The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 24, 1925, Page 2

Page Two Help Drive the Spike SONGS of the SEVEN SINNERS Seven DAILY readers Hadn't sent their dollar, One met a militant, REDDENED to the collar: He Drove His $pike! $ Six DAILY readers Pledged T. U. E. L., One searched his conscience,— It hurt like hell: He Drove His $pike! $$ Five DAILY readers Still talking faction, One read the slogan “Less words, more action” He Drove His $pike! $$$ Four DAILY readers No trade union card,— One joined the Builders, Felt like an Old Guard: He Drove His $pike! $$$$ Three DAILY readers, Nothing in their jeans,— One caught a liberal, Possessed of means: He Drove His $pike! $$$$$ Two DAILY readers, Strangers in the city,— One pawned his B. V. D.’s, Now he’s sitting pretty: He Drove His $pike! $$$55$ One DAILY reader, Left all alone, Hired out as hash-slinger,— Earned himself a bone: He Drove His $pike! S$SSSSS$$ And You? Here is my dollar to hams mer home THE LA$T $PIKE! aA Loe hn a AS WE SEE IT: By T. J. O'FLAHERTY. (Continued from page 1) among them and he stayed, like the boy on the burning deca “when all but he had fled.” The clown of the show was William H, Johnston, or “B. & O, Bill” as he is now bap- tised. ‘ oe 'T was a rather lively convention in the sense that a madhouse is live- ly, except when the chairman, John- ston, attempted to collect enough money to pay the indebtedness ‘of the C. P. P. A. The silence was every- thing but golden, One socialist, who hoped against hope that the 8. .P, still had a chance of capturing the | convention put up one hundred dol- lars. Other seasoned veterans of many such fiascos, asked each other: “What's the matter with Vladeck?” see 3 ie brotherhood officials are busy business men. They did not want to waste their time any longer. Sheppard of the conductors was their chief spokesman. He wanted the C. P. P. A. to go along in its established rut and suggested that those who did not like that policy might politely go {STRIKERS SPURN OFFER OF CITY Rubbish -Clutters All City’s Streets Twenty-five hundred striking street cleaners, garbage collectors and dump wagon teamsters, employed by the city of Chicago, voted unanimously to reject the offer of commissioner of public works Sprague of a raise of ten cents per day. The men struck following the re- fusal of Sprague to grant their de- mands of an increase of fifty cents a day, Michael Carrozzo, president of the street Sweepers and Cleaners’ Union, Local No, 361 was given sole power to act as the representative of the strikers, and was given power to settle the strike on what terms he thoughts fit, However, they flatly re- jected the offer of Sprague. Strikers Hold Meeting “We are making no attempt to in- stitute any regular picketing,” said Carrozzo. “We won't need to, The city streets are already filled with to pot. It was a short speech and not eloquent but there was some power behind it. Morris Hillquit rose; stepped catlike to the platform, smiled sweetly in all directions, par- ticularly at the bushy hiruste annex in which Sheppard’s upper lip is am- bushed. Hillquit made a good speech -—for the purpose. That must be ad- mitted. He pictured the fozzilized labor lakers in front of him as potent- fal MacDonalds, Hendersons and Sid- ney Webbs, who had the pleasure of kissing the king of England’s toe. The lips of the labor fakers moisten- ed but they withstood the tempta- tions, er @ did not mention endowed auto- mobiles or shares in biscuit fac- tories, but most of the labor leaders in front of Hillquit owned labor banks and could buy out the British royal family. Hlilquit’s speech won the conference for the immediate forma- tion of a party, at least the applause was heavy. But it was tiot any heavier than the enthusiasm of the la- bor leaders. One by one they got up and said that they were business men and could not commit their ‘organiza- tions to Hillquit’s program, much tho they sympathized with the*beautiful ideals that Hillquit cherished: They were friendly enemies. ©*)°* eee i? My last straw that broke the bro- therhood camel’s back was the failure of the gathering to talk money when the chairman Very patiently allowed plenty of time to lift the burden off the shouders of ‘the stag- gering C. P. P. A. Visions of the July 3rd conference rose up when Brock from Detroit, a delegate from the bro- therhood organizations, reminded the socialists and others that.they were the guests of the C. P..P,,A. and should act with becoming decorum. It was John Fitzpatrick’s speech to the Communists now directed at socialists. Both the socialists and the ex-socialists who constituted the great majority of the conference were glad to get rid of the brother- hood convention vote if not of the brtherhood support. But when the brotherhoods made themselves scarce and the socialists thought they had the convention by the neck, the real trouble started. It was a case of dog eat dog. ee } EFORE the C. P. P. A. took the potion which sent it off into eternal sleep Eugene V. Debs, was put up by the socialists to make a speech. The party was getting rough about now and Hillquit feared that the brotherhoods would leave hurried- ly or call in the cops and eject the poor relations. Debs, who rarely if ever attended a socialist party con- vention, was dragged into this gather- ing of freak-frauds in order to cap- {talize the respect that his personality has earned for him. His speech was old and stale but it a typical old- fashioned speech and he even used the word “revolutionary” once, The Milwaukee Leader delegation gasped. snr HILE Debs was wasting his breath on this collection of ad- venturers labor lakers and nondes- cripts, Morris Hillquit was dickering with Robertson, Sheppard, Mannion and the other railroad chiefs. When Debs got thru, Sheppard announced that the ©, P. P. A. conference had adjourned sine die and those who wanted to form a new party could hire the hall if they wanted. Hillquit said this was entirely satisfactory. As these lines are written the third in- stallment of the comedy is taking place, But if “sine die” means any- thing the ©. P. P. A. is dead and the 8, P, is frantically loking for a shroud in which to envelop its own corpse. WEEKLY YOUNG WORKER CELEBRATION Sunday, March 8, 3:30 P. M, at the WORKERS HALL 722 Blue Island Ave. md Mass Meeting - Banquet - Dance — Admission Free— | Patronize our advertisers, debris and garbage that the city has been unable to clear away.” Carozz0 told the strikers at the meeting, held in Musicians’ Hall, 175 W. Washing- ton street, that his union demanded that the finance committee of the city council provide funds to give them a decent wage. Carrozzo received a letter from Commissioner Sprague stating, “I will recommend to the finance committee the rate of $5.20 for street repair men, $5.10 a day for street laborers with- out uniform and $5.20 a day for uni- formed laborers, and $8.00 per day for section foreman.” This was an increase of ten cents a day, which the strikers unanimously rejected. A conference will be held between Carrozzo and Sprague on Tuesday afternoon, at which the city will be forced to accede to the strikers de- mands, according to several of the union officials. FASCISTI FEAR REVOLT OF REDS IN BULGARIA (Special to The Daily Worker) SOFIA, Bulgaria, Feb. 22.—A state Bulgaria by the fascist premier, Zan- koff, who fears that Bulgaria is on the eve of a revolution Ied by the Communists. Clashes have occurred between Bulgarian fascists and Ser- bian workers near Zaribrod, it is re- ported. Two were killed and several wounded in the fighting. The un¥ed opposition parties have again appealed to the king to demand the resignation f the fascist premier. Most of these parties declare they want a democratic-pacifist govern- ment, “as the only means of saving the country from a Bolshevist revolu- tion.” STATE MEDDLING IN TRADE UNION WORK IS THREAT (Special to The Dally Worker) SPRINGFIELD, Ill, Feb. 22.—As- semblymen in the Illinois legislature today launched an attack on the la- legislative control of the union: James Curran of Chicago, one of the representatives making the at- tack gave as his reason that “a man cannot join a union, no matter how skilled he may be, unless some of his relatives belong to the union.” Rep- resentatives Lee Brown of Ottawa, and John Clark of Decatur, also at- tacked the unions. The reasons given for the attack, trade union members stated, were used as a cloak to hide an attempt to break up the trade unions by means of state regulation. Still Have Hopes. SPRINGFIELD, nois yet may collect the $97,000 in- heritance tax claimed to be due from the estate of the late Delavan Smith, Lake Forest millionaire publisher of the Indianapolis News, it became known at the office of the attorney general today, REPORT TOMORROW AT WORKERS PARTY OFFICE FOR POLL DUTY ‘The local office of the Workers (Communist) Party calls on all party members available to report , at the local office, 166 W. Washing- to St., Room 303, for duty as poll watche The four Communist are expected to receive aii excellent vote, and it is up to us to see that this vote is counted. Watchers are needed thruout the day, from nine in the morning until six at night, THE DAI of war has been ‘instituted throut bor unions, and threatened to, poet il, Feb, 22,— Mli- (Cont | from page 1) make a 8) ,While Debs made a socialist propaganda talk lasting an hour, Hillquit,tlitted about the hall whispering to the labor aristocrats. It is quite certain ‘Gene Debs was not expected to make the kind of speech he did. He was told to speak for a new party, He did in a way, but he wasn’t on his feet five minutes before he forgot where he was and launched into one of his propaganda talks of the old days. The “progres- sive” women , the rail chiefs squirmed in date scats “B. & OF Blil Nervous. “Bre O, fohnstone, the chair- man, became nervous. He tapped furtively with his gavel for Debs to stop. ‘Gene didn't hear. “There are two” classes in society. The working tlass’and the possessing class, These” ‘clagses can never be reconciled.” It’was pitiful. There he stood propounding the doctrine he has been preaching for thirty years, and there sat béfore him a convention of class collaborators, socialist rene- gades and middleclass politicians. Hew the Trick was Played. In the meantime, Hillquit did his work. ‘Phe rafl union heads agreed to withdraw. The C. P. P. A. ad- journed sine die. A session was called for the evening. The credentials committee report showed that labor’ representation to the convention was practically non- existent, A half dozen local labor bodies, three state federations had sent credentials, but the delegates were not present. The rest were from the socialist party, state com- mittees of the C. P. P. A. and an ar: ray of “progressive” groups of doubt- ful standing with the officialdom of the Amalgamated, I. L. G. W. U., and Furriers’ Union. A few local and county labor parties were seated with- out a vote. When’ the night session convened to organize the new party, the alignment was ‘clear. There were two distinct forces at work, The soeialist party fighting for its skin in»Hiiiquit’s demand for an American labor party, and the pro- gressives trying to launch a liberal movement to pick: up the loose poli- tical ends of thé ‘LaFollette campaign. Then the Fun Began. The “progressives” fired the first gun. They submitted a resolution favoring a national progressive poli- tical party basei! Gn’ individual mem- berships. The s6tiiilists re-introduced Hillquit’s proposal for a labor party. Then the fun began: First a socialist speaker would ‘arise and boast of the good behavior’ of the S, P. in the LaFollette caimpaign and say that the socialist had no intention of capturing the ‘convention for so- cialism. Pr Then a progressive would get up and say that he would have nothing to do with a party anything like the socialist party. And so it went. Hillquit was asked a direct ques- tion by one of the detegates as to the willingness of the socialist party to lose its identity in the new party. Hillquit smiled and said the socialist party lost its political identity three years ago and that it wishes to con- tinue merely as ah educational me, dium, - The “progressives” were plain spoken. McKaig of Idaho, said, “The socialists have got ‘to forget their party if they want a progressive party. The moment you stick this class conscious stuff over, you lose Idaho. Delegate Johnstone,,a doctor of divinity from Maryland, charged the convention with organizing a move- ment away from LaFollette and pre- djcted its downfall, The further the debate advanced, the more complicated matters be- came. Jos’ nston was in a quandary As chairman, he very seldom knew jwhat was before the house. As a matter of fact, nothing was. Motions were made, seconded and forgotten only to be succeeded by other mo- tions. No relief was in sight. It was finally proposed that a committee be appointed to bring im a report on the character of the future party. Submit Two Reports. * Two reports wete brought in, Sun- day morning, after Johnston, presum- ably suffering from the effects of a very bad night, Wad thrown another pail of cold water in his opening ad- dress. ree One, the majdtity report, submit- ted by Hayes of New York, reiterated the progressive demand Yor a party based on individual memberships and seographical lines, with the compro- mise that the exegutive committee of the new party could use its discretion in admitting labor groups. George Roewer, Jr., for the socialists, sub- mitted Hillquit’s Jabor party proposal as the minority ,report. are fkely, if they win thelr shops te Debate Takes on Blue Tinge. The fight began all over again. The same speakers arose and said the same things they had said the day be- fore, but more briefly and disconso- lately, Both sides seemed to sense that no ag: Hillquit and made his last stand. “We socialists have been charged,” he said, “with moving too fast. It requires @ lot of imagination to think that. We have been pro- crastinating for years.” Praise for fommunists. Mrs. nor socialist delegate from New York, the only one who made mention of Workers (Com- munist) Party, . spoke of the great mass the W. P. held in Madison Square Garden on the oo- Y WORKER Even the ‘Democrats of ‘The Solid South’ Don Mask of ‘Progressivism’’ By J. LOUIS ENGDAHL 'ODAY, the politicians put on their “progressive” masks and reed Po apts prepare, not only for the congressional elections of campaign in 1928. : 926, but also for the next national presidential Every capitalist from “Cal” Coolidge, the republican strike-breaker, to “Vic” Berger, the “socialist” red-baiter, prides himself on being a “progressive.” the masses believe that this “progressivism terests. ** job is to make Berger's socialism is being unmasked on an inter- national scale as a close ally of fascism. Coolidge’s reaction, thru its daily deeds, reveals itself it to the workers and poor farmers in this ‘country, and thru its imperialist ambitions unfolds its threat to the workers of the world. It is here that the democrats inject themselves into the situation, claiming to be the only real “progressives.” They are out of office, on a national scale, and can therefore afford to be very explosive in their contentions, They need to shout loudly to make their victims forget democratic crimes in those states-where the donkey party is in power, especial- ly thruout “The Solid South.” Several conferences of democrats are promised for the immediate future, in which the labor aristocracy will no doubt seek to play a prominent role, now that it has prac- tically dumped its Conference for Progressive Political Ac- There ma: conference” an tion. be an “eastern conference,” a “western a “southern-western conference,” repre- senting as many divergent tendencies in the party. And there are different sections of the labor aristocracy tied up with all factions. The McAdoo elements have their strength in “the west” and denounce Tammany Hall in “the east’ as a part of the “money mart of the world.” But Tammany Hall boasts the support of the whole official labor regime in both New York city and state. In the McAdoo camp, more open from now on, will be found the railroad brotherhood chiefs who have been so conspicuous in the “C. P. P. A.” But even the democrats of the late slave-holding south- ern states claim to be “progressives.” From the most back- ward section of the nation, where labor is unorganized and kept in the deepest misery, they hurl their invective at Tam- many Hall control of the party. {It also boasts its “labor” wing in George L. Berry, the strike-breaking president of the International Printing Pressmen'’s Union. * & The different brands of democratic “progressivism” may well be judged from the fact that it is in democratic New Jersey, in the East, that strikes are being continually broken, like the silk strikes in Paterson; that it is in demo- cratic Colorado in the West where Rockefeller rules, and ruthlessly crushes the workers in the steel mills and the coal mines; that it is in democratic Alaba where every effort of the céal mi ja in “The Solid South,” ers and the steel workers to organize and better their conditions, has been met with the “Shoot to Kill!” orders given the state militia called to battle labor on the field of the class war. * ; It is said that the first democratic conference will be held in St. Louis in April, on the anniversary of the birth of Thomas Jefferson, the slaveholder, typical of the southern democracy of today. It will be well for the workers and poor ter acquainted with the brand of “ participate therein. Ha Coolidge, at resent the avowed instrument of Wall Street rule, stands in the open. He will be pock-marked with capitalist crimes before his next term expires. He will with- out doubt become a thing for loathing in the eyes of in- creasing millions of workers. with their “labor lieutenants, working class. Then the capitalist politicians, ” will trot out the donkey party once more, seeking to peddle its assininity to the whole . It is a good time for the workers and poor farmers to awaken to this situation now, as the initial moves to put it over are being made, It is a good thing to remember that Woodrow Wilson, the democrat, was one of the best presidents that Wall Street ever had. It is a good thing to remember that the Workers (Com- munist) Party is the only party that fights ism, to achieve its abolition, and to usher in tl producing masses, Against the “progressivism” ainst capital- e rule of the of the capitalist ruling class the revolutionary action of the workers and farmers! casion of Lenin’s death. She said the Communists know how to organ- ize. They are the real party of the left. The socialist party was far to the right and very close to the pro- gressives, for which reason she did not see the necessity of the social- ists and progressives meeting on any but common ground. A motion was finally made to table the minority report, Hillquit’s 1eso- lution. The motion carried by a vote of 93 to 63, The motion of Hayes to organize a progressive party on state lines leaving the afliliation of out- side groups optional on the part of state organizations was adopted. Another resolution providing for the chair to appoint a committee of five to co-operate with progressive organizations in the several states looking toward the calling of a na- tional progressive convention at a later date, was presented. Left Out in Cold. The socialists were left out in the cold, They voted for the latter re- commendation and gave up the ship, The convention adjourned, If the sessions of the convention were nothing else, they were amusing. Never was a more motley gathering of political free-lancers brought to- gether. The delégates represented. for the most part only theniselves: The predominating atmosphere ‘of the vonvention was distinctly nitddle- | class, the burial of the socialist party of America and the passing of ‘the C, RPA Its outstanding features were: Our Dead | (Special to The Daily Worker) SULLIVAN, Ind. Feb, 22,—Follow- ing is a revised list of the dead and missing In the Sullivan mine disaster: IDENTIFIED DEAD. Mike Cusack James Eller John Neal W. H. Moberly Robert Freeman. James Boyle Harry Gorby Everett Keller Cecil Carty Oliver Keaggy Ellis Eaton R, L. Jackson | Philip Walters Blaine Gibson John Row Russell Dowdy _ Frank Hawhee Lex Robertson John Brown Dave Smith Glibert Taylor Harry Anderson ‘John A. Word Elile Lecoquoc Arthur C. Claude John Collins Frank Cottingham Chas. McCammon Silas Wagner John Baird Dwight McClana- han Frank Mason Pearl Hawhee MISSING, Earl Robertson Claude Treader P. J. Dunning Earl Laughlin Everett Metcalf Wayne Walters James Burris. Ross Boothe Florence Lecoquoe John Thomas 8 Miller Clinton Higgin. 1s Sheexy botham Harry Maxwell Frank Smith Dan Purcell is in their in+ ” farmers to watch this conference, especially to become bet- labor faker”. that will CRIME,” SAYS RED |Communist “YOU PUNISH BUT DO NOT PREVENT Legislator Attacks System (Special to The Daily Worker) BISMARCK, N. D., Feb. 22.—When a bill proposing punishment from 10 years to life imprisonment for “hold- up” came for consideration before the lower house of the North Dakota legis. lature last Saturday afternoon, Feb, 14, it caused considerable opposition from the progressive members of that body, but the strongest opposition was voiced by the lone Communist mem- ber of that body, Comrade A. C, Mil- ler of Williams county. He pointed out where bankers in his home county had been charged with embezzlement of about seven hundred thousand dollars of both private and public funds and asked whether there was much difference between the crimes committed. “If you will in- clude embezzlers in that bill, I will support it, but otherwise not,” said Miller. : At another point Comrade Miller called the attention of the house mem- bers to the fact that altho bills were being offered to make laws more stringent for the punishment of crime, nothing had been offered yet for the prevention of crime. He told them that unemployment and uncertainty of life was the chief cause of crime. “I have a paper in my pocket carrying the news item that alone in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, there are 50,000 men out of employ- ment,” Comrade Miller said. Miller, a gray haired farmer of Wil- liamson county, altho the only niem- ber of the Workers (Communist) Par. ty in the legislature, has distinguished himself on several occasions with sharp remarks on the present-day “shortcomings.” Whenever Miller gets. up to speak on any subject, he is sure to attract the attention of every member of that body, as well as the crowds in the galleries. Many of, the non-partisan league members of the assembly feel that Comrade Miller “always knows what he is talking about,” as one member put it to the writer. Girl Pickets Get Garment Workers Out in New York (Continued from page 1) are likely, if they win their shops to the union. Girls in oné of the chil dren’s dress shops which came out on strike call were getting only $14 a week, they tell the union organizer. Men with families in the same shop made only $20 and the highest paid workers in the shop got $22, Girls Rally to Picket Lines. Employers who have. refused be- fore to deal with the union express their dismay to the pickets at their success in winning non-union workers from the shops. In spite of daily ar- rests of 10 to 15 pickets the strikers maintain a steady battle line from 7 in the morning until 7 at night. Girls come from their homes far in | the Bronx or in Brooklyn early in the morning for picket duty, During relief they attend strike meetings in various halls, hold shop meetings to encourage o:e another and decide strike tactics for their group. I heard one of the Negro girls energetically urging a Jewish girl from her shop to get out on the picket line earlier, saying that she herself had to come from Flatbush, nearly an hour’s ride before 7. Workers Not Bluffed Easily. The union workers are used to the Police and the hired private detec- tives and professional strikebreakers brought in by employers and are un- daunted. ‘The more timid unorganiz- ed workers just stay away entirely in some cases. Others attend the strike meetings where musical programs, educational speeches and other diver- sion is offered. There is no association of chil- dren’s dress manufacturers, but there is one among the underwear men. Settlement committees of the union will continue meeting individual em- ployers who are ready to come to terms. Mangled Remains of Dead Miners Are Taken from Coal Pit (Continued trom page 1) ‘Troops have not yet been requested, Inquiry To Be Started Fire damp following the explosion was given has the cause of the deaths of the 51 miners. The bodies were #0 badly burned that identification had to be made thru bits of clothing and trinkets on the bodies. An iquiry into the cause of the explosion will be made after all the bodies have been recovered. The officials of Sullivan county are trying to stave off an official investt- gation, however, declaring the disas- ter was “unavoidable.” Norval K. Harris, Sullivan county prosecutor, said that, “A grand jury investigation is improbable as the disaster was one that may come at any time in coal mining.” The surviving miners de- mand an investigation into safety de vises used at the mine, . \ /