The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 23, 1926, Page 1

iciles. 2 The DAILY WORKER Raises the Standard for a Workers’ and Farmers’ Government Vol. Ill. No. 60. OTR COAL OPERATORS TERRORIZE UNION MINERS IN W. VA. Workers See Need of Militant Program “By ROBERT LINCOLN. (Special to The Dally Worker) JERH, West Va., March 21.—Here in Jere, W. Va., the miners have been reduced to very poor straits. Our pay envelopes at the end of tho week are mostly~empty. When we have our taxes taken off, that is, the price of powder, rent, tools, tool sharpen- ing, etc., we have little to take home as pay for our work. Conditions Terrible. I have lived, or rather existed here for many years, but I can confidently say that our wages and conditions have never been as bad as they are now. We are like slaves. Most of the miners are even afraid to let anyone hear them kick or go to the local and register their complaints for fear of being put on the road as it is stated that it is the same all around here, and if they get fired they will not get another job, and their wives and children would be even worse off then than they are now. In Bondage to Coal Barons. No matter what is said around here, the bosses know all about it the next day. The miners know that the coal company has stool pigeons thru- out the mine. ‘Fhe company has cre- ated a reign of terror as a result of this espionage. Our working condi- tions have entirely disappeared and to talk of wages is a joke. The shacks that the miners exist in are more like chicken coops than humen-dom- Company Unions. © © © Into this“wlavery hole there appear- ed the other day an agent of the coal company, E. S. Doulogh, who heads the Pittsburgh Coal company’s 1917 seale movement, and attempted to.get the miners to accept the company union and the 1917 scale. The min- ers told him that they would see him in hell first. He tried to show them many advantages that would come to them as a result of accepting the 1917 scale, but the miners knew bet- ter and repudiated him and his wares. Supporting Progressives. The miners here know that we must build up the United Mine Work- ers of America, with a strong mili- tant group. We are now doing that. We are organizing for the progres- sive miners’ program. Every one who understands it—that is those who have read it, are flocking to sup- port the program. We realize that. we must stay in the United Mine Workers of America and fight for re- lief thru our union under the lead- ership of the progressive miners to make our union the fighting instru- ment that it was in the years that have now passed away. At many meetings im. the last few weeks around here, the progressive miners’ program was unanimously indorsed, and resolutions Were passed to sup- port the miner paper known as The Progressive Miner. PETERS, GARVEY BACKER, IS NOW U.N. A, HEAD Much Political Trading During Elections DETROIT, Mich., Mareh 21—Mach political trading weut ou at the fifth international convention of the Uni- versal Negro Improvement Associa- tion when the officers of the organ- ization were elected, Mr. Peters, who has heen an ardent supporter of the Garvey faction and of the Garvey “back to Africa” and “this is a white man’s country” pol- icies Is now president of the associa- tion, Mr. Wallace, president of the Cht- cago division of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and Chicago leader of tho Garvey faction was elected secretary and lord councilor, To DiVide Workers, VANCOUVER, B, C.—(FP)—A new wrinkle in the employer campaign to divide workers on racial lines is seen in an advertisement by the Canadian Wood & Coal Co, in the Canadian La- bor Advocate of Vancouyer. The ad emphasizes: None But White Help Employed, Subsc + s a I 5x 156 ER TONE RA NEw Veh, os 929.5," 0, by mail, $8.00 per year. hicago, by mail, $6.00 per year, Pp HE DAIL WORKER. Entered at Second-class matter September 21, 1928, at the Post Office at Chicago, Illinois, under the Act of March 3, 1879. TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1926 BEF THE FINISH OF THE FIGHT ; ee aa) NEWARK GREEK WAITERS WIN A GREAT VICTORY Eight Restaurant Bosses Grant Union Demands NEWARK, N. J... March 21—The militant manner in which the Greek restaurant workers have been strik- ing has forced eight of the restau- rants to accept the demands of the striking waiters, The Greek waiters are on strike demanding shorter hovrs and one day off each week, Besides the eight restaurants that have signed up granting 100 per cent union conditions, are 10 more that are now garrying on negotiations to end the strike. Thruout the strike a strong picket line has been maintain- ed before the restaurants that are on strike. o The Little Presto restaurant re- fused to grant the demands of the union. The effective picketing which is being carried on has kept custoni- ers from going to thig restaurant... If the proprietor persists in his stub- borness, the strikers are determined to keep their line in front of the res- taurant and thus force him to close his place. CLEVELAND—(FP)—The American plan crowd are adding race prejudice to the antiunion prejudice, according to Cleveland Negroes, who complain that the open shoppers are wefusing to train colored workers for better jobs. HEN a suspicious looking indi- vidual cries, “Stop Thief!” it is well to look into his pockets to find the stolen purse. And when the gentlemen of the yellow socialist daily “Forwards” raise a hue and cry about the expenditures of the left wingers in the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union fight of last year, it is well to look so that we may find what the “Forwards” is trying to distract attention from. And we have found it. We Were told some time ago that when the “Forwards” agents led the pogrom on the progressives in the New York International last summer. some $170,000 were spent. We imme diately felt- that such a sum is ridi- culously small for such a collection of precious gentry. When we know that for the “stoppage” a half a million was “spent” then we are sure to be right im feeling that $170,000 is too little for the boys to have spent in their pogrom on the joint board left wing. And now, since the “Forwards” hag begun to shriek about the funds which the left wing spent, we give space to the following extracts from a report given at ‘a meeting of dress- makers in New York the other day: During the whole period of the * bitter struggic which the joint action committee (the left wing) was carrying on it spent a tota! of $122.- CLEVELAND LABOR ASSAILS LAWS AIMED AT FOREIGN-BORN WORKERS CLEVELAND, March 21.—Peter Witt, city douncilman, hit the nail on the head at the mass meeting called by the council for the protection of foreign- born, when he said that the trouble with the government is that the people do not know whom they ‘have in the sentatives would never be there, “Look over our city council,” he said, government-—if they did, these repre- “It is more like a menagerie.” Witt declared that if the aliens in this country stick together and let the men at¢——————___. Washington know that they are against the alien-restriction laws, the laws will not pass, } Denounces Washington Politicans. Max Hayes, an old fighter in the la- bor movement denounced the so-called democracy that exists in this country, He excoriated the men at Washing- ton and stated that the Atlantic City convention of the American Federa- tion of Labor, unanimously passed a motion to fight the registration bill, which is a menace to the entire labor movement. dino irs John Olchon, president of Local No, (Continued on yage 3) i 1 GENTLEMEN OF THE ‘FORWARDS! ~ TELL US NOW WHO IT IS THAT SQUANDERS THE UNION FUNDS 000, but the machine of the joint board—the gentlemen of the “For- wards”—spent not $170,000, but $270,- 000! The additional $100,000 they Spent was conveniently forgotten by them. Besides the $270,000 spent by * the joint board of that period, there were tens of thousands of dol- lars spent bythe individual locals, led by the reactionaries, to fight the joint action committee. All that remains to be discovered now is for what purpose the money spent by theiformer joint board and their kept lowal leaders was used The leaders ofthe former joint action committee have told how they spen: the $122,000. But how our good “com- rades” of the “Forwards” spent, about three times that much, with the ma- chinery of the! organization in their hands, they have as yet forgotten to’ inform us—or anyone else outside of their gang. “Perhaps they will take this oppor: tunity to let us in on the secret, Put a copy of the DAILY WORKER in your pocket when you go to your union meeting. CHIGAGO TO PROTEST AGAINST FOREIGN-BORN BILLS ON WEDNESDAY This Wednesday evening, at 8 m. March 24, at Schoenhoffen Hall, Milwaukee and Ashland, there will be a huge protest meeting against the many bills now in congress to further enslave the foreign-born worker, The meeting, which is un- der the auspices of the Workers Party, Chicago district, will be ad- dressed by Robert Minor, well- known editor of the New Magazine Section of The DAILY WORKER, and Arne Swabeck, delegate to the Chicago Federation of Labor from the Painters’ Union, All workers .are invited to attend. Admission free. Ea ROBE TEXTILE INDUSTRY 1S LAWRENCE CRY Workers Send Appea! to Senator Borah (Special to The Daily Worker) LAWRENCE, Masg,, March 21—The United Front Committee of Textile Workers in a letter to Senator William E. Borah requests that the senator in- sist on”a federal investigation of the miserable working conditions of the textile workers of Massachusetts. In the following letter the speed-up and doubling up systems that are in vogue in the Lawrence mills are pointed out to show how the condi- tions of the textile workers have be- come worse and worse: “We, the United Front Committee of Textile Workers of Lawrence, Mass., earnestly request that a fed- eral investigation of the entire textile industry of Massachusetts be insti- tuted at the earliest possible mo- ment.” Doubling Up System, “The doubling up system, whereby hundreds are thrown out of employ- ment, while those on the jobs are speeded up with lower wages than be- fore they took over another worker's job—in addition to their own—has been put into effect in all the mills. Old men are working 12 hours per night and if one of them dares to complain he is threatened with discharge—because of his age he is made to feel that he is an object of charity—that it is a great privilege to be allowed to work 12 hours. “Women in the cotton mills here in nee who used to. operats. 1% looms now operate 32 looms and re- ceive lower wages than when they managed 18. “In the entire industry all human standards have been ruthlessly sacri- ficed to a mad scramble for immense Profits and supremacy in the textile world, Barons Reap Enormous Profits. The American Wodélen company, owning three large mills in Law- |rence, one at Maynard, Mass, and the | Botany mill in Passaic is notoriously Prosperous. While the Pacific mills according to their own printed finan- cial statements had enormous earn- ings last year—their labor conditions are almost unbelievable—bosses hold ng threats of wage cuts and dismis- sal over the heads of the workers. “By the speeding and doubling up methods the most skilled weaver now tending 32 to 40 looms (cotton weav- ing) cannot command anything like the wages received for the more nor- mal task of managing 16 to 18 looms. It is a common saying in Lawrence that the weavers should be equipped with roller skates to make the jump- ing back and forth easier for them. “We urge that you investigate these conditions immediately as the federal government must be concerned with the welfare of the thousands of tex- tile workers—skilled and useful men and women, citizens of America. “Respectfully submitted, “United Front Committee of Textile Workers of Lawrence.” Published Daily except Sunday PUBLISHING CO,, 1113 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, Ill. by TAE Ds LY Tennessee Candidates Give Echo to Scopes Trial NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 21. — The anti-evolution law of this state which was used to prosecute John T. Scopes, in the famous Dayton trial, has become a popular question again with the approaching of the guber- natorial elections. Of the three con- tenders for the democratic nomina- tion—which is equivalent to election —the two who stand any chance at <M are loud in their proclamation of the excellence of this seventeenth century statute, One of. the contenders for the nom- ination, Hill McAlister, maintains that his opponent, Austin Peay, the incumbent, said privately that it was unconstitutional and that it would hold the state up to ridicule and that he could not afford to sign it. Peay maintains a staunch public defense of the law. It is’ expected that John R, Neal, chief of the Scopes defense counsel, who is an opponent of the law, will run for the nomination. U.S, TREASURY PAID WAR TE STRIKEBREAKERS Charge Padding of the “Fink” Payroll (Special to The Daily Worker) TRENTON, N. J., March 21—How the government — supplied funds amounting to $127,000 to the New York Pagial raliway which, were paid to a detective agency for breaking a strike during the war when the rail- roads were supposed to be under gov- ernment control was brot out here during a government case against William ©. Gennerich of the Ascher Detective Bureau and Captain Regin- ald Fay, superintendent of the marine department of the New York Central railroad. The charge is conspiracy to defraud. Characteristically enuf, the charge does not involve questioning the right of the raflroad ‘to use government funds in breaking the strike which oc- curred in the marine department of the road. The only complaint of the government prosecutors jis that the price charged by the Ascher Detective Agency and paid to them by Captain Fay for the railroad was exorbitant and that th~ strikebreaker pay-roll was padded with invisible “finks” by Detective Gennerich and Captain Fay. PASSAIC, N. J., March 21.—The the old conditions and then arbitrate of labor and the textile barons to have NEW YORK | EDITION WORKER Price 3 Cents RE U. S. SENATE -AT-uon uw 8S [SENATOR OPENS FIGHT FOR AN INVESTIGATION Workers’ Low Wages Bared in Discussion By H. M. WICKS. (Special to The Daily Worker) WASHINGTON, March 21—Robert M. LaFollette introduced in the sen- ate Saturday a resolution instructing the committee on manufacturers to In- vestigate the textile industry with particular reference to the Passaic strike. After consultation with senators and others interested in forwarding the investigation it was decided that the manufacturers’ committee was the one it should properly come before because most of the objectionable fea- tures of the industry concern matters over which that committee is suppos- ed to have control. LaFollette in his speech named the list of grievances which were pre- sented to the secretary of labor, Dav- is, by the Passaic strikers. LaFollette pointed out that the workers in the textile industry in New Jersey have been denied a living wage and that sanitary conditions in the New Jersey mills are a “menace to health” and “living conditions far below American standards,” and also that thousands of American citizens rare “being denied their rights under the constitution, of public assem- blage, free speech and free press” and brutal assaults are being made on peaceable citizens. Senator Borah, republican, Idaho, declared the low wages paid by the mills was “ample justification for the strike, “I am examining the pay envelopes and I know the wages paid,” declared Borah. “Do we want to justify such wages in America? That is the vital matter.” William B. McKinley, the traction magnate who is running for re-elec- tion in Illinois this year is the chair- man of the committee on manufac- tures and will have the deciding vote as a canvass of the committee re- veals six for it and six against. TEE = Another Oil Merger. LOS ANGELES, March 21.— Vir- tual confirmation of the merger of the Standard Oil company of New York and General Petroleum corporation was made in a statement issued here today by H. L. Pratt, president of the Standard Oil company of New York. He said- “tentative agree- ments” for the consolidation had been made. —_— PASSAIC WORKERS (COMMUNIST) PARTY SHOWS NEED OF GREATER SOLIDARITY OF TEXTILE STRIKERS attempt on the part of the department the striking workers return under is shown to be nothing more than an attempt on the part of the mill owners and the government to crush the strike of the textile workers in the following state: ment of the Passaic local of the Workers (Communist) Party and the district executive committee of CHICAGO MACHINIS TS LAUNCHING CAMPAIGN TO “ORGANIZE THE UNORGANIZED!” THRUOUT DISTRICT By ANDREW An active campaign to unionize th OVERGAARD. ¢ machine shops, inthe city of Chicago has been initated by the District Council of the International Association of Machinists, An organization committee composed of rank and file members | from the various locals in the city have been elected,’ a practical program has already been worked out and the machinery for“ real Campaign has been created. be The first leaflet has already been distributed in a number of shops and by drawing into the work all the active members of the union the organ- ization cemmittee plans to cover all the open shops in the city. Active committees have already been organ- ized to cover several sections of the city and the rank and file have res- ponded enthusiastically for the work. “The organization committee is planning to enlarge itself until hun- dreds of the members have been drawn into the campaign, Other leat- lets and propaganda material is being prepared by the committee and during the month of April after all commit: tees have been systematically organ- ized\a number of shops will no doubt be unionized. i Huge Profits Made. That enormous profits have been made imthe metal manufacture ig “(Wontinved on page 2) GAS BOM PRACTICE IN CHICAGO! ¢District No, 2: The proposal of Secretary of Labor Davis, that the workers return to the mills unconditionally, and then break the great strike of the textile workers, and to compel the surrender of the workers to the textile barons. It 1s a proposal even worse than that which Colonel Johnson and the mill owners have been making from the very beginning of the strike, ‘i The textile barons proposed from the very start, thru their office boys, the mayors of Passaic and Garfield, that the workers return without con- ditions, and that their grievances be (Continued on page x.) AS bombs have become staple equipment of the Chicago police department. bureau in yesterday jar gas explosives were used by the detective id” on the “underworld.” These excursions of the police occur periodically, accompanied by a fanfare of publicity, Care is taken, however, that the r: lucrative collusion known to exist cago and the wealthy liquor tear gas bomb into a “joint” y: ‘aids do not interfere with the very between the political bosses of Chi- lesmen. When Captain Stege threw a rday he without doubt counted on the publicity the incident would get.~The recent Passaic episode has shown, however, that tear gas bombs are far more effective when thrown into a crowd of strikers than when tossed over the transom of | a “speakeasy.” om submit to arbitration, is a plan to :