters against the working masses. In practice Gompers’ policy of “reward your friends and punish your enemies” has been translated into “reward your friends and hang yourselves.” The Tea- pot exposure has thrown the last shovelful of earth over the carcass of this dangerous illusion spread amongst the working people of this country by the enemies of the workingclass masquerading as its saviors. Class Justice Sinclair, the héro of the oil holdup, has de- fied the United States Senate Committee in refusing to answer questions put to him on the witness stand regarding his financing of the republican party. Mr. Sinclair did not even hide behind a plea of incrimination and de- gradation in accordance with the constitu- tional provisions, Sinelair just politely told the Walsh committee that the oil matter was no longer any of its business. The oil magnate had with him at his side the well-known cor- poration attorney Martin W. Littleton, of New York. The Senate has done nothing effective to make Mr. Sinclair toe the mark. If the law would be applied as it is on the statute books, Mr. Sinclair would be behind the bars today, in a plain, ordinary, common jail. But Mr. Sinclair is touring the country in hetanat scot free. Why is this special treatment being accorded to Sinclair? Why is it that a workingman or poor farmer is immediately thrown into jail when he utters even the mildest words regarding some bought- and-paid-for aristocrat of the robe? There ig no doubt that if the recalcitrant witness before the committee were a workingman, he woul now be rotting in some filthy federal cell for his challenging the dignity of the United States. Yet, some flannel-mouthed defenders of our present system of government would have the working and farming masses believe that we do not have a capitalist class system of justice in this country. As matters stand now, Mr. Sinclair can monkey around with and hide behind the in- tricate technicalities of the legal system for at least a year. The final arbiter will be the Supreme Court, the nest of the blackest of our black reactionaries. In the meanwhile the Senate Committee will have to bite its thumbs; the country will be kept in ignorance of how the republican party was financed in its last national campaign; government ‘by oil will re- main supreme; and Mr. Sinclair will have the laugh on the whole outfit that is pretending to hunt his head. We submit, this is the rankest form of justice handed to the workers and farmers of this country. Yes, we can always count on the courts to run to the rescue of the exploiter; when their class interests are in danger. PRR CACY The Windy City is threatened with another heavy storm this week, weather forecasters predict. Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, is reported on his way here to fight the injunction menace, Sam is the champion windbag of America. J. Horace Harding has Frank A. Vanderlip canned from the Continental Gan Company for caustic comment on dead namesake. r Significance of June 17th Farmer-Labor Convention - - ‘HE June 17th Farmer-Labor Con- vention in the Twin Cities (St. Paul or Minneapolis), Minnesota, will ‘be an event of higous importance in the development of the movement for class political action against the eapi- talist system. The five years since the end of the war have been a period. of develop- ment of the Farmer-Labor movement. Under the spur of economic forces which made the farmers and workers more intensively conscious of their exploitation and oppression by the capitalist class many sporadic efforts to organize for independent political action have developed. On June 17th ‘the isolated organizations scattered |thruout the country will combine for joint action. The June 17th Conven- tion will be the culmination of the movement which has been developing during the past five years, Why June 17th Holds Great Promises Doubters may well ask why the June 17th Convention ‘promises so much when other national conven- tions called for the same purposes, have failed in creating a permanent, mass. political organization of farm- ers and workers, The old Farmer-Labor party tried in 1920 to create a national organ- ization of farmers and workers, only to see the organization disintegrate, so that today practically nothing re- mains. The July 3rd Convention last jyear created the Federated Farmer- Labor party, which, while it has been a powerful organizing force in the Farmer-Labor movement, was not, however, able to organize itself as a nation-wide party. In view of these experiences, why may we expect different results from the June 17th Convention? What right have we to believe that the June 17th Convention will create a powerful national organization of farmers and workers? There are a number of reasons: First, the Farmer-labor movement is more developed. The economic ex- |periences from which it springs have created a wider basis than existed in 1920. Both the farmers and workers have learned new lessons about what This is “The Story of John Brown,” by Michael Gold. Pub- lished by the DAILY WORKER thru arrangement with Haldeman- Julius Company, of Girard, Kans. Copyrighted, 1924, by Haldeman- Julius Company. oe @ ¢€)s The Growth cf An Abolitionist. OR tho John Brown had always been an abolitionist, tho he had learned from his father, and from his own experiences to hate slav- ery and its munifold brutalities, it was not until his thirty-fifth year that John Brown showed any more active hatred of it than did hundreds of Ohio farmers around him. Like them, he aided when he could, in the work of the Un- derground Railread. Thousands of free Negroes and white abolition- ists were engaged in this work of passing fugitive slaves from the South up over the Canadian line, where they were being restored to manhood under the flag of monarchism. But John Brown, in 1834, began thinking that education of the Negroes might be an important way toward the solution of their problems. He formed plans of starting a school for them. He and his family at this time, tho his wool business was going com- fortably,/lived in extreme frugal- ity, for they had agreed to save all they could toward the estab- lighment of some such school. For years John Brown dreamed of such ventures as these; and he read all the journals of the small abolitionist groups, and met many of the leaders. He always spoke against slavery in churches or political meetings where he hap- pened to be; and he made friends with many Negroes, and showed dgep interest in all their prob- ms. But not yet had he formed any of those belligerent plans that later were his whole life, He still believed that abolition might be effected by education and peace- ful agitation, Slavery Causing War. Events were piling up too, rap- idly against such a view, . The South grew more aggressive every day. The slave system seemed to carrying dverything be- fore it. It had broken the ment of 1820 by extending slav- - ery above the Mason and Dixon line into Missouri. It had forced the war against Mexico, and had ae ~~ anee ee for slavery. It dominated gayern- ment of the United States. All of the Presidents were pro-slavery, or they could not hope for office. Congress was pro-slavery, and the Senate, too. And it was not only in the South that the life of an aboli- tionist was worth little more than a pinch of snuff, The slavery venom had crept into the North, for powerful economie reasons. The Northern mercnunts manufacturers made their profits by selling machinery, goods made by machinery, to the agricultural, cotton-raising South. And the South threatened to secede from the union, or at the least, to force a low tariff on im- ports, and pay its re in Eu- rope, if the abolitionists were not curbed, A Master Class Triu it. There were not of poe sory ar but bey, Caines ‘heach ot: hs bale iy the enthronement of a_ privileged class and governmental power in the hands of that class meaus to them. Economic forces have pushed for- ward the movement, it is riper, more prepared for definite organization. Second, the Twin City Convention is called by already existing organ- ized Farmer-Labor parties. It has as its basis practically ali that there is of an organized expression of the movement for farmer-labor political action, The six state Farmer-Labor parties, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana and Washington, give the national organization a foundation such as has not existed before. The Federated Farmer-Labor Party convention had very few organized farmer-labor groups. It was a gathering of repre- sentatives of local trade unions more than anything else, and these had to vention in order to create a party. The existing of six state parties, to which another eight or ten will prob- ably be added before the national convention, gives a solid organization basis for the national party. Third, this is a presidential year. Political interest runs high. There will be immediate work to be done after the June 17th Convention. To enter into the national campaign means creating election machinery everywhere. There is an incentive to action which did not exist after the Federated Farmer-Labor Party con- vention. The presidential campaign will create the opportunity to more easily build a permanent organiza- tion than would otherwise exist. Class Party or Third Party. The fact that the June 17th Con- vention is being held separate and apart from the July 4th Convention of the Conference for Progressive Po- litical action is a fact of great im- portance. Strong efforts were made to join the two conventions, by forc- ing the farmer-labor group to give up its separate convention. The failure of this attempt to pre- vent the holding of the Farmer-La- bor convention shows that there’ is already’ some consciousness of the “The Story of John Brown” age. They were persecuted, tarred and feathered, and in many cases lynched by the Northern mobs. Then the Southern slave system seemed to have reached a tri- umphant climax im two events: the first, the passing of the Fugi- tive Slave Law, in 1851, and the other, the battle over the admis- sion of Kansas as free soil or slave territory. The fugitive slave law incensed John Brown to fury, as it did every other abolitionist. In was a federal law forced by the South which forced the state officials of every Northern state, however much they might hate slavery, to join in the hunt for runaway slaves and their helpers. A: United States sloop, was sent to bring back a slave" who had fled to Boston. The abolitionists tried to rescue him, but were foiled, with two men _ killed. Scenes. such as these marked, everywhere in the North, the en- forcement of the law. Abolition- ists were arrested in communities ; where everyone of their neighbors were also anti-slavery. Slaves, who had becn freemen for years and years in the North, were cap- tured and dragged back to bond- age by government officials. “No, Unionism With Slaveholders!” The abolitionists became more fiery in their desperation. Many of them, like Garrison, began preaching that the North set up a government of its own: “No Union With Slaveholders!” was the slogan. And the Kansas affair heaped coal on this fire. Under the Mis- souri compromise, both North and South had agreed to restrict slav- ery within the states already bur- dened with it; they had agreed also, that the citizens of a new territory could decide whether or not they wanted slavery or free- dom, and vould vote their choice when the territory was admitted to the union. In other words, both sides would keep their hands off new territory; and the federal government would not interfere, Kansas was such a territory; it was being rapidly settled, and in a few years was to come up for greens fey a state, ‘ nd wi was happening was that the South was flooding this territory with spurious settlers; idle, whiskey-drinking —_ruffians armed ie shot ede revol- vers, who were inti ing the Northern settlers who nad come, and were stealing the. elections from them, by force of arms. The South was openly breaking its agreement with the North; it was openly declaring its intent to make Kansas another addition to the slave states, Civil War in Kansas, To the abolitionists in the North this seemed like. the last straw. The South was at its. flood tide of domination; 1t controlled every- thing in the American union; and now it was moving forward to make its domination permanent by any means; even by the means today 4 and intimidation. e farmer-labor group is a strong offen- the Third Party elements. have the representatives of the well- to-do farmers, the small business men ticians who are looking for new fields have the labor aristocrats, the ten difference between the Thitd Party movement and the Farmer-Labor movement in the ranks of the latter. Before the July 4th Convention of the C, P. P. A, was called the Farm- er-Labor convention promised to have a strong admixture of the petty bourgeoisie. Infact, it was a ques- tion whether that class would not dominate the convention and take the leadership. ‘The calling of the July 4th C. P. P. A. converition has served the purpose of eliminating a large part of the Third Party group from the June 17th Convention. It is the representatives of the exploited farmers and industrial workers who are coming to the Twin Cities, June 17th. The March 10th Conference already showed this process of elimi- nation, It was the groups who were for a class Farmer-Labor Party who were represented in that conference and the Third Party elements were absent, This cleansing process makes the opportunity which the June 17th Convention presents greater than it otherwise would have been. With a strong admixture of Third Par- tyites in the convention it would have been necessary to sepa- rately organize the petty bourgeoisie elements from winning the leadership over them. As the June 17th Con- vention now promises to be, there will be represented the exploited farmers and industrial workers who are ready to organize a class party with a class program and a class leadership to fight against the rule of the capitalists and for a workers and farmers’ government, Fight Against the C. P. P. A, The immediate work before the sive against-the C. P. P. A. The Cleveland Convention can have all Tt can and the. broken-down old party poli- in which to ¢onquer. It can even thousand a year labor leaders, who tive Negroes who had settled on the lands owned by Gerrit Smith, a wealthy and sincere abolitionist. John Brown had been of much practical service to the Negroes there; but he and his sons, like every other foe of slavery, were deeply shaken by the events in Kansas. It seemed horrible to everyone, that after twenty years of bitter agitation, slavery was be? waning, but was stronger thah ever—in- deed, was threatening to swallow up even the North. Strong men were needed in Kansas; and so John Brown’s sons went there. They were men of peace; they went there as bona fide settlers, to take up claims, and to cast their vote, when the time came, for freedom. But in two months they were writing letters to North Elba asking their father to send them all the rifles he could collect. “Send Us Arms.” “We have seen_,some of the curses of slavery, and they are many,” wrote one of the sons in his very first letter home. “The boys have all their feelings work- ed up, and are ready to fight. Send us arms; we need them more than we do bread.” John Brown collected the arms; and what was more, he delivered them with his own hands. He wound up his business affairs, left his strong, patient wife in charge of the North Elba farm, and went to join his sons in Kansas. The curtain was now rising on the first act of the universal drama called John Brown, The man of God, the tender friend of little slave children, atid old, tortured slave mammies, the man of the plough and the counter, the pa- triarch and citizen was at last ready to become Captain John Brown of Osawotamie; John Brown, the outlaw, the warrior, the soldier of freedom. At the mere mentton of his name border ruffians and swash- buckling adherents of slavery were soon to tremble and even fly, , az tho a devil were behind. And ' he was bowed with cares aad rap- idly turning gra; ind he never handled fire s; and he was at the age when other men begin to talk of retiring from business and life, when they long for i gp aad reflection, in some e Scene, away from ts wok nd its problems, He was fifty-five years old. (To Be Continued Friday.) (The Situation In Kansas.) ‘s:—I used to now I am Princess Santa Bor », of in Loyola Universit; last ik By C. E, RUTHENBERG are petty bourgeoisie in all there ways of living and thinking. But the C, P, P. A. Cleveland Con- ference must not have a single ex- ploited farmer or industrial worker without a fight. The exploited farmers and industrial workers belong in the dane 17th Convention. From now on there will be a strug- gle between the two conventions for the support of the masses of ex- ploited farmers and industrial work ‘ers. While the C. P. P. A, has barred the rank and file from its convention by refusing to grant representation to local trade unions, it will try to still hold the leadership over them. But its past history is against it. It has met three times and three tines betrayed the workers and farmers who are for independent political ac- tion. , Who knows that it will not again play the game of old party politics and again betray these work- fers and farmers? =, The June 17th Convention has the advantage in the struggle with the C. P. P. A. It has a clear cut pro- gram. There is no vacillation nor hesitation connected with it. June 17th is a convention pledged to in- dependent political action. There is organization and enthusiasm behind the June 17th Convention. There is an active driving force in the Feder- ated Farmer-Labor Party and the Workers Party. With all the forces behind the June 17th Convention thrown into the fight it will win the fight for a class Farmer-Labor party against the C. P. P, A. For the members of our Party, who see clearly what the June 17th and the July 4th Conventionstand for, the fact that there is.a July 4th Con- vention competing for the support of the exploited farmers and industrial workers should serve as a stimulant to more intensive work. It is our task to organize the class Farmer-- Labor Party. In the June 17 Con- vention there is the greatest oppor- tunity yet presented to achieve that end, and to help the American work- ers and farmers make their first great stride forward to the Workers’ and Farmers’ government. 1 | 4 he u Youth Views By HARRY GANNES Foster and Coolidge on the American Youth. Bt the other day Coolidge, wiped his oil soaked hand long enough to pat the boys of the nation on the back and give them his master’s advice: “Work hard and behave.” The occasion was the visit of a group of boys to the oily strike- breaking president to ask his bless- ing for the coming nation-wide cele* bration of “Boys Week,” April 27 to May 8. The president actually si his work to meet the boys and a quavering voice told how he was bringing up his own two boys to “work hard and behave.” =e if the boys follow in their father’s footsteps or in those of nearly. all of the present cabinet members they won’t have to work hard. And if they behave half as well as Daugh- erty, attorney general of the U: States of America, they will be the light of the closing years of an lental president. “Work hard and behave.” What does that mean to the vast mass of youth of the nation? What does it signify to the 2,500,000 child la- borers Submit to the boss and keep your mouth shut; refuse to join unions; give the last ounce of our immature strength to the sses and their graft ridden gov- ernment officials. We hear a lot of sentimental slop about the boys this time of the year, with “boys week” coming on. All the lies taught the American youth are magnified ten thousand times. The opportunity bunk works overtime, and more than one flag is worn out by, waving to impregs the love of country on the callow youth. Nor is ‘militarism overlooked. You will think the boy scout leaders tule the boys of the nation if you watch the boys week parades. The Legion officers go thru their monkey antics to impress the proletarian youth of the necessity of preparing to kill some foe, just whom is not told, but that the killing is in the interest of capitalism is unquestion- able, The banks, the factory own- ers, the politicians will all join hands in ereating the illusion of opportunity; and the impressionable young lads will be immune for a while to the brutalities of their working class environment and to their miserable fate of future wage slavery, Amid the trash and junk that is ae sho by, the benefactors of cap- italism it is refreshing to recall the words of a working class leader who knows what is the best inter- est of the American youth, one who understands how the boys are be- ing bamboozled, and points to the open and direct road to emancipa- tion from the fate of wage slavery of which the vast number of Amer- ican boys are either present or pros: ive victims. ’ the young, if left to the mercies of capitalism,” says Wi'liam Z. Foster, “will be the mainstay of ! the reaction, but if taken in hand and educated and organized by the labor médvement, will be the van- guard of the revolution.” fie Reeser tis, JOIN THE WORKERS PARTY! i