The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 18, 1925, Page 3

GERMAN TRADE UNIONS SUFFER HEAVY LOSSES Still 3,000,000 Less Than in 1922 How the skyrocketing of German finance praduced by the attempt to enforce the Versailles treaty has re- acted on the German trade unions is shown by 1924 membership statistics in the year book of the General Fed- eration of German Trade Unions. A continuous and rapid decrease in membership reduced the total from %805,904 at the end of 1922 to 3, 975,002 at the end of 1924., ‘The rapid decline began in the last quarter of 1923 after the currency cri- eis had put down production, causing wide unemployment. In that quarter trade union membership fell off by "1,297,982. Throughout 1924 it con- tinned to fall, the loss in that year | totaling 1,766,125 members. But in spite of these heavy lossses amount- ing to 3,830,902 members, the federa- tion membership at the end of 1924 was nearly 2,000,000 ahead of 4913, | The average annual mempersnip in 1924 was 4,564,163 compared with 2,573,718 in 1918. For 16 of the larger organizations composing the general federation the membership figures ‘were: German Unions 1918. 1924 Agricultural workers .. 19,077 147,650 Building trades . 343,152 362,481 Carpenters .. 62,069 87,049 Clothing workers ........ 53,874 99,261 Factory workers —.......211,718 394,894 Food industry — 51,537 65,981 Metal workers 560,644 889,063 104,113 229,956 Printers :.... . 68,682 69,370 Railroad men 202,689 | Shoeworkers 91,756 State and municipal workers . 52,996 187,205 Textile workers 141,484 425,510 Tobacco workers 34,191 73,066 Transport workers ....235,663 310,948 Woodworkers —....0-.199,199 328,175 , The other organizations composing the general federation are the bakers and confectioners, barbers, bookbind- ers, butchers, chimney sweeps, chor- us singers, coopers, coppersmiths, engineers, firemen, gardeners, glass- workers, hatters, hotel and restaurant employes, leather workers, lithograph- ers, moving picture employes, musi- cians, painters, pottery workers, por | ters, printing trades helpers, roofers, 4 salaried employes and saddlers. With the end of 1924 the down- RELA GERBARE “Be ABDI BR MARS | . Bumber enrolled in December, 1924. _ The General Federation is the most important factor in German trade unionism but there are also the so- called Christian trade unions and the Hirsch-Dunker (company) unions with combined membership of about a mil- Hon. Build the DAILY WORKER. AAAADAAAASAMAAAAAADADAEL Furnished Room FOR RENT. All Modern Conveniences. For 1 or 2 men. Apply clo DAILY WORKER. Fairy Tales r Workers’ Children By Herminia Zur Miihlen. Translation by Ida Dailes. Illustrated with black and white drawings from the original German edition and four color plates and cover designs by Lydia Gibson. A book that children will treasure and one that will instill in their minds a pride of being in the ranks of the working class. For your child—and the child- ren of other workers get this book! 75 Cents Duroflex Covers $1.25 Cloth Bound DAILY WORKER PUB, CO, 1113 W. Washington Blvd. Chicago, tl, BUFFALO READERS, ATTENTION! HE upper photo shows the city of Moscow as it is today. In the lower left-hand corner is a picture of a number of Russian peasants | and workers looking at a tractor that_has arrived from the United . BROOKHART WILL KNOW FATE BY GLOSE OF WEEK Final Arguments on Con- test Saturday WASHINGTON, Dec. 16.—The con- test between Senator Smith Brook- hart, insurgent republican, and Daniel F. Steck, democrat, for the junior senatorial seat from Iowa, will be closed Saturday, it was announced to- day. Both sides will complete their cases before the senate elections’ com- mittee with oral arguments Friday and Saturday. The committee then will determine the legality of cohtested votes. If it decides that some 4,000 Brookhart votes, now contested by Steck, were legally cast, the present senator will be seated for a full six-year term, Mangus Has Contest. A scheduled meeting of the senate elections sub-committee to hear evi- dence filed in the contest ‘of former Senator Mangus Johnson, ‘of Minne- sota, against the seating of Senator Schall, of Minnesota, was postponed today because of the absence of John- son’s attorneys. The sub-committee, comprising Senators Deneen, of Illinois, Gott, of West Virginia, and Neely, of West Vir- ginia, will convene it was said, when- ever the attorneys arrive. Johnson will be represented by Donald Hughes and George Edgerton, -of St. Paul, while E. Smith, and John Rees will appear for Schall, ea ARES 1 Why not? Ask your neighbor to subscribe! ——————uumi_____ To those who work hard for thelr - money, I will save 50 per cent on all their dental work, DR. RASNICK DENTIST 645 Smithfield Street, PITTSBURGH, PA, deere” OEY: (B® States. Russia needs many more tractors and as soon as the Soviet Union is recognized many more tractors will be bought in the U. S. with opening of full commercial re- lations. In the lower right-hand corner is.a picture of. the unoffi (Continued from page 1). usurious contracts which America, profiting by our distress, imposed up- on us. “Certainly there were other usurers at home exercising their cupidity in those same contracts, But/that is only part of the question. -On supplies bought in America the French goy- ernment lost nearly 8,000,000,000. Be- fore approaching the taxpayer it is the government’s duty to turn toward those who dilapidated those supplies and make those disgorge who profit- ed by that dilapidation. Military Expenditures Increase. “The American newspapers repeat that their country ds burdened with taxes, while the French pay insuffi- ciently. We are told that we extra- vagantly maintain an army of 800,000 men, the upkeep of two simultaneous wars. Agreed. But I would like to ask America whether she herself, is ‘taking the road toward disarmament which with supreme hypocrisy she would force upon the whole universe. The army and navy budgets absorbed 17,000,000,000 francs this year in the United States. The Americans talk of disarmament while they double their land forces. Their navy is esti- mated at 3,000,000,000 francs, while so cleverly worded was the Washington convention that it allows ‘them to build light cruisers and submarines. They have 13,000 military aviators and periodically mobilize the country militarily and industrially. This year on one of those days of military pre- paration, 16,000,000 men were called up. I am glad the French govern- ment is being invited to disarm—but I should like the invitation to come from a country giving an example of disarmament, not a contrary one, “Does the United States really re- quire the 150,000,000,000 francs they are asking us to pay? Every one knows they are almost suffocating be- neath the weight of gold as if para- lyzed by their own immense fortune. The country produces 60 per cent of the cotton of the whole world and manufactured Mm 1923 43,000,000 tons Urges Repudiation of War Debts THE DAILY WORKER Soviet Union representative, Boris Skvirsky, who is in Washington, D. D. One of t! ¢ big issues before the coming hac) is of congress will be the recogni fn of the Soviet Union Pow ‘ “In order ¢0 maintain the gold standard of the’pound the city of Lon- don for the first time has been forced to bow downbefore the magnates of Wall Street. “When one speaks with the tone you &fe aware of to a coun- try which is ‘as financially worn out as ours, it is*tie duty of our govern- ment to protest with energy and com- pare our infinite distress with the magnificent prpsperity of the interlo- cutor. Accomptishing Ambition. “The United States is now accom- plishing the ambition of her financiers fifty years back—‘We, the world’s granary, will become its workshop, but shall only be really victorious when we become its banker.’ The United States has become our bank- er, With the Dawes plan she has en- slaved Germany. We ourselves are marching with big strides toward financial dependency to American cap- ital. A typical example is Belgium, which shows its government and” par- liament are at\fhe mercy of American financiers. a “Mention hasbeen made of the suc- cess of Italy, who obtained favorable conditions for yher debt and who in- creased the value of the lire. But we would like to know whether no se- cret conventions were signed, whether | Italy is still migtress of her industrial and economic orees. Poland recent- ly obtained a, small loan of 35,000,000 but the contract stipulates that if within agreed*#eriods Poland has not executed all its clauses her creditor will lay hands’‘on her railroads and exploit them. Overture Being Mode. “To Norway Same language was spoken in to her telephone. As for France, Morgan's bank helped her in 1924, but when the United States again aids us, ill she not try to ob- tain certain es? Will-not we, too, feel the yoke of Wall Street? Already a certain section of the press tells us to utilize the state monopolies and advises the sale of tobacco to a company which will give you billions, “We (the Communists) do not of steel, which represents a profit of four or five billions. It produced 31,- 000,000 tons of pig iron, 600,000,000 tons of coal and three-fifths of the copper of the world. Its shipping ‘tonnage has trebled since 1914, Its railroads represent a capital of 575,- agree to deliver into the hands of Americgn financiers part of our pub- lic fortune. We do not desire that to. the exploitation of French capital- ism, which is already hard enough, there be added the exploitation of a capitalism with whose methods we Union are urging that trade rela- tions be opened immediately so that they can get some Of the contracts for agricultural and industrial ma- chinery, which are now going to those nations that ie recognized ‘PROGS’ WANT TO 60 BAGK TO OLD TRUST BUSTING Long for Days That Are Gone Forever (Special to The Daily Worker) WASHINGTON, Dec. 16— A con- gressional inquiry to determine whether there has been a complete collapse of the government's prose- cutions under the antitrust laws is being considered by senate progres- Sives, it was learned today. The department of justice, it was disclosed officially, has lost nearly every anti-trust action instituted in ‘the federal courts since July 1, 1924, excepting those in which pleas , of guilty or the so-called “consent de- crees” have been entered. Most of them have been removed from court dockets since the advent of John G, Sargent as attorney general, Want Trust “Busting”. The record of the last year and a half is in marked contrast to the “trust busting” days of the Roosevelt, Taft and Wilson administrations, when such great cothbinations as the Standard Oil, Eastman Kodak, Du- pont’s, Union Pacific, Southern Paci- fic, National Cash Register and others came under attack. The senate progressives contend the laws are still the same and the combinations are greater than ever, and they are planning to inquire why there are no prosecutions. Since July, 1924, twelve major anti- trust actions have been dismissed or decided adversely to the government. Three consent, decrees. were entered. fi four other cases a number of de- fendants entered pleas of. guilty and were assessed fines. New York Italians Protest Freeing of NEW YORK, Dec. 16.—(FP)—tItal- ian workers overflowed a mass meet- ing called in a big east side hall to protest the freeing of the men who murdered Giacomo Matteotti, Italian Matteotti Murderers j capital away. EEE menepRT ETE t HOUSE AND SENATE QUARREL OVER WHO SHALL RATIFY DEBTS WASHINGTON, Dec. 16. — The agreements for funding $3,000,000,- 000 of America’s wartime ‘foreign debts have aroused a keen contro- versy in congress, It was learned Los day, with administration leaders o' house and senate clashing over the question as to which branch has the legal right to ratify the settlements first. The controversy may delay final ratification of the settlements and result in one of the most unusual clashes over legislative prerogatives that has ever cropped up in the his- tory of the congress. The Issue has settled upon the right of the senate to ratify the settlements before the house has taken that actlon. House leaders, democrats joining alike with the republicans, contend- ed the bills were revenue measures and that under the house’s constitu- tional powers, the bills must “ori- ginate” in the lower branch of con- gress, Senatorial leaders deny the bills are revenue measures and that therefore, the upper branch has the right to act upon them whenever it desires. MACHINE MINING TO BREAK UNON IS BOSSES’ PLAN Few Men at High Pay; Rest Can Starve Negotiations in progress in a joint commission composed of representa- tives of the Illinois mine workers and the operators of the state may soon result in considerable changes in the lives of Illinois coaldiggers. Accord- ing to a report on the Ulinois mining institute by the Coal Age, pressure is being exerted to hasten action by the commission in order that rapid intro- duction of machine loading may meet nonunion competition. “Mechanization of coal mines is at our door”, said J, A. Garcia, of the in- stitute executive board. “We are con- fronted with competition from other states whose favorable running rates are enabling them to take our mar- kets. This has put our industry in Illinois in a most deplorable state and in my judgment the crisis can be met ajo be the marhanization .af our. mines.” Other speakers, cited by the Coal Age, asserted that because a reduc- tion in wage rates could not be ex- pected, “a complete new order of pro- ducing coal must be made if the state is to maintain itself. Many changes will be noted in the next 5 years, es- pecially in the cleaning of mechani- cally loaded coal.” ~ “Machine loading”, according to the Coal Age, “reduces the number of men in a mine and cuts down by 60 per cent the number of working places re- quired under hand loading. Concen- tration of working force such as this Page Thred ENGLAND HAS $1X BRANDS OF FASCISM Government Aids the Unofficial Scabs LONDON—(FP)—England has siz main strike-breaking organizations preparing for next spring, according to the British Labor research depart ment. They are not commercial scabe fter the American which has been as revelations at e Douarnenea ), ‘but socalled s enrolling vol emble the Gere ith a large ad- ism, and are the middle> organizations by the gove pplementary section)—and te it clear that the unofficial ike. herding agen model (a model imitated in F the recent tri gunmen have patriotic organiz: unteer scabs. Th man Technical a mixture of I recruited ¢! lass. One Usted is fo: ey re o ctly 2 five unoffici the O, M, S. (Org on for the Maintenance of S: es), National Citizens union, Br mpire unton, British Fascists and the national guard. As an » of the goverm ment’s strikebre tactics a Te minder is given of how, during the ordered that unem were not payable to any fused to do transport work, and how it asked local authorities to form citizen guards. The professional scab is quite a fm miliar specimen in America, just af the middle. “patriotic” or fascist scab has lon, n familiar to Euroe pean labor, but that the former exists also in Europe has come as a surprise to many people. In the recent trial te France of strik ers and stook Pigeons for violence during the strike of sardine packers at Douarnenez last winter, it was revealed that all three accused were professional scabs em- ployed by an agency with headquan ters in Paris, which exists by grants from employer associations, It had even received a secret grant of 25,000 francs trom the of Paris at the instigation of ex-president Millerand, it was revealed. One of the accused boasted of having broken 30 strikes, Fascism is the historic example of the development of scabbing into a social creed. The women’s section of the.British fascisti- has threatened disciplinary action against its members if they do net “state plainly exactly what duties they are prepared to perform with the British Fascists,” in the event of “serious industrial trouble tn the spring.” Such duties include automobile drivers, nurses, cooks, waitresses, stenograph- ers and messengers, Women’ fascists unable to Perform these jobs are told they can render: service by offering hospitality to fellow fascists, or “by feeding a limit. ed number of fascists (scabs) should the need arise.” reduces the length of entry to be kept up, and the investment for rails, wire and supplies. It was estimated that in a period of 3 years a mine can be fully equipped with machine loaders bought with the earnings of those first installed.” This description brings out the re- volutionary change in the coaldiggers’ position the loading machines will pro- designate Gerard P. duce, It is similar to that produced | North Dakota, wa in the lives of independent craftsmen | senate today ¥ by power machinery and the factory | senate election It takes | him a seat, re away the freedom enjoyed by the] bate. system in the 19th century. craftsman working in his the miner working alone with his bud- dy in his underground room or place. It substitutes the discipline of the fac- tory with its constant supervision by the boss and its regular hours of cottage or} ed the report, Senate Fight Looms Over Move to Deny Seat to Gerald Nye (Special to The Dally Worker) WASHINGTON, Dec. 16.—A sharp fight over question of seating Senator- Nye, republican of expected in the en the report on the committee, denying hes the floor for de Administration leaders predict. adopted by a vote of 9 to 2, would be accepted finally by the senate, be se both democrats and republicans united in its adoption? work. The machine must turn out Receiver to Pay Negro its quota of production every day to produce the return on the investment. The freedom of the miners will be subject to this investment demand of the machine, Another important feature of the change is that most of the saving through machine loading must be a saving in wages, This will not neces- sarily mean reduction in the wages of the individual loaders, which may be protected by the agreement as to the machine scale, but reduction in the number of miners employed. It will reduce the total wages paid by a given mine even if the machine loafer is | HARTFORD, Conn Student-Workers Wages » Dec, 16. — Ne- sro students from southern colleges who summered in the Newington brickyards last vacation went unpaid when the Connelly-Purington Brick Co. went into the hands of a receiver, Now after months the state superior court orders the receiver to pay their wages due up to $100 each. . Three or four had more than that sum coming; @ dozen averaged $60 to $75, SICK AND DEATH BENEFI not cut, though the companies would like to slash his individual pay as well, A sub @ day will help to drive CELEB 20th Anniversary SOCIETIES Frauen-Kranken-Unterstuetzun, rein, Fortschritt asthe Meets every ist and 3%; ‘a rsday, Wieker Park Hanenm % 2040 W. North Avenue. Secretary, + RATE 1905 Revolution 000,000,000. Its electrical industry is queen of the electrical industries of the world; in 1923 it sold 7,000,000,- 000 worth of material, U. 8. Has’ Gold Monopoly. “Since the war the United States has absorbed’ 45 per cent of the socialist deputy. The New York local, North American Anti-Fascist Alliance, sponsored the meeting. All stood a moment in silent tribute to the slain deputy and then vigorously boooed all reference to Mussolini and proposals that this dictator be made “Roman INTERNATIONAL BANQUET given by the D. EB. C. of the W. P. A. SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1925, at 8:30 P. M. in Engineer's Hall, 36 W. Huron St., Buffalo, N. Y. are familiar. One exploitation more than suffices us, Never Accept Additional Burden, “We do not desire to see part of our riches fall into the hands of for- eign capitalists. The working and peasant classes of this country will 100th Anniversary Decembrist Uprising SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20, at 2 P. M. at Central Opera House, 67th St. and 3rd Ave., New York Prominent Speakers in Many Languages. — Excellent Musical Program, “TICKETS $1.25 Speakers: Ben Gitlow, W. W. Weinstone, Norman Tallentire, and Ben Lifshitz, shone , ‘GOOD music world’s gold... Her income equals two never accept the additional sacrifices imposed during sixty-two years in or- der to give American industrialists, whose meth: know, th 150,’ 000,000,000 cata ae, ue today.” r emperor.” you go te your union meeting. Put a copy of the DAILY WORKER -insyour pocket when 7 i Admission 5 Auspices: Workers (Communist) Party, Young Workers (Com * League, District No, 2. 25 Cents. : -———-——~