The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 24, 1926, Page 3

— << s T HE DAILY WORKER Page Three FR ES EET ESET ELIT CE LE Ee OT THIS PAGE ts Devoted to the Activity and Interests of the Trade Union Educational League (T. U, B. 1.) North American Section of the RED INTERNATIONAL OF LABOR UNIONS (R. I, HE T.U.E.L L. U.) Represents the Left Wing of the Labor Movement. its Purpose Is to Strengthen the Labor Unions by Amalgamation of Existing Unions, Organization of the Unorganiz and by Replacing Reactionary and Class Collaboration Policies with a Unified Program for the Transformation of the Unions Into Organs of Revolutionary Class Struggle for the Overthrowal of Capitalism and the Establishment of a Workers’ and Farm: ers’ Government. CHINESE SEAMEN ADOPT MEANS T0 BUILD UP UNION Plan Establishment of Branches in Large Ports CANTON, Feb. 22 — The national convention of the Chinese seamen here decided to carry on an energetic organization campaign. The general headquarters of the union will be either at this city or Hongkong, with ~ pranches in all the Chinese ports, and such leading international ports as London, Singapore, Marseilles, Yoko- homa, etc. Ship committees will be established on all ships. A strong educational propaganda will be conducted. Post-graduate schools, libraries and other recrea- tional associations will be formed. During strikes practical training thru study classes, etc. will be afforded the men while they are idle. The General Union will publish a weekly entitled, Chinese Seamen, Joins R, I, L. U, Committee The urgent need of some plan for cooperation with the transport work- ers of other countries was discussed at length, In omer to control the situation at Hongkong it was decided to form a Land and Water Transport Workers’ Cooperative Union there. Nationally the seamen appeal for a similar scheme of joint action. In- ternationally the Chinese seamen re- cognize their duty to join the Inter national Transport Workers’ Propa- ganda Committee of the Red Interna- tional of Labor Unions, Slum Dwellers of New York Pay for Obolonsky Splendor (Special to The Daily Worker) NEW YORK, Feb. 22 — Prince and Princess Obolonsky have announced their plans to put up a very palatial residence this summer at Rhinebeck, N. Y., where she has just purchased ninety-nine acres of land from her brother, Vincent Astor. The princess is one of the Astor heirs, Where Her Fortune Comes From. Old Colonel John Jacob Astor, the founder of the Astor dynasty, laid the basis of the family’s enormous for- tune by debauching the Indians and robbing them wholesale of their lands and furs, the most valuable article of trade in that day. His heirs held on to the property he thus acquired and as the city grew their income swelled to huge proportions. Some of the most infamous slums in all New York were located on the Astor lands. The princess and her husband re- presents the union of the old dissolute and exhausted scions of the European nobility and the upper strata of our own exploiting class. Losovsky’s International Press Correspondence. In this discussion a number of speakers dealt with the question of the international policy of the Rus- sian unions. Losovsky stressed the fact that unity of the Amsterdam International with the Red International of Labor Unions upon European scale was not the objeot, but the working masses of the colonial and _half-colonial countries who have awakened in the period following the war and who are not affiliated to Amsterdam, but to a great extent to the Red International of Labor Unions to bring these masses into connection with the international working class movement, that was th object. The Amsterdam Federation Trade Unions is not a much broader organization than the nationally lim- ited American Federation of Labor. Losovsky pointed out that whilst it was possible to determine exactly the membership of the Amsterdam Inter- national, this was possible for the Red International of Labor Unions only in connection with the trade unions directly affiliated to it, for apart from these unions the Red International of Labor Unions has over 2,000,000 mem- bers in the minority movement inside Amsterdam, At present a struggle is Pullman Porters Fail to Gain by Company’s Alleged Wage Increases By ESTHER LOWELL. NEW YORK—(FP)—Not , a, single change in the agreement between the Pullman Co, and its company union for porters resulted from the socalled wage conference held to forestall bonafide union organization. among the workers. So reports A, L. Totten from Chicago to Roy Lancaster, both organizers for the independent Broth- erhood of Sleeping Car Porters. The Pullman Co, did offer the porters an 8% increase in the basic wage, now $67,50 per month. But wage arrangements are not written into the company union agreement. The Pullman Co, also changed the hourly mileage basis for excess mile- age payment and succeeded in making the company union delegates think they were getting a further increase. Actually, says Lancaster, the change wipes out any gain the porters might make by the 8% basic wage increase. Two delegates refused to sign the company union agreement despite the prayer sessions with Perry Parker, grand chairman Pullman Porters Benefit Assn.,—another company con- trolled project. Three men signed un- der protest. The brotnerhood urged the delegates to fight for $155 per month basic pay; 240 hours maximum regular work; conductor's pay for conductor’s work; time-and-a-half for overtime; pay for porters reporting for duty whether sent out or not; elimination of Filipinos put on club cars as a threat to the real union; right of porters and maids to join a union without discrimination by the company. Seventeen .of the company. anion delegates were recommended by:com- pany agents. Most of the delegates represented districts with few port- ers. The conference had to be post- poned for lack of a quorum and met with 6 delegates missing. Only minor company officials represented the Pullman Co. General organizer Randolph is trav- elling westward from St, Paul to the Pacific coast, holding union meet- ings, Organizer W. H. DesVerney re- ports remarkable progress in southern districts. Union meetings and wo- men’s auxiliaries are booming in Boston and Washington, D. C. Florida Plumbers Aid Anthracite Coaldiggers PALMETTO, Fla,, Feb. 22 — The Bradenton and Sarasota Local of the plumbers’ union took up a collection for the aid of the striking miners at their meeting. Each member present gave $5 and the sum of $220 was for- warded to the strikers. Besides that clothes are being collected and sent to the miners’ families. Is the shop where you work a union shop? Do they follow up the union rules? If not, why not? Write it up. Speech on Trade Union Work| Tomsky’s Reply to ing masses, for the Amsterdamers un- derstood that the unity of these mass- es with the Red International of Labor Unions would seriously damage their national imperialisms, : The workers’ delegations. to the Soviet Union signify a strengthening of the left wing in the Amsterdam trade unions, apart from the minority movements and the Anglo-Russian unity committee which represents a great political and in the future also organizational blow for Amsterdam. These are proofs that the strength of the reformist leadership of Amster- dam ig being ever more and more un- The English bourgeois press was correct when it declared in connection with the last session of the Amster- dam council, the Amsterdam demand- ed capitulation from the Russian un- fons, The latter would be a capitula- tion not only of the Russian unions, but of the whole Soviet Union before international reformism. It would mean the isolation of the Russian un- fons from the other revolutionary fore- TRADES UNION CONGRESS GETS WARWICK HOME British Labor F aces Ed- ucational Problem (Special to The Daily Worker) LONDON, Feb, 22—The trades un- | ion congress has officially accepted the offer of the Countess of Warwick, whose socialist views have made her internationally famous, to turn over her lodge in Essex to the labor party for use as an international labor uni- versity. A difficult problem must be solved, however, if the grant is to be most successful. This is to perfect some scheme under which the various educational movements among the workers may be coordinated and the present conflicts obviated. All these groups agreed this year to a minimum of joint action under the leadership of the trades union con- gress. There are three main tenden- cies expressing themselves organiza- tionally in the fleld of working class education. The oldest of these is the workers’ educational association, The association cooperates with all exist- ing educational agencies. While most of those attending its classes are members of the cooperatives and the unions, it does not restrict the entry of outsiders. It accepts subsidies from universities or other public bodies but claims that there are no restrictions on the entire freedom of opinion and expression of its students and teach- ers. General cultural education and technical preparation for specific tasks are its objects, Objects of Ruskin. Ruskin College, founded in 1899 by Walter Vrooman and his wife, both Americans, and a radical group of unionists, particularly aims to fit Working men and women to function effectively in the labor movement. It emphasizes the social studies, economics and political science, with a background of history, literature, and psychology to round out the in- dividual. Most of its students are sent by unions which select the appli- cant by a competitive test and pay his expenses while attending. The governing body of the college is a council made up of representa- tives of the trades union congress, the federation of trades unions, the co- operative union, the workingmen’s club, the institute union, together with delegates from the supporting unions. The college has no connection with Ruskin university, The Labor College. The labor college, known formerly as the central labor college, is a split off from Ruskin college. In 1909 a group of its students, under the leader- ship of Dennis Herd, founded the central labor college in order to have economic courses based on Marxian principles. First started in Oxford, it was later transferred to London where it is now functioning. The propaganda work which lay the foun- dation for the labor college move- ment was conducted by the Plebs league, thru its monthly magazine, es, the destruction of the united front inside the revolutionary wing of the working class movement and a poli- tical connection een the Russian unions and the titutions of the league of nations. — The Plebs. At present the movement has spread so widely that a national council supervises classes conducted in_all parts of the country, The labor college is owned and con- trolled by the National Union of Railwaymen and the South Wales Miners’ Federation, An effort is being made at present to transfer the insti- tution to the trades union congress. Class Vs. Liberal Standpoint. The conflict comes in the fact that the Workers’ Educational Association and the labor college movement, the larger and more influential of the groups, approach the problem of work- ing class education from a fundamen- tally different angle, The former is for a general: cultural training; the latter is unreservedly for a strictly Marxian ions would go in their negotiations with Amsterdam. In gur relations with the English trade unions, concessions are permis- sible, but towards Amsterdam our policy must be exactly determined. The negotiations with Amsterdam can and may in no case lead to an affilia- tion with Amsterdam for this would not only mean splitting the Red Inter- national of Labor Unions but in many’ countries also the weakening of the Communist Parties. Affiliation to Am- sterdam would mean a strengthening of our opponents and a weakening and disruption in our own ranks. Losovsky formulated the task of the International trade union policy ag fol- low: “+ 1, The gradual enlargement of the Anglo-Russian committee and the drawing in of ever more organizations, 2. To consolidate the Red Interna- tional Union ever more firmly and to connect its affiliated organizations ever more closely with it. 8. To establish a direct connection thru the Red International of Labor Unions with the trade union move- ments, the struggle for the creation of a united International thru the call- ing of an international unity congress where the organizations of Amster dam and the Red International of La- bor Unions and organizations affiliat- | ed to neither, shall be represented. ‘The next epeaker Riasanoy deolar- ) | German Unemployed Grow Despite Dawes (Special to {The Daily Worker) BERLIN, Feb. 22—Despite all the lurid promises of 4 prosperity which was to be brought! by the Dawes plan to Germany the industrial crisis grows More and more severe. Many firms are cutting their forces to the bare minimum, The Ruhr district is in the worst missed 3,000 men lately. BIG PROFITS INGRAGKERS AND COCA-COLA By LELAND OLDS, Federated Press. | Excessive 1925 profits reported by | leading corporations reflect the toll} exacted from consumers on every item of the family budget. National Biscuit Co. reports a 1925 profit of $13,581,696. This means a holder in 1922 received 7 shares of $25 par stock for each share of $100 stock, the investors are actually get- ting a 1925 profit of more than 40 per cent. Their annual cash dividends are at the rate of,21 per cent on the original investment. Ward Baking Corp. appears with a 1925 profit of $4,203,143 after heavy deductions for interest, depreciation this means a return of $10.18 a share on the no-par class A common stock real investment. On the preferred stock which represents all the money {put into the business the return is over 13 per cent. Coca-Cola’s 1925 profit of $9,920,- 165 gave common stockholders a re- turn of $14.47 a share. As the shares are valued in the company’s balance sheet at $30 this; means more than 48 per cent on the:stockholders’ invest- ment. 4 Cluett, Peabody -& Co., with an an- nual production of 12,000,000 dozen collars and 500,000,dozen shirts, made a profit of $2,242,699 in 1925. This is a return of $8.58 a share or over 17 per cent on the $59 par value common stock. Endicott-Johnson Corp., with an average daily,.output of 125,000 pairs of shoes, geports a 1925 profit of $6,374,729, equyvalent after all de- |ductions to $8.47! share on the $50 par. common Taking into ac- count recent i dividends of 10 per cent and 20 cent the 1925 pro- fits mean a yn of over 22 per cent, oFte, The Gillette fety Razor Co. in 1925 took a profif toll of $12,089,857 representing a return of $6.04 a share on the 2,000,000 shares of common stock. As these not represent a real investment of more than $10 a share this means a return of more tian 60 per cent. Gil- lette is turning out upwards of 10,000,- 000 razors and 50,000,000 packets of razor blades a yéar, interpretation of all social phenomena, with the avowed object of turning out revolutionary class fighters. The problem of reconciling these stand- points is difficult. In case of such an effort proving unavailing, the trades union congress is from all present ap- pearances more likely to select the labor college movement as that to be housed in the countess’ magnificent lodge. . 30 WORKERS HURT PERTH AMBOY, N. J.—(FP)— Thirty workers were hurt when an explosion of chemicals wrecked the embalming fluid plant 2 of Roessler & Hasslacher Chemical Co. ed himself in complete agreement with the remarks of Tomsky on the international trade. union policy, and said that the basie principles laid down by Tomsky represented the best way to establish a united front, and to bring about the collapse of the sec- ond and the Amsterdam. internation- als. (Applause.) Glabov-Abilov (Leningrad) argued against Tomsky and declared that the affiliation of the Russian unions to Amsterdam would be a blow for the Red International of Labor Unions, for cent dividends on the preferred stock | mmon shares do|ter to warm myself for a minute. CLEVELAND GAP MAKERS CARRY ON UNION DRIVE Attempt to Organize Non-Union Shops pay. The shops are badly lighted and often unsanitary and as in all non- union places, the workers are at the mercy of the boss. It is no easy matter fo reach these workers in order to get them to join the union, You can’t speak to them in the shop. They are afraid and the vent the union members from reach- ing them. When they leave the shop they make straight for their homes and are so suspicious that they won't give a fellow worker the chance to speak to them, as they already guess that they are going to be asked to join the union. Fears to Join Union. The first girl we approached was a return of $5,78 a share to the holders |Polish girl living in a tumbledown, of common stock, But as each share- |OUt-of-the-way district—the only wage earner in a poverty stricken family. Her first words were: ‘I’m entire- ly satisfied with my job.” But upon questioning her, we dis- covered the well-nigh destitute condi- ‘tion of the family and that she actual- ly did not know what a union was for. We explained to her the advan- tages of belonging to a union. “But,” she said, “the boss would and taxes. After payment of 7 per | throw me out if he thot I would join| produced in China on the world mar- |the union.” She was afraid to ven- |ture any opinion or to make any prom- jise. In her desire to hold the job, and $2.18 a share on the class B com-|ll we could get from her was a hazy| beginning of a campaign to reduce the | mon, neither of which represent any |Promise that if all the other girls| standard of living of the Passaic tex- |should walk out, she would not scab against them. Will Stick By His Class. The second case was that of a man |who had been working 10 years in the |same factory for $30. He believed |the union was a good thing and was, | willing to do his share. He had four children, he said, and had to be care- jtul. He gave a definite promise that if we could get the rest of his shop, or the majority of his shop, he would \stick to his class. Another case is one which we find Jall too often in the America of petty- bourgeois ideology. This girl met me at the door of a pretty little house which her parents had just built and were trying to pay off. “If you're from the union,” she jsaid, “I don’t want to have anything \to do with you. I don’t want to know janything about..it.. There’s no use of talking to me.” Then she tried to close the door, “Not just a word?” I said. “Nothing doing,” she answered. “Good-by.” As the temperature was below zero and she lived in an out-of-the-way sort of a place, I asked her if I might en- She consented and I went inside and stood near the heat register. Little by little I edged in my conversation toward the union so that inside of a few min- ideology of this young girl was too which she had for the present and her little home, which she also had for the present. She said, “I’m not interfering with the other girls, and I don’t want them to interfere with me.” Would Not Scab. She reluctantly said, at parting, that in case there should be an organiza- tion in her shop she didn’t think she'd like to hold out against the others in the event of a strike. It wag like pulling teeth to get that much from her. Get your tickets now for the Inter- national concert of the T. U. E. L., Sat., March 13, at 8th St, Theater. (International Press Correspondence) In his closing speech Tomsky point- ed out the very obvious contradic- tions in the remarks of Losoysky in connection with international trade union questions, On the one hand Losovsky stressed the fact that left tendencies inside Amsterdam were on the increase, and on the other hand he demanded that we keep away from Amsterdam, The Russian trade unions have de- the Comintern and for the revolution- clared from an international platform ary trade union minorities. The policy towards the English trade un- fons is correct, but a direct affiliation with Amsterdam is simply out of the question. Trade Union Educational League International Concert SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 8 P. M. Eighth Street Theatre. Best Musical and Vocal Talent. Cickets for sale at T, U. B. L, office, 156 W. Washington St.; DAILY WORKER, 1113 .W, Washington Blvd.; Worker's House, 1902 W. Division St. and by all members of the T. U. B. L.- Get Your Tickets Now! that they stand for the unity of the international trade union movement, and the international working class is listening to the voice of the Russian unions, Tomsky pointed to the pernic- fousness of an attempt to steer to- wards a split under the cover of the slogan for unity and at the same time to imagine that no one will notice it, The working class will very quickly find out the falseness and dishonesty of such a policy, Apply Self to World Unity, We must either carry out agita- tional maneuvers as this was done earlier, or we must occupy ourselves earnestly with the problem of unity. In its time the policy which was ex- clusively directed to the exposure of the Amsterdamers, was correct, Today the calling of a world unity We the most agreeable and [boon logical aupporiers inside tbe tsado | boss is always on the lookout to pre-| utes we were talking organization for | ;all it was worth. But the bourgeois strong. All she wanted wags her job, | One of the most important features aspect, ers who have revolted against the into! by the textile barons, -Not only thru brot the strikers face to face with the clear to the workers thru their experie: re REE Sdaitbed er ane 2 CLEVELAND, Feb. 22.—The unor- | battles and are coming to the political their employes, the number drop- |ganized capmakers of Cleveland eure lbeen supplemented by the daily mass ping from 42,000. to 20,000, Most of |{f0m $18 to $18 a week. They have|_otings where the strikers gather in these are working only a few days a 0 AS hour week, the ordinary scale many halls to listen to the reports of week. The Thyssen mines have dis-|{" Overtime and sometimes only halt |, oc ess of the strike, the inter- pretation of the propaganda of the |bourgeois press, what is the next step. jand what is expected of them in the |way of picketing and the strengthen- \ing of the battle front in general, Mass Meetings Daily. At these meetings the strikers daily | listen to speakers from the different unions and trade nd the topics vary from day to day altho always they are connected up with the strike. Thru these meetings the workers become acquainted with the life, conditions and problems of the workers of, other | industries and learn to know the| value of building up a powerful union | in their industry. The strikers also | |learn not only that they have interests in common with the workers of the rest of the country but with the work- | ers of the entire world as well. The following is an example of how | the workers receive their education | thru the meetings. The conditions of the workers in the textile mills of | China are compared with the condi-| tions in Passaic and this is brot to- gether with the competition of the American textiles with the textiles | |ket. Then the conclusion that the wage cut that the Passaic workers |suffered in October 1925 was only the tile workers to the level of the Chin- ese textile workers. And it is only the militancy and organization of the workers that can stop this tendency to reduce the standard of living. The struggle for, the maintenance of the present standard of the textile work- ers of Passaic inevitably leads to a revolutionary struggle because it is directed against the foundations: of capitalism, for under the present period of world imperialism with its colonial investments, capitalism must not only exploit the workers in the colonial countries but must lower the | standard of living in the home country | in order to maintain itself. Revolutionary Singing. Another very important aspect of these meetings is the mass singing of revolutionary songs, such as “Hold \the. Fort For. We. Are-Coming"~and others with the words composed by some of the strikers dealing with dif- ferent phases of the strike, This mass singing is a daily feature, At the meetings the workers learn the hew songs and then they sing them the next morning on the picket line, The bosses are filled with fear every time the strikers march by the factory gates singing “Hold the Fort For We Are Coming.” Particularly worthy of mention is the militancy of the women strikers. They are in the forefront of the picket line and they learn the songs faster than the men. Special mention must also be made of the militancy of the young workers. In fact almost all of | |the leaders of the mill councils are under 30, many of them 25 and younger. The Passaic textile strike is the be- ginning of the revolt of the million textile workers in the United States. The strikers by their militancy, their splendid discipline and enthusiasm, | their determination not only to resist the wage cuts of last October but to fight for an increase have taken the leaderhip in the organization of the | textile workers in the United States. The strikers are being schooled in this strike by starvation and police- men’s clubs. They learn to know by experience the most advantageous solution . for, us, but one must not become too. en- thusiastic about it. In such great questions one should not bind oneself. If, for instance, the previous party congress of the Russian Communist Party had decided that the Russian trade unions should take up no con- nections with other trade unions, then the Anglo-Russian committee, the ac- tivity of which has been generally ap- proved in the Russian unions, would have been impossible. Consider Internationa] Situation, Whoever is able to think dialectic ally, and does not permit himself to be intimidated by left praises, should consider the international situation carefully, the resistance of forces, the number of actual members here and there, and weigh up objectively the possibility of an affiliation to the Am- sterdam International. The party con- gress should not and cannot simply declare that the Russian unions will never under any circumstances affiili- ate with Amsterdam. Bolsheviks do not act in this way. If the interests of the working class and the working class revolution ever demand it, we shall enter into any sort of organization with the devil or with the pope. (Applause) For the PASSAIC STRIKE REVOLUTIONARY SCHOOL FOR TEXTILE WORKERS By JACK STACHEL. of the Passaic strike is its educational The strike is a schooling in revolution for the thousands of work- lerable conditions imposed upon them the genera] strike activity which has forces of present day society making nces with the employers and the gov- ernment as a strike-breaker, have the workers learned how to carry on their consciousness as a class, but this has CARMEN SHOULD TAKE STOCK OF HOW THEY SLAVE Organization Is the Only Remedy By P. N. Worker Correspondent. LOS ANGELES, Feb. 22—It would be well for the Los Angeles carmen to take stock of their working condi- tions. Our hours ruin our health. It is a common thing to work twelve hours in one day, and on split shifts. Holi- days don’t mean a thing to us, for we usually have to work. Many of us have to catch our meals on the fly as we don’t get time off for meals. It ia @ common thing for us to nibble our food while on the go, or at the end of the line when we have a few minutes. The wages we get are a crime and an insult. The one man cars give us plenty of grief. And what is our share of the millions of dollars’ profit the company makes each year? They start us at 51 cents an hour and if we worked for the company until hell froze over we would not get more than 57 cents an hour. The two man cara are just as bad with 49 cents an hour to start, and 55 cents an hour the most we can make. Most of us are disgusted with our conditions, with men quitting all the time. / What Is to Be Done? We must organize. If the 2,500 of us would speak as one man thru or- ganization it would not take us long to better our conditions. As an or- ganized body the company would have to listen to our demands. United we are powerful as individuals we would be laughed at, or else fired for trying to better our conditions. Wherever the workers are organ- ized the conditions are much better, Some cities are getting as high as 80 cents an hour, and time and a half after efght hours> We can do the same, if organized. Demand more pay, better hours, and the right to organ- ize. Writer’s Note—Los Angeles car men, if you live in Los Angeles mark up the copy you are reading and place into hands of some carman, “The trade unions remain and will remain for a long time a preparatory school for the training of the prole- tariat.”—Lenin. that the government—local, state and national—is the government of the bosses against the workers. Thru the mass meetings, the mass singing and the experience gained by the strikers they are being prepared for their task as the vanguard of the million textile workers of the country, Out of this strike must come a revolt of the tex+ tile slaves of the rest of the country, that will finally result in the organiza. tion of the million textile workers in- to a powerful union of textile work- ers, The worker of all industries thruout the country must come to the assist- ance of the Passaic strikers, All workers’ organizations must help win this strike. The winning of this strike is the concern of every unorganized and organized worker of the country, Losovsky union movement in all countries, thé task consists in carrying out the unity of the international working class movement, but not in such an isolated manner as is for instance the case in France where the. reformist unions agree with the idea of unity but where @ mutual language for discussion with the French Communists and the sup porters of the Red International of Labor Unions cannot be found, It often seems to me and to other members of the trade union council who have been abroad that in the matter of conquering the reformist unions we proceed in a somewhat op- eratic manner: We sing: “We are going, going, going” but nevertheless we stay exactly where we were, Decides Opposition, When Losovsk, who represents the interests of the Red International of Labor Unions is not in agreement with our standpoint, that is natural, but when the Leningrad Comrade Glen- bov-Avilov who shortly before the party congress declared his complete solidarity with my the upon the trade union question, which was unan+ imously adopted by the Polit Bureau, and which included also, of course, the unity problem, now at the party Comintern and the Red Interna- tional of Labor Unions which have congress suddenly makes objections, then that is nothing else but pure and simple opposition for position’@ (Stormy