The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 21, 1924, Page 6

Published by the DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO, 1113 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, Ill. (Phone: Monroe 4712) SUBSCRIPTION RATES By mall: $3.50....6 months $2.00..3 months By mall (in Chicago only): | $4.50....6 months $2.50....3 montus $6.00 per year 3.90 per year \ Address all mail and make out checks to THE DAILY, WORKER | 1118 W. Washington Bivd. ‘ Chicago, IIlinbis 3. LOUIS ENGDAHL WILLIAM F. DUNNE MORITZ J. LOEB.. | tenn .-Kditors Business Manager | Watered as second-class mail Sept. 21, 1923 at the Post- | Office at Chicago, Ill, under the act of March 3, 1879. + ) i <=> 20 Advertising rates on application. \. Watch This Reconstruction! * From the American Civil Liberties Union we learn of efforts now being made by the attorney general to overhaul the department of justice and give it more of a “normal,” less of a state-of-siege like appearance. If what Mr. Stone has said is the truth, then at least sixty agents of the department of justice have been dismissed since his appointment. The red-baiting division of this department is being cut down. Furthermore, our learned attorney general is also replacing professionel detectives by. law school graduates. Outright co-operation with so- called patriotic societies in their anti-labor and open shop propaganda is also reported to be in growing disfavor with the new department of justice head. ‘Tt is yet too early to say definitely whether this reorganization of that department of the United States government, which serves as the invisible underground link between the biggest business in- terests and the most responsible governmental figures, will serve to increase its efficiency in ren-| dering service to the employing class. Sufficient} time has not yet elapsed to give the new system a chance to work. “All we do know is that at bottom the substitu-| tion of ignorant, inefficient, easily detected de- tectives with smooth, cultured, highly trained law students, is not in itself a boon to the workers. Under Stone’s rule, as well as under Daugherty’s rule, the department of justice and all the other departments in the United States government are securely in the hands of the big bosses. No one can disguise the fact that as long as this condition prevails the lawyer-detectives may prove even more deadly effective against the working men than the incompetent gang of bootlegging stool pigeons formerly in the employ of Burns. ‘At this time there is one thing certain about the reorganization of the department of justice. As a result of the dismissal of some of these scab| herders and spies, the private detective agencies} will redouble their efforts to demoralize and dis- rupt the workers’ organizations. Many of these stray watch dogs of the open shoppers will be em- ployed by the private agencies as special “radical,” “red experts.” The probable transfer of the army of stool pigeons from the Washington payroll to the roster | of private, scab, detectives agencies should put} every labor organization on extra guard against| these dangerous parasites and against such a poisonous influx. Lese Majesty in Wisconsin Chafing under the iron dictatorial rule of La} LaFollette machine, Lieutenant Governor Comings strongly protests against the senator’s endorsement of Governor John J. Blaine. Lieutenant Governor Comings is running against | Blaine, the present incumbent in the gubernatorial | office, for the high honors of chief executive of the | state. Mr. Comings feels that his own chances} haye been seriously hurt by LaFollette’s endorse- ment of his opponent. He therefore throws back in “Battling Bob’s” face the plea the latter made when he was running for district attorney in Dane county without the approval of the political higher-ups of those days. “I know no reason why I should consult you. I have been out in the country consulting the peo-| ple,” is the Comings answer to LaFollette, the big boss of Wisconsin politics. These are the very words used by LaFollette when he was fighting the bosses in 1880 and seeking to become the state boss himself. a This defiance of LaFollette is really lese majesty in Wisconsin. In the Badger state LaFollette’s word is law. As a lover of the purest of democracy, Mr. LaFollette has set up a dictatorial political machine in his state, excelling in bossism the ma- chines of nearly every other state in the country. Worse than that. By endorsing Governor Blaine, LaFollette is making an attempt to continue his iron hold on the state machinery. And in making this attempt LaFollette is supporting a governor who has time and again shown distinct hostility to the workers. We need but recall the attitude of Governor Blaine in the controversy over the aboli- tion of the National Guard. Mr. Comings had better beware not to lose his head on LaFollette’s political execution block. To remind the senator of Blaine’s being an enemy of genuine progressivism is to be wasting valuable time. LaFollette has misused phrases for too many years to be seared by such talk. Battling Bob has entered the ring for Blaine because he is con- vinced that the governor is better fitted than Comings and the best fitted to keep intact the system of fraudulent progressivism now holding sway in Wisconsin. Exploiting the Negroes It is not only the white capitalists who exploit the Negro workers. The black capitalists get thej hand in the game also, even tho they have/no billionaires among them to dramatize their part in grinding down the Negro workers. But there is another exploitation going on among the Ne- groes, that is brought sharply into the foreground this month by the convention of the Marcus Garvey organization in New York, It is the exploitation of the desire for emancipation, by turning this de- sire toward a Utopian “back to Africa” project instead of organizing for emancipation here in America; by substituting a lot of hocus-pocus about making God and his angels in the form of Negroes, instead of fighting for the rights of the Negroes here on earth as a part of the working AIL THE Editor's Note——Dangers of new wars are set forth in gripping form in the Manifesto of the Communist International on the tenth anniver sary of the World War. The facta set forth are of intense interest right now, with the agreement of German capitalism to the enslay- ing terms of the Morgan-Dawes reparations plan. The DAILY WORKER today publishes the third section of this Manifesto, as fol- lows: eee Against War! : Against the Bourgeoisie! Against the Social Traitors! For the World Revolution! class; by diverting the whole movement of awaken- ing dark-skinned workers into the blind alley of evasion of the pressing problems in America for the bright dreams of migration to another con- tinent. To the extent that Negroes have achieved or- ganization, and have been jolted out of the old ways of thought, some good has come out of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, It is not suggested for a moment that Negro workers se from activity in this, and in all other mass organizations which contain large numbers of workers, and present the opportunity for these ; workers to crystallize themseleves as a definite | group, advancing definite demands, outlining a | definite program directed towards connecting up the struggles of the white and black workers into one common struggle. But when class-conscious | Negro workers enter into such movement as the |issues of the class struggle, of showing the Negro | workers the fundamental hostility of all capital- jists, black and white, to their interests—and the | fundamental unity of interests of the white and black workers. The dramatics of Marcus Garvey, under cover of which he sabotages the struggle against the Ku Klux Klan, while he builds up a petty-bourgeois circle of “leaders” with a vested interest in sub- duing the class struggle in America with the opiate of emancipation thru running away from this continent, are another form of the exploitation of the Negro. Only thru struggle against such ideas and against such leadership will the Negro work- ers be able, in co-operation with their. white brothers, to abolish exploitation. Help the Garment Workers Part of the great battle of the clothing workers to halt the “open shop” drive, but hitherto given little attention, is the splendid battle being waged in Belleville, Illinois, by the loeal organization of the ‘Amalgamated Clothing Workers. Yesterday the DAILY WORKER told the story of this fight, which should rouse the admiration of all militant workers, and will continue to assist. with all its power to win the battle. But, of course, the real winning of the fight in Belleville depends upon the union men and women in that town, and in the vicinity, not only the clothing workers, but all others. Especially it is the opportunity and the duty for the members of the Workers Party and of the Trade Union Educa- tional League to throw themselves Wholeheartedly |into the fight. It is in just such battles that the party tests out its members.and decides whether or not they are worthy of being members of the Workers Party. Those who are real Communists will be in the front ranks of such fights as that of the clothing workers-in Southern Illinois. Why have the officers of the Illinois Federation of Labor not called a state-wide conference to work out plans of action to fight against the terrible unemployment? Because they are too busy trying to elect. Len Small, agent of the mine owners. Meanwhile the bosses are not idle. They meet to lay plans for the “open shop.” The rank and file must get busy and force action. LaFollette will promise to bring the workers back to the early days of capitalism and competi- tion. Foster will urge the workers to look forward to the downfall of capitalism and the establish- ment of a new order of society where the machinery of production and distribution, developed under capitalism, will be used for the welfare of. the workers and not for their enslavement. a ee William Z. Foster, during his career of service to the American workers has two outstanding achievements to his credit, the organization of the packinghouse workers and the steel workers. Thru the treachery of the labor faker’ these two great efforts were sabotaged. Foster is a strike organizer and a union builder. His opponents on the capi- talist tickets are strike breakers. and union smashers, Martial Jaw has been declared in Egypt. Who brings WAR thus into the front page news again? None other than the “pacifist” MacDonald, premier for the “Labor” government of Britain! Every day the fakers are forced to expose themselves more and more, William Z. Foster and Benjamin Gitlow stand for Communism in the United States. They stand for the right of all to have access to the machinery of production. They stand for, the right of every worker to life and the means whereby to sustain life. They stand for the abolition of the slave system, the capitalist system. Get a “sub” for the DAILY WORKER, Garvey aggregation, they must do so with the de-| finite objective always in mind, of injecting the| For the Dictatorship of the Prole- tariat! For Communism! Il. 'HE Versailles peace treaty and the last imperialist war are pregnant with the seeds of another war. The ruling classes of France are coming to feel, more and more strongly, that the reign of terror they have created in Europe ¢annot continue much long- er. The French bourgeoisie—reac- tionaries and “radicals’—stand in equal fear of German revenge, but at the same time they are challenging it and preparing for it. The German bourgeoisie, which is willing to come to an agreement at the expense of the people, is for its own part. waiting im- patiently for the hour of revenge to strike. The antagonism between’Eng- |land and France in Europe and in the | colonies is coming to a head. Diplo- |matic treaties and pacts are, it is true, acting as a screen for this process, but they are not retarding it. The military program of both of these allies, particularly the program for the creation of air fleets and the man- ufacture of the chemical means of war, is really being planned" out for the coming war between England and France. While Herriot and MacDon- ald are lovingly cooing at each other, the genral sauff at Paris is working out the plan for the coming aeroplane attack on London, and the British state is busying itself with the plan for a counter-attack. a The smaller states’ of Europe are behind the great powers in strength, but not in avarice pr in all-nature. The small states which existed prior to the war have Yorfeited the last remnant of their independence, while the new states, which were carved out of the war, are being born into the world, with the iron ball of de- pendence chained to their feet. At the command of the great powers, the medium-sized states and the small states are grouped together in various ways. The states which are located in central Europe feel themselves drawn toward France, as a prisoner feels himself drawn to his jailer, The small states on the coasts. of Europe bend the knee to England. The choice between two lashes is being made by the, small states, not on the basis of desire, but on the basis of their situation taken ag a whole. The last war demonstrated {to a sufficient degree how violable neutrality is, Without a particle of doubt, a new war would within a few days after its routbreak draw the majority of the small states into the bloody mael- strom. The militarism of the coun- tries of the little entente, of the Bal- kan states or the Baltic states is a source of help for the great powers and at the same time a source of dan-| ger in the relations which thees small states have with one another, The sharpest of the world’s antag: | onisms has been brewing for a long} time, but it is unwaveringly following | the line of conflict between the inter- ests of British imperialism and the in- terests of the United States. During the past two years it has seemed as tho a lasting agreement had been achieved between these two giants. But the semblance of permanency will remain only until the economic im- provement of the North American Re- public is consummated upon the basis of the home market. This develop- ment has now reached its highest point. The agrarian crisis, which grew out of the ruin of Europe, was (Continued from Page 1.) at least three hundred and twenty- three, out of the four hundred and thirty-five, congressmen who are either directly or indirectly associat- ed with, or serving the ruling clique. In the Senate, the big interests have at least seventy-nine out of the nine- ty-six members on their side, either thru economic or social control, In the state of Wisconsin, where LaFollette is the big political boss, the situation is nearly the same as in Washington, where Coolidge is the chief executive. On the basis of an investigation made by the Wisconsin State Federation of Labor, as report- ed in its 1921 convention proceedings, we find the following roster indicat- ing who is who in the senate and as- sembly of the model commonwealth. There were at that date in the Wis- consin senate, one auctioneer, four bankers, one cheesemaker, one con- tractor, one doctor, five farm owners, one insurance man, two real estate men, two retired capitalists, two pub- lishers and journalists, one lumber man, four manufacturers, two mer- chants, one public service agent, two salesmen, eight lawyers, and onl; four mechanics. At the same tim there were represented in the assem- bly the following occupational divi- sions: one architect, four bankers, two clerks, three contractors, three corporation officials, one doctor, forty- four farm owners, one hotel keeper, two publishers, ten lawyers, ote live stock buyer, four lumbermen, seven merehafits, four real estate dealers, six retired capitalists, three salesmen, two insurance men, one fisherman, and only seven mechanics. Thus we find that out of a total personnel of forty-two senators, there are only four members of the work- ing class, and that out of a hundred and ten assembly men, there are only seven members of the working class. The State -Federation of Labor, which is extremely friendly to and a strong supporter of LaFollette, was rather charitable to the Wisconsin senator when it characterized this ownership of the state government by the employing class as follows: “In the Senate there were nine members who can be classed as friends of la- bor, and four who cannot be relied upon for full support, but not antag- onistic. The rest were entirely out of harmony with labor's program and should be classed as representing the interests of capital.” “In the "assembly there were thirty- five members considered consider- ably reliable in the interests of la- bor. . . . The balance sixty-five members, may be classed as ultra-re- actionary and absolutely controlled by special interests. “The same reactionary speaker of the house that presided in 1919, was again elected in’ the 1921 session and his efforts in the interests of big bus plainly shown on sey- eral occasions during the session.” ( Serves Middle Class, In the view of Mr. John Ballard as expressed in the Outlook for Septem- ber 5, 1923, this employing class own- plained as follows: “Business of the j kind that is represented by manu- facturers’ associations is in the main against’ LaFollette and his policies, but business in the person of the man with moderate capital is with ‘Bob’ both in little towns &nd -big ones. The teaching profession and the profes- sions generally, the white-collar work- ers, and the women vote for him ev- ery time they have a chance. Prob- ably two-thirds of the college men of the state are with him and most of the alumni and undergraduates of the University of Wisconsin have for years given him a fervid and faithful support. A cross section of the so- called LaFollette faction would Dee look much like the Kansas farmery who marched thru the aisles of the Democratic National Convention in 1896. “To a lesser but steadily increasing extent the same middle class emanci- pation from old party ties has gone on in the other states over which the LaFollette influence has spread.” Workers’ Enemies Given Jobs, Wisconsin has seen an avalanche of state laws to regulate the corpora- tions. These laws have not lessened the power of the trusts by an iota, the LaFollette machine_has on many oc- casions appointed corporation lobby- ists to important posts in the govern- ment where they could do most dam- age against the working men, Only recently LaFollette’s pet, Governor Blaine, made the notorious grain ele- vator and insurance lobbyist, C. H. Crownhart, as a supreme court jffs- tice. 4 In his appointment of Eugene Wen- gert as district attorney of Milwau- kee and George B. Skogme as assist- ant district attorney of the same city, Governor Blaine flatly disregarded the recommendations of the organ- ized workers of the tate. Thus we find the Officers’ Reports to The Wisconsin State Federation of Labor Convention, held at Wisconsin Rapids, July 15-18, 1924, declare: “We regret to say that no recognition ot labor has been given in the selection of lawyers to fill the important office of judge. In this regard labor was encouraged to entertain a hope, but was finally ignored.” It is particularly significant to note that when an attempt was made to regulate the private detective agen- cies, Senator Howard Teasdale of the LaFollette machine and Senator Ben Gettleman, one of Blaine’s lieuten- ants, saved the day for the bosses and killed the proposed measure to weak- en the strikebreakers of the state. Workers Disregarded by Leg! ure. The much-vaunted “Wisconsin Plan” may suit.the middle class prop- erty owners. This does not make it at all suitable to the working men. In LaFollettania, as in the other states where the capitalist class is supreme, the legislature has little re- gard for the needs and demands of the working class, From the latest available Officers’ Report to the Wis- consin ‘Federation of Labor Conven- tion held at Superior on July 17-20, 1923, we learn of the following frank- ly anti-labor attitude of the state as- sembly and senate: “The legislature a8 a whole, could not be termed a real progressive i : the fore-runner of the commercial and to,the imperialist domination of these indutrial erlese which aie Sow ap- cahemen, mde gid Munem the’ easel horas Of tie fermion a LaFollettes State Is Anti Labor © Y WORKER ee ss War Against Imperialist War! proaching. The produttive forces of America must seek a constantly wid- ening outlet to the world market. The export trade of the United States can develop only at the expense of the trade of Great Britain, and the Ameri- can merchant marine and military fleet can develop only at the expense of the British fleet. The period of agreement between England and Am- erica must develop into a period.of growing antagonism between these two countries, and this, !n turn, means the danger of a world-war of propor- tions yet unknown. x The antagonism between Japan and the United States is retaining its full degree of acrimony. The earthquake in Japan upset the balance of power between the two countries, but the enmity has not become less bitter. The exclusion of Japanese immigrants from the United States has Jent the imperialist battle in the Pacific Ocean something of the character of a racial struggle. In the event of a clash be- tween the United States and Great Britain, Japanese militarism will un- doubtedly play a more active part than it played im the last war. At the present, the untold wealth of the bourgeoisie of the United States constitutes a great danger in the world situation. The temporary iso- lation of the United States, designed in order that its ill-gotten wealth might be digested, is coming to an end. North American capital requires expansion in all directions. One of these paths leads to the South. Pres- sure on Mexico is bound to become stronger, and at the same time there are sure to be further inttusions into South America; European capital will be forced out and the complete sub: jection of these countries will follow. The militarism of the United States will inevitably take on a more active and a more progressive character, not only on the American continénts, but also on the seas. The progress of the revolutionary movement in the orient during the course of the past ten years is giving body. The majority of the senate lived up to its reputation of conservy- atism and seemed to take a keen de- light in defeating progressive legisla- tion. The assembly was vascillating and uncertain, at times voting as real progressives, then again displaying the most reactionary tendencies in opposing wholesonie legislation.” We cite the following as some of the leading labor measures killed by the LaFollette legislature: “ pill (501-A) providing for eight hours work on ‘public works in the state, city, or county and minimum wage. A bill (31-A) seeking the eight-hour working day on all state printing. A bill (46-A) to extend the one-day in seven rest law. A bill (469-A) the Car Shed Bill, requiring railroad car shops or other concerns manufacturing or repairing cars, to provide buildings that will pretect employes from heat, rain, cold, snow, etc. An unemployment compensation measure (53-A) to stabilize employ- ment. ‘ An old age persion bill (287-S). A bill to abolish private detective agencies. ; A bill (28-A) sponsored by the State Federation of Labor to limit the hours of work to eight per day in mills, fac- tories, and manufacturing establish- ments. Courts Used Against Workers. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has been particularly hostile to the work- ers. Every annual report of the offi- cers of the State Federation of La- bor abounds in evidence of this hos- tility. We recall the instance where a boy, 6 years of age, Jerome Ptack, met his death thru the negligence of one Kuetemeyer. A jury rendered a verdict in favor of the father of the boy for $3,500. The judge reduced the sum to $1800. The Supreme Court acting on the appeal of the insurance company, further reduced the amount to $1,000. The State Federation of La- bor, commenting on this action of the judges against the jury, declared in its specially prepared pamphlet on the case entitled “The Wisconsin Su- Preme Court’s Queer Slant on Life.” “The Wisconsin State Federation of Labor cannot dictate to the Su- preme Court of Wisconsin what its construction of law shall be, but it can protest against an illegal and in- humane principle being given the force of law; it can and does protest against a principle which in many cases will render the statute giving a cause of action for wrongful death of a child nugatory; and it vigorously protests the invasion by the court of ‘the constitutional right of trial by jury. We wish to state in no uncer- tain terms that we consider the in- terference with the verdict of the jury by the Supreme Gourt in’ this case an usurpation of the func of a jury.” One of the main reasons given by the Supreme Court for reducing the amount rendered in the first verdict was the fact that the father had in- tended to send the-boy to school. Consequently, the court reasoned, the father was not deprived of any in- come thru the death of his son, In the eyes of these judges, it was a acter of open militarist violence, The illusions\of constitutionalism, the hopes of compromise with a rule of violence, which the subject masses of India have cherished, are now van-" ishing. The parties of nationalist lib- eralism and petty bourgeois utopian. ism are being swallowed up in obliv- ion, The revolutionary movement is permeating the country more and more and is attracting constantly wid- ening masses. There is need of a firm, centralized,, revolutionary party, to strengthen these movements and deal a death blow to British imperial- ism. In dismembered Chifia the imperial- ist powers have introduced, — thru’ troops of mercenarfes, a regime of masked military gccupation. The strug- gle of the Chinese people for unity and independence is at every step meeting with the opposition of the Japanese, the’ American and the Eu- ropean robbers. MacDonald’s ambas- sador in .Pekin insisted on the~pun- ishment—for purposes of “teaching a lesson”—of the Chinese soldiers who were taking a walk in a part of the city Where only white exploiters have the right to take the air. The hearts of the many millions of Chinese are beating with righteous anger, with barely suppressed hatred. Here, as in India, a revolutionary organization is springing up’ as a result of bitter trials and repeated effort, which can be summoned to free China from for- eign deposits and also from its own. France, which has advanced the borders of its colonies, is making des- Perate attempts to multiply the sources of its imperialism, and to this end it is subjécting not only the Arabs, but also the Negroes, to the rule of capitalism. The military trnin- ing of the colored peoples is designed not only to build up a reserve power for future wars, but it is hoped that the black and yellow regiments will also be a useful tool in the hands of the bourgeoisie for the crushing of the proletariat in Europe. The widening of the horizon of mili- crime for the father to plan to send his son to school. Apparently work- ers must be penalized for attempting to secure an education. Protesting against the burden plac- ed on the workers thru costly liti- gation in courts, the Wisconsin State Federation of Labor convention held on July 15 to 18 of this year, de- clared: “The whole matter has been in litigation for years, and we do not know how many more years these cases will be dragged. Compare these with the rapidity with which courts act in the issuance of injunctions in labor disputes.” Organized labor in Wisconsin has been especially bitter in its protests against costly litigation in the courts. The workers have suffered especially. in compensation cases. We learn from a statement by R. G. Knutson, member of the State Industrial Com- mission, appearing in the report of the Wisconsin State Federation of La- bor for 1922, that: “In the eleven years in which the compensation act has been enforced, during which time over 100 appeals have been taken by workmen, there has not been a single case in which an injured workman ever got a cent thru an appeal.” From the 1921 convention proceed- ings of the State Federation of La- bor, we learn to what. extent the workers have been suffering from in- junctions in LaFollette’s model com- monwealth. We cite the following re- solution adopted apropos this abuse: “Whereas, four of our brothers, members of labor unions of Rhine- lander, are confined in the county jails of Oneida and Langlade coun- ties, haying been sentenced to impris- onment on charges of contempt. of court by Circuit Judge Reid, follow- ing the issuance of an injunction against the paper mill workers, and in behalf of the Rhinelander Paper Co. 3 “Whereas, ‘ these four brothers, Peter J. Christ, Matthew Jefracke, Victor Venne, and Steven Shelbrack, have sacrificed their rty ina struggle against oppression by a greedy corporation, therefore be it “Resolved, by the Wisconsin Fed- eration of Labor, in convention as- sembled, July 19, 1921, in the city of Manitowoc, that we extend hearty greetings to these brothers who have \ preferred prison bars to submission to autocratic impositions and assure them that organized labor will con- tinue to devote its energies to elimin- ate industrial and judicial injustices.” Finally, in 1922, the State Federa- tion of Labor was compelled to pass 4 special resolution against the courts of Wisconsin along the following lines? “Whereas, we are of the belief that some judges hold shares of stock and have financial interests in companies, firms, and corporations, and “Whereas, by the holding of such shares of stock and having such finan- cial interests they are very ai prejudiced in their judgm and / decisions, therefore be it P “Resolved, that it is the sense of this convention that such a condition is not consistent with justice, espe- cially in ine arising out of van such as tiqns and assault battery puee” |