The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 2, 1926, Page 3

BESCO CHECKOFE WORKS AGAINST UNION MINERS One Quarter Coaldigger Wages Taken Out MONTRBAL— (FP)—Over three times as much money is checked off miner wages in Nova Scotia for com- Pany hospital and allied purposes as for union dues, it appears from the Pecent dominion coal enquiry. Out- side the mining areas the popular no- tion is that the checkoff is simply a method of having the coal operators collect union dues. Company Gets Fat Part. But as developed in Nova Scotia the checkoff system is an elaborate sys- tem of bookkeeping, mainly designed for the benefit of the coal operators, According to a schedule submitted by the British Dmpire Steel Corp. to the commission, the checkoff in 1924 af- fected $2,986,175, or nearly one-quar- ter. of the total amount of wages earned ‘by its coal miners in that year, Of this sum $247,130 was checked off for the United Mine Workers, and in- cluded in this there were $102,809 rep- resenting a, special levy pledged by the U. M. W, A. to enable unemployed miners to. obtain food, largely if not wholly from the company’s stores. Of nearly $3,000,000 checked off from @ payroll of $12,449,708, only $145,000 represented union dues, How Checkoff Works, Besco submitted the following state- ment of checkoffs from mine em- ployes’ wages for 1924: Warehouse supplies (for their work) .... » $175,055 House rents 228,548 Employe coal .. ~ 348,397 Sanitation .... . 5,542 Electric light .. 19,444 Water ....... 10,911 Retail stores - 1,199,294 Doctors .... 222,100 Checkweighmen 60,030 247,130 145,658 75,884 53,756 118,127 753,00 Total ..... $2,986,175 It will be noticed that the company checked off $486,000 for doctors, hos- pitals and employes benefit society, as against $145,000 for union purposes, apart from the special levy to pay unemployed indebtedness to company stores. ~~New Liberal Bookshop Opens in Minneapolis (Special to The Dally Worker) MINNEAPOLIS, March 31.—The Li- beral Bookshop, just opened up at 210 South Third St., is carrying a full line of books and pamphlets on eco- nomics, high class fiction, drama, poetry, and other works of interest to the workers. A special effort is being made to build up the labor language press. ‘The DAILY WORKER and the Young Worker, as well as. the Workers’ Monthly, are carried. —_ The patronage of readers is so- licited. AMERICAN AND FOREIGN Communist AND ALL: LABOR PUBLICATIONS| 1500 Books and Pamphlets at. specially low prices. FOU Symphony FIGHT AGAINST RACIAL PREJUDICE! By W. FULTON. PRIMROSH, Pa., March 31. — The United Mine Workers obligation pro- vides that no person shall be discrim- inated against on account of race, color or creed, but alas, in the ranks of our union, in many places the min- ers themselves are prone, to forget this obligation. In many places in our union the workers, squeezed down to the point of starvation, blindly look- ing for relief, are (being fed race prejudice by the open shoppers, in the hope that the miners will fight amongst themselves, blame each other for their economic ills, and finally de- stroy the union, cf Officials Blind: In many places that I have worked in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, the miners are being brot to see this campaign in all its hideousness, but in a‘large section of the United Mine Workers of America much strife is taking place on account of the dis- crimination, and nothing being done about it by the officials of our union, or by the miners themselves, It makes no difference where a man was born, what his race, color, or creed may be, we are all slaves of the industry, in all countries except the one in which the workers themselves govern. We are indeed in the mud and mire down deep, so how can any worker say that he has any advan- is getting away with the swag. As long as this fighting between the col- or and nationalities continue, we can- not expect to make any progress against the common enemy, the cap- italist class. The capitalist class is organized on class lines, and so must be the workers. We must unify our ranks, and fight together, or we will be entirely at the mercy of the ex- ploiters. The exploiters are the same everywhere, it makes no difference to them what your color or creed is, all the use they have for us, is to exploit us, and they would as soon exploit a white man as a black, yellow, or red THE DAILY WORKER BOSTON WORKERS GREET TRUMBULL ON HIS RETURN Stage Big Demonstration on Station By AL SCHAAP. (Special to The Dally Worker) BOSTON, Mass., March 31.—Boston welcomed its native son, Walter Trum- | bull. The demonstration at the rail-| way depot was mightier than any ever | held. Pioneers were on hand with) one. We must block the nefarious Scheme of attempted discrimination against the races, and join hands for a finish fight against the common en- emy. I have been in many locals of the United Mine Workers of America that do not permit a so-called for- eigner or anyone but a white colored man to receive any consideration whatever. In fact many mines do not allow anyone but a so-called 100 per center to get a job. In many towns for instance, a Negro cannot get a Place to stay, far less a job in the mine. Until the workers understand that there is no difference in their nation- ality, color or creed, and join hands for their common cause, they will not be any better off than they are now. tage over his fellow workman, Color of skin has little to do with it, as it affects the ‘bosses, The Common Enemy. The bosses start a fight between na- tionalities and color so, that when they are fighting each other, the boss recently resigned, 50 per cent of the total newspaper readers of the couutry. Even the so- cialist and Communist journals have to get their news largely from this source inasmuch as it is the only large press service in Germany out- side of the Wolff Agency, the official organ of the government. The only large dailies in the nation which do not use it are the Tageblatt of Berlin, the Vossische Zeitung, and the Zeitung ATH JUBILEE CELEBRATION OF THE REET? at the MECCA AUDITORIUM, 56th Street and 7th Avenue, New York City Saturday Evening, April 3 Oratorio “DIE TZVAI BRIDER" ' Words by J. L. Peretz——-Music by J. Schaffer with the Freiheit Singing Society and the New York Conducted by Lazar Weiner, Tickets $1.00, $1.50, $2.00 vs at “Freiheit” office, 30 Union Square, New York City, of Frankfurt. Controls Public Opinion. In addition, he controls two large dailies in Berlin, the Lokalanzeiger and Der Tag. The Scherl company, which publishes these two papers and several magazines, is capitalized at 30,000,000 marks. Hugenberg domin- ates this concern. Then there are at least seven banks, besides a number of paper mills, film concerns, and other publishing houses which are un- der his control. His command of these avenues of information make it pos- stble.for him insidiously and openly to mold the opinion of the country into an acceptance and then support of his political and economic program. Wants Monarchy Back. In many respects he holds a position in Germany similar to that of Hugo Stinnés, Sr., during the period of in- flation. Hugenberg wants to restore the mongyehy, or in case that is im- possible, to establish a fascist dicta- torship as the most effective binding The working class is one class, and their interest is the same all over the world. They must stand together and fight for the full social valuation of their toil, and when they do that we will have made a long step in advance for the benefit of the toiling masses, GERMAN FASCISTI ORGANIZE TO DESTROY REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT BERLIN, March 31.—The German fascist movgment is daily intensifying its activities under the leadership of Alfred Hugenberg, the “Northcliffe” of Germany. His supporters are bending their energies now upon making him the official head of the national party in succession to Dr. Winckler, who Hugenberg controls the Telegraphen Union which supplies news to 1,600 daily papers thruout Germany. The combined circulation of these reach over SICKNESS IS CAUSED BY POVERTY, DECLARES YALE HYGIENE EXPERT (Special to The Dally Worker) NEW YORK, March 31.—Sickness is caused by poverty, not poverty by sickness, asserts Charles A. Win- slow, Yale professor of public hy- giene and president American Health Association. People know how to keep well nowadays but too often cannot afford to do it, he says. Poverty prevents equal distribution of justice in American courts, says Basil L. Q. Henriques, English so- cial worker. “The rich man in Ame- rica, who can hire a clever lawyer to quibble with the law, has a much better chance in the courts than a poor man.” =———— nation-wide press propaganda for a fageist dictatorship he is busily trying to form political combinations which will furnish a powerful enough instru- ment for action and which will unite all the reactionary groups opposed to the republican form of government. To Amalgamate Nationalists. The hardegt nut he has to crack is to amalgamate the two extreme na tionalist groupings, the national social- force for national unity. He is bitter-|!8ts and the Voelkische party or mis- ly opposed to the league of nations|2#™ed “national socialists.” Luden- dorff is leader of the latter faction. belief that this institu- be grat lina tend s ttinca,| The bitter antagonism hitherto exist. tion will strengthen the republican i regime. The majority in the reichstag| '"& etween them is breaking down. for the present government which is| The united fatherland societies af- founded upon adhesion to league him an instrument for bringing membership has convinced him that|®bout this reconciliation. ‘They com- the only way to prevent Germany’s prise practically all the numerous entrance is by a violent overthrow semi-military anti-repwblican organiza- of the republic. tions in the country. Ohief of these While he is thus carrying on a is the notorious and powerful steel Orchestra. the Tampa had the police after them when they tried to persuade strikebreakers to quit work in place of the 80 to 900 being paid by the open-shop Blectrical Contractors’ Association, Perey Mays, calls the union archista helmet league. Leader Backs Hugenberg. The head of this last named society, Colonel Duesterberg, was a high staff officer during the war — is.a warm friend of General von Seeckt, com- mander-in-chiet of the German army. Duesterberg endorses Hugenberg’s aims and hopes to enlist Seeckt’s sup.| port. The Pan-German League, which represents the high German bureau- cracy of pre-war days, and is extremly reactionary, is also backing Hugen- berg. Civil War For Germany. The fruition of Hugenberg’s plans mean an era of bloody civil war for Germany. It means also a further de- wage increase and improved working conditions, The action was decided upon at a meeting of the general com- mittee representing the 600 members revision, Tampa Police Thugs Attack the Striking Electrical Workers * TAMPA, Fla, March 31—Pickets of etrical workers’ union demand $1.25 an hour open-shop secretary men an- banners and slogans. As Trumbull came thry the gate he was lifted shoulder high by three husky workers, | and carrie@.thru the station. Cheers | went up for Paul Crouch and Walter | Trumbull, International Labor De- fense, the oppressed Hawalian masses and the political prisoners. Police en-| deavored to break the solidarity of the | workers by splitting their ranks. | ‘This resulted in the workers banding | closer together, singing “Hold the| Fort.” a After thes demonstration a mass meeting was held on the subject of “Militarism ‘and Youth” under the auspices of the Young Workers (Com- munist) League. Willie Steinhurst of | the Young Pioneers greeted Trumbull in the name of that organization. Her- bert Newton of the American Negro Labor Congress welcomed Trumbull in the name of the American Negro Con- gress, Comrade Roizan spoke on “Militar- ism and the Student,” pointing to the recent victory in Boston University of the militant students against compul- sory military training, Bert Miller, district organizer of the Workers (Communist) Party, spoke on the Paris Commune and pointed out the significance and its meaning to workers of America, Walter Trumbull then rose to speak, The audience rose and cheered lustily, They then sang the International. Trumbull.made a masterly plea to re- lease all Political prisoner's. He spoke of his experience in the organization of the Hawaiian Communist League, pointing tothe economic conditions as they effected Filipinos in Hawaii and the necessity, of organizing the soldiers in sympathy with the Hawaiian work- igs rt He then related his experiences with “justice” and told how it was meted out to Crouch and himself. He stirred the audience.to a high pitch when he told of hissyisit to Crouch, stating that crouch, would not sell out his principles a&@ would stand loyal to the working class. From ‘thep/mass meeting the audi- Page Three Freight on Scab Coal Higher Than Union But Latter Can’t Compete Differential freight rates on coal from the union mines in Illinois and Indiana are lower than those paid by coal op- erators of scab mines in Wéstern Pennsylvania and Kentucky, was brot out at a hearing here before Interstate Commerce Commission Disque. Charles Hoy, coal traffic manager of Belleville, Ill, admitted that Bellevile operators ship coal to Chicago at $1.96 per ton whereas Kentucky operators must pay a rate of $2.20. Despite this fact, however, Illinois mines are not ence marchéd to the banquet hall. At the banquet, R. Zelms, district organ- izer of the: International Labor De- fense, acted‘as chairman. The first speaker was Max Lerner of Worcester, who spoke’on the meaning of the Paris Comtiune to the workers. He was followei by mass singing, Every- one participated in singing “Hold the Fort,” “Solidarity Forever,” and other revolutionary songs, This was'followed by a talk and a Greeting by Bert Miller, district or- ganizer of the Workers (Communist) Party, who'stated that while Mass- achusetts was at this time the most reactionary one, the revolutionary movement could, nevertheless, he proud of the fact that it has e@ Trum- bull, that it can claim as its own. Mother Bloor, who had just come from the textile zone with two Passaic strikers, greeted Trumbull as a sol- dier back to the ranks of the workers, Need of I. L. D, Professor H. W. L. Dana, a member of the national and district executive committee of the International Labor Defense, pointed out the need to strengthen the International Labor De- fense so it could effectively carry on the struggle"for the workers, He was followed by Trumbull, Before Trumbull was permitted to able to compete with those of Ken- tucky because of the low wages paid in the scab fields. Put a copy of the DAILY WORKER in your pocket when you go to your union meeting. THE BOY SPANKS HIMSELF (Drawn by Wm. Gropper.) The Jewish Daily “Forward” attacking the left wing militants learned that the workers becam®é disgusted with it and the lying sheet only spanked itself. CHICAGO’S TWO GANGS OF CROOKS J bid two Chicago factions of the re- publican party, the Deneen crowd and the Crowe-Barrett combine are chargng eachother with “intimidation of election of officers,” “registration of floaters” and “precinct hoodlums” in the recent registration for the pri- maries. There is reason to believe both of them. Both of these gangs of politicians are_old hands at election fixing and the use of gunmen and ex-convicts by both camps at the polling booths is simply the continuation of the accept- ed election methods. Likewise the registration of dead men and old trees is a time-worn practice that seems to have swollen the registration lists by some 250,000 in the present altercation. Jt is a plain struggle for election THE SHELL OIL COMPANY UNION PAYS LITTLE ATTENTION TO THE GRIEVANCES OF THE WORKERS By ROBERT DUNN, Federated Press. Minutes of the Shell Oil compnay of California 1925 company union’s con- ference reveal the unanimous but unavailing desire of the 16 worker dele- gates for an able outside spokesman advocate. Under Shell’s agreement with its 4500 workers, in effect since 1923, “membership in any union affiliated with the American Federation of La- bor shall not be a bar to employment.” Individual membership in the Interna- tional Oil Field Gas and Refinery Workers’ Union is permitted but the Oil Workers’ Industrial Union of the I. W. W. is explicitly discriminated against as under other western com- pany union schemes. United States speak, the International was sung. His attempt.to begin his speech was again stopped while the audience sang “He ig/a Jolly Good Comrade.” Finally his dudience quited down and he proceeded. He spoke of the necessity of the International Labor Defense, telling how it had aided him and his fellow worker, Pau Crouch. He called on everyone in the audience to become members the International Labor Defense. This resulted in a number of new applicants for the International Labor Detenge, Two Breweries Will Now Make Malt Liquor WASHINTON, D, C., March 31.— The Anheuser-Busch company of St. Louis and the Pabst company of Mil- waukee have been granted the privi- lege of manufacturing a malt liquor containing 3.76 per cent alcohol by vol- ume and 25 per cent malt solids and is to be sold thru drug stores without prescriptions or dealers’ permits, In a letter sent by the brewery to its dealers it points out that this malt quor would. be “palatable but not potable to 4m extent that it can be used as a beverage.” This malt liquor will be a sygupy affair, It is intended chiefly for hospital use and for in- valids, The.amount of malt liquor to be sold by each druggist is limited to labor conciliation commissioners put their official blessing on this Shell agreement and one acts as “adjuster” for final appeals. United States Secretary of Labor James J. Davis, millionaire Moose, is the supposedly neutral party allowed in the arbitration plan provided for appeals under the Standard Oil of In- diana company union. Standard of Indiana advertises its scheme widely as a high spot in its progressiveness, Federal investigations of the price of gasoline have been featured by the company pointing to ite “fair treat- ment” of labor thruout its rump un- fon, Company Office Runs Union, “A company union run from 26 Broadway, New York,” is the way or- ganized labor describes “industrial representation” in the refineries and tank towns of Standard Oil of New Jersey. In operation since 1918, the plan is modelled on the earlier Rocke- feller scheme in Colorado Fuel & Iron Co, mines and steel works, As under the Colorado arrangement, the com- pany keeps wages at “prevailing scales” giving the plan credit for this as well as for various welfare feat- ures—stock ownership, pensions, in- surance, safety first moves, free medi- cal treatment, etc.—introduced to tie workers to jobs and promote company loyalty. The Standard plant at Bayonne, Jer. sey City and Elizabeth, N, J. and at five cases woekly for the small drug- sist and 25 cases to the large oe sista, fi ( Baltimore, Parkersburg, W. Va., and Charleston, §. C., and in plants of subsidiaries, aims to give workers a dhance to help the company produce to compete with the company’s high- paid“counsel. No outside spokesman for the workers is permitted, the com- pany considering it a violation of cardinal principle to permit any such labor ~-_————— “efficiency, co-operation, harmony and mutual profit” under the open shop banner. Trade union agitation is strictly banned on company property. tho the usual technical immunity is granted hypothefical unién members who keep their mouths shut about their union. The plan, Hke others in American industry, permits the worker to pur- sue his grievance thru a labyrinth of committees till he reaches 26 Broad- way—the company’s board of direc- tors. Most grievances are disposed of in transit and the decisions favor- able to workers on petty matters are used as talking points to play up the plan. Grievances Must Wait. Workers criticize the plan not only for its anti-union implications but for inherent defects. The joint councils have extremely limited powers. Com- pany policies concerning . many. mat- ters vital to workers are excluded from the range of discussion. Meet- ings of joint councils, called by com- pany officials, are often postponed for months and worker grievances and council resolutions hang fire till the company sees fit to consider them. Separate meetings of workers or their representatives are forbidden and no outsider is permitted to speak for them in council, giving the workers a special disadvantage against talent hired by the company to prepare its side of issues, Under the plans mentioned and sim- ilar ones of Vacuum Oil and Tide- water Oil in New Jersey plants, of Midwest Refinery Co.,, etc., there are at least 50,000 workers affected, There were over 85,000 ofl workers by the 1920 census; #0 that their numbers must be well over 100,000 now from the great increase in the. industry since then. The American Federation of Labor oil workers’ union has about 1200 workers, a huge drop from its 1921 peak of 24,800, The I. W. W. union had about 600 members ia late 1934, spoils being waged by two groups of equally corrupt politicians. Their dif- ferences are not political. The only differences between them are over the division of the boodle. In the face of a united labor ticket these differences would easily dissolve in a determined and equally unprincipled struggle against the awakening political com- sciousness of the workers. Workers had no interest in regieter- ing for the primaries. A vote in the primaries is a vote for-one of twe-™- boat-loads of pirates who, in ad i tion to acquiring their share of swag can be depended upon to serve the best interests of the bosses. Registra- tion in the primaries furthermore prevents whoever so registers from affixing his name to a petition to put a@ labor ticket in the field for the finals. THROW SOME LIGHT IN DARK CORNERS! Let the man in your shop or in the local of your union see for himself! Get his sub for THE DAILY WORKER so he can learn the facts about labor. Get a sub on the job! RATES: Outside of ben 2 p er year Per year . $6. Six months 50 Six months .! 2.00 ‘Three months, Three month: (and maybe it’s time for you to i RENEW your own subscription!) In Chic THE DAILY WORKER, 1113 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, Ml. FOF sonnnsnne MONEE sub to the Daily Worker, Enclosed §... Name soaneescanenanecanscnannasnanesanensnsoqnnnees AGArOBS oasssssscsrsrsosoceserccnnrnrosererssercecssenenmnid® | p