The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 10, 1926, Page 3

MINE STRIKERS USE SONGS TO STOP SCABBING | | Injunction Forbids Them to Picket Mine By ART SHIELDS, Federated Press. SAGAMORHD, Pa.—(FP)—The Pres- ‘byterian choir of Sagamore, a strike town in Armstrong county north by east of Pittsburgh is welcoming spring nd the early morning sunrise. All through the long winter the chorus of 20 singers has been assembling in the snow and darkness on the land the miners’ union leased above the road. The strikebreakers must take this road on their way to the Buffalo & Susquehanna Coal Co. mine, which is attempting to operate on the 1917 scale basis in violation of the 3-year contract signed in 1924, The choir is made up of striking coal diggers and their wives and daughters, with. several school teach ers assisting. They began singing to the scabs when the Kitanning court tssued an injunction forbidding picket- fmg, They have sung scores of scabs away in the course of the 6-month strike, Pi Strikebreakers Leave Town. Last Monday three more carloads of the invaders left town. They couldn't face the singers any more. I used to watch the strikebreakers passing shamefacedly, staring at the frozen Toad before them, as the choir sang at them: Oh stranger, why did you come here, And take our homes and bread away; Oh won't you quit your work today, And join us now, we pray. So begins one of the songs com- posed by Clara Johnson, a public school teacher, and Mrs. Arthur Cook, # striker’s wife and choir singer. The chorus rings on: Won't you Join us? Join us? In fighting for our rights today; We're going to win, we know we will, , So join us now, we pray the yoices pealing down the narrow road that leads past the singers from the company tenements to the mine mouth, Negro Workers Refuse to Scab. Only a few strikebreakers are brazen. These usually come from the farms of Armstrong county. In this part of Pennsylvania there is a wall detween the farmer and the industrial worker. But the imported strike- breakers are quicker to sense the shame of their position. This is espe- cially true of those whose skins are dark, and who were imported without * * haying been informed of. the strike. The first morning to work the strike message comes with the choir’s voices. | ‘They get the entreaty of mothers dis- possessed from the homes they are now occupying. And the strikebreaker will work a few days, sometimes a few weeks, till he is able to pay his | way out and say goodby. Then the operator fetches in more to go through the same experience. But the com- pany has never got enough to work more than one of the four mines and | that on a reduced basis. Police Arrest Singer. One morning last January state po- lice and guards raided the choir line and took a group before the justice of the peace, who fined them $5 each. The union paid the fines and the sing- ing appeals go on. In the early morning they raise their voices in the last triumphant stanza of the Oh Stranger song: In union there is strength and might, So why oppose a cause that’s right? Won't you New Painters’ Scale ST. LOUIS—(FP)—A 5-day week ‘and a weekly scale of $55 feature a new working agreement proposed by the 2500 union painters of St, Louis. ‘The present rate is $1.30 an hour with a 44-hour week. The unionists hope to spread employment for their members ‘by shortening the ‘working week. Asbestos workers demand an hourly increase of 17% cents over the pres- ent scale of $1.25 an hour. A new pamphlet by the author of The Zeigler Frame-Up —10 Cents Lenin, Liebknecht, Luxemburg —10 Cents garay. Twelve copies of 4871—THE PARIS _ COMMUNE _ will be sent for / one dollar, Lirtty. Rep Lisrary No. Erenr The Paris Commune By Max Shachtman “This history. children, to all the workingmen of the earth. The child has the right to know the reason of its paternal defeats, the Socialist party, the cam- paign of its flag in all countries. who tells the people revolutionary legends, he who amuses them with sensational stories, is as criminal as the geographer who would draw up false charts for navigation.”—Lissa- Daily Worker Publishing Company, SELECT MORGAN AGENT TO REPRESENT AMERICA AT ECONOMIC CONFERENCE (Special to The Daily Worker) GENEVA, April 8—David F, Hous- ton of New York, former secretary of agriculture and now president of the Bell Telephone Securities com- pany, has accepted the invitation of the league of nations to act as Ame- rican delegate to a preparatory com- mission on world economics. Owen D. Young, chairman of the board of directors of the General Electric company, had been invited to act, but was unable to accept. Young was one of the drafters of the Dawes’ plan. With Houston as the American delegate to a conference the real object of which is to stabilize the capitalist system by attempting to reconcile its international conflicts, the house of Pierpont Morgan again emphasizes its position as the finan- cial czar of the whole world. The General Electric company and the Bell Telephone Secutities company are dominated by the Morgan in- terests. Politicians and Trade Unionists Contend for Labor Party Mastery 5 By W. FRANCIS AHERN. SYDNEY—(FP)—The annual con- ference of the Australian Labor party will be a bitter fight between the par- liamentary wing and the trade union- ists for control of the executive, which directs the movemert between con- ferences. Three yeéfs ago the poli- ticlans secured control by the cry that the movement had been fouled by a coterie of crooks. They entered upon a campaign of expelling Communists and others. It wasn’t long before the workers saw that the movement was more cor- Tupt than ever. Last’ year, when the opposition to the politicals was par- ticularly strong, they refused to hold the usual conference, This year the unionists have issued a manifesto to the unions affiliated with the Australian Labor party, point- ing out the rottenness of the present political control. At an industrialist conference in Sydney Feb, 20 attended by delegates of most of the unions steps were taken to regdin control of the labor movement. At the coming conference the union- ists should win. If this happens labor will develop along left-wing lines. Anti-Strike Bill Now - Law in Australia MELBOURNE—(FP)—The crimes bill, which seeks to outlaw striking unionists and revolutionary organiza~ tions, has become law in Australia, Under this measure the Communist, party is classed as an unlawful asso- ciation and can be suppressed at any time, while members of the party not born in Australia can be jailed and deported. Those born in Australia can be jailed. The bill also declares cer- tain strikes to be illegal and makes unionists on strike subject to the same treatment as members of the Communist party. Even Britishers can be deported under this law. It is certain that threats of jail and deportation will not deter the work- ers from strike. At a largely attended conference of industrial unions, held at Sydney Feb. 20, it was decided to resist the crimes bill, particularly those clauses outlawing the Commun- ists and unionists on strike. It was also decided to get in touch with in- dustrial bodies in the other Austra- lian states to institute continent-wide opposition to the measure. Two Hundred Mutiny in Argentine Prison BUNEOS AIRES, Argentine, April 7—Two hundred prisoners mutinied in the detention section of police headquarters. More than two score were severely beaten by the police, 1871 + + is due to their He TEN CENTS Published by the Chicago, Il, THE DAILY WORKER COAL OPERATORS BREAK CONTRACT WITH U. M. W. A, Barons Lock Out Miners; Seek to Cut Wages CLEARFIELD, Pa.— (FP) —The miners’ union is having a fight for life in the 14 soft coal producing coun- ties of central Pennsylvania, where the bituminous fields begin. Here in Dist. 2, United Mine Workers, several of the larger operators, employing a good minority of the coal diggers in this part of the state, have broken their contracts with the union they dealt with many years and are at- tempting to run on the low 1917 wage scale, without checkweighmen or other union safeguards. The contracts calling for current wages and continued union recogni- tion for a 3-year period went in effect April 1, 1924, but it appears that these operators never intended keeping them beyond the time they needed to pre- pare for a fight with the union. While the ink was still drying on the con- tracts plans to break them were under way. Move to Break Contract B. M. Clark, chief operator in the district, gave the game away April 2, 1924, the day after the treaty began to operate. Clark, now fighting the union with injunctions, thugs and evic- tions, was doubly committed to the pact. He had signed as president of the Assoc. of Bituminous Coal Opera- president of the largest operating con- cern in the northern part of that dis- trict, the Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal & Iron Co., a subsidiary of the But- falo, Rochester & Pittsburgh R. R. Co., that taps some of the richest Pennsylvania deposits. April 2 he is- sued a statement seeking to under- mine public confidence in the agree- ment. April 19 he followed with an utgent demand that the union modify the rates to suit what he called eco- nomic conditions, Brophy’s Lame Arguments Pres. John Brophy of the district union, seeing the drift of policy, re- Plied with spirit that the agreement must ‘be kept, that the operators had entered into it with eyes open. Brophy met the wage reduction argument by ‘showing that a cut in the union fields would lead to further cuts by nonunion competitors to the south, He empha- sized that the ills of this overdevel- oped industry were due to more funda- mental causes than could be solved by reducing standards. As the year lengthened Clark and ‘his . association secretary, Charles Q’Neill, a former miners’ district union vice president, continued their propa- ganda for modification of the contract through the columns of the little pro- employer newspapers in Clearfield, Dubois, Philipsburg, Punxsutawney, ‘Altoona and other central Pennsyl- yania cities. Their lead was followed. The climax came when the Pittsburgh & Rochester shut down all its opera- tions in Jefferson and Indiana coun- ties, throwing several thousand min- érs out of work, and announcing they would not reopen at the union scale. Lockout Miners. When the union operator decides to break away he begins with a lockout. After the miners have starved for sev- eral months he gets a few signatures to a back-to-work petition from straw bosses and company men and attempts to resume operations, saying that he is responding to a demand from the strikers. When a strike follows he charges that intimidation is prevent- ing his loyal workers from pursuing their own pleasure and he gets an in- junction. Uses Dummy Corporation That is what Clark did early in 1925. He varied the program a little by leas- ing the mines to a dummy concern, the Jefferson & Indiana Coal Co. This company, it was said, had not signed the Jacksonville agreement and was not bound ‘by its terms, The two com- panies were really the same, Clark being vice-president of the leasing concern, , Similar dummy leasing was prac- ticed by other concerys, but the union is carrying the fight to the parent companies and refuses to surrender to paper evasions. Five thousand new subs jn three weeks Is a big Job—but it can be done with your help. Send in a sub, | Telephone Lehigh 6022 DR. ABRAHAM MARKOFF Surgeon Dentist 249 East 115th St., Cor. Second Ave, NEW YORK CITY Office Hours: 9 to 12 A. M.; 2 to 8 P. M. Daily, except Friday; Sunday 9 to 1 P. M. Special Rates to W. P. Members Telephone Stuyvesant 9964 WANTED! SHOES—CLOTHING—DONATIONS FOR THE PASSAIC STRIKERS. HELP KEEP UP THE PICKET LINE!!! Bring or send to the INTERNATIONAL WORKERS’ AID Room 237—799 Broadway Page Three Aristocratic Evanston Apartment District Is Crowded Like the Slums (Special to The Daily Worker) EVANSTON, Ill, April 8. — Apart- ment house neighborhoods here are becoming more crowded than tene- ment districts, was the charge today of the zoning commission, which pro- posed an amendment to the building law permitting only 50 families to the acre instead »of 75 at at present. Under the present law, 1,500 people may be packed into one city block, the commission, under Albert B. Andrews, charged. The proposed amendment is aimed particularly at speculative apartment builders who are taking ad- vantage of the old law by erecting apartments with only three foot yards in front and nly five foot yards in the rear. r The city council is expected to act on the proposal, within the next fort- night. Italy Increases Navy in Preparation for War (Special to The Daily Worker) ROME, April_8.—Italy, in spite of its poverty, is. headed under the fas- cist regime for participation in the armament struggle. In accordance with Mussolini’s ambitious scheme for restoring the country as a great power, there are being constructed at Leghorn for. the navy two light cruisers displacing 10,000 tons each, the limit in size allowable by the Washington conference of 1922. Twelve submarines are being built, of 1,400 tons each. These will have @ speed under water of ten miles an hour and on the surface, of 1814 miles an hour, Four destroyers with a speed of thirty-five miles per hour are un- der way at Naples and Odero, re- spectively. Eight others, with a speed of 36 miles on hour, are being built at Odero and Genoa. Getting Ready for Coup. Inasmuch as Mussolini aims partic- ularly to establish Italy’s power in the Mediterrangan, these additions to her navy are significant. Along with the fascist reorganization and strengthen- ing of the army, it means that the dictator is getting ready for a spec- tacular coup of some kind, FOREIG Great EXCHANGE. Britain, pound _ sterling, demand 4.8578; cable 4.86%; France, franc, ». demand, 3.48; cable, 3.48%; Belgium, franc, demand, 3.86; demand, 3.86%; Italy, lira, demand, 4.02 1-8; cable, 4.02 3-8; Sweden, krone, demand, 26. cable, 26.81; Norway, krone, demani y, 21.45; cable, 21.47; Denmark, krone, demand, 26.17; cable, 26.19; ‘Shanghai, tael, demand, 72.87%. V€ A sub a day will help to drive rapital away. ' New York City 8,488 OUT OF EVANSTON’S 20,000 VOTERS TAKE PART IN ALDERMANIG ELECTION Out of Evanston’s normal vote of 20,000 only 8,488 turned out to catt their ballots to re-elect five alder- men and seat two new ones. Thirty- five per cent of the votes were cast by women. Mexican General Opens Fight for Presidency (Special to The Daily Worker) MEXICO CITY, April 8, — General Arnulfo Gomez is today regarded as the leader of a campaign to prevent General Obregon from becoming a candidate for a second term as presi- dent, In a speech at Vera Cruz yesterday he declared, “our constitution is above everything and everybody.” It is un- derstood he will oppose Obregon’s can- didacy on grounds that the constitu- tion prohibits re-election. Gomez is a well-known general and has been classed as a liberal. Brewery Workers Win 44-Hour Work Week MILWAUKEE, April 8. — The 44 hour week for practically all brewery workers in Milwaukee is won by the new agreement effective April 1, signed with all but one of the brewer- ies by the Brewery Workers’ Inter- national Union. About 700 workers are benefited. Two small groups con- tinue to work 48 hours, but receive $3 @ week increase as compensation, and several groups of underpaid workers on the 44-hour week get a raise of $1.50 a week, Indications are that the breweries in Milwaukee will expand forces by about 300 men this summer. Mergers Continue to Increase in Canada MONTREAL — (FP) — In Canada nearly everything is being put into mergers or trusts. Even three lead- ing religious denominations have amalgamated, with a consolidated creed. Among the latest mergers is the Canadian Steamship ‘Lines, the Great Lakes Navigation Co, and the George Hall Coal & Shipping Co. This brings under one head 119 steamers (mostly lake and St. Lawrence and some ocean boats), several ship building plants and a grain elevator. The merger will control nearly half the Canadian boats in the lake grain trade and practically all the boats employed in the St. Law- rence passenger trade. The Ontario Grocers Assn, proposes a national conference to standardize prices and profits. $12.65 Missouri Girl’s Wage. ST. LOUIS—(FP)—While $15.20 a week is the least upon which a work- ing girl can maintain herself, the aver- age wage of working girls in Missouri is $12.65. A remedy would be a mini- mum wage law for women. These are the findings of Dr. George B, Man- gold, St. Louis church federation. Standards in the candy industries are especially bad, he say: Worker Ends Life. 8ST, LOUIS—(FP)—In arrears with his life insurance premiums, out of employment and without funds, Wil- liam Harrison of St. Louis attempted suicide by inhaling gas, that his wife might collect $1,000 insurance. He is in the city hospital, Take this cot at the DAILY to the Grand Bank. Cleaners and Dyers Win 44-Hour Week for Women Members DETROIT, April 8—A 44-hour week for women workers and 46% hours for men is included in the new agree- ment gained by the Detroit Cleaners, Dyers and Pressers’ Union. All work- ers heretofore getting up to $40 a week get $5 more, all up to $50 get $3.50 more. Time and a half for overtime with double time for holi- days and Sundays, and the employer checkoff of union dues are other clauses, Fishermen Have Hard Job to Find Work MONTREAL—(FP)—The fishing in- dustry, probably the oldest occupation in human history, is showing the ef- fects of modern industrialism in com- mon with its younger rivals. In Can- ada in 1900 a capital investment of $10,000,000 and 99,269 persons pro- duced a fish harvest from the seas and lakes valued at $21,500,000. In 1923 a capital investment of $48, 000,000 and 69,000 persons produced a fish harvest valued at $42,500,000. Capital in improved fishing craft and implements increased nearly 5 times, and the product was practically doubled. But the labor required was greatly reduced. Two centuries ago France sent 500 fishing vessels and about 15,000 men Last year 25 steam trawlers and half a dozen sail- ing vessels from France captured nearly as many fish, Louisiana Factory Report. NEW ORLEANS — (FP) — The Louisiana factory in8pector reports 30,411 men, women and children em- ployed in 1200 factories in New Or- leans. Of this number 13,312 are white men and 11,312 white women, boys. The Negro employes were 3625 24 boys, with 1582 white girls and 410 white |SYUNDAY EVENING, APRIL 11, WM. STRATTON Chicago Flooded With Governor’s Appeals Governor Len Small is flooding Chi cago and Illinois cities with appeals urging voters to cast their ballots for William J. Stratton for state treas- urer. The appeals are sent on the embossed stationery of the governors office and claims are being made in his opponent’s camp that state funds are being used to pay workers for ad- dressing envelopes and stamps are being bought at the expense of the state. Charges are also made that supporters of Len Small and his col- league, Stratton, are “sandbagging” Illinois banks for “donations.” Stratton was one of those that were active in the defense of Small when he was being tried for making away with several million dollars of the state funds. Along gvith Small’'s let- ter there is an indorsement from one of the downstate banks and also the indorsement of the Lake County Cen-. tral Labor Union, Omer N. Custer, the present state treasurer, has entered the campaign with the charge that Small is attempt- ing to “sandbag” bankers into sup porting Stratton, and defeating Gar- rett D. Kinney. Kinney is a Peoria banker and is the “harmony” candi- date of the anti-Small and lukewarm Small supporters in the republican party. “And what do I find?” declared Cus- ter in his statement. “Every rabbit shepherd on the state game warden’s payroll has a list of the banks and is running around making all sorts of promises of what will be done with state money if Stratton is elected. “Bankers who refuse to support Stratton can expect immediate with- drawal of state deposits from their banks if Stratton is nominated and elected.” Anthracite Breaker Boy Injured. SCRANTON, Pa.—(FP)—A 16-year- old breaker boy at Old Forge colliery of Pennsylvania Coal company fell into conveying machinery and frac- tured his left arm badly. A fellow worker saved the boy from more se- rious injury by pulling the belt from the pulley quickly. NEW YORK, ATTENTION! Concert by Isa Kremer World's Greatest Singer of Ballade and Folk Songs at MANHATTAN OPERA HOUSE, 34th St. and Eighth Ave, ro2e f at 8:30 men, 3469 women, with 146 girls and | Tickets from 75c to $3.50 (no tax) at box office, or order,by mail from Stuart Chase, Treas., Russian Recon- If You want to see the Com-|struction Farms, Inc., 156 Fifth Ave, munist movement grow—get a sub New York City (Tel. Chelsea 1104), Read Carefully . Next (and every) Saturday’s Issue of Bunn aH Add to this weekly feature of The Daily Worker all the news of the labor world— Don't omit the splendid spe- cial feature articles— Speak about the unusually good stories on the Worker Correspondent Page— Point out, chuckle over and paste up in your shop the splendid cartoons in The Daily Worker— And your shop-mates and trade union brothers will surely ILY WORKER, RATES: Outside of Chicago In Chi } Per your $84 Six months mn — Three months., nes THE DAILY WORKER, ; 1118 W. 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