The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 2, 1925, Page 3

WALL STREET JOURNAL SHOWS WAGE CUTS BASED ON FALLING PROFITS WHOLLY UNJUSTIFIED 4 By LELAND OLDS (Federated Press industrial Editor) Profits of $128,390,00 made by 81 industrial corporations in the first quarter of 1925 disprove the propaganda that good pro- fits are impossible with the present level of wages. These same corporations made $129,008,000 in the same period of 1924 so that the decline is less than one-half of one per, cent. After deduction of preferred dividends the profits for three months remaining for common tions represented a return of three and one-half per cent, On an, annual basis this is a profit of fourteen per cent. This Is Wall Street Survey. The 81 companies were chosen by the Wall Street Jounral indiscrimin- ately and comprise practically all that have made comparable reports thus far thru Dow, Jones & Co. They show the general tendency. The owning class is gettting away with profits nearly equal to the generous ones of 1924 in spite of a material reduction in the general level of employment. Out of 11 industrial groups all but two showed larger profits than in the first quarter of 1924. The amount of profit and rate of return by industries in the first quarter of 1925 were: Groups Profits Pet. ‘Utilities $42,680,000 2.81 Steel 24,641,000 2.72 of 13,729,000 3.31 Automobile 27,261,000 7.54 Motor accessories 1,894,000 6.20 Metals 5,490,000 5.90 Miscellaneous 7,266,000 3.61 Leather —.. 66,000 Ad Chemical 2,849,000 5.84 Chain stores ...... 2,276,000 9.21 Tobacco 233,000 3.38 Total «.e-—-$128,390,000 3.60 Profits Not All Low. ‘These profits represent only three months’ operations, For a full year they would mean more than 10 per cent for the stockholders of every in- dustry except leather. The automobile industry would make over 30 per cent for its stockholders; motor accessory concerns approximately 25 per cent. The chemical industry, which among other things supplies farmers with fer- tilizer, would present common stock- holders with more than 23 per cent. And this Profit Rate Is on Water. Generous stock dividends in the past have capitalized the excess prof- its of previous years in many of these industries until the present par value of-the stock has little relation to the actual investment of the owners. In some industries the common stock was originally all water. So the re- turn on actual investment would be far greater than the percentages shown. At the beginning of 1925 these cor- porations had undivided surplus prof- its of $1,652,057,381, amounting to nearly half the entire $3,657,984,000 par value of their common stock. City Electricians in New York Ask $1.50 Wage Increase NEW YORK,—(FP)— City electri- cians are asking $1.50 more a day from the board of estimate. They are now getting $9 a day. i Get a sub for the DAILY WORKER from your shopmate and you will make another mem- * ber for your branch. * (Continued a trots page 1.) ‘sla on the affair of the “Red letter” have decided to comply with the urg- ent representations of the trade union organizations that it should be pub- Hshed forthwith. It is now six months since the “Red letter” was officially acted on and published, and the refusal by the pres- ent government of all requests for an official inquiry from those most concerned—the late labor government and the Russian government—so far from hushing up the scandal have made it the source of suspicions that daily become more widespread and deeply rooted. These suspicions are quite possibly unfounded, and some are at present unfair, Thus the late labor govern- ment has become suspect of a repre- hensible disregard for its principles by risking a rupture with the largest state in Burope, and the first socialist federation, that would have been dis- astrous to the peace of the world and the unity of the world’s workers, and this on the strength of an unattested and uptested forgery. The present government is suspect of a no less reprehensible disregard for its principles in having falsified a general election by a political plot, ‘with results disastrous to the presery- ation of constitutional government a the prestige of British public life. Hits MacDonald. “While the foreign office, by dis- a critical note to @ great power over the signature of a member | stockholders in these corpora- — FUR WORKERS CALL STRIKE IN MONTREAL NEW YORK—The International Fur Workers union has called a general strike of fur workers. in Montreal, Canada to enforce union standards in shops where the union is well organ- ized and to obtain union agreements in all other shops. Ruin of Toledo Labor Unions Symbolized in Debris of Terminal TOLEDO, Ohio, May 31—The To- ledo Terminal R. R. Bldg. was de- stroyed by fire yesterday. It was in this building in May, 1919, that the 12,000 workers who were locked out by the Willys Overland Co. held their daily meetings. Within the walls of this building were uttered the words that disor- ganized the Overland workers when Business Agent Quinlivan of the C. L. U. declared that “We will win this strike by the organization of the / skilled workers.” For the. first time in their history the Overland workers were, together enmasse, 12,000 of them, enthusiastic, full of fight, and feeling the power of their numbers. Then they were told to return to their respective halls and each union to take whatever ac- tion it could constitutionally take as regards the lockout. The fight lasted for nine months. Holland Furnace Company is Still ’ on the Unfair List The molders’ conference’ board of Chicago denies the report appearing in a number of labor papers that the Holland Furnace Co. has been taken off the unfair list. Negotiations are still under way, molders’ union offi- cials say, to restore the eight-hour day and other union conditions at the Holland plant. Chicago molders re- cently renewed their agreement with union employers for $1 an hour, with the 44-hour week in the summer months and the 48-hour week in win- ter. The contract, which runs.to May 1, 1926, affects 2,000 union molders, Press Feeders Still Waiting. The press feeders and assistants are still awaiting the outcome of con- ferences with employers in Chicago initiaited by international officials of the pressmen after Franklin Union No. 4 had asked strike sanction. The union wants a $2 a week raise for day work and $4 nights, the same as has been granted the pressmen. from the foreign secretary, by pub- lishing that note without communica- tion with the power concerned or with the acting cabinet, and that too in the crisis of a general election, and by basing all these proceedings on a docu- ment even less authenticated than others that had previously proved to be forgeries, has become suspect of a disregard for the first principles of its own routine of the rules regulating international relations and of the great traditions of the civil service. Such ‘suspicions as these strike at the very root of our political system and poison the very springs of our public life. And until they are re moved the labor party is prejudiced in Its task of uniting the workers of the world In the rebuilding of Eu- rope; while the present government is no less seriously prejudiced in the eyes of Europe as being held to owe ite term of power to a secret service coup d'etat. Public Inquiry. Wherefore, the trade union council, whose position gives it peculiar ad- ging the opinion of both in this country and the continent, considers that it would be most regrettable, if any con- siderations of party interest were to Prevent parliament and the two parties concerned from clearing the air by an official and public inquiry. ‘The trade usion delegation in Mos- cow has investigated fully the authen- ticity of the “Red letter” in so far as the Russians are concerned. But authentielty is really a minor matter fo the question as to how ‘ gene CAN'T FIRE SCHOOL TEACHER BECAUSE SHE GOT MARRIED (Special to The Dally Worker) NEW YORK—Women teachers In New York state and olty sohools who marry cannot be ousted from thelr Jobs for that reason, Dr. Frank P. Graves, state commission- er of education, rules, The ruling was made on the case of Mrs. Davis Thomas who lost her job as teacher In Albany when school authorities discovered she had been secretly married. Mrs. Thomas’ is __ reinstated. Every teacher Is secure in her position, the commisioner says, after the three year probationary period un- less removed for cause and then not until she has had a hearing. rn) The attempt of New York City school authorities to make the already burdened teachers “volun- teer” for playground service before and after school hours Is apparently failing, judging by the statement of Dr. William J. O'Shea, superin- tendent of schools, that the request for volunteers is only temporary. The Teachers’ Union has been in- vestigating the working out of the volunteer playground system in school yards and investigators have. found that more children playing unsupervised outside the yards than inside, altho the purpose of operiing school yards is avowedly the protec- tion of children from street dangers. Unsuspected Water Underlies Canadian National Railways MONTREAL, May 31—How and why the capitalization of the Canadian railways jumped up by over $1,000,- 000,000 in a year or two is worrying railway employes. In 1922 official rail- way statisttics gave all Canadian roads a total capitailzation of $2,159,- 277,131. The latest official returns give the roads a capitalization of $3,- 264,674,000, the increase being due to a jump in the bonded debt of over $1,100,000,000._ Apparently when the government took over the roads now forming the Canadian National it ac- quired liabilities which were not re- vealed at the time. Norwegian House Defeats Government on Confidence Vote OLSO, Norway, May 31—The cabi- net of Premier Mowinckel, will defer resignation until after the Norse- American centennial celebration, de- spite its defeat in the lower house of parliament. The government lost by a vote of 56 to 51 on a bill to reduce the expenses of mail service, which the premier had made a question of confidenee. Lars Oftedal is now enroute to Am- erica as official representative of the Norwegian government at the Minne- apolis celebration, and if the govern- ment resigned Oftedal would lose his power to represent the government. Big Biz Governor Speake Out OLYMPIA, Wash., May 31.—Gov.R. H. Hartley, Everett lumber baron, re- fuses to name a delegate to the na- tional child welfare meet, terming such work “altruistic twaddle” and “uplifting gush.” Guard London Soviet Embassy. LONDON, England, May 31—The Soviet embassy at London is being guarded day, and night, following threats of violence received in the this document came to get its author- ity. For, as the present home secretary pointed out to the house, it was the official action on and publication of the letter that made a crucial general election turn on this affair. This resporisibility is shared be- tween the labor party and the foreign office. The latter cannot demand a hearing in its own defence. This can only be done for it by the labor party» Demand For Showdown. The objections advanced against a public inquiry do not carry conviction, The safety of secret agents can be se- cured by their withdrawal, and has in any case been guaranteed by the Russian government. If the Russian authorities can expose the officials and archives of the foreign office and Comintern to a foreign inspection, a refusal on our part to subject those of the foreign office and Scotland Yard to parliamentary investigation cannot but he held highly suspicious abroad. At home a persistence in opposing this public demand cannot but create growing contempt for and an ever- decreasing confidence in parliament and public life. The general council, therefore, urg- es that the government permit repre- sentatives of the labor party to carry out an investigation on this point in association with officials of the foreign office. The report of the trade union del- egation to Russia on its investigation into the “Zinoviev letter” begins with WOOD'S; TROOPS SLAUGHTER TEN MORO PEASANTS Cossabks Kal 3 in Cold Blood MANILA, P. 1, May 81—Gen. Leon- ard Wood's constabulary, have killed ten more Moro peasants, bombarding a cottage where they were assembled, with shells from two fleld guns and one mortar, and bombs dropped from two seaplanes. The constabulary, armed with modern American rifles, entered the cottage and found seven dead Moros. Three more peasants then entered to see what had become of their com- rades, they were immediately slain by Wood’s cossacks. The Moro leader, Saraya, for whom Wood’s men are searching, has escaped to the mountains. He will probably be shot on sight, as he re- fused to obey the American puppet governor, Torres, who ordered Saraya to give up valuable real estate be- longing to the Moros. Dispute Between Building Trades Still Unsettled BOSTON, Mass.—The national board of jurisdictional awards, representing building trades unions, employers and architects, concluded its sessions here without settling the dispute between the carpenters and sheet metal work- ers that has played such a part in the disruption of building trades councils thruout the nation for several years. The issue involved is the work of installing hollow metal doors and metal trim. In 1920, when both unions were affiliated to the building trades department of the American Federation of Labor and to the na- tional board for jurisdictional awards they brot the issue before the board, each claiming jurisdiction of this work. The decision went against the carpenters: soon after they quit the building trades department. Turmoil followed in many cities— the carpen- ters in some cases getting the work from local contractors despite the de- cision. Three years ago the board was asked to settle the issue afresh but took the stand that it could do nothing so long as the carpenters were not affiliated thru the building trades department. This year the Building Trades Employers’ associa- tion asked the board to adjudicate the question again but the borrd again re- fused. na No decision was réached on another perplexing matter—as to whether the sheet metal workers or the electric- jans shall install . “conduit bases,” metal baseboard used as conduits for electric wires in office buildings. The sheet metal men were awarded the work two years ago but there has been continued. objection from the electricians and this year they de- manded a review. In the controversy between plaster- ers, carpenters and lathers regarding work on substitutes for lath, plaster and sheathing the board ruled that “any form of plaster board which serves as a base for plastering is the work of the lather.” If You Want Your Demands Cut in Two, Agree to Arbitrate SEATTLE, May 31—Fifty cents a day increase is awarded Seattle truck drivers in Local 174 by arbitrators. mails by the Soviet representatives.‘The union had demanded $1. national and its relations with the government of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics. Their inquiries, the delegation say, have convinced them that this organ- ization is not of such a character that its activities should be allowed to af- fect relations between two worl? powers such as the British empire and the U.8.S.R. The Comintern, like other interna- tionals, is a co-ordinating and control- ing authority—not a world-wide con- spiracy. It enables a central Com- munist organization to discuss and direct a common policy with national organizations. Further, they (the delegation) have Good evidence that the Influence of the Comintern in respect of England ie at present exercised for moderation and for action on constitutional lines. They are satisfied that the commissar- iat for foreign affairs has both a pos Itlon and a polloy that would prevent any action by the Comintern in breach of treaty ¢ ments; and that the Comintern not committed or even contemplated any such breach. Inspected the Archives. These views have been formed part- ly at the result of the report of the deputation that inspected the archives of the Communist International. Per- mission was obtained in the course of a conversation with M. Zinoviev and no previous —— was given of the inspection, The deputation ‘consiated of Messrs. Tillet, Grenfell and Young, of whom THE DAILY WORKER Page Three CHILDREN CROWD OUT MEN AND WOMEN IN SOUTHERN COTTON MILLS OW wages, enabling southern cotton mill owners to snatch the bread from families dependent upon the England textile industry, are refiected in a study of the employment of men and women in the industry by Commis- sioner of Labor Statistics Mthelbert Stewart. His figures show that in 1924 New England cotton mills paid an average of 48.1 cents an hour for labor while southern mills got their labor for an average of 28.6 cents an hour. Women's Pay Lower, Women workers in southern mille in 1924 averaged 25 cents an hour. This would give them $16 for,a full 60-hour week and only $13.60 for six 9-hour days. an hour or about $20.75 for a 48-hour week, In New England mills the average woman worker earned 43.2 cents Men in southern mills averaged 30.6 cents an hour compared with 50.9 cents in New England mills. This wage differential has been tempting northern capital to build mills in the unorganized south for a ‘considerable period, The development has been pronounced since 1920, The situation since 1914 is shown in the fol- lowing figures on a number of employes and average hourly earnings in identical mills: Employes——— ——+— Wages ——- Men New England South New England South, 1914 22,0338 16,751 18.7¢ 12.9¢ 1916 21,314 17,733 22.5 13.0 1918 20,051 15,009 33.7 21.1 1920 10,977 13,370 57.6 45.4 1922 11,520 14,436 44.0 26.8 1924 18,739 19,893 50.9 30.6 Women 1914 19,683 8,468 15.7 10.9 1916 19,765 8,401 19.2 14.4 1918 20,349 8,395 28.3 174 1920 13,742 7,470 49.1 38.2 1922 12,853 8,006 37.9 22.6 1924 13,928 10,468 43.2 25.0 Children Compete With Adult Workers, The New England mills show failure to recover from the post-war slump. In 1924 they had 27,037 employes comparde with 41,721 in 1914. The south- ern mills show 30,361 employes in 1914 cmoparde with 25,219 in 1914. The advance of the south has been greater than this indicates as the establish- ment of new mills is not here reflected. In New England mills the proportion of women workers was about 60 per cent. Southern mills show a much smaller proportion, approximately a third. Stewart judges from the comparative wages that this is due to the large number of boys employed in southern mills. In the south men face the competition of children as well as women, Taxicab Drivers Win in Fight for Increase Against Quaker Corp. {(Specia! to The Daily Worker.) NEW YORK,—About two hundred taxicab drivers employed by the Quaker Holding corporation, went on strike this week for an increase in their commissions. Before the strike the men were receiving thirty five per cent and now they are receiving forty per cent. The strike lasted about four hours and the men struck to a man. The Quaker Holding corporation, is a new Taxi company in this city, its cabs, being new, notes therefor must be paid on time, the same being true of tire, garage, gasoline, and other bills and the officials knew, that to prolong the strike meant defeat at the hands of their drivers. There are over thirty thousand taxicab drivers in New York City, and they should follow the example as set by their comrades employed by the Quaker Holding corporation. Amongst the thirty thousands drivers, are about three thousand who are em- ployed by the’ open shop Yellow Taxi corporation, who are the lowest paid drivers on the streets of this city. Yellow drivers receive only thirty- three and one third per cent, while the drivers working for the independ- ent bosses receive forty per cent. Yellow taxi drivers wake up! Or- ganization is the only remedy. You cannot improve your conditions unless you solidify your forces and fight for your rights. “Tavicab drivers of this city unite!” This should be your slogan. Kane is new president of Local 13 of the Boston Typographical Union, re- presenting newspaper chapels. man—the secret records being found to be mostly kept in German. The deputation first asked to be shown the file of correspondence with the British Communist Party. This was produced from a locked press and was a loose file of typewritten dupli- cates in English. It was read thru and leave was asked to take a copy of one confidential document. The deputation goes on to describe how it was given full information with regard to the method of drafting and registering of important documents, and was shown the dally register of all outgoing correspondence. All entries which might conceivably concern England were inquired into, and the documents produced.’ It was impossible, says the report, that this record, a large volume in many differ- ent handwritings, bearing every evi- dence of having been daily written up, could have been tampered with, Read Executive Minutes, Finally the minutes of the Pxecutive meetings of the Comintern wece ex- amined, and this, says tie port, a very complete knowledge of the whole recent activities of the Comin- tern between June and October, 1924, they conformed to the international agreement as to propaganda, and that have of late been given a very differ- ent objective, Before leaving, the deputation eat- 4 Scrap 200 Ships So Profiteers Can Get Contract in Next War WASHINGTON, May 31.—Two hun- dred vessels of the government's mer- chant fleet will be sold in order that they may be scrapped, under an or- der voted by the shipping board, Chairman O'Connor has announced. Henry Ford is expected to buy a large proportion of the lot, since he wants to cut them up and use the steel. Among the remaining ships, are 11 refrigerator vessels, and Ford is un- derstood to have an eye on nine of these for operation to South America. They would carry automobiles to Lat- in American markets and would bring back fresh fruits. The board is ready to permit their use in commerce if the buyer would guarantee their oper- ation for at least five years under the American flag. All of these sales of government ships represent a big loss to the treasury and an abandonment of the field of public operation of ocean carriers, Scranton Police Back Anti-Red Soap Boxer SCRANTON, Pa.—May 31—‘Soap- box” Jack O’Brien, anti-radical agita- tor, is not only howling at Main and Price streets every Monday night against Communists, socialists and I. W. W.’s, with police standing by to handle the traffic problems that might be created if crowds came, but he is also addressing Rotary and Kiwanis clubs on the menace of revolution to ,|American institutions and luncheon clubbers. GET A SUB AND GIV= ONE! other channel in the Comintern de- partments by which a letter signed by M. Zinoviev could have been either discussed, drafted or issued. This inspection convinced them, so far as a negative can be proved, that no “Red letter” ever left the Comin- tern. Never a “Red Letter.” And this conclusion that there never was a “Red letter” is corroborated, continues the delegation, by the little that has been divulged in London as to its origins. Thus Mr. Chamberlain in the house (December 15), in reply to Mr. MacDonald, admitted that the foreign office had never had an ori- ginal and that it was “wholly imma- terial whether the signature of Mr. cManus was put by him or not.” hile Mr. MacDonald stated: “I never had a particle of evidence. On the other hand, Mr. Chamberlain positively maintains the authenticity of the document as a result of his cabinet inquiry, while Mr. MacDonald considers it “not proven” as a result of his, So that the inference drawn by those who atill believe in a Comintern conspiracy is that while the “Red letter” may not have been a formal signed dispatch, yet that its contents were communicated in some form or other. And the explanation generally accepted by such believers is that the substance of it was contained in a speech of which a summary was sent to the British Communist Party. The delegation has, therefore, to hl it lily TEAPOT DOMERS | INDICTED; BUT IT MEANS NOTHING May Get way as They Did Before By LAWRENCE TODD Federated Press Service WASHINGTON, May 31-—~ Albert Fall, who was Harding’s secretary of the interlorf*has oncé more been in- dicted by a grand jury in the District of Columbia in connection with his giving away of the naval oil reserves to Doheny, Sinclair and Standard Oil interests. With Harry Sinclair, who got the Teapot Dome Oil reserve, and Edward L. Doheny, who received the Elk Hills reserve in California, Fall was held for trial on charges of cone spiring with these two oil magnates to defraud the government of itg pro- perty. Earlier indictments of Fall, Sinclair and both the elder Doheny and his son, on charges of bribery, had been declared void by Justice McCoy in the district court, on the ground that spe- ial prosecutors had the assistance of certain representatives of the depart- ment of justice in the grand jury room. Young Doheny, who carried the $100,000 from his father to Fall in the little black satchel, was let go at this stage. D. of J. Has “Doubts” Congress enacted a law some time ago with reference to fraud cases, ex- tending from three years to six years the period, after the commission of a fraud against the government, during which prosecution may be begun, The department of justice is not pure whether this ofl fraud bribery can be considered to be covered by that law. If so, a bribery indictment may be se- cured later; if not, the three-year period has expired and Fall has the $100,000 safe and secure. “Justice” the Blind—Smelis Off When the Coolidge administration, which is filled with friends of Pall and Doheny and Sinclair, will venture to put the ofl fraud conspiracy cases on trial has not been decided. Long delay is expected, as Fall has never wanted to face a court and Sinclair and Doheny are equally jury-shy, In view of the persistence with which Coolidge stood by the oil crowd to the very last, until the Senate re- volted and overrode his decisions, the little man from New England cannot see why Fall and Sinclair and Doheny should not trust him now to give them the justice that business men give one another. The longer the trial is delayed, the more difficult will be the bringing of withnesses sufficient to convict.’ Aad the less will the public become indign- ant at the release of the ofl land grab- bers. Government Firing of Union Men Condemned Also by Veterans WASHINGTON, May 31.—(FP)—4 Veterans’ organizations have again demanded of the White House the re- moval of public printer Carter, who dismissed 170 printers at the governe ment printing office, late in February, without other reason than a plea of economy. Protest by the Typographe ical union to which all of them belong have failed. deal with the further question as to| was, Attorney General Sargent has ads vised Coolidge that the dismissals were legal. But there were a num ber of war veterans in the lot, and they have made the issue gne of jus- tice to war veterans. They threaten to make it a political matter all oven the country next year. British Trade Union Probe Shows “Red” Note Was Fake and another of both Russian and Ger whether M. Zinovievy could have said anything like the substance of the let- ter in his periodic addresses to the Comintern, which had subsequently been sent to England. They found that it was a procedure of the Comintern to circulate information to committees abroad in the form of summaries of speeches made by M. Zinoviey to the Central Committee. But that instructions such ag the “Red letter” purports to be were never sent in this form but always in signed dispatches. Further, that under date of September 12, summaries of a speech of M, Zinovievy to the Centrab Committee were sent to the British Communist Party in coverers marked “secret,” and signed by Mr. McManus. The substance of this speech was quite unobjectionable and dealt main- ly with matters on the continent. Full notes were made of it during the in- spection and @ copy obtained of the covering dispatches, After criticizing the “Red letter” from the point of view of internal ev} dence, the delegation concludes that it has produced evidence that shoulf satisfy all open-minded opinion “e the “Red letter” wag ‘eo further claims to Mire Gomes probable sources used by the And, finally, that enough ae formation in tts jession has published to convince any reader open to conviction that it hg ics gation were eanar tat woilld certainly expose who the a —