The Daily Worker Newspaper, September 11, 1924, Page 6

a Page Six THE DAILY WORKER. Published by the DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO. 1113 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, Ill. (Phone: Monroe 4712) .——_ SS SUBSCRIPTION RATES By mail: ; $6.00 per year $3.50....6 months $2.00....3 months By mail (in Chicago only): : $8.00 per year $4.50....6 months $2.50....3 months Address all mail and make out checks to THE DAILY WORKER 1113 W. Washington Blvd. Chicago, Illinois J, LOUIS ENGDAHL Editors WILLIAM F. DUNNE MORITZ J. LO! ....Business Manager Entered as second-class mail Sept. 21, 1923, at the Post- Office at Chicago, Ill., under the act of March 3, 1879. <> 290 Advertising rates on application ————————————————— Would LaFollette Follow MacDonald? Mr. Villard, editor of the Nation, thinks that if LaFollette should be: president, “we should have in Washington the same spirit of amity in the con- duct of our international affairs which so glorifies the ministry of Ramsay MacDonald.” We are not sure of just which “glorious” items in the record of MacDonald Mr. Villard refers to. Perhaps he means that, just as MacDonald has fol- lowed the principle of “continuity of policy,” car- rying out the established course of British im- perialism as laid down by the Conservative and Liberal parties, so also would Mr. LaFollette con- tinue the imperialism of the U. 8. as applied by Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Harding, and Coolidge. Or, it may be that Mr. Villard, remembering that MacDonald has continued the practice of dropping bombs from aeroplanes upon the villages of Meso- potamia, one of the chief “glories” of the Labor government record, is rejojced in the thought that LaFollette will continue to shell the defenseless cities of Latin America if they do not come across for the American capitalists. a then again, it is probable that what Mr. Villard has in mind, in looking for LaFollette to repeat the “glories” of the MacDonald regime, the fact that it was MacDonald who was the chief instrument in putting into effect the Dawes plan, otherwise Rnown as the Morgan plan. Mr. Villard evidently expects, and with good reasons, that LaFollette would follow MacDonald in this also, and support the project of Coolidge’s running mate. All in all, it is quite probable that LaFollette will not thank Villard for raising these questions. They are just the kind of questions which he does not wish to answer during the campaign, prefer- _ving that they be left for the practical exegencies of the moment to determine them. Mr. LaFollette wants to cash in on all the MacDonald sentiment that he can, and Villard has much grounds in thinking that he would repeat the Scotch Sunday school teacher’s record rather closely, but it is rather embarrassing to have the thing put so bluntly, at a time when “Battling Bob” must make a pretense, at least, of being different from Dawes. Why So Tender with Lewis? John L. Lewis, one of the foremost labor fakers of America, was one of the group of “trade union- ists” who, on Labor Day, paid their respects to Strikebreaker Coolidge and pledged the support of “labor” to the republican department of Wall Street. That little pilgrimage®fot the LaFollette backers all peeved. The current issue of Labor, weekly organ of the railroad unions and principal ad: yocate of the C. P. P. A., plays up a big front page story denouncing and exposing that group of “leaders,” claiming that it was organized by T. V. O’Connor, former president of the Longshoremen’s Union and now, by appointment of Coolidge, chair- man of the U. 8. Shipping Board, and claiming further that O’Connor paid the expenses of all those “not on the government payroll.” Strangely enough the name of John L. Lewis is not mentioned, either in the story or in the long editorial that follows. Lewis is not, so far as public knowledge goes, as yet on the government payroll, altho rumor has it that Coolidge has promised to make him Secretary of Labor if re-elected. Did Lewis have his expenses paid by T. V. O’Connor? And if so, why does not Labor mention his name and come out with the facts about Lewis? The miners would like to know. Perhaps one reason for the tenderness towards Mr. Lewis is the fact that Lewis is exposing War- ren 8. Stone, grand chief of the Engineers’ Union and pillar of Mr. LaFollette’s church, as the oper- ator of scab mines in West Virginia. Mr. Lewis is not putting up any kind of a fight for the 100,000 Illinois miners who are being starved to death by the coal operators but, since joining the camp of Coolidge ani needing a weapon against the La¥ol- letteites, he has become an ardent champion of the sweated slaves of Warren Stone. “J will be fair enough to presume,” writes Lewis to Stone, dealing with Stone’s coal mines, “that you are speaking as a coal operator and not as a trade unionist. It must be interesting to have such a dual personality.” Why is Stone so tender with Lewis? We are in- terested to hear the retort courteous? For it is when thievés fall out that honest men learn some- thing about the ways and means used to rob them, Stir the Shops! | The very best place to carry on a working class {campaign is in the shops and factories where the |workers gather to earn their living. It is there that minds are open to the measures, parties, and jeandidates that stand for concrete solutions of |the problems of bread and butter facing the work- ing class. It is in the shops that the workers will see most clearly, for example, the difference be- tween Foster, the union organizer and fighter for the workers, and LaFollette, the lawyer and fighter jfor the middle class. And the very best instrument right now for stir ring up discussion in the shops on the class issues, is the workers’ straw vote. It opens the discus- sion, places the issues before thousands of work- ers who would otherwise not think or who would take their opinions from the capitalist papers, and erystallizes their class convictions so that they will register and vote for Communism when elee- tion day comes. An example is seen in the vote taken in a car- riage shop in Kansas City. The results were: Davis 8 votes, Foster 7, LaFollette 5, and Coolidge 5. The office force was reported as unanimous for Davis and the K. K. K. went entirely for Coolidge. The other workers divided between Foster and LaFol- lette, with Foster having the edge. That vote was undoubtedly quite an educational factor in the life of the shop where it was taken. This week another method of shop voting is be- ing tried in Chicago. Ballots are being distributed positing the votes as the workers leave their jobs. It is not only excellent propaganda means, stir- ring up all sorts of discussion, but the results will be of great interest. Every supporter of Foster and Gitlow should stir the shops of the nation with the workers’ straw vote, spe)» oP Politics in the Unions Republican and democratic politics are more than ever the determining factors in union affairs. LaFollette has given a new lease of life to the buying and selling of working class votes. Thus! the settlement of a “misunderstanding” between front of all fakers in the state. Farrington’s announcement that he is a candi- date for re-election as president of District 12, |gives new interest to republican party politics for |the miners. Len Small had been holding a whip over Farrington, to force his support, in the shape of the candidacy of William Sneed, Small hench- man and member of the miners’ union, for Far- jrington’s job. After. Farrington finally united with the other fakers behind Small, Sneed an- jnounced his withdrawal in favor of Farrington. |Thus is the fate of the unions made the object of trading in the offices of the capitalist parties. In his announcement of his candidacy, Farring- ton promises to lambast a “deadly enemy” that is working stealthily against him in the miners’ union. He certainly does not mean the K. K. K., for he has the support of that organization. Per- liaps he means the Communists, who are certainly against this prince of labor fakers, but very pub- licly and openly. The Communists will have a good deal to say about Farrington before the miners’ elections are over. But that is another |story to be told in full at another time. Suffice it now to note how republican politicians like Len Small have a great deal to say about who shall control the affairs of the miners. “By Mutual Consent” “The really important thing,” says the Nation, organ of liberalism in the United States, in com- neting upon the adoption of the Dawes plan, “is that Europe has at last made a treaty by mutual | zonsent.” The thinking of liberals is a weird and wonder- ful thing. That the eight-hour day is to be abol- ished is an unimportant incidental factor. That the railroads are to be de-nationalized and turned over to private exploitation is nothing to worry about. That J. P. Morgan establishes his power to control production and the standard of living thruout the capitalist world is something hardly. worthy of comment. The only thing that is im- portant to our liberals is that an “agreement” has been reached. The same paragraph is which the Nation felici- tates the world upon the settlement “by mutual consent” of the world’s troubles, starts out with the statement that the action of the Reichstag in adopting the Dawes plan was taken because, Chan- cellor Marx had threatened to put it into effect without parliamentary consent if that were not fortheoming. Nothing could be more illuminating ef the farce of parliamentary democracy, wor- shipped by the liberals, or of the profound illusions that are typified by the phrase “mutual consent.” All the class collaborationist labor officials in the country will be watching anxiously to see the fate of the infamous “B, & O. plan” at the Machin- ists’ Convention in Detroit. next week. If the work- ers are awake to their own interests, then the plan will be buried so deep that it will never be heard of again. Hughes wants the Soviet Government to repay him that $187,000,000 that he gave to Bakmetieff to use against the Soviets. That is as logical as to demand payment from the victim of an assault Let the controversy go on unhindered. What do|for the gun which shot him, because the assailant you know about Lewis, Mr. Stone? Get a member for the Workers Party and a new subscription for the DAILY WORKER. failed to kill him and therefore cannot pay. It is the logic of capitalism. ‘ Get a member for the Workers Party. at shop gates, and boxes are carried there for de-| - AE DAILY WORKER or. (Continued from pege 1) dumb who will vote for Coolidge are not those afflicted ones who cannot speak, but the dumbelle who cannot think. Of the latter kimd there are millions and tho New York has its share, other states are equally pro- lific in producihg the species. s+ “CG ECRETARY HUGHES demands no more than the British bankers exacted from Moscow: payment of debts, security for private property and an end of Communist plotting.” The above is not taken from the Wall Street Journal or the Chicago Tribune but from the socialist Milwaukee Leader, organ of Victor Berger who has represented himself in favorofrec- ognition of Soviet Russia. No Czarist stool-pigeon in the Burns ; Interna- tional Detective Agency, once known as the Bureau of Investigation of the Department of Justice could spew his anti-Soviet venom more openly than this, But the worst is yet to come. “If the American government would only recognize Russia first as Mac- Donald did, Moscow could save its face.” Here we have the Milwaukee Leader, openly lining up with Charles Evans, Hughes, Gompers and Bahk. mateff against Soviet Russia. Ory Oi ®, N the same editorial the Leader claims that the Anglo-Soviet treaty, negotiations which were broken off were finally carried to a successful conclusion because the Soviet gov- ernment backed down. Had Berger's seribbler read the London Daily Her- ald, official organ of the British Trade Union Congress and mouthpiece of the Labor Party, he would have learned that the signing of the treat- ies was due to the action of promi- nent left wing members of the British Labor Party in parliament who brot pressure to bear on MacDonald. The British workers were strongly in fa- we see in the Ilinois miners’ union the most flag-/ vor of the Russian treaty and had the rant trading going on, the result of which has been |leaders allowed the Tories and Lib- erals to prevent» them by. threats Farrington and Len Small, completing the united °™ signing the agreements, they would hear from the unions. % * * «* ‘HE most ticklish point in the An- glo-Russian negotiations was the Soviet demand for_a British loan guaranteed by the British govern- ment. That this guarantee was given is sufficient propf that the backing down was not done by Moscow but by London. The Milwaukee Leader says the treaty was a surrender to the bankers on the part of MacDonald as well as Moscow. If so, why has the London Chamber of Commerce, which is presumably on speaking terms with the bankers so bitterly opposed to the treaty? But this should be enuf for the mentally ossified yellow socialist who writes the editorials for Berger's official organ. eee ‘HE official bulletin of the socialist party, is trying to keep up the By WILLIAM F. KRUSE. PORTING news seldom finds its way into the DAILY WORKER —the life and struggle in the labor world have such urgent claim on every inch of space that there is none to spare for the masters or mannikins of the profitable; business of com- mercialized sport. We realize that ancient Rome, keep the worker’s in- circus of professional sport, for pur- poseg of its own. A mind steeped in batting averages has little room for unemployment statistics; a head filled with ponies’ past performances seldom thinks of past performances, or present day problems, of human so- ciety. It is much safer for capitalism to have the primitive combative insticts vicariously expended at a prize-fight or football game than to face the pos- sibility of the same instincts finding direct expression thru the labor and revolutionary movements, The work- ing class “sports” who spend good admissions are foolish. A thirty-day ticket-office boycott would bring free admission to every form of profes- sional sport, paid for by the reaction- ary elements whose interests are served. | A Political Angle. But when a sporting item assumes a directly political character, as in the case of the belated arrest of Luis An- gela Firpo on an immorality charge, on the eve of his battle with the col- ored heavyweight champion, Harry Wills, there is good reason for the workers’ press to take interest. This is not the first charge of its kind to be directed against Firpo—or against others of his profession. So hardened have we become to these charges that a primitive disregard for law and con- vention in the realm of sex relation- ship is almost expected in prizefight- tive method of getting a livelihood, aced with deportation proceedings. ‘When he first began to train for the Wills fight -there was a little flurry but it soon subsided, It must be re- the master class, like the Caesars of | terest riveted to the myriad-ringed | money for bleacher seats and general ers, perhaps as a reflex of their primi- When Firpo was training for his fight with Dempsey he was not men- morale of its few remaining members by holding before them a vision of a labor party, following the November elections, “You are sure to hear more of this in due time, Nothing small is contemplated.. ak ete little plans can be tolerated at this time. And the situation calls for every comrade to stretch his soul and vision for greater things.” This is a ist party members. must have elastic |political souls unless they have not already cracked under the strain of deferred hope. Simple Simon was a membered that in his early training the “Wild Bull of the Pampas” looked good. He was fat and slow, but the sport writers were not worried—had not the “Bull” knocked the mighty Dempsey clear out of the ring? Then the experts went over to the Wills camp to hand the razz to the dusky champ. Wills had not done so very well in his last few fights against comparative second-raters, reports had it that he was getting old as fighters go, and that dissipation had taken heavy toll of this former longshore- man. They were in for a big surprise. According to their own stories they found a clean-limbed fighter with the |body of a Johnson and the brain of a Gans. They found that his age had been “exaggerated.” Instead of a toothless old man with one foot in the grave and the other on a cake of wet soap they saw an athlete training to the pink to remove the last logical obstacle to his meeting the white champion. - e Keep Down the Black, Man! In this country it is not good form that a black man meet a white man in the ring on equal terms. Fight fans may point out numerious mixed battles but there generally was a catch somewhere. Thus Battling Nelsons’ business manager made Joe Gans boil down to skin and bones in his Goldfield battle by his unprece- dented and unsportsmanlike demand that weight be made in full fighting togs, instead of stripped as was the custom, The fight lasted forty-two rounds and Gans died of consumption, penniless, some years later, partly due to this terrible sweating. And fight fans still raise their eyebrows over the way in which “Lil Arthur” John- son lost the title to Jess Willard, Johnson himself admits he laid down, It will also be remembered that when Jim Jeffreys sacrificed “white supremacy” to the dollar sign he had to go to a country where human equality is proclaimed less and practiced more than in these United States, Immediately after the crown: ing of a black man as king of the heavyweights Cong pasged a law forbidding the importation ‘or ini state shipment of fight films. Had the black man been beaten that law would never have been thot of. Since Li ’ political confidence game. The social-| AS WE SEE IT - - skeptic compared to the worker who expects the socialist party, which has humbly acepted the job of licking the boots of the bourgeois LaFollette, to take the lead in organizing a labor party. And nobody, outside of an insane asylum expects Sam Gompers to do it. *e © AFOLLETTE had much consola- tion coming to him in compli- mentary letters‘ on his’ Labor Day speech. - 51.85,per cent of the letters came from Republicans and 48.15 from Democrats. The remaining per NOT. SO GOOD that time, altho the law is still in force, no great trouble has been found to evade it—but the spectacle of a Negro defeating a white pugilist has never been shown widely in this country. Perhaps the politicians are solicitious lest white supremacy be reasserted by burning, skinning alive, and boiling in ofl a hundred or so of Negro grandmothers and babies in arms. The Real Issue. ‘The Negro worker, especially in the industrial centers of the North toward which he migrates in ever larger num- bers, is beginning to realize his. true class status, He knows that it is im- material to the machine or its prod- uct whether the hand that tends it be dark or fair. And he knows, too, that on the industrial battlefields, the words, “black’ or: “white” make no difference; it is the terms “striker” or “scab” that tilt the balance of vic- tory either to.the workers or to their enemy, the boss. Not the fistic prow- ess of the professional pugilist set- tles the question of racial equality— the inventor of the steam engine and the electric motor had much mdre to do with it. Every phase of social life must re- flect the basic economic conditions of its epoch. Thus sport today clearly shows capitalism on its every’ side —in itself a big business, it at the same time es well the interest of the business elements ‘at large. If Harry Wills will promise to allow him- self to be beaten by the “Wild Bull” there is not likely to be any deporta- tion, Otherwise there will be a tug- of-war between the fight promoters on the one hand, and the Klan politicians, on the other to see which of the con- flicting business interests shall be served by the immigration officials “The Fight Game” is a phase of cap | italist society and obviously has close economic and political relationship to the present Order, The Remedy—Workers’ Sport. Commercialized sport is the ‘prosti- tution to capitalist ends of the healthy play and combat instincts of the mass- . The American labor movement, and especially its more progressive sections, should answer by building up @ sports movement of its own in which the workers would build. up Thursday, September 11, 1924 By T. J. O'Flaherty cent came from the socialists. La Follette was disappointed in the re- sults of the Maine election. It was hoped the victory would go to the Democrats after ‘Wheeler's New Eng- land campaign. But it didn’t. An- other important adjunct to the LaFol- lette conglomeration is Ex-United |States Senator Moses Clapp of Min- nesota. The Republican party, how- ever, claims that Clapp was never anything but a liability in the Minne- sota machine for s@Véral years and glad to be rid of him. IT LOOKS BAD FOR THE FAT MAN. “White Supremacy” and Working Class Sports their bodies, revivify their minds, and develop their own team spirit and champions in an atmosphere of their own ideology. And on the negative side of the workers’ answer should be an absolute boycott on all capital- ized play, all newspaper space devot- thereto. There are hundreds of working class athletic societies in the United States, they should be combined into a workers’ sport federation for pur- pose of mutual support and contest. Most of them have been formed by different foreign language speaking elements; the meeting and mingling of,these workers on the playground would help melt down the barriers of racial difference which now hamper |class organization effort. These ele- ments are among the most virile and energetic in the whole working class, given a revolutionary ideology this splendid physical energy could be transmuted into terms of revolution ary activity. The Communist International has called to the attention of its various national sections the importance of this field of workers’ sport. In Europe the greater development of the move- ment is reflected in immediate re- sults. In this country the lack of class:consei ess even among exist- ing workers’ athletic societies makes our task more difficult—on the other hand the intense, avid interest-of the workers generally in all branches of athletics makes our field much’ more promising once we get a sufficient start, Any reader having inside’ in- formation on conditions of workers’ sport organizations in his locality would do well to get in touch with the Young Workers League which is in charge of this work. No aventie of workers’ mass activ. ity can be overlooked by the Commu: nists. Our motto in the struggle must be: class industrial organiza tion, class politics, class education, class sport, class life, class struggle, class victory! ARE YOU OBTAINING YOUR BUN: DLE OF THE DAILY WORKER and CAMPAIGN LEAFLETS to distribute when you are out getting signatures to petitions? = * ed to it, and everything connected | |