The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 16, 1925, Page 4

LAW T0 CONVICT weiabirecive DRAG OUT OLD YOUNG COMRADES Offense Is Literature Distribution NEW YORK, June 14—The two young comrades, Brandt and Freid- man, who iwere arrested before May Day for distributing circulars of the Young Workers League addressed to students in the high schools have been found guilty. The court dragged out an old law, called the “dragnet provision.” thing that other laws do not. It holds persons who act “contrary to the public peace, or seriously disturb the public peace,” guilty of a heinous of- fense. It is a very flexible law, and allows the judge to act as he pleases in interpreting it. This law was called to the atten- tion of the court b a detective, who at the behest of his masters, wished to Protect the high school students from learning what the situation of the working class is, The leaflet of the Y. W. L. pointed out to the students the shame of the system that speaks of democracy and the multidunious “opportunities” offered to the people of this country to rise to lofty posi- tions, and called on the students to recognize their real position and to join with the workers in demonstrat- ing on May Day. Sentence on June 19. For this “serious crime,” the two young comrades have been found guilty. The penalty is 1 year, or an indeterminate sentence of 3 months to 3 years. Sentence will be passed on June 19. This decision is in line with the up- holding of the conviction of Comrade Gitlow and the affirmation of hte crim- inal anarchy law in this state and the probable susctainment of the criminal syndicalism laws in all the states of | It is apparent that the | prepara- | the country. government is making all tions to wage another attack on the entire working class of the country, and is concentrating its attention first on the Communists. This must be met with a united front on the part of all workers in this country, Reaction | is setting in and only the united ef- forts of the workers can’ combat it. | The time for such a united front has | come, and all trade unions, workers’ organizations, etc., must prepare to meet the new challenge. The Labor Defense Council is fight- ing the cases and needs funds very badly. Contributions should be sent at once to the Labor Defense Council “New York Section, 108 E. 14th: St., New York City. New Laws Won’t Help Negroes. To the DAILY WORKER:—I notice in today's paper James Weldon John- son of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Says, “So long as the states fail to put an end to this disgrace to our country just so long will there be a public demand for a federal law to put the power of the federal govern- ment behind the suppression of lynch- ing.” From my own observation I fail to notice that the federal government cares any more about the Negroes than the states. When I was in the army at Camp Jackson, S. C., there were some Negro soldiers in the pris- on camp. These men were charged with mutiny. These men were kept in prison about a year without trial. Held in Prison Illegally. One day I asked an officer whether these men could be held that way and whether it was not a violation of one of the articles of war which says, “If a man can not be tried in 45 days he must be released but can be brot to trial within a year.” The officer told me they could not but that their council “lilly white” had never asked to have them tried. This statement can be verified by Capt. Fowler of Company C., 48th In- fantry or most any of the men under his command between July 11, 1919, and July 11, 1920.—Amos E. Kirk. / This law covers every-| oe | bourgeois tte HE weakest side of the Communist | press is undoubtedly its informa- tory. side. We are not concerned with the question of whether our press keeps its working class readers well or badly informed in the journalistic sense. We are not concerned with the various journalistic methods of dishing up information. But the fact remains that in point of actual information we are weak, ex- traordinarily weak. Our press is young, we have but few qualified col- laborators at our disposal, our press is financially weak, depends solely upon the penny of the workers, re- fuses to share the wages of corrup- tion which form the main source of income of the bourgeois and social democratic press, But information, news,—in a capital- ist state of society these are a com- modity, they cost money, and money is scarce in our press undertakings. 'T is thus easily comprehensible that our press is badly off with regard to information, and that we cannot compete with the great guns of the (and social democratic) press. We should be the victims of a delusion if we were to assume our- selves capable of competing. It is not the case, and will not be the case for a long time to come. With the exception of the press ofthe Soviet Union, whose information service, if not exactly brilliant, is at least better organized than that of the press of our Western (to say nothing at all of our Eastern) parties, our news service is not only in a very sorry condition, but we have no Com- munist foreign news service whatever. And this is the pivot upon which the whole matter depends. It is here that we must apply the lever if we are to accomplish anything. The position must be faced openly, and the fact recognized that we pos- sess no Communist news service. HE bourgeoisie is thoroly well aware of the value of information. The information service, of the world is organized at the present time in, such a manner that even the Com- munist press is dependent for informa- tion on bourgeois sources. There is simply no other source of information. It is true that the “Rosta” furnishes I information referring to the Soviet Union, and overcomes incredible diffi- culties ig the determined effort to ful- fil its task. But for news from all other countries we are dependent on the bourgeois telegraphic agencies. These bourgeois news agencies which represent as a general rule the most reactionary of capitalist groups, are under the control of the govern- ments, or are frequently enuf more re- actionary in tendency than even the governments. This is the case in England, where the Reuter agency is completely in the hands of the South African diamond fields and gold mines, and of the groups of capitalists pos- sessing large interests in India. It is again the case in France, where the Havas agency works hand in hand with the right wing of the bloc na- tional, TNFORMATION from abroad is thus furnished by news agencies under the control of either reactionary.cap- italist groups or of their governments. In both cases the news agencies are influenced and inspired by the gov- ernments in questions of foreign poli- cies.. There is no need to point out the tect this is bound to have on the nature of the information imparted. Facts are passed over in silence, mis- represented, exaggerated, in accord- ance with the requirements and inter- ests of the governments and ruling groups concerned. Even in Marx's lifetime this was so much the case that he was able to write in a letter to Kugelmann that the capitalist press of today is capable of creating leg- ends and myths within a few weeks or months. And the up-to-date legends of the capitalist press are as well adapted to supporting the interests of the up-to-date ruling class as the leg- ends of the ancients and of the middle ages were adapted to maintaining the interests of the rulers of those days. | Midges are represented as elephants, | and elephants as midges, according to requirements. The most dangerous part of it is that the news service of the world is so or- ganized that the French, English, Ger- man, and other telegraphic agencies not only serve the ends of the French, | English, German and other govern- | ments, but the interests of all the gov- }ernments of the world. This fact is “but little recognized, and it js worth THE DAILY|WORKER The Problem of Getti i while to. un detailed light upon it. The most erful news ag- encies of the world form a single con- cern, known under|the name of the associated telegpraphic agencies. The following agencies aré members of this organization: Reuter (England), Official News Of- fice (Austria), Agence Telegraphique Belge (Belgium), Agence Telegraphi- que (Bulgaria), Rihaus Buros (Den- mrak), Agenca Fabra (Spain), Fin- isko Notirburo (Finland), Agence d’Athene (Greece), Niederlande Tele- graaf Agnetschat (Holland), Agence Telegraphique Hongrois (Hungary), Agence Stefani (Italy), Norsk Tele- grammburo (Norway), Agence Tele- graphique Polonaise (Poland), Havas (France), Havas (Portugal), Orient Radio (Roumania), Swedish Tele- graph Agency (Sweden), Agence Suisse (Switzerland), §Tscheteka, (Czechoslovakia), Agence d’Antolie (Turkey), Agence d’Avala (Yugoslav- ja}, Elta (Lithuania), Esta (Esthon- ia), Latvian Telegraph Agency (Lat- via), Associated Press (North Amer- {ca), Havas (South America), Reuter (China) Wolff (Germany), Kokissai (Japan), HIS list is sufficient evidence that this organization spreads its rami- fications all over the world. All these news agencies have contracts with one another. On the terms of these agreements these agencies “exchange” news with one another, each agency reserving the right in the first place of refusing to publish certain news, and secondly of having news whose publication and dissemination appear of special importance circulated, ac- companied by a special notice, at the expense of the agency. In actual practice this agreement means that the Wolff office, Reuter, Havas, Ste- fani, etc., remit to Germany, England, France, Italy, etc., only such news of Yugoslavia as the Yugoslavian gov- ernment wishes to be published, and whose publication does not run coun- ter to the interests of the govern- ments of the countries concerned. The formulation, standpoint, and journal- istic political treatment of events is left to each individual agency. Thus we learn nothing about Japan except what the Japanese government wishes us to learn, and that in a form and elucidation which appears desirable the News to the Japanese government. And this does not apply to Japan only, but to the whole world. It may of course be pointed out that these are not the only agencies in the world; there are a number of other and independent agencies. In the United States there is the United Press, in England the Exchange com- pany, in France the “Radio” and “San Fil,” in Germany the Telegraphic Union, etc. But these agencies are again associated in cartels; some of them are even more reactionary than the members of the great concern, and they are in any case one and all bourgeois agencies. OME feeble efforts have been made towards founding agencies better representing working class interests. Thus, the “Federated Press” was formed in America, but its lack of capital scarcely permits it to compete with the great agencies. And in Ger- many there is the “social democratic parliament service,” which has of late made the attempt to organize a for- eign service. But all these organiza- tions are but weak, and the “social democratic parliament service” is nat- urally social democratic, Up to now the Communist parties have made no attempt at forming in- dependent agencies for the news serv- ice. The German Communist Party forms a praiseworthy exception to this rule, for it has founded the “Commun- ist Press Service,” which at least re- ports the events of the German labor movement from their original sources, The telegraphic agency of the “Inpre- corr” took up this work lately, but has so far been obliged to confine itself to reporting information on the most important events in the labor movement, on party life in Soviet Russia, on the white terror, etc. At the present time the Communist press is thus dependent on the bour- geois sources for information regard- ing the most important events taking place in the labor movement of the West, and even for information on the revolutionary movement in the East. The fact that some few Communist or- gans here and there -possess their own reporters makes no difference to this, or at least very little. ‘HAT have we to do? It would be exceedingly simple to issue a slogan. We must have our own Com- By L. Magyar munist organization, a Communist telegraphic agency. But every pre- requisite is lacking, At. the present time our press cannot raise the money required by such an organization and its running expenditure. We must of course strive towards the final goal of a Communist news service. But we shall not attain ‘this goal all at once, and meanwhile we must manage somehow. The following suggestions may be made for trasitional meas- ures: 1, We must continue to make use of the bourgeois sources of informa- tion. It must however not be permit- ted to make use of the news material supplied ‘by the bourgeois agencies without elucidating it in such a man- ner as to render its real import clear to the workers. The comrades work- ing up this material for our newspa- pers must themselves be thoroly in- formed on questions of foreign poli- tics, Otherwise we may continue in the future, as in the present, to per- mit our Communist press to act as a channel for the propaganda of bour- geois governments, . 2. Every party must begin at once with the organization of an inland in- formation service, commissioned to re- port on the labor movement of the country, ‘ 3. The parties must coordinate their information services, and the larger parties must endeavor to send report- ers to the more important among the neighboring countries. 4. The editors of the central organs of the larger parties must organize a daily exchange of information (with the aid of the “Inprecorr” telegraphic agency), ‘: 5. The “Inprecorr” telegraphic news agency must be extended. i heats measures here proposed are by no means exhaustive, and do not lead rapidly to our goal. But they are at least capable of realization, and they lead none the less to the goal, tho slowly,—to the emancipation of the Communist press from bourgeois inuence. It is exceedingly difficult to solve this problem. Here we have merely drawn the rough outlines of the question, and briefly indicated the lines, upon which it may be solved. The problem must however be solved, if we are to have a Bolshevist press, ed Big Victory on Economic Front in U. S. S. R. By M. A. SKROMNY. ‘AY back in 1920, while the young Soviet Republic was being at- tacked on nineteen different fronts by the capitalist robbers of the world in a desperate attempt to destroy the workers’ and peasants’ government, the Poles invaded the Ukraine. They captured the capital, Kiev. But like all the other foreign invaders they were unable to remain, being driven out and almost annihilated by the victorious Red Army. Altho they remained in the Ukraine a very short time they did enough damage to be felt for many years. While retreating in haste they paused long enough to destroy public institutions, to blow up government buildings, etc. Perhaps the greatest crime against the poplation committed by the “civilized” invaders was the blowing up of the bridges over the River Dnieper connecting the city with the rural population, the villages jfrom which the city was getting its | food supplies. Up until the end of 1924 there was no possibility of rebuilding these bridges. The Dnieper is the Missis- sipppi of the Ukraine. There was no money to spare for such an enormous construction, and no machinery on hand for such a job. Finally in No- yember, 1924, they began to work on | the reconstruction of the main bridge. The work was divided among the dit- ; They began to construct first <0 One the needed machinery for the works, ob- taining some of it from other Russian cities. It ‘was quite a big job, but they did it. They “Americanized Bolshevism” as one of the workers expressed it. They worker two shifts and in some cases three shifts. About a thousand workers participated in all. It took them about nine months to do it, but finally, on May 10th of this year they ferent mills and foundries of the city. | celebrated the official opening of the The Workers Who Bossed the Job es LABOR DEFENSE COUNCIL CALLS FOR “RALLY AGAINST REACTION” JUNE 28 The principal order of business at the last meeting of the Chicago Con- Another Monument co the 1 riumpnant otruggie of Soviet Labor. '| BUILDERS AT WORK IN NEW YORK — | HE Hungarian Yorkville branch of New York pledge that it will se- cure at least sixty new subscribers for the DAILY WORKER during ference for Labor Defense and Relief was the arrangement of a rally against reaction protest mass meeting for June 28, to culminate the national confer- ence of all labor defense organizations which meets the same day, Prominent speakers from among the delegates will address this meeting, among them being Bishop William Montgomery Brown, the “red bishop of Ohio,” author of “Christianism and + Communism,” Bishop Brown is prob-| ably the best known rebel churchman in the world today because he has figur- ed in several heresy trials for his be- liefs, the last of them only recently in Ohio. He has always supported every working class defense cause and will take part in this great unity effort. Another speaker is expected to be Alexander Howatt, the fighting chief of the Kansas coal diggers, who him- self went to jail time after time to fight to a frazzle Gov, Allen's notori- ous industrial court law. There will be other | well-known figures among the delegates who will speak at the mass meeting. Among them will be William Z, Foster, Scott Nearing and C. EB, Ruthenberg. The meeting will be held at Temple Hall, the headquarters of the Plasterers’ Union, at Marshfield Ave, and Van Buren street, Other business taken up at this well attended and enthusiastic meeting in- cluded raising of a local bail fund and Progress in the organizing of ex- service men for a determined cam- paign for the freedom of Crouch and Trumbull, imprisoned U. 8, soldiers, It was decided to meet every Friday night until the national conference on June 28, at Greek Workers’ Hall, 722 Blue Island Ave. Seek Time Saving Schemes, MOSCOW, June 14,—Leon Trotsky has been appointed chairman of the commission for raising the pro- ductivity of labor. In addition he also is a member of the presidium, or su- preme economic council; chairman of the concessions committee and head of the scientific and technical branch of the supreme council, His first step in his new position today was to offer premiums to work- ors fro labor and time-saving achemos. | oN emacs bMS 1% inset, Red Week. This news is just brought in by the wide awake DAILY WORKER agent of that branch, Comrade Szepesi. If every New York branch will follow the splendid exampl it by these Hungarian comrades then the circulation of the DAILY WORKER in New York will double next week, COMPLETE catalog of DAILY WORKER subscribers is kept up to date at the DAILY WORKER New York office thru the volunteer help of Comrades Frank Miller, Rose Chester, Fay Croll and Rose Schwartz. This catalog is available for the use of fanch DAILY WORKER agents and organizers. Every DAILY WORKER branch agent should bring the list of branch members, compare it with the-subseription list, and then get after those members who are not yet subscribers until they do their duty. HE New York office of the DAILY WORKER at 108 East 14th Street has a few sets of the Magazine Sections of the DAILY WORKER con- taining all instalments of Comrade Lassen’s wonderful story, “Masters and Slaves” that have appeared to date. Get a few of sets during Red Week, ask some of your friends, neighbors or s! ates to read Lassen’s masterpiece and they will surely want to ribe to the DAILY WORKER to get the rest of the story. F you have not yet settled with your branch for the Paris Commune Press Pageant subscription tickets you must do so once. Every subscription ticket must be returned or paid for. Natu ly your branch can not balance its account until you do so. The New York District Executive Committee will be asked to take disciplinary measures against those who neglect to make this accounting, we Wa 4 Bosh bridge, named after a famous Ukrainian revolutionists, Eugene Bosh and the Rusanov bridge. On May 10th, thousands of workers and peasants from the nearby villages came to the bridges to celebrate the official opening. The trade unions, the factories, the schools, and other organizations sent their delegations and banners to the celebration. Rep- resentatives of the government and the army participated. Congratula- tions were read from the central gov- ernment. Speeches were made by representatives of the workers who participated in the construction of the bridge. Exactly at 1 p. m., the red ribbon closing the bridge was cut to the sound of The International played by the bands’ and the cheering of the thousands. The workers of Kiev have won one of the greatest victories on the eco- nomic front! Our congratulations to the Kiev comrades! English Branch in Boston Aids T. U. E. L. with Picnic Funds WORCESTER, Mass.—The English Branch of this city at its last meet- ing decided that twenty-five per cent of the proceeds of the picnic to be held July 19 would be sent to the Trade Union Educational League. This action was taken on the basis of the letter sent to the branch by the district office instructing all branches and C, C, C.’s to arrange an affair for the benefit of the Trade Union Educa- tional League. An interseting debate has been ar- ranged between A, F. Lewis, organ- izer for the remnants of the socialist party in this state, and Comrade Max Lerner, local organizer of the Work- ers Party. The debate wil take place on June 19 at the M, C, O, F. Hall, 112 Front street. On this occasion the socialists will be given an opportun- ity to hear of the role they have been playing as the tools of bosses in this country, Open air meetings are being held every Sunday at the City Hall. Last Sunday Comrade Tom Bell, acting dis- trict organizer, was the chief speaker, Fine audiences are attending meetings, and much literature and many copies of the DAILY WORKER are sold to the crowds who attend, Yo ve . f. Pitiice SEND IT ON A CERTAIN southern community of very moral people had been loud and emphatic in its criticism of the character of the commercial motion | Picttire, and equally insistant upon the need for a censor “to do some- thing about it.” The local film ex- chahge was much surprised when one of the church organizations in this town sent in for “Lillies of the Field.” They, were told that this film repre- sented the “demi-monde,” and that it | was “hardly suited for church pur- | Poses.” , “Send it on,” was the reply, “we want to make money.” In reporting this story, The Film Daily» undoubtedly intended to hand a dig to the prurient censorship hunt- ers among the “goody-goody” church crowd. But they did more—they ex- posed the basic determinant of con- duct in capitalist society—that of making money. A church will run “Three Weeks” in order to put a roof on the parish house. pa - PERSECUTED BY BRITISH POLICE Pacifist Sect Robbed of Their Property VICTORIA, B..C., June 14.—Here is a story rivalling in cold-blooded cruel- ty the incident which the poet Long- fellow immortalized in Evangeline. It did not happen ni Bulgaria but here in British Columbia under the protec- tion of the Union Jack, the flag that is reputed to stand for the liberties which the pirate empire holds in trust for all those who come under her jur- isdiction. The Doukabor, a religious sect, op- posed to war, settled down in British Columbia, Because they are con- scious objectors against bloodshed or violence of any sort, they refused to send their children to the gd¥ernment schools where they would be taught that killing in behalf of the ruling class was highest form of virtue. In retaliation for their refusal to send their children to the govern- ment schools, the police broke into the Doukabor offices, took all their books. papers, safe and’ other office eqipment. They seized the mill where the year’s supply of wheat was stored. They seized all the possessions of this pacifist sect and put them up for auction. A tractor that cost $3,000.00 was sold for $52.00. An automobile worth $500.00 was sold for $35.00. In all $20,000 worth of property went under the hammer for $250.00 Police Witnout Pity Here is an excerpt from a letter written by a Doukabor to a radical in Victoria: “When the police were taking the flour and wheat a lot of men and women begged the police not to take their last bread; to have pity on the children and not to leave us without bread, but the-police did not pay any attention to the entreaties of the women and children. Then all knell and cried and prayed for the police to pity them, but the crowd of 200 men were bold to make them act fearlessly. “Our people asked them not to take the seeds that were set aside for planting. The police replied by beat- ing them savagely, with’ whips and sticks. One woman was hurt so bad that she was taken to the house un- conscious and she is still in bed. She has four children. They beat the men also very badly and many were bleed- ing. And now good friends we write you the exact truth and ask you to come to our aid.” There is a valuable lesson in the treatment accorded to the Doukabor. by the capitalists of British Columbia. Those unfortunate people were into Vancouver to break the latest long- shoremens’ strike in that port. The Doukabor did not know what it was all about, so they scabbed. They served the master class well. And what is their reward? The foregoing story is the answer. : Get: a sub for +he DAILY WORKER from your sbopmate and you will make another mem- ber for your branch. PROP APOPO0O4940000000400000000000000000000000000000004 In thi opportuniti All subjects of workin and industrial problems, hi AS SURE AS DAY OR NIGHT OR THE REVOLUTION -:- The development of proletarian writers proceeds with the growth of the Communist movement. development the Little Red Library offers unequalled class interest can be covered: social story, philosophy, fiction, poetry and art... the field is well-nigh unlimited, clearly in mind— There are only these main requirements: the work must be of working class character and interest, and... bear this / DOUKHABORS ARE. i must for the present at least, be limited to 10,000 to 30,000 words. ‘ Original manuscripts will be given most careful considera- tion—and translations and suggest ions fo ost: fo. r reprint most heartily ALREADY ISSUED: No. 4—Worker Correspondent..........:00000.By Wm. F, Dunne No. 3—Principles of Communism. ms (Translation by M. 2—Class Struggle vs. Class Collaboration....By E. R. Browder 1—Trade Unions in Americ: Detebingh engeehk insaodaes By Wm. Z. Foster, Jas. P, Cannon, E. R. ey Frederick Engels No, No. Browder 10 CENTS EACH 12 COPIES FOR $1.00 THE DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING 1113 W. Washington Blvd. Chicago, Ill, | Regence Sac cnnnannnnnns » ~~ er H