The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 11, 1926, Page 5

’ * ing, was walking on the floor, | Ay THE DAFLY WORKER ——~ Page Five Minnesota Workers and Farmers Are Wise to Stool Pigeon Plagman By a Farmer Correspondent, LITTLE FALLS, Minn., March 9— In the Feb. 23 issue of The DAILY ‘WORKER a worker correspondent from Minneapolis writes about the organization campaign among the general drivers in Minneapolis. The stool pigeon Plagman, who is mention- ed in the article, appedred in Little Falls half drunk and sought admis: sion to a meeting of the drivers but was thrown out. Also Used "Him on Farmers. Some months ago this same Plag: man appeared as organizer of the non-partisan league from Minneapolis’ and got $19 a head for organizing the farmers, But the farmers’ money did not find its way into the league treas- ury. Plagman got drunk on the money and was laid up in a hotel for three} days. Later on Plagman was stump speaking for Magnus Johnson,. The day before election he arrived, here, got dead drunk and was ordered to leave town or go to jail, As an example of the harm doné.by those reactionaries, we have the at- titude of the farmers here. They are disgusted and there is not’ much ¢on- -fidence left in them for labor parties. Old Parties After Farmers Again The fraudulent farm bureau has come to life in many countries in our state to keep the farmers within the ranks of the old parties so the bank- ers’ investments can be secure on mortgaged farms, In some townships less than half a dozen farms are free of mortgages. That is the situation with the farmers, Working Woman Writes of Home Work Conditions By a Worker Correspondent I am a working woman. I stood in a long line waiting for my turn to get my small share of work. The shop was both a home and a factory. The room we stood in was small and} dark, and stuffy.) The scissors were snipping, the embroidery frames clicked when changed by the women who were hunched over them. 1 looked at my prospective em- ployer. He was tall and thin, with a yellow face and continually coughed over his: work. In his arms he car- rrled a baby; another one, sickly look- He was telling us the prices and his wife gave out the bundles. She could not speak English. On his prices we were unable to make more than fifteen cents an hour. Some of the women refused to work for such a miserable price, but some remained to make the samples. I was one of those, While working I had, @ conversation with the sick man. He was working in a sweat shop and it affected his lungs. Now he is a contractor and gives out embroidery work, The shop is in a poor working class section, The women from this sec- tion come with their little children in their arms to take the work, which is absolutely unsanitary and very poorly paid. ‘What can be done for working class women to protect them from such a terrible condition? This Week’s Prizes! ris First Prize.—An original DAILY WORKER cartoon by one of the noted American Communist artists, Robert Minor, Fred Ellis or Lydia Gibson, Second Prize—.Marx Capital, Volume |. Third Prize.—China's Awakening by James A. Dolson, a book that every militant worker will want to read. KNIT GOODS WORKERS’ UNION OF PHILADELPHIA CALLS A_ STRIKE IN THE FRANKLIN SWEATER MILLS By |. LAZAROVITZ, Worker Correspondent. PHILADELPHIA, Pa., March 9.—It is not new for a class conscious worker when the bosses do all in their power to stop the workers from organ- The bosses, know that the moment the workers organize themselves, they, the bosses, will be compelled to treat these workers differ- izing into a union. ently. Discharge of Men Starts Strike. It was not a surprise to the Knit Goods Workers’ Union when the Franklin Sweater Mills fired ten workers for participating in a shop meeting called by the union. As soon as tliese + ten workers were fired, a committee representing each department of the shop went down to the boss, telling him that the workers of this shop de- mand the reinstatement of the fired workers, and after the boss refused to do so, the union called this shop out in a strike, The boss of the Franklin Sweater Mills is doing his best to break this strike. The first day of the strike, there were already police and detectives in front of the building, trying to provoke the workers on the picket: line, The strikers understood the trick of the lackeys of the bosses and did not pay any attention to the provocations, On the second day of the strike, when the strikers were carrying signs telling the workers of that shop that \a strike was going on, and requesting them not to scab, the police arrested three strikers for carrying these ban- ners. The strikers are well organized and will demand their rights to carry the signs, The spirit of the workers is running high. A meeting of the union was held, where the strikers were addressed by the speakers from the Federated Tex- tile Unions, Carpet Weavers’, and Ma- chinists’ unions. The first speaker, Brother Baker, a member of the Ma- chinists Union, in his speech to the strikers pointed out why the bosses are so afraid of the union. Baker ap- pealed to the workers of the Franklin Sweater Mills to stay in the strike aud to fight, bécause this is the only way to have a strong organization, and only thru a strong organization, said Brother Baker, you workers of the Knit Goods Industry will be able tv improve your economic condition. New Tools to Stick to Fight. The second speaker, Brother La Brie, general secretary and treasurer of the Federated Textile Unions of America, explained what the F, T, U. means for the Knit Goods Workers of Philadelphia, La Brie appealed to the Strikers to fight for their rights, and promised that the F, T. U. will do all in their power to help these strikers. Don’t give up this strike, until you have one hunderd per cent victory, concluded Brother La Brie. The next speaker, Brother Vance, representing the Carpet Weavers’ Union, began his speech with the his- tory of the Carpet Weavers’ Union. He pictured the conditions of the workers before they were organized, the low wages, long hours, insults from the bosses and foremen, these were the conditions in our trade, said Vance. He pictured further the strug- gle of these workers during the time they were organizing their union. Many workers were arrested, many did not have what to eat or to wear. They sent their wives to work, and they themselves went on the picket Ine, and after a bitter struggle they have won the strike. Now, said Vance, the right to hire or fire a worker in any shop is in the power of the work- ers themselves, and not of the bosses. ‘The workers have established a strong organization, and compelled the boss to recognize and respect the workers union, This can be done, said Vance, only when the workers are united, when they are willing to fight for their rights, Brother Vance also as an ofs ficial of the F. T, U. promised the full support to the strikers, and appeale? to them to fight against their explolt- ers until the bosses of the Franklin Sweater Mills will be compelled to recognize the union. The workers who were present at that meeting listened attentively to the speakers, and with fighting spirit and new courage decided td continue this fight until not only the bosses of Franklin Sweater Mills, but the entire Knit Goods Industry of Phila- deiphia will be compelled to recognize the right of a worker to join his union, and to respect his organziation. Students Educate Teacher on What Communism Means By a Student Correspondent. PLYMOUTH, Pa., March 9 — At the high school I attend, under the subject of “Problems of American Democracy,” we came to the studying of Communism, anarchism and social- ism: The teacher tried to explain Communism, using all the arguments she was told to make against it, When she was thru I pointed out to her the various mistakes in her arguments and made several in favor of Commun- ism, Then another student spoke up and said he thought Communism would be good for the people. Since the teacher could not refute many of the points made in favor of Communism and her arguments were proven to be wrong it followed that the students took a friendly attitude to Communism, While we were still arguing the period closed and we had to stop. The next day we continued the argument again. The teacher then decided to take a vote on how the students stood for Communism, She LLG Web, 10 ORGANIZE THE UNORGANIZED (Continued ‘from Page 1) ter position to unionize the unorgan- ized dressmakers than it ever was before. It is a well knit, united or- ganization today, as against the or- ganization we had during the last campaign a year and a half ago. At that time we had a bitter in¢ernal struggle, and in spite of the willing- ness of those expelled to help the cam- paign, the spirft ‘of the union was de- moralized, Now with unity estab- lished at the last convention of the international, we have all our forces united, and we have no fear of any methods used. by the employers to prevent the unfonization of the shops. Shop Meetings to Be Held, A series_of shop meetings will be called during the next month by the joint board, at which the situation in the union will be explained and the members called.upon to join the 500 committee. From results attained at the first series of shop meetings, we have no doubt that we will be success- ful in once and for all establishing union conditions in the entire indus- try. . We have one of our members just released from:a 90yiays’ imprisonment as a result ofthe ‘last campaign, and about 90 more*cases pending in court. Of course these members have com- mitted no crime except their activity to unionize the nonunion dress shops. (Continued from Page 1) the progressives in almost every local union received almost the unanimous vote of the membership. Progressives Win. In Local 5, in the local election the progressives had rio opposition; in the joint board delegation, the progres- sives elected four out of five. In lo- cals 18, 59 and 104 full progressive slates were elected. Local 81 and 100 each elected four progressives. In Lo- cal 60 which had been fully under control of the present machine, the progressives elected three out of five. In the joint board elections, progres sives elected 30 out of 40, with some of the ten leaning towards the pro- gressive policy, This gives a picture of the complete debacle of the local Sigman machine, due to the opposition of the membership toward their expul- sion and class collaboration policy. In the present election an alliance was formed between all progressive elements, and was conducted on the basis of a program of action which in- cluded a militant struggle against the employers; enforcement of union con- ditions in the organized shops; organ- ization of the unorganized thru @ rank and file organization committee; fight against wage cuts and for an increase in wages; for the enforce- ment of week work; for shop dele- gate system; for unemployment insur- ance sufficient for the needs of the workers to be taken out of the profits of the employers and controlled by the But it proves what methods and false-| union; amalgamation of the needle hoods the manufacturers have em-|trades into one departmentalized ployed in the last campaign, and there | union; for democratization of the union; for world trade union unity and for recognition of Soviet Russia. The candidates who were endorsed is no doubt in our mind that they will now pursue similar methods, but that will not stop us. Not only that, this will make us more determined to fin- ish the job, and this job will be|their campaign for election along started with the intention of finishing|these lines. The majority of the pro- it. : gressives now elected fought militant- We want to’ Hope that the employ-|ly against the expulsion policy of the ers at this time will realize the de-|Perlstein-Sigman machineand many of termination of the union and will de-|the progressives now elected, were cide that they have long enuf ex- " ploited their workers to this great ex-| Py, oyal Dutch-Shell Oil Trust Blocks tent. Workers Want Union. Pe Fs Investigation Move Daily workers of nonunion shops come into the office and ask the union to unionize their shops as the condi- tions in their shops are unbearable. Workers are fired without cause. Prices are cut.and in most instances | the workers dq nt know their price until they receive the pay envelopes, and the amount contained is so small that there ig°@i# adopted proverb in the nonunion dress shops on pay day that, “Today we get our token.” In some shops the workers are un- der worse conditions than under slay- ery. The spy system is highly in op eration. No worker can speak to an- other without fear of being detected by some spy employed by the boss. When the new worker starts to work he must give his entire life’s history and must not by any means indicate sympathy towards organized labor, and if, god ferbid, anyone is detected kicking against’ the low prices they have received, they immediately lose their job and are blacklisted thruout the city, and lett without a chance to sell their labor power even for the miserable prices they pay in nonunion shops. This of course is not one-tenth of the prevalent conditions in the dress (Special to The Dally Worker) LONDON, March 9.—An interesting sidelight on the struggle of the great oil kings for supremacy occurred in the recent meeting here of the stock- holders of the V. O. C. Holding com- pany,, which controls the Venezuelan oil concessions, The Royal Dutch- Shell concern, thru a subsidiary, dom- inates the V. O. C. The meeting followed upon the res- ignations of five directors from the V. 0. C. board who charged that the Royal Dutch-Shell company, was not paying a fair price for surplus ofl and that in fact the Royal Dutch-Shell had a contract under which it could take whatever amount of oil it pleased at any price it chose. The resigning di- rectors alleged, moreover, that for $925,000 the Royal Dutch-Shell group had secured nearly a million and a half shares, valued at over $25,000,- 000, together with the control of the v. 0. C. Attempts of representatives of the largest bloc of shares, next to those controlled by the Royal Dutch-Shell combination, to investigate the charg- es were voted down ani the places of the resigned directors filled by Royal asked all those who were in favor of that form of government to raise their hands. I was astonished to see 75 per cent of the students vote in favor, of it. This only goes to show that most people only need to be told about Communism to make them see its true worth. The great majority by the propaganda directed against it by capitalism are led to view it as criminalistic, Don’t let those argu- ments get by without refutation! Nurseries Should Be Run by Trade Unions By ROSE F. CAREY. (Worker Correspondent.) PHILADELPHIA, Pa., March 9A few large corporations in Philadelphia in order to keep their female employes | satisfied with low wages and long hours installed day nurseries entirely supervised by the company. Those situated in the large cities have on tl board of directors, own- ers of industries, their wives and wo- of the dividend getting class, ‘who select the matrons and other functionaries, the mothers of course having nothing to say about the mat- ter. Poor Food for Workers’ Kids , In most of these institutions the ma- trons not only act as an efficient pro- paganda agent, but also must keep ex- pences down by paying disgracefully low wages to the nurses and other help, and buying inadequate supplies of low-grade food for the children. In the day-nursery where I was em- ployed as assistant nurse the physi- cian had absolute control, She con- ducted lectures for the mothers, pop- ped into their homes at all hours. on the least pretext in order to further brow-beat and humiliate them by pry- ing Into their private affairs. Besides this, she was actually con- “ducting an experimental station, fill- ing the kiddies with all kinds of drugs. and serums and also humiliating the. older ones by periodically taking specimens to ascertain venereal disease. Infect Them With Disease, Many little children. contracted filthy skin diseases but were permit- ted to mingle with the others, yet this particular nursery was widely adver- tised as a model health center, The matron in charge of another nursery was a domineering person, who strongly served the interests of the rich parasites who controlled this institution, . The mothers were compelled to at- tend a monthly meeting, rain or shiny no excuses for non-attendance we accepted and as a punishment for ab- sence she hit upon the brutal scheme of not permitting them to bring their children into the nursery, some times as long as a week, Persecute Mothers, One winter morning, following such a “mother’s” meeting I met one, of the unfortunate women weeping, with her three children clinging to her skirts. It had been bitter cold, snowy wea- ther on the meeting night and after returning tired out from work had to drag her little ones, thru the storm to her hovel, which. was located many streets distant the nursety and she was too exhausted to attend the meeting. The next’morning the ma- tron would listen to no explanations jand had excluded ber children for 3 days, which meant the loss of her job. The meetings were always opened by prayer and hymn singing. After which, the .work-weary and worried mothers were compelled to listen to a sermon of abuse against the working class, the main theme of which was that the workers are poor because they are lazy, sinful and extravagant, whereas the rich are honest, god-fear- ing people, Women coming into industry in in- creasing numbers, brings a large pro- portion of married “women with chil- dren. The task of organizing these women contains the problem of the care of their children while the mothers are at work. i Job Belongs to Unions, The unions concerned in this busi- ness of organizing women, instead of wasting millions of dollars in various class collaboration schemes, as labor banks, insurance etc., should take up this matter and set themselves geri- ously to the vital work. 4 ‘We know that the reactionary offi- claldom will never of its own accord initiate this move, the responsibility rests with the militants, The work of organizing nurseries or “ereches” has ean recognized as im- portant work amongst women by the labor unions of Soviet Russia and it is high time we face the problem, in a constructive. .wase-here in America. Dutch-Shell men, British Capitalists Want to Make Coolie Colony of Australia SYDNEY, Australia March 9 — British capitalists find that Australian workers are not docile enuf to their way of thinking, for they demand a much-too-high standard of living and the British capitalist figures that Australia should be ruled. from the London office of British imperialism, flooded with cheap labor from the down-trodden outposts of the British empire, and made to yield a huge profit to the investing capitalists, industry and the union is now deter- mined to stop it just as they are doing in the city of New York right now. In that city they have in the last month and a half unionized more than one- half of the non-union shops, and we expect to do the job here just as fast if not faster, than it has been done there. The International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union office will send in a number of organizers to the city and will give this campaign its full sup- port, We have seen recently ‘that wherever the international started these campaigns it has been success- ‘ul and there is no reason whatever why we bossa @ mot be successful in this city, NEW! THE PARIS COMMUNE By MAX SHACHTMAN. “/ No, 8 IN THE LITTLE RED LIBRARY A brief little booklet on a great event in working class history, when, as Karl Marx wrote, the workers of France attempted to “storm the heavens.” This first glorious attempt at proletarian dictatorship, so vividly portrayed by the author, should be read by every worker on the 55th anniversary being celebrated thruout the world on March 18. 410 CENTS—Twelve Copies for One Dollar Other Books by the Same Author: Lenin, Liebknecht, Luxemburg THE DAILY WORKER “15 Cents. eon Ol. The Zéigler Frame-Up alae 10 Cents. rOW iw accepted this program and conducted: GARMENT WORKERS TO SUPPORT T.U.E. Lj CALLS ON CHICAGO | THE PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATES | delegates to the last convention and | voted with the progressive bloc for | the entire program. | Vote Progressive Tomorrow! | We are now entering into the final local election for manager of the| union and for business agents. Those elected to these positions will to a very large extent have to put into ef-| fect. the progressive program adopted | by the membership during the elec: | tion. They will have to lead the} struggle against the employers, at the) same time building the morale of the} union shattered by the Perlstein-Sig- man forces. Therefore it is neces-| sary that the membership select for these positions the best there is with-| in our ranks. | The organizing of the unorganized | is the main task confronting our] union, ‘as it is only with a militant} drive to bring those outside the union| into the union that we can build up a powerful organization that will ‘not! only preserve the conditions now ex-! isting, but increase the living stand-| ard of our members, The membership should fully support the administra- tion now elected but should always re- serve a right to criticize any devia-| tions from the progressive policies | adopted by the union. | However, election of progressive of-| ficlals is not sufficient. It is also not| suficient simply to support them.| Every member of the union, especially in the coming drive to organize the | unorganized must actively work for the union. In voting for these candi- dates, it is not individuals that are presented but rather a program upon which they are pledging themselves to put into effect. We urge every mem- ber to enter into this election and if you believe that the interests of our members can be best served in pro- gressive and militant struggle, then vote for the candidates. | Fraternally yours, | Chicago I. L. G. W. Group of the Trade Union Educational League. | Your Union Meeting | Second Wednesday, March 10, 1926, Name of Local and Place No. of Meeting. Blacksmiths’ District Ceuncil, 119 Throop St. ‘ers, Monroe and Racine. 12 Garfield Bivd. rn and Lexing- 5443S. Ashland Ave. Carpenters, 505 S. Stete St. Carpenters, 1638 N. H: H. Fehling, Rec. Sec’ Gi St. Irving 7597, Car 6414 S. Haist Carpenters, 1581 Maple Av ston, Il. , 6901 Escanaba Ave. Ho iers, 1352 W. Division St. Hod Carriers, 810 W. Harri 4 Jewelry Workers, 19 W. Ladies’ Garment’ Workers, Van Buren Street. Marine Cooks, 357 N. Clark St. 113 S. Ashland Bivd 4 . Cicero Ay nce of Way, 426 W. 63rd St. Sherman & Main Sts., ‘on, Hl. 's, 910 W. Monroe St. Dist. Council, 5448 » 5444 Wentworth 5445 Ashiand Ave. 63rd St., < "178 W. Washington St. 8 (Meat), 220 S. Ashland re (Bone), 6969 S. Halsted ye! W. Harrison 8 Note—Uniess otherwise stated SUUOUUUUUOUUHONONERCTUOUUEAOOOOULETEEDEAUAOGOOEREE LSE UUAAANES FLYING OSSIP STORIES OF NEW RUSSIA Eleven short stories writ- ten since the revolution by the most significant of the new Russian writers—can { From THE DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO., 1113 W. Washington Bivd., CHICAGO, ILL. AT H = & 2 now be had in a paper edi- = tion at only “g $1.50 ~ (Cloth Bound $2.50) é = = Your patronage invited on our 18-year record for serving the finest food, pies and pastry in this vicinity. West Inn Cafeteria ison St., 2nd Floor fH St en’ Dinner 10:30 to 2:30 Supper 4:15 to 7:15 One Trial Will Convince You of Our Quatit: or Quick Noon Service Come if Con- venient Before 11:30 of After 12:30 OOKS FOR | Unionism | THE WORLD TRADE UNION MOVEMENT. By A. Losovsky. Written by the secretary of the Red International of Labor Unions, it is a splendid guide to an under- standing of the world trade union development and its history lead- ing to the establishment of the R. I, U. pages. 50 Cents. BANKRUPTCY OF THE AMERI- CAN LABOR MOVEMENT. By Wm, Z. Foster, An indictment of the reactionary officialdom of the A. F. of L., a delineation of the insufficiency of mere trade unionism and a state- ment of the advantages of amalga- mation into industrial unions for the Amertcan labor movement. 25 Cents. The Movement for World Trade Union Unity By Tom Bell. In this brief, concise booklet the worker will find a most com- plete, interesting picture of the factors involved in the move for world trade union unity. The steps already taken, the basis for the movement, the differ- ences of principle, the bodies involved—all this valuable and essential information for every worker is here presented for the first time in one complete booklet. Pdper—15 Cents. RUSSIA TODAY—The Official Re- port of the British Trade Union Delegation to Soviet Russia. No book in recent years has created such wide-spread discus- sion in the labor movement. It is a most complete report on every phase of Soviet life today—with maps and charts. Including a spe- cial rport on the famous “Zinoviey” letter and the Red International of Labor Unions. 288 pages. Duroflex Covere—$1.26 Cloth—$1.76 INDUSTRIAL REVIVAL IN SOVIET RUSSIA. By A. A. Heller. Tells in detail for the first time the practical results of the New Economic Policy introduced by Lenin in the Spring of 1921. Cloth—$1.00 THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION, By Wm. Z. Foster, A history of the Russian Revolu- tion enlivened by accounts of the author’s varied experiences in Soviet Russia. 50 Cents. | Communism THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO. By Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, The first and greatest statement of the position of Communism in relation to the working class and the decaying capitalist system. Cloth, 60c—Paper, 10¢ * State and Revolution By V. I. Lenin, This classic of Marxian liter- ature has just been re-issued in a new edition with a durable, attractive cover, A great analysis of the Cap- italist State as the protector of Capitalism, establishing the ne- cessity of its overthrowal and substitution of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. 100 pages. 25 Cents. THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF LENINISM. By |. Statin, An important work on Commun- ist theory and practice during the period that Lenin lived and led— the period of Capitalist Imperial- ism, Written by a close co-worker of Lenin—the present Secretary of the Russian Communist Party. 78 pages. Durofiex Covers—35 Cents, DAILY WORKER PUB. CO. 1113 W. Washington Bivd. Chicago, Ill. A suha day will help to drive capital away. BROOKLYN, N. Y., ATTENTION! CO-OPERATIVE BAKERY Meat Market Kestaurant IN THE SERVICE OF THE CONSUMER. Bakery deliveries made to your home. FINNISH CO-OPERATIVE TRADING *°°OCIATION, Inc. © (Workers organized as consumers)