The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 24, 1924, Page 4

Page Four BOOTLEGGER TO CABINET DOES A LITTLE JUGGLE Mellon is Wizard at Figures B y LELAND OLDs, Federated Press Industrial Editor “Oust Andrew Mellon as unfit for the office of Secretary of the Treas- ury!” should be an important slogan in the coming presidential campaign. For evidence is multiplying that this banker-whisky-oil-coal magnate has/| used his office as an opportunity for | deliberately deceiving the public with | incorrect figures in order to serve the interest of his little clique of multi-| millionaires whi are galled by high income surtaxegi, In collusion with them he has \been systematically working to relieve the money trust of its just share of the burdens of taxa- tion brought upon the American peo- By JOSEPH WORKER, to take me with him. three girls and three men. from all directions and pleading’ for the paper. “Give me 50 copies!” ‘Give me 100 copies!” “You won’t be able to sell that much.” “Oh yes, I sold 50 copies yester- day.” “I sold 70 copies.” So the only thing for McCarthy to do was to give them the number of DAILY WORKERS they demanded. A Capitalist Prison. I got my. 50 copies from McCarthy and the instructions where to sell them. It was about three minutes to 12 ple by the profiteers of the world war. Most recent proof that Mellon mis- represented the facts in his rich man’s propaganda is found in the fed- eral trade commission report on tax- ation and tax exempt securities sub- mitted to the Senate in response to a} resolution introduced by Senator Nor- ris of Nebraska. Mellon attempted to jo’clock. Standing at the corner, I gave ja took at the big brick mountain on |the other side of the street. I remind- Jed myself of Reeve’s articles about |the conditions in this shop. Yes, there |are 40,000 workers, men, women and children behind these walls, slaving for Morgan and other magnates. | The windows are open. They are make the country believe that it was losing $200,000,000 a year in taxes be- cause high surtaxes drove rich men| to invest in tax-exempt securities. The commission, using figures available to} |looking outside is the spring, the |aroma of nature which forces every heart of young and old to beat faster. | They see from the windows the parks, \forests, the “green carpets.” How SELLING THE DAILY WORKER IN FRONT OF CHICAGO’S BIGGEST -F ACTORY IS LIVELY EXPERIENCE Mellon, shows that less than one-sev-| good and pleasant it would be to get enth of the tax-exempt securities are/out of this stinky and unhealthy fac- in the hands of people with incomes tory, But they are needed by the of $10,000 a year or over and that the) parasites and they have to stay in- maximum possible tax on their inter- est would have been about $58,000,000 or a little over one-fourth of Mellon’s| figure. Commission's Figures. The report says in part: “Based upon returns from several thousand individuals with incomes ranging from $10,000 to and in excess of a million dollars, the commission estimates that in 1922 out of a total of approximately thirty-two millions of wholly or partially tax-free securities, federal, state and local, four and one- half millions were owned by the wealthy individuals. On the same basis business c6rporations owned nearly twelve billions, while $16,770,- 000 were held by all others, consist- ing principally of individuals with small incomes. “The tax-exempt interest received during 1922 by individuals whose tax exempt incomes exceeded $10,000 each is estimated at nearly $176,000,- 0@0. Of this over $97,000,000 was wholly tax free and over $78,000,000 was conditionally subject to surtax. eum, ox <) this had it been taxable at the 1922 rate, would have been about $58,000,000. “All the interest received from these securities in 1922 by business corporations estimated at $448,000,000 was wholly tax-free under the existing law. Banks and trust companies held nearly $5,600,000,000 ef the securities and received $326,000,000 of the inter- est. Insurance companies owned over $2,200,000,000 of tax-free interest in 1922. Had all this interest been tax- able at 12% per cent (the tax rate for corporations in 1922) the revenue therefrom would have been about $44,- 500,000.” Mellon’s Half Truth. Of course these corperation hold-| ings do not come into the question of surtax reduction. But even if they did the total addition to the income tax thru the taxation of securities now exempt would be only about $100,- 000,000, or one-half of Mellon’s figure. The commission shows that between 1912 and 1922 the aggregate debt of the federal, state and local govern- ments increased six-fold to nearly thirty-two billions. The major part of this increase was connected with war profiteering, which increased the na- tional debt from about a billion to over twenty-two billions. The increase from less than four billions to nearly nine billions in the state and local 38, j side and work for a few dollars a week, making millions for the bosses. Foul Eating Places. The whistle blows. Out of the gates are coming the workers, running. “The DAILY WORKER!” “Buy your paper here, the DAILY WORK- | ER,” we cry from all directions. Very few of the workers stop to buy the paper. They are running across the street to the row of small unsanitary “restaurants.” In five minutes all those “halls” are crowded with pao- | ple. Staying near the door of one of | those “restaurants” I can smell the | heavy unhealthy odor coming out. After a few minutes they are com- ing out of the “restaurants.” Now jthey are buying the paper. Here |comes a young man about 19 years |of age and buys the DAILY WORK- ER. Another, a third. I am surprised. They sit against the wall, eagerly \ | /THE DAILY WORKER KOWALSKI. Reading in the DAILY WORKER that our comrades are selling thousands of copies of the DAILY WORKER at the gates of the Western Electric company, the biggest plant in Chicago, I asked Jack McCarthy, circulation manager of the DAILY One noon, we went in a truck, As soon as we arrived about 10 youngsters came running TA AIRE ARs, old workers in whom the bosses have confidence got orders to watch those who are reading the DAILY WORKER and report to the bosses. But do not stop. Keep going. You are doing good work.” And he left me there standing in surprise. Yes, we will “keep going” not only against your bosses of Western Elec- tric but against the whole capitalistic world, That is our aim. That is our duty. That is our desire! But you have to help us. Stand with us shoulder by shoulder and we will be able to conquer the rotten capitalist system over the whole world! CANADIAN MINERS WAGE BiG BATTLE AGAINST BOSSES Lewis Insults them with Faint Aid (Special to the Dally Worker.) DRUMHELLER, Alberta, June 23. ~Fighting against a cut in wages of $1.17 per day, the miners of District 18,’United Mine Workers, are closing the second month of struggle with starvation starving them in the face. President Lewis promised the dis- trict financial assistance from the in- ternational office, in return for dictat- ing the means and methods of strug- gle. His promises have been kept to the extent of $2,500 per week, to feed 40,000 men, women and children. His so-called assistance has been taken as insult added to previous injuries by the miners. Lewis Lets Them Starve. For more than a year before the strike coal diggers in this region have been averaging less than $900 a year. They entered the strike with- out funds and in debt. Aside from the miserable allowance of Lewis, the reading column after column of the paper. Two girls are passing me. “The DAILY WORKER!” “Buy your paper here!” Some hesitation, and they stop; one, about 18 years of age, the other older. “Say, comrade, will you sell me two copies of the paper for a nickel?” I said: “Well, the price of the DAILY WORKER is three cents.” “Yes, I know, but my friend has no money and all I have left after get- ting my lunch is just this nickel. My friend’s mother is an old woman who worked: for the Western Electric for 12 years. Now she is sick and hasn’t worked for the last 18 months. My friend is earning only $18 a week and has to support herself and her mother. Once she brought home a copy of the DAILY WORKER which I bought. Her mother said that this is the best paper she ever read in her life and she is very anxious to read it ev day. Please, sell two copies for 5 cents.” Has Made Many Friends. “The DAILY WORKER! The only workers paper in English! Buy your paper right here!” My voice is al- ready more noisy. I feel that I am not alone here, that I have plenty of friends among those who are walking around me. I feel that I am doing good service to them.. And so copy after copy is disappearing from my arms. Here comes an older worker, dirty and oiled rags around him. Quickly he gives me 3 cents and looks around debts is shown to have been largely on account of highway construction, public health, transportation and edu- cation. It is investment in such s0- cially valuable enterprises that the bankers wish to discourage. PITTSBURGH, PA. DR. RASNICK DENTIST Rendering Expert Dental Service ES a Bos ree improve Your Property Damaged Bulidings Restored LOANS TO IMPROVE New Floors, Fronts, Shelving MID-CITY CARPENTER SHOP $68 &. Irving Ave, Beeloy 1 RUBBER STAMPS AND SEALS IN ENGLISH AND IN ALL FOREIGN LANGUAGES INK, PADS, DATERS, RUBBER TYPE.Ere, NOBLER STAMP & SEAL CO. 73 W. VanBurenst, Phone Wabash 6680 CHICAGO MAIL 3 feo. 5 to see if some of the bosses will see him buying the paper. I feel that he wants to talk with me. “Step into the ice cream parlor,” I said. He is coming, but still looking around. “You gave them a good knock in the + +.» » With this campaign. They feel very badly. This morning I heard from one of the suckers that all the fear . Are you self-conscious about the impression you make on people? fight has been carried on with volun- tary contributions from the Canadian labor movement generally, and espe- cially by donations from the Nova Scotia miners. Treachery of the district leaders, in making separate agreements with 10 operators, has aroused great opposi- tion among the rank and file. A movement is being started to call a special district convention to deal with the conduct of the strike and map out plans for carrying it thru successfully. At this special conven- tion it is also expected that the dis- trict will act upon the Howat case. In a cablegram from the Interna- tional Propaganda Committee of Rev- olutionary Miners, the solidarity of the miners of the world with the strik- ers in western Canada was expressed. The cable read: “International Propaganda Commit- tee of Revolutionary Miners express solidarity with rank and file District 18 in struggle against bosses’ on- slaught. Wish you victory. “(Signed) KALNIN, Secretary.” NEW YORK CITY Party Activities OPEN AIR MEETINGS, Wednesday, 25. 7th Ave. and 4ist St, Brooklyn. Speaker, Charles Brower, 26. Thursday, Jun 110th St. and Fifth © A Harry Winitsky. Friday, June 27. 7th St. and Second Ave. - ers, George Siskind, John M rer 1i0th St. and Fifth Ave, H. M. Wicks. 163rd St. and 8. Bivd,, Bronx. I, Pot- ash, Rebecca G echt. Union and S. Second St., Brooklyn. re Speaker, N. Sparer. Grabam and Varet Sts., Brooklyn. Speakers to be announce Speaker, and 42nd B Sreeker, George bpm Marge $ soe al ‘rma: ve., C. pg for » June 28, we been called off on account of the ‘erkers party excursion. 1 Cannon to Speak at Picnic. KANSAS CITY, Mo, June 23,— James Cannon will be the speaker here at the third annual picnic to be held in the Speedway Grove, 85th and Troost avenue, on June 29. The pic- nic is held under the auspices of the Workers Party. Admission is 25 cents. POLICE ALLOW NEGROES’ HOMES TO BE BOMBED Authotitie in League with Klan Terrorists KANSAS CITY, June 23.—The Ne- gro families were forced to move out of homes they owned by a series of bombings. The Negroes have dwelt peacefully in three blocks on Montgall St. for fif- teen years. These men innocently bought corner houses on a cross street. Their lots are bordered by Negro-owned lots. Some whites organized protest meet- ings every afternoon in front of their houses under the auspices of the Im- provement Association and openly solicited funds to “run out the nig- gers.” Police Encourage Bombing. No street meetings have been toler- ated in Kansas City for ten years— but the police refused to interfere. The racial persecution culminated in weekly bombings of Negroes’ houses. The police still refused to interfere. The real estate concern refused to buy back the lots. The men moved out for the sake of their children. Dead Line to Negroes. This incident is not a climax. It is merely—an incident. Fifteen years ago a dead line was drawn around the Black Belt. Since then the Negro population has grown from 23,000 to 33,000—a 20 per cent boost. The dead line has not been changed and attempts to,cross it have been met with threats, violence and bombs. Insurance companies are tipped off to refuse to insure. The boycott is used. In one case the city building inspec- tor refused to issue a permit to erect a@ building. More than a year and much money was wasted forcing him thru the courts to do his duty. 17 Bombings This Year. The increased Negro population causes horrible crowding. The Black Belt averages two families to a house and among the poor the average is one to a room. The situation grows ever more acute. There have been seven- teen bombings already this year—in five and a half months. The police commissioners (Repub- lican), openly sympathetic with the klan elements, refuse protection and in fifteen years have not made a sin- gle arrest of the bombers of Negro dwellings. Negroes Angered at System. Sometimes the terrorists compel the victim to move, often they fail. A fierce resolution’ is growing among Negroes that have guts enough to resent a wrong, that_as this govern- ment represents the worst reaction there must be a change. Send in that Subscription Today. Latest Issue of Soviet Pictorial Interesting Number A wealth of information on today’s developments in Russia appears in the July issue of Soviet Rus: Pictorial. The progress in the reconstruction un- der a workers’ government is treated in facts and figures that should be in- valuable to every worker. Every phase of industry and agri- culture is considered including the latest news on the relations with for- eign governments. Articles on ‘the Red Army, moving pictures and labor are included and an article on “A Health Factory in Soviet Russia” is of special interest. All are profusely illustrated with original and timely photographs. In line with the new policy of the Pictorial the issue includes articles on labor affairs the world over. Orig- inal contributions from Germany, Bul- garia and Roumania make the issue of great value to the student of work- ing class developments. The cover is a splendid photo of youth in a May Day parade passing in’s tomb and is one of at least 30 interesting photos in the issue. More Unemployment. LOWELL, Mass., June 23—Unem- ployment in the Lowell textile indus- try continues to increase. The Mas- sachusetts Cotton Mills announces .|that its plants which recently re- opened on a half-time basis will be closed because of the business de- pression, No Wonder. WASHINGTON, June 23.—After 38 years of service in printing each night 34,000 copies of the Congressional Record, the press in the last days of the late session broke down under the bast of hot air. Send in that Subscription Today. Pir dn eich ho way yen fod, Sey Sait wrpage SOVIET EXPLORERS IN FAR NORTH Brand ham an ee aio FIND NEW ISLAND AND COAST LINES Notice today how you, yourself, watch another person's teeth when (By Rosta News.) papal kp ey ns cme nar rset returned bere the loot members of © ings apeahion. sont lit ri Teeth. om ish gr sinla no rida eth ngd in Kee to phhege , sag mite ad te piiamcy si ay ron Stauee Yauiea 7 be vi gets: ote mgd x laches ‘of Listarine ‘Tooth estuary and the Enissei gulf. Important discoveries were made with regard 5 cents; atgrour d to changes in the coast lines; a new island was discovered and was ohris- PhornacctCo,, Sates tened rr the name of the expediti schooner, Agnessa. Con le . Scientific work was also done in the fleld of ethnography and economics in the far.north. re 1s (Continued from page 1.) Western Electric gives the greatest opportunity for advancement.” Confesses Bunk. If you can catch one of these young women with her Western Electre Company manners off, she will tell you what she really thinks of the whole damned works, and it won't sound like the talk put over in the company magazines, either. Miss Norton, one of those who qués- tion, pump, grill, quiz and cross-exam- ine the girl who has decided to try sorting small parts of electrical ma- chines, for nine and a half hours a day, as a life career, was in a con- fidential mood when I applied for a job at Western Electric on the morn- ing of June 8. Many Called; Few Chosen. “Fat chance you'll have for a job in that place, girlie,’ I had already been told by a girl loitering near the gate when I began to run the gauntlet of the uniformed police that guard the doorways to the entrance of the build- ings. She was a girl of about fifteen— thin, scrawny, and extremely nervous. “I've been hanging around here for almost two weeks now, and the only reason I keep coming back is that they’re always firing girls from the factory and taking on just a few. If you're lucky you may happen to get into a vacancy.” Inside the women’s employment of- fice forty girls, few of them over six- teen, waited nervously for the’ coldly impersonal interview of Miss Ketter- ing, first on the board of examiners. Hire-Fire Treatment. Many of these girls had worked in the factory before, had been fired and were now going back to be taken in all over again. To the company, the fact that these girls had been fired once—or more than once—was not to be held against them. Constant firing and re-hiring of em- ployes is a trick known to big fac- tories. Fear of “the sack” is an ex- cellent method of keeping the force screwed up to a high pitch of nervous efficiency. “Why did you come back?” I asked of one of the girls who hoped to be taken in again. “Is the work here pleasanter than the work in other places?” Work Uninteresting. “Of course it’s not, but we can’t pick and choose,” was the answer. The work is terribly uninteresting. The hours for the factory girls’ are from 7:30 to 6. Some of that is overtime, but overtime work isn’t voluntary at all—you have to stick out your nine and a half hours a day if you want to stay here. They pay you $17.50 a week for that, unless you can make more by speeding up on piece-work. I left last time because the noise in the machine-rooms almost deafened me. But I’ve got to go back; I can’t help it.” “Unions? My God, no! No unions allowed in here. And they dont pay you enough to let you join anything.” By this time Miss Kettering had de- cided to let me have a questionaire. Stacks of questionaires were littering her desk, and had been littering her desk all thru the half-hour that I had waited, on one of the hard benches lining the sides of the room. But I couldn’t touch one until I was told to. Want Life History. Western Electric is owned by the American Telephone Company, and expects very much the same stand- ards of its slaves. Go to the American Bell Telephone Co. for a job, and you'll find that there isn’t anything about your past, your present or your ‘future life that the company doesn’t think it ought to know. Where did you work last? How long? ‘Why did you leave? Where did you work before that? Was there a strike while you wére working there? Did you take part in the strike? If you did, why? If you didn’t, why not? Are you married, single, widowed, divorced? Have you any children? Is that your home, or a friend’s home, or a boarding house? How long have you been there? How much will you work for in this company? Western Electric is not far behind its sister trust in its third-degree methods of inquiring into prospective employes’ pasts. tionaire carefully with me, glancing at me sharply as she repeated the questions and the answers I had given. Psychologized. I was passed on, after this grilling, to a room in which I was given a series, of psychological tests. I dis- covered, later, that’ these tests are made the basis of dividing the girls into two groups—those most likely to be contented with the wage slavery of the factories, and those who might rebel a little, and wish to do office work. When it was found that I could add nine and seven, that I didn’t think that water could climb a hill, that I could spell words as long as “delir- ious” and that I would agree, for pur- poses of the test, that “the only way to get ahead'is by hard work,” it was promptly decided that I was not to take a job in the factory. Shop Jobs Dull. “Is there nothing in the factory?” I asked Miss Norton who now took me in tow. “The girls tell me that you can make miore money there if you ‘ork very fast.” ‘No one was left in the room, and Miss Norton leaned across the tabla with a confidential le. ‘ou wouldn't want to work in the factory,” she sald. “The girls in the factory have long hours and small pay. They are obliged to stand on their feet from one end of the day to the other. GIRL SHOWS UP WESTERN ELECTRIC Miss Kettering went over my ques-|: They ture of the work itself, it’s terribly monotonous. There are only a few jobs open to girls—assembling parts, working a punchpress, sorting, and inspecting. Each of these is work that means doing the same opera- tion over and over again. No girl that could do anything else would consent to work in the factory.” Put In Filing Job. “Couldn’t I try it out for a week, and change if I didn’t like it?” I asked. “That would mean waste of time for the company,” exclaimed Miss Norton. “We don’t like to shift girls around until they find their places.” Miss Norton finally decided that I was to take a job as filing clerk under C. B. Cell, department chief of section 6156. I received an envelope saying that I was a new employe and with this magic talesman.I passed five gate police, and six police inside the fac- tory entrance at 22nd street. My credentials were examined by three different young women, who finally sent me to the far end of an immense room, where I stood at attention until Mr, Cell got ready to talk to me. “Sit down,” said Mr. Cell—not very cordially, and again began the cat- echism. He had all the information in front of him on his desk, but he probably. thought to trip me up on something. “What is your life ambition?” Mr. Cell put forth solemnly. Like Early Birds. I protested that I really didn’t know just yet. “Would you be willing to work in this office at $18 a. week?” I showed myself eager for the chance. 5 “Now I want to tell you something,” said Mr. Cell gravely. “Do you see that girl behind you?” I turned and saw a blonde, very tired-looking young woman, of about twenty-two, mechanically sorting let- ters into long, narrow boxes. With automatic precision she was going thru the motions that were necessary, never stopping, never once looking up. Mr. Cell followed my glance and was moved to prophecy. “That girl will make good,” he said. “She has been here fifteen minutes early every day.” Minute Late; Work Hour. “Remember that your hours are from eight-thirty to five. If you are one minute late, we expect you to make up for it by an hour of extra work, without pay. My idea of a real employe is a person who works every minute of the time.” “Of course, there are lots of ad- vantages in working for the company. If you reach the age of sixty in our employ, and you have been working steadily for twenty years, you geb a pension which sometimes amounts to as much as $5 a week.” “Come back tomorrow morning at eight-thirty, and I will give you some letters to file away.” I went back to Miss Norton, who told me to go to the hospital for med- ical examination. Examined Without a Look. I was not roughly treated at the hospital I was hardly touched. Most of the three hours I spent there were consumed in sitting about on long, hard benches, half-dressed, and not daring to leave for fear that my num- ber was to be called. The nurse gave me a pinch in the stomach, a punch on the chest, and passed me on to a room where I was to have my eyes and teeth examined. The doctor in charge insisted that my eyes were in perfect condition, altho they are not. Cure Fever By Work! The examination wound up with: “You have a fever of almost 100. Be sure to get to work at eight-thirty to- morrow.” The process of becoming assistant filing clerk to Mr. Cell, department chief of division 6156, was not yet concluded, but I decided to bolt. I had been at Western Electric since. seven-thirty that morning, and it was two o'clock, and of course my pay was not to begin until the next day. HHT NEW YORK, SATURDAY AFTERNOON 2 P.M. Tuesday, June 24, 1924 BOSTON BANKER RULES HUNGARY FOR FINANCIE!. Jerry-is on the Job for World Rulers (Special to the Daily Worker.) BUDAPEST, Hungary, June 23.—A Boston financier, Jeremiah Smith, act- ing as collection agent for the League of Nations, has been installed in the finance ministry of Hungary so that $2,000,000 of Hungarian reparations money may be paid into his hands every year for the next twenty years. Dictator Hortley, of course, backs the plan that is being put over in spite of the bitter opposition of the ele- ments of the left in Hungary, which are against such a scheme on general principles. The bank of issues for Hungerian_ finances, having a capital of 30,909° 600 gold roubles ($6,000,000) been established here and curre.... inflation has been slowed down pre- paratory to complete cessation. The bank places the Hungarian govern- ment on the same footing as any other client, and will ask that it furnish security in order to borrow. Increased taxation will provide the funds out of which payments to the interallied capitalists will be made. This will eventually be taken out of the hides of the workers. The cus- toms receipts, the tobacco monopoly, the salt monopoly’ and sugar will be placed at the service of the League to act as security for loans to Hun- gary. The funds will be deposited in the name of the commissioner-gener- al, but they will not be permitted to remain in the country. Desperate Conditions. Desperately in need, and unable to take any definite steps toward recon- struction during the five years of sol- emn fake negotiations and diplomatic juggling which have followed the cessation of the war, Hungary has been trying to save herself from utter destruction by the policy of keeping her own products within her own borders. Although Hungary is i farming country, and three quarter’ of her population live by the sale crops, the export of foodstuffs b been strictly prohibited. Imp. trade has suffered in consequence, and there are practically no manufac- tured goods to be had in Hungary to- day. Extreme measures have been re- sorted to by the country in an at- tempt to prevent complete demorali- zation. News for the press is subject to strict censorship. Foreigners, upon arriving in the country anapspon~ ing, are forced to register with . police, and houses and hotels are con- stantly searched. Telegrams and letters passing in and out of the country are opened. Needless to say, Hungarian officials have made enormous sums out of the sales of special permits, needed by ordinary citizens to carry on almost any of the transactions of every-lay business life. 2 Mountain Delevers Mouse. Many of the drastic features, report- ed by the daily papers as having ap- peared in the resolution on war as passed by the recent general confer- ence of the Methodist church, are not to be found in the printed report of the special committee of 3, “as edited by the committee in accordance with the instructions of the general con- ference.” The most radical statement in the resolution seems to be: “We are de- termined to outlaw the whole war system.” The next sentence hastens to assert that the patriotism of the church has never been challenged. Room to Rent. . Single or double. WINOCUR, 3588 Thomas St. Four blocks from’ boldt park. : ATTENTION! unum _ THIS. SATURDAY WORKERS PARTY EXCURSION To Bear Mountains on the Beautiful Steamer ; “CLERMONT” JUNE 2& Get your tickets in advance. Don’t wait until the last minu ADMISSION: $1.10 For 8a WORKERS PARTY OFFICE, 208 E. 12th St. JIMMIE HIGGINS BOOKSHOP, 127 University PI. it