The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 17, 1926, Page 2

Page Two Daehn Cae . THE DAILY WORKER LEWIS MUST BE KICKED OUT OF UNION FOR 46 19 | ternational |an open meeting Tuesday evening, | Feb. 16 at 8 oclock at Vilnis, 3116 | By ALEX REID, Secretary Pi BETRAYAL Of rogressive Miners’ Committee. The six months’ strike of the hard coal miners is now history. The miners are to go back to shackled onto their necks. No i betterment of working condition years, it makes no difference if t soar, no matter how rotten their working conditions may become, | they are tied to a contract tighter than were the bonds of chattie | ternational slavery. work with a five-year contract increase in wages is granted. No 8. No right to strike for five long he cost of living does continually CHICAGO I..L..D, WILL HOLD MANY MEETINGS DURING THIS WEEK Lithuania Branch No, 1 of the In- Labor Defense will hold South Halsted Street at which the Bimba trial will be discussed. eee An International Labor Defense Protest and Rally will be held in the Liberty Hall, 14th and 49th Court, Ci- cero, Wednesday evening Feb. 17 at 8 o'clock, a ae The Irving Park Branch of the In- Labor Defense will hold its meeting Thursday Feb, 18. A short And this is the miners’ reward for six months’ struggle—the |*@!k on the Bimba Blasphemy Trial fruits of the battle, after about six months of starving and strug- ail be alver. gle of the miners, their wives an extra, to make life a little more worth living, to be more able to} d families, to gain a few crumbs Bring your friends to this meeting, at 4021 N, Drake Ave, Alex Reid will speak on the “Strug- gle of the Miners and their Persecu- give their loved ones a little better chance in life than they got | tions.” themselves, to give their offsprin, g a chance for a little better edu- cation than they ever had. Now+ Soe after all the hardships endured thruout the long winter months, {after all the sacrifices made, | they stand stripped of every de- mand that amounted to any- | thing to them, tied down to a | contract, which stands out as | the most flagrant and contempt- ible betrayal of workers in the ‘history of American labor. Strike Was Forced. The miners met in their tridistrict convention on June 29, 1925, in the eity of Scranton, Pa., formulated the | following demands: 10 per cent in- (crease in the wages of contract min- ers, $1.00 per day for day labor, uni- | formity of wage rates, and check-off {of union dues. Failing to gain their demands while working they struck ' work on the 31st of August, 1925. Tons of statistics have been collect- ed and published to support the min- ers’ demands, and no individual has| produced more data in this respect than Lewis himself. No man in Amer- ica understood the terrible conditions of the anthracite slaves better than Lewis and no man ever had a better opportunity to bring victory to an out- raged class of toilers. In his Hazleton speech, Aug. 25, Lewis produced statistics to prove the starvation wages of the miners. He showed they were far below that re- quired to give a decent living to the miners, he showed the enormous amount of lost time to the miners thru no fault of their own, he showed the cost of living had been on the up- grade while the miners’ wages had remained stationary, he showed the terrible conditions under which the miners worked in the hell holes—the butchering of the miners, and he showed the enormous piles of mil- lions, yes, billions of dollars the own- ers were making out of the blood of the hard coal slaves. Back to Slavery. Yes, Lewis understands their condi- tions. He has settled the strike. The miners will return to the pits, back into the bowels of the earth and have their eyes shot out, many of them to have their flesh ripped from off their bones in explosions, many of them to have their backs broken, their limbs amputated, or buried under thousands of tons of roof. No wage to work spu into the living hell with backs bent, and bleeding rts to make more mil- us out of their blood for the human that own the mines. rease for them, back > conditions of the THE SECOND ANNUAL PHILADELPHIA Daily Worker Ball (A MASQUERADE) FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 8 P. M. at Mercantile Hall, Broad and Master St. VALUABLE PRIZES will be offered for original—beautiful—comic and other costumes. Join Philly workers in the biggest event of the year, $1.00 . Admission Includes Free Subscription to » of all that Lewis has said | miners, in spite of the sacrifi , the wails of widows, and the hunger cries of orphans, the great John L. signs a contract to force the miners back at the old rates, the same to be changed when the operators so desire. Miners Gain Nothing. A complete surrender was made of every economic demand of the tri- district convention. Not one econo- mic point was won. In no country of the world have the miners or workers jever experienced such a_ betrayal. This betrayal stands out as the black- est spot in American labor history and will be remembered for all time, Lewis Can Get His, The check-off was granted, and now |the Lewis gang will find it easier to jcollect the few remaining cents from the miners. Arbitration is not pro- vided for in the agreement—no need of it, the operators will get ali they desire with a five year contract, that will save them the inconvenience of referring anything to an arbitration board. Ye Gods, and they call themselves leaders of the miners. Is it any won- der that from the tortured hearts. of the militant miners come the cry to be delivered from the vulturous grasp of their leaders? Many conferences were held be- tween the operators and Lewis, quiet | meetings, in- very comfortable hotels. in far off cities, back from the hun- gry faces of starving miners. No set- tlement was supposed to have been made at any of these conferences, but suddenly like a bolt out of a clear sky the wires flashed the news that the strike was settled. Every, miner waited on an official announcement, waited with suppress- jed joy, confident that their demand |had been granted, for how could it be otherwise, when their wages were far below the common standard of living jand had not Lewis,himself so stated. Resent Betrayal. Ps But the joy was short lived, joy gave way to consternation as the truth became known. Angry mutter- |ings and denouncement of the settle- ment and betrayal was heard on every hand. Here at last Lewis is seen in his true colors. Here at last we see the treacherous policies of the Lewis gang in all its nakedness. Now we| Lewis saw he was being repudiated, | junderstand why Lewis refused to call) he saw the outraged miners were| ed and repudiated, back /out the maintenance men, now we un-| turning from his treacherous policy| |derstand why Lewis fought the pro-| |gressive miners’ program, why he re- |pudiated the grievance committee's {demand for a one hundred per cent strike, now we understand why the progressive miners were jailed and FORGET YOUR TROUBLES FOR ONE NIGHT. COME IN COSTUME TO Wardrobe and a The Daily Worker. Lewis | Pere | The Karl Marx club will hold its |meeting Thursday evening, Feb. 18, | 8 o'clock at 2733 Hirsch Blvd. | d the sending to ive miners’ lead- why Cappellini pr prison of the prog: ers. 1 No man knew better than Lewis that the calling out of the mainten- ance Men was an ace card against the coal owners. Why did he not call out the maintenance men when the miners were demanding it? Why did he aid the operators by permitting the maintenance men to remain at work? The answer to these questions is found in the agreement and the agreement proves that Lewis was more concerned about the property of the coal owners than he was about the lives and welfare of the slaves in the anthracite, Repudiate Settiement. The miners in many places of the hard coal field since the betrayal at many mass meetings, have repudiat- ed the treachery, and spurned it as they would a plague: Thruout the val- ley the miners are protesting the set- Hlement, and calling on the rank and file to refuse to accept it. Lewis has called for a convention of the miners to be held fn Scranton for -Tuesday, to have the miners’ delegates ratify the betrayal. It will no doubt, be ratified, judging from past performances in like conventions, The miners at various conventions in the past have been terrified and mili- tant representatives of the rank and file have barely escaped with their lives. Considering the enormity of this betrayal we can picture the or- ganized effort to kill all opposition to the ratification. The miners in many large locals | have now indorsed the program of the progressive miners. All thru the an- thracite the rank and file are now turning against their treacherous |leadership. If the strike had contin- ; ued a few more weeks, the miners would have repudiated Lewis com- pletely, and accepted the program of the progressive miners exclusively. The joint grievance committees have hee men to fight for a 100 per cent | Strike, to bring out the maintenance | men, and start a real struggle for the | tridistrict demands, and “were accepting thé progressive miners’ program that insured victory for the miners.» He realize@ that the miners would defeat the coal owners with this program, and in fear for the | welfare of the coal barons’ profits, he deliberately settled and betrayed the miners, Miners of the anthracite, refuse to accept the betrayal. Refuse the five- year sentence to slavery. Fight for the tri-district demands, bring out the maintenance men, make it a 100 per cent strike. Fightefor the 10 per cent and dollar increase, fight for uniform- ity of wage rates. Down with the betrayal. Down with the Lewis treachery. Bituminous miners demand a na- tional strike against the treachery. Demand a national convention and expel Lewis from the organization he has betrayed! Why not? Ask your neighbor to subscribe! already repudiated Lewis and called} BOSSES WEAKEN, LABOR STRONGER (Continued trom page 1) are shoved into a corner in which they feel mighty uncomfortable. The local press tells of a meeting of the East Side Merchants’ Associa- tion at which the members went on record to proceed with a plan to have the strike settled. They give as a reason they are losing much money and that some of them are facing bankruptcy, since the mill slaves have ceased to bring them their weekly pay envelope, An appeal is to be made to the chamber of commerce to help them and the mayor ig, also to be used as an official tool to whip the workers into line, Object to #Outsiders.” This jackrabbit bunch is scared to death about “outsiders” but when were the merchants or the chamber of commerce or the mayor ever on the inside with the workers? they come to their aid when the to the mill baron it was wrong to r the workers below.the line of a bare existence? ' their help, You cannot fool them now. They have been told to organize for their own protection and to look out for themselves, They have chosen a fellow worker to lead them and stir them up and give them advice, but they have not forgotten that all must be leaders and able to take part in the struggle. When one of the police asked the men and women in the replied, “We are all leaders. There are eight thousand of us who are leaders.” The strikers chose Albert Weisbord to be their head and leader. He has accepted this great responsibility. But he has a committee of over a hundred which meets every day or when it is Jover the situation and together with Weisbord adopt such methods as seem to them best. . Afraid of Weisbord. Now come the merchants who tell the strikers that they want to have the strike settled, but make a very insulting statement at the very begin- jing. They stated that Albert Weis- bord, organizer of the united front of textile workers, would not be invited to the conference. In other words, the very man who has been so true to the workers and helped them to get ‘so strong that the 'bosses are now for settlement is to be left out and not allowed to participate in the settlement. Are the bosses afraid that Weis- bord is too much for'them? Are they | afraid that he has too much knowledge jot the situation and knows too much ; about the tricks of ‘the meddlers and the hypocrisy of the bosses? The workers will not let the bosses insult them so boldly and shamelessly as that and get by with it. They will settle with Weisbord as leader of the strike and with the committee and then with all the strikers as a mass, or they will not settle at all. This is the time when the workers themselves will agree upon the settlement. There | will be no secret sessions with the | bosses and no dark and mysterious | compromise. . Must Settle Right. The merchants’ association and the mayor and the chamber of commerce and the bosses and the whole bunch of exploiters will save valuable time if they get wise to that and make up their minds that if they want to settle they will have to settle with the united front committee of textile work- ers includnig Organizer Weisbord and the entire rank and file of the work- ers in every mill affected. This frantic cry for settlement means that the entire city with bosses and businessmen alike feel the crush- ing power of the workers when they are united. The textile workers will go back only when their demands are granted in an open and definite Way, and all that is needed to accomplish this is a continuance of the strike as it has been carried on till now. On the Firing Line Passaic Girp Striker Seized by Po Did | bosses cut their wages? Did they g0} nd tell them that | duce the income of | The workers know who has come to, picket line who their leader was he| necessary and this committee goes) “MINERS LOSE!” * * | flict. trustworthy ally. ite dustry in the anthracite field. real solution of its own. truce.” workers. coal owners. Anthracite Coal Miners: Must Gather the Bitter Fruits of Experience By J. LOUIS ENGDAHL. hy ee employers’ press generally is very much satisfied with the surrender of President John L. Lewis, of the mine workers, to the mine owners. openly. That would be in bad taste and would have no good effect on the sorely tried tempers of the coaldiggers. The Chicago Journal, when the first news came over the wires, did issue an edition that carried the headline, But most capitalist editors are too clever and self-composed to allow their feelings to get the better of them in such an inexcusable way. They do hot exalt about it | It is much more laudable to scold both sides to the con- | This will do no harm to the mine owners, who have the whole power of an entrenched and arrogant capitalist | system supporting them. It does bear heavily upon the mine workers. They have no press, with tens of millions of daily circulation, to espouse their cause. Their own Mine Work- | ers’ Journal is edited in careful compliance with the class | collaborationist viewpoint of the labor bureaucracy. In this dilemma the miners have only the Communist press as their The New York World claims to have made the start- ling discovery that the agreement reached on “Black Fri- | day” at Philadelphia was only “A Truce in the Coal War.” It rants very excitedly against the “settlement” that did not bring a lasting solution of the problems faced in the coal in- To be sure, The World has no It favors legislation by congress, and calls upon “the public” to support it, that will prevent another strike when the new contract comes to an end. Since congress is but a part of the mine owners’ capitalist govern- | ment, it is clear to be seen that the New York World does not argue for the mine workers’ interests. Congressional action means compulsory arbitration, supported by the armed forces of the state,—the police, the militia, the regular army—not against the mine owners but against the mine workers. The World now declares: " “The public was told that if it would stand fast and let the strike run its course something like a permanent and constructive remedy could be had. The whole argument for inaction and a hands-off policy by the government and the public was that by waiting bravely and patiently this time it would be possible to do better than a patched up , That means that the mine barons were given free reign in their confident expectations that they could crush the mine Instead of an increasing disintegration in the ranks of the strikers, as the struggle progressed, there was very ap- parent a growing militancy among the mine workers that raised its thundering voice against the Lewis regime bent on surrender, as well as against the anthracite czardom of the & it was in the face of this mounting wrath of the strikers that the coal capitalists and the labor bureaucracy sought a common haven of refuge in Philadelphia and patched up a “truce” that amounted to a sell-out for the:mine workers. The only gain won by the mine strikers comes from the more determined than ever. (Continue from Page 1.) moters as yet. In bringing in the whole state of Missouri on the “ground floor,” at a conference, to talk economy and boost, the bankers and chambers of commerce have shown ability to switch the weather cock around a bit. Farmers Closer to Workers, In recent months, the Missouri Farm Association and Farmers’ Union have shown a tendency to seek a closer relationship, with organized labor. The farmers have been seeking to form a closer association of all the existing | organizations for mutual legislative, industrial and marketing protection from speculating grafters. The farmers have been talking about the high cost of credit, trans- portation and exchange, They have looked favorably on the opening of the Missouri, as a water route to ern and foreign markets. Also ‘the uniting of the selling, buying and financing, thru their farmer associa- tions, including exchange cold storage shipping plants, elevators, stores, banks, and even their own places for entertainment and recreation, Big Business Changes Tactics At first the big business concerns tried to stop this “bolsheyism” by suppression, interfering with shipping facilities and injunctions. Finding that futile, they now seek “economy conferences” with farmers and wage workers’ representatives to talk over the “best interests of all. So far as attending this conference, the farmers and trade union organiza- tions have entered the web prepared for them, How badly they will get entangled remains to be seen. The “ground floor” in steel investments, the “greater Kansas City” dope, the unity of business and producers, and the “me too I'm a farmer,” will be dished out at this conference, Should the farmers and wage work- ers stop for a moment to reflect, they would 6ee that dt js not Kansas City that originates this inspiring economy campaign.” Lage jas City banks are but breach Ean the Interna- tional Bankers’ with head- CONFERENCE TO FLEECE PRODUCERS bitter lessons they learn in the gruelling struggle. If thou- sands of coaldiggers, in this anthracite strike, have learned that they can depend solely upon their own working class power, then all the suffering and misery will not have been in vain. It means that greater preparations will be made for mightier battles. To stop the workers from thinking in that direction is not only the ambition of the kept press and its capitalist master, but of the labor bureaucracy as) well. Against that conspiracy the anthracite coal miners must fight quarters in Wall Street, New York City. Not to Aid—But to Fleece, When we reflect again, practically all our western industries are but branch houses of eastern enterprise. The mail order houses and chain stores dispatch all their accounts to Chicago, the packing houses do like- wise. The machinery that is sold to the farmer comes mostly from the harvester trust with its headquarters in the big eastern centers, Even the farm unions have their main cold storage plants in the east and are building their terminal elevators there, Kansas City is a gathering and service station. The agents of big business sit at the grain, livestock, Produce and dairy gateway to the east market and take toll as the pro- ducers file thru. Even tho the farm- ers ship thru associations, the final terminal is owned by the big business interests and they get the big toll. Economy meetings and conference in Kansas’ City, called by the agents of big business are not called to help you but to fleece you, farmers and union men, The bankers are telling you now that every interest of theirs is depend- ent on you farmers and wage workers and they try to make out that your interest is bettered by their existance and urge “cooperation” with them in building up the “economy” of Missour!, They are frauds in this, for again we say they are but out-post toll collectors for the big bankers and’ merchants of the east and can be no political or industrial kin to you, who produce the wealth of this or any nation, Stay Away From Conference, If you want an example, brother farmer and brother union man of how big business treats those whom it con- quers, go to the filth departments of the packing plants and you will get the extreme degree of their interest in labor of any kind, The only thing they recognize and respect is power and you can establish that far better outside their hotel parlor conferences than you can inside, FASCISTI FAKE STATE BUDGET: BUY UP NEWS Plan New Wars to Hide Nation’s Bankruptcy (Special to The Dally Worker) ROME, Feb. 15—The most alarming news concerning the intended mil- tary ventures of the Mussolini gov- ernment are being whispered about in various authentic quarters, Despite the assertions made by Count Volpi, of the Italian debt mis- sion to the United States, that Italy had reduced it military and naval forces, the chamber of deputies has authorized a vast increase in the standing army. It is the current be- lief that Mussolint’s fiery declarations concerning the possibility of serious trouble with Germany in South Tyrol is a maneuver to conceal his real purposes in the Near-Hast. The understanding arrived at some time ago with England pledges Italy to back the British in their possession of Mosul. Just what this country gets in return has not been revealed but it is doubtless an opportunity to expand in Asia Minor, a historic Italian am- bition, Fasolsts Fake Budget Balance. That Italy is headed straight for bankruptcy is evident from the fact that its politicians, like those of France when confronted with a simi- lar situation, have fraudulently “padd- ed” out its budget in order to make that appear balanced. The Banca Commerciale, which is the financial power here behind the dictator, has a tremendous deficit in its accounts, | were they correctly audited. This im- pending crash, Mussolini hopes, could be charged up to the war if he suc- ceeds in thus diverting public atten- tion, Incidentally, facts are coming out about Count Volpi showing him as a financial adventurer of the worst type. One of the members on a peace com- mission with him committed suicide, rather than face the revelation of crookedness and doubledealing con- nected with the delegation. As a re- sult of the assistance which Volpi se- cured from prominent American f- nanciers on his visit to the United States, a number of them were given titles of nobility and official decora- tions, Others will be similarly recog- Buying Up the Prefs. Emulating the example of England, which prior to the United States’ en- try into the world war, bought up a large number of the most influential American newspapers, the Mussolini government is following the same method with regard to the press in France, England, and the Italian press in America. This is to secure inter- national support when the hour comes for the little Caesar on the Capitoline to unsheathe the sword. You do the job twice as well— when you distribute a bundle of The DAILY WORKER with your story in it. MOVIES OF RUSS COLONY. WILL BE SHOWN HERE SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21 Moving pictures ‘of the Russian colony will be shown together with the famous Russian comedy “The Miracle of Sol Ivan,” Sunday, Feb. 21, at Wash’s Hall, cor, Mil- waukee and Noble St., at the per- formance concert and dance given by the Federation of Russian Chil- dren's Schools of Chicago and vicini- ty. The pictures of the colony were taken this summer at the picnic of the federation, where all Russian ta- bor organizations were represented. Beginning at 4 p. m. Tickets in advance 50c., at the door 60c, — Ready— No. 6 the Little Red Library MARX AND ENGELS REVOLUTION IN AMERICA By Heinz Neuman More than fifty years ago the minds who first formu- ed Communist principles— also foresaw the development of American Labor, ) The first American publica: tion of this invaluable historical material in the Little Red Lib- rary, brings with it the added advantage of its preparation being made by one of today's leading figures in the” revolu- tionary movement of Germany. Ready Soon— No. 7—The Damned Agi- tator and Other Stories by Michael Gold. 10 Cents Each Twelve Coples for One Dollar, l