The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 17, 1926, Page 5

a 1000 WOR! LEWIS HENCHMEN FEAR TO BATTLE COAL OPERATORS Agreements Broken, But Clique Does Nothing By a Worker Correspondent BENTLEYVILLE, Pa., Feb. 15—Go- ing thru the various newspapers of both the capitalist class and’ the working class, I am almost ashamed to say that I am a union miner, on ac- count, of the weakness in our fight against the coal operators, I live in sub-district 3 of District 5, United Mine Workers. of America which is the center:of the fight between the coal operators and the miners’ union. The: coal operators started their of- fensive. on the miners here in May, 1925 by shutting down the mines and driying the miners to starvation and into the. open shop mines that sur- round this, district. Work on 1917 Scale. After the mines had been shut down six months a notice was posted telling the miners they could go back to work if they were willing to work on the 1917 scale. The notice also stated that those who refuse to work under these conditions must vacate the company houses. Many of the miners moved out of these houses as they refused to work under the open shop conditions. In place of the min- ers that moved out the company im- ported scabs from other parts of the state to work in the mines. At: present there are two mines working—one at Marianna, Pa., and the other at Cokeburg. Pa. The bosses are also preparing to open the Ellsworth mines No. 1 and 2: The operators are building a seven foot fence around every mine’so that: the scabs will be able to work without “in- terference” by the union) miners. These mines are owned by the Bethle- hem Steel corporation: . ‘This. com- pany signed a three year agreement with the union, but did not’ keep their agreement one year. The Pittsburgh Coal company is an- other that has broken its-agreement and is working five mines on the open- shop 1917 wage scale basis... Eyery day more and more coal is.’ being Joaded and nothing is done by the union officials to prevent it. Machine Mass Meetings. Mass meetings are held every so often in the district to keep the union miners from returning to work. These meetings are held in, such a manner that they do more harm than good. The meetings are opéned with @ prayer that god should help the miners win, then the pay-roll gang cracks a few jokes about the scabs bankrupting the treasury~of Charles Schwab and his corporation and then they pat each other on the back and tell the miners that John. Bb. Lewis is the greatest labor leader. in the world. The meeting is closed with three half- hearted cheers for the pay-roll gang, with the pay-rollers doing most of the yelling. No questions are permitted. A few miners that had the nerve to ask any questions were rushed out of the hall so quickly that they did not know what had happened to them. After every meeting there would be a num- ber of miners tliat would go to work in these open shop mines. How long can our union function as a real union with John L. Lewis think- ing more of the coal operators than of the starving miners and their wives and children? He is so worried about being a “good fellow” with the operators that he refuses to call a general strike of the coal miners and force the operators to enforce union conditions, A Fight Five-year Agreement! When John L, Lewis signed the five- year agreement with the coal operat- ors, é signed the death certificaté for this district. “The pen is mightier than the sword,” provided you know how to’use it. “Come down and learn how in the worker correspondent's classes, & p. : DONT LEAVE OUT YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS WHEN SENDING IN YOUR ARTICLE Due to the volume of Worker cor respondence that comes to our office every day and the necessity often to ask for more detailed information and send suggestions and instruc- tions, we make the following request from our Worker Correspondents: At the top of each page of your manuscript, in the right hand cor- ner, write in plain hand, if you do not use typewriter, your name, ad- dress and date. At the end of your manuscript add a note stating whether you wish your mikme to be used and any other instructions re- garding the signing of your article. This is very important and fall ure to observe these rules may be responsible for your article not get ting into the paper, \ ‘ bi "eh big crooks, was. "6 advice ‘tothe! police in ing a prisoner This Week’s Prizes! Send in a story—make it short, give the facts, and a prize may be yours! No, 1—First prize will be a new book now on the press: “The Awakening of China,” by James H. Dolsen. A beautiful edition of an unusual book. No, 2—“Bars and Shadows,” by Ralph Chaplin, as a second prize of a book of beautiful working class poems written in Fort Leaven- worth prison, No, 3—Makes an attractive third prize: “The Russell-Scott Nearing Debate” on the Soviet form of government, Write---Rush---Order a Bundle of the issue in which your story appears! YOU'LL GET PIE IN THE SKY WHEN YOU DIE BUT ONLY 40 CENTS AN HOUR WHILE YOU TOIL ON EARTH By ANDY, Worker Correspondent. EAST PITTSBURGH, Pa., Feb. 15.—James is one of the many laborers that toll day in and day out at the Westinghouse plant. example of miracles as boss-advocated religion has ever made: He is as fine an You often hear that bosses want workers with strong backs and weak minds. In this case the boss got more than he requested. James has a strong back and no brains. . As soon as the whistle. blows you'll find loyal James “doing what is right”—sweeping, cleaning chips, handling and lifting heavy castings .and every other thing that the boss or-+— ders him to do. James has not much to say. He does not know much and, as he says, he does not want to know anything —taking the old saying, “Ignorance is bliss” as his motto. He is very re ligious, which is the cause of all his dumbness. The other day he was lifting some heavy castings that I had to a ma- chine and as I noticed the effects of heavy lifting, I asked: “Is it heavy, James?” “T'll say it is! Gosh my back hurts terrible,” he said. “Take it easy, James, you'll, break your neck.” Then with a gloomy expression he goes on to say: . “I have to work hard to keep my job, I have a wife and children to sup- port.” i “How much do you get now?” “Forty. cents an hour—$19:20- per week. My wife is a good woman, She economizes and we get along séme- how.” 5 “The company aaakes | millidiis—in) fact, over one hundred million dol- lars annually—by. robbing you. .an me_and, the, rest. of those that. wor for it. Don’t you think we workers ought to organize in heaven.” - It is hard to get fanatics like James to do anything else but toil hard and fatten the capitalists and their lack- eys—the priests, preachers and rab- bis. Religion has made a good slave out of millions of workers, but the ¢on- stant agitation of the Communists will help wim them over and then the bosses’ slogan of “getting pie ‘in the sky when you die” will be. chdng- ed to getting all the pie before we die, Ohio Police Arrest Greeks as Bolshevists (By A Worker Correspondent.) WARREN, Ohio, Feb, 15— Three Greek workers, who were soliciting for the Greek Communist paper, Em- pros, and distributing Workers Party literature, were arrested, charged with violating a city ordinance which prohibits handing out advertising matter on the streets. After being held two days in jail, they have been released. These arrests come right after the organization of a local manufacturers’ association, formed to put down the rising militancy among the_ steel workers. The three men were really suspected of being Bolsheviks, as came out in their éxamination before the mayor and the chief of police. Both these officials were violent in their denunciation of the “Reds,” They informed the three — prisoners that there were many Bolsheviks in the city. They said the “Reds” aimed to put the Red Flag on the’ city hall. The chief thrust out his chest as he declared loudly that he and ‘his police force intended to suppress any such revolution. A stool pigeon belonging to the Greek-American progressive as- sociation, a fascist organization back- ed by the 100 per cent Greek patriots, had followed the three men around and pointed them out to the officers. Ohio Judge Charges Police Bring in Crooks By Worker Correspondent, YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio, Feb. 15—Po- lice Judge Hefferman threw a bomb shell into the ranks of the super law- enforcers when he charged from the bench that the police were bringing in petty crooks and allowing. the big crooks to escape to Europe. Heffer- man stated that to steal a million and go to Europe was povcrime but to steal a lead pencil or get\caught shoot- ing dice was a. crimé\in the eyes “the® police. get the charged with petty larceny, ABKORS’ ACTIVE ALL OVER RUSSIA, CONFERENCE SHOWS By WILLIAM F. KRUSE, MOSCOW, U. S. S. R., (By Mail.) —Every issue of the daily press in Russia contains many columns of material supplied by the “Rabkors” or Worker Correspondents from the shops, mines, offices, my units and rural villag- es. This work is now being extend- ed in the form of regular exchange of correspondence between similar worker | reporters in the various countries in the west and those of the Soviet Union. All over Russia, even in the most distant parts, this: network of in- formation sources, direct from the very heart of the proletariat, is be- ng extended. A _ conference of orkers correspondent: of the wepapers in Central Asia has just ‘hn concluded. The conference “Swed that during the Jast. year the number of “Rabkors” had in- creased more than three-fold, i. e., from 400 to 1300 and the amount of space devoted to material sup- plied by worker correspondents had increased also more than three fold. Dyehouse Workers Get Small Wages; Must Work in Vile Smells By a Worker Correspondent. NEW YORK, Feb, 15—A certain bleach and dye house in the Bronx pays its workers a miserable $4 a day for 8% hours work. Many of the workers have families; to support them they are forced to do outside work, if they are lucky enuf to get it. Small Wages. The firm pays 38 cents an hour and 5 cents attendance bonus for skilled workers. If a worker is over half an hour behind the required attendance —for any reason whatever—he loses his bonus with the result that his envelope will be $2.50 short, The wages of women workers are lower than those of men workers. They range from 25 to 30 cents an hour, There are about 20 girls work- ing in the place. Some of them are married, and together with their hus- bands, they must slave away to make ends meet, Menace to Health. Conditions in the dyeing depart- ment are very injurious to the health of the workers. Most of the time the department is filled with dense smoke from the boiling dyes, and a vile smell permeates the entire room. There is a toilet in each depart- ment. These conveniences are the size of a monkey cage, and badly need a plumber and someone to clean them up. Safety First Propaganda, A great safety first propaganda is continually carried on by the bosses. The walls are plastered with illustra- tions on how to avoid accidents, but not a single card is posted illustrat- ing how a man can support himself and his family on $25 a week, A safety first moving picture was recently shown in the lunch room, during the lunch hour: the workers were forced to see it on their own time! A speaker told the assembled workers that the “carelessness of the workers is responsible for the death of 20,000 out of the 35,000 who die every year” of industrial accidents, ay $8 for Job, Workers who get.this job thru an agency are forged to pay $8 for the privilege, One worker I know of can- not get a job"heré' merely because he can’t afford to piy'the agency. He worked at thia*“pidts’ before. One worker, recently injured, has to drag truck-loade ¥ clothes with one hand. ig a THE DAJ LY WORKER Page Five Labor Is Mighty—If It Is Conscious of Its Power. Their annual cash dividends are at the rate of 21 per cent on the original investment. Bread Trust Profits. Ward Baking; Corp. appears with a 1925 profit of $4,203,143 after heavy deductions for interest, depreciation and taxes. After payment of 7 per cent dividends on the preferred stock this means a return of $10.18 a share on the no par ¢lass A common stock and $2.18 a share of the class B com- mon, neither of which represent any real investment whatsoever. On the preferred stock which represents all the money put into the business the return is over 13 per cent. Cushman’s , another important baking pam ner @ profit of $1,- 275,763. After deducting for depreci- ation, federal taxes, etc. this gives the common ‘Stockholders $5.14 a share. As each share is rated at $5 in the company's balance sheet this means a profit of over 100 per cent. Cocoa-Cola Huge Profits. Cocoa-Cola hardly rates as a food but it is generally grouped with the food corporations. Its 1925 profit of $9,020,165 gave common stockholders a return of $14.47 a share. As the shares are valyed in the company’s balance sheet at $30 this means a re- turn of more than 48 per cent on the stockholders’ investment, - Cluett, Peabody & Co., with an an- nual “production of 12,000,000 dozen collars and 500,000 dozen shirts, made @ profit of $2,242,699 in 1925. This is a return of $8.58 a share or over 17 ber cent of the $50 par value com- mon stock. Endicott-Johnston Corp., with an average daily output of 125,000 pairs of shoes, reports a 1925 profit of $6,- 874,729, equivalent after all deduc- tions io $8.47 a share on the $50 par common stock. Taking into account recent stock dividends of 10 per cent and 20 per cent the 1925 profits mean a return of over 22 per cent. Safety razors have proved a midas touch to the owners of Gillette Safety Razor Co. In 1925 shavers turned over to this company a profit toll of $12,089,857 representing a return of $6.04 a share on the 2,000,000 shares of common stock...As these common shares do not represent a real invest- ment of more than $10 a share this means a return of more than 60 per cent. Gillette is tirning out upwards of 10,000,000 ragors and 50,000,000 packets of razor blades a year. Can Trust Has Big Rake-Off. American Can (o., the trust which gets its rake-off oh the increasing use of can goods, re) a 1925 profit of $16,390,036 after al} deductions for, in- terest, depreciation,and taxes. This is a return of $32,74 @ share of $100 par value, Austrian Delegation in Russ: MOSCOW, U. 8S. 8. R., Feb, 15,—In order to strengthen the trade rela- tions between Austria and the Soviet Union, two representatives of Aus- tria were in Moscow. Otto Deutsh, representing one of the large Vienna banks, Credit Anstalt, and Richard Rosenbacher, the director of the Gen- eral Merchandise Society, were in Moscow for this purpose, They visit- ed the State Bank, the Industrial Bank and the Bank for Foreign Trade, and carried on negotiations for en- larging the trading activities of Sov- let-Austrian Joint Stock Companies. —— “The power of the working class is organization, Without organization of the masses, the proletariat—is noth- ing. Organized—it' is all, Organiza tlon Is unanimity of ‘action, unanimity of practical activities,” FOOD COMBINE REPORTS SHOW EXCESSIVE PROFITS FOR 1925 By LELAND OLDS, Federated Press. Excessive 1925 profits are now being reported by leading corporations. National Biscuit Co. reports a 1925 profit of $13,581,696. turn of $5.78 a share to the holders of common stock. But as each share- holder in 1922 received seven shares of $25 par stock for each share of $100 stock the investors are actually getting a 1925 profit of more than 40 per cent. This means a re- MANY DENVER BANKS BANKRUPT “IN PAST YEAR Six Close Doors in Past Two Months DENVER—(FP)—Feb, 15.—Half of. Denver’s banks have closed their doors in the last two years. In the last’ two months half a dozen have quit. Four Negroes Receive ‘Justice’ a la Arkansas LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Feb. 15 — Four Negroes, charged with the mur- der of James W. Moore, an aged merchant, near Camden last July 18, were electrocuted at the state penitentiary this morning. This is the largest number ever electrocuted in Arkansas. The ceremony lasted only half. an hour and as the authori- ties reported: “Was without inci- dent.” The Negroes died with ironic smiles on their faces, maintaining their innocence to the last. London Talks with N. Y. Via Atlantic Wireless LONDON, Feb. 15 — Entirely suc- cessful telephone conversations by means of the wireless were held last Sunday between the Rugby station here and one on Long Island, New York, according to reports just made public. The Rugby station has been experimenting in wireless telephony over the Atlantic for many months, It is possible that a trans-Atlantic service may be inaugurated soon, Explosion in Powder Plant Injures Worker EAST ALTON, IIL, Feb, 15—One worker was critically injured and win- dows were shattered in Alton, five miles away, by an explosion at the East Alton plant of the Equitable Powder company, The blast is also said to have caused a fire in a farm- house two miles away. FLYING OSSIP STORIES OF NEW RUSSIA Bleven short stories writ- ten since the revolution by the most significant of the new Russian writers—can now be had in a paper edi- tion at only $1.50 (Cloth Bound $2.50) From THE DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO., 1113 W. Washington Blvd., CHICAGO, ILL. Nationalist Struggles Within Serbia Threaten to Overthrow Ministry | BELGRADE, Feb, 15—A_ serious| ministerial crisis is looming up, due to} the nationalist struggle between the Croatian and Serb elements in the conglomerate population of this coun-| try. The conflict has beeen intensi-| fled by the dissatisfaction of the Serb-| jan radicals with the speeches being} made by Stefan Raditch, minister of} education, on his tour of the principal! cities. Radtich was brot into the| cabinet to end this very quarrel which | had ranged on the one side the Serb-| ian central bloc and on the other the Croatian and Solvenian federalists | and the autonomists. The division is growing continually deeper, a great| contrast to the success of the nation-| alist minorities’ policy of the Soviet Union. M. Korosec, Slovenian clerical dep-| uty, created a sensation in parliament by declaring that there were rumors in common circulation of military ac- Foreign Minister Ninchitch, he com- plained, remained silent in the face of tion against Greece in the spring. these assertions, tho at the same time participating in the preparations for the world disarmament conference. U.S, RENEWS ITS ANCIENT TRUST BUSTING FARCE Writ Is Sought Against the Food Combine (Special to The Daily Worker) WASHINGTON, Feb, 15.—The de- partment of justice has applied to the | federal district court in New York for an injunction against the National Food Products Corporation restraining its officials from taking steps to ac- quire majority stock control in a num- ber of nationally known food products’ | companies. A similar suit is pend- ing against the Ward Baking Com- pany. How ineffective such an attack up- on the inevitable process of industrial combination is was most forcibly 1l- lustrated in the case of the dissolution of the oil trust years ago. Shares of the twenty-nine concerns into which the Standard was then divided have since increased enormously in value. Moreover, there is every reason to believe the administration is acting merely for political effect. President Coolidge has repeatedly gone out of his way to assure big business that he favors the. elimination of competi- tion. The threatened monopolization of the food supply of the country, however, has aroused an increasing protest from many sources which have accepted trustification in the basic industries. The administration's action is intended for political effect. That worker next door to you may not have anything to do to- night. Hand him this copy of the DAILY WORKER. CHANG TSOLIN IS WARNED BY SOVIET UNION Imperialists Warned to Keep Hands Off (Special to The Daily Worker) MOSCOW, U.S, S. R., Feb, 15—The Pravda editorially warns Chang Tso Lin and the Russian white guards in his employ, together with the imper- list powers supporting him, chlefly Japan and Great Britain, to beware of presuming too much on the patience of the Soviet Union in his military maneuvers in North China. After affirming the willingness of the Soviet officials to do everything in their power to straighten out the matters in controversy, the editorial concludes with the warning: “That force will be used if necessary to pro- tect Soviet rights and to defend the interests of the Chinese masses against the Manchurian despot. “At present,” the Pravda states, “Chang has not the possibility of car- rying out his plans: the conquest of the whole of China, the destruction of the movement for national freedom, and the unlimited subjugation of China under the dominance of imper- jalism. He is, therefore, attempting with the encouragement of certain for- eign powers to consolidate his influ: ence in Manchuria. Chang Tso Lin has made his first attack upon the Chinese Eastern railway. This maneu- ver alms to exclude the Soviet Unton completely from participation in the administration of this railroad as laid down in existing treaties.” The article goes on to state that Chang T has used every opportunity to block the execution of the agres- ment he himself had signed concern- ing the operatiof of the railway. Chang’s subordinates have command- eered trains and operated them en- tirely regardless of the regular sched- ules. “Locomotive engineers were compelled under threat of immediate execution to drive the trains com- mandeered by the military. Railway officials were compelled under threat of courtmarial not to follow the in- | structions of the railway administra- | tion. A crowd of spies and disguised policemen were set upon the Russian director of the railway administration in order to make the administration of the railway impossible.” The final act of defiance, the article states, was the arrest of the Russian directorand= ~~ * the demand that two new administra- tors, one a Chinese and the other a Russian, should be appointed in his place. The statement winds up with the declaration that the Soviet Union will not tolerate the attempt of a lit- tle reactionary Chinese general to de- stroy the growing friendship of the three great peoples, China, Russia, and Japan and will intervene by force if necessary to protect its rights and those of the Chinese masses, Wipe Your Brow and Rest Yourself The Lenin Drive Is Over But Don’t Lay Down Y our Tools! The Campaign Continues The Daily Worker is a bigger paper today—and stronger. A better spokesman and a stronger weapon in every struggle of the workers in America. Thanks to thousands of loyal thinking workers who have contributed their time and energy and their funds to get new subscriptions. well they did.) (Tomorrow we will tell how BUT—The Campaign Continues To build “Our Daily,” to better serve the working class iS a never ending task that of the year. In this we must must be done in every day have your help. The Daily Worker grows or not—it lives and thrives or it slumps and dies—only on your efforts. The same loyal, hard work ing, fighting workers who \ have built The Daily Worker in this drive will continue building. But they will welcome your help! Put your shoulder to the job. Speak to workers for “Our Daily” —get a sub. Put it on this blank. THE DAILY WORKER, 1113 W. Washington Bivd., Chicago, III, Enclosed § subscription for: for . Name; Street: ... City: ... Rates: Outside of Chicago: Per year .... Six months ... Three months In Chica Per year $8. : Six months Three months months