The Daily Worker Newspaper, July 4, 1925, Page 10

44. New Victims of Ruhr Capita N Saturday, May 16, 1925, the Ruhr Echo, the district organ of the Communist Party in the Ruhr dis- trict, published a poem, entitled “Bal- lad of the Workers’ Death,” by Franz Krey, a young miner and poet. In the evening of the same day the ter- rible news spread like wildfire thru | the whole Ruhr district that an explo- sion had taken place in the Dorstfeld mine, pit V, and that the lives of the miners at work in the pit were in great danger. The disaster involved 44 dead and 27 wounded. Now everyone is seeking’ to find those who are responsible. The most absurd hypotheses are brought forward in the bourgeois press. in the possibility of a deliberate out- rage.” From assertions of this sort to a declaration that here it is a question of an outrage by a Commu- nist “Tcheka” group is only a step. The press hirelings maintained by Stinnes capital are capable of any- thing, solely in order to conceal the real causes.of this terrible disaster. It is not a mere chance that the number of accidents in the Ruhr mines has considerably increased since the coming into force of the Dawes plan. Every day, four to five casé@s of death are recorded, which are attributable to the intensified methods of exploitation. HE Dorstfeld mine belongs to the Essen Steinkohlenbergwerk A, G. The chief shareholder in this is the firm of Henschel in Cassel, whose representative is a member of the board of directors of the Berlin Dis- conto Gesellschaft. The chief partner of the Disconto Gesellschaft, Dr. Sal- monsohn, is the notorious managing director of the Gelsenkirchener Berg- werk A. G. who so shamefully slan- dered 136 miners who were murdered if the “Minister Stein” mine. As is be _seén fromthe reports of the workers,’ there prevails in the Dorst- feld mine, Pits I to V, the most in- sane speeding up system. One hun- dred and fifty workers were given notice, expiring on the ist of June. It is quite logical that great danger results from the discharge of the min- ers by the increased exploitation of The Seventh . By H. YOUNG. HE seventh congress of the British Communist Party marks a dis- tinct advance on its predecessors. The party is “liquidating amateur- ishness” and proceeding with “the es- tablishment of a definitely centralized party organization.” This congress definitely established the party as ‘a recognized political force in Great Britain. Two clear indications of this were the attention bestowed upon it by the- press—and the police, The congress naturally opened on the keynote of the lessons of the most significant event in recent British pol- itics—the MacDonald labor govern- ment, bean effects of the new period in the labor movement were clearly vis- ible in the congress discussions, This was also clearly stated in the most important document of the congress “On the international and national situation,” which laid the correct basis, by stating the characteristics of vecent British developments: The loss of imperialist monopoly, the grad- ual destruction of the privileged posi- tion of the British labor aristocracy and the resultant amalgamation of the hitherto divided forces of British la- bor, skilled and unskilled, thus bring ing in its train new tendencies in the labor party from the trade unions. ‘The political report of the party's work for the past year was introduced by Comrade J. R. Campbell. It was now clear that the labor government did not ‘constitute a working class victory, but a capitalist experiment, which successfully hoodwinked the workers and threw their ranks into - ET Thus a report | the Duisburger Generalanzeiger’ of May 18 states that “there exists | imme 1s gna nae tia To the Butchers of Marko Friedmann By HENRY GEORGE WEISS. You swung him from your gallows, You hanged him on your tree, In the place that’s called Cathedral Square, For all the world to see. And all the world has seen it, Has seen how he has died, Has seen that in the death of right The truth was crucified. Not only on the place of skulls Has mankinds’ hopes been slain, But in the public square of greed, And in the heart of gain. Peace, peace to him and war to you! In every land and clime Our hands are clenched, our hearts are stone,— We bide our time! the miners who are still retained. The natural result is, of course, that all measures for safety are disregard- ed. The speeding up methods em- ployed by the overseers and other officials cause the safety rules to be ignored. It is certain that the ex- plosives chamber, the explosion of which led to the disaster, is not the sole cause. It is much more probable that, in the first place, a gas explo- sion took place which led to the ex- plosion of the explosives chamber. That is the view of all the miners, Gas explosions are only to be avoided if all precautionary measures, sprink- ding and removal of coal dust, are sfrictly carried out. ¥ * * . nye miners and their relatives waiting at the pit’s mouth could tell a story of the brutality of the ad- ministration” of” the” Dorstteid “mimé. The miners’ worknig in‘ the sdme pit, in the 7th section, when they heard of the disaster, demanded that they be allowed to leave the mine, but they were ordered by the foremen to fill the wagons still remaining empty and to employ the rest of the time remaining of the shift in carrying out confusion, . The role of the present la- ‘bor party parliamentary fraction was charatcerized as a sham one. Partic- ularly evident is the treasonable role of this party, now that the tory gov- ernment is in power and its ministers blandly quote the speeches of the rmer labor ministers in support of their own policy. Sere is to be seen in all questions: Foreign affairs, league of nations, Geneva protocol, Zinoviev letter, col- onial policy (it transpired that J. H. Thomas, the colonial minister in the labor government, during his visit to Kenya, approved of the conscription of 4,000 natives to work on the rail- ways for a wage of 14s, per month), war office, the supplementary reserve, home affairs, the Campbell case and the use of troops in industrial dis- putes, ete. ; In the discussion it was pointed out that it is dangerous to praise too much, without qualifications and warnings to the workers, the leaders of the labor left wing, Campbell's final point that the party was now politically unanimous, was appropriate, asignificant feature of the congress being the complete ab- sence of factionalism. S gppcgd be e reported on the party in parliament in an amusing ex- posure of capitalist democracy in the “mother of parliaments.” His criti- cism of the labor left wing was good and his suggestion as to the necessity of a program and concerted action ex- cellent. The organization report by Inkpin, presented in conjunction with the thesis on the mass party reveal great progress. The party is now breaking repairs. They had to insist on being allowed to come to the surface. This event shows clearly and beyond dispute how the gold and profits of the heavy industrial exploiters is minted out of the blood of the mining proletariat. It is a piece of hypocrisy in this connection to describe the dis- aster as an “accident.” One disaster in the mines follows the other. Heca- tombs of miners’ lives are sacrified, but it is all an “accident.” For months past the Communist Party and the union of hand and brain workers have been demanding of the miners’ union a common fight | of all workers in the mines: For workers’ control. For the extension of the rights of factory councils. For the abolition of the speeding-up System, “Wor the seven hours’ shift and 40 per cent wage increase. For adequate support for the de- pendents of the victims of the mine disasters. , HE leaders of the’ German trade unions, the Husemans and Lim- bertzes, reject the l By GEORG SCHWARZ (Essen) of the rights of the workers with scornful laughter, How particularly necessary is the fight for the dependents is shown by what has happened in the case of the victims of the “Minister Stein” dis- aster. The Communist press pointed out clearly and openly at the time, that all the bourgeois charity activity was an obvious fraud, The relatives of the killed and injured in the “Min- ister Stein” disaster have already to appeal to the public, because they are in bitter need and up till now only 30,000 marks have been distributed to the victims concerned out of a total sum Collected of nearly a mollion. In | view of thig scandalous treatment of the relatives and dépendents, the ~ Communists again demand for the de- pendents of the present disaster: Payment of full wages for this month, a permanent pension of 60 per cent of the years’ wages for the wid- ows, and 20 per cent for every de- pendent mémber of the family; per- manent supply of coal and the right to reside in the miners’ houses be- longing to the company. HE capitalists have clearly shown by their attitude hitherto that, for them the families of the fallen miners are mere dirt. At the graves they speak a few words of comfort, which are only hypocrisy. In reality, by their speeding up methods, they drive the ~ miners to death. * + * HE miners see quite clearly that it is nothing else than the system — of murder which is killing their brothers. The present disaster must therefore be a warning signal to fight the abolition of the speeding up meth- ods in the mines. In two crowded meetings, which took place on Sunday in Dorstfield and in the adjoining district of Mar- ton in which comrades Schwan and Sobottka spoke, the miners demand- ed in deatiled resolutions the taking up of the fight:in-the sense of the de- mands of they Comimunist:oParty cof ~ Germany. wished wate ons bite It is necessary to drive home to the workers .that only a united strong mine workers’ organization, under revolutionary leadership, can abolish the murderous -speeding-up system in the mines. For this reason united fighting | the fight for trade union unity in the front of the miners for the extension| Ruhr mines is an urgent necessity, Congress of the C. P. of Great Britain with every established tradition in the. British labor movement by build- ing a centralized party, based on indi- vidual membership and daily indivi- ‘dual activity. The most important feature was the announcement of the organization of over a hundred fac- tory groups. wv J. T. Murphy presented the Thesis on the International and National Battle. Front. This emphasized the temporary character of capitalist stabilization and the need for intense Bolshevik mass work. The theses relating to the tasks of building up the left wing in the labor party, fighting for trade union unity, win- ning influence in the co-operatives, re-organization, educational work, etc., were unanimously accepted. — question of trade union unity - Was summed up in the necessity for developing mass. propaganda side by side with the demand for the es- tablishment of the Anglo-Russian unity committee and the world con- ference of all trade unions. An important feature of the report and discussion on colonial work was the announcement that the jute work- ers had decided to send a delegation to India to enquire into labor condi- tions and to organize white workers while assisting native workers. The two decisions of the congress | which particularly arouged the ire of the capitalist press were: (1) factory groups; (2) colonial work. ; CENES of indescribable enthusiasm greeted the appearance of the French and delegates. The success of these delegates in break- ing thru a cordon established by the ! ward. ‘ government, produced an ‘instant ef- fect upon all delegates, whose confi- dence in their party and the Interna- tional was unbounded. The subsequent discomfiture of the government was apparent and render- ed more so by its clumsy attempt to absolve itself by declaring that Com- rade Stocker was an Englishman in disguise and that Comrade Fausse- gave (the French delegate) was real- ly of no account. An important indication of the pres- ent tendency of left wing labor was the greeting proffered the conference by George Buchanan, M. P., the mem- ber for the constituency in which the conference was held.’ HE Thesis on Bolshevization was rather unhappily conceived, as it only dealt with two questions: factory . groups and Leninist education. This was rectified by the, reporter. who. . pointed out how Bolshevization affects every sphere of party life.. The resolutions on Trotskyism and the Youth League were unanimously adopted. ‘THE resolution on the work among women, together with the special women’s conference, showed the party’s clearer appreciation of its Bolshevik duty to the masses of work- The congress marks the, of a new. stage in the party’s ment, The Bolshevik course has com- menced, In its unanimous decisions in the very significant participation of. the Youth League in all discussions © and a clearer view of the organiza- tional basis of a Bolshevik Party, the British party has made big strides for