The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 6, 1924, Page 6

Page Six ‘THE DAILY WORKER. Published by the DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO., 1113 W. Washington Blvd.,, Chicago, Ill. (Phone: Monroe 4712) SUBSCRIPTION RATES By mail: $3.50....6 months $2.00....3 months By mail (in Chicago only): $4.50....6 months $2.50....3 months $6.00 per year $8.00 ‘per year Address all mail and make out checks to THE DAILY WORKER 1113 W. Washington Bivd. Chicago, Ilinois Pa SA ae Veh SA oS Le Ae RRR ee RR Ri PE J. LOUIS ENGDAHL ) itors WILLIAM F. DUNNE ) cee MORITZ J. LOBB..... Business Manager Entered as second-class mail Sept. 21, 1923 at the Post- Office at Chicago, Ill, under the act of March 3, 1879. <i 220 Advertising rates on application. nd eee That Terrifying Election Early reports of the results of the German elec- tions Sunday indicate the correctness of the fore- cast. that the Communists would be the greatest gainers. Already the adherents of the Third In- ternational are assured a minimum of sixty seats. Th the last Reichstag the Communists could muster a maximum strength of only seventeen votes. It is of inestimable significance to note that the foreign office of the reactionary Socialist-Stinnes- Stressman outfit, masquerading today as the Ger- man Republic, has found it necessary to issue a special statement on the outcome of the election. And that declaration is frank enough to confess disappointment at the results. The Prussian for- eign office speaks of the “terrifyitig increase of Communist votes.” These Junker-renegade socialist hangmen of the workers have all the cause on earth to be terrified at the turn of events in Germany, if the election is to be taken at all as a barometer of the intensity of the class conflicts. There is no doubt that the Communists have much more strength than the sixty seats in the Reichstag would indicate. In many sections of the German Reich, Bavaria for instance, the Communists could not vote because of Fascist terrorism. The Communist Party had just emerged from a completely illegal stage forced upon it by Ebert and his gangmen. Even in the election campaign the Party was practically work- ing under a partial ban. Many of its best workers have been jailed and manhandled. Despite these difficulties and the tremendous efforts made by the capitalists to rout the workers in the campaign, the Communists have shown that, for the first time, they have the right to speak as the party of the majority of the working class. It-is true the Socialist-Democratic Party of Noske and Scheidemann have gotten a few more seats in the Reichstag. But when one considers that those Socialist votes were also representative of:a large section of the lower bourgeoisie and that the socialist: organization had all the advantage of being the Government party and was free from the obstacles hurled in the path of the Commun- ists, it is obvious that the old Social-Democratic Party has, for once, lost its position as the leading, political expression of the proletariat. The out- look for a decisive test in the German class war is thus greatly enhanced. The much-heralded Dawes report is also given a severe jolt by the rising tide of Communism in Germany. In Darkest Pennsylvania Six workingmen are now being tried by a United States Steel and National Coal Association court * in Farrell, Pennsylvania, on the charge of having violated the state anti-sedition law, thru member- ship and association with the Workers Party. This trial is of vital concern to the workers and rural masses of every section of the country. This trial is only the preliminary move of the steel and coal interests to launch a new campaign of ter- rorism against the working men of the state, es- pecially in Western Pennsylvania. For some time the department of justice and its stoolpigeons in the trade unions’ of Pittsburgh have been trying to break up the Workers Party in the Smoky City. The solidarity of all labor with the Communists in the strong and successful Labor Defense and Free Speech Council has so far stopped the capi- talist agents from denying the working class of Pennsylvania the right to belong to and support a political party opposed to capitalism. The big business interests have chosen a weaker section of the proletarian front to make their at- tack. Should they win ‘in Farrell, there is every likelihood that they will then go after the nine workingmen arrested a.year ago in Pittsburgh, and charged with the crime against the bosses and their government—the crime of belonging to the Workers Party. Every. possible support. must be rendered the brave workers now battling for their very lives. The law these workers are charged with having violated was opposed at the time of its passage, and is today bitterly denounced by every part of the labor movement, regardless of its political opinion. If the employers win in Farrell, they will attack Pittsburgh next. After Pittsburgh the rest of the state will be easy, And after the most aggressive and militant group of the working class is crushed, the onslaught against the other work- ers’ organizations is the logical next step. Thus it is in the interest of all workers, regardless of any difference of opinion that may separate them today, to line up*behind the Communists and their sympathizers, now under fire by the blackest band of enemies the laboring and farming masses of the country face today, An Exploded Charge When the question of the expulsion of members from the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union, because of their membership in the Trade Union Educational League, comes before the union’s convention, now in session-in Boston, it will be well for the delegates to remember what has actually taken place during the present strike in Chicago. The expelled members were charged with being disrupters and dual unionists, surely a serious charge if true. But the insanity of this claim was shown when the garment strike started and ex- pelled members were called upon to take responsi- ble positions in the conduct of the strike. If the charges had any basis in fact, this would cer- tainly not have been done. Not only did the T. U. E. L. militants respond to the call of the strike, and take leading positions in the struggle, but the aid of the. DAILY WORKER, in giving daily publicity to the strike, was considered indispensable in waging the fight. The speakers of the Workers Party were also called upon continually to address the strikers at their daily meetings. This situation alone is an open confession that the expulsion policy of the Sigman administration in the I. L. G. W. U. is wrong and indefensible. And if the policy is indefensible during a ‘strike, it is equally without excuse during peace times, and especially so during the sessions ofa conyen- tion, when all prejudice should be put aside and all matters discussed on the basis of the welfare of the organization. The expulsion policy in the I. L. G. W. U. has done great harm to the organization. Now is the time to abolish it. That is the biggest task of the Boston convention of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union. Our Pullman Strike Special Yesterday’s issue of the DAILY WORKER was given over to a considerable extent, to the strike of the carmen at Pullman. Thousands of. copies of this issue went to workers still on the job, who feel that they are not affected, and to the workers in other. plants in this big industrial section on Chicago’s South Side. This issue contained articles and news stories by our own writers. But it is significant that it also contained an article by John Holmgren, vice- president of the Brotherhood of Railway ‘Carmen, in charge of the strike. The Carmen’s Union is the third largest organization within the American Federation of Labor and was the-steel rod in the backbone of the shopmen’s strike in 1922. Holmgren, as an official of a union affiliated with the A. F. of L., has no fear of the DAILY WORKER, as the official expression of the Work- ers Party. All he knows is that the DAILY WORKER is proving an effective aid in'the strike, and that a united front of all labor’s forces is needed if the strike is to. be won. The splendid spirit of revolt displayed by the Pullman workers outstrips anything that has de- veloped in a score of years. The -present is a golden opportunity to transmute that spirit into a powerful ofganization of all'workers in the Pull- man plant. This present favorable situation has big opportunities of bearing rich fruit because the workers are not being divided byan imaginary and baseless war, within their own ranks, against the Communists. We may differ with Strike Leader Holmgren on a lot of things, but for his share in bringing about the united front of the Pullman workers we give him full credit. Getting the News The Seattle Union Record aspires to be the daily mouthpiece of the workers and farmers in Pt eee Ee en end (olgi - the Pacific Northwest. It has, therefore, some views on what kind of a paper the workers and farmers want. ; The DAILY WORKER also aspires to speak for labor, in the cities and on the land, and it has its ideas on what labor needs to read. When the DAILY WORKER made its appear- ance, the editor of the Seattle Union Record took us to task for not publishing all the “news,” that we were ignoring current events. On comparison we found that the DAILY WORKER was giving just as much space to the big developments over the world as the Union Record, perhaps more so. Of course, we interpreted these events as we saw them. But perhaps we mistook the criticism of. the Union Record editor. The Pacific Coast dajly, in its issue of Saturday, April 26th, on its first page, in large type, loudly proclaims. $10,000. of New Features Added to the Union Record.” We are told that a “Bigger and Better Union THE DAILY WORKER The day that Hugo Stinnes died, I was in Berlin. The capitalist papers were overflowing with glowing eulo- gies of this master industrialist, who Probably did more than any other one man in the past. several years to reduce the German people to their present pitiable poverty. But the revo- lutionary journals shed no crocodile tears over the passing away of this super-parasite. They showed his true role as a gigantic bloodsucker, It seemed a very fitting occasion to vis- it a big Communist mass meeting called for that evening, so I went.’ The German Communist Party is at present an underground illegal organ- ization. By outlawing it, the authori- ties hope especially to cripple its in- fluence in the coming elections to the Reichstag. The big party headquar- ters on Rosenthalerstrasse are vacant save for a few comrades here and there. But public mass meetings are still held under the name of the Pare ty, and the one scheduled was such, These meetings, however, are often the scene of bloody clashes with the Fascisti, who seek to break them up. At the meeting in question, a vis- it from the Fascisti was particularly expected, owing to the peculiar na- ture of the program and the fitness of ‘the occasion. As it turned out, however, no disturbance of conse- ugence developed, altho a few shots were fired outside of the hall. The program was one of the best pieces of propaganda work it has ever been my good fortune to see. It consisted of a series of stereopticon views: of the German revolutionary movement, accompanied by a lecture. It was ‘a history of the counter-revo- lutionary activities of the Social-Dem- mocratic Party, and was entitled “S. D. P. Words vs. S. D. P. Actions.” By PAUL JUDITZ. If we wish to analyze the reasons for the present helpless condition of our trade unions, we must start at the very roots of the problem. We must see whence spring the policies which at-present determine the course of our activities, and evaluate the methods used in the daily life and struggles of our organizatiouly” Abraham Baroff, General Secretary of the International, writing in the New York Jewish Daily (Socialist) “Forward” on April 2nd, tries to point out the difficulties lying in the way of organizing the workers in the ladies’ garment industry, and says: “When we examine the results of our organization campaigns carried on during the last two years, we first then realize the obstacles which we encountered. And we are.eften trou- bled with the thot that we are help- less in face of the circumstances.” For this reason, Baroff continues, he and the other. leaders of the In- ternational came to the conclusion that “agitation and propaganda among the unorganized alone do not suffice.” What then? “We must extend our agitation and propaganda to the com- munity so that union-made products may be propertly appreciated. Such work must become part of our organ- ized activity.” And Baroff has another “important” conclusion, namely, “that unions must not undertake to control all the conditions in an industry unless they have at their disposal enormous pro- fits.” This last point Baroff considers the most important one upon which the next convention of the Interna- tional must act. Baroff’s article is quite character- istic from start to finish. The story ‘is told of a certain quack doctor who had one remedy for the diseases of all his patients: exercise for them, two dollars for him. Baroff has a simi- lar remedy. Is the union helpless? Do the workers suffer? Is it difficult to organize them? The solution is simple. Sew labels on garments, and give the union a fund. Baroff is not the only one to believe that.the union can become powerful by. propagandizing the *employers, or as he calls them, the “community.” Nor is this a new viewpoint discov- ered by Baroff. Such a policy has long been the practice in our unions. Baroff’s quack medicine has long been used in healing the wounds of the workers, but, as was to be expected, the pain is still the same. Let us consider this more carefully. In the labor movement we find two fundamental and opposing points of view on the methods of labor organi- zation and the tactics to be pursued in the struggles of the workers. There is’the Marxist viewpoint, and the so- Record!” is to develop out of the use of the ‘Mil-| cattea Gomperist viewpoint. The for- lion Dollar Hearst Features!” and Mr. William|mer holds, that the emancipation of Randolph Hearst is paid the tribute of being “admittedly one of the most brilliant newspaper publishers in the world.” . . the workers can be achieved only by the workers themselves. The latter believes in peace between capital and labor. The one maintains that the This makes us rather proud of the criticism of} workers must always carry on a per- the Union Record editor. Surely, if he thinks the Hearst chloroform good for the workers and farm- ers, then we would feel there was something wrong with us, if he directed any praise our way. Against “Willie” Hearst’s “Abie the Agent” we will pit the latest news about the biggest strike, or expose the most recent developments in cor- rupt legislation that is being put over in Wash- ington, and depend on the workers and farmers to know which is the better for them. . We had always thought that the Union Record was slip- ping. Now we are sure of it. . sistent struggle not only for better conditions of living, but for their complete liberations. The other places its hope upon the good will of the capitalists rather than upon the struggle of the workers. The Gompersist philosophy pre- dominates not alone in the so-called American unions, but is very carefully followed even in the so-called Social- ist unions. In the Jewish Labor move- ment, public opinion and the appeal to good-will of the employers are led as very important weapons the daily struggles of the work- | fight. The Socialist Party The whole traitorous record was there in broad outline, This ~history began with the Second International Congress just before the war, where the Socialist Democrats declared they would use “every means” to prevent war. Then came the great “betray- al” in 1914, with the Socialists mus- tering their forces to help the. Kaiser overthrow Russian, English, French, and American imperialism. The pic- tures graphically portrayed the or- ganized and systematic treason of the Social Democrats during. the war, the jailing of Karl Liebknecht. and Rosa Luxemburg,*the outbreak. of the Rus- sian revolution, the signing of the Brest-Litvosk treaty, and ~ eventual- ly, the overthrow of the Kaiser. Here began a new record of betray- al by the Socialist Democrats, the assassination of the German revolu- tion. All the main developments were covered by the pictures; the agree- ment with the capitalists that the present social system should contin- ue, the murdering of Liebknecht and Luxemburg, the shooting down of German workers by Moske’s assas- sins, the overthrow of the Munchin soviet; the abolition of the proletari- an troops and the substitution of white guard organizations, the defeat of the “March Action” in 1921, the treasonable agreement to fulfill the reparations demands of the Allies, the betrayal of the workers in the Ruhr, the suppression of the revolutionary movement in 1923, the abolition of the eight-hour day, and a hundred other events, all pitcured in such a simple and effective way as to bring home most powerfully to the workers as- sembled the tragic lessons of the past ten years. It was a most terrific indictment of the Social Democracy, as well as a glowing defense .of the ers. Morris Kaufman, of the Fur- riers’ Union, is not the only one who strives to establish “hearty co-opera- tion” between unions and employers. In “Justice,” issue of March 28th, appeared an article by Morris Sig- man, which is based upon a longer statement sent to the capitalist press by the president of the “Internation- al.” In this article Sigman tries his utmost to show that the union wish- es to do its best not only for the workers, but also for the employers. “The*program of the union,” he stat- es, is just as much in the interests of the jobbers and manufacturers as it is in the interests of the workers.” In another article published in “Jus- tice,” on February 22nd, Sigman ap- peals to the jobbers to be and accept “the responsibility and obli- gations which modern manufacturers assume towards their employers”. “We would then,” he says, “have two powers of equal strength in the in- dustry—on the one hand, the jobber with his capital; on the other, the organized worker with his force con- centrated in his union. These two Powers would estimate ‘each other's strength and would try to maintain a balance conclusive to peace. This would benefit the entire industry.” Let it not be forgotten that the writer of this is one who constantly insists that he is an industrialist, a revolutionary. The same Gomperists “peace pol- icy” is in many respects even more scrupulously followed by the leaders of the Amalgamated. We will not cite facts here as we have a special ar- ticle on the policies of the Amalga- mated. The same policy is pursued in the Capmakers’ Union, in the Jour- neymen Tailors’ Union, and in oth so-called radical unions. This Gom- persist philosophy not only finds ex- but is the determining ‘factor in ev- ery step of trade union activity. And this is the cause of the chaos) the de- moralization, the helplessness of our union organizations. At a time when truly progtessive leaders are exerting all their energy to organize the workers so that they may be prepared to carry on a real struggle, the Gompersists strive to organize the workers only for the purpose of negotiating collectively with the employers. This policy of the Gompersist trade union leaders pression in the public statements of union officials or in press articles, was very clearly demonstrated in a feature article in the monthly journal of the metal polishers’ international union. “Every worker,” the article states, “must be united with the other work- ers in his trade, so as to obtain, thru The Poor Fish says it looks like an even heat between the garment work- ers and the Puliman car workers as to which is A German Communist Meeting — ® Witiom 2. Fou Communist Party. But if the program was highly in- teresting, the audience itself was hardly less so. The great hall was literally jammed, at least 3,000 peo- ple, men. women and children being packed into the building, whose gloominess, frigidness, and generally rundown condition reflected the sta- tus of present day Germany. The crowd was stern and cold and calm—marvellously so,. Never at any time did the assembled workers show any emotion, There was no applause whatever. Many of, the pictures were blood-stirring, and the crowd was in- tensely interested in and sympathetic with. them, but it sat quiet as they were shown. Occasionally a worker would cry out his indignation at some scene or individual being shown, or perhaps, a titter would: run thru the house at the humorous portrayal of some incident, such as the flight of the Social Democratic government during the Kapp-Putsch, while the workers fought the battle. But that was as far as the emotional demon- strations went. The whole tning was most deadly serious. The meeting reminded me of noth- ing so much as a meeting of strikers er | strike.” putting up the better in the last weeks, of a long and bitter struggle. Time and again I have seen that same spirit at meetings of hard fighting miners, steel workers, rail- road men. Not a smile. not a bit of enthusiasm, nothing but grim deter- mination to go on with the struggle. That was the dogged spirit of the Russian workers in the early hard years of their revolution, .t is the spirit of the revolutionary German workers now. In this remarkable meeting this unconquerable, do or die spirit dominated and pervaded everything. It portrayed to me even Gompersists joint action, higher wages and better egnditions of. labor. No individual worker. can gain these merely thru his'own unaided. efforts. When an employer deals with each of, say, 500 employes separately, he can easily treat them without the proper spirit of fairness. Thru collective negotia- tions we have . greater possibilitier for concluding agreements which may result in more desirable relations be tween capital and labor, and estab- lish peace. Coilective bargaining af- fords the only practical means of bet- tering the relations between propric- tors and workers on a Lusiness-like basis. It guarantees a ‘square deal’ to both sides.” Several weeks ago the writer of more forcefully than the picturfes themselves, the bitterness of the g~‘eat struggle that the German woy ‘ing class is now passing thru. \ AS WE SEE IT — By T. J. O'FLAHERTY Fred R. Marvin, editor of the Search- light department of the New York Commercial, is whining because the papers are not taking himself and his red exposures as seriously as he thinks the product of his fertile imag- ination deserves. His department car+ ries from day to day “up-to-date and reliable information on the activities, of “destructive moyements seekin; directly or indirectly to overthrow th government of the United States.” H is sarcastically referred to as a “100 | per cent American” by even some the capitalist papers that do not kno better, he complains. + ee eo Of course he continues it is not tk } = prising that such papers as the © munist DAILY WORKER of Chicago should ridicule him but the “pinks” too have entered the fray. He is think- ing of getting out an injunction re- straining the press from criticizing his actions, particularly his efforts to shake down the bankers for cash, He swears that all his published stuff is authoritative. All those who have ribs prepare to break them now laughing’ at this idiot. Who do you think this gentleman considers reliable author- ity? Well, no less a person than the well-known crook and liar, Harry M. Daugherty, and his predecessor in of- fice under Wilson, the unspeakable A. Mitchell Palmer. Marvin says he does not mind the hostility of the Com- munist press but the ingratitude of , the capitalist papers is what makes | him shed salt tears and stay awake nights cogitating on the thorny path that patriots must trod. a The Pullman Company really had a pretty way of giving its employes rep- resentation. It was a fifty-fifty proposi- | tion. Right off the reel you will agree | that nothing could be fairer. Instead of having a labor union where the workers would have to rely on their own mental efforts, they had the ad vantage of having in their organiza. tion the leaders of the company consult with, as to how best advance the interests of Florence Pullman, her beefy husband Frank 0. Lowden and the fat swine on their “Ideal Farm.” Let us say, five workers from the shops and five executives appointed by the company met to discuss their this article attended a meeting ot | Problems. In the event of no decision tailors called’ by the Journeymen| {he head of the company had final say Tailors’ Union, at which various un- jon leaders made propaganda speech- es to show the necessity of organiz- ing the workers. One. organizer of the Journeymen Tailors’ Union i:- Chicago, had this to say: “Should any one tell you that the purpose o; organization is to carry on a struggle for better conditions thru strikes, me assure you he does not know what *> ‘» telking about, The aim of or- ganization-is to avoid strikes of the workers. “In Chicago,” he further declared. “our union has had: no strike for the last 15 years. Do-you know why? Simply because in Chicago we are or- ganized. When you are unorganiz- yed. the boss sometimes takes’ advan- tage of your position and treats you 80 badly that.you are forced to strik When you are organized, however, the ros: is compelled to deal with you differently, and the unidn can see to it that the situation leads to no This is the “class” viewpoint of the present leadership in all the un- ions of the needle trades. The work- ers must be organized only to the ex- tent necessary for collective bargain- ing with the employers. These lead- ers do not think -of organization as a@ means of building up a working class power, which can carry on a struggle to maintain positions pre- vio won and to achieve new gains. We have no union teaders, concern- ed with educating the workers to class-consciousness, and actually lead- ing them into the struggle for better living conditions, We have merely “union mediators” who seek only to curry favors from the. employers. It therefore often happens that union leaders make more effort to organize employers’ as- sociations than to strengthen the un- ions of the workers. ay Hence all the methods of organiza- tion and struggle which they use have led the unions into a swamp, If th workers wish to escape from the swamp, they must first understand how injurious all the tactics are, day. We shall describe these tactics more fully in the next article. Lay Off 800 Textile Workers. LAWRENCE, Mass., May 5.—More than 800 textile workers have been put on the streets with the closing of the Pemberton and»Methuen cotton mills of Lawrence. Within the. last month employment hi decreased over 18 per cent according to Massa; chusetts department of labor figures. In Massachusetts 64 per cent of ‘factories are operating on part time or closed down entirely. Every new subscriber increases the Influence of the DAILY WORKER, in the matter. Quite fair indeed. Re- lieved the workers of a lot of think- ing! ‘When the Pullman company wanted to reduce the wages of their slaves 25 per cent, they announced a 40 per cent cut. The representatives of the workers in the Company Union suc- ceeded in beating this down to the 25 per cent the company originally in- tended to cut them and thought they had won a victory. Even this fake sample of “industrial democracy” so they finally decided to come boldly and say they could no long waste their time in this manner but would run their plant as they saw fit. Perhaps the workers may follow suit and decide not to waste their time but join up with the Brotherhood of Rail- way Carmen which is organizing them into a real union. ah, Pe The Southern Railway is trying out the ‘policy of class collaboration with its employes. The latter were grant- ed a flat increase in wages of approx- imately five per cent—not a stunning raise—which will be in effect until March 1927. To this is added a bo- | nus system which is expected to re- duce the operating expenses of the carrier without. costing an awful lot in the way of disbursements to workers. The total operating expen- ses to gross revenue on the Southern Railway in 1923 were 21.42 per cent and this is known as the “test ratio,” or @ for 1924, and if despite higher wages the 1924 ratio is not in excess of the “test ratio,” the management will pay in February 1926, a bonus to each em- ploye of 11-2 percent of his total 1925 to be in excess of the excess will be deducted from the 11-2 percent, The company however, gen- erously agrees not to wipe out the percent increase no matter how the “ratio” goes. Under the most favor- able circumstances, that is, granting — the workers should worry the whole which have been practiced to thig|¥e@T round about saving fuel on their master’s railroads, etc., thé bonus al- lotment of a worker receiving $2,000 @ year would be just RP F This idea of getting the workers to feel ‘that they own the railroads by hanging an imaginary $30 bill in own the roads, Wall Street Journal that the already showing great enthusiasm topic of conversation among the sys- tem's employes and they are even so- liciting business for the road in order to get a “Half Nelson” on that thirty healed PD ba little schemes look 4 ey never work—for workers, i In February, 1925, the ratio of th expenses to gross will be the scheme. The “bonus” is the chief a irritating the big guns of the co! °