The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 11, 1924, Page 6

Page Six THE DAILY WORKER Friday, April 11, 1924 evans ann | are sound investments. Herein lies the diffi-| / 3 THE DAILY WORKER. Published by the DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING Co.,| 1640 N. Halsted St., Chicago, Ill. (Phone: Lincoln 768.) SUBSCRIPTION RATES By mail: $6.00 per year $3.50..6 months $2.00. .3 months By mail (in Chicago only): $4.50..6 months $2.50. .3 months $8.00 per year Address all mail and make out checks to THE DAILY WORKER 1640 N. Halsted Street J. LOUIS ENGDAHL WILLIAM F. DUNNE § * MORITZ J. LOEB... Entered as second-class mail Sept. 21, 1923 ‘at the Post- Office at Chicago, Ill., under the act of March 3, 1879. ee A Another Labor “Victory” The utter futility of the tactics adopted by the trade union ofticialdom of Chicago in the recent primary election is shown by the fact that State’s Attorney Crowe, the arch-enemy of labor in Chicago, was re-nominated while Len Small, fought by the bigger capitalists represented by the Tribune and Daily News and endorsed by “labor,”’ was also re-nomin-| Chicago, Illinois Editors Business Manager Advertising rates on application. ated on the republican ticket for governor. | It is evident that the official wiseacres of} the Chicago labor movement believed that the) Small machine, in return for their endorse-| ment, would aid them in defeating Crowe, but | the dreary truth is that many of the Small followers must have supported Crowe to en- able him to pile up his lead in a county that Small carried by a good majority. It is also noticeable that Newton Jenkins, endorsed on the republican ticket for United States senator by the Conference for Progres- sive Political Action, did very poorly in Chi- cago but fairly well in downstate districts where the unions are much weaker. It seems apparent that the very practical officials who have so much to say about the visionary ideas |and exchange are in the hands of a special culty. Borah and his liberal cohorts might legislate pure campaign laws from now till doomsday. As long as the means of production privileged capitalist class, ways and means will be found to make the lawmakers be the willing tools and do the bidding of the bosses. Capitalist money speaks eloquently in count- less tongues and manners. | Borah’s lamentations are the typical impo- tent cries of our biind bankrupt liberalism that is today rendering inestimable services to the powerful reactionary capitalist interests by its high-sounding pleas for purity in politics. Only when the conditions under which Teapot politics flourish are abolished; only when the By WILLIAM F, DUNNE. ‘THE wing of the British Labor | Party now filling the cabinet posts by grace of the liberal party is rapidly losing what little labor character it had when it took office. It has severed its connection with even the mori- bund second international, most of ithe cabinet ministers have resigned their official positions in the trade union movement and the cabinet group has indignantly repudiated the charge that they are subject to the discipline of the party that put them in office. The executive of the Trade Union workers and poor farmers of this country take 'Congress, the official expression of away the government and the industries from the employing class, will the graft, bribery, corruption, and reckless wasting of our nat- the British labor movement is not obeyed by the cabinet ministers but is merely “consulted” thru the me- dium of a “liason committee”—a url resources be done away with. \striking contrast to the strict disei- French Militarism Hundreds of thousands of American work-' ers and farmers, and millions of the workers and farmers of other counties were maimed and slaughtered in the imperialist World War jin order to end the menace of militarism. This is the fraud under which the workers of many countries were lashed into the armies of their bosses. The Communists of all countries, unlike the |social-patriotic betrayers of the decrepit Sec- ond International, did not fall for these snares and delusions of the employing class and did their best to turn the imperialist war for the defense of capitalism into a class war, a social revolution in behalf of the international work- ing class, the revolutionary proletariat. Since the conclusion of the last capitalist in- fernal slaughter of the workingmen and poor farmers, event after event has substantiated the correctness of the Communist attitude and practice towards capitalist wars. France, the cradle of bourgeois, of capitalist democracy in of the Communists are not even able to organ- ize their own forces for action on the old party tickets. a | Their action in endorsing candidates in the| capitalist parties has simply added to the con-| fusion in the local labor movement without any compensating results having been at- tained. These same tactics have been followed for years without any result other than an in- crease in the number and expansion of the} scope of injunctions and we wonder how much | longer these “practical” leaders can continue | to justify such childish displays of political | ‘action. | There is so much reverence for respectabil-| ity in the Chicago labor movement that the} officialdom chooses to mix on a footing of some equality in the party councils of the capitalists without any guarantees of immun- ity for the unions rather than break once and for all with the bosses and conduct a clean-cut campaign on class lines—win or lose. It is a condition symptomatic of the American labor movement as a whole. Borah’s Lamentations Sad and desolate sits the Republican Party! The national committee, championing Daugh- erty, is merely on working terms with Cool-| idge. More cabinet members are asking} “who’s next?” Senator Pepper is working} overtime distilling abstractions to hide the| .ottenness of his party. And, Senator Borah, iat “fighting” republican liberal who always \ils to get his feet wet in a storm, is now ‘eaching sermons in a wail of lamentations. ‘| in all, a desperate siate of affairs for a| ‘verning party, it must be granted. Borah’s latest lament is characteristic of at blindfolded leadership that liberalism in merica is only capable of. The mental giant om Idaho sees the source ‘of all the present ils in Washington in the fact that both par- —republican and democratic—are receiy- | Lg Vast campaign contributions from the big | business interests. “So long as the present system and standards prevail in American politics, regardless of party, you will have conditions no less deplorable than those which now confront us,” is the belief of Mr. Borah. Right you are, Senator—but only partly. To get at the basic source of the prevailing rotten- ness in American politics, one must answer two fundamental questions which your analysis compels inquiring. First of all, how does it come about that there can be such big private interests spending huge sums of money as in- vestments in the two political parties? Second- ly, why do these captains of finance and in- dustry spend their money so recklessly, as it were, on the republican and democratic parties and why do these level-headed business men consider it a good investment to blow in their beloved dollars on the Falls, Denbys, Daugh- ertys, McAdoos, and Coolidges? To answer these questions one must go to the root of all Teapot politics, whether it be played on the piers of Los Angeles, in the White House at Washington, or in General Wood's palace in the Philippines. It is only thru the private ownership of the means of production and exchange socially used and necessary that certain individual capitalists, or groups of capitalists, can dominate industry and develop such big private interests as those that today finance the republican and demo- cratic parties. Secondly, it is solely because the capitalist ownership of government is es- sential to a continuation and perpetuation of the present system of exploitation of the work- ing and poor farming masses by the owning capitalist class that the huge campaign funds its pristine and purest form, the France which |was supposed to have been most endangered by German militarism and for the security of whose ruling class we became the best armed capitalist anti-militarists yet seen, is now the worst example of capitalist militarism. The fact that the French government which pro- claimed but yesterday, in shrieks to the seventh heaven, its hatred of militarism, is today the |most ardent militarist government under the sun, affords the very best proof that all cap- italist wars are imperialist wars and that the only task for the workers and farmers under such conditions is to turn these wars of their exploiters into one war along the whole front against all the exploiters. ; The French ruling class maintains today a bigger army than it did in 1914, before it suc- cessfully disposed of the menace of German militarism. The total strength of the French army is today 785,924 men against 720,000 of ten years ago. There are in France today 30,- 000 commissioned and 70,000 non-commis- sioned ‘officers. Five years after German mili- | tarism was crushed by the combined “pure” | democracies of Paris and Washington, of the Quay d’Orsai and Wall Street, France has 2,450 generals more than it had when its “security” was first challenged. In 1914 the total army expenditures of France totalled 1,262,000,000 gold francs. Allowing for the depreciation of currency, one finds France still burdened by the staggering sum of 3,720,000,- 000 paper francs being expended for the ma- terials of war. Except for the reserve of 4,000 airplanes and 2,000 military airships now in| service, France also has a huge supply of civilian airplanes which can be of service in making France the undisputed master of the air. The case of French imperialism is typical of the conduct of the peace-loving ruling classes | of the other allied capitalist countries. that were so panicky yesterday over the menace of militarism. There is nothing and no one that can end militarism except a complete destruc- tion of capitalist imperialism of which militar- ism is only a special violent form. Militarism and imperialism are the twin strike-breaking brothers of capitalism. The World War and ts aftermath have taught the workers of every country that their salvation lies only in a de- cisive, crushing, irretrievabl i chat sada: able defeat of this Y. W. L. Anti-War Meeting The Anti-War mass meeting, to be held Sunday, at 2733 Hirsch Boulevard, should be attended by everyone who wants to under- stand the Communist position and Particularly the Young Communist position on capitalist war. It is the young workers and students who are the first to be conscripted for imperialist warfare and the recent publicity given to anti- war movements among the youth of the United States is evidence of the hatred with which the capitalists and their press regard anything that tends to diminish the enthusiasm of the youth for being slaughtered for interest and dividends. The Young Workers League, thru its activ- ity among the youth, has succeeded in getting under the hides of the war-mongers. The meeting Sunday is under their auspices and they can be depended upon to make it inter- esting. ge JOIN THE WORKERS PARTY -@g ‘ \ ; labor—even pline maintained over their politi- cians by the capitalists. The Communists are not surprised by these developments but in the mass of material that is published in America concerning the British Labor party and its program there is danger that the movement will be confused with its officialdom. MacDonald does not speak for British labor nor does the cabinet clique represent British ) its most conservative section. The MacDonald cabinet with one or two exceptions represents the British middle class and some lower sections of the capitalist class; the pronounci- amentos of MacDonald and his imme- diate followers are designed to ex- press and do express the attitude of those sections of British society to- wards present day problems. An Appropriate Medium. We do not have to go to England to ascertain the views held on eco- nomics, politics, ethics and religion by Ramsay MacDonald. Collier's, which vies with Hearst’s in broadcast- ing a particularly objectionable form of liberalism, has published recently an interview with Ramsay MacDon- ald in which his opinions on these matters are set forth at length. In this article I-will quote liberally from the above interview and, I think, destroy any lingering doubt as to whether Ramsay MacDonald is any- thing other than a rather mild and muddled liberal. It might be well to say here that his mildness vanishes, ‘as is the habit of liberals, whenever the masses of Great Britain or her colonies, show signs of doing some of the “saving of the working class” that liberals of the MacDonald type seem to regard as peculiarly their own function. The leaders of our party, says MacDonald, are not Communists, not soap-box radicals nor wild- ed largely of educated men, ministers of the Gospel, lawyers, writers, the ntsia of England. Ramsay MacDonald himself is a presbyterian and always says grace before meals. Truly the fate of the British Empire is safe in such sancti- monious hands. As to the British working class that is another matter that the agile MacDonald handles blithely. In reply to the question: “What are you going to do for the benefit of labor?” MacDonald speaks out with presbyterian candor and in a decisive tone that, coupled with the sentiments expressed, accounts for the equanimity with which British capitalism has viewed the rise of this group to government positions. He says: If you mean whether I am going to disrupt our economic condition by radical legislation, no! if you mean ‘what constructive legislation will be put thru, I can best answer that by saying that every measure attempted will be done with an eye to protect the rights of labor against the encroachments of capi- tal. On the other hand the rights of capital also will be protected. What About the Class Struggle? If MacDonald does not know that the protection of the rights of capital is a betrayal of labor he is a first- class ignoramous; if he does know this then by the above utterance and ,;the policy he has followed since in joffice he brands himself as a charlatan of the first water. MacDonald, speaking for the group that has purged itself of all labor coloring since it took office and that looks askance at Wheatley, the left- winger from the Clyde, who alone puts up a fight against British capi talism, voices the doctrine of class- collaboration and would have British labor believe that capital and labor can lie down together without danger that the labor lamb will rest quietly in the stomach of the capitalist lion. Listen to what he says of the bit- terest enemies of the British working class: Personally, | have nothing the Opposition leaders, mi them are honest in their tions. Lord Curzon is a very able man. Furthermore, I will say some- thing that will surprise you. I ex- pect Lord Curzon to be great service to me in the administration of the Government. There are many surprises due to the Con- servatives and Liberals at the man- ner in whi a Labor Government will be administered. It is almost needless to add for those who have been following the career of the MacDonald government that the surprises, so far as the capi- talists are concerned, have all been pleasant ones. It’ was when asked for his opinion of the liberal party that MacDonald really opened his heart. It was a subject that, he loved and he was gen- erously voluble: It has some very able men at the head of it. Their sentiments are exactly the same as ours, with the exception that they have not the moral courage to carry their con- victions to the logical conclusion. The time is coming quickly when there will be only two parties, the Conservatives who represent capi- tal, and the combined forces who favor a government by the people. The public will learn that the bu; boo of a Labor party is a myth: that we are not Communists, will not be controlled by the small min- ority of our party who are Com- munistic; that we do not favor di- rect action; that we are whole- heartedly in favor of parliamentary government according to law, and bitterly opposed to any Bolshevik control; we are constitutionalists. an unprecedented event place, and many are not fully aware as yet of its tremendous significance. It must be especially emphasized that this event—the first Internation! Farmers’ Conference—represents a turning point in history of mankind, and can be counted among the most important events of our epoch. That is no exaggeration, but an appraisal of the facts based upon the prospect of coming events. Busides, Comrade Zinoviev who greeted this first International Farmers’ Confer- ence in the name of the Communist International, emphasized that co- lossal significance of this Conference would be recognized in « year or two years. It is most interesting that Comrade Lenin, whose state of heaith already permits him to read the pa- pers eft ig to follow political events, took an extraordinary interest in this conference. Comrade Zinoviey made the remark that our leader has a sure eye; if among such numerous impor- tant events of our time he recognized the paramount significance of this conference, he is not mistaken, for this event is of epoch-making signi- ficance. Vanguard of Militant Farmers. Wherein lies its great significance? We shall try to give # direct answer to this question. Namely, that a violent change is taking place in the minds of the farmer masses of the West, and of most of the capitalist countries. This first International Farmers’ Coufer- ence is an outspoken expression of this change. The vanguard, the best part of the farmer army is hastening to the aid of the workers’ army, it abandons the camp of the capitalist class and do- clares a pitiless war upon cupitatisi in the name of the vital interests uf the broad farmer masses, That is ¢x- actly the great uistorical, epoch-mak- ing significance of the co ~ENCe, The rest of the farmer m will without any doubt follow this van- guard, The history of suciai move- ments shows us that the henrers and the spokesmen of the true interests of the class, those who slop frum an- der the yoke of oppression inte the arena of the politien) struggle are usually a small troop of the best rey resentatives which is svon followed by the whole class. tt was not in the name of an ideslirtic, sentimentas brotherliness, but mn the round of veality of the vitul intwrevts of the farmer masses thal their true repre- ernment. ” The Red Farmer-International sentatives arrived at the conclusion i c P that only the closest co-operation TERING: she ancien Raeai wellp with the working class, only the strug- gle of the working class in common with the farmers, against the class of exploiters of workers and farmers, against the landowners and capital- ists, can free the farmer class from the yoke of centuries of oppression and subjection. True, the working class are two different social forma- tions which are just as different as is the environment in which they live. But apart from that, the two class- es have common interests, and they find a common language in order to understand each other. Unity of Worker and Farmer. In reality the farmers are no less exploited by capitalism than are the workers; in many countries they are even more oppressed, as for instance, in the colonies and half colonial countries. Capitalism heaps upon them constant tortures und priva- tions. That is why the farmer cluss which is prepared to fight against the enemy ‘seeks for an unselfish, loyal ally and finds such an ally in the working class. The farmer-class real- izes well enough that the landowners and the industrial and commercial bourgeoisie have contrasting interests and yet they act in concert against the workers and farmers. This in- structive example of the co-operation of the two exploiting classes points more and more to the necessity of an alliance of the workers and farmers. The conference was virtually a means of arriving at a common poli- tical and economic, platform for the alliance of workers and farmers. The conference took up the ques- tion of war and peace ‘and arrived at the conclusion that the continued existence of the capitalist world sys- tem means a new period of calamity for the broad farmer masses. Eco- nomie questions were also brought up. The conference arrived at the conviction that in many countries the cupitalist class shifts all the burdens which resulted from the war upon the shoulders of the workers and farmers in equal measure. This is done in various forms: in the form of taxes, duties, in the form of depreciation of money, thru the constant inflation of paper money, etc. The farmer dele- tes became convinced that the Stans for the high cost of living which drives workers as well as the farmers into the depths of despair, lies upon no one but the capitalist class which refuses to make any sacrifices in order to support its gov- In this instance again, Capitalist Lackey. Here we have in extenso the Mac- Donald creed and in it there is no expression of faith or hope in the working class. It is the impartial state where good men rule because of their goodness that this man, upon whom the socialists of the world have heaped encomiums, visualizes; he wants a government “according to law” and laws that matter—those af- fecting property rights and the con- trol of the lives of the workers be- cause of them—are property rights. Any change in these laws the Mac- Donaldites have already abjured; they must, therefore, protect the very basis of capitalism and they will. Even the mild reform of capital levy is repudiated by MacDonald with something approaching holy horror— altho the British working class voted for it. Expressions of the popular will can be disregarded safely, even by apostles of democracy, when their consummation would alienate the real rulers—the big capitalists and the cockroach substrata. Speaking of the capital levy Mac- Donald says: It is impossible even if we were so inclined, without Liberal sup- port. Furthermore, we are not at all certain that a capital levy is at present the best for the country. It would put us upon a sound finan- cial basis. But the danger to the economic world of such a sudden change in economic policy nec: careful thought before mpted. “The economic world” that would be endangered by carrying out the pledges made to the British working class before election is the economic world of the British capitalist class and if you have read the above ex- hibits of MacDonaldism you know al- ready that the group for which he speaks have no intention of even re- modeling extensively the structure of British capitalism, Only such measures will be urged as will make no serious inroads upon the control of industry and finance by the exploiters of the workers. | In the MacDonald cabinet are many | representatives of the old British offi- icial caste, the landed aristocracy and |the financiers—the Haldanes, Chelms- fords, Thomsons, Oliviers, ete. Their policies are the historical imperialistic policies of Great Britain altho at present covered with a liberal camou- flage and under the MacDonald gov- ernment the colonial peoples are en- slaved as they always have been; with the additional insult that the Curzon policy of giving them reac- tionary nationalist governments as more efficient instruments of oppres- sion is being followed. Arresting Strikers. At the same time that MacDonald breathes wishes of peace on earth and goodwill to men and sends a message of congratulation to that tool of Bri- itish imperialism, the Egyptian na- {tional government, sixteen members of the Communist party of Egypt have been arrested for taking an ac- jtive part in the strikes of the under- paid workers in Alexandria. They are charged, in accordance with the best idemocratic traditions, with the fol- ‘alike; : jmaintenance of the status quo until “Happiness and Peace, Home and Abroad”---MacDonald lowing crimes—crimes with which ev- ery revolting working class has been charged since the class struggle came party of history: (1) Spreading “anarchi: imcompatible with Egyptian cons‘ tutional principles. (2) Attempting to upset the basis of social order by force, ter- ror, and other illegal methods. (3) Inciting workmen to commit attempt: inst private property and besi ‘factories belonging to private persons. Let us turn now and peruse the message of congratulation sent re- cently to the middle class government of Egypt by Ramsay MacDonald—the liberal Christian pacifist: The Egyptian nation, which, hav- ing been endowed by its sovereign, King Fuad, with a modern and lib- eral constitution, is now for the first time represented by the Parlia- ment elected upon the broad fou! dation of popular suffrage. . dvance of Egypt ... amongst the company of the free and pro; ressive peoples of the world . . an era of happiness with peace home and abroad. “An era of happiness with peace at home and abroad.” The class = gle no longer exists in the Britisl Empire. Two million British work ers are without jobs. The Indian an the Egyptian workers may starve and fight. and fight and starve again and revolutionary workers fill the colonial jails but in Great Britain the Mac- Donald cabinet has made its peace with British capitalism, the “radicals” and “extremists” are hated by “la- bor” premier and noble _ lord no drastic measures but a British capitalism gets on its feet again with the aid of a “labor” gov- ernment. Fascism Threatens. The British working class is not quite so naive as the American so- cialists and it is not quite so well satisfied with the respectable parlia- mentarians who have severed their connections with the crude and im- patient workers and everything taint- ed with the revolutionary doctrine of the class struggle. Encouraged by the spinelessness of this so-called labor government Bri- tish fascism mutters in its beard and prepares to junk the democracy for which it no longer has use; the Mac- Donaldites will cling to the frail 4) until it is swamped by the risin, waves of the storm that the decay o British capitalism is bringing an then its wreckage will join the debris of European capitalist parliamentar- ism that strews the shores of the con- tinent. Today, under its present leader- ship, the British Labor party is a menace to the entire working class movement for it is destroying the morale of the working class at the time when the ruling class is girding for war on every form of working class organization and activity. The hope of British labor is in the Com- munist Party of Great Britain and the left wing of the working class move- ment of whigs MacDonald and his group speak with scorn and indigna- the correlation of farmers’ interests and workers’ interests was made clearly apparent. lecline in Production. It was further established that an ever greater decline in production may be observed in the capitélist countries and that the capitalist gov- ernment does not in the least con- which is going ever downward, under excessive burdens; and the only way out is the destruction of the present unjust regime. The last circumstance gpeaks espe- ciully for the necessity of unity against the common enemy, capital- ism. The more that life itself con- vinces the farmers of the impossibil- ity of an independent, victorious struggle, the more does this idea make headway with elemental force among the unconscious masses, ‘he example of Bulgaria is ob- vious. Then we have the opposite ex- ample of Soviet Russia, where the farmers, thanks to their alliance with the working class obtained a victory. This example shows which road the movement, for liberation of the farm- ers, must follow. The conference created the nucleus of the Red Farmers’ International in the form of the International Farm- ers’ Council, But it consciously drew the line of demarcation between it- self and the utopian phantasies which would have it that the farmer class plays an independent political role. The conference showed the millions and tens of millions of working Crit ga the ryt senna sy Feb of rd struggle inst capitalism and the alliange of workers and farmers on _an international scale, The principal watchword as adopted: “Farmers and workers of all countries unite!” This alone goes to show sufficiently well that this Red Farmers’ International menaces in the highest degree the existence of pact. ork For Farmers’ International. The conference did not only reckon Lyman. cern itself with the farmers’ lot, | Our Philadelphia Office © Philadelphia Office of the DAILY WORKER has been established at 521 York Avenue, Telephone Market 5089. “ This office will be the headquarters of the DAILY WORKE! Campaign Committee, in charge of the City Agent, Comrade John - tion. By T. pomBall jonen the possibility of a period o} |eommon revolutionary struggle of th’ | workers and farmers against the capi: |talist exploiters, but also upon the possibility of a longer, peaceiul pe- |riod of economic co-operation with ithe working class. In this respect i was decided, in order to do away with | small-scale farming and gradually to introduce higher forms of agricul- jture, to create an Agricltural ‘nsti- | tute similar to the Institute ut Rome, ; but with the difference that, in con- | trast with the Rome Institute, which |provides only for the development of lindowners’ estates, the Moscow Anstitute will have in mind the farmer. The conference recognized as tasks jof the present moment the neccssity \of the struggle for the Governmen: jof Workers and Farmers, the strug- gle for an international alliance of workers’ and farmers’ republics, As we see, this conference, in which 122 farmer delegates from 40 different nationalities participut (among them were even leaders 0 the various oppositional farmey na’ ties, farmer associutions, leagues, ete., and even certain farmoz repro- sentatives in parliaments) made dv- cisions which could be, and in fat will surely be, of tremendous signifi- eance for the political developmen’ of the laboring mass of the people uf the whole world. the deadly enemy of the working class may well tremble before this Red Farmers’ tnterna- tional. In fact, the more successfully hit develops, the sooner wil! it lead to the downfall of capitalism. Overy elass-conscious worker must wish fo* the successful development of the Farmers’ International. ~ Be Workers, Farmers, Unite! May it grow, this first international farmers’ organization; may it de- velop, may the call: “Workers and farmers of all countries unite!" conch the most remote farmers’ cottaes In all countries of the globe! ¥ The Daily will be on sale at this office, All communcations should be addressed to the above. address. *