The Daily Worker Newspaper, July 30, 1925, Page 1

The DAILY WORKER Raises the Standard for a Workers’ and Farmers’ Government Vol. I. No. 171./ > wi, eo Sey ubscription Rates: outsise'Giicago: by ial, S00 ber year Entered as Second-class matter September 21, 1923, at the Post Office at Chicago, Illinois, under the Abt of March 3, 187% THURSDAY. GOVERN RICKERT’S AF. OF LUNN REFUSES TD CUNT SCABBING ON AMALGAMATED UNION STRIKERS The few strikebreakers of the International Tailoring Com- pany, who:are scabbing on the striking members of the Amal- gamated Clothing Workers of America, without exception are members of the United Garment Workers of America, the DAILY WORKER has learned. The executives of the company, whose employes have been. on strike for five weeks, when interviewed at their offices, 847 Jackson Boulevard, declared that reports that the United Gar- ment Workers scabs had been withdrawn were false, and that the agreement between the A. F. of L. union and the Inter- Tee ee Rational Tailoring Company. is “.| still in effect. | AS WE SEE IT At the local offices of the United By T. J. O')FLAHERTY Garment Workers, 175 W. Washington St., the union official in charge, George C, Slater, declared that he is still sup plying garment workers, when he can get them, to take the places of the strikers, and that the scabbery will continue. git textile workers who have re- ceived the ten per cent wage cut in. New England probably voted for COMMUNIST PRINTERS IMPRISONED FOR LONG TERM BY SOFIA TERROR (Special to The Daily Worker) SOFIA, Bulgaria. (By Mail)—The ease in a Sofia court in connection with the affair of an illegal Com- munist printing press, discovered at No. 30 Boulevard Dragoman has been heard. The sentences are as follows: Stoitcho Vassilyeff, Traitcho Ros- toff, Ivan Mandeff, were sentencea | to 8 years strict detention and 270,- 000 leva fine for organizing an ille- gal printing press to serve the pur- pose of the Communist Party—and for printing illegal literature. The contents of the printing shop have been confiscated. , V. Tashkoff and Y. Kostadinoff were each sentenced to 4% years strict imprisonment and 70,000 leva fine. Gatyu Ivanoff has been acquit- ted. Appeal against sentence may be lodged with the higher constitution- al court within. a period. of one month, Coolidge in order to insure prosperity o the country for the next four years, Now, the poor Dubbs-are getting it, in the neck. Thousands of workers find their standard of living suddenly lowered without having a thing to say about it. Yet, those workers may be opposed to Communism and may even join the capitalists in hating Soviet Russia, where the workers have every- thing to say in how much they shall Set of the fruits of industry. “es fe young men were discussing their problems on a street corner a few days ago and as I was passing by them one was saying to the other, “The companies are paying bigger divi- dends Hap ever before, yet it is hard to get a job, and when you get a job, there isn’t much money in it.” The speaker wore a pair of overalls, and looked fit, not the type you meet. slinking along the slave market on When asked if he could reply ta; the charge that the “union” was scab- bing on the Amalgamated strikers, Slater said, “We are a bona fide Am. erican Federation of Labor organiza. tion, and the Amalgamated is not.” Bosses’ Letter Same as Pickets The American Federation of Labor officials thus take the ‘same position as the garment bosses. In a letter to a former customer, which has been turned over to the Amalgamated, the International says that the Amalga mated is “too radical,” and that the A. F. of L. union will meet their FARMERS OF U.S. MADE ONLY $649 IN PAST YEAR Report Explodes Cal’s | movement proceeded against for their SEE a GET READY FOR LABOR DEFENSE DAY, SEPT. 13TH ties Now Mak- ing Last Preparations Many cities are already reported to have made definite, preparations for local conferences and mass meetings on Sept. 13th, set aside as “Labor De- fense Day.” The cities are New York Chicago, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Phi- ladelphia and Binghampton, N. Y. “Labor Defense Day” was designat- ed by the newly founded, Interna- tional Labor fense, a non-partisan individual and*eoliective membership organization for the defense of class war prisonerdpf all beliefs and affi- Nations. In th® afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 12th, local conferences will con- vene of representatives of labor or- ganizations and branches of the I. L. D. formed in the meantime. City or- ganizations or International Labor De- fense will be ¢omposed at these con- ferences. In the evening of the same day mass meétings will be held at which all available labor speakers will be mobilized. Chicago is the first to start branch | organizations 9n the basis of indivi- dual memibers..- Seven provisional branches have been set up and books and dues stamps, which cost ten cents per month, lied to the applicants. The major rk of ILD will be to legally defend members of the labor terms. Bosses Tell of A. F. of L. Support The letter sent by the International Tailoring company to all its customers thruout the country, and signed by Ray Reeder, declares that the Inter- Madison, worn out in the struggle, de- ers.are thinking and talking just the | same. to wait for orders, snd an admission eet that no business is being done. . AND the capitalists wit not be able! ‘The bosses letter states th: part:— to prevent them from acting when | (Continued on page 2) (Continued on page 2) 9) THE SHANGHA/ STRIKE EVENTS ee TOLD BY A NEUTRAL OBSERVER; AN APPEAL TO U. S. UNIONISTS: By HARRY F. WARD : SHANGHAI—(By Mail.)—The Shnaghai strike will stand out im Jabor a history. It began because the police fired 44 shots into an unarmed crowd May 30. Now after three weeks it is still going strong. The unique thing about the strike is that the merchants and bankers are in it. To tie up banks and shops for the three weeks as tight as tho it were a national holiday is something of record. American Imperialism Present. Shanghai is one of the great ports of the world. It is composed of three separately governed cities which run into each other so that sometimes the two sides of a street are under different authorities, (Continued on page 5.) There is the native a 3M “I think within a week to ten.days. ; Starts out by saying that the gross “ on 99 P. rosperity Bunk activity, to sapply material aid and comfort to ss-war prisoners and WASHINGTON, July 28—The de-| their fami and to demand the re- partment of agriculture has made an|ilease of labor's prisoners of which analysis of the income of the farm- ers during this past year of much ad- vertised prosperity. The statement there are 128 in America, 1925 was rly a billion dot darger than in the previous year and ithe net income was something like $725,000,000 larger. + »))But way down at the bottom of the weport the analysist gets down to eases and shows what the net result to'the individual farmer amounts to. “The average net income per oper- ator, including -all farmers, amounted to only $876 in 1924-25, compared with $764 the preceding year, and covers returns on the farmer’s equity | in his farm. > “If @ conservative rate (4.5 per cent and what investor is content with that*rate today) of return for the op- erators’ net capital investment is de- ducted from the ‘net income, the re- turn for the operator's labor and man- agement and for the labor of his fam- ily was only $649 in. 1924-25, and $631 in 1923-24, “The average wage for hired farm labor was $569 compared with the re- turn of $649 for the labor of the PATERSON, N. J., July 28—Rib- bon silk workers of Paterson, both in the United Textile Workers, A. F. of L., and the Associated Silk Workers, independent, have noti- ‘fied employers that the 44-hour week guarantee and a guaranteed minimum of $36 a week, with vary- ing piece work increases, must be granted by August 1. Failing an answer a strike is expected. The Associated conducted a long strike last summer and fall that forced most of the broad silk bosses to yield, Bs WINNIPEG—(FP)—No banker in Winnipeg will cash a dollar check on an outside bank for less than 25¢ com mission, according to the experience of a Manitoba assemblyman. The money changers fleece the public to farmer and his family.” the limit, JULY, 30, 1925 ENT FEARS STRIKE + 290 > ————_——- PROFINTERN REQUESTS ALL ITS SECTIONS 10 AID CHINESE WORKERS MOSCOW, July 13.—(By Mail)— The Red International of Labor Unions h. requested all its affiliat- ed organizations and also the organ- izations and minorities sympathis- ing with it, to take action in all trade unions for the mobilization of practical measures of assistance for the fighting working class of China. They must see to it that the trade union bodies and where possible, the central committees of these | bodies, declare-their solidarity with the relief action of the International | Workers Relief and carry out trace | | ! union help together with the Inter national Workers Relief. ANTHRACITE WAGE PARLEY DEADLOCKED Coolidge Will Assist Bosses When Neéded (Special to The Daily Worker) ATLANTIC CITY, N. J., July 28.— With a national hard coal strike threatened for September 1, and with both operators and miners’ union offi- cials apparentiy deadlocked. Talk of federal intervention came to the fore- front again today. Operators and miners representati- ves gathered here this morning to re- sume their joint committee conter ence, but ‘surface. indications were that there was little prospect of break- ing the deadlock, It is understood, however, that President, Coolidge is “interfere. at onee,. willing to~break the strike, however, if the operators are not strong enough to defeat the miners. John L, Lewis, international prest- dent. of the United MineWorkerg of America, was to re-submit their -de- mand for a small wage increase and the check-off system. Hit Bus Firm COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 28—The public utilities commission today o- dered the Red Ball Transit company of Indianapolis, Ind., to show cause within five days why its permit for operation within Ohio should not be | revoked. Religious Clash in Michigan ALMA, Mich., July 28—A state police detachment was sent here to: day following anti-catholic demonstra- tions and an attempt by forty farm ers, led by an anti-catholic preacher, to mob an editor for his editorial pro PRKER. Published Daily except Sunda; PUBLISHING CO,, 111% W. mai NEW YORK EDITION x. by THE DAILY WORKER ashington Blvd,, Chicago, Ill. Price 3 Cents eee eens EUROPEAN CAPITALISM SHAKES BEFORE INTERNATIONAL UNITY OF ALL COAL MINERS’ UNIONS LONDON, July 28.—With the 1,200,000 British coal miners ready to down tools at midnight Friday, the British government |trembles before a general strike unprecedented in European his- | tory. | miners, as 74,000 miners struck today in the Saar Basin and the In fact all European capitalism is faced with rebellion of | French miners threaten to walk out in the Nord and Pas de | Calais departments. Today, Herbert Smith, vice-president, and A. J. Cook, secre- tary of the Miners’ Federation, are in Paris attending the meet- jing of the Miners’ International, where they plan to obtain an agreement from the continental miners’ representatives, to cut off atthe source any coal shipments. from the continent to the British Isles in case of strike. The outcome of the Paris meet- ing is yet unknown at this hour. It chiefly the aim of the British miners to prevent the+ Te cm shipment of the 10,000,000 tons of coal now lying at the pit heads in the Ruhr. German Miners Under League Rebel | The miners in the Saar Basin are | making common cause with the | French miners in demanding that | their wages, paid in fast depreciating French frances, be revised to accord with the continually climbing cost of | living. ‘The Saar Basin is under the | PARTY IN PARIS government of the league of nations | . and hasan area of 742 squares miles | and a population of 652,000: | The strike of the French miners in the Word and Pas de Calais, originally scheduled for Monday night, was post- poned by the National Federation of | Miners, while representatives confer Painleve Gives Order to Steal Literature PARIS, France, July 28.—The police |have raided the headquarters of the with the ministry of labor. Conference Wednesday The main hope of British capitalism to ayert the strike of the British miners lies in the conference due to morrow between the owners and miners at the instance of the govern- ment, Premier Baldwin havingefinally | | Communist Party, damaging the con- tents, and confiscating literature. The police conducted the attack upon or- ders given by Premier Painleve. Among the literature taken were posteards showing French officers Standing beside a table on which were the decapitated heads of Rffians, the strike |The cards contained the inscfiption, Poe PFS HEH” CITITARCTON® ly Morgue It is understood that the mine own- | 12,000 killed and four billion, francs ided to intervene to stop ers are already backing up on thetr | wasted. Workers and farmets gave Previous determination to cancel the | all that—see what for.” agreement on Angust 1 in their effort Along the French front airplanes to force a wage cut and longer hours | alone are active, the French not hav- of labor. The Baldwin cabinet 1s also | ing begun their much heralded offen- meeting today to consider its action | sive. and: the king is in hourly communica-| Marshal Petain will leave for Paris (Continuea on Page 2.) | soon, SHANGHAI STRIKERS CALLING A GENERAL CONFERENCE AUGUST 1 MOSCOW, July 13.—(By Mail.)—Recently the situation in Shanghai has become intensified. On July 10 the English police fired into a demonstration of students. One student was killed and ten wounded. In the working class quarters of Shanghai the foreign police has been considerably strengthened The French police have fired upon workers who attempted to prevent the loading of a steamer by strikebreakers. The strike committee intends to hold a general Chinese conference of workers, students, businessmen and peasants for August 1 in order to cen tests against the evangelistics activi- ties in the neighborhood. tralize the protest movement and to control the Chinese government in its negotiations with the foreign powers. The Industrial Work of the Workers (Communist) Party \ The following resolution was unanimously adopted by the Parity Com- mission for submission to the National Convention of the Workers munist) Party: The State of the Unions.—The * trade union movement continues to pass thru the crisis in morale and membership which developed: in the course of the tremendous indus- trial struggles from 1919 to 1923. These struggles, faken as a whole, constituted the greatest defeat ever suffered by the trade unions in the history of the American labor move- ment. Beginning in 1919, the employ- ers waged a relentless warfare against the unions, striving to take from them, the concessions they had won during the war period and to break up their organizations. The struggle extended into practically every industry, and everywhere the unions suffered great- er or lesser defeats. This was the case in the steel, meat-packing, textile, shoe, railroad, printing, mining, cloth- ing, metal industries, ete. In conse- quence the organizations have lost tremendously in membership. In 1920 the A. F, of L, totalled 4,075,000 mem: bers, but in November, 1924, it had fallen to 2,865,979, In several indus- tries the unions have been virtually wiped out altogether. Only the organ- izations of highly skilled craftsmen and workers occupying key positions in the building, printing and railroad industries have been able to maintain themselves without serious losses. During this period the independent unions have all also suffered heavily, case in point being the lL. W. W., which dropped from 35,000 in 1922 to ap: ‘ proximately 15,000 at the present time. (Com- The whole labor movement, which has not yet recovered from the great blow of the employers, is still slowly on the retreat. Its morale is at‘a low ebb, An important factor preventing the recovery of the trade unions is the heavy unemployment which has pre- vailed- with but slight periods of re- lief since 1921. At the present time unemployment is particularly seen in the coal, clothing, textile, iron and steel industries. In the unionized bituminous fields of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsyl- vania, the situation is greafly wors- ened by a shift in production trom these fields to the unorganized terri- tories in West Virginia, The employ- ers are on the offensive all along the line. They are taking advantage of the situation by driving ahead with their “open shop” movement, one pro- nounced manifestion of which is the establishment of company unions in hundreds of plants and industries. They are also forcing wage cuts in many industries. The textile industry has just passed thru ‘an extensive wage-cutting campaign ‘and a similar one is now threatening the shoe in- dustry. The anthracite bosses are threatening a, wage cut, }ikewise the steel magnates. The clothing indus- try has also suffered wage cuts, Only in the building trades and among the more skilled railroad, workers have the unions been able to,secure even slight wage advances, past year has been marked by fewer.strikes than de, aie in the last two years thru the Labor Party splits (which were forced by the weakness and treachery of the prog- gressive leadership), and thru the growth and development of the LaFol- lette movement, which the left-wing sharply opposed: In the bitter fight that has gone on between the bureau- cracy and the left-wing, the progres- sives in the middle have become de- moralized and disorganized and have to a considerable extent fallen under the control of the reactionary bureau acy. The rami and file of the un- ions have lost much in morale by the many defeats in strikes and by the poisonous campaigns of class collabo- ration constantly carried on by the of- ficialdom of the unions. But among them there is a smoldering discontent, and wherever the left-wing can break thru the opposition of the bureaucracy and crystallize this discontent inte definite movements, the masses rairy in bitter struggles against their mts. leaders and against the employers ai- rectly. In the Carpenters’ Union elec- tion, the T. U. E. L. militants developed a powerful opposition to the Hutche- son machine. Likewise in the Ma- chinists’ Union against the Johnston administration. The election in the Miners’ Union, where Voyzey polled 66,000 against Lewis’ 134,000, aceord- ing to the official figures (in truth he was in all probability elected) was an- other demonstration of mass support ed year for several years. In the face of this persistent crisis the bureaucracy has stubbornly re- fused to adopt the measures necessary to pull together again the forces of labor and to bring them into an offen- sive Against the empolyers, Amalgama- tion, a Labor Party, and a general mil- tant policy, have been repudiated over- whelmingly by the bureaucracy. The latter turns its attention more than ever to the development of its policy of class collaboration’ and surrender o the employers. The high tide of is movement was reached at the El Paso Convention of the A. F of L., where the central points of policy dealt with the development of labor banks, the B, & QO. Plan, workers’ in- surance, and similar schemes, Within the past few months the new presi- dent of the A. F. of L., Green, has an- nounced a general organization cam- paign to recruit the diminished strenght of the unions in the various big industrial centers. But this scheme, never seriously intended, will vot ma- terialize into anything concre e. It is already going the way of such plans in the A. F. of L., by being sabotaged Va death. 2 The State of the Left Wing in the '* Unions.—The left-wing movement is at prevent operating under great dif- flculties in the trade unions. The fero- cious attacks by the bureaucracy thru expulsions, blacklistings, etc., have in most unions driven the ‘Trade|to left-wing leadership. ie latest Union Educational Léague under- | manifestations of the left-wing’s suc- ground, which has retidered its work | cessful rallying of the masses against the bureaucratic officialdom in spite of a maze of difficulties, is the present upheaval in the medle trades unions. jes, muny val- progressive have been lost h Ta RIO fr vlements in the’ 4 Altho bitterly persecuted in the un- ions and driven underground in many organizations, the T. U. E. L. militants have been able in many cases to smash thru the official opposition and to swing great masses behind them and their demands. 3 State of the Progressive Bloc. In * the trade unions there ere; many elements, so-called progressives, who are not advanced enough ideologcially to join directly to our Party or the Trade Union Educational League. These are the elements out of which shall be constructed the “progressive” opposition bloc against the ultra-re- actionaries now controlling the bull of the unions, At the present time these progressive elements are with- out definite leadership, organizations and policies, In 1921-22, the organiza- tion of the Trade Union Committee for the Reliet of the Russian Famine was an expression of this tendency, in the face of Gompers’ opposition. In the A. F. of L. convention they also secured a degree of organization in 1923-24 around the slogan of the Rec- ognition of Soviet Russia and in the Trade Union Committee for the Es tablishment of Trade Relations With nd Recognit ofySoviet Russia, The . P. P. A,Avhich Was an outgrowth of the ge pL per gnent for the po- litical organ} ionyof the workers in- dependent of. the two old parties was also, in its earlier stages, a definite organization of the progressive ele- ments against the Gompers’ machine. All these movements, however, have been greatly weakened. The progres- Sives are, for the most part, com- pletely demoralized and are being used as tools by the reactionary hureau- eracy against the left-wing: Main Tasks of the Party in the Trade Unions. HE main tasks of the Party in the trade unions are: 1. The revolutionizing of the exist- ing unions thru strengthening and or- ganizing the left-wing in the unions by bringing all the proletarian ele- ments of the Party into the unions, by the organization of trade union frac- tions, the building up of the T. U. E. L. and the stimulation of the organ- ization of the progressive opposition bloc, 2. The organization of the unor- ganized by the strengthening of the existing organizations, the creation of new unions in industries where none exist, the building of shop committees and the utilization of the shop nuclei as points for inaugurating campaigns to organize the unorganized. 3. The unification of the trade union movement by the stimulation of the campaign to amalgamate the craft nions into industrial organizations, he Party Organization for Trade Union Work. ‘HE Party organization for the car- rying on of the trade union work is still in a primitive and undeveloped ite. Considerable improvement has m made during the past year or 80. e Industrial Department has been lefinitely organized. The District Or. nizers are submitting regular month- reports and are devoting more and more attention to the work in the trade unions in their respective local- ities. But only a start has been made. Our system of Party fractions in the unions is still weak and scattering. The Trade Union Educational League groups exist only in the more important industrial centers. This situation must be remedied, and for this purpose a whole series of organ- izational measures are necessary. We must look forward to the creation of effective fractions and T. U. EB. L. groups in all unions and in all indus- trial centers, rganizational Measures, Necessary HILE putting into effect the fol lowing organizational measures and in carrying out the trade union program of the Party generally, a con- stant campaign must be prosecuted to awaken the membership to the vital importance of winning over the masses of workers now organized in the trade unions. Anly tendeney to consider work in the trade unions as in some way secondary or unimportant must be ruthlessly liquidated. Likewise all tendencies such as to consider party work in the trade unions a funetion of a specially selected section of our Party or the label: ing of Party activities in the trade unions as syndicalistic must be vigor- ously fought against. Because of an insufficient understanding of its im- rtance, the trade union work has ,often suffered in the factional fight- ing in the Party. (Continued on page 6.) on oemersses re ree