The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 30, 1926, Page 9

By Harry Gannes. ELIGION was first used by indus- trial capitalism in England. The greatest results were achieved, tho when religion married American business. Altho freedom of religious belief was written into the constitu- tion, christianity is the accepted opium. Once established in power. the new ruling class embraced relig- jon fervently, not for itself, but for the good of the masses. There is no state church in the United States. All religions (because they uphold capitalism) are sanc- tioned by the state. And thereby the rulers of society are able to co-or- dinate their religious propaganda in favor of the exploitive system to an extent that would have-been impos sible were a particular brand favored. This peculiar situation exists: the catholic assures the protestant he is consigned to hell because he is out- side of the mother church; the Jew promises both they will sojourn in Gehenna, while he is reserved for Abraham’s bosom, because he has the original dope. Yet all join in one cherubie chorus in proclaiming that god protects the present order; that private property is a divine institu- tion; that exploitation of the workers ’ is necessary for the remission of sins; and that imperialism and war are gifts of god. The Churches—Enemies of Workers. Selftaxation of the bourgeoisie in the United States for religion exceeds the compulsory taxation of many Eu- ropean capitalists. Consequently we find a monstrous religious structure working under many forms, influenc- ing Httle children before they go to school, reaching the masses thru the various denominations, and penetra- ing the very heart of the proletariat in the shops and industry thru the Y. M. C, A. and the Salvation Army. The church very early laid down its policy toward labor and has followed it ever since with such modifications ‘as mew fruling classes demanded. Jesus has been called a rebel and a “labor leader.” Let us remember that he said, when tested, “Give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, a letter sent to American business nen asking for funds: “Your business would be in a fine way, wouldn't it, if it were not for the stabilizing influence of the church and its preachers, who put ambition and determination and love of honest service in the hearis of your working men?” What is the size of this opium vend- ing machine? How much money docs it get from American capitalists to carry on its “stabilizing work?” Colossal Sums for Religious Dope. The latest available figures on the church in the United States (123) show that there are 237,45 churches with 219,876 sky pilots spouting relig- ious poison to 48,224,014 members, with a yearly graft of $547,560,562. According to Roger W. Babson, the value of church property in the Unit- ed States is’ well over $3,000,000,000. H. K. Carroll, L. L. D., of the Christian. Herald, says that the Sun- day school membership is 19,951,675. How thoro is the grasp of religion on the children is perceived when it is remembered that the total public school registry comprises 23,000,000 of whom 18,000,000 actually attend school, The wealthy drape themselves in a religious cloak. Babson says that those who paid 80 per cent of the in- come taxes are prominent church members. John D, Rockefeller, Payne Whitney, Mrs. Andrew Carnegie, and . long list of other capitalists con- ‘sibute liberally to religious instu- cions. There is a double reason for this. They have a desire, first, to sub- due the workers, and second, (held by those who have any faint hope of a future life) to reserve for themselves as favored a place in the land of shades as they held on the earth of slaves. : Here is a list for 1924 of donations to religion by capitalists: The Use Value of God statement of how much is donated in one year by American capitalists to religious opium injectors. A low total estimate for individual contributions from a small group of capitalists would be $25,000,000, outside of thu regular contributions, amounting tu about $500,000,000 a year. Besides the regular church bodio» there are special subsidiary organiza- tions which concern themselves with keeping the workers in check. Fore most among these are the Y. M. C. A., the Knights of Columbus, the ku klus klan, the Salvation Army, the Y. M. H. A., and the Catholic Welfare Con- ference, This is by no means a ae Poison ’Em Early. The Young. Men's Christian Associa- tion is the most important of these subsidiary institutions. It claims 1,000,000 members, Early in its career this body recognized the necessity of organizing on the job and with the aid of the boss has been able to con- struct headquarters on or Near every important industry, The United States Steel corpora- tion not long ago donated $300,000 for a “Y” at its Gary plant; Julius Rosen- wald, tho a Jew, donated more than $500,000 to the Christian Y. M. C. A to keep the young wage slaves of! Sears, Roebuck and company con- tented. Most of the $50,000,000 which the Y. M. C. A. gets yearly comes out of the pockets of capitalists, The “Man of God’—the Best Strikebreaker. aided Kolchak in his attack on Soviet Russia, The Y. W. C. A., tho. ostensibly lib- eral, in reality conducts the same type | of work that the “Y” is noted for and receives support from precisely the same sources, Babbits of the Pope. For over nine years the Knights of Columbus have been carrying on a light against what it calls “extreme radicalism.” It is the duty of the K. of C. to keep the workers contented, soothe them and groom them for the bosses’ war whenever the call is is- In many plants “Y” teachers use up}|sued. The labor program of the K. the lunch hour preaching to the worh- ers and instilling love for the bots. Special books of instruction have been issued on how to conduct this work. Instances of the “Y’s” protecting and furnishing scabs are plentiful. And that the Y. M. C. A. is a counter-Tevo- lutionary force was proved by its ac- tivities in Siberia where it directly eo —- Donations of over.$25,000 to religious. institutions. in 1924: Name of Donor Purpose oven? tre Mrs. M. G. BE. Aldrich, P. E. Cathedral ...... Mrs, Mary C, Burnett, Christian U., Ft. Worth.. Mrs. Andrew Carnegie, Union Theo. Seminary... tore Amount eaanetteawnn ene: of C. is laid down by the mother church. A little more of this later. Put a Nickel on the Drum! The Salvation Army concerns itself mainly with the slum proletariat. It does not fail to take advantage of every opportunity to exhort the work- ers to be meek and accept the yoke of the bosses. The Salvation Army has 16,298 local offices with over 5,000 pie-in-the-sky preachers,on, the. street. “Fight Bolshevistic Cultare” ‘with Mystic Debauchery, é With the penetration of capital in- to colonial and undeveloped territories we see a growth in missionary work. In 1923 Mrs. Netty F. McCormick, of International Harvester fame, donated $250,000 for Y. M. C. A, work abroad. John D. Rockefeller gives liberally for Mrs. A, G. Cutter, Methodists .............. m= Rev. D. S. Dodge, Syrian Protestants Geo, A, Draper, Unitarian church ...... P. A. wart, Y. M,C. Ao us SCM TES Anna L. Houston, varioug Rel, Inst. and unto god the things that are god's.” In short, obey and submit to the boss whether he be earthly or divine. The ku klux klan simplifies this expression by declaring itself, p Bpapronrem mes “One hundred per cent American and one hundred per cent christian.” The English and American capitat- ists particularly have made a fine art of befuddling the workers with relig- ion. Dr. Ure, an English economist, speaking to factory owners in the early nineteenth century said: “it is... excessively to the in- terest of every mill owner to organ- ize his moral machinery on equally ' sound principles with his mechan- ical... There is, in fact, no case to which the gospel truth ‘godliness is great gain,’ ts more applicable than ir the administration of an ex- tensive factory.” The American capitalists have fol- lowed this advice to an astounding de- gree. Roger W. Babson, statistical expert and financial adviser of probably more capitalists than anyone else, has writ- ten several books urging the use of re- ligion more intensively in American industry, Here are a few goms from his book, “Religion and Business:” “The value of our investments de- pends not on the strength of our banks, but rather upon the strength of our churches ... For our own sakes, for our children’s sakes, for the natien’s sake, let us business men get behind the churches and their preachers. ... By all that we hold dear, let us from this very day, give more time, more money and thot te the churches of our city, for upon these the value of all we own ultimately depends!” Just one more quotation from a sec tion of the church itself before we proceed to scan the extent of the for religious purposes, The national committee of the northern baptist laymen, New York, tells what it does for the workers in Ralph Leninger, Y. M. C. A. -.n.ccccsccrccsseoeees Martin Maloney, Caholic U. ccocsssssseresese . T. J. Mumford, ¥. M,C. A... sisccccossosdvosersosssencocseesnsee ihiiooitbos Frank Munsey, P. E. Cathedral ..... T. H. Murphy, Catholic church J. D. Rockefeller, Jr., various Rel. Inst, Laura S. Rockefeller, Y. W. C. A. .... Mort Schiff, various Rel. Inst. ....... J. Chonthal, Hebrew Seminary ............ Ben Selling, Hebrew Cong. Mrs. Elliot F. Shepard, various Rel, Inst... Wm. Sloan, various Rel, Inst. .......... eosiuntets Mary G. Thompson, P, E, Cathedral ......... Payne Whitney, ¥. W. C. Ap srccssseressssstacnntiecnessnss sorereeseesessanne 100,000 , 125,000 3,511,334 1,000,000 350,000 50,000 50,000 180,000 120,000 200,000 100,000 $11,526,338 Pullman Porters (Republished from “The Crisis”) THERE are some things connected with the fight of Pullman porters for recognition as modern working men which should hold our attention. First, there is the threat of the Pull man company to substitute Filipino porters, This threat is sheer poppy cock, Let them import as many Fili- pinos as they want. The Negro por ters can easily hold their own. But of course the Pullman company has not the Slightest intention of import- ing Filipinos even if they could do so legally. They are simply trying to scare colored men, Then again they are trying to in- fluence the Negro press and appar- ently they are succeeding. Of the five or more colored papers in Chi- cago not a single one has come out openly and fearlessly in defense ot the porters. Most of them have treated the matter with shuffling and with silence. But it is perhaps the attitude of By W. E. B. Du Bois Calvin Coolidge and his government which is most disgraceful. The gov- ernment has not only set spies to hound Negroes who dare. to study Communism, but it has allowed one of its own job-holders to accept a fee from the Pullman company in return for throwing dirt and bribes among Negroes. As the Brooklyn Daily Eagle gays: “Coercion of labor unions by paid agents of employers holding fod- eral office is not capable of any de tense, certainly of none that has any relation to practical politics in Am- erica.” Finally, if American Negroes want to know on which side to take their stand in this matter of labor organ- ization among Negroes they should note the people who are against it: Mark Sullivan, the most unfair of newspaper correspondents on Negro problems, the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the daily press of Miami, Florida! When such forces ag these take one side, it is the business of thinking Negroes to take the other. saving the souls and enslaving the bodies of the Chinese. Standard Oil sources in 1923 donated over $1,000,- 000 for this work; the U. S. Steel: corporation $300,000. The latest is the attempt of the He- brews to raise $50,000 for a Jewish theological and talmudical school in eastern Europe “to fight the advance of Bolshevistic culture.” The supporters of the drive, Rabbis Nn. Epstein, S. Schach, Ephraim Car- don and E. Mishkin insist the money is needed “to combat Leninism which | threatens particularly the welfare’ of — the youth of eastern Europe both Jew- ish and non-Jewisn.” (In continuing this article in next Saturday's edition of the Magazine Supplement of The DAILY WORKER, the author, - Harry Gannes, will take up the catholic church and other fea- tures.) . ° On Social Science By H. C. Fillmore. ‘T’S the origin of knowledge? Preacher’s tell us god above, While philosopher's in college From the brain the facts derive. “Revelation,” cries the preacher, “Is god's method most in use.” “Speculation,” says the teacher, “And deduction from its fruits.” Both deny the use of senses, The inductive and the real. These the proletarian lenses, We who've nothing to conceal, Just a little longer now