The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 6, 1925, Page 6

| THE DAILY WORKER. Published by the DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO. 1118 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, Tl. (Phone: Monroe 4712) SUBSCRIPTION RATES i By mail: $6.00 per year $3.50....6 months $2.00...8 months By mail (in Chicago only): $8.00 per year $4.50....6 months $2.60...8 months Ee Adress all mail and make out checks to THE DAILY WORKER 9113 W. Washington Bivd. Chicago, Ilinele a J. LOUIS ENGDAHL WILLIAM F. DUNNE} eons EA ILOPS MORITZ J. LOEB... .Business Manager ——————$—————— ®ntered as second-class mail Sept. 21, 1928, at the Post- Office at Chicago, Ill, under the act of March 3, 1879, <p 250 Advertising rates on application LF The Coal Teamsters’ Strike The Chicago coal teamsters have picked a good time to strike. The recent prolonged cold spell has exhausted many coal stocks and deliveries have been slow because of the bad condition of the streets. o Thedemand of the teamsters for a dollar per day, increase and the provision that the teamsters themselves shall not handle coal has brought loud protest from the coal dealers, but both demands can be conceded by the coal profiteers simply by reduc- ing their juicy profits. This is as it should be and we do not believe that the teamsters are going to be influenced by the hard luck tales of the middle- class parasites that exploit them. * Driving a team or a truck and at the same time being forced to wallow in coal dust, is an un- necessary hardship for the men who handle coal. They become heated while unloading the coal and then may ride for miles in a below zero atmosphere. We have never seen a coal heaver that did not have a racking cough during the winter months brought on by this condition under which they work. The dealers and the property owners who are complaining at the strike and the demands of the teamsters could not and would not endure the misery that a coal teamster suffers in an eight- hour winter day. We hope they have to pay what the teamsters ask and from all indications the teamsters seem to be determined to make a good fight for their demands. They have our best wishes and the DAILY WORKER, as always, will be one paper that will tell of their struggle as it should be told—as part of the class struggle which the workers are forced to wage for even minor concessions in the form of wages and hours. The Workers (Communist) Party will gladly furnish pickets if the teamsters need help, but that is not likely as in this strike they have already shown their ability to take care of themselves— and the stabs. An Optimistic Ambassador Sir Esme Howard, British ambassador, ex- pressed before the American Political Science As- sociation recently the opinion that the Communist danger was over so far as Europe was concerned. The remarks of the spokesman of British imper- ialism are contradicted by the strenuous efforts now being made by the British foreign office all over Europe to arouse some semblance of united action against the Communist International and Soviet Russia. The danger is not over for capital- ism but is more menacing than in 1918-19 for the very good reason that the Communist parties of Europe are now well. organized and disciplined leaders of the revolutionary workingclass in their respective countries. The revolutions of 1918-19 failed because the Communist parties were young and inexperienced and without sufficient contact with the masses. At that time the social-democratic parties were strong and had not lost their mass following as is the case today. It has taken almost séven.years for the ~workingclass of Europe to find out the true charac- ter of the social-democracy—its treason to every phase of the workingclass movement. This process is almost completed—there is a widespread disillusionment among the workers and European capitalism has lost its last smoke screen. The struggle is clean-cut—the workingelass led by the Communist International on one side and cap- italism on the other. It is an optimistic capitalist spokesman that can call such a situation “devoid of danger” for cap- italism: Another Indigent Debtor The friendship of the House of Morgan for fas- cism is shown by the fact that it is not adding to the other troubles of. Mussolini by prodding him up about the Italian debt to the American plunder- bund. Italy has made no effort to pay its war debt but no pressure is being exerted from Washington that can be seen with the naked eye. The slightest sign that that collection agency for the house of Morgan—the Coolidge administra- tion—was about to ask for a few shekels as an earnest of intention to pay would probably send the lire tobogganing to oblivion. For that reason the Italian dictator is allowed to make paranoic speeches in lieu of advancing some cash. Italy, like France, cannot and will not pay. The whole nation teeters precariously on the edge of bankruptey and the black shirts of the fascisti are about the poorest security in the world just now. The House of Morgan might foreclose on the vatican and its treasures but the Italian working- class with the Communists in the lead are also keeping an eye on this well-stocked storehouse which contains something for more tangible than the spiritual pabulum dispersed by its owners, i \} Capitalism’s Tame Madman ; Mussolini is a madman. His speech tothe cham- ber was the speech of a homocial maniac and in- deed this is the only type of individual that could see any wisdom in or hope of saving Italian cap- italism. The American capitalist press was greatly cheered by the bombastic but wandering oratory of its idol and all the litle prostitute correspondents “seen their duty and done it.” They gave Mussolini a great boost but the story of the wrecking of the headquarters of a couple of masonic lodges by the enthusiastic fascisti will probably cool the admira- tion of the ku kluxers who have been following the antics of their Italian prototypes with undis- guised approval. With the suppression of the opposition press as the first step in his election campaign Mussolini has turned all of Italy into a battlefield. When the smoke clears away it will.be seen that another idol of capitalism which the masses were supposed to fall down and worship had feet of clay. Perhaps they are even of a more clinging and odorous material. Whatever the composition of the feet of this fas- cist idol there is plenty of proof that they are cold. His speech in the chamber resembled nothing so much as a boy whistling to keep up his courage while passing a graveyard. Textile Workers Must Organize The textile manufacturers are organized nation- ally and their association meets to decide, not on the matter of wage cuts in principle—on this they are all agreed—but on the method of reduction and the amount of decrease which they think the textile workers will bear without revolt. The textile workers are poorly organized and almost at the mercy of the bosses. There are a number of-unions in tif industry, but very little unity. Unless the textile workers soon see the menace to themselves and their families in their present situation, facing a powerful organization of capitalists backed by local, state and national government, they will be worse off than the chattel slaves of the pre-civil war period. The Trade Union Educational League, in its statement to the textile workers, points out .the remedy for this pitiful weakness. The Communists in the textile districts must see that this message and meaning gets to the workers and that it is translated into concrete forms of organization. A Telephone Operators’ Strike The news of a strike of telephone operators in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which has tied up all telephone lines in that vicinity, brings to mind the fact that these women workers, once fairly well organized under the jurisdiction of the Interna- tional Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, are now about 90 per cent unorganized and therefore at the mercy of the telephone trust—the’ Bell Tele- phone company, which has a virtual monopoly of this all-important public. utility. The history Of the disorganization of the tele- phone operators’is too long to be told in a short editorial, but it is one of the best instances of the damnable effects of division into craft and calling that curses the American labor movement. The process of disorganization has been going on so long and the telephone trust has been able to take so much advantage of this condition that organiza- tion is much more difficult than it was ten years ago. Stock selling schemes, welfare ‘systems, so- cial activities—all under the auspices of the trust —have sapped the morale 6f the telephone oper- ators. We hope that the Harrisburg strike is a sign of a revival of the militancy that was once character- istic of the operators and that enabled them to wage many hard fought strikes. Coal Diggers Support Communists Yesterday we published a set of resolutions adopted by the Christopher local of the United Mine Workers of America protesting the perseeu- tion of Communists and calling for the repeal of all criminal syndicalism laws. This is the kind of news we like to print, especially at this time when the sentencing of Comrade Ruthenberg by the Michigan capitalist courts probably means that the prosecution of active members of the Workers Party will be re-opened. The feeling among the workers that the Com- munists must be defended because they are the most consistent and courageous fighters for the working class is the best guarantee that the jailing of Communist workers has the opposite effect to that desired by American capitalist government. Resolutions like those from the Christopher coal diggers make it possible for Communists to face the prospect of prison sentences with a light heart. President Coolidge hopes to call a military armament limitation conference this year, accord- ing to press reports. The best preparation for peace is to be for war, mused Cal,’ as he signed the $110,000,000 naval appropriation bill. He is now in a position to say: “Bring on your goddamn peace meet!” King Boris of Bulgaria is looking for a wife. He will. start his quest in Belgrade and wind up in London. If he fails in Europe and decides to try the American field, we venture to guess he will never pass the battery unless he surrenders to some sausage manufacturer’s daughter, The sixty-eighth congress had fifty-three days of work left on January,1. Judging by its activity on the first day of the year it will not die of over- work, = { THE DAILY aOR h eR LOWERING OF STANDARD OF INEED FOR FARMER MORGAN POWER TRUST AFTER MUSCLE SHOALS Ford Sidetracked by Owner of Dawes (Special to The Dally Worker) WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 5.—The General Blectric company, in a last minute “attempt to nullify the effect of unfavorable publicity in the sen- ate, where the monopoly of electric power by Morgan’s “power trust” has come to light, announces a fake “dis- solution” of the trust. This dissolu- tion, however, consists in the trans- ference of the stock of the trust from its left to its right hand pocket. Owen D., Young, chairman of the board of directors of the General silectric com- pany, announces that the stock of the Electric Bond and Share company has been distributed on a pro rata -basis to the General Electric com- pany. However, the Underwood Bill, which would have given the Alabama Power company owned by the Mor- gan power trust, a lease on Muscle Shoals, has been temporarily’ defeat- ed because of the disclosures. The Electric Bond and Share Co., was formed by the General Electric as a means of controlling the numer- ous small electric light and power companies, thruout the country. In this way many independent com- panies were brot under the wing of Morgan’s trust. A third powerful cor- poration in this trust, which extends to the Bell telephone system and the Western Union Telegraph company, is the American Gas and Electric company. These three large corpora- tions are connected with interlocking directorates and stock ownership of Morgan interests in all three com- panies. Anson W. Burchard is a di- rector in all of these companies. Di- rectors of the three companies in- clude George F. Bakre, of the United States Steel corporation and numer- ous railroads; Dwight F. Morrow, Morgan’s partner, Edwin Stettinius, another Morgen partner, and other in- dividuals under Morgan’s control. get an “Ad” When you oF for the DAILY EXISTENCE IN OTHER LANDS FORCES WAGES DOWN HERE By LELAND OLDS (Federated Press The menace to American wage Industrial Editor) standards in the lower standards of living forced on foreign labor is shown in a survey of real wages thruout the world issued by the International Labor office at Geneva. American wages measured by the quantity of food they will buy, according to the labor office figures. are more than 100 per cent higher than those in Great Britain, the nearest competitor. This means that where the average Philadelphia works can purchase each week $27 worth of goods and services.the average worker in London is limited to-what $12.40 would buy. On the same basis the average wage earner in Paris gets only $9.05 worth, the average Berlin worker $6.82 and the average worker in Milan ‘$5.71 worth of necessaries. The figures issued by the labor of- fice are index numbers based on the purchasing power of wages in London as 100 per cent. The wages: used in the averages for each country include building trades, metal trades, furni- ture trades, printing and bookbinding and common labor. The purchasing power is measured in terms of the cost of a given quantity of food in the various cities. Where available the cost of housing is also taken into con- sideration and a second set of figures leveloped to include this. The figures given for wages prevailing July 1, 1924, are: Average Based on Based on food Wages and rent London ...... -100 Pet. 100 Pet Amsterdam 89 88 Berlin 55 sone Brusse 59 64 Christiana 72 72 Lisbon 32 one Madrid .. - 57 ose Milan 46 49 Ottawa 73 155 Parl . 73 65 Ph 214 213 Prague 56 61 Rome ..... 46 50 Stockholm 79 Vienna 51 Warsaw The fact that workers in ‘London must give more than twice as many hours of work as those in Philadel- phia and those in Berlin nearly four times as many to earn the same quan- tity of food raises the question how long standards can be maintained in this country. Sec’y. Hoover's state- ment on the economic prospects of UNITED MINE WORKERS WILL PICK SUCCESSOR TO SECRETARY GREEN INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 5.—-The exe- cutive board of the United Mine Workers of America, expected to recommend a successor for former secretary treasurer, William Green, now president of the American Fed- eration of Labor, went into session here today. John L. Lewis, International presi- dent of the union, refused to reveal who he will favor for the position and said the matter might be the last to be considered by the board, which Is faced with a heavy amount of routine business. the new year calls attention to. the fact that with wages about 100 per cent over 1914 and the cost of liv- ing up 72 per cent real wages in this country. are at the highest level In history., He says this is possible be- cause of increasing efficiency in pro- duction. More Goods; Less Jobs. But increasing efficiency means that more goods must be sold if labor is to have full employment. This is, far from the case at present. The at‘ tempt to sell more goods means hot- ter competition with foreign labor. What the effect is likely to be is in- dicated by the textile industry which has cut wages from 10 per cent to 15 per cent to secure markets for its products in the face of sharp competi- tion from foreign imports. Next Sunday Night and Every Sun- day Night, the Open Forum. Tuesday, January 6, 1925 SUPPORT REASON FOR RATE SLASH Canadian Regime Plays Old Game By JOHN ROBUR. (Federated Press Staff Correspondent.) OTTAWA, Can, Jan. 5,—The Mackenzie King administration will not cease its efforts to keep the sup- port of the progressive group in the Canadian parliament. The latest step is the reversal of the railway com- mission’s order which abolished the Crow's Nest Pass railway rates be- tween eastern and western Canada, These rates are materially lower than those generally in force; they apply to grain and flour moving eastward and to agricultural implements, fruit, and quite a list of articles moving westward. They were suspended dur- ing the latter years of the war by legislation; they came into force last July; but they were again set aside this fall by the railway commission. Now the cabinet, which sits as a court of appeal in this matter, has ordered their restoration in 15 days. The issue.is on appeal before the sup- reme court of Canada, and the gov ernment has put the Crow’s Nest rates in effect until the supreme court de- cides the question. After Rural Support The strongest pressure in favor of bringing back the low rates has natur- ally come from the west, which is al- most entirely progressive in the house -of commons. The King administration is in a minority of two and needs sup- port from the farmers. Last sessions it got this support by tariff reduc- Aions. Now it has appealed to it by a cut in rates, and the same under- lying reasons may bring more tariff reductions next session. Subscribe for the DAILY WORKER, New South Russian Line, (By Rosta.) ~ MOSCOW, Jan. 5.—The Steamship Corporation of North America is or- ganizing a steamship service between American and Black Sea ports, Who Says There Is No Unemployment? _ By JAY “LOVESTONE. N the midst of all the noise that is being made about the high tides of prosperity overwhelming us, the em- ployment situation the country over affords an instructive example of the propaganda methods of the employing class, The latest official findings of the United States department of labor re- lative to the present unemployment situation certainly show no evidence of prosperiy among the working mMasses. Surplus of Workers in New England. Turning to the New England situa- tion we find that in the textile and shoe plants, in the paper and pulp mills of Maine there is a surplus of labor and. part time schedules pre- vail. The shoe industry, the hosiery mills and the machine shops of New Hampshire are operating with reduced forces, In the Boston industrial dis- trict practically all plants are oper- ating part time. In the textile and metal mills of Rhode Island there is a surplus of workers. Connecticut’s New Haven indus- trial district shows many factories ating part time. In the textile and surplus of factory hands. Plenty Unemployed in Middle Atlantic States. When we enter the middle Atlantic tier of states we find a similar situa- tid. In New York state there is con- siderable unemployment chiefly of un- skilled workers. The completion of summer road work and numerous con- struction jobs is releasing many work- ers. The building industry is slacken- ing. The iron and steel industries of New Jersey are below normal in oper- ation. Many other industries in the Camden ‘and Trenton districts are working on part time basis. The ces- sation of road building is releasing many skilled, semi-skilled and un- skilled workers in Pennsylvania. Dark Clouds in Illinois. The surplus of common labor con- tinues in Illinois, In the Chicago dis- trict a large electrical concern has decreased its forces by about one thousand during the month. The coal mines of Danville and the steel mills of Joliet are operating below normal, Farm labor, furniture manufactur- ing help, automobile production forces all show a surplus in Indiana, In Mich- igan there is a surplus of common la- bor thruout the state. Coal mines are operating fifty per cent capacity. The automobile factories are in some cases releasing workers, It is very difficult for the unskilled workers to find jobs, Two large auto plants in Detroit em- ploying fifty thousand men are work- ing on part time. Wisconsin has a surplus of common labor. “With the exception of highly skilled mechanics in the building trades and also some experienced butchers, there is a surplus of skilled and semi-skilled men in most all lines and in common labor” in the Milwau- kee district. Ohio continues to show a surplus of labor. The metal and allied industries are hardest hit. The automobile in- dustry is operating considerably be- low normal. The mining industry is far below normal. Building operations are not so active. Rubber tire manu- facturing is slackening. In Youngs- town a number of blast furnaces are closed and the steel industry is gen- erally operating on part time. In Cleveland all classes of help are ap- plying for jobs. Northwest Building Curtailed. Building operations are being cur- tailed in Minneapolis. In St. Paul there is also a surplus in the building trades. In Missouri there is a consid- erable surplus of unskilled labor. Be- cause of the poor corn crop the de- mand for farm help is lighter than expected in the St. Louis district. In Iowa the tile plants and. button fac- tories of the Des Moines district are operating with reduced forces. In Kansas there is an over-abundance of common labor. The railroad shops of Topeka are operating on a five-day a week basis. In Omaha, Nebraska, there is a sur- plus of office and factory help. South Dakota shows a surplus of labor. In North Dakota there is also a surplus of common and skilled labor. Here building construction is slackening. Not Much Brightness in Sunny South, Due to the curtailment of building operations and road construction the number of unemployed among the un- skilled is increasing in Maryland. In Baltimore there is a surplus of build- ing tradesmen and a seasonal decrease in the forces engaged in the manu- facture of clay and glass. The Dis- trict of Columbia shows an oversupply of clerical and sales forces. In Virginia there is still a surplus of textile workers. West Virginia still shows a surplus of unskilled labor. The demand for farm labor ih North Carolina is decreasing. There is an oversupply of clerical help in Wilming- ton and textile operatives in Raleigh. The fertilizer plants and cotton-oil mills of Columbia, South Carolina, are now closed, There is unemployment reported thruout the state of Georgia, The sup- ply of unskilled labor has increased in Florida due to migration. During the month there were losses in the forces employed in the ratl- road, leather and chemical divisions of Kentucky. There is a surplus of workers in the textile industry. In the Ashland district there is an over- supply of iron and steel and unskilled laborers, In Tennessee there obtains | a surplus of labor in many industries, The Alabama coal mines are hard hit and building is slackening. The lum- ber and textile mills of Mississippi re- port a surplus of labor and are oper- ating on a part time basis. Drought conditions hi increased the amount of surplus labor in Louis- jana, In New Orleans there are many plants operating on part time or with reduced forces. Some lumbering plants are closed here. The oil in- dustry of Shreveport is especially hard there exists a surplus of skilled and unskilled labor. . Last month wit- nessed a loss in the forces employed in the Oklahoma oil fields. The com- pletion of cotton picking has increased the surplus of unskilled labor in Texas. Southwest Hard Hit. The railway shops of New Mexico are operating on a five-day basis. In this state all agricultural activities ex- cept/cotton harvesting work are show- ing seasonal curtailment. Industry in Utah is less active now than thirty days ago. In Wyoming there is con- siderable release of out-of-door season- al workers. The outlook here is for reduction of the forces in the oil in- dustry. There is moderate surplus of common mine labor in Nevada. ‘The Idaho sugar beet crop activities have been curtailed on account of the drought. Building, highway construc- tion and agricultural activities are showing a seasonal letup in Montana, Several thousand agricultural work- ers have been released in Colorado. No Prosperity in Mountain Distriet, In California a large force of work- ers has been released by the cessation of fall harvesting operations. Ordin- ary mine labor shows an increased surplus in ‘this state. In the San Francisco district labor as a whole is very plentiful in the iron and steel, textile, printipg, glass, clay and leather industry. Work on railroad and highway construction, as well as in logging camps, is temporarity at least being suspended in Oregon for seasonal reasons. The fish and fruit canneries are slowing up. Some of the lumber mills of Washington are reducing their output. The comple- tion of the apple harvest has added to the unemployment list in this state, In Seattle “an increasing surplus of laborers and mechanics prevails.” MUNIST-CHLD Sob AWE aie Teacher Sees Young Comrade. A few days ago I was telling two of my classmates about the “Young Comrade” and the junior groups. They become interested. I asked them if they would like to see a copy of the Young Com- rade. Both eagerly responded “yes.” Accordingly, I promised to bring them each a copy of the latest issue. The other day, when I came down-stairs, I noticed my new Young Comrade in our mail-box, took it to school to read during one of my study periods,’ At school, I remembered my promise, I decided to let them see this one. One of the girls has the same study periods as I, so I asked her if she would like to see it then. She said she would and I gave it to her. days when the teacher walks around the room to see who is absent. A girl was reading a story book and he passed her. Behind this girl sat my friend. The teach- er looked at her, then at the paper. He noticed a head-line. It didn’t look like the head-lines of the school paper. The headline said something about a strike. He took the paper from her and looked at the.front page. I noticed his face change color as he read the name “The Young Comrade.” “Are you on the library list?” he asked her. To understand what he meant, It happened to ‘be one of the| bei “D’s” cannot take books from the school library. “D’s” mean poors. They make a list of the names of those who may draw books the school library and call library list. “No,” she answered. “Then don’t read this. Do some work.” She looked at him and then at the paper finishing what she had started to read. I immediately wrote her a note, showing her that he didn’t ask the girl in front of her if she was on the list. When we next got.a chance to talk, I explained why he didn’t. I think as a result, we will bei two more new juniors. Comrades, this goes to ay how they ‘treat us in the school. Will we let this go on? No! We won’t! But how will we prevent it? By getting more juniors, we rs. Don’t forget to send to Thelma Kahn, 1109 So, Robey St. for the address of the junior group near- est your home, | +E. Juniors: pay You Ready? © This is a very good letter. It is the kind of a letter we want to receive for our column, Let us have more of them! Surely have not forgotten your promise write to our Russian comrades? Send letters telling of your ex- periences in school, of your pro- paganda activities, of anything that happens to you that you think will make an in hit by unemployment, In See et eaplaln. ‘Anzomn who: got spany-— Edits Jalan arene if Y t