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

VOLK 1000 Wo TRIAL OF MAGEE SHOWS ‘DON RULE IN NEW MEXICO Spanish Political Ring Runs State By a Worker Correspondent ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico, Mar. 1—Carl ©, Magee, editor of the Mornthg Journal of this city, will soon have to go to trial for killing a young man whom he shot while, struggling for his own life with Judge Dan Leahy, of Las-Vegas, some months ago. Back of this fact lies a most astounding story of political intrigue and corrup- tion, imrolving the battle for control of this state. Former Secretary of the Interior Albert M. Fall is the most prominent of the national politicians concerned. It was years ago that Magee bought his first newspaper and curiously enough it was from Fall himself that he bought it. It was published at Three Rivers, New Mexico. Magee paid $115,000 for the journal, having to finance the project by a bank loan. $25,000 of the purchase price went to Fall. Fall Tells Magee the “Inside.” Magee learned about this time that the Morning Journal of Albuquerque ‘was for sale. A group of railroad speculators had originally bought this paper for the single purpose of elect- ing Fall to the United States senate. Their object accomplished, they had no further use for it. Fall acted as an intermediary and arranged for its transfer to Magee. Fall, being also anx- ious to retain the good will of Magee who now had two papers and there- fore a considerable influence in the state, told him confidentially the in- side of state politics. Two-thirds of the population of the state, he ex- plained, was Spanish-speaking. Juries ‘were composed nine-tenths of Spanish- speaking persons and in trials the tes- timony of English-speaking witnesses had to be translated into Spanish. Even a “white editor,” he declared,— a veiled threat as it turned out later— would have to be tried thus. The Spanish “Don” System. The political ring which. ran the state was based on the old “Don” sys- tem of the Spaniards, He explained that prior to its acquisition by the United States, New Mexico had been reserved by the powerful Spanish Dons (gentleman landowners on a huge scale) for their domain. Here they Tuled as feudal lords over the Indians and Mexican peons, They got posses- sion of the waterholes and thus con- i Just Off the Press! Marx and Engels ; on , REVOLUTION eo IN “AMERICA. By Heinz Neuman. cn Marx and Engels were. keenly aware of the deve- lopment of American labor fifty years ago. In this unusual booklet, Heinz Neuman, one of the most prominent figures of ‘the Communist movement in Germany—home of Karl Marx—well presents their analysis of American labor and the road it must take to final victory. The lessons of Marx are still applicable today in this country—making the book- let of not only historical but also of immediate and practical value to all work- ers. It is No. 6 in 4 The Little Red Library 10 Cents. |!’ “Twelve Copies for One Dollar, ad This Week’s Prizes! First prize, Historic Materialism, by Nicolai Bukharin. This is an extremely Interesting book on an extremely important subject for every thinking cl is conscious worker, Second prize, Literature and Revolution, by Leon Trotsky, a criti- cism of present day literary groupings in Russia and a discussion of the relation of art to life, Third prize, Lenin on Organization which needs no further ex- planation. Send in your articles, This week's prizes will be given for sub- ject and preference will be shown for direct on the Job stories, Tell what is happening in your factory, the conditions under which you work, and show how organization can benefit the workers in your industry, WORKER CORRESPONDENTS’ PAGE IN THE DAILY WORKER AND THE CAPITALIST PRESS SOCIETY NEWS By M. PERLIN, Worker Correspondent. When a worker comes to his home after a hard day’s work, he eats his evening meal, rests a while and then happening in the world, takes up a newspaper to see what is If he buys The DAILY WORKER and reads the worker correspondents’ Page, he becomes acquainted with the struggles of his fellow workers in the different industries. He gets a living picture of the life of the railroad worker, the miner, the ship bullder, the farmer, the sailor, etc. The worker correspondents’ page is a page for workers written by workers. Thig same worker who has returned from a hard day’s labor may take up a capitalist paper. There he will read about an American millionaire’s daughter marrying a Hungarian prince, and that a certain English lord, a son-in-law of a noted American millionaire, will honor America with a visit and that a great broker from Wall Street had made two million dollars in one day, or that a millionaire’s family had gone on a cruise around the world in their yacht. It is a pity that a worker, after a hard day’s work, should fill his head with such nonsense. At work he is forced to permit himself to become physically crippled and in his meager hours of rest, by reading the capitalist sheets, he permits himself to become crippled mentally, Ua DEESene eee nena SO SSO SE trolled the land for hundreds of miles in all directions. The state is mostly desert. In this fashion the people be- came utterly dependent on a few large landholders. “And just as the Dons control the people, so we contro] the Dons,” added Fall, “We have learned how. We do as we please in this state!” Gets Into Trouble, Hardly had Magee gotten the Morn- ing Journal; into his hands than he started to, expose the political corrup- tion, His first attack was upon the management of the land office, which was itselfa part of the state political machine.” At thé first attack Fall drop- ped into his office and warned ,him that he would be ‘smashed to bits” if he continued along that strain. Then the trouble began for Magee. Armed men tried to hold him up on the public road, One day in the Capitol building in Santa Fe an employe of the place, paid for the purpose, as- siulted him. The state gang brot bank pressure against him as he had bor- rowed heavily to finance his papers. They failed because his own subscri- bers backed up his fight. Fall Falls into Something. About this time Senator Fall, after the visit to his ranch by Sinclair, presi- dent of the oil.company of that name, was suddenly able to pay up the heavy arrears of taxes on his place, put in some $90,000 in improvements, and run around in two very expensive, high- powered autos. The consequence was hat all kinds of rumors started. Magee managed to get hold of some of the facts and printed them, Subterfuge to Get Him. In order to “get” Magee a warrant was served on him charging him with having criminally libelled a certain judge in San Miguel, 120 miles away. Tho he could have used political in- fluence to escape going, he went, He was warned by the judge not to com- ment on the trial. . He disobeyed the instructions and every day in his papers appeared editorials exposing the illegality and injustice of the, pro- ceedings. The whole trial was in Span- ish, In response to the court instruc- tions the jury returned ‘a verdict of guilty. The editor was sentenced to eighteen months in the state peniten- tiary besides a A Tells Judge the Truth, Immediately on’ the conclusion of this farce Magee was -put on trial be- fore the same judge for contempt of court, Questioned on cross-examina- tion as to whether he still maintained that the presiding judge was corrupt he answered: “He So Magee got another year in th Penitentiary and a fine of | ‘he governor, 50. however, at once oned him, sta- ting that the etter art @ blot on the state, A Law Abiding Judge! Upon his pardon, the governor ap- pointed him on the board of directors of the state insane asylum, The asy- lum was at Las Vegas. If he accepted, it meant he would face the danger of death every time he attended a board meeting. For Las Vegas was the home of his mortal enemy and the brains of the corruption gang, Judge Dan Leahy, The judge publicly declared that if Magee accepted he would “stamp his life out.” And Leahy was & man of his word, The Fatal Shot, Magee took the position. Nothing happened for several meetings, Then one day as Magee was being inter- viewed by a girl reporter iri the lob- by of one of the:leading hotels of Las Vogas, Leahy entered, After walking around for awhile: the judge in pas- sing by the editor, struck him sudden- ,jcent effective today. ly on the side of the face. Magee’s gun, which during those months he carried for self-protection, slipped to the floor. Leahy, a huge six-footer, continued to pound the half-conscious man, Magee managed to grab his re- volver, He shot Leahy thru the arm, but in the melee one bullet hit a young man who was trying to save ~|the editor, The youth was killed in- stantly. Now Magee is out on bail, to be tried on a murder charge. The judge will be Spanish-speaking, the prose- cutor will be also and so will un- doubtedly every member of the jury. They are all part of the Spanish “Don” system which rules this part of the country with an iron hand. And Judge Dan Leahy? He’ walks the streets of Las Vegas, the acknowl- edged boss and head of the corrupt murder gang which runs the state. No man dare touch him! Back of it all, of course, are the ring of great landowners, of railroad land speculators and of mining mag- nates whose principality this state’ is. Hire Uniformed Men to Slug Strikers in Philadelphia Strike By a Worker Correspondent PHILADELPHIA, March 1—Several days ago the Knit Goods Workers’ Union, affiliated to the Federated Tex- tile Unions, called a shop meeting of the workers in the Franklin Sweater mills, which was attended by the me- chanics working in the shop. The next day the boss in his attempt to prevent the organization of the shop fired twelve of the workers. The union replied by sending a committee to demand the reinstatement of the discharged workers. The boss re fused, saying he would speak to indi- viduals but not to the committee, A strike was called and 100 of the men walked out. The strikers in picketing the shop encountered twelve uniformed strikebreakers, whom the boss is using to beat the strikers into submission, The spirit of the strikers runs high despite the strikebreaking activity of the bosses. It is expected that the strike will be made 100 per Workers in several shops have promised their support any time the union calls upon them. Gangsters Cut Up Three Strike Pickets By A. L. SUSKIN, (Worker Correspondent) NEW YORK, March 1— Gan together with their bosses beat and cut up with knives Jack Schneider, Gordon Steinberg and Martin Schnei- der, three strikers who had to be tak- en to @ hospital, Schneider is in a serious condition and has deep cuts on the neck and head. The other two were treated by the doctor and sent home, While a big demonstration was be- ing held and the three strikers were standing and watching the long line that the workers formed on 27th St. & gang of thugs hired by the bosses fell. upon the three workers and cut them up with kniv a This action of the bosses of using paid gangsters to cut and slug the workers brought out the indignation still more aga@inst the manufacturers, and the workers are more determined to fight fon thedemands they have sub: mitted io dnoW Y OF AUSTRALIA WARS ON LABOR Attorney-General Asks Check on Agitators (Special to The Daily Worker) SYDNEY, March 1 — The attorney- general has introduced into the fede- ral parliament a bill penalizing per- sons “causing dislocation to trade and commerce” and “interfering with the transport of gpads and passengers.” The measure ja articulary aimed at the Seamen’s. Pnion. The prime minister, Bruce, has an- nounced that the time is ripe for deal- ing with inf for overhauling | the machinery the courts of arbit- ration and inyesting them with great- er power fhe enforcement of awards, and f@fegislation which will secure the “ cratic control of unionism.” Atand goes back to the secret joinj€onference of the em- ployers’ organizations at Melbourne last year. " What the’Employers Want. The employeys} went so far as to de- mand, among other things, that all unions were to be made legally re-; sponsible for the acts of all branches, | officials, and individual members, No “agitators” should be allowed to hold executive positions. Strike ballots must be secret and taken under gov- ernment supervision. Union officials “provoking industrial strife in defi- ance of the judgments or awards of the arbitration court” were to be ar- rested, prosecuted, and where possi- ble, deported. Campaign Against Communists. A legal inquiry was demanded by the employers into the affairs of cer- tain unions, “with regard to the meth- od of election of executive officers, the management of the unions, the control of finatice, and the status of the branches.”” A special campaign was demanded ‘against the Commun- ists as membérs of an organization aiming at the “abolition of govern- ment by force,? Known Communists were not to jbe allowed to land in Australia. CHRISTIAN ‘MAD MULLAHS’ REVIVE WITCHERAFT DAYS Indiana “Christ Church Tries Heretic (Special to The Daily Worker) PALMIRA, fhd., March 1—This lit- tle town of tWo hundred inhabitants returned to the.days of ancient salem and the witdlitraft trials when W. Clyde Martin; “educator and farmer, was put on trial before three judges selected from ‘@thong the members of the church of* Christ on a charge of “recreational heresy.” Martin is charged by his accusers, with being unfit longer to participate in the councils and deliberations of the church because of his advanced views in the matter of sports and amusements. His principal accuser is Deacon Charles Ellis, a farmer known generally as “cricket.” Ellis believes that roller skating, basketball, check- ers, amateur playlets, and other di- versions are incompatible with the teachings of the bible, Fire Stops Proceedings. The trial is being held behind closed doors in the little wooden build- ing which houses the church of Christ here. As the hour set for the proceed- ings arrived and William Boston, of Palmyra, an elder chosen to act as chairman, mounted the pulpit, a breathless messenger arrived with word that his home was afire, Boston lett the proceedings flat and. raced down the strest’ with a crowd after him, It provellito be only a flue burning out but‘the trial was delayed almost an hout, A Holy'Lot of Judges. The judges—are evangelist Sam Langford of Pagifi, Ind., chosen by the elders of the al church; Otis W. Scott of Bonded pa. a bank cashier who also is an’WVvangelist and pastor of the church aft, Tabor, and Chas. Wolfe of De Patfw, Ind., where he. is an elder in the church, A, W, Harvey of Bloomington; evangelist who oc- cupies the local‘pulpit once a month, asked to serve"a¥ a judge, sent back word that the proceedings were “dis- Sraceful,” and heewould have nothing to do with thems Russian Far East and Japan Establish New Cultural Relations Cultural relations betweon the Rus- sian Far East and Japan have be- come fairly constant in recent months, taking the shape of mutual informa- tion among scientific organizations of both countries. The visit to Japan ntative of the people's of health, who went to Tokyo to attend the international San- itary conference, has resulted in es- tablishing contact between the medi- cal authorities of Japan and the U. S. 8S. R, A delegation of Japanese students visited the Far East, and a return delegation ‘i shortly to leave for Japan ILLINOIS JOBS FALL OFF WHI, WAGES REMAIN AT. By LELAND OLDS, Federated Press. Considerable unemployment in IIli- nois with social agencies in several downstate cities reporting the largest demands upon them in their experi- ence is noted by the state labor re- search bureau on the industrial situ- ation in January. At the same time} it points out that factory employment maintained the level of December un- changed and was 1.3 per cent ahead of January, 1925. The slackening of employment, due largely to seasonal layoffs in depart- ment stores, mail order houses and outdoor industries, is reflected in a jump in the rate of demand for jobs at the free employment offices. In December 146 persons applied for each 100 jobs offered. In January the figure rose to 190, indicating nearly 2 applicants per job. This is slightly worse than a year ago when the Janu- ary figure was 188 applicants for each 100 jobs. A reversal of the long downward trend of employment in the railroad car building industry is a feature of the report. This industry had been experiencing the worst depression in years. In December it reached a level 50 per cent below Dcember, 1923. In January it increased the number of workers on its payrolls by 6 por cent. Another important change is the 3 per cent gain in the agricultural imple- ment industry. Other changes in factory employ- ment were largely seasonal. So were the reductions of 17.8 per cent in the humber employed by department stores, 13.1 per cent in mail order houses and 14.8 per cent in the build- ing industry. In the last 2 months about 26 per cent of the building trades workers have been laid off. Average weekly wages in Illinois have remained practically stationary TANDSTILL for the last 2 years, In the factories the average.for December, 1925, was $28.75 compared with $28.25 in De- cember, 1923. For all industries the averages were $29.41 and $28.93. In leading industries average wages in December 1925 and 1923 were: Weekly wages in Ill, Iron and steel Cars and locomotives Automobile Machinery . 30.87 Electrical apparatus 24.53 Farm implements 28.11 Boots and shoes 20.04 Job printing ... 35.88 Men’s clothing 27.30 Meat .....opsisines 26.57, Mail order, house 25.47 Telephone .. 24.67 Street railways 34.45 Coal mining 36.18 Building . 28.80 39.28. Illinois factory wages throughout, the year averaged $27.98 a week. A full 52 weeks at this rate would mean annual earnings of $1,452 or about $20 more than could have been earned for similar work in 1924. Jobs Fall Off. Factory employment in New York state fell off 1% in January, according to the monthly statement of the in- dustrial commissioner, He points out that thi decrease, although exceeding that in January, 1925, is hardly more than the expected decline. An impor- tant downward influence was the sea- sonal dullness in the automobile in- dustry. A seasonal gain in the men’s cloth- ing industry, involving the employ- ment of about 2,500 additional work- ers by the reporting shops, renders the outlook in that industry more en- couraging than a year ago. SET WAGE SCALE UPON BASIS OF LIVING EXPENSE Philadelphia Traction Co. Tries New Plan PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 25. — The Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co., which controls the car lines of this city and part of the surrounding country, has announced that the wage rates of its employes are to be determined by the purchasing power of the dollar. The employes have been divided into gen- eral classifications. General commit- tees provided for by the plan, will set the first scale. Changes thereafter will depend on variations in the price of living. This method of fixing wages proves what Karl Marx contended—that the worker is paid back just enough to keep himself in that standard of life mecessary to sustain his physical efficiency as a worker and required for the reproduction of the labor sup- ply. This is what the workers of this traction company will get. The employers could have supplied them with all their physical needs direct, the bare minimum of clothing, food, and shelter, etc. This would, however, have been a lot of trouble for the cor- poration and a giveaway to the men of the closeness of their economic con- ditions to slavery. Strictly Open Shop, The local street car concern is strictly open shop. It is owned by the same capitalists who exploit the workers mercilessly in the non-union factories of the city. Thru the sys- tem it gets back that which was al- lowed the workers of those mills in their wage scale for the expense of getting to and from work. Street car fares today hit hardest the poorest workers. The middle class and the better-paid skilled workers have their autos. The determination whether changes in living standard costs re. quire a revision of the traction scale will be decided by the company in this fashion. The company’s an- nouncement states that “a number of market baskets with fixed contents have been prepared, the prices of which are determined from month to month by a bureau working under the general committees. The wages paid are to be adjusted upward or down- ward so that at all times the contents of the pay envelope shall be sufficient to buy the same number of standard market baskets regardless of the changes in their prices upward or downward, to the end that, whether the prices that have to be paid for the necessaries of life rise or fall, the wage will always be sufficient to main- tain the present standard of living. “To insure stability necessary to proper budgeting, adjustments of wag- es are to be made not more than once in every calendar year, except when the purchasing power of the dol- jar varies ten points or more from the market basket index and remaing at a point beyond that variation for a per- fod of at least three months. The purchasing power of the dollar over a period of jhows no such sudden rise or fall except in time of panic or war inflation, in which times it was everywhere necessary to adopt emer- gency measures.” The Last Day of the Paris Com- mune. See it dramatized at the International Labor Defense com- memoration March 19 at Ashland Auditorium Jap Imperialists Aided Chang Tso-lin, Confesses The Jiji (Special to The Daily Worker) TOKIO, March 1 — The Jiji, one of the leading Japanese papers, has re- vealed the truth of the charge that Japanese soldiers fought under Chang Tso Lin’s bannér in the struggle at Mukden, Its Correspondent at the Manchurian’ capital’ naively asserts that the Japanese military heads there “looked askance at the efforts of the Japanese diplomats to mediate .. . They supplied’Chang’s army with spe- cial materials and allowed some Jap- anese to join’his ranks, thereby help- ing him to win the’ final victory.” It would bé~most illuminating now if the part ‘which American imperial- ists played with regard to Chang Tso Lin's movemént <otld be ascertained, as it is common’ knowledge that an American, Baker,” was his chief ad- visor. Get your tickets row for the inter- national concert of the T. U. E. L. Sat., March 13, at 8th St, Theater. NEW EDITORIAL STAFF FOR COMINTERN MONTHLY APPOINTED; ENLARGED MOSCOW, U. S., S. R., Feb. 28 — The present session of the presidium of the Communist International has made the following choices for the composition of the new editorial staff of the monthly organ of the Comintern, the “Communist Inter national”: Zinoviev, Bucharin, Ma- nuilski, Pepper, Roy and Martinov. The editorial board has thus been enlarged by four. The previous edit- ors were Zinoviev and Radek. 1925 Dec. 1923 | 30.79 $30.09 | Page Five MASS. ARRESTS OF JUGOSLAV LABOR CONTINUES BELGRADE, Jugoslvia,; March 1. — The Jugoslavy police refuse to give information as to the reasons for arrests of workers. Over 00 persons were arrested in these raids, among are the members of the gjorgjewitsch, Ugljescha Jomanwitsch jand the trade union functionaries Stefanowitsch, Kaljewitsch and Lazar- ewitsch. It_is stated in all newspapers that the former Communist member of |parliament, Kosta Nowakowltsch was brutally beaten at the examination until his face was black and blue and his head entirely swollen. The arrests are still going on. Re, cently the secretary of the independ- ent. Serbian Bank Officials’ Associa- tion, Novica Petrowitsch and five other bank officials were arrested, Buda Milutinowitsch, the secretary of the metal workers’ union is accused. Communist Party, Trischa Katzlero- wits, Kosta Nowakowitsch, Sima Markowitsch, Sima Miljusch, Duschan * on the strength of section 1 of the law: + for the protection of the state which provides capital punishment or 20 years at hard labor. There is nothing yet known about the fate of the others as they are isolated; neither the rela- tives nor their lawyers ere admitted to see them. Soviets to Grow Quinine and Rubber on Black Sea Coast TIFLIS, U.S.S.R., March 1—A con- ference of agronomical and botanical experts was held at Tiflis, under the auspices of the people’s conimissariat of agriculture of Soviet Georgia, at which was discussed the possibility of cultivating quinine and rubber trees on the black Sea coast. It was resoly- ed to organize such experimental cul- tivation upon a large scale, The cli- mate and sof] of the Black Sea coast were found perfectly suitable for the cultivation of these trees, Soviets Build Many New Radio Stations MOSCOW, U. 8S. 8. R., March 1—A series of new radio stations are being built-in Siberia and Kamtchatka & link up the outlying districts with the center. Thus, a powerful station will be ‘constructed™ at Petropaviovst which will be able to communicate di rectly with Novonikolayevsk (Siberia) and America, having a radius of 3,000 kilometers. Other powerful stations are to be erected at Yenisseisk in Siperia and Sverdlovsk (formerly Ekaterinburg) and Oren burg in the Urals. A new radio-telegraph station will be instal- led at Khiva (Ubekistan), which will constitute othe first radio station erected upon that territory, and will connect it with Turkmenistand and Afghanistan, —___—_—_—_—_—————— Plumbers Helpers’ Club of Brooklyn, New York calls on all helpers to join the club. Meetings every FRIDAY night, 8:30 p. m., at 7 Thatford Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. NEW YORK Red Press Revel of The Novy Mir Russian COMMUNIST NEWSPAPERS Russian Cabaret and Ball at the HARLEM CASINO (Both Halls) 116th St. and Lenox Ave. Tickets on sale at: Novy Mir, 80 Union Square, and The Daily Worker New York Agency, 108 East 14th Street. The Daily Worker English Saturday Evening, March The gayest, jolliest night of the ~~ year! $