The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 9, 1924, Page 6

Sane 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 mall. (in Chicago only): $4.50....6 months $2.50....3 montis | $6.00 per year $8.00 per year Address all mail and make out checks to THE DAILY WORKER 1113 W. Washington Blvd. Chicago, Iilinois J. LOUIS ENGDAHL ) WILLIAM F. DUNNE) MORITZ J. LOEB. Editors Entered as second-class mail Sept. 21, 1923 at the Post- Office at Chicago, Ill, under the act of March 3, 1879. ep 230 Advertising rates on application. ———————————— ‘Into the Trade Unions “Into the Trade Unions” is the slogan for all the unorganized workers. The trade unions are the primary organs of working-class struggle, the first. crystallization of resistance against capital-| \2 ist exploitation, without which the working class is helpless. They are the mass organization of the workers. “Into the Trade Unions” is therefore the first slogan of action for serious revolutionists. With- out the winning of the trade unions for the re- yolution the capitalist system cannot be overthrown to make way for a Communist society. It is the necessary application of the principle of Commun- ist activity embodied in the slogan, “Go to the Masses.” After five years teaching of the Communist International it seems strange that such a funda- mental should have to be repeated again and again for the benefit of workers calling themselves Com- munists. But the fundamental human weakness, laziness and fear of the struggle, constantly pro- duces those who would look for short-cuts to the revolution. They see the bitter struggles neces- sary to carry on revolutionary work on the unions. They see the expulsions, the discriminations, the hardships inflicted upon Communists thruout the labor movement by the old bureaucrats and agents of the bourgeoisie. These weak comrades cry out against the hard road given them to travel. It would be so much nicer to have comfortable, Communist unions, where one believed in the revolution, where all were Communists or sympathizers, where bureau- crats were unknown. Why not have our own unions, they ask. But the masses would not be in such unions. Questions of this nature’are sure signs of defeat- ism. They signify an abandonment of the revolu- tionary struggle. To give in to such a tendency. by | | ciples of Communism. There is no answer to mat “questioning but to resolutely turn these comrades right-about-face toward the fundamental prin- ciples of Communism. “Into the Trade Unions” is more than ever today a fundamental, demand upon every revolutionary worker in America. Ten-fold must our activity be increased, more concentrated must be our careful attention, deeper must our enthusiasm be stirred. The problem of the proletarian revolution in America is today in large measure the problem of winning the masses organized in trade unions.; Send in that Subscription Today. x Berger’s Solution The Honorable Victor Berger, the one and only socialist in the House of Representatives, appears to have hit upon the only and one way of ending the farm crisis. The Milwaukee Leader, the Wisconsin Con- gressman’s private mouthpiece, tells us “German credit alone to solve farm problems.” Reporting the speech delivered by Berger in behalf of his proposal to give the Ebert-Marx German govern- ment. one million dollars of food credit, the Clearing the Greand: For more than a generation, American reyolu- tionary unionists have had their minds befuddled by the maze of conflicting and dual unions in existence. And the greatest confusion was caused, so far as the rebels were concerned, by those or- ganizations which existed principally in the minds of a few zealots in the form of blue-printed pro- grams for the millenium. But the ground is gradually being cleared. One of the “ideal” unions that existed only in ideas, the Workers International Industrial Union (‘W. I, I. U.) has at last given up the ghost. At its “convention” in Troy, N. Y., last month, the ad- mission was made that less than a hundred mem- bers had been keeping the organization alive for years, and that it was really ridiculous to continue the pretense any longer. So the hundred old- timers are finally going to face reality long enough to yote on a referendum as to whether the W. I. I. U. should not be liquidated. Which is a most remarkable moment in history, indeed! A precedent has been set! Heretofore, such useless organizations have never, even after twenty years of cluttering up the scene, had the grace to quietly commit suicide. We recommend the action of the W. I. I. U..to the serious con- sideration of all like paper organizations. Hearst and Labor The Seattle Post Intelligencer, one of the 24 daily newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst, has a strike on. More than a hundred workers are out, some of them locked out for refusing to handle scab materials. Hearst brags about being a “friend of labor.” He is one of the principal backers of a “labor” candidate for vice-president on the Democratic ticket—George L. Berry, president of the press- men’s union. Berry is not a “friend of labor;” he is a “labor leader.” As such he recently recruited scab press- men from all over the country and broke the New York strike with the influence and money of his union office, with the help of Hearst and other capitalists. If Berry can claim to be a “labor leader,” there seems to be small reason to complain if Hearst calls himself a “friend of labor.’ Both*of them are of the most vicious and dangerous enemies of the labor movement. Both crush strikes with cold- blooded cynicism. Both are capitalists, both are for the capitalist system, both are against the labor movement. Labor will not make progress until it throws off the influence of all such fakers. Veto Again Hits Workers What is the presidential veto for? Examine the kind of bills against which it is used, and you will find out. The veto is for the purpose of preventing the returned soldiers from receiving éompensation. Coolidge vetoed the bonus law. The veto is NOT for preventing profiteers and big capitalists from looting the government. Coolidge has not vetoed any bill which hands over national wealth to capitalist hands; on the con- trary, he has bargained to dispose of Muscle Shoals to Ford. Now the veto has fallen upon another proposed law; the bill increasing wages for postal service workers has fallen under Coolidge’s ban. So we see that the presidential veto is for the purpose of keeping wages down. Coolidge is the president of capitalism—the veto is an instrument for use against the workers. These are the conclusions forced upon every in- telligent worker. These are the conclusions that the postal workers must finally come to. The latest blow at their wages should make them think a bit. Populaire Joins N. Y. Call Word comes from Paris that Populaire, the only Socialist“daily of that city, has become a weekly. Another Socialist paper, La France Libre, ceases Leader says: “The situation in Europe can be re- lieved at once and at the same time our agricul- tural depression can be ended if the United States puts Germany in a position to help herself.” No one will take this “remedy” seriously. We have our doubts whether the lone socialist con- gressman took himself seriously when he spoke in such a strain.. At any rate, we are sure that he did not take the farm erisis and the hardships of the dispossessed farmers seriously. There is no doubt in our minds that no bankrupt farmer or worker will take Berger or his solution serously. We are sorry for the Honorable Berger. His plea for the German workingmen and poor farm- ers will not help the American farmers out of their troubles. All this plea will do for the American farming masses is to convince them that Berger is more concerned with the welfare of the German ruling class as,Germans than with the troubles and problems of the agrarian classes of the United States. Our hundred thousand farmers who are virtually bankrupt in fifteen of our leading agri- cultural states will now more than ever be justi- fied in their belief that Berger of Wisconsin is more of a pro-German pro-capitalist than a social- ist. The thousands of farmers who have been . driven off their land by the severe ecdnomie crisis will not be relieved an iota by the fact that the A ican government will be spending millions of their money to keep in power the hangmen of the German working and farming masses. Berger’s solution for the farm crisis is no solu- tion at all. Perhaps it was really offered by 4 _ Berger only as a solution for his own problems in the coming congressional campaign where he will be making another earnel to the voters of baad en publication altogether. Thus is demonstrated the fact that the recent “victory” of the Socialist in the elections has no solid foundation in organi- zation among the masses. The Socialist Party of France has completely disintegrated; it remains as nothing more than a loose aggregation of career- ist politicians. As it goes to join the ghost of the S. P. of America, the Populaire sends its spirit to fraternize with that of the defunct New York Call. : Meantime the Communist daily, Humanite in- creases its circulation daily. When the Commun- ist vote mounts up, it means more than vague, confused, leaderless sentiment. It is the reflection of the growing organiged power of the revolu- tionary workers, preparing to take over society. |P The proletarian revolution marches on its way to vietory . We predicted some time ago that trouble was brewing for those implicated in the wild scramble to establish labor banks. The first signs of the inevitable are seen in the resignation of HE. H. Fitzgerald, president of the Brotherhood of Rail- way Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express aud Sta- tion Employes’ Union, from the presidency of the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks’ National Bank of Cincinnati. Fitzgerald is also head of an invest- ment company, which has been warned against by some of the more solid labor institu These are but the first swallows of a summer of “banking trouble” for the aspiring class callapiphonists. Of course, the Republican convention in Cleve- land will go on record denouncing the “vile slan- ders” of the charges of graft and be ages brought out in the Teapot Dome investigation. 'T' Grand Oil Party has not enjoyed its exposure. i “Worktis Face Unemployment and Wage Cuts By JAY LOVESTONE Little doubt is now expressed by the leading financial agencies as to the fact that the economic Conditions have taken a definite turn for the worse. The discussion among the economic experts centers today on the character of the depression and its duration, rather than on a debate as to its exist- ence. As is to be expécted, the workers and poor farmers are the worst suffer- ers. Wage cuts are increasing and em- ployment is decreasing. Extensive Economic Slump Admitted Allowing for seasonal variations, the Federal Reserve Board’s index of pro- duction in basic industries declined 2 per cent in April. The fall was espe- cially marked in the steel, iron, coal and woolen industries. At the same time factory employment declined 2 per cent. Clear signs of the diminish- ed trade are to be seen in the lowering of the discount rates by the New York and Cleveland Federal Reserve banks from 4% per cent to 4 per cent. Babson in his last report admits that “we have some real ground for the pessimism that has been evident the last few weeks. General business, as reflected by the Babson chart, is now running at a level 10-per cent be- low normal, and present indications are that it will continue so for some time to come in completing the read- justment from the five years of infla- tion between 1916 and 1921.” Plan Big Wage-Cutting Drive. Additional light on the attitude of the employing class to the Dawes plan is now being shed in business circles. Thus in its latest review of the state of trade and the commercial epitome, the Commercial and Financial Chron- icle frankly says: “It is pointed out that once the Dawes plan is adopted and manufactures in Europe get an impetus from a revival of confidence, Europe will probably invade American imarkets on a larger and far more formidable scale than for many years past, favored by labor costs much be- low those prevailing in the United States. If labor does not meet the situation by intelligent acquiescence in reduced wages it will suffer by a lessened demand for its services.” That the capitalists mean business and that their threats to cut wages are not idle is obvious from the prophecy, to be more exact decree, of the latest number of the Magazine of Wall Street. Says this organ of high finance apropos the likelihood of a cut in wages for steel workers: “That a cut in steel wages, initiated by the independent producers, is to be forthcoming in the not distant future, seems a certainty, in view of existing and~prospectives conditiéns in tho in- dustry. Thé’ practically non-existent margin of profit occasioned by the al- ready considerable reduction in steel operations has operated to force con- sideration of the advisability of cut- ting wages upon officials of the various companies. The United States Steel Corporation, as usual, will be the last to take such a step, as it is the first to initiate wage advances. “This prospective action on the part of the steel industy is more than usual- ly significant in view of the extreme susceptibility of the industry to chang- ing conditions. Its advent, therefore, may be looked upon as a forerunner of similar action by other industries. Un- questionably, some readjustment of existing wage scales must occur be- fore the general industrial situation can again become stabilized.” In some South Carolina cotton mills wages have already been reduced as high as 10 per cent, The carpet work- ers of Amsterdam, New York, and Boston, Massachusetts, have just had their wages slashed. Among the New England Shoe Workers there have been wage reductions as high as 20 per cent. Barron pictures the plight of the tex- tile workers as follows: “Idle men ahd machinery—that is the story to- day in the textile towns. The social reaction has already made itself dis- tinctly felt. From Rall River, for ex- ample, come reports that despite the earnest efforts of numerous welfare and fraternal organizations to alleviate local distress, the. mill curtailment there has been so long and ‘drastic that the municipal authorities now feel themselves obliged to make substantial appropriations for munici- pal improvements with a view to pro- viding more work.” Sharp Drop in Employment. The decrease in employment is coun- try;wide. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest study on “Em- ployment in Selected Industries,” em- ployment in manufacturing industries in the United States decreased 2.1 per cent in April; pay-roll totals decreas- ed 2.5 per cent and per capita earn- ings fell 0.4 per cent in April. On the basis of the returns from close to six thousand establishments, there has been a decrease of 5.2 per cent in em- ployment and 2 per cent in pay-roll totals in the last year. The condition of the steel industry is the most unsatisfactory in the last seventeen months. The unfilled orders for April were smaller than the low- est figures reached at the bottom of the 1921 industrial depression. The copper market is listless. Brass and copper manufacturers are cutting pro- duction. Construction activiues are slowing down. The curtailing of cot- ton production is going on apace. A further decline in production is ex- pected by all. Banking of blast fur- naces and price declines are now as frequent as in the last great depres- sion. The report of the New York State STRIKERS DEFY PULLMAN BOSSES’ ARREST THREATS Important Meeting to be Held Today The striking refrigerator freight car builders at the Pullman plant are holding an important open air meet- ing this morning in the ball field by the 108rd street gate to discuss the results of the conference between the strike committee and the Pullman of- ficials. The strikers are not frightened by the company’s threat to have anyone arrested who steps onto the ball field today. Last week the strikers met on the same lot when they were unable to obtain a hall. Must AIP Strike Together. Jack McCarthy, circulation manager of the DAILY WORKER, will address the strikers today. McCarthy, in for- mer talks, has pointed out that the Pullman company is engaged in the process of lowering the standard of living of the employes by reducing wages one department at a time, The Pullman company, he declared, knows that a spontaneous walkout of a small department will not tie up the plant. “The only way to secure lasting re- sults,” McCarthy told the strikers, “is to strike all the departments in the entire plant simultaneously, The men suena organize 100 per cent in the rotherhood of Railway Carmen’s union and all strike together. This will prevent the company from cut- ting the wages of one department after the other in the plant.” Scab Nearly Kills Foreman. Strikers are talking of the troubles the company is having with the hand- Ver thpongermetine 3. tla department. One fo is lying seriously injured at the from a wild sledge blow which an untrained scab struck at a spike, The English Pullman branch of ‘the Workers party meets tonight. Re PITTSBURGH, June 8.—Eleven stage acts featuring children below the legal age for it have been withdrawn as the result of a re- cent court decision in Pennsylvania. In this case the state department of labor and industry, of bic ‘Royal Meeker is secretary, a the- ‘al manager who ehitaren in a so-called “ , dane: and educational act” for arte child labor law, A and costs was imposed. two} LIMA, Peru, June 8.—Ships_ were ‘Buddha? He is as FOOD WORKERS WILL FLAY INJUNCTION AT MEETING WEDNESDAY A mass meeting of protest against the blanket injunction granted by Judge Hugo Friend to the Greek Restaurant association to prevent the Greek restaurant workers from picketing, will be held by the Amal- gamated Food Workers Wednesday night. Speakers in both Greek and English will tell the history of the , Present strike and explain the sig- nificance of the labor's fight on all injunctions. Karl Reeve, reporter for DAILY WORKER, will speak. Gotham Shirt Ironers Strike When Bosses Fail to Sign Pact NEW YORK, June 8.—More than a thousand union shirt ironers and several hundred workers drawn to the union by the walkout are on strike in New York city following the re- fusal of employers to renew the agree- ment which expired May 15. About 60 per cent of the Bhops have ex- pressed their intention to sign the new contract on June 5, according to J. Mackey of the strike committee. The ‘strikers are memibers of local 280, Laundry Workers’ International union, American Federation of Labor. The workers, chiefly men, are piece workers and hours and conditions are not involved in the controvérsy. Un- der the old contract they made from $20 to $35 a week. The proposed con- tract for one year changes the rate on dress shirts, which would increase the pay from about fifty cent to a dollar a week. - the About 3,000 shops, all hand laun-|_ dries, are affected, as many of the strikers work in two or three’ differ- ent small shops each week in order to secure enough work ro make a living. The union reports sufficient strike funds on hand and that there is no immediate plant to ask for sympa- thetic action on the part of the Laun- dry and Allied Trades council of which it is a member, Tidal pe Schnb on Peru Causing Considerable Loss sunk, towns flooded and several lives | are believed lost as a result of a tidal $100| wave which swept the Peruvian lit- toral early voday, Department of Labor is most discour- aging. Says Industrial Coffimissioner Shientag: “Payrolls in the manufac- turing industries of this state were smaller in April than in any month since. February. 1923, altho April is usually a peak month for many indus- tries. By cutting down both the num- ber of workers and their working time manufacturers have lowered their pay- rolls 5 per cent as compared either with those of March or those of April a year ago.” The Massachusetts Department of Labor and Industries sums up the sit- uation if the state in this fashion: “A decrease of 4.8 per cent in the number of employes; a decrease of 6.3 in the aggregate payroll; a decrease of 1.6 per cent in the average weekly earn- ings per person. The Federal Reserve District of Philadelphia reports a further curtail- ment in production, less active dis- tribution of goods, and a decline in the number of employes at industrial establishments. The Monthly Business - Conditions Report of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago for June, to be issued soon says: “The returns received by the Illinois State Department of Labor, covering 300,000 industrial workers of the state, showed declines for April, amounting to 1.2 per cent in men and 1.0. per cent in earnings. For Wisconsin, as report- ed to its Industrial Commission by plants employing 83,000 men, the cor- responding losses were 2.7 per cent and 4.3 per cent respectively. In the states of Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan, reports sent directly by this bank in- dicate a somewhat heavier curtail- ment, the average loss for approxim- ately 30,000 men amounting to 3.7 per cent. The combined figures for all of these states showed declines of 1.6 per cent in men-and 2.3 per cent in the aggregate earnings.” Numerous Farm Bank Failures. Since the first of the year more than 325 banks have failed in the north- west, despite the establishment of the Agricultural Credits Corporation and the extension of the life of the War Finance Corporation. The falling of prices in the grain regions and the fall of land prices are the principal causes for the bankruptcies. Mr. H. Parker Willis, editor of the Banking World Section of the Maga- zine of Wall Street, in discussing this critical situation makes: the following pointed remarks indicating the great fears entertained by the financiers that the disease will spread not only “to other agricultural sections but also to the industrial centers. Declared Mr. Willis anent this trend: “The place where danger is now to be most expected appears to be in the small banks of the cities which have become considerably involved in real estate loans based in property at in- SOCIALISTS HEDGING (Continued from page 1.) candidate running on the Democratic or Republican ticket. But discussion of Socialist attitude toward LaFol- lette as an “independent” was avoided. Hillquit Won't Say. Morris Hillquit, who led the discus- sion, outlined the various possibilities which may confront the Cleveland conventions of. the party and the C. P. P. A., but. “deliberately refrained from saying what the Socialist party should do.” He said the possibility that McAdoo would be the Democratic candidate had increased recently, and that many of the railway brotherhood officials in the C. P. P. A. were pledged to McAdoo. Socialists are interested in LaFol- lette only as an instrument for getting a labor party, said Hillquit. Accord- ing to personal reports from the northwestern . states, \ LaFollette’s ‘strength is not as great as they had been led to believe,, said James Oneal, editor’ of the New Leader. If the Socialists’ make the sacrifice of supporting LaFollette, they should be allowed to pick a labor man as his running mate, some one like James Maurer, president of the Pennsylvania Federation of Labor, Oneal added. Only one speaker, a woman, was en- thusiastic for LaPolleste as a political leader. Likely to Stay With Cc. P. P. A. While there wi constant refer- ences to the time when the Socialist party should “go it alone again,” most of those present seemed to. agree with Hillquit that only an extreme situa- tion would justify a break with the CP. P. A, The Poor ie ‘Saye—The Japanese ceivin Holy Buddha after masiinge the exclusion What can is anne from as our iD dent and a pacifist. ey Py a fighting God like ours they might have | op; some i ehaies of winning in iy scrap. Parner flated prices, or which have been sus taining industries that have been largely ‘overboomed’ by buying their paper in large quantities. . . . “In those parts of the country where the country banks have not suffered very severely thus far, careful watch should be kept because of the danger that in the event of a reduction in the local price of land or of special local products, such as cotton, a situation similar to that of the Northwest (al- tho probably not so intense) Ke develop.” AS WE SEE IT By T. J. O'FLAHERTY Billy Sunday burst into Chicago. after escaping a visit to Jesus thru the ministrations of the surgeons in the Mayo clinic at Rochester who fixed up his damaged. kidney, It’ ap- i pears William is in no hurry for that _ celestial trip even tho he makes much money sending others there. “The world is going to the devil,” he ejacul- ated. Then he became bloodthirsty, Of course, a reporter asked him for his views on the Leopold-Loeb murder. “They ought to be hanged,” growled the blood-hungry Christian. Eyery pulpit pounder in the United States is taking the opportunity of burstt into print with the claim that lack of religion was responsible for the state of mind that led the two wealthy per- verts to commit murder. But it is safe to say that for every murder commit: ted ‘by an alleged atheist, one hun- dred thousand have been committed by devotees of some one of the several Gods in good standing in-modern so- ciety. see Only quite recently a man in the southern part of this country murdered several members of his family be- cause he thought he heard a voice from God commanding him to do so, And this is not surprising. It is sur prising, however, that readers of the Old Téstament manage to remain so ‘comparatively harmless, Aside from the Rabelasian touch, its pages are full of exhortations: to murder and versions of sexual relations that leave Boccacio’s Decameron without a leg to stand on. Fortunately Christians do not take their God seriously, else the rest of us would have to travel in armored cars and wear coats of mail while at work. It takes a lot of nerve for a man to proclaim himself @ Christian nowadays, but it beats the devil to hear a minister throwing up his hands in horror over a breach of the moral code. The recent widely advertised murder was horrible, but it was merely a fine exhibition of tenderness compared to the instruc tions given by Jehovah to the children of Israel when on a murder campaign who were ordered to kill all the men folk and old women but save the vir gins for themselves. Perhaps he paid off his troops that way. If Christians do not consider murder @ virtue, it is not Jehovah’s fault. a An over enthusiastic editor of a radi- cal paper published in the northwest- ern part of the United States in the year 1918, predicted the success of the German revolution assured when @ news report brot the information that Von Hindenburg had joined the revolutionists. The editor had good intentions but his facts and his judgment were away off. Hin- denburg did not join the revolu- tion. He let the Social-Democrats do the dirty work and they did it. In an- other part of this issue the reader will find a story from the Federated Press correspondent in Berlin to the effect that General Ludendorff has joined the Socialists. It is well to remember, however, that the German Socialists are responsible for the deplorable con- ditions of the workers of that country, having killed the revolution and thous, ands of the revolutionists. That Ludendorff should have joined them is not surprising. He is a first-class murderer. she on ry John Appleton Haven Hopkins is the full name of the organizer and owner of the Committee of 48, no’ dwindled to two; the owner and other individual who represents rank and file. Mr. Hopkins has seen his name on the letterhead of many an ambitious political party. He is here, there and everywhere, but not for long. J. A. H. Hopkins was edu- cated at Columbia Military, Institute Perhaps he learned there the art: the strategic retreat. He is now busily engaged trying to get a grip on La- Follette’s shirt tail but the competition is so keen for that strategic position, that Mr. Hopkins may mae “Fightin’ Bob's" > The Rey. thet Fists Tittle; pastor of the First Methodist Chureh of Evanston, was selected to the baccalaureate sermon at Ni western university a week from yes- terday. The 100 per centers got under the collar when they that Dr. Tittle was not enough to suit their tastes, he ha’ introduced Brent Dow Allizison, scientious objector, when the made a pacifist speech in his ‘The upshot was that the p ‘the university politely s Dr. Tittle that he should f plausible excuse for not deli sermon, Dr. took the hint. about to leave on a heath: mission to dong erie will be | christians ety icon en ahs ' f a ——