The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 5, 1926, Page 3

SPEED RAILROA + WORKERS TO GUT PROFIT MELONS Fewer Workers Doing More Than Year Ago By LELAND OLDS, Federated Press. Speeding up of railroad employes in the interest of bigger profits for in- vestors continues, according to inter- state commerce commission figures. These show that the railroads with fewer employes are carrying more | freight and operating more passen- } ger caraniles than in either 1924 or 1923, There were 5,578 fewor workers on »vailroad payrolls in October 1925 than | im October 1924, although traffic was | larger in October 1925 by nearly | 1,000,000,000 net ton-miles and by over | 18,000,000 passenger car, miles. | More striking reductions have taken place since 1923. Excluding gen- - eral and division officers there were 1,920,054 railroad employes in October 1923 compared with 1,800,453 in Oct. 1925, This reduction of approximate- ly 120,000 in the number of employes meant a saving of over $13,000,000 in the month’s wages in spite of the fact that in 1925 the railroads handled nearly 2,000,000,000 more net ton- miles of freight and 10,000,000 more passenger car-miles. The reduction in number employed between October 1923 and 1925 as it hit. typical groups of employes ap- pears in the figures: Number employed 1923 1925 Clerks (Class B) 140,430 134,821 Section labor 228,215 223,981 Boilermakers 22,502 19,721 Freight carmen 105,963 87,638 Machinists 2, 68,902 60,651 Helpers 133,302 113,303 Shop labor 116,199 101,503 Telegraphers 41,824 39,496 Freight handlers 43,792 41,648 Conductors 60,925 59,269 Brakemen 139,246 132,303 Engineers 70,684 67,682 Firemen 73,458 69,783 The shop crafts have suffered most in these layoffs with approximately 72,000 fewer jobs than in October 1928. The train and engine service employes follow with about 15,000 fewer employed in 1925 than in 1923. Since 1923 the shopmen’s October pay- roll has dropped from $76,026,274 to $65,284,859 or more than 14% In spite of the general 5% wage increases se- cured by the transportation brother- hoods the total paid them in wages has increased only about 1%. Comparison with October 1920, shows the number of employes redu- ced by” more than 300,000 and total wages for the month by more than $80,000,000, This means that since October 1920, the railroads have lop- ped 24% off the amount paid in wages. In the same period the average wage per employe dropped about 11%, trom $156 to $139 for the month. Government Geologists Explore Arctic Alaska For Rich Oil Deposits WASHINGTON, Feb. 3—A new ef- fort is to be made to locate oil in the vast ice-locked area of Arctic Alaska, it was announced by the department of the interior, Two government geologists will leave Washington shortly to spend eight months in the Arctic region in an effort to find out whether there are oil depostis in the frozen north, They must start traveling in winter in or- der to be there to take advantage of the short open season during the summer, EXPLOIT ONE MILLION MILL WORKERS HERE In Some Lines Undersell Even India By LAURENCE TODD, (Federated Press.) WASHINGTON, Feb. 3—One mil- lion workers in the textile industry in the United States find themselves sinking lower and lower in the eco- nomic scale, while their rate of pro- duction ‘and the profit taken by their employers go rapidly upward. In certain lines they now can un- dersell the products of mills in India and Japan. The machinery used in this country is better than that used abroad, and the average: wage for American cotton mill operatives is only about $15 a week. Great num- bers of children are employed at $7 to $10 a week. Shoddy Industry. Woolen mills in the United States that produce goods which have as much as 75 per cent virgin wool are not more than ten in number, The so- called woolen industry is a shoddy in- dustry, in which good wool is not over 85 per cent of the material, altho the manufacturers have enjoyed a tariff on wool of 31 cents a pound. Wages in these mills are slightly better than in cotton mills, due to the heroic defense put up by the workers in repeated strikes against wage reductions in recent years, The American Woolen Co., whose capital has been increased—from ac- cumulated profits—from $40,000,000 to $100,000,000—is now trying to make its workers produce dividends on this larger capitalization. 3,000 Per Cent Profit. An independent mill at Uxbridge, Mass., which had long been run on a basis of capitalization in harmony with the actual investment, declared a stock dividend, in 1913, of 3,223 per cent, and then cut wages in an at- tempt to produce dividends on this flood of watered stock. Silk workers: are rapidly increas- ing in numbers. Unskilled workers in the many mills in western Penn- sylvania get $11 a week on the aver- age, as silk throwers. At the other end of the economic scale are the well-organized knitters of full-fashion- ed silk hosiery, who get $50 a week. The product of these skilled knit- ters is sold in the English market, after paying a British tariff duty of 33 per cent, in successful competition with British-made goods. The num- ber of workers in the silk industry getting $50 a week is very small in comparison with the number getting $11 a week. The tendency is toward more machinery and less skilled labor. STRATEGY OF THE COMMUNISTS The famous letter of the Communist International to the Mexican Communist Par- ty is more than a historical document. It points out clearly the road to all Amer- ican workers. Read it! 5 Cents. ~ ! Out! FEBRUARY NUMBER. OF THE WORKERS MONTHLY With many photographs of Art features by Lydia Gibson, “the great leader. Fred Ellis and others. The Lenin. Drive meang quick action—send your sub today! : a 25 Cents a Copy---GET ONE! Bertrand Scott RUSSELL vs. NEARING DEBATE On the Subject: RESOLVED: “That the Soviet Form of Government is Applicable to Modern Civilization.” An interesting presentation of the subject by two well- known men, In board covers and including photographs of the authors. Cents _ The Daily Worker Publishing Co. _]] 1113 W. Washington Blvd. Chicago, Ill. gain wel Gedy att BIG BUSINESS SEES DROP BY END OF YEAR Credit Pyramid May Collapse in 1926 Set up out of present wages the largest possible reserves to meet in- evitable trade adjustments! That is the New Year message of chairman Rawson of the Union Trust Co., Chi- cago. Set up reserves for the coming emergency, he also tells owners and managers. His advice reflects season- ed opinion that the course of business activity is likely to be downward be- fore the end of 1926. “On general grounds,” says Ben- jamin Baker of The Annalist, “a fair forecast for the year now beginning would be a continuation of present business activity well into the year, with the probability of considerable recessions, later, in building and in automobiles. These would depress business, The use of bank credit to finance ordinary consumption has gone to extremes, as has also its use for capital investment.” Vice-Pres, Ayres of the Cleveland Trust Co, expects “that general busi- ness and prosperity will continue to rise during the first quarter of 1926, reach a top in the 2nd or 3rd quarter and be in the early stages of depres- sion in the last quarter,” Pres. Moody of Moody’s Investors Service thinks it “improbable that un- employment will approach that of 1921” ‘but he foresees curtailment in the building and steel. Such observations offer a striking contrast with the pipe dreams of those who see in recent enthusiasm for em- Ployer-employe cooperation, with its emphasis on production and high wages, the beginning of permanent prosperity. Contrary to these hope- ftuls, current wages are not high enough to create a sufficient demand for the products of industry and pre- sent high standards are maintained by instalment purchasing which mort- gage the wage earner’s future. Says Chairman Clark of the First National bank of Detroit, “Pyramiding instal- ment purchases is economically un- sound and will be a large contributing factor to trouble in our emergency.” Underlying all these explanations, however, is the belief of financiers that basic costs in industry (meaning wages) are still too high, that the de flation of 1921-22 was only a beginning and that it is time for the next step. They are thinking in terms of interna tional competition with the low-paié labor of Europe and Asia, This world situation will wreck dreams of an American capitalist utopia. SOVIET UNION INCREASES ITS SCHOOL BUDGET By WILLIAM F. KRUSE. (Special Moscow Correspondent of The Daily Worker.) MOSCOW, U, S. S, R., Feb, 3—The amount spent on public education in the R. 8. F, 8. R. during the current School year is more than double that spent last year. In the year 1923-4, 56,000,000 rubles were spent, this year this sum has been raised to 114,000,- 000 rubles. Whereas last year the lo- cal budgets provided 68.3 per cent and the state expenditures 31.7 per cent; this year the state’s share has been raised to almost 40 per cent. Almost a third of the general budget of the R. S. F. 8. R, is devoted to popular education. All children of school age in Lenin- grad are this year provided with ade- quate school facilities. The increase over 1913 amounts to 42 per cent. But not only juvenile education is given increased attention. The con- nection between city and village is being cemented thru extensive village courses for peasants, farm laborers and demobilized soldiers. The Rus- sian Communist Party maintains a special school in Moscow for training teachers and party leaders for work in the villages. Connections with the many non-Rus- sian peoples are also constantly im- proved thru the commissariat for edu- cation, Ethological and archeological studies in the Caucasus and in the far North build up the race pride of these peoples in the interest of gen- eral Soviet progress whereas the old czarist efforts to suppress such knowledge resulted in constant dis- satisfaction and revolt, Funds have beon granted for the establishment of an institute for scientific research in Turkmenistan, The Oriental Re- search Institute of Moscow has just celebrated its fifth anniversary, It Is engaged in research in economics, geography and sociology of the Hast. New alphabets, based upon the Latin, are being worked out for use both in Soviet Armenia and Abkhazia. The Armenian Kurds have hitherto used a Righly intricate and Arabian script. “The power of the working ciass is organization, Without organization of the masses, the proletariat—is noth- ing. Organized—it is all. Organiza tion is unanimity of action, unanimity of practical activities” ‘ co amaygseaiie THE DAILY WORKER Page Three cemasemereee enNn erRSA PO R AeRR NRA RC A RE) NNER RCN EUNE RS RR RAE OP Hk mt ae tara Brownsville Mothers Declaie Strike; Fight Shifting of Children BROOKLYN, N, Y., Feb. 3 — The mothers of 100 children, who were transferred from Public School 210 in Brownsville to Public School 28, nine blocks away, refuse to let their children go to school and have de- clared a strike. The mothers point out that Public School 210 is not overcrowded and de- clare that they will not allow their children to ‘be thrown around by the board of education like shuttlecocks. The mothers show that in order to reach the new school, the children must cross*the crowded Atlantic Ave. thorofare’ #hd point to the great dan- ger to the2ybungster’s lives. About aeyear ago the children were transferred @vom Public School 104 to 210 and newimany of the same chil- dren are being transferred to Public School 28».The mothers are determ- ined to stick together and will fight any attempts on the part of the police or the se@hgol authorities to break their strike-qintil their demands are granted. r MORGAN'S BANK GOT 100 PCT, GASH PROFITIN 1925 But There Are Many More Like It The 100% cash dividend rate of Morgan’s First National Bank of New York reflects the toll levied by millionaire bankers on the country’s 1925 prosperity. First National leads the parade. But the other big banks follow with profits which would turn Midas green with envy. Altogether the owners of national banks throughout the country took 1925 profits ‘totaling $223,935,000, an increase of $28,229,000 over 1924. This means that the combined capital of the 8,070 banks turned a profit of more than 16%. These profits exceed by several inillions all the salaries and wages paid by the banks for the con- duct of their business. Out of these profits the bankers paid themgelves cash dividends total- ing $165,033,000. The remainder in- creased their undivided surplus profits from $1,080,578,000 to $1,118,953,000, a sum nearly equal to the entire par value of their eapital stock. The extraordinary flow of this tribute to deading New York banks is shown inythe following figures from The Wal), Street Journal. They give the percentage of profit to ‘capital stock and ‘the dividend rate in 1925. N. Y. Banks 1925 EXPERT’S BOOK APPLAUDS RUSS ART CUSTODIAN Soviet Uses More Care Than Monks Did BERLIN—(FP)—Seldom has the question of art in the Soviet Union received more thorough treatment than in a book published in Britain written by sir Martin Conway, one of the foremost art critics of England. Conway states in the introduction that he is neither pro-soviet nor anti- soviet. He did not go to Russia to study politics but to see art, and his expectations were more than justi- fied. He writes: “The public museums of Russia, the Hermitage in Petersburg and the museums in Moscow are of old-stand- ing fame. I knew what to expect. But the wealth of the czars, in palaces and in every kind of treasure within them far surpassed all my expectations, and now, as I look back, there sparkle and shine in my memory incredible quantities of jewels, masses of plate, measured rather by tons than by numbers, countless quantities of por- celain filling gallery after gallery, and leaving yet 000 pieces for which exhibition rooms cannot be found. I also recall great vases, and tables and even: walls of lapis lazuli and malachite, statues and busts, an- tique and modern, upwards of 20,000 pictures, vast collection. of drawings and engravings, endless suites of furniture, walls covered with tapes- tries and carpeted floors by the acre, ikons by the thousand, sheeted with smbossed covers of silver gilt and snamel,.... and every object that the genius of man has brought into existence and his decorative instincts nave embellished.” chaos of an unparallelled revolution.” Conway marvels that such a mass of treasure should have escaped “the ‘It was far otherwise in France in 1789,” he notes. There, treasures of church and state alike went into the melting pot. “Hardly any of the works of French goldsmiths of the 18 cen- tury escaped. Ruin overtook the great abbeys, and many of the noblest examples of medieval architecture were leveled to the ground. “In Russia nothing of the kind has happened. The monasteries, indeed, have been suppressed and their pro- perty confiscated, but so far from being injured, their paintings, their vestments, their jewels and embroid- eries have been carefully gathered to- gether and many of them saved from the progressive decay which they were suffering. They are better cared for -by- the soviet government than they were by the monks.” These are but samples of the com- ment contained in this remarkable study, which appears under the title Profits Dividends Chase National 28.8% 20% | art Treasures in Soviet Russia, The Chemical National 40.4 9 | author pays little or no attention to Commerce , 16.7 16 | economics and sociology, but on the || Corn Exchange 32.7 20 | Geld of art he shows that the soviet First National 140.1 100 | anthorities have preserved the treas- Hanover National 64.9 24 | ures of the state and the church to an Mechanics & Metals 17.3 20 ‘| almost unbelievable extent, National City 244 © 20 American editors who may be con- Seabord National 33.1 16 | templating articles on the destructive- | Bankers Triist 37.4 20 ness of working-class rule in the So- | Central Union Trust 43.5 gg ; Viet Union should glance through Equitable ‘Trust 38.7 1a) ee Farmers Loan & Trust 28.3 16 . Guaranty ‘Trost 210 12 |Injunction Against New York Trust 29.9 20 I. W. W. Thrown Out; These are the prominent institu- tions of the money trust which con- trols railroads, steel mills, oil, cop- per, coal, meat packing, and the coun- try’s other basic industries, But some of the smaller banks rank with them when it comes to profits. The Federa- tion National is down for a 37.6% profit and 8% dividends. The Brother- hood of Locomotive Engineers Trust shows only 1.1% profit and no divi- dends. Empire Trust, in which the locomotive engineers are heavily in- terested, made a 29.9% profit and paid 16% dividends, But Morgan’s First National, cap- tained by his lMeutenant George F. Baker, remains the model of what a bank should, be to its owners. Start- ing in 1863 with $200,000 in capital stock it has paid cash dividends total- ing $129,510,000 and has in addition accumulated, undivided profits to a total of $89,8 6,956, Its resources now total half a million dollars, Its stock is held at $2,990 a share and with few excepti us it is in the hands of the inner Morgan circle,’ Bay City Musicians Donate $50 to Miners Ce BAY CITY), Mich. Feb. 3 — ‘The Michigan Musicians Association in its ninth annual convention held at this city donated $50 to aid the miners strike and passed a resolution asking all Michigan locals of musicians to make immediate donations to help the miners in their fight, They also reiterated ther denun- ciation of the Michigan Criminal Syn- dicalist Law and again urged the Le- gislature to repeal it. The next convention of the Michigan Musicians’ Association will be held at Jackson the second Thursd&y in March 1927, ¥ Two progressives, Allen Loehr of Saginaw and, Wm. Mollenhauer of De- troit were elected on the state execu- tive committee, ets. EC A sub a day will help to drive 3h Violated at Start} Legal notice of what has long been || @ practical fact was taken Jan, 19 when the Chicago chancery authori- ties threw out the injunction against || the L. W. W. obtained by a disgruntled faction in the summer of 1924. A few days after Denis Sullivan, the in- junction ezar, had issued the writ, the padlock was smashed off the head- quarters door and union business went on as usual, Now, a year and a half later, the law takes cognizance of reality. The in juntion factions ran out of money and failed to win the support it had banked on from the membership after a gene- ral convention expelled the ring- leaders. The writ was finally thrown out because those originally applying for it failed to appear in court. Fire Sweeps South Bend. SOUTH BEND, Ind., Feb. 3 — One firemand was killed, three were in- jured and property valued at $3,250,- 000 was destroyed here today in a fire which started in the Brandon Cloth- ing store, spread to several others in the downtown business district and was brot under control only after it had been fought six hours, E, W. RIECK LUNCH ROOMS Six Places 169 N. Clark 118 S. Clark 66 W, Washington | 167 N. S$ 42 W. Harrison 234 S. Ha PHONES, HARRISON 16-7 Bpecial! W, Rieck Boston ind Brown Fine ps and Fresh Ma offes Commiseary and Bakery: 1612 Fulton Ct, Phone West 2549 ISiCK AND DEATH BENEFI SOCIETIES Prauen-irankesUnterstuesunee Verein Fortschritt Meets ol lst and 8rd ‘Thursday, 2040 york’ bes Ask $381,233,726 to Make Up Budget Deficits for 1925 WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 — Deficien- cy appropriations agregating $381,233,- 726 to make up deficits in allowances by congress for various .governmental purposes in 1926 were authorized by a bill favorably reported from the house appropriations committee, Four items in the bill take up about $50,000,000 of this amount. They are: Refund of taxes, $149 postal pay increases, $97,265, eral good roads aid to states, $26,675,- 000; soldiers bonus and hospitaliza- tion, $78,000,000. MORGAN CHOOSES W. VA. MINES TO USEIN MERGER Open Shop Coal Field Ruled by Bankers Complete absence of unionism ap- pears to have been a determining factor in selecting southern West Virginia for the first billion dollar soft coal merger. Altho the crea- tion of this trust has been carefully kept from the public a news leak gave the trade journal Black Diamond important outlines of the plan to unite all the independent mines in the region. This consolidation will be like the elder J. P. Morgan's anthracite one of a generation ago, Its capitalization is said to include $300,000,000 in 10- year bonds, $300,000,000 in 30-year bonds and $300,000,000 in stock. The figures are approximate. A quarter of the stock will go to the financiers who are behind the merger. Black Diamond quotes one of the operators concerned as follows: “If the merger can get all the operations in southern West Virginia it will go on further, It wants the best coal in America and believes it can be found in southern West Virginia where the best mining conditions pre- vail The men behind the deal not only look at the production, but at the labor situation. Southern West Virginia has risen to every crisis in the coal history of America, and that is what has attracted the financiers. They are banking on West Virginia miners as well as operators and be- lieve that it is a safe investment.” In other words they are banking on the belief that where there is no labor organization there will be no strikes. |FASCISTI URGE VIOLENCE ON LABOR GOV'T, Press Open Attacks On Militant Unions By W. FRANCIS AHERN. SYDNEY—(FP)—Regarding the fore mation of branches of the Fascisti im Australia, the Australian Labor Party has secured a letter said to be writtem by A. Kirby Hewlett, organizing see retary of the British Fascisti, to Cap tain J. O. Hatcher, organizing secre~ tary of the Australian cisti, indi- eating’ the connection between thé Fascisti and the ments of both cou The letter, on of the British Fas “Your very interestin hand regarding the pre of Faselse mo in Australia. It is pleasing to learm that your federal government has been assisting in initial organizational work, The supréme council notes that the movement has been launched im six states of the commonwealth, “At the present time Australia ape pears to be urgently in need of Te sourceful fascist groups in all centres with a resourceful inner council fm command. Weak and ilating gove ernments make Fascismo a political and social neces: . Such were ree sponsible for its coming into being in Italy and also in England. “Had the MacDonald government fe: mained in office here we would havé been required to forcibly drive i® from office. Our present chancellor of the exchequer, Mr. Austen Chambers lain, said: ‘Were Labor returned with a working majority it would be neces» sary in the interests of the nation te suspend constitutional government and forcibly prevent it from assuming office.’ “If necessary, steps should be taken to precipitate open hostilities with the militant unions. Open rioting would give us an opportunity to smash the unions and cripple Labor politically, In this we have the definite assurance that the present federal government would cooperate and will secretly in struct its officers to work in conjune tion with our forces.” The exposure of the letter in the Australian Labor press caused a great sensation, The Fascisti issued not- ices threatening to wreck the Labor Daily newspaper office and the Labor broadcasting station at Sydney. The Labor Daily newspaper office was damage, anti-Labor goverm e official letterhead reads: letter to Put a copy of the DAILY WORKER in your pocket when — you go to your union meeting. I's Filthy The capitalist press just reeks with the poison that clogs the minds of the working class. Take it away from the workers! sub for LENIN AND’ PUT IT DAILY WORKER, 1118 W. Washington Bivd., Chicago, Ill. Enclosed §....... Name: Street: HERE! This can be done only by bringing to the atten- tion of every worker you meet that their inter- ests are fought for only by The Daily Worker. To every worker you meet and to every work- er in your shop—show them The Daily Worker —YOUR paper! Show it to them and get their Ts = DRIVE or Jue Thousand Mw dike to THE DAILY WORKER Rates: In Chicago: Per year Six months Three months Per year .. 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