The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 20, 1926, Page 2

Tear gas bombs, which were used in the imperialist world war, are now being hurled at striking textile work- ers in Passaic when they dare to picket struck textile mills demanding an increase in their miserable wages and better working conditions. (Continued from Page 1) cossacks, but the line forged its way ahead and tumbled the whole police force into a ditch near the Ackerman Ave. Bridge. Since then the picket line has gone thru every time it has set out to do so. The strikers went to the mayor of Passaic on invitation by him. All he had to advise was that the strilrers go back to work and let the bosses settle the strike after. Weisbord spoke for the strikers and told the mayor that this would not be done. ‘As the conference was at an end Commissioner of Safety Abram Preis- kel rose in his might and declared that he would have 300 mounted rolice to ride over the strikers the following Monday. Again the challenge was ac- cepted and Organizer Weisbord ree plied: “Then we must have 6,000 pickets on the line to meet your cossacks.” The cossacks came and rode down women and children. But the picket line was there, 6,000 strong. It did not budge. The police said, “We will beat you up and crack your heads for you.” The strikers answered, “We will get iron helmets that we used in the war for democracy, and you can break all the sticks in policedom on our heads, but we will be protected.” “We will have the fire department turn the hhose-on you and drown you,” came the sneering threat of the bosses. “We will have our babies in the picket line and we dare you to turn tze icy water on them,” came the quick reply. “We will not allow the picket line to pass,” the bosses and cossacks again threatened. “We will ride over you if you come out again.” “We have more babies and we will push them in the carriages and our babies shall lead the picket line.” “But we will throw gas bombs and scatter you to the four corners of the earth.” cried the bosses. “We have gas masks from the war where we were supposed to fight the kaiser, and we will use them to fight the kaisers of Passaic,” retorted the strikers. “We will starve you into submis- snarled the bosses. “We shall have a relief for the strik- ers that will Keep them from starva- tion,” said the United Front Commit- tee. “We shall ask the unions and all workers of America. We shall have food for you for a month, for 6 months, for a year.” And the unions of Amer- ica have come with thelr backing. Over 2,500 families are now cared for, and we are ready to care for more. Money and foodstuffs are coming for relief every day and the strikers shall not starve. “No family in need has been turned away from the relief com- mittee without aid,” said Alfred Wag- enknecht who is in charge of the relief department. “The workers are getting good wages,” challenged the bosses, “and we have nothing to regret in this strike.” “Then we shall go to Washington and get a congressional investigation to show you up,” and the delegation is on the job making { hot for the bosses. “We will fool the workers with stor- ies of the weakening of the strike and tell them thru otr press and in ad- vertisements that we will give them all we can if they go back to work,” whine the bosses, “We will get out our own Bulletin and keep every striker informed of your tricks and your hypocrisy, and show up your profits and the miserable wages you are paying so that your ads and your press will not be worth the sniff of a pig,” replied the strikers. And the Textile Strike Bulletin keeps coming, solidifying the ranks and uni- fying the workers and punching holes in the air bags of the bosses and giv- ing them the laugh, Solidarity, workers! Stand to- gether, strikers of Passaic! For every challenge of the bosses we will offer the defy of 12,000 courageous workers. Tne ee acelary Correction on St. Paul Commune Meeting. The Paris Commune meeting in St. Paul will be held at the Labor Tem- ple Saturday evening at 8 p. m., March 20. T. R. Sullivan will be the main 4 DAYS! THURSDAY BAZAAR For the Relief of the Textile Strikers KANTOR’S AUDITORIUM PASSAIC, N. J. March 18 to 21 Splendid Program for All the Days THURSDAY—International Night Admission 25 Cents. FRIDAY—Labor Union and Strikers’ Night Admission 25 Cents. SATURDAY—Masquerade Ball Admission 50 Cents. SUNDAY (afternoon)—Hungarian Dramatic Society will give a short entertainment SUNDAY (evening)—Maennerchor Night Chorus of 150 Voices. Edith Siegel will dance Russian folk dances. Mark Perper will play piano selections. Admission 50 Cents, Music Furnished by the Mancini’s Original Tuxedo Seven. 4 DAYS! fo SUNDAY The Pioneers and the Passaic Strike By JAMES ROSEN (12 years old.) Comrades, the situation of Passaic is terrible; the strikers live in hell- holes that are cold and dusty and the children are almost starved some- times. The pioneers are helping to support the strikers by participating in their tag day and getting articles for their bazaar. Comrades, the police club the women and children, even throw gas bombs at them and they do not even realize how much the work- ers suffer as long as the bosses pro- tect them. I once read in a capitalist paper a big headline, “Russia, no Passaic,” this means that the police were worse than the cossacks in Rus- sia. This shows how the police care for the strikers and they don’t even care if the men get killed. Now you see the situation of the strikers in Passaic, The Pioneers have estab- lished a slogan, “Always Ready,” and this shows that the Pioneers are al- ways ready to help The DAILY WORKER and the Passaic strikers. THE DAILY WORK MASS MEETING Big Program Is Ready for Celebration Chicago workers will commemorate the 55th anniversary of the Paris Commune with @ mass meeting be- ginning at 8 p, m, tonight at the Ash- land Boulevard Auditorium, Ashland avenue and Van Buren street. The program, arranged by Local Chicago, International Labor Defense, is as follows: Overture, Lettish orchestra, Chairman’s introduction, Chaplin. Opening address, Bishop W. M. Brown, th “Last Day of the Commune,” one-act drama (translated from the Russian): Scene, a barricaded street in the out- skirts of Paris. Time, early morning, spring of 1871. Oast of characters— Marcel, A. K. Chureh; Dombrowski, Frank Buckley; Jean, Donald Burke; Louise,' Rose Luryé; first worker, S. Miron; second worker, J. L, Brooks; sentry, N, Segal; Meutenant, R. Brun- dage. Assisted by the “Omladina” dramatic group. Directed by Ivan Sokoloff, assisted by B. Ellis, J. Wed- nis and BE. B, Elbaum. Address, “Significance of the Paris Commune,” J, W, Johnstone, Prison songs, Russian singers. Address, “International Labor De- fense,” Robert Minor, Short talks by Ida Rothstein, M. J. Loeb and Coreinne Robinson. Motion pictures, with music by Let- tish orchestra, The Chicago Paris Commune meet- ing is only one of @ series which are Ralph FIGHT ON ALL FRONTS IN PASSAIC haha Passaic textile workers’ strike, now in its eighth week, is being fought out by the strikers on all fronts, The latest developments of the strike are: a Some 16,000 strikers are now out of the mills in Passaic,,demanding not only the abolition of the wage cuts but a 10 per cent inerease in wages over the old wage scale; the return of the money taken from them by the wage cuts; time and a half for overtime; a 44-hour week; tary working conditions; no discrimination against unionize recognition of the union. 2 The strike, which Is being conducted by the United Fro * Textile Workers, is spreading swiftly thru the most im of the northern part of the textile industry, the series of 8: driving hundreds of workers daily into the ranks of the stri int and sani- workers; and mittee of int sections je wage cuts One of the latest mills to join the walkout is the Lodi Silk Works. . 3 The strikers have already felt the combined opposition * arrogant bosses, but of the police officials, with their brutal attacks dur- only of the ing which werkers—men and women, young and old—were violently clubbed, beaten to the ground, attacked with tear gas bombs and soaked by fire hoses. The courts, the usual tools of the bosses, have done their bit against the striksers, by sentencing to jail one striker after another for exercising their right to picket. The newspapers, forced to take recognition and to protest against the brutality of the police have tried to use the police situation in order to create sentiment for calling would be even worse for the strikers. in the state militia or troops, which The militancy of the strikers has obliged the police in some spots to * back down in their brutal clubbings, and the picket ting and demonstra- tions of the strikers grow larger every day as a defiant answer to the mill boss tools who continue to beat up strikers whenever there is an opportunity. 5 The strike of the textile workers has attracted national attention, and a * delegation of strikers has proceeded to Washington in an attempt to get the United States senate to institute a commission of investigation of the miserable conditions of the textile workers and the abolition of civil rights in the strike. Some senators have already expressed a readiness to work for such a commission. Coolidge has refused even to see the strikers. Frank P. Walsh is in Washington with the delegation as counsel, 6 The situation in the textile industry and the feelings of the bitterly ex- * ploited workers shows signs that the spread of the strike from Passaic is more than likely In the near future. Paterson, strike talk is rife among the textile workers. especially in Lawrence, the scene of for a strike is going strong. thousands of workers in the industry, French “Tiger” to Re-enter Politics PARIS, March 18. — M. Georges Clemenceau, “the tiger,” after “five years of retirement, is preparing to make another sally into politics, ac- cording to Paul Reynaud. Reynaud, who is a candidate for election to the chamber of deputies in »pposition to a Communist candidate, declares Clemenceau has agreed ac- tively to support his candidacy. Deputies Give Briand Vote of Confidence PARIS, March 18.—Declaring his faith in the ability of France to set- tle her financial difficulties and meet her international debts, Premier Br!- and went before the chamber of de- puties this afternoon and presented his ministerial declaration, as head of the new French cabinet, He was giv- en a vote of confidence, after finish- ing, by 361 in favor to 164 against, Women’s Meet in June, KANSAS CITY—(FP) — The 10th biennial convention, Natl. Women’s Trade Union league, will meet in Kan- sas Clty June 28 to July 3. Worker Correspondence will make The DAILY WORKER a better paper, send in a story about your shop, Already men are out in Lodi. In In New England, many historic labor battles, agitation The movement which is developing may bring about a strike of tens of —————————— lesen being held thruout the country under the auspices of the International La- bor Defense. In New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit, the Twin Cities, Superior and the Pacific coast,as well in dozens of smaller cities and towns—in almost every city where there is a section of the I. L, D. demonstrations or meet- ings have been arranged with popular speakers and other features on the program, The significance of the Paris Com- mune meetings this year is the fact that they are under the auspices of the non-partisan, united front labor defense organization, which is using the occasion of the anniversary of the commune to draw the lesson of working class solidarity in defending the victims of the class a, ir—thou: sands of whom were furnisfied by the herole commune. , Special efforts will be made to get members to join the International La- bor Defense, as well as to get organi- zations to affilate in bloc. The slo- gans for the Paris Commune day cele- brations this year are: Build a powerful, united labor de- fense! Rally to the defense of the class war prisoners! Build the International Labor De- fense! ‘ Make your slogan—“A sub a week. This is a good issue to give me i ” By J. LOUIS ENGDAHL. TR league of nations crumples up at Geneva and the Union of Soviet Republics wins the victory thru receiving another extension of its “breathing spell,” as it develops its strength for new struggles with the whole hostile capitalist world. Austen Chamberlain, the foreign minister in Baldwin's British government, who plotted the capitalist bloc against Soviet rule, returns to London freighted with defeat, unable to solve the conflicts within the capitalist system. Instead all the old blocs among the contending sections of capitalist Europe are revived, with some new ones added. “Petty nationalism” is what Edwin L. James, the correspon- dent of the New York Times calls it. But It was imperialism that dictated the terms of the Versailles treaty in 1919; the very terms that spawned the league and found another hide- ous offspring in “Locarno.” eeees Instead of a united capitalist front in western Europe, against Soviet rule in the East, at least four contending groups must now resort to all the secret intrigues that have always featured imperialist diplomacy, in order to develop their own shifting places in the sun. The British, who have been leading the proposed anti-Soviet onslaught, see their hopes shattered and prestige lowered. The French, with treasury bankrupt and wars continuing in Morocco and Syria, can only dream of the now far distant days of the “cordon sanitaire,” when Paris was the center of anti-Bol- shevik conspiracies that backed Poland, Roumania and other frontier governments in the hope of wrecking the Workers’ and Peasants’ Republic. Then there is the proposed Mus- solini bloc, the Mediterranean entente, the dream of the fas- cist dictator. In the Geneva atmosphere of “suspicion and strife’ Mussolini is credited with instigating Brazil to cause the final smash-up. He also egged on Spain to create fur- ther complications. Only Mussolini’s representative refused to join in the mourning that attended the funeral finish at Geneva after ten days of bitter wrangling that postponed everything until September. Mussolini's Geneva spokesman comes home to Rome with acclaim, while Briand returns to Paris, Stresemann to Berlin, and Chamberlain to London, perhaps to see their governments dropped into the same grave with the league and the drooping “Spirit of Locarno,” now a discredited ghost. The six months before Septem- ber’s arrival are filled with many possibilities. It is easy to coceive that the conflicts then will be worse than they are now. : eeee The socialists shouted loudest that “Locarno” was to bring peace to the world. Geneva has wrecked all that. Even a fraudulent disarmanent conference now seems im- possible. These revelations will convince new masses of workers, in all west European countries, of the correctness of Communist policies in the present struggle with labor's capitalist foe. The web of delusions so energetically spun by social-democratic betrayers, will be swept aside for many more who labor. While the workers and peasants under Soviet rule rap- idly develop and strengthen their economy, the workers and farmers of western Europe will consolidate their power in support of the Communist leadership that directs the grow- ing effort to plant the standards of Comucuniach everywhere thruout Europe. ° The world’s workers have real cause for rejoicing that their exploiters thus find it impossible to secure unity among themselves. Let labor instead join its forces internationally and speed the day of their emancipation. The Versailles peace, the league of nations, “Locarno” —all lead to new imperialist wars. The solidarity of labor everywhere with the victorious Russian revolution alone leads the way to world peace. Coolidge Spurns Talk on Conditions of the Passaic, N. Y., Strikers sentatives were closeted with him for many hours. Davis Is Bosses’ Tool. The plan for ending ,the Passaic strike which this lackey of the bosses is trying to put over is that the strik- ers go back to work under the pres- ent conditions, repudiating their pres- ent leadeship. When they have all returned to work then the textile bar- ons will “meet” committees from var- ous departments and go over the grievances. It the bosses’ committee and strik- ers’ commitees cannot agree on terms then the matter willbe submitted to the persecution of worke seribe! a committee of three—one from the ers. This committee's decision will intend to hog-tie the workers and and Shadows.” turn is the restoration of the wage bosses, one from Secretary of Labor Davis’ office, and one from the work- be binding. In this way the textile barons and the department of labor cheat them out of the victory which fs theirs. Never under any circumstances will the strikers go back under terms which amount to unconditional sur- render. Their only condition for re- rate of last October and then the opening of negotiations. | Government Strikebreaker. For the department of labor to de mand that the workers return and ac- cept the old scale and to repudiate its leadership only emphasizes the role of the government as a strike- breaker, THE LABOR DEFENDER, 23 So, Lincoln Street, Chicago, Il. months, for which remittance is Cleveland to Hold Bazaar, CLEVELAND March 17-—The Cleve- land International Labor Defense will hold its annual bazaar and dance on Sunday, March 21, at Moose ‘all, 1000 Walnut St., in cel NANG | sacecersssesorsvoorsaecornersssonsnee New Imperialist War Is TONIGHT FOR | Threatening As Powers PARIS COMMUNE| Quit Meeting At Geneva A sub to THE LABOR DEFENDER is a blow national Labor Defense—help to class war prisoners. Do you know what American prisoners think about the I. L. D. and THE LABOR DEFENDER; such as Debs, Billings, Chaplin, etc.? You can read what they say in the March issue (Paris Commune Anniversary Number.) The April number, better than ever, has over illustrations (with articles) about such cases as Bimba, Corbishley, Trumbull, Combs, Passaic, ete. Start YOUR subscription NOW! Get 3 yearly subs at only $1.00 each and re- ceive FREE Ralph Chaplin’s famous prison poems “Bars You Must Be a Subscriber to THE LABOR DEFENDER—If You Want to Help—and Be Equipped for the Fight! Please send THE LABOR DEFENDER for ..... ensnenvernvanotensansnensensnssanersees PY |) ei Ale ee aa} STRIKER GETS TEN DAYS FOR BEING BEATEN New Crime Is Invented A . by Passaic ‘Justice’ By J. 0. BENTALL. PASSAIC, N, J., March 18 — A new crime has been invented in Passaic. If a striker allows a cop to split his head the striker has committed a crime and is at once taken to the hoosegow and later to the judge and given a sentence of anywhere from ten to'90 days in the county bull pen. To prove this ask Chester Grabin- sky. He knows. Forceful Pollee Arguments, Grabinsky was picketing fn a small police stopped Teddy ‘Timochke, 17, and began to search him, asked what right the police search a young fellow on Hne without any reason, once put under arrest, cop came along and shouted, “Where is that fellow?” When he sew him he knocked him unconscious with his night stick, Grabinsky’s head had been split and he was bleeding profusely. The kind hearted chief who happened around ordered Grabinsky locked up, The jailer saw his condition and ordered him sent to the hospital. Here the doctors sewed up the scalp and got him dressed for the next ordeal. He must now go to the court and see what has ‘been his crime, The judge gets the hang of the affair and prompt- ly gives Grabinsky ten days in jail, explaining that it is a serious crime to get hit by the cop’s club, Apologists for the judge claim that he did this out of pure kindness and argue that it will require at least ten days for the wound to be healed, and what place could be more safe than the jail where no picket lines are formed and where cops do not break in and split heads? STRIKERS PLAN BAZAAR Passaic Committee Enlists Aid of Many Artists PASSAIC, N. J., March 18,—Plans for the great bazaar to be held in Passaic the latter part of the week are now nearing completion. Artists who will appear in novel numbers during the four-day program are Flor- ence . Norman, opera singer; Peggy Tucker, pianist; John Di Gregorio, lopera singer; Arthur Cramor, violin- ist; Ludmilla Torotska, soprano; Iy- ana Patoy, dancer. One of the most interesting feat- ures of the bazaar will be the Sat- urday afternoon children’s program, which will be staged by strikers’ children. Recitations, a toe dancer, jacrobats, violinists, and special group numbers, arranged by the children |themselves, will make up the after- \noon program. Articles to be sold at the bazaar may still be donated if sent at once to the committee at 743 Main Ave. Many attractive articles have been re- jeeived, including two five-tube radio ‘sets, a victrola, clothes, candy, cos- metics, dishes and many small ar- ticles, which are especiaily needed. SEND IN A SUB. MARCH is LABOR DEFENDER MONTH Forty thousand workers were killed in 1871 in the | Paris Commune. Fifty-five years later hund- reds of thousands of work- |} ers have been killed or im- |] risoned under the White ‘error. inst re-adéed slrnath: tu teaens Get others to sub- enclosed, to soanenanonensneenssensses