The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 24, 1926, Page 3

THE DAILY WORKER Page Three SE , DEBS’ LETTER TO ANTHRACITE OPER ATORS CUT 335, 000 RAILROAD WORKERS MINERS ENDORSES PROGRAM RECEIVE 40 CENTS AN HOUR OF THE PROGRESSIVE MINERS] WAGES:IN MINES | posccs urs senor scsoaserjoe too maneenent san actny and December put 85,681 men on the | reduced the total distributed in wages street looking for work, according to compared with December 1923 more the monthly wage statistics issued by |*2@2 $10,000,000. Oe te ee THIS PAGE Is Devoted to the Activity and Interests of the - Trade Union Educational League (T. U. 8.1L.) North American Section of the RED INTERNATIONAL OF LABOR UNIONS (R. LL. U0.) By ALEX REID, In the New Leader of February 20, Eugene V. Debs addresses an open letter to the miners in the anthracite. This letter recounts at great length the suffering of the anthracite miners, their wives and families during the strike, goes into detail about the treacherous settlement, and the claims put forward by the miners’ leaders “that the settlement was a victory”: for the miners, Says Miners Lost Strike. Debs says the suffering of the min- ers and their families were little known outside the anthracite region, The coal owners and the miners’ lead- ers knew nothing of this suffering and torment, They ate their ample meals the interstate commerce commission, | ow important classes of railroad Union Coaldiggers See | these tayotts were largely attributable | mPloves have shaved the changes te “1s ° \ inten- id Saaantte 16,509 more workers on railroad pay- Sniates er aoa cent ime PITTSBURGH— (FP)— Unofficial|rolls than in December, 1924, Com- aoe akan sing presley ye. crease wage reductions by some union op-|Parison with December 1923 is more Settion dikos 351 349 os erators are making still more critical | Significant. This shows fewer em- Sollanrantiory 1 61 See the situation of the miners union in| Ployes in every group except mainten- : ‘ ” the important western Pennsylvania |@2¢e of way, The total railroad Ae) ptr cies : pag: na bi ; 71 | Ble ‘ i Ex an or Pittsburgh district. The 1924 scale | Ployes in December 1925 were 40,671 | 1) init. 16.1 42 B94 for tonnage mining and for day men |!€s8 than at the end of*1923. In the |i non. 526 612 88 .|2year period the number of clerks | ~ = seg a Ui sper sca gape PN 3,870, the train and engine service |COMmon labor, THE T.U.E.L. Represents the Left Wing of the Labor Movement. its Purpose Is to Strengthen the Labor Unions by Amalgamation of Existing Unions, Organization of thé Unorganized, and by i : Replacing Reactionary and Class Collaboration Policies with Hd! a Unified Program for the Transformation of the Unions Into a Labor Party, working for the elec- tion of Strikebreaker Coolidge. Enemies Combine. Here in the anthracite the repub- Hean party rules supreme. Here the Wall Street pirates are starving the miners into.slavery. Here the miners have suffened a terrible defeat from | pa i Organs of Revolutionary Class Struggle for the Overthrowal each day, and slept each night in|the republigam coal owners. Hers the saber psig ign vega ibe Ia ge Mek hadi 2K iat lyon 5 ens bed of Capitalism and the Establishment of a Workers’ and Farm comfortable beds, Debs was prompted | whole repubMean party solidly lined ifthe y. d groups 5,816, and the shopmen 34,679. hc pcbianibinpeas 43:7 os . { ord Governments to write the open letter to the min-|up with the coal owners, here every : The reduction in shop forces amounts Gondactors ig 39.2 85.5 43 , ers, because some of thé leaders|republicancpaper, and every republi-| Te reduction comes by compelling | to more than 6%. 3 nathan ee ae } would have the miners and public in|can agent:during the strike did their |‘ Piece worker—the coal digger—to ndu , freig’ 5 f a 1 do much of the work once allotted to| The December pay of the 1,269,287 | Brakemen, pass... 621 58.8 6.0 — general believe that the strike was|utmost to: preyoke a campaign of ter- day men. For example, where a tim-|Tallroad workers employed on an|Brakemen, freight 63.8 59.8 18 berman used to tend to the timber-|hourly basis averaged $135 for the Engineers, pass....116.7 111.0 42: NEEDLE TRADES RESENT TERROR "Debs says that the statement that [This was acaample of what we can oe, Caactecke cera Mier tmeacec oases ee the settlement was a victory is un- ect fr bli rty, and|i& in a miner's “room” the miner i T A C ‘i I C S OF FITZPATRICK AND true and that it does not seem pos- tent Ie eee te ae tsi > now, in many pits, has to do this him-| ber 1924 and $125 in December 1923. | Firemen, pass...... 90.0 84.5 6.6 : \ ” party that But the apparent 1925 gain over 1923 | Firemen, freight... 72.6 67.6 16 sible the miners can be deceived by|John L. is acted as campaign| Slt. He may be paid a small sum ; N OCKELS IN I , Li G. W. U. ELECTIONS such @ spurious claim to save certain Somentasion for. : PelgD | er prop or timber but the total hee ot wet cesen ee ee i ky on et faces. The whole letter isa complete Settlement Proves Betrayal. amounts to far less than the value ot i the average increased 24% in the 2-|bodied men are averaging under 406 indorsement of the progressive min- How could Lewis fight for victory isi time digging coal. And the boss year period. By the layoffs noted (an hour, ers’ program as he states now what |for the miners in the anthracite? He] °#Ves the wages of the timberman. auc etnies dats A a A NOTRE 4 Thi holds ti f other dead e Suny nad ‘sion the elaine ofan an og © te fputioan pry "re a» te miners term he eats |CQAL COMPANY USES CHECK-OFF : e strike, “that wi - fe require a and betray the miners or fight for the Diangée da ite inewneule SYSTEM TO PAY PREACHERS’ WAGE ferent policy than that hitherto pur-| miners who are paying him his sal- sued if the miners are to hold the lit-| ary and. repudiate the republican] Health and safety conditions have tle they have instead of sinking party. The settlement clearly proves|been affected at the same time, In deeper into wage slavery.” whom he betrayed. some mines the number of pumpmen Separate Agreements Foolish. How could the miners expect that}has been greatly reduced—from three Debs asks “why in the name of com-|Lewis would carry out their instruc-|!0 one in one particular case—so that men work in water, with lowering of " The attempt on the part of John Fitzpatrick, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, and of Edward N, Nockels, secretary of the federation, to determine who can be a candidate and who cannot be a candidate in elec- tions in organizations affiliated to the Chicago Federation of Labor was se- verély criticized by the delegates from the Chicago locals of the International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union, Expose Alliance With. Bosses’ Tools. The expose of the alliance of Fitz- patrick and Nockels with the union- smashing -Daily Forward followed the reading of a letter sent by these two federation officials to the Chicago Joint boatd of the International La- dies’ Garment Workers’ Union in an attempt to terrorize the membership of the garment workers’ union into supporting the reactionary candidates in the election of three business agents of the Chicago joint board. The letter itself sounded as tho it had been written by one of the most rabid open shoppers in the citizen's committee. These two heads of the federation took it upon themselves, after hearing pleas made by supporters of the right wing policy in the International La- dies’ Garment Workers’ Union, to ad- dress a letter to the joint ‘board tell- ing them in veiled phraseology that a ‘ candidate for business agent, Harry Zeff, could not go on the ballot, ‘The attempt on the part of the reac- tionaries to bar this left-winger failed, pointed out Davidson, one of the dele- gates from the ladies’ garment work- ers. He also made it known that Zeff was elected by a large majority. ‘Two charges aré made against Zeff ‘by Fitzpatrick and Nockels, who to- day are supporting Frank L, Smith for the United States senate on the union-smashing Robert E. Crowe-Bar- rett-Thompson slate in the republican party primaries. One is that Harry Zeff was sentenced to jail for man- slaughter and the other is that he is a Communist. A Communist to these two supporters of union-smashing can- didates is like a red flag to a bull. Arrested for Union Activity. On the charge of Zeff being a mur- derer and a convict, Delegate David- son of the International Ladies’ Gar- ment Workers pointed out that Zeff } { was framed up during the course of a tion campaign which is now being carried on by the rank and file com- mittees of the Ladies’ Garment Work- ers would net get the support of the Chicago Federation of Labor and the other bodies affiliated to it was used in the election campaign to terrorize the needles trades workers into sup porting the right-wing candidates. This attempt at terrorization failed. Elect Militant Workers. The combined efforts of the For- ward, which is aiding the employers in New York to break the furriers’ strike, and of Fitzpatrick and Nockels failed to elect the reactionaries. Three progressives were elected as business agents of the Chipago: joint ‘board. Delegate Ida Rothstein of Local 100 of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union took the floor fol- lowing Davidson. She pointed out that in spite of the statement of Fitz- patrick and Nockels that they would not support the organization drive of the Ladies’ Garment ‘Work- ers’ Union if Communists were at the head of the committee, this would not deter the garment workers from se- lecting those who had the best ability, regardless of whether they were Com- munists, anarchists, socialists or of any other political grouping. Left Wing Unionizes New York. Ida Rothstein pointed out.that this attempt on the part of these back- ward officials of the Chicago Federa- tion to make it appear that it was impossible to organize workers. when Communists were in control was not borne out by facts and cited the or- ganization campaign of the New York International Ladies’ Garment Work- ers’ Union as an example of what Communists and left-wingers cah ac- complish in organizing unorganized workers, Chewed Off Too Much. Neither Fitzpatrick nor Nockels dared to take the floor to defend this attempt on their part to terrorize members of a union at the behest of By ART SHIELDS, Federated Press. ]deducted, after the store bills, dow CHARLESTON, W. Va.—(FP)—|tor’s charges, rent and other items Supporting a company clergymanj|have ben checked off, Blacksmiths with the aid of the checkoff is the|and other mechanics and foremenaté way the Cabin Creek Consolidated | expected to go higher. The men ar@ Coal Co. does it on the upper right| given the option of contributing te fork of Cabin creek. Rev. Everett) Crowder or to the pastor of the Holi Crowder, whose flock lives in the lit-|ness or Holy Rollers church, but tle company shacks that are strung | Crowder’s Methodist institution is prew for several miles along the narrow | ferred, bottom of the sharp valley the tumbl-| In return, say the union and formes ing stream has worn through the/union men who are still found on this mountains, is sustained by the dollar | lost battleground, the company pagter a month contributions checked off his | preaches good company sermons, He people’s payroll—and further sums |advocates the open shop and is explic-. added by the company. itly reported to have said that a mem Theoretically the Contribution is not |cannot be simultaneously a christial compulsory. But a request from the|and a member of the United Mine openshop firm which controls all the | Workers, which the clergyman consid- means of life in the valley, is thenext |ers a lawless organization. He used thing to a command, and there are few|to give pastoral advice to return to Cabin Creek Consolidated employes | work, before the strikes were called who forbid this additional sum to be!off. ~ “PROSPERITY” BOOM LIKELY TO DISAPPEAR IN PRESENT YEAR NEW YORK, March 22—-The recent collapse of the stock market hag caused financial experts to issue the «slogan, “Caution,” to the business world. Over-production in many fields is already being felt and a continua tion of the present spirit of over-confidence for a very long period will resulg in a disastrous glut of the market. Credits are still plentiful and cheap, % is true, but are beginning to show a decided tendency towards restriction thru fear of over-shooting the capacity Company Union Agrees of the market. to Textile Baron’s Terms. Building Prospects Weak. The building boom is showing signs of approaching the end of the feverish operations which were necessary to make up the war-time shortage. Real estate speculation which is dependent upon building has received a definite set-back, The Florida boom is over. The building contract award figures show a decrease, mon sense should the contract with| tion from various conventions to work the anthracite operators expire at one|for a Labor Party? To expect the} Vitality and tendency to rheumatic time and the contract with the bitum-| campaign committee of the republican|and other afflictions, The danger of inous operators expire at another| party to work for a real Labor Party |rockfalls increases as less attention is time? The progressive miners have|for the workers is the height of folly | paid to timbering. Sera he Sean eT ene eae ee An aggressive local union allows PITTSBURGH TAILORS GO ON the boss to get away with less and sometimes succeeds in holding him to r oldtime conditions. The Pennsylvania STRIKE; SEEK WAGE INCREASE companies are making little use of the t injunction but depending on thugs and ‘ (Special to The Daily Worker) hunger. But the pressure is constant PITTSBURGH, Pa. March 22—The Journeymen Tailors of Pittsburgh, |and the employer is continually point- Local 131, are out on strike demanding a raise in wages and better conditions |ing to conditions in the nonunion cok- of work. Several large firms have dy signed up with the union agreeing | ing coal fields immediately to the to a 10 per cent increase. A number of other firms are negotiating and it is |S°Uth in Fayette and Green counties, expected that they will soon sign the agreementiwith the union. The strike |" to the example of the Pittsburgh Is 100 per ent effective and the men are determined to “stickitout” until | oom Company and the Bethlehem every firm has signed up. ‘i pik Mines Corp. which have ' abrogated their signed agreements right in the heart of the district. - siduc continuously fought for joint agree-yor to inst the republican lord. ments, national agreements for the] of payed racite is the essence of ehh manent le rd entire industry but have been repudi-| nonsense, Strikes are on egainat thé: Bethle- ated at every step by the Lewis ma- hem group and against those Pitts- chine. Debs further states that na- 'Rémove the Traitor, burgh Coal mines that are attempting tionalization is the only remedy. Jol wis was true to the inter-|to operate on the 1917 scale. But the est of tt and the republican | sreat majority of the 54 mines of the Fought Against Miners, party, henge his betrayal of the hard|latter concern are completely idle in The progressive miners had nation-| coq) miners. The miners have surely] lockout that is intended to starve alization of the mines with workers’ learned their lesson. Lewis connot be}out the more militant union members. ah! as one of the main planks in |trusted to, look after the interests of Many Pittsburgh district miners be- he eines for many years and|the miners, The miners must remove |lieve that their chance for a come ps — also been repudiated by the|him from the presidency and from the | back may come when the Jackson- be “ft coe toed ce 8 era td union whigh he is turning over body | ville pact expires March 31, 1927, and bos ace ry pele “4 fey lost oe to the enemy, the capitalist | the general walkout of the bituminous sive sentiment in the miners’ union. : ba peer i simtnid css se The demand for nationalization is not Anh new to the miners. They have in- dorsed nationalization of mines, short work day and week with other pro- gressive policies at many conventions of the coal-diggers, but Lewis has never fought for any of the miners’ demands but on the contrary has bit- terly repudiated them. Starve, or Bullets. New Dipvices Cut Down Labot Upon Railroads Railway executives are investigat- ing a number of new devices for re- ducing labor that promise to revolu- tionize the labor problem and that Steel production has started a de- will also have important effects upon wa cline, ‘The textile industries are hard the unions, ft BeeBtre fi Ye Soares hit. The present “prosperity” period MANCHESTER, N. H., March 22—= Amoskeag Workers’ Congress, company union of this huge cotton and worstead mill, voted to continue their present agreement for sig months, The congress accepted wage cuts averaging 10 per cent last year, which remains effective. agent W. Parker Straw told the 250 delegates that the Amoskeag products were good and the market seemed to | Your Union Meeting Fourth Tuesday, March 23, 1923, 144 Amalgamated Clothing Work ers, 1569 N. Robey St. Boot ons Rhos: Workers 1939 Mil- ui strike, as many union men have been by the bosses and their lackeys, and that he was released after one year in prison because the charges against Brick and Clay Worke Paving be picking up but he would not him were so flimsy. Yet the federa-|@lements which have used sluggers| Debs goes on to point out the neces-| The once familiar handcar which camer acl thw ew inh is based almost entirely on the Pur |Dromise nor predict how much work tion heads used this as one of their raed bated heather mane Way te tes as hegre ace ne carried section hands to and from ig oats et. bi a ae Pegs Bee tle katlaine Goorin there would be during the year, arguments against Zeff being a candi-|S0ught to unionize the industry. They ers BUDPO! Politi-|their work is now almost obsolete. ayeantare, Wee ae ee rap trashed . Amosk ing i raye date. rf ig did not say a word in defense of their |cal parties of their masters, they will be I eerie Cie’ coe In fts place’ is the motor car. 272 Ca "Moose ‘Hall, “Chicago | beginning to draw to a close and | oo oitcial ‘silk, goods and comb Mechanical means of cutting weeds Heigh: m over-production threatens a calamit- i ts along the shoulder of the roatben are Carpenters, Witten’s Hall, High- | us time when the boom stops. uetlons of rayon and COR: being ised“axtelisively: 6: md Carpenters, Springfleld and 26th. aes is jot SeRtise ot Goseitenaety Sana ow. Van “Buren Watch for Wage-Cuts. Boston Union Drive position. A number of delegates sit- ting near the DAILY WORKER re- porter remarked: “That’s where Fitz chewed off more than he could swal- get what they are getting now, the right to collective starvation, provid- ing they starve in a peaceful and law- abiding way, for if they dare to make Delegate Davidson then went on to show that the objection to Zeff be- cause he is a Communist was not a ‘matter for the federation to discuss, hole, ets for . as this had been settled in the union |1ow. What the hell right has he to lany fuss about it they will promptly less cost than hand weeding, 1936 cannot be sald to be of the best to Open with Parade us inion em who ‘ j after a fight that lasted for three days dad ahatlivora ASE co WEN AMTE danas receive bullets in exchange for the Navy Rall Devices. oS. WSS ave, {A marked recession can be looked for — between the left-wing and the right. | "ey oo ballots they gave to the candidates of ¥ 302 y {Loc.), 5058 Wentworth ‘toward the end of the year and with wing. He further pointed out that | dates can be?’ their masters.” Lengthening life of rails two to BOSTON, —(FP)—March 22 —Ble When the vote to concur in the re- four years.and helping solve a prob- rs, 180 W. Washington st. it unemployment and wage-cuts. ra (Loe.)," 2433 W. Roo ven Boston trade unions have already lem long regarded by railway engi- + 00.) 2047 W. s8t Wages atid Compensation voted to parade on April 11 to Faneul§ neers as difficult is being accom- i 418,N PHOENIX, ‘Ariz.—(FP)—while the | Hall to formally open the local activie plished now by wide use of station- Ploy * . ties of the American Federation of ary or portable rail cutting, drilling, | 1544: pe “Union, 3046 W. 26th Labor organization drive. Painters, and buil Up devices. These treat — a and Enginemen, iden postal clerks, longshoremen, leather the battered ends of rails and return Hatters, Ceriiamere), 166 W. Wash- workers and leather handlers; horse- them into nseful service at a great shoers; electrotypers, garment work» saving in équipment. Zeff is not a member of the Com- munist Party or any Communist or- port of the executive committee was Indorse Labor Party. ganization, but that he is a left-winger | taken 144 voted for the report and 23] The progressive miners in the an- who opposed the expulsion policy of | Voted against. When one of the dele- | thracite and all over the industry have the reactionaries against the Com-|S@tes asked whether only delegates |been continuously fighting for a La- - munists. were voting, Nockels, who was count-|bor Party, and at many conventions ing the votes, declared angrily: “It ]of the coal diggers, they have indors- makes no difference to me!” ed a Labor Party. This part of the workman and his family coming under the Arizona workman compensation law receives the most liberal compen- sation allowed by any state in case of accident, an immediate effect of its Threaten Sabotage, The federation in its letter declared that if the organization drive was in United Assails Amalgamated. progressive miners in the anthracite 8, ers, metal polishers, Cambridge plas» the hands of the Communists little] A communication from the United |recelved the bitter opposition of the| Passing of the laborer with his hand Hed Sarciers: axe. Mercian Se Pratroe rater by private companies :terers, stationary firemen, and Now support could be expected from the ;Garment Workers’ Union pointed out |authorities and the miners’ leaders, | pick to tamp rails, to keep up an even pe 814. W: Marvtodh on: 1% fe believed that in many’ tn dustries, {004 painters will be in the five “bona fide trade unions in the Chicago |that many workers in Nash shops|The miners have for many years work-| surface, is in the increasing rise G t Workers, 328 such as cotton ginning and the manu. |>@F#des planned from different direg Federation of Labor.” were forced to join the Amalgamated |ed for a Labor Party, and even “Bili”|0f mechan tie tampers, operated it tions to the hall. Boston Central La» ‘The garmént workers in Chicago | against their will and called upon the Green at the American Federation of| by compressed air or electricity. “esamabilg utara sal ys hea hig are mostly unorganized. As the union |Chicago Federation of Labor to Tet|Labor convention in Montreal was t , is now carrying on an ate mae its are know hethape rca forced to approve it but since that Newly peti em os | 846 Meat gu 475 'W. Ave. hao et OR Sea: Sever mpaign and the reactionaries in and urge the membership to buy cloth- inven machin campaign e re: 8 ip time this program has been relegated are replacing the shovel gang. The m tebe Sutebrs, 0906 Hoveten'/Aie. Practically every mining company union, who had been drawing down/ing bearing the United Garment |to the background by the labor bu- igh salaries for doing nothing, feared | Workers’ label and to refuse to buy | reaucracy, 4 average cost of moving dirt with the aie Fire’ and Oilers, 387 N. -olbaenl pong pie pannis bgorcttacpaered lothing made the “outlaw” or- ditcher outfit is 21 cents per cubic on we cutnien ot pred yee giatiation, his letter of the United Republican Committeeman, yard, compared with 50 to 75 cents ing nag ec will bryan between masses of unorganized workers would |Garment Workers in Chicago was ‘re-| John Lewis and the American Fed-|per yard for moving dirt by teams, 1% et: . per cent of the state insur- be elected and they be ousted, they|ceived and notations made in the {ration of Labor have no more inten-|and $1 to $1.25 for moving by hand. ance business, appealed to the federation to terrorize | minutes.” The executive board of the |tion of working forthe interest of the} The average cost for moving material the membership of the International |federation in that way passively in-|miners and workers than has Coolidge|>Y means of the spreader is 11 cents Ladies’ Garment Workers with threats |dorsed the appeal of the scabby Uni-|himself. Witness John L. Lewis at|Der cubic yard. Other services ren- of sabotage. The threats of Fitzpat-|ted Garment Paripar Sw the | the reef an organization of work- ‘orkers, ers: w! continuot rick and Nockels that the organiza- |Amalgamated Clothing ve usly fought for eek la bering I I I wii " Mm wun I ual labor, Fourth Jubilee Oecticlo Celebration of the ‘Freiheit’| “Die Tzvai Brider” (Words by J. L, Peretz—Music by at the Mecca Auditorium J. Schatter) 55th Street and ith Avenue, New York City bor Union is having 10,000 circulars announcing the meeting printed distributed to all unions and in large unorganized factories of © district, Violates Child Labor Laws NEW ORLEANS—(FP)—A, berger, superintendent of the B Shirt Manufacturing Co., is with violation of the child labor for employing 16 boys and girls age. Many children of tender are employed in the sweatshops New Orleans at less than $3 a Demand Higher Scales. HAVERHILL, Mass.—(FP)— Shoe * /finishers in their local of the Shoe Workers Protective union are demand- an, ing 35% higher wage rates. The eae Thienigan local is withdrawing from the Haver- hill shoe board established under the Carmen, 8324 8. Halsted} peace pact between the Shoe Work- 382 Railway Clerks, 649 W. Washington |ers Protective and the employer asso- 739 Railway, Clerks, Moose Hall, chi-|Clation. The finishers local is re- i ee 8 Phased Helpers 4 Club of B: s New York calls on all helpers to questing investigation of its demand for wage increases by the state board of arbitration, which gave the Lynn ; witli the race nines $800 We Matis | ane workers @,80% ¢0 40 the club. Meeti rea ie Counc, 220 8 auction lately.” % wage ro-|1! PRIDAY night, 8: a Freiheit Singing Society and the uto), 220 §. Ashland New York Symphony Orchestra i hiv, 7, wena When that argument begins at sow-—show thee thn ia th DAL |