The Daily Worker Newspaper, September 5, 1924, Page 5

Page Five LABOR FIGHTING BOOM BUBBLE BURSTS WIDE OPEN SE Te ERS DEPARTHENT OF LABOR REPORTS SHOW JOB CONDITIONS ARE BAD WORST IN YEARS By LELAND OLDS Thousands Walk Streets (Federated Press Industrial Editor) Unemployment as severe as in the critical summer of 1921 Without Hope of Work By KARL REEVE, shows just what the worker has to expect from a favorite ad- (Staff Writer, Daily Worker.) MAN OF SCIENCE TELLS A FEW IN TALK ON I, W, W. SaysB ad ( Conditions Bring Discontent IN SUNNY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA; COMMUNIST INFLUENCE INCREASES By ROBIN DUNBAR (Special to The Daily Worker) LOS ANGELES, Calif., Sept, 4—The last year saw the boom burst in Southern California. Real estate fell flat; houses quit selling; “For Rent” signs, formerly scarce, became plentiful, Taking one block in Los Angeles, on 37th Street, there are “for rent” or “for sale” or “rooms for rent” signs on every house on one side of the street except two. And so on all over the city; and in Long Beach, ‘where Signal Hill has been pumped dry; and in all the other towns and cities of+ ARMAMENTS PLAN IN AUSTRALIA | Oppose Building of New 10,000 Ton Cruisers By W. FRANCIS AHERN. j (Federated Preas Staff Correspondent.) ministration of “Big Biz.” It’s a wonder that Cautious Cal didn’t muzzle his department of labor before it issued the July employ- ment report which shows that over 1,300,000 factory workers By SYDNEY WARREN. (Federated Press Staff Correspondent) i MELBOURNE, Australia, Sept. 4.— Labor members in the federal parlia- ment bitterly opposed the scheme of the Australian government to build new modern cruisers of 10,000 tons each. ‘They declared that’ this in- crease in naval armament was con- trary to the spirit of the Washington naval treaty, and a repetition of the old pre-war preparation that led to the last world-wide conflict. Invasion Idea Piffle. They ridiculed the idea of invasion of Australia which was put forward by navalists and militarists, and drew at- tention to the fact that those loudest in their demand for increased naval construction were, by a strange coinci- dence, the folk who stood to benefit from the war-mongering business. For that reason any “expert” advice they gave should be heavily dis- counted, They pointed out, too, that prior to the last war the warmongers. were busy preparing for war, and got what they were preparing for. It. was then stated that there would be no more war, yet as soon as peace was sighed the same gang of warmongers were shouting for preparation for another war. Where’s War to End War? They informed the prime minister that at a recent conference of the league of nations he stated that if the building of armaments continued the world would be thrown into chaos. , Yet today he was leading the gang of warmongers, yelling for increased armaments, presumably to help plunge the world into chaos again. Labor took the attitude that those who prepared for ‘war got war, and that on the general question of de- fense if the country was made worth fighting for there would be no peéd to worry about defending it. In Other words, let Big Busfhess make Aus tralia “a land fit for heroes,” and the workers would see to it that no hostile alien was allowed standing room on its shores. 45 Cents Is Reward . To Worker’s Rescue Of Cave-in Victims DUBUUE, Ia,, Sept. 4.— George Thompson, a laborer, had a check for 45 cents today to show for having res- cued two workmen from death when they were buried in a sewer excava- tion after a caye-in. “It took me an hour to dig them out,” Thompson said, “and when I finished the con- tractor gave me 45 cents, union scale.” Thompson had been laid off four minutes before the cave-in oc- curred. : . Subscribe for “Your Daily,” the DAILY WORKER, Take a Vote in Your Shop OW do the workers in your shop stand in this presidential election campaign? How many of your shop mates are still so backward that they accept the leadership of Coolidge and Davis? How many of your fellow workers have been fooled by the specious pleas of LaFollette and adopt this middle-cla 11, how many workers are there in your shop ‘who un- derstand that the working class must have its own party, its own policy, and its own candidate—and who therefore stand for William Z, Foster And, above for president? Take a vote in your shop. will compile it along with all the picture of how the workers are thinking about the candidates. THE DAILY WORKER, WORKERS’ STRAW VOTE southern California. Hard times have deflated the real estate boom- ers and other hot air artists, leaving a wake of busted buyers, and unem- ployed workers in their midst. The roads back east are full of disgusted tenderfeet who came out to make their fortunes, but went broke in- stead. All who can get away are leaving while the leaving’s good. The petty bourgeoisie and the bour- geois-eminded workers are sore and disgruntled, The long record of the one white spot gn the dark financial map has been broken, and California has gone into eclipse with the rest of these black United States. Communists Progressing. On the other hand, the Communists here are in good spirit and making remarkable progress. The latiguage locals, the English branch, and the Young Workers are all growing and doing fine work. Hard times are bet- ter than good times for the spread of the Communist gospel. The unem- ployed are in a more receptive mood to'listen to the truths of Marxism and Leninism. A full dinner pail makes capitalist votes, but an empty one on the contrary makes Commun: ist ones. From that reasoning, Fos- ter and Gitlow ought to poll a big vote in the Golden State, if they get on the ticket. ‘Wages have gone down with the in- crease of unemployed workers. To get on the payroll at any price is the effort of all save a few true union men, But the unions are weakening with the lack of jobs. Many are drop- ping out, and more are failing to pay their dues. The labor leaders, how: ever, don’t notice the hard times, not so long as enough dues come in to pay their lordly salaries. They are fram- ing up the” vote here for the petty | ° capitalist politicians in the Jocal field; and for the big capitalist poli- teians in the national era. Amongst the union men LaFollette doesn’t seem to inspire much enthusiasm; nor do Coolidge or Davis. They take the pessimistic attitude toward poli- tics of the down and out bourgeois business man: “Whats the use?” Workers Awakened by Daily. However, quite a number of copies of the DAILY WORKER find their way into the hands of union men, and the Communistic attitude toward pol- ities is getting known and under- stood. “The world for the workers thru Soviets” is a slogan that has pen- etrated the ranks of the workers, and with the increase of hard times it will become popular. While the mild climate of Califor. nia may soften the asperities of hard times a bit, yet it doesn’t cloak the grim facts of the class struggle; nor does it dampen the ardor of the work- ing Communists. The naval maneu- vers this fall will call the west’s at- tention to the feverish preparation for war going on in the bourgeois govern- saviour? Send it in to the DAILY WORKER. We other shop votes and give you a ments, and serve to stir up the work- ers to active organization against an- other holocaust like the last one. However, the vast majority of work- ers will, as Lenin prophesied, again fight for their own bourgeoisie; those of California included, But the seeds of proletarian military organization are being sown and are falling on fer- tile soll. So it may be hoped that the Comintern will serve as a brake for the maddened bourgeoisie before it reaps another gigantic harvest of de- struction and deatli. Says Democratic Plank Will Bring War with Russia (By the Federated Press.) WASHINGTON, Sept. 4.—In an arti- cle in the current National Republic- an, Herman W. Craven declares that the democratic platform pledge to “ful- fill President Wilson’s arbitral award respecting Armenia,” would, if car- ried out, involve war with Russia and Turkey. Wilson announced, on Jan. 2, 1921, his decision as arbitrator of the boun- daries of the Armenian state created by the Sevres treaty. But in August, 1920, Soviet troops had crossed Ar- menia to assist the Turk Nationalists under Kemal Pasha in overturning the Armenian regime set up by the allied imperialists. When the Turks drove the Greeks out of Asia Minor the fate of an independent Armenian state was settled. Russian Armenia is a part of the Union of Socialist Re: publics today, while Turkish Arme- nia is almost depopulated: The dem- ocratic platform pledge is a mockery of historic fact, worthy of Hughes himself. American Workers : to Have Their Own “Who’s Who” Soon (By Federated Press.)~- NEW YORK, Sept. 4, — The first American Labor Who's Who, contain- ing 3000 names, will be ready for pub- lication in a few months. It will give brief accounts of 1800 labor unionists, 400 labor political chieftains, 150 la- bor educators, 100 labor bankers, 100 co-operators and 100 labor research- ers, writers, editors, speakers and economists. About 300 foreign labor men will also be listed. The material has been gathered by the Rand School labor research department thru ques- tionnaires submitted to the individ- uals, who are to appear in the forth- coming volume. The British Labor movement made the first experiment in a labor direc- tory. In January, 1924, it published the Labor Who’s Who, including 900 individuals in the labor and co-opera- tive movement. Boston Section of - International Aid -For Workers’ Report BOSTON, Mass., September 4.—The financial report of the Boston Section of ‘the International, Workers’ Aid, which has been engaged in relief work for the starving workers and children in Germany, shows an in- come of $40,478.82 and expenditures amounting to $4,057. This report dates from the beginning’of the or- ganization, August 13, 1921, to Decem- ber 31, 1923. The receipts have come from contributions, entertainments and Russian Film showings. During this period the Boston section remit- ted to the National Office of I. W. A. (formerly F. S. R.), $36,420.83. One Horse Town is Going on Rocks Mill Goes Parttime ELDORADO, Ill., Sept. 4>— “I've been mining 32 years, and I’m worse off now than when I started,” was the first remark made to me by an unem- ployed miner in Eldorado. He gave his name as John Taylor, State St. and said that over three thousand min- ers in this one little town are out of work. Could Get Picture of 10,000, Arne Swabeck, Arley Staples and myself invaded the town with camera, typewriters and baggage. We found over one hundted miners loafing around the street corner. They had given up looking for work. We asked them to pose for a picture, and they wanted to know what paper we repre- sented. When I replied, “The DAILY WORKER,” Taylor said, “Oh, that’s all right. If it wasn’t a good labor paper I wouldn’t do it.” As we snapped the picture one of the miners| called out: “If you gave us a couple of hours’ notice we could get 10,000 unemployed miners here to pose for a picture. There’s plenty of us.” The No. 8 and No. 11. mines of the O'Gara Coal Company, employing 400 and 350 men, respectively, are com- pletely shut down. The O'Gara Coal belong to the New York Central Rail- road. It was brought into court some} years ago for violation of the Sher- man anti-trust laws. Mines Closed Here, Too. The mine of the Peabody Coal Com- pany, one mile from here, in ordinary times employing 400 men, is also \closed up. The Wasson mine, employ- been closed up eight months. “Daddy” A. R. Mills, 73 years old, told a little about his last 40 years spent digging coal. “Daddy” worked ia the mines steadily up until three years ‘ago, when he retired. “I have never seen any unemployment period such as we have at the present time,” said Mills. “We'll have to do some- thing pretty soon or the union will go to smash.” He mentioned the $30,000 spent by the old age pension committee, squan- dered while “investigating” the old *!sus year 1919. Company is generally understood to) amounted to $24.42 showing a decline jing 500 men, works at most four days | Iron, steel and products.. aweek, The Grayson mine, two miles| Lumber and its products.. from town, employing 450 men, has| Leather and its products.. *|cate na general trend except in the today. This means a drop of 14.3 per cent in the number on factory payrolls since last July and brings employment to a level 22 per cent below the cen- Purchasing Power Declines. The decline in the purchasing pow- er of the factory population is even more serious. In July it was 19.3 per cent below July, 19: That means that the buying capacity of families dependent on factory wages has been reduced by one-fifth. Employment decreased 4 per cent between June and July, but the de- partment does not hold the depression which has been developing since 1923 entirely responsible for this decline. Regular seasonal changes including inventory and vacation periods are in part to blame. But the decrease was general affecting 45 of the 52 indus- tries covered by the report. Com- pared with July, 1923, employment de, clined in 48 of the 52 industries, in- cluding lay-offs of more than 20 per cent in each-of 11 industries. 4 Percent Drop in Wages. The average weekly pay of work ers who still had a job in July} of 4 per cent compared with June and 15.9 per cent compared with the previ- ous year. The average weekly pay envelopes in the major groups of in- dustries this July and a year ago ap- pear as follows: 1923 1924 25.09 $25.74 20.62 18.57 28.00 25.45 21.50 21.19 22.64 21.50 29.96 29.80 28.83 28.98 25.47 25.77 Food and food product: Textiles and clothing Paper and printing Chemicals, ete. ..... Stone, clay and glas: Tobacco products 17.60 17.82 Vehicles 80.94 27.75 Miscellaneous 27.40 27.60 Wage rate increases were reported by 12 establishments and decreases by 124 establishments. The increases affected 1,223 employes while the de- creases affected 25,488. According to the department these changes indi- case of 30 sawmills which cut the wage rates of 9000 employes and of age pension, “And still no provision has been made for the care of the vet- erans of the union,” Mills added. K. K: K. Denounced. Mills, who lives at 1317 North State St., denounced the Ku Klux Klan. “What they are doing to the miners’ organization in the Southwestern States proves that their real purpose is to disrupt the unions and divide the workers.” “I started mining coal in Victoria, Ohio County, Kentucky, and went thru my first strike there. We struck for a raise of 25 cents a ton and got it. There was just as much solidarity among the miners then as there irs now. But there were no official ma chines which the miners had to fight as well as the bosses.” Harvey Clark, secretary of Local Union 1677, Eldorado, and Ed Pen- nington, secretary of the Trades and Labor Assembly, met on the street corner by the DAILY WORKER re- portery asked that bundles of/ the DAILY WORKER be sent them which contained the write-up of Eldorado and the surrounding towns. They agreed to take the matter of buying them up with their organization. This offer was’ not solicited. Campaign Trickery Begins. PHOENIX, Ariz., Sept. 4.—That the Indian vote in Maricopa county will be very light in the coming election is indicated by registration officials. Of the 4,000 or 5,000 Indians in the county eligible to vote under the re- cent act of congress, most will auto- matically be barred from voting due to the fact that state and counties are not permitted to create new voting precincts within Indian reservations. 14 iron and steel plants which de- creased the wage rates of 6,000 em- ployes. Strike Averted by Movie Men Signing Up New Agreement ST. LOUIS, Sept. 3.—The signing of an agreement with the union by the employers averts a projected gen- eral strike of motion picture operators and stage hands here. The old scale was from $0 to $60 a week and the new agreement provides for a 10 per cent increase. Contracts have been signed with all theatres here, accord- ing to the union. Negotiations with the musicians are still pending. This craft receives from $35 to $40 a week and demands an increase of 25 per cent. The musi- cians here are solidly unionized and a strike is not anticipated at this writing. Claim Small Helpless. SPRINGFIELD, Ill, Sept. 4.—Un- less the committee of Williamson County commissioners which was re- ported to be planning to ask Governor Small to remove Sheriff Galligan of that county from office, presents evi- dence that the sheriff has permitted prisoners to escape, the governor will who had jobs in July, 19238, are on the street, looking for work e— FOUR CAPITALIST POWERS JOIN IN U. S. Navy Commanders Given Power to Act PEKING, China, Sept.%4. — United States, Great Britain, Fran and Japan today joined in a “four power” note to the Chinese govern. ment advising the, Peking regime will | be held responsible for all forei losses in the civil war that appears imminent. Reports of actual fighting have been rife but no confirmation has been re- ceived. re eee WASHINGTON, Sept. 4.—Meager consular advices reaching the state department today ‘indicate a grave sit- uation in China as the result of re- volutionary activities in the vicinity of Shanghai. Consul-General Cunningham at Shanghai reported that 20,000 Kiang- su troops had assembled near Soo Chow and that there had been some fighting, according to reports from Peking. Commanders of United States war- ships in Asiatic waters have authority to take any action that they deem nec- essary to protect American property. Your Union Meeting FIRST FRIDAY, SEPT. 5, 1924. Name bof Local and Place No. Meeting. 237 W. Roose- Rapere and “Cont., 34 8 ee ee 175 W. Washington it 6 29 Broom Makers, 810 W. Harrison St. Building Trades Council,, 180 W Washington. Carpenters’ Dis. 505 S. State St. 1 Garpenters, 175 W. Washington. 70 Carpenters, 2705 W. 38th St. ters, 4339 S. ‘Halsted St. 2901 W. Monroe St. 4141 W. Lake St. R., 5824 S. Halsted Firemen and Enginemen, 5438 S. Halsted St. 84 Glass Workers, Emily and Marah- Council, Hed. “Garriers, Monroe and Peoria Ladiss’. Garment Workers, Board, 328 W. Van Buren St. 83 Machinists, 113 $. Ashland Bivd. Machinists, 113 §. Ashland Bivd. Painters, 2345 So. Kedzie Ave. Painters, School and Shefield Ave. 863 Painters, 3140 Indiana Ave. Makers, 119 Saver? St. 0251'S. Chicage Ave. rmen, Village Hall, Kol- Joint ". ay Carmen, Village Hall, Kol- Rail - “Carmen, 8445 S$. Ashland ve Railway Clerks, 20 W. Randolph St. Rai ki S. Clinton St. . Dearborn Hotel. » 1936 E. 64th St. Trainmen, 3349 North Railroad Trainmen, 9120 Commer- cial Ave. Sheet Metal Workers, Ashiand and Van Buren, South Chicago Trades and Labor Assembly, 9139 Commercial Ave. 2 Hands, 412 Capito! Bidg. 12 | ae Mounters, 3609 Wolfram Ave. 3 Teachers (Women), Women's City 4:30 p. "Com." ‘312° Ss. Clark 19 W. Adams S&t., beg aay League 220 nd B Snore ise 8 Dp. m.) stated all Model Prisoner Skips Off. Search was proceeding today for Lyman Hall, 51, a “lifer” who escaped from the Joliet Penitentiary after 27 years as the “model prisoner” during which time he spurned many opport- have no power to act, according to opinion at the state capital. Under the Illinois law, it was stat- ed, Governor Small is empowered to remove a sheriff only on one ground— loss of prisoners. No cases of escape of prisoners from the Williamson county sheriff were recalled here, unities to get away. 60,000 Bucks Gone to Hell. To date Cook County has spent $50,000 in its efforts to send Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb to the gallow’s for the slaying of Robert Franks, THREAT TO CHINA The| , | d WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Sept. 4— The practice of leaving stranded im- | migrants, employed as harvesters, on the prairies eto shift for themselves was scored Sir William Ashley, of the Un ity of Birmingham, a not- ed scientist, now visiting Canada, He declared that it was such treatment that gave rise to the lL. W. W. Why Men Organize. “This practice of turning away men and forgetting about them, once they }have served the farmer’s purpose, is a shocking state of affairs. The In- ial Workers of the World are or- |ganized to oppose this sort of thing and they are growing into a force | which will have to be reckoned with,” he warned. “If I had to employ harvesters, I would be greatly disturbed by the an- nual newspaper stories reporting suf- fering and want on the part of men who have been working on the farms. “When people get the spirit of true democracy in their bones they should develop a sense of pride which will not tolerate certain conditions in their community, but when I walk thru a typical Canadian manufacturing plant I ask myself to what extent do the workmen share in your advantages? What privileges are you prepared to extend to these same men?” Electric Power. electric power in Canada, Sir William id that it was of no use to ajority of people, since it was aived ly owned for profit and not public service. “In her hydro-electric plants, Cana- da wields mighty power,” declared the British economist. “What use is she going to make of it, in terms of hu- man lives?” “See to it that this God-given ad- vantage of mighty power is utilized to the fullest and best advantage so that all benefit from the gift.” A CORRECTION, On August 23rd the DAILY WORK- ER published a story by Karl Reeve on the conditions in the mines in O'Fallon, Ill. Among the numerous accounts of the conditions that pre- vail in the mines in that district our correspondent was informed that the Mings’ Co-operative Stores have been suspended. A correction has been made in this story by one of the miners of O’Fal- lon, who ¢laims that all of the Min- ers’ Stores have not been suspend- ed. Some of them are still manag- ing to continue in “pretty fair condi- tion.” This miner also takes exception to the part in Reeve'’s story .which de- picted the run-down condition of the local union thru lack of funds to car- ry on. Altho the union’s funds are all out due to the miners being con- tinually out of work, the $500 that they borrowed from the Sick Associa- tion for Relief of Distressed Brothers has not been used up. This applies also to the sub-district. Join the Workers Party! RUBBER STAMPS AND SEALS IN ENGLISH AND IN ALL! FOREIGN LANGUAGES INK, PADS, DATERS, RUBBER TYPE.Erec. NOBLER STAMP & SEAL CO. 73 W. VanBurenSt, Phone Wabash 6680 CHICAGO MAIL ORDERS PROMPTLY ATTENDED TO——— PITTSBURGH, PA. DR. RASNICK DENTIST Rendering Expert Dental for 20 Years. 645 SMITHFIELD ST., Near 7th Ave. 1627 CENTER AVE., Service Referring to the great amount of 1113 W. Washington Bivd., Chicago, III. The workers employed in the shop of. A LAUGH FOR THE CHILDREN UNCLE WICGILY'S TRICKS “I wonder what tune it plays ? BEDTIME STORIES WRITTEN HERE By F. W. LEIGHTON. © (Federated Press Staff Correspondent) KENNEBUNK, Maine, Sept. 4.— The Sanford Worsted Mills of . this city, employing ordinarily about 400 \ women, have been operating three WM.y 2. FOSTER wcscseee VOCS} LAFOLLETTE vues Votes; days a week for the last 15 months. Workers Party No Party In the yarn department, girls average 4 30 cents an hour; weavers, 55. Many DAVIS votes; COOLIDGE votes, families are suffering want, even sum- Democratic Party Republican mer work at the beaches nearby, i where city people from all parts of | certify that this report is correct: the country spend their money, not ee ficient to make up the family bu ! } cart hear any music!" * Funny! essonenen have taken a straw vote on the presidential candidates, and the vote was as follows: BEDTIME STORIES Name: ... senenaneapenneresencennunmnmnenenseressavesssensuacensnenssnnens sees Address: .. You can get sample copies of the DAILY WORKER any time at the DAILY WORKER office, y’