The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 17, 1925, Page 1

The DAILY WORKER Raises the Standard for a Workers’ and Farm- ers’ Government Vol. II. No. 107, 2 SHAPER nh eah its CLUDE ONIDTLON DATED sg THE DAILY WORKER. Entered as Second-class matter September 21, 1923, at the Post Office at Chicago, Illinois under the Act of March 3, 1879. SUNDAY, MAY 17, 1925 ‘che COOLIDGE THREATENS TO BREAK STRIKE OF ANTHRACITE MINERS TO AID OPERATORS! WAGE CUT (Specia\ to The Daily Worker) WASHINGTON, May 15.—President Coolidge and his cabinet are frankly concerned over the possibility of a strike in the anthracite coal fields when the present wage agreement between the operators and the United Mine Workers expires August 30, it was learned today. The possibility of a strike hinges on the announced intention of the miners to ask for an increase of from 10 to 30 per cent over the present scale, while the operators are expected to insist upon a reduction of anywhere from 10 to 30 per cent. The min- ers also undoubtedly will include a demand for the “check off” AS WE SEE IT By T. J. O'FLAHERTY. Sh EOPLE who could not solve the riddle why Victor Berger continues putting out such intellectual hokum in his daily column in the Milwaukee Leader, may set their minds on some worthier problem, such as cross-word puzzling, provided they read a recent contrbiution on the art of eating. Unless we are misinformed, Victor should be testifying as an expert on this question. What appeals to us most is. the confession that “the greattrouble in our country is—we are eating too much.” It is said that “a good confession is good for the soul.” Let us hope Berger goes on a long, long fast. *.f. @ F Berger takes the advice of “cer- tain wise teachers”.whose pupils |’ ave benefited from fasting to such an extent that “at the end of a few days their minds had become so clari- fied that facts they could not grasp before were easily understood.” Per- haps there is hope for Berger. If he stops gorging himself for a few months he may be able to understand the difference between a goveynment owned and controlled by the revolu- tionary workers like that of Soviet Russia and a government owned and controlled by the capitalists’ such as the United States government. se ® ‘OKING aside, it seems ‘to us that more people die in the United States from lack of food than because of surfeiture. The rich may die of overeating. That is not.our worry. The poor, are undernourished, be- cause they have not the money to buy good food. ,The food faddists would have us believe that the whole social problem could be solved by eating garlic and onions or nuts and toma- toes. But fatigue and worry about loss of unémployment and other evils of the capitalist system do more to poison the human system than large gobs of hamburger steak, frankfurters and’sauerkraut or Boston baked beans and fat pork. OUTH AFRICA must have an evil- looking collection of snakes when such an experienced veteran snake charmer as the Prince of Wales was horrified at the sight of a snake park filled with the squirming reptiles. The prince brayed the snakes of Long Asland, New York, He even got away _ from Chicago with a whole skin even tho it was full. But the spiritual pa- ‘balum produced in South Africa must be the real McCoy, When Edward P. saw the snake garden he exclaimed: “Tis very like my idea of hell.” * * @ TALY is alarmed over the illness of Mussolini, The fables that appear- ed recently in the capitalist press about the dictator being completely restored to health were false. The fact that an old liberal twisted Beni- to’s nose, figuratively speaking, was sufficient proof that the cutthroat was not his old self. It is reported that (Continued on page 3) which provides for the with- holding of union dues from the pay envelopes of the men. The “check off” strengthens the union’s hands and the operators will fight against it. Coolidge Anxious to Break Another Strike, The government will closely watch the wage negotiations and if a dead- lock ensues, undoubtedly will take ac- tive measures to break the strike of the miners in the hard coal regions. The first step in the negotiations will be taken late in June, when the tri-district convention of the United Mine’ Workers meets in Scranton, Pa., to frame the demands to be submitted to the operators. The latter will then hold their policy. meeting and formu- late the action they propose to take when the two contending groups meet in some “neutral” point, probably At- lantic. City, about July 15, to begia. the negotiation of a new wage ag: ment, fe wstiempation TR peonlbte Virtks of hard coal miners after August 30, production is now nearly touching the two million ton a week mark. It has been rising steadily since the week of April 18, when it was 1,567,000 tons. During the week of May 2, produc- tion reached 1,984,000 tons, making a total of 29,752,000 tons for the calen- dar year to date. Production of bi- tuminous to date is approximately, 164,475,000 tons. a ee I Operators in Strike Talk. ATLANTIC CITY, N. J., May 15.— If anthracite miners ask more wages in the coming negotiations for a new agreement there is likely to be a strike, Walter G. Merritt, counsel to anthracite operators conference and probable chairman of the operators’ wage committee in dealings with the union, told the National, Coal Mer- | chants’ Association. GERMAN TEXTILE BOSSES ATTAUK 8-HOUR DAY RULE Start of Reaction Under Hindenburg BERLIN, May 15.—Chemnitz textile manufacturers have introduced a 53- hour working week. . This action is considered in trade circles here to bear out the views of German industrialists who believe that the dominance of the labor un- ions may. be curtailed under the Hin- denburg regime. Curbing of the unions’ power, they assert, would presage the institution ofa longer working week and the imposition of increased discipline, re- sulting in the reduction of prices and a consequent increase in export trade. Chemnitz manufacturers are doing 4 big American business in gloves and hosiery, Otherwise, American textile orders are practically nil. There are but few American buyers in Germany at present, ARBITRATION AGAIN BETRAYS A TEXTILE WORKERS’ STRIKE PITTSFIELD, May 15.—Recommendation of a 4 per cent wage cut in- stead of the 10 per cent cut against which the workers of Monument mills in Houseatonic struck is the thanks the workers get for allowing the board of arbitration to enter the controversy. Former U, S. Senator David |, Waldh, William H. Heffernan of Housa- tonic and Edward Kelly, mill representative, were the three arbitrators, Hef- fernan was the textile union’s representative 0, by mail, $8.00 per year. 7 Outside Chicago, b; mail, $6.00 per year, “Bill” Lee, C <4 The proposal of W. G. Lee, of the Brotherhodo of Railway Train- men, that all rail unions meet in conferenc efor collaboration with the railway corporations, told about in an adjoining €olumn of this issue of the DAILY WORKER, has resulted in the foll ig spirited statement from the national committee of the Trade Unign Educational League. It reads: i: 7 * ° . f W™: G. LEE, chief of the Trainmen’s Union, has announc- ed that he is inviting a conference to meet in Cleveland on June 28th. 4 The composition of this gathering & the chiefs of the 16 standard railroad the executives of 200 railroads of the Its purpose is announced to be thé capital and labor so tightly that there on the railroads. announced to be i ps, together with HE Trade Union Educational Li move, on the part of the notorious L and public attempt to transform the fig of the railroad workers into company u This is but another one, among a take away from the railroad workers 1 possession—the right to strike—without powerless in dealing with the greed It is another institution, following denounces this e, as a deliberate lions. iost, of schemes to their most precious ich they are left ad executives, lines of the in- italist “Labor Leader,” Proposes | Unions Into “Company” Unions | Unity of Workers Against Companies, or Unity of Leaders with Capitalists, Is the Great Issue CEIe 290 Statement of the Trade Union Educational League. ized and broken up, and wages and working conditions are any made the playthings of the railroad executives. * fn! is not an accident that the public announcement of Lee’s plan i in the capitalist press is accompanied by strong ex- pressions of approval from railroad executives. It is their plan, devised in their interests, and striking at the heart of the railroad unions, whose power they fear and hate. For the very reason the railroad presidents greet the proposal joyfully, the railroad workers must fight against it, and must demand that their officials repudiate it. Neither is it an accident that it is Wm. G. Lee who has been chosen by the railroad presidents to launch their plan. Lee is the man who broke the strike of 1922 by the organ- ized use of union men as scabs. But recently Lee was an- nounced by the capitalist press as having become the presi- dent of a great corporation that manufactures railroad equipment. In his policies, in his ideas, and in his material interests, Lee belongs to the class of rtilroad capitalists and not the railroad workers. * ° * * gg proposal is put forward in the name of unity of all raiiroad workers’ unions. But what kind of unity does he propose? LEE PROPOSES UNITY WITH AND UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE RAILROAD CORPORATION PRESIDENTS! Published daily except Sunday by THE DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO., 1113 W. Washington Blvd., Chicage, Ill. famous Civic Federation, the so-called sored by Wm. H. Johnston, and the out: collaboration enunciated by Gompers ij Paso, and continued #4] Green, his st ~ poisanous. influence of » & O. plan” spon- en policy of class Portland and El Under the y the: trade unions, especially on the railroads; are being demoral- The slimy hypocricy of using the term “unity” to des- cribe Lee’s plan can be fully realized only when his long record of Serention, organized scabbing, and cultivation of « »craft jealousy and division,.is. remem On the list of (Continued on page 2) ‘DEFENSE DAY’ KILLED 10 KEEP WORKERS ON J08 Cal Guards Profits of Big Business (Special to The Daily Worker) WASHINGTON, May 15.— When war department officials thot up the scheme of turning Armistice Day into a regular annual military mobilization or national defense demonstration they did not let President Coolidge kiow of it until they had given it to the public. Now Coolidge says, thru his mythical spokesman, that he does not approve because such days are costly to business. They force factories to shut down, stores to close professional men to neglect their regular duti They cost a lot of money directly as well as thru loss of production and sérvice. President Coolidge believes it means one less working day for bu iness, with the inevitable loss of that much profit by every capitalist. Just after his message has been delivered by Ambassador Houghton to the gov- erning politicans of Europe, that Am- erican loans cannot be made for furth- er War preparations over there, lest they start fighting and destroy the security for the many billions already loaned to them, this mobilization day scheme comes as a most unhappy in- spiration. Of course the White House will re- main open _t6 persuasion by practical men, wight Morrow, of Morgan and Co., and Secy. Mellon should jointly advise him that an annual mob- ilization day is good insurance of the institutions of private monopoly, he would listen. If they should hold that it is yorth its cost, to big business, in its’ indirect intimidation of the workers and in its stimulation of the power of the special privilege caste, he might be converted. All of his instinct for economy did not prevent him from sending the great fleet to Hawaii and Australia, Referendum on Dry Question, OSLO, Norway, May 15.—The Nor- wegian government, after five years of prohibition, has introduced a bill providing for @ referendum next year, | STATE POLICE OF W. VA. ARREST 138 PICKETS IN MASS TERROR AS NON-RESISTANT STRIKE WEAKENS (Special to The Daily Wonker) FAIRMONT, W. Va., May 15.—Operators and mine workers’ leaders alike surveyed the northren West Virginia coal fields today to ascertain | what effect, if any, local number 4009 withdrawal from the strike will have |} on the morale of the hundreds of miners who walked out April 1. were 138 pickets arrested here Wednesday, including eleven women. | Operators were jubilant over the Shinnston, W. handing in its charter and offering to negotiate a new wage scale. hailed this as*their first outstanding victory in the present industrial war. In union circles, however, there was no concern on the surface at least. Strike leaders explained that the Shinnston local represented only a very small part of the miners on strike, and that their withdrawal could not be taken as a criterion of senti- ment among the rank of the strikers. Lack of Spirit in Li Ss. A letter from Shinnston to a Fair- mont miner tells. the tragic story of why the Shinnston miners are sur- rendering. In essence it is that they are beaten by the lack of fighting spirit of the U. M. W. leadership, which actually; punishes any militant miner who attempts effective picket- ing. Bittner»has paralyzed the strike by his order to “co-operate with the sheriffs and obey every law and every order” of the operator-controlled state police. The Shinnston miner says: “The international officer addressed the crowd of;miners and told them, ‘Go out every morning on the picket line and talk ‘to the men; tell them they are taking bread away from (Continued on page 2) PICKETING BEGUN AT LAST AT COLLIERIES OF THE BRUTAL “(Special to The Osily Worker) GLACE BAY, Nova Scotia, May 15.—Picketting of the collie of the British Empire Stee! corporation ‘was commenced here by represent- atives of the United Mine Workers an endeavor, it w , to ascertain the number of bona fide officials engaged in the work of maintaining the mines which have been idie since March 6 owing to a wage dispute involving 12,000 miners. Company officials, it was added, wauld not be interfered with, but othens would be invited to refrain from protective work. There | union’s action in| They Va., REPUBLICAN PROMISES TO WORKERS FORGOTTEN IN ILL. LEGISLATURE SPRINGFIELD, Ill, May 15— Failure after much maneuvering to pass the women’s 8-hour bill-in the Illinois lower house is regarded as the death of such legislation this session, Like the defeated injunc- tion limitation measure it was a republican se coekite leet 0 pledge. LANDLORDS KEEP UP HIGH RENTS DESPITE EMPTIES Survey Shows Gouging of Tenants PHILADELPHIA, Pa. May 15.— Although there is a surplus of vacant houses now existing in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Housing Association reports that there is little hope of more houses at low rental: so that Philadelphia workers, including the doubly crowded Negroes, must remain congested. Out of 486 houses vacant and for rent only 73 rent for less than $30 a month; 286 rent for from $30 to $50, And of these lower-rent houses almost half, the association ‘declares, were found to be in poor or bad state |. of repair, many with grave nuisance conditions within the dwelling. Most of the vacant houses had been left by tenants because landlords re- fused to make repairs or neglected the property's upkeep. The survey cov- STEEL WORKERS FIGHT TO FREE RED SOLDIERS Ex-Service. Men Form Protest Organization (Special to The Daily Worker.) YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio, May 15.— Ex-servicemen amongst the steel workers are being told about the im- prisonment of soldiers Crouch and | Trumbull of the Hawaiian Commun- ist League and with few exceptions the former servicemen are indignant over the unfairness of the court mar- tial and the long terms of imprison- ment meted out to these buck privates for giving expression to their political beliefs. A temporary committee with Jos. A. Winters, Box 852, Youngstown, O., as chairman, has been appointed to car- ry on the local fight in behalf of Crouch and Trumbull and the commit- tee would like to get in touch with other ex-servicemen and extend their campaign. Resolutions should be presented in all veteran organizations, labor unions, fraternal organizations ,in which ex-servicemen are members, calling for a congressional investiga- tion of the court martial that convict- ed the soldier members of the Hawai- jan Communist League and that Crouch and Trumbull be immediately released and restored to full citizen- ship of which the dishonorable dis- charge deprives them, The committee would like to get in- to communication with former mem- bers of the Siberian and North Rus- sian expeditionary: forces. CENTS Including Saturday Magazine Bettion. On all other days, Three Cents per Copy. Price 5 Cents d Strike ‘NO STRIKES! I ~ “SCABBY’ BILL ——- LEBS MOTTO | Trainmen’s Head to Call Conference William G, Lee, president of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, known among railroaders as “Scabby Bill” has announced his intention to issue a call for what is characterized as the biggest get-together confetence between workers and empioyers in the railroad industry ever held in the United States. Invitations will be sent out, Lee announces, to twenty rail labor or- ganizations and to the executives of every big railroad in the United States, for a meeting which is sched- uled to take place in Cleveland on June 29. Whether the inVitations will be sent out or not is a problematical matter. The following rail unions are in- vited: Order of Railway Conductors. Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engi- neers. Brotherhood of Locomotive Fire men and Enginemen. Switchmen’s Union America. Brotherhood of Railway Carmen of | North America. International Brotherhood of Boil- jermakers, Iron Ship Builders and | Helpers of America. Sheet Metal Workers’ International Alliance. International cane of chinists. International Brotherhood of Elec- | trical Workers. | International Brotherhood of Black- smiths, Drop Forgers and Helpers. Brotherhood of Railway Signalmen of America. United Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes. Brotherhood of Railway and Steam- ship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Ex- press and Station Employes. Brotherhood of Stationery men and Oilers. Order of Railroad Telegraphers, The Big Boss. of North Ma- Fire- Lee has appointed himself chairman of the proposed meeting in Cleveland He named Bruce V. Crandall of Chi- cago, an executive of the Western Railway Club, as secretary of the movement. That Lee's action has been taken on the instruction of railroad executives is easily inferred from the enthusiastic way in which Lee’s an- nouncement has been received by rail- road officials. The leaders of the railroad brother hoods are as reactionary and conserv- ative as can be found in the United States, but “Scabby Bill” Lee is too filthy even for them. Lee and Warren Stone of the motive engineers have conduct (Continued on page 2) FINNISH GOVERNMENT ORDERS LIQUIDATION OF LABOR PARTI (Special to The Daily Worker) STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 1 The Finnish government has dered the liquidation of 300 branc| of the labor parties, and has | nounced that charges will brought against 2,000 officials { members, dispatches reaching h state. } The instruction for the assault) the labor parties are contained a letter by the minister of the terior to the governors. TWELVE TEXTILE STRIKE PICKETS ARRESTED AT WILLIMANTIC; 2,200 STRIKERS STA police to protect, the employers said, WILLIMANTIC, Conn., May 15.—In spite of the importation of ND FIRM TEN WEE| (Special to The Daily Worker) | the reopening of the American Thi Co.'s Willimantic mill, none of the 2,200 strikers returned to work. Tw of the strikers were arr ied when they were picketing the mill, The mill owners failed to win any strikers back into the mills altho strike in its tenth week and no str ered 63,118 residences in 15 industrial areay | for state police to officia ikebreakers could be brought in, are denying to the United Textile Workers’ Union that they a: jst the local force on duty at the mill.