The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 18, 1925, Page 12

The Struggle of the Workers in Norway By CHRISTIAN HILT (Oslo, Norway) T the national conference for in- ~-* dustrial peace in Oslo at the end of January, the director of the Nor- wegian State Bank. Arne Rygh, des; cribed the results of the wholesale lock-out in 1924 in the blackest colors and sharply opposed a repetition of the industrial conflict in the present year, maintaining that a fresh pro- longed conflict would render in vain any attempt to stabilize prices and to raise the value of the currency. In view of the unceasing rise in prices the bank director could not deny that higher wages were justified. Norway’s “Gompers.” The national debt of Norway to the foreign and native capitalists has act- ually attained such enormous dimens- ions that a real increase of wages cannot be granted without a consider- able redaction of profits. Of the state budget, which amounts to about 350 millions Norwegian crowns, 130 mil- lion crowns are devoted to payment of interest.. The government has only granted the sum of 4.5 million crowns for bonuses to civil servants on. ac- count of high prices. An all-round increase of wages of the civil servants would completely wreck the state budget, which for several years has shown a huge deficit. Private indus- try, which is not on a high level of development in Norway is working under great difficulties which have been reflected in a number of great bank failures during the last few years. The situation is so serious that a sudden fluctuation in the value of the currency—be it either up or down —would involve disastrous conse- quences for the state finances and for the whole of the capitalist economic life. Demand Sacrifices from Workers. These facts must be borne in mind when judging the present political: si- tuation in Norway. For the capitalists and their gevérnment the sole quest- ion is “restoration of financial life” and therefore the interest of the coun- try is at present concentrated upon the course of the negotiations between the employers and the trade unions regarding the new wage regulations in the collective treaties, Recent investigation made by a member of the Cincinnati Juvenile Protective Association brings to light a form of exploitation of children that has not been known heretofore. We are all more or less acquainted with the exploitation in the canning fac- tories, in the textile mills, in the sweatshops. But how many of us know of the way talented children of the working class are being exploited every night in the theaters? The theater immediately is associat- ANOTHER FORM OF CHILD LABOR On the day before the commence- ment of the wage negotiations the chairman of the Norwegian General Federation of Trade Unions Ole 0. Lian suddenly died, Hig successor as the representative of the workers in the negotiations, the chairman of the Metal Workers Union, Halvard Ol- sen has already in a speech declared himself in favor of the prolongation of the collective treaty without wage in- creases. : The negotiations after proceeding for a week, were broken off. The na- tional arbitrator will now make his attempts to arbitrate as prescribed by law. And should they also fail, the liberal government is prepared to pre- vent a strike by an arbitration law. Probably a majority of liberals, agra- rians, conservatives and social demo- crats will pass the law in the storth- ing. The workers will thus be palmed off with trifling wage increases and the trade union bureaucrats as well as the capitalists, will be able to breathe again. Communists Demand Conference The Communist members of the trade unions have attempted to force the discussion of the trade union tac- tics for the fight against high prices, unemployment and class justice by a national conference until Easter— after the conclusion of the negotia- tions, The Communist Party of Norway thereupon applied to the General Trade Union Federation of Norway with the suggestion that the latter should convene a general workers’ conference to deal with these ques- tions, This demand was rejected by the reformists. Such serious questions must not be dealt with by unquali- fied bodies! Instead of this the exe- cutives of the trade unions have been called together and when the thing is finally settled, the Trade Union Con- gress, which would not in the ordina- ry way be held until 1926, will pro- bably be convened in the course of the summef or-autumn in order to en- dorse the activity of the secretariat and to elect a successor to Ole O. Lian as chairman of the General Trades Union Federation. Financial Condition Serious. The death of the reformist leader cof the Trade Union Federution, Ole The child on the stage is regarded a fortunate little being possessing tal- ent for which his parents receives big compensation. But this is what the report tells us: . “Fifty children employed in so- called amateur night performances were studied. It was found that the children were engaged by regular booking agents and paid anywhere from 50 cents to $3 a night. Condi- |, tions under which the children work |' were found frequently to constitute ' ed in our minds with fat envelopes.!a menace to both health and morals.” New Star Casino 107 St. & Park Ave. SOMETHING NEW—UNUSUAL Joint Freiheit and Novy Mir SPRING BALL New York City - Saturday, April 25 Attractions, Prizes, Ticket 50c (admission to both halls) Central Opera House 67 St. & 3rd Ave. O. Lian, has caused equally profound regret in capitalist cricles in Norway as did the death of the Swedish social democratic state minister Branting and the death of the German Presid- ent Ebert. The whole bourgeois press recognized in him a gifted leader. The president of the storthing, Lykke, de- livered a memorial speech in parlia- ment, on the day of his funeral the employers allowed the workers to cease work at 12 o’clock, the bourge- ois State Minister Mowinchel was present in person at the funeral cele- brations at the workers’ headquarters, and even the king sent a wreath. The chief organ of he Norwegian labor party, ‘Arbeitedbladet’ in spite of its well-known “Leninist” attitude, took part with the bourgeoisie in lauding Lian, The editor, Tranmael, who as leader of the trade union opposition had for years bitterly opposed the bu- reaucrat Lian, now fiercely attacked the chief organ of the Communist Party of Norway, Norges Kommunist- blad because it had ventured in its obituary article to express the truth that the course followed by the re- formist Lian could only result in the ruin of the Norwegian labor move- ment, The storthing decided some days ago to forbid speeches and demonstra- tions in the neighborhood of the stor- thing. The occasion for this was that Comrade Mauseth, at the end of Jan- unemployed, after the demands of the unemployed were rejected by the gov- ernment, in a speech delivered out- side the storthing referred to the first president as the “scoundrel Lykke” and called out: “Long Live the Soviet Republic of Norway!” This charac- terization of President Lykke was quite correct. President Lykke is the chairman of the enlarged board of directors of the Norwegian Commer- cial Bank, and as such has violated his obligations as president of the storthing in concealing from the storthing the former secret gifts of millions to this bank when the Storth- ing proceeded to grant it further mil- lions. When this “insult” of the president by the “seditious” Comrade Mauseth was dealth with in the storthing the members of the labor party and the social democrats, along with the bour- geois parties, sharply condemned this “rude” and “coarse” abuse, and four representatives of the social demo- cratic group even voted for the prohi- bition of speeches in the neighbor- hood of the storthing as mentioned above, The workers of Norway have only - one choice: either they must follow the lead of the reformists and help the capitalists “to restore economic life,” which means increased. exploita- tion and robbery, or they must follow the Communists and overthrow the capitalists dictatorship. The latter means irreconciliable fight against the capitalists state, against the armed white guards, and before all fight against the reformist trade union bu- reaucrats, whose task it ig to avoid this struggle by every possible means. Strategy of the Communists The famous letter from the Communist Interna tional to the Mexican Communist Party— In which not only is outlined the policy for the 5 Communist Party of Mexico, based on the facts of the struggle in that country— But. also the strategy for Communists of all countries. No worker who wishes to understand the funda- mental strategy of the Communists should omit it from his reading. An Innovation— THE ting material can Ty as the leader of a deputation of 6 Little Red Library Is an innovation among work- ing class publications—des- tined surely to become the most popular of any ever issued in this country. All numbers of uniform pock- et size, it will be of the widest possible interest, in- cluding, social and industrial problems, history, philosophy, fiction, poetry and art. New numbers will follow im as quick succession as fit- be ob CENTS From any authorized Agent or by mail direct from the Daily Worker No. 1 Trade Unions in America By Wm. Z. Foster, Jas. P. Cannon and Ear! R. Browder A history of American trade unions, the Left Wing development and its program. — No. 2 Class Struggle vs. Class Collaboration By Earl R. Browder A study of the of laber burea ram ay cess sees cor 8 mst capi-- talism. Bach copy selling 10 cents (twelve copies for $1.09) be from any authartced Daily Worker Agent by mail from ss z The Daily Worker Publishing Co, 1113 W. Washington Biv. Chicago, 1,