The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 14, 1924, Page 3

Wednesday, May 14, 1924 THE DAILY WORKER —_<_—<X—XXXXXXi_—X—XK&\&—rm er CITIZENSHIP PAPERS GRANTED TO SWORN ~ ANTI-BOLSHEVIKS ONLY MERCER, Pa. May 13.—The ad- joining courtroom in Mercer, where Tony Kovacovich, steel worker, was being convicted for “sedition,” was crowded with prospective American citizens being examined for final citizenship papers. A small but au- tocratic examiner from Pittsburgh was firing away questions. The prize question was: “ARE YOU A BOLSHEVIK, ANARCHIST OR 1}. W. W.? Do you believe in these things?” Out of several hundred examined no reds were discovered. All read the local town scandal- izers, loved their family and boss, never were arrested and opposed the reds. The one principal qualification re- quired by the commonwealth of all future citizens is that they love their master and oppose his slaves daring to think out loud. ee * Mercer K. K. K. Holds Konklave. Large white letters were painted on the roads surrounding the Mer- cer county courthouse, where the “sedition” trial was being held—all roads leading into Mercer were painted up with these large white letters. These three letters were K. K. K., announcing that an all- day county konklave would be held Saturday, May 10, the day Steel Worker Tony Kovacovich was found guilty of sedition. Vital Mechanical - Coal Loading Issue Ignored By Lewis By J. A. HAMILTON. The interest in the mechanical coal loader as a substitute for the miner with his shovel is reflected in the pro- posal of the Hillman/Coal company, one of the largest operators in the Pittsburgh district, to bear part of the expense of an investigation by the United States bureau of mines, of the performance of mechanical load-, ers in actual use. The proposed investigation would require ten months, cover all coal mining states, and would result in a report suggesting methods and mine layouts for loading coal from the Pitts- burgh seam with machines. Mechanical loading would affect the miners (1) by reducing the labor re- quired, and hence the demand for miners; (2) reducing the skill and effort, and hence furnish an excuse for cutting wages and make it easier to secure miners from other indus- tries. - . One of the worst condemnations of the Lewis machine is that in its pol- icy it entirely ignores the changes which will be brought about by me- chanical loading, among other tech- nical changes of the near future. John Brown’s Birth Remembered; Plan Memorial At Grave LAKE PLACID, N. Y., May. 13.— Memorial services were held here Saturday, to commemorate the birth of the anti-slavery champion, John Brown, born 124 years ago, by the John Brown Memorial Association of Philadelphia. In an address delivered during the memorial services, Mr. William Pick- ens, Field Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said: “More than half a century afterward most sane men admit that John Brown was right; that slavery was an evil not to be compromised with but destroyed. “It is familiar history today how John Brown’s whole life, from his birth in New England to his death on a Virginia gallows, was a protest and a warfare against human slavery. It was not the Negro that he loved, It was slavery that he hated. And un- like many others, he would not com- promise with brutal wrong on the shallow excuse of color. He planned and plotted and worked and fought and bled until he made Kansas free, and then from the mountains of what was then northwestern Virginia, he struck a mighty blow at the almost al- mighty slave power. In prison and on the scaffold he was as steadfast and unchangeable as the God in whom he believed. He died and his immortal soul inspired a million men to accom- plish the work which he dared with a handful of men to attempt. “If John Brown, of Connecticut, and New York, had done his magnificent deed in defense of the fortunate and the favorites of the powerful, the shaft to his memory*today would tow- er up in rivalry to that erected to the honor of George Washington, who was one of the slaveholders of Virginia.” COAL COMBINE 4 UNDER FIRE IN . FEDERAL PROBE Midwest Assn. Wants Bosses’ Closed Shop By MARTIN A. DILMON, Fede id Press Staff Correspondent. ST. LOUIS, May 13.—The Midwest Coal association, charged by the fed- eral trade commission with being an unlawful combination in restraint of trade, is undergoing a hearing before the, commission at St. Louis. From the testimony, it appears that coal dealers not members of the com- bine are driven out of business or into the association. Pressure is brought on mining companies to re- fuse coal to independents, with the veiled threat that “established” deal- ers (association members) cannot purchase coal from mires which do. BE. J. Wallace, St. Louis coal dealer and commissioner of the association, admitted efforts against independents. He holds he was within his legal rights. Mining Companies Approached. The commission supports its com- plaint by letters written by Wallace to coal companies. The documents were admitted in evidence despite ob- jections of counsel for Wallace, who contended they were taken from his files under duress. Most of these let- ters were written in 1921 and black- listed two or three Chicago dealers, others in/Iowa and St. Louis. In the letters Wallace contended that these dealers were not recognized by the combine and should not be recog- nized by mining companies, to whom the letters were written. No one anticipates serious penal- ties in the case. The accused com- bine will fight to a finish in support of the boycott as a means of forcing a closed shop of organized business. Coolidge Leads In G. O. P. Primaries But Not In Washington (By The Federated Press) WASHINGTON, May 13.—Accidents Coolidge failed to stop the employ- ment of Francis J. Heney, America’s / greatest graft prosecutor, by Senator ‘SEDITION’ TRIAL OF KOVACOVICH IS STEEL FARCE Employers Out For Five More Convictions (Special to The Daily Worker) MERCER, Pa., May 13.—The trial of Tony Kovacovich, first of the Farrell defendants, came to its close today. After seven days of battling, considered by many the greatest la- bor trial in the history of America’s Siberia, the state and defense rested and made their final speeches to the jury. Attorney I. B. Ferguson, for the defense, made the opening speech proclaiming the right of workers to organize and their right to be mem- bers of the Workers Party of America. The history of the human race and the evolution of society was ex- plained so clearly that few left the court room without knowing that all thru the ages men like Tony Kova- vich have suffered for their ideals. A rebel in Palestine who was charged with sedition, and executed, for ad- vocating the Brotherhood of Man. High school students with their in- structors, members of the legal ‘pro- fession and crowds of curiosity seek- ers were in the court room as for three solid hours the case made by the prosecution was riddled and torn to pieces. The only argument left for the prosecptor was to wave the flag, which he did to the best of his meager ability. A 12-Hour Day Steel Slave. Attorney Barker, for the defense, told the jury about the life of the de- fendant since coming to America; of his many long years in the steel mills of the Sharon Steel Hoop Co. as a 12-hour wage slave; that no evidence has been introduced by the prosecu- tion showing that the defendant was other than a hard-working man of noble character. Six days before his arrest in February, Tony Kovacovich married and his honeymoon has been spent in his masters’ jails and courts. Attorney Barker charged that the prosecution has used old world grudges to stir up hatred amongst the steel workers and used Serbian na- tionalists, under the influence of ‘priests, as stoop-pigeons, against mem- bers of the Workers Party. Prosecutor Myers made the final plea to the jury, Soviet Russia was pictured as a land of bloodshed ard riot. The sedition law of Pennsyl- vania was defended as a “fine law” and one the Commonwealth was com- pelled to enact because L. A. K. Mar- tens was alleged to have spent “mil- lions” of dollars attempting to over- throw the U. S. government. Wants Daily Worker Outlawed. The prosecutor let the cat out of the bag when he, in a minute of pas- sion, told the jury that if a verdict of guilty is returned that the DAILY WORKER and the Workers Party would be outlawed in the state of Pennsylvania. Classes are un-Ameri- can and do not exist in America. The Farmer-Labor Party idea is all wrong shouted out the angered captain of militia who resigned his commission just BEFORE the World War broke out. Men like Tony Kovacovich were pictured as murderers and thieves, out to turn loose fountains of blood and overthrow the glorious state of Pennsylvania—the most progressive state in the Union, the backbone of the nation, the keystone of the arch, There are NO wage slaves in America and Henry Ford is an example of what America does for its willing sons. Ford is a WORKER, yelled Myers, a sample of what can be done in Amer- ica by those who are willing to live within the law and apply themselves. Wild Flag Waving. The last shot at the jury by Prose- cutor Myers was the flag waving stunt. With tears running down his cheeks the ex-captain painted the boys in Flanders field, sleeping their last long sleep, all rising up to point the finger of scorn at the jury if they did not return a verdict of guilty. Those who died for alleged democracy were used as a witness by the Common- wealth against this humble steel worker. The jury was instructed by Judge McLaughry and retired to their jury room. The crowd filed out of the court house and gathering in groups discussed the outcome. All thru the night the light in the jury room shown thru the trees and light- ed up the K. K. K. sign painted in large white letters on the pavement. Guilty of Rebellion. Along towards daybreak the jury reached its verdict. At nine o'clock Saturday morning they filed into their places and handed their sealed ver- dict over to Judge McLaughry. It read GIULTY as charged in the indict. ment, this jury of alleged peers, themselves slaves, found Steel Work- er Tony Kovacovich guilty of being a rebel. Bail at $3,000 was immediately arranged and the verdict will be ap- : 4 | : Couzens’ committee which will probe the administration of Secretary Mel- Jon in the bureau of internal revenue. A seven-hour battle in the Senate between the Old Guard Republicans on the one side and the Progressives and Demoé¢rats on the other settled that issue, He-was severely beaten. Next morning Coolidge called Lodge, Borah and Smoot to the White House, to warn them that he would veto all radical legislation, including the Jap- anese exclusion measure involved in the immigration bill. He intimated that he would veto the tax bill as it is being revised by the progressives and Democrats in the Senate and House. Only a week ago Coolidge said he was for “exclusion” of the Japanese. Now he is frightened at the public response to that declara- tion. The two opposition parties laugh at his veto threats, and beg him to go ahead. They propose to keep con- gress in session and show the coun- try that Coolidge is a plain fascist, lacking the Mussolini boldness. Glick Thinks Of Your Paper So You Should Think of Glick The Glick Music Stores are popu- lar and successful because they are more anxious to please than to make big profits. They deserve the support of every DAILY WORKER reader not only be- cause they advertise in our paper, but because this growing firm employs many of our friends and personal ac- quaintances. Going into either the store at 2100 W, Division street, or their branch tore at 1655 W. 63rd street, is like going to the home of a friend. Personality, punctuality and per- sistency has been the keynote of the splendid service and rapid growth of this music store where you can buy anything in the musical line and feel that you are getting your money's worth and that you are dealing with friends. The success of any newspaper de- pends in a great measure on the reve- nue from advertising, and advertisers spend their money to get business. You can help the DAILY WORKER by saying, “I saw your advertisement in the DAILY WORKHR,” and by go- ing out of your way if necessary, to patronize the friends of our paper. When you think of anything in the music line, think of Glicks. TONIGHT Eight Reel Wonder Film Shows Stirring Scenes from the Life of Russia’s Late Premier-—LENIN 2 COMMUNISTS FREED IN PENNSYLVANIA AS ANOTHER |S CONVICTED Israel Blankenstein was convicted on the charge of being the organ- izer of the Communist Party in the Pittsburgh territory in May, 1922, and sentenced to serve from two to four years in the Western Pennsyl- vania Penitentiary. On May 11th, Comrade Blankensteln was released, having served his two years’ mini- mum sentence. He sends the fol- lowing telegram to the National Office of the Party: Feeling fine. Ready for work after short vacation. Will stay this week at Pittsburgh. Would like to spend week or two in St. Louis or New York. If you want me let me know where you place NEGRO PHYSICIAN SEVERELY LASHED, POLICE IGNORE IT Victimized Race Is Quitting Alabama (Special to The Daily Worker) TALLADEGA, Ala., May 13.—Dr. W. H. Brummitt, president of the Ala- bama Medical Association of Negro doctors, is recovering slowly from a frightful beating administered by lead- ing white citizens of this backward community, The respectable gangsters pulled him out of his house, tied and blind- folded him, took him into a patch of woods where they beat him and then me. Address headquarters. Greet- ings all. Joseph Martinowleh, who was sentenced to thiee to five years in the Western Pennsylvania Peniten- tlary on the same charge as Blan- kenstein, was released a few days earlier, having also served his en- tire minimum sentence. Both Blan- kenstein and Martinowich are held on deportation charges by the Fed- eral authorities, Blankenstein being a citizen of Russia and cannot be deported, since permission cannot be secured from the Soviet authori- ties for his entering into Soviet Rus- sia, by the United States govern- ment. Martinowich is to be deport- ed to Jugo-Slavia after sixty days if the Federal authorities are suc- cessful in making their case. The expiration of the two sen- tences comes Just simultaneously with the conviction of Tony Kova- covich at Mercer, Pa. under the same vicious “sedition and criminal syndicalism law.” pealed. The Commonwealth of Pennsyl- vania, homeland of the liberty-loving Quakers, has received its proud pound of flesh and vindicated the coal and steel barons. The fight has just started and the defense with forces intact prepares for the trials of the other five steel workers to be tried in June, prepared to fight to the last ditch. The prose- cution will launch its campaign against all worker organizations and Pennsylvania promises to become the battleground, picked by the capitalist class, to make a nation-wide drive against labor. Let it be remembered that the la- bor movement of Pennsylvania is on trial and the iron heel will be pressed down hard upon all other labor or- ganizations daring to organize or as- semble as workers. Unless the iabor movement and supporters rally to the support of the remaining five steel workers, yet to be tried, the fight will be almost hopeless and in this forsaken spot tucked away in the hills, the curtain will be drawn down on the labor movement of Pennsylvania. The defense committee who have placed their resources, funds con- tributed by labor, back of the first case, have'a very difficult task ahead. , vacovich, gave him ninety days to leave town. Police refuse to entertain formal foompletnts lbdged by Dr. Brummitt. The*reason for the assault is Dr. ) Brummitt’s policy of giving medical treatment to anyone who called for it regardless of race or sex. Nothing else was alleged except that he had overstepped the color line in the practice of his profession—a color line that does not exist when it comes to white doctors treating colored women for pay. Dr. Brummitt does not intend to leave this community—within the 90 days, at least. However, hundreds of Negro tenant farmers and workers have gone North to escape from the lash and noose, Deserted farm houses and vacant cotton fields and farm houses cover the countryside today. where the Ku Klux Klan is influen- tial. All the roads leading to Mer- cer were covered with K. K. K. signs. “The indictment of the defendant was a matter of class persecution. Justice had nothing to do with it. Kovacovich is a steel worker who be- lieves in organizing for a better soci- ety than the steel corporation can give his class.” Other defendants coming to trial in the June term of court are Andy Ko- Andy Dugan, John Saro- vich, John Radias and Tony Mirich. Stool, Judge, Prosecutor. Leading figures in the Farrell, Pa., prosecution which the Steel Trust or- ganized for the purpose of heading off organization work among the steel mill workers are Lennon himself, Judge J. A. McDaughry, the judge who tried and sentenced Israel Blanken- stein on a similar charge; Prosecutor Myers, an ex-army officer, and a bi- goted upholder of Steel Trust rule. Prominent among the spectators was the Rev. Medio, founder of the Croatian-American Protective Soeiety, a wotld-be Fascisti organization. Prominent also in the audience were Steel Trust stool pigeons and ladies of leisure who came to look over the “reds” their husbands were framing up. Numerous and undeterred by the hostile gazes of the authorities were crowds of working men and women who are aroused by the czaristic re- pression now going on in this district. Attorney Izaas E. Ferguson for the defense is filing an appeal against the conviction. The conduct of the court Defense funds are urgently needed for the defense of the remaining five workers. Verdict Against Working Class. The Workers ‘Party, and all other working class organizations, will cease to exist legally in Pennsylvania unless the battle waged by the de- fense is continued. The verdict the entire country. Other states will battle the coal and steel barons of P-nnsylvania for the right of workers as workers? The six Farrell steel workers await your answer. “The conviction of Tony Kovaco- vich for ‘sedition and criminal syn- Isaac Ferguson, who has returned to Chicago to prepare the appeal. laws. K. K. K, Prejudice. to organize and assemble peacefully | Box 883, Youngstown, Ohio. dicalism’ in the Mercer county court Colored People is fighting the electro- was not based on evidence, but sheer|cution of a 13-year-old colored boy, Prejudice,” said defense Attorney |mias Ridge, in Oklahoma, who would “We are confident of obtaining|out, ‘The boy was accused of having Kovacovich’s release,” continued Fer-|ijled the wife of a white farmer liv- guson to the DAILY WORKER. “In/ing near Pensacola, every case thruout the country high-| was hastily tried and er courts have been discharging men/qeath by electrocution. Dr. convicted under these syndicalist}wnitby, president at that time of the “The prosecution confessed the | ret weakness of its case when it found |ices without charge, to obtain a com- that the Workers party program | mutation of the death sentence for the bristles with errors. Labor Unions Back Unions. Labor unions in the Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio steel district are supporting the Farrell defense. The Cleveland central body was one of the last to join the moventent. The issue effects all labor organizations be- cause it involves the right to as- against Steel Worker Tony Kovaco-)semble, protest aganst the abuses of vich is a verdict against the working |the Steel Trust and urge labor organ- class of not only Pennsylvania, but |ization. The Workers Party has been urging apply their sedition and criminal syn-|all steel workers to build up the Amal- dicalist laws against labor, whether | gamated Association of Iron, Steel and its organized or not, and the master|Tin Workers and make it a weapon class mad from victory will crush out} with which to subdue the tyrannical of existence and jail all workers dar-| Steel ing to raise their voice in protest.jorganization that it has been since Are the workers of America ready to|it was organized in 1901. combine, the same terroristic Address all letters for the defense WILLIAM J. WHITE, treasurer, Fight Negro Lad’s Hanging. NEW YORK, May 12.—The National Association for the Advancement of be the youngest person ever executed in that state, if sentence is carried Okla., in 1922, enced to A. Baxter Oklahoma City branch of the N. A. A, C. P., became interested in the case, ed a lawyer, who gave rv: could not prejudice the jury sufil-| boy. ciently, and it laid emphasis on pro- of earlier parties. The whole technique of the prosecution was an| WORKER? Do you want to help the DAILY Then get a new sub- appeal to prejudice in a community | scriber. RUSSIA AND GERMANY A Tale of Two Republics LET RED FLAGS WAVE, COUNSELS CANADIAN LABOR ALDERMAN MONTREAL, May 13.—“I say that the repeated seizure of red flags is only provocative and leads the peo- ple from whom they were taken to wonder if there is such liberty in Canada as they had been led to be- lieve,” declared Alderman Jos. Schu- bert, labor representative, in the city council, in protest against the seizure of red flags by the police in the Montreal May day parades. Schubert stated that Premier Ram- sey MacDonald of Britain had for- merly participated in red flag dem- onstrations, Illinois Natives Lead Foreigners In Illiteracy Over 175,000 people in this state cannot write in any language, accord- ing to a recent report of the “Labor Bulletin” of the Illinois Department of Labor, When this startling record is com- pared with others published by the same department, the result is even more astonishing. Figures show that 89,820 boys and 57,057 girls under 17 years of age are “gainfully employed” in the state. One-third of these are in manufactures; 40,000 in clerical work; 19,000 boys on the farms; 16,- 500 in transportation; 9,000 in domes- tic and personal service; 3,800 boys in the mines; 1,200 in professional service; and 1,100 in public service. Immigration Not To Blame. Over 36,000 of those employed are under 16 years of age and more than 3,600 are from 10 to 13 years, old. A third of the boys under 14 are em- ployed on home farms .as laborers. Immigration is not responsible for the high rate of illiteracy in the state because more than half the children of 10 to 14 who cannot write, are na- tive born and of native born parents. Only 4 children out of every 1,000 of foreign parentage are unable to write, while 11 out of every 1,000 of native born cannot write. Oil Promoter Runs Against Farmer- Labor Candidate ROCHESTER, Minn., May 13.—Run- ning against Julius J. Reiter, Farmer- Labor candidate for congress from this district, is an oil promoter, Oscar C. Ronkin. The oil candidate is also an attorney and Y. M. C. A. director. Ronkin’s bid for votes is his finan- cial record as county attorney, an of- fice he held until a year ago. He brought $2,000 into the treasury in fines paid by bootleggers at $100 per. There are said to be 300 men and women following the bootlegging trade in the county at this time, so they got off easily. House Suspects $20,000,000 Profit Of Shipping Board WASHINGTON, D. C., May 13.— Where did the Shipping Board get that $20,000,000 net profit registered for the operations of the last four years, the House investigating com- mittee is asking? The treasurer, T. L. Clear, didrt make clear why the grafters hadn't absorbed the huge profit, nor why the profit is at all when the Board has been claiming a loss in operation. His tesimony is to be continued under the prosecution of Representative Davis, Democrat from Tennessee, The treatment, according to a statement by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, which financed researches ending in its dis- covery, is effective in from 25 to 50 per cent of the cases where it is used, It was perfected by Dr. Lloyd B. Fel. ton, @ young physician of the depart- ment of preventive medicine and hygiene of Harvard Medical School. Sixty cases have been treated sucy cessfully with the discovery in Boston and sixty in New York. Substance forming the basis of the treatment is a white crystalline pow- der separated from the ordinary horse serum which has been used for some time with uncertain results in treat- ORCHES MAY AT 7:00 AND 9:00 P. M. ————ONE NIGHT ONLY. Main Floor and Balcony 75c lery 50c Sage Three LEGION STEALING LWW, THUNDER IN “WHIPPING BOSS” Radicals First Exposed Florida Lashing By KARL PRETSHOLD. When the American Legion is fore- ed to steal its thunder from such or- ganizations as the Federated Press and the I. W. W., it must be pretty hard up to find something to its cre- dit. The poor legion in need of mon- ey and prestige and publicity is show- ing a motion picture, “The Whipping Boss” in a Chicago theatre. The story of the picture is based on the tragedy of Martin Tabert, a North Dakota lad who was arrested as a vag and beaten to death while a leased convict in a Florida prison camp. In order to help along with the pub- licity that will make the showing of the movie a financial success, the le- gion is letting it to be known that they had a great deal to do with ex- posing the conditions which lead to Tabert’s death. They also claim they helped abolish the lash and the con- vict leasing system in Florida. Appealed to Labor Press. The truth is, C. H. Grimson, district attorney in Langdon, N. D., Tabert’s home town, wrote to the Defense News Service of the I. W. W. asking that they give publicity to the Ta- bert case. The Defense News Bulle- tin for March 17, 1923, carried a story about Tabert’s death. The Federated Press also carried a story about the Same time. These were the first stories carried by national news or- ganizations. The stories from both services were widely reprinted in la- bor papers all over the country. On March 16, 1923, the Defense News Service sent a letter to the dis- trict attorney suggesting to him that he write the New York World about the case. The World carried several stories about Tabert’s death. When the legis- lature of North Dakota protested to the legislature of Florida about the treatment accorded Tabert, the World began claiming credit for all publicity given the case. The first story in the World was printed after many labor papers had told the story to their read- ers. When the state legislature of Flori- da ubolished the lash and the convict leasing system, the World sat back and did a little crowing. “See what a great paper we are. See what we did. We are the stuff. We are the defender of the under dog. We are the original cat’s meow.” The story which had been a seven- day wonder, passed ant Was Torgotten. *» Legion Claims Credit. Now, in Chicago, the American Le- gion comes along needing both Pub- licity and jack and is running the movie, “The Whipping Boss.” They claim and insist that they are the original and only defenders of the un- der dog. They and no one else abol- ished all evils in the prison system in Florida, Up till now no one ever heard of the legion in connection with the Tabert case. But no one seemed to remem- ber that the I. W. W. Defense News Service and Federated Press were the first national news agencies to carry the story to the World and that tne labor papers of the country were the first to publish the story. The Chicago Tribune review of the legion movie said: “The American Legion and other organizations started an investigation which resulted in the abolishment of the convict leasing system in Florida and a law against the lash.” . Enftirely just, that “and other organ- izations.” NEW TREATMENT FOR PNEUMONIA DISCOVERED BY HARVARD STUDENT IS FIFTY PER CENT EFFECTIVE NEW YORK, May 13.—Medical circles here today were dis- cussing with great interest announcement of a new treatment for pneumonia with the potential power of saving from 22,500 to 45,000 lives a year in the United States alone. ment of pneumonia. It is believed to be the protective substance or the “anti-body” against pneumonia, in a nearly pure state. Injected in human beings, it gives no unfavorable reac- tion. Discovery of the treatment is the result of five years’ work organized by the insurance company after the influenza epidemic of 1918. The discoverer, Dr. Felton, is 32 years of age and was born in Pine- grove Mills, Pa. spent his youth in New Philadelphia, Ohio, and was educated at John Hopkins. He has been doing research work at Harvard since 1922. TRA HALL 14, 1924 Boxes $6.00