The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 14, 1926, Page 3

| MARINE CORPS HEAD DICTATES HAITIAN POLICY Puppet Ignores ameagan B for New Elections WASHINGTON, March 12.—In his fourth annual report as American John H. Russell of the Marine. Corps tells Secretary of State Kellogg of the: “benefits” of American military, domi- nation of that nominal republic. Rus- sell is its ruler, but he maintains, upon instructions from Washington, a pup- pet native government headed by one Borno. In this report he mentions construction of roads and other public works, development of schools and sanitation, reorganization of public finances, and the appointment of the National City. Bank of New York as fiscal agent. He then denounces the Haitian press for its ceaseless oppo- sition, and devotes many pages to explaining Borno’s refusal to carry out the constitutional requirements that a new congress be elected on January 10, 1926, “A free press,” says Russell, “to them apparently means an unlicensed press, and consequently when the Hai- dan government deems. their annoy- ing att: important enough to take means curb their verbose slander and malice against governmental and diplomatic officials they vehemently Protest that the government is inter- fering with their liberty of action.” Refuse to Hold Elections. » Borno’s refusal to call elections created a tumult in Haiti, the mili- tary governor admits. But he defends it elaborately as being necessary in view of the illiteracy of the masses. He says 85 per cent are peasants, who have the mentality of a child of 7 years, and that the literate class in the towns did not vote, in the old days, because their numbers were too small to count. Borno used this ex- cuse for ignoring the constitution and for calling only communal elections last January. He quotes at length from Borno’s letter to the prefects, in which Borno says it is his “firm design” to carry out the constitutional mandate, but only at some future time when the people shall have estab- Mshed political parties and have created an intelligent electorate. Meanwhile, says the puppet president, Haiti enjoys more freedom under American rule than ever she did un- der independence. “The freedom of the press,” he says, “is absolute; the law which) governs it is made only to suppress abuses, defamation, outrage, provocation to crime, all those intolerable excesses by which the old revolutionary demon, impatient to break his chains, mani- fests himself from time to time.” Develop Rubber Plantations. , Russell predicts that with improved sanitary conditions and higher stand- ards, the population, now 2,000,000, will rapidly increase, and the cost of Hving will likewise increase. This, he says, will require much greater pro- duction from the soil, if the people are not to suffer. He announces suc- cess in experiments in rubber produc- tion, as offering one line of develop- ment, Martial law, he remarks, has been invoked only on “‘rare occasions” in the past year, American officers and marines have been taught that they must maintain “friendly relations” with the Haitians. The Last Day of the Paris Com- mune. See it dramatized at the international Labor Defense com- memoration March 19 at Ashland Auditorium. high commissioner in Haiti, Brig. Gen./ 1000 WORKER CORRESPONDENTS BY THE DAILY WORKER JANUARY I j nye? TID-BITS OF PASSAIC STRIKE By TED DEAK, Worker Correspondent, The textile strike placed upon the map; amusement to others. In Passalc Is at its climax. it Is a place of Interest to some and a place of The town Is being 7 3 The town officials should be weil satisfied with the great deal of publicity that they are receiving—tho It Is questionable whether this publicity will do them any good at the next election, The “ever-ready” fire department of Passaic |i in squirting the liquid. They showed their “prowes: the hose upon the picket line, in a thunderous choru: ee s * aid to be efficient when they turned But the strikers laughed at them and sang, “Solidarity Forever.” mae The police force should be arrested for stealing peddlers’ herses for the purpose of riding down the strikers. But who should arrest them? We ought to leave that to the strikers’ police wearing the orange bands. ae It Is a comical sight to see the blue-coats running up and down along the endless picket line, waving their clubs and yelling threats into the ma: of men, women and children. It reminds one of a pack of little pups scampering about and yapping at a giant. ‘ * * * The authorities ordered the meeting halls of the strikers closed. Perhaps they want open air meetings where a greater crowd can listen in and “get wise.” GAG CHECKER CAB DRIVERS AT ANNUAL MEETING Well-Oiled M Machine Terrorizes Men By a Worker Correspondent, After successfully operating thru one year of comparative peace, Chi- cago Checker Cab driver-owners, at their annual stockholders’ meeting, discovered themselves being driven by intimidation into re-electing a board of directors which is liable to delivér them all into the hands of a few own- ers. The ballots have not yet been counted, but the results are quite evi- dent. During the past year sufficient prog- ress was made by the machine to as- sure the drivers of a living. But at the same time measures were put thru the board of directors limiting the management to an executive board of seven, and endorsing the building of a standard cab, which all drivers will be forced to buy. The advan- tages of standardization were touted while the fact that the actual contro! of this manufacturing company wa‘ already in the hands of the Checker officialdom was not mentioned. ficials will merely have to condemn the present cab of any driver and then he will either buy the standard car at a fairly stiff price or get out of the company. Well Oiled Machine, . The meeting. was typical of any union where a well organized machine rides over a scattered opposition. Already before the meeting proxies were issued by the thousands, author- izing the present regime to vote a drivers’ share. (Shares are owned by each driver in proportion to the value of his car.) Thus, in case a driver did not attend for any reason, his votes were assured the administra- tion. Lists of all drivers were car- ried by proxy bearers so that in case a man refused to sign he was on the “blacklist.” About 600 out of the 1,400 stockholders voted in person. If you want a certain book and you can’t come down---just call IN LOS ANGELES! MASQUERADE BALL given by the FREIHEIT CLUB at TURN VEREIN HALL, 2460 Sutter St. SUNDAY EVE., MARCH 21, 1926 Two Prices for the Two Best Characters ADMISSION 50 CENTS. Proceeds to the John Reed Industrial School of Orphan Children. Union Music SEELEY 3563 SEMINARY CLEANERS & DYERS Pressing—Repairing—Remodeling . Hats Cleaned and Blocked—Also Laundry All Our Work Guaranteed, We Call for and Deliver, 812-14 F ullerton Ave., Chicago, Ill epane Linootn 3141 Of-, Unless the others had signed proxies for the opposition also, their votes are valid for the machine, Several weeks ago Joe Wokral, president, sent a challenge to debate the leader of the opposition, Jim Stir- ling. Stirling cleverly set the date of the debate for the annual meeting. Great hopes were expressed by most of the drivers that thru this debate Wokral would be overwhelmingly de- feated. The fact that the election was to be held under the jurisdiction of Judge Denis E. Sullivan made most of them feel they would have a fair election, despite his infamous record as an injunction judge. But even with a court officer as chairman of the meeting the dirty tactics of Wokral et al. were successful. To one new to machine politics the whole thing was amazing. Rush Thru Reports. With every aisle crowded with dep- uties, police and highway police, the meeting was opened with a sicken- ingly sweet speech of praise by the “disinterested” counsel for the com- pany. Assuring the drivers that in the eye of the law all men are equal, hthe ,officer representing Judge Sulli- vanwas introduced. He took a back seat for the time, The secretary, Bob McLaughlin, received an ovation from one corner of the room by his claquers when he rose to whisper hru a reading of the minutes of last ear’s meeting. Half way thru a mo- tion to adopt them without reading was’ adopted without taking the ivoudle to count a nearly even show of hands. Resentment against this type of ruling by Wokral later arose to’such a storm that order was only restored by the court officer taking the gavel. This move was made after the treasurer’s report was read in a very hasty manner and adopted by an estimate of the volume of noise made by each, On every oral vote the machine was aided by an accordion manned by one enthusiastic job- seeker, The new chairman started off fairly by awarding the floor to Stirling, who announced himself ready to prove charges he had already made by letter || to every driver, Half a dozen officials and job holders shouted counter- charges, every one. was shouting, and, with the attention of the opposition distracted, a motion was put and car- ried, by a vote of not more than one- fourth of the men, to proceed with the next order of business, which was the balloting, Fear Vengeance. Machine ballots were green, the others white. A gauntlet was formed of the former extending to the ballot box. The ballot in the hand of every man was carefully scanned, the color proclaiming his convictions. Many “whites” wrapped their ballots in green paper, thus protecting them- selves from the subtle vengeance sure to follow. The basis of organization of the company is fundamentally bad. Driv- ers function as stockholders only once |@ year, when the directors are elected, 'As stockholders they are influenced _by the treatment they receive as em- | ployes. Rules are enforced or not, ac- |cording to the political stand of the men, Eventually an excuse is found to expel a driver who has opposed ; them unless he {s very careful not to ‘allow himself to be framed. In that jcase things are made so uncomfort- able for him that he usually gets out. Tt has been less than a year since two directors who opposed Wokral were mysteriously shot and crippled. The trend is from crude graft to more subtle moves to gain control, The next year will bring new devel- opments, undoubtedly in line with this tendency, and once again the drivers are helpless and without any organi- zation to fight the officials. Chicago City Council Passes Tile Ordinance The Chicago city council passed an ordinance allowing the use of hollow tile in building construction in Chi- cago by a vote of 36 to 12 at a stormy session of the council. ‘ YELLOW CAB CO, ASKS MEN TO SPY ON EACH OTHER Must Swear They Will Ferret Out Union Men (By a Worker Correspondent) Being out 6? Work for the last few months, tho’ Tfdllow the want ads in the capitalist’ newspapers and have made many applications, so far I have been unable to find employment. For every job advértised there are several hundred workers: And the answer they always: are!'greeted with is that the vacancy is @lready filled. ioe © The other day I answered an ad for @ finisher, bythe Pullman Coach com- pany, 3739 South Ashland. When I got there there’ was the usual mob. I was informed that the job was taken. Talking with iséme of these unem- ployed we came to the conclusion that most of the ads are fakes, The bosses. run them in order to show their slaves hOw many men are anx- ious to take their pjobs, thus forcing them to accept reductions in wages. Hm o 8 Looking over the ads once more I came across one by the Yellow Cab company advertising for chauffeurs which reads thus: Men get out of the rut. Get an outside job. Our men are earning from $35 a week to $4,000 a year. Employment office, 108 La- Salle or 52 EB. 21st. I went to 108 LaSalle. As I entered the office a man approached me ask- ing me what I wanted. When I told him I was looking for employment he handed me a,card to fill out. The card read: Name in full. Address. Age. How long’in Chicago. Are you a member of'@ L. O. Inquiring what L. 0. stood for:Iimvas told by this man that it means /labor organization. Knowing the: Yellow Cab company for a notorious labor union hating com- pany and since {I needed a job very badly I answered: No. I handed thé tard back to the man who looked it lover and marked it o. k. Then I ‘waaigiven a long yellow sheet to fill ht» as follows: Name. Address, Is yéut father, your brother or sisters or ab¥'one in your family a member of amy L. 0.2? Have you ever been arr ? Have you served in the army ormavy? Filling that one out and turting ff invhe’hands ‘me still another document telling me to sign on the dotted line, I picked upythe sheet and read: I hereby swear.¢gat I never was and never will bega member of any labor organization angh, will have nothing to do with any labor organizer while in the employ of this company and to protect this company from any labor organizers. it I threw the paper into his face and walked out. > Union Men Walk Streets While Business Agents Fatten on Initiations By a Worker Correspondent At the Axel Carlson Concrete Con- struction Company, Cicero, the fol- lowing incident took place: Six men were hired on a job located at 54th avenue and 18th street. These men were not asked if they were members of the union. The following morning four busi- ness agents of the Building Laborers’ Union, three of them from Local 76 and one from Local 25, appeared on the scene. After checking up the laborers it was found that out of eleven on the job two had paid-up cards and one had a permit issued to him from another job. The issue arose among the business. agents which one should sign up the men on permits, which costs the men five dollars a week ($54 being the initiation fee). The business agent from Local 25 being outnumbered three to one by Local 76, lost his chances to line up any of the non- union men. It is worth while to note that while this is going on at most of the jobs in Chicago union men are walking the streets with union cards in good standing, while non-union laborers are siven preference to jobs in order that he business agent may collect permit noney which amounts to hundreds of dollars a month. It is these points that the rank and file should raise in the local union and propagate for amalgamation of the laborers’ locals into industrial unions and thereby do away with needless expense, of paying fat sala- ries to a bunch of business agents who pay no attention to the working conditions under which we work, but merely appear on the job to collect money from non-~inion men whom the bosses are allowed to hire. Florida Workers and Farmers Fight Bills Aimed Against Labor RUSKIN, Fla., March 12.—Militant farmers and workers at a meeting there adopted a resolution condemning ~|the Coolidge administration and. the anti-labor bills that are now before Congress. The resolution adopted by this gathering follows: “Whereas, President Coolidge’s’ mes- sage to Congress calls for anti-strike legislation against the workers on the railroads and in the coal mining dis- tricts and approves of registration, fingerprinting and photographing of all foreign-born workers, and “Whereas, the capitalist program calls for a universal draft law and indorses a fight against the first work- ers’ and peasants’ goyernment—the Soviet Union, “Therefore, be it resolved, that this meeting of militant wage workers and farmers held at Ruskin, Florida, em- phatically protect against this reac- tionary program, and that “It be further resolved, that we pledge our whole-hearted support to the International Labor Defense in its efforts to defend militants who up- hold working-class principles.” Next Week’s Prizes First Prize—An original DAILY WORKER cartoon by one of the noted American Communist artists, Robert Minor, Fred Ellis or Lydia Gibson. Second Prize—“Social Forces Simons. New edition just issued of the American nation. In American History” by A. M. by International Publishers, This book gives the best economic interpretation of the origin and growth Third Prize—“Lincoin, Labor and Slavery,” by Herman Schlueter, the only book on Lincoln from a revolutionary standpoint. RETURN T.U, EL. CONCERT TICKETS TODAY AT 2 P.M. All those who Fake. tickets for sale for the T, U. Ei concert to be held this Saturday at'the 8th St. Theater, must return money for same and left over tickets to the office of the T. U. E. L., Room 37, 466 W. Washington St., not later than joday at 2 p, m. All eats are resérVed and all tickets not returned byilthe above mentioned time will be considered sold, as the seats cannot be:sold when the ticket: are out. u eye oaneey Nab Ameriéan Adventurer, TANGIER, Méroceo, March 12, — French authorities who arrested Thomas Williams of San Francisco, after the latter's escape from the Rif- fians, have turned him over to the American diplomatic agent here. Will- jams was an American volunteer in the French foreign legion. ‘THE SUFFRAGETTE’ WILL BE PRESENTED AT THE WORKERS’ HOUSE, SUNDAY “The Suffragette,” a Russian play in 3 acts will be presented this Siin- day, March 14, at the Workers’ House, 1902 W. Division St, The play is staged under the leadership of the well known Russian actor Anatoly _Pokotilov. Begins at 7:30 p.m. Admission 60 cents, ! Our Readers’ Views From Bad to Worse. Dear Friend: It takes money even to read. If the little merchants in this town would close their stores, there would be starvation here. Things are going from bad to worse, still the men are loyal to their union. The mine I worked at worked eight days in January and February, that is eight days in two months. There are more people living on the county than ever, more poverty than in Cleveland’s administration (1894-95,) William Marshall, Mystic, lowa, see | Keep “The Daily” Coming, Dear Comrade: General Grant is credited with winning 65 battles and skirmishes during the civil war. Be that as it may. The only thing about this that interests us is that when- ever he began an offensive, his order always was, “Advance by the left wing.” Keep The DAILY WORKER coming. Harry Shea, Brooklyn, N. Y. Nightshirt Brigade Loses in lowa Vote (Special to The Daily Worker) DES MOINES, Ia., March 12.—The decline of the Ku Klux Kian is seen in the defeats of its candidates for school boards in this city, Dubuque, Perry, Creston, Centerville and other smaller localit of the state. In Davenport the nightshirt brigade had no ticket, tho for the past few years it has shown considerable strength there. The results are the more sig- nificant inasmuch as heated cam: paigns preceded the final vote, ) Page Three By FANNIE PLOTKIN. E have now been organized in the Concentration Group and Nv basis for about four months. At a meeting of all the Concentration Group secretaries recently many things were discussed which resulted in the following: 1, Composition of Groups. From the reports given by many of the secretaries it was found that one of the reasons for the lack of real ac- tivity in many of the groups was their poor composition. For instance, one group is made up of five students and a comrade who is a worker on and off. The comrades in this section had a wrong conception of the groups, since they gave as a reason for this com- position the fact that the factory be- ing concentrated upon was a mail order house and they thought that the students could work among these workers better than some of the com- rades who work. Of course this was incorrect, and the comrades involved did not realize this till they learned it by experience. Another group was found to be composed of high school students, office workers, and unem- ployed. The thing we did find out was that every group which was really func- tioning had a good, well-balanced com- position, Every section should go over their membership and, place the comrades so that there are workers in each concentration group. See where this or that comrade can best function and place him accordingly. 2. Lack of Connections, This is one of our big problems. We are given a factory to concentrate on—how can we get information as to conditions, hours of work, etc.? This getting of inside connections should always’ be our aim when sell- ing the Young Worker, drawing up and distributing bulletins, arranging meetings, etc. Always try to talk to the worker that is taking your bulle- tin, buying your Young Worker. Try to get his name and address, draw him into a conversation. One of the suggestions made at our meeting was that a space for name and address be made in the bulletin issued by the concentration group—also that a re- quest for articles to be sent to the D. O. be made in every bulletin. This will bring some good results. Also LESSONS FROM CHICAGO ORGANIZATION any comrade who is fired should be kept in his concentration group and not transferred. His information may hot be fresh, but it is the best we can obtain. Another good suggestion made was that we have a regular system where- by unemployed comrades can be no tified of jobs which may be obtained in places which we wish to concen- trate on. Every comrade should realize the seriousness of quitting his job when we are concentrating on his shop. This leaves us without connection. Action will be taken {f this happens again, 3. Bulletin, One of the groups reported at the meeting that a bulletin issued in her factory brot very good results. They are doing this all over the country. The bulletin should be made a live, cabal ci niesiestsnsesiepep lanieaeoicensisingecidaina interesting organ of the shop, should be issued regularly (once a wéek, if possible), should be written not by one, but by as many as possible. These bulletins should not be made “theses” or “declarations.” A heading of the same size and type should be often used. This is done so that a young worker should always recognize the the’ bulletin as soon as he sees it. First we should have in consideration the writing of articles of’the every- day conditions and problems of the shop. Then short articles about word problems and revolutionary events should be used. Every month some- thing or other of the movement can be written up. For instance, January we have Lenin, Liebknecht and Lax emberg, March the Paris Commune, May Day, International Youth Day. Do not stuff these articles with theo retical discussions and revolutionary phrases that will go over the head of the young workers, who may never before have heard of the Y. W. L. “Socialist” Press Not Helping Striking Fur and Textile Workers NEW YORK CITY.—We are a group of students interested in, be- cause we realize our status as a com- ponent part. of, the working class movement, We feel that we are jus- tified in bringing to the attention of our fellow students, and to those of the working class who do not yet seem aware of it, the fact that there is something rotten with a group of people who claim to be working for the best interests of the laboring class. There is something rotten with the newspapers thru which these peo- ple make known their opinions, thru which they attempt to mislead the worker. These are the socialist lead- ers, and their papers, like the For- ward, the American Appeal, etc. The working class is at present en- gaged in fighting a tremendous war, and at least two battles in that war stand out today as being important. These are the Passaic textile strike, and the Furriers’ strike. The Passaic textile strike is a fight of the labor- ers for the bread of life, a fight for the right to live as human beings, and not as blind mules in a mine, not as machines grinding out dollars and profits for capitalism. The fur strike, too, is such a fight of the worker for life as a human, These are important battles, and An Ode to Burns... (Coal Co.) Young Workers they should claim the interest and at- tention of every worker: every worker should take a direct part in them, since he is directly affected by them. He should be given the truth con- cerning these matters. And the So cialist papers, like the capitalist, Hb eral papers, hardly mention these matters. When they do mention them they stir up a “Communist scare.” This is treason to the cause of the worker; it is tantamount to a sly and ugly thrust in the back by those who claim to be in the same ranks, fighting the same enemy. The crime lies in that so many workers are fg- norant of this treason, of this das- tardly trickiness of their so-called “friends.” Their attention must be awakened to this menace of “socialist” party class collaboration, which means only to perpetuate the system of slavery in which we now live. N. Y. Working Youth Celebrates The 20th of March will be a “Red- Letter Day” for the working class youth of New York. On the eve of the entrance of Spring they will cele- brate the fourth anniversary of the establishment of the Young Worker as the organ of the Young Workers (Communist) League, Bring your friends and let us make this dance a roaring success. Place—Harlem Casino, 116th street and Lenox avenue. Time—Saturday evening, March 20. Music—Excellent. Surprises—Many. N. Y. Y. W. L. Section Executive Committees. The District Executive Committee is calling a meeting of all section executive committees to be held Sun- day, March 14th, at 11 a. m. at 108 East 14th street. A number of very important ques- tions will be taken up at this meeting, and every member of a section execu- tive committee must be present. No excuses will be accepted, of Other Lands By JACK KAPLAN. In Czecho-Slovakia the Young Com- munist League opened in all its dis- tricts schools for the learning of Len- inism, The schools were composed of 10 members from the big organiza- tions and 3 members from the small organizations. The Young Communist League of Holland has in its ranks 43 per cent working youth, 37 per cent peasants, 5 per cont office workers, 2 per cent students, 6 per cent house workers, ete, 3 per cent soldiers cout 4 per cent non-workers, The Young Communist League of Belgium had at the time of the Fourth Congress of the Y, C. I. 40 members and from that period the Y. C, L. did very active work in the unions and among the working youth in Belgium. As a result it now has 500 members. The Young Communist League of Iceland has 200 members. The League had a big struggle against the reactionaries in the trade unions. There is no Communist Party in this country, but the Y. C, L. work with the left wing of the Workers’ Party and helps to struggle against the cap- italist class. As a result of its work the League has a great sphere of in- fluence among the working youth, The fascisti in Norway organized a League of Fascist Youth whose main object is to struggle against the Young Communist League, In Keechinev, Roumania, there was 40. young workers who came together and organized the Young Communist League. The bloody capitalist goverm- ment, however, intervened and these 40 young workers to jafl, -