The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 28, 1926, Page 6

rer TH E DAILY WORKER THE DAILY WORKER Published by the DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO. 4118 W. Washington Bivd., Chicago, Il, Phone Monroe 4712 SUBSCRIPTION RATES By mali (in Chicago only): By mail (outside of Chicago): $8.00 per year $4.50 six months | $6.00 per voar $3.50 six months $2.50 three months $2.00 three months ddress all mail and make out checks to THE DAILY WORKER, 1113 W. Washington Bivd, Chicago, IIlinols J, LOUIS ENGDAHL WILLIAM F, DUNNE } eet MORITZ J, LOBB... Business Manager —<$<$<—$s=—=————— Entered as second-class mail September 21, 1923, cago, Ill. at the. post-office at Chi- under the act of March 3, 1879. <i 290 U.S. Means “Uncle Shylock” to Europe In the world struggle between the United States and Britain for imperialist world supremacy this country a great advantage. Its monopoly of the money market thru control of more, than half Advertising rates on application, ——————— the world’s gold supply, its tremendous regources and;mighty sur- plus created by labor enables it’effectively to challenge ‘Dngland in every part of the globe. It uses its money power to force nations and governments to remould themselves to its purposes. As a desperate measure of defense England has been striving for a long time to cteate a block of European nations against the United States. Like all other capitalist nations, it must fiintain an array of paid writers, of “moulders of public opinion,”—in other words pen prostitutes—to formulate phrases glorifying Britain and epithets of degradation for its enemies. One ingenious scribbler-of Britain las hit upon the idea of scornfully alluding to “Uncle Sam’’”,as “Uncle Shylock,” a greedy creature content with nothing less than his pound of flesh.. The slogan has captured the imagination of Europe and the American tourists are subjected to various indignities be- cause of its widespread use. We revolutionists are inclined to believe that many of the Europeans underestimate the real role of the United States imperial- ists. They are not investing in Europe merely as Shylocks, usurers who get their principal and interest returned and then leave for other parts. American finance capital is in Europe to stay. The} money is invested not as usurious capital, but’as INVESTMENT! capital, on which American bankers expect to realize profits forever. An Jpg usurer (Shylock) is a benefactor compared to these} avaricious blood-suckers. Britain will never be able to build up a unified Europe to resist the encroachments of its imperialist rival, because of the contradic- tions in the capitalist system of Europe that make it advantageous for some nations to play the game of the United States in its struggle for supremacy. | Only the working class of Europe acting in concert to destroy capitalism and establish, not a united capitalist Europe, but a social-| ist United States of Europe, can effectively drive out the American plunderer. Mr. Mitchell Embraces Pescieas Mr. John J. Mitchell, Chicago banker who is president. of the Tilinois Merchants Trust company, has just returned from Europe. Like other visitors of his class, the worthless opinions are quoted at! length in the capitalist press and what they lack in scientific clarity is overcome by expressions of the deepest hatred of the working class and praise of the bloody regime of the fascist dictators. According to Mr. Mitchell, the French franc is on the toboggan because the government is “embarrassed by the Communist minority bloc.” Not the economic collapse as the result of the failure of France to throttle the Ruhr and the Rhineland, not the inflation of French currency in an effort to wipe out the internal debt and im- poverish the French holders of government bonds, but solely the activity of the small Communist bloc is responsible for the collapse of the franc. Equally illuminating is Mitchell’s praise of fascism in Italy. While indulging in the usual capitalist palaver that.he opposes dictatorship “in principle” the Chicago banker observes that: “The right kind of dictator can do his country great good. ftaly seems to have the right kind of man In Premier Mussolini.” While in Rome, this “innocent abroad” was granted a private audience by the pope on a Sunday, which is supposed to be a distine- stion of the highest calibre. Mitchell had no comment to make upon the condition of the vatican finances or the benevolent dictatorship of the pope. We presume he took things for granted there and since there are no Communists to interfere with the holy see the finances are O. K. Most significant for the working class of the United States is this ever recurring praise of the foul tyranny of Mussolini in Italy. To the bankers and the ruling class generally fascism is the idéal state. American labor should relentlessly strive to stamp-out every vestige of fascist agitation wherever it raises its head. Not Confined to Pherica The habit of American statesmen and newspapers. to cloak the] most sordid motives with extravagant worship of national heroes ig not confined exclusively to this country. Reports from France indicate that its use is widespread there, especially <in»relation to «he debt negotiations now going on between the Frenchy ambassador and the American debt commission at Washington. Raymond Poin- care, former bloc nationale premier of France, harks back to the heroic past of France to argue for the complete cancellation by the| , United States of the French war debt. : The Paris Midi, in a eulogy commemorating the’ 149th an- niversary of La Fayette’s embarkation for Americas expresses the futile hope that “this date will influence our American creditors to sacrifice business for sentiment for once in the final stages of the French debt settlement.” Conjuring up the ghost of La Fayette to justify cancellation of part of France’s imperialist war debt is as pointless as the stupid references to the acts of Washington, Jefferson and Franklin to settle arguments over the world court. A whole period separates these figures from the present-day puppets of imperialism. Furthermore, La Mayette did not come to these shores as the defender of democracy against King George of England, but in order to weaken England in the colonies so that royalist France could gain an advantage over its European enemy. La Fayette dis- played his contempt for democracy a few years after his return to France by shooting down the masses in the streets,of Paris during the French revolution. Certainly the workers of France whose revo- lutionary ancestors were slaughtered by the liverie butcher of more than a century ago will nt share the sentiments of Midi. f y ' Get a member of the ‘Workers Party and anew subscription thy The DALLY WORKE®, | are the charges on this property: By CRAF (Berlin) HE wine-growers in various com- munities of the Berncastel district (Rhine province) opposed the bailiffs to fetch the last cow from the sheds of some of the peasants, More gen- darmes were called out and a number of peasants were arrested and taken to the district prison in Berncastel. The next day, more than a thousand peasants from the villages of the dis- trict proceeded to the town and liber- ated their class comrades. , A strong fermentation has been noticeable for a long time both among the wine-growers and amongst the working peasantry of Germany as a whole. The pressure of the masses of the peasants against the government and the authorities and especially against their leaders in the national agrarian league and the christian peasant organizations is increasing from day to day.“ HE Dawesation of Germany implies for all groups of workers an un- precedented burden of taxation, which the possessing class manages to shift over. Whereas.in past years the mid- dle classes and the small property owners belonging to them were to a certain extent considered, nowadays, in these times of increased exploita- tion, the burden is laid on them as heavily as on the working class. It is the task of the leaders of the bour- geois peasant leagues to sweeten to the peasants the taste of being ‘pau- perized in the patriotic sense of, pre- serving the state. What these leaders cannot achieve is completed by the bailiffs of the tax offices, who have to carry out hun- dreds of distraints in one village. There are villages in Bavaria, Wur- | temberg, Baden and the Rhine prov- ince where not a single farm has es- caped distraint. HE unprecedented burden under which the small peasants groan is shown by the following example, of which we could quote hundreds: A peasant in Rentschen owns about 4 hectars of land, 3 cows, 1 horse, 3 sheep, 1 pig, 1 sow and 2 sucking pigs. The taxation value of his land is 13,000 marks, of his buildings 10,000, of his working capital 1,000, making alto- gether 24,000 marks. The following tax on Jand and trade license 108.24 marks, debts on landed property 13, inhabited house duty 48, to. the agri- cultural chamber 2.08, assessment of taxation on the insurance of buildings 23.76, tax on turnover 32, accident in- rance 41, income tax 13.85, tithes 36.50, district and communal taxes 121.25, charges for monition and exe- cution 4.25, amounting altogether to {43.27 marks. He would thus have to vay 1.21 marks per day in taxes. As this is absolutely out of the question, it is not surprising that in June of last year the bailiff journeyed thru the community with 288 warrants of dis- tress, in order to enforce payment. HE following table from a district on the land register shows how excessively the small peasant is fleeced as compared with the larger “The pen is mightier than the sword,” provided you know how to use it. Come down and learn how in the worker correspondent’s classes, and the gendarmerie when they came |’ Unrest Among the Farmers in Germany landowner and the large peasant: No. of Average yield Props. Size per acre 3 up to2 hectars 1250 marks 19 2—5 680 * 25 610 .“ 440 “ 21 10—20. * 350 * 17 20—50“* 290“ A 50—100 “ BO tote bs 100—200 “ 240“ If this list is continued further, the owner of more than 500 hectars has absolutely no yield and is apparently paid something by the treasury, In these circumstances it is easy to understand that the masses Of peas- ants are demanding-mgre and more ur- gently that their leagers,should at last show them a way by which they can maintain their existance and improve their miserable situation. Under this pressure Gandorfer,apd Kuebler, the leaders of the .Rayarian Peasant League, had to make,demands which were opposed to thg ,interests of the large peasants and large land owners and also of the leaders of the right within that organization. ITH the wine grawers the ques- tion further conyes into consid- eration that they have.almost no mar- ket for their products, The high taxa- tion on wine and thé. commercial treat- ies concluded with Spain and Italy in the interest of industry make a sale almost impossible. he market crisis of the whole of Gétniany industry is especially difficult ih the wine-growing industry because of the competition of foreign wines. All the representations of the wine growers are of no avail, the existence of the vintners is sacri- ficed to industry. The policy. of the Luther-Stresemann government is ruining the peasantry more and more to the benefit of the large capitalists. In this matter the social-democrats are their henchmen, as they proved when they refrained from voting in the bal- lot with regard to the German-Spanish commercial treaty. Only the Commu- nists and individual bourgeois depu- ties from the wine-growing districts voted against it. Steiger, the Prussian minister of ag- riculture, visited the, wine-growing dis- trict in the middle of February. He held conferences with the representa- tives of the vintners and made them a whole number of hypocritical prom- ises. HE movement in. ' Berncastel shows that the peasant § Strata are awak- ing. It indicate sthat, the peasants in their despair are*seriously determined to carry on a fight for their existence, and it would seem, that they have learned a lesson fr ym the defeat of their ancestors 400 years ago, for the procession to Bernggstel was an or- ganized one, its pur nse was not only to liberate their. imprisoned brothers but at the same time to give expres- sion to the formation, of a united front, which is to include poth peasants and the proletariat of the, towns. The political task, of the ,working class at the present moment is to take |the side of the peasants in the perse- cution of them, which will now inevita- bly set in and in theif further struggle. It must do everyt! ing in its power to forward this al tempt to form a united front betwedi, Vine workers and peasants who must fely on themselves in the fight for a workers’ and peas- ants’ government, ... IMPERIALIST RIVALRIES BREAK-UP NEGOTIATIONS IN GENEVA STATES APPEAL OF COMINTERN EXECUTIVE The Communist International (Comirtern) says: “Those responsible for the breaking up of the negotiations in Geneva and the stirring up of new conflicts and dangers are the im- perialist governments of the United States, Great Britain, France, and Italy. The American imperialists intervened thru influencing Brazil in order to strengthen the contradictions between the European states and to prevent any opposition on the part of the European states to the exploitation of Europe on the part of the United ‘States and in order to continue its struggle against British inne The lL. P, and “Socialism in Oap Time” the unions aroundotheir trades coun- cils, and the general council to stand by the miners, we,ghall not have 100 per cent unionism,in our time, let alone socialism. , (In view of space given in the Amer- ican press to the recent conference of the English Independent Labor Party held at Whitley Bay in which, accord- ing to the press, the “extremists” gained the upper hand and forced thru “extreme” resolutions one of which was entitled “Socialism in Our Time,” The DAILY WORKER reprints a lead- ditorial from the Sunday Work- er, of London, which indicates the manner in which the Whitley Bay con- ference was received by the real left wing of the British labor movement. Ed.) dee Be The I. L, P, Conference. The I. L. P. conference declared that the path to socialism in our time lies thru a living wage campaign. Unless the wholé labor movement lacts to-day to help the miners win a lliving wage, we shall have, not social- ism, but starvation in our time. The I, L. P. conference declared it- self in favor of nationalization of the chief industries. Unless the whole labor movement demands nationaliza- tion of the mines as the alternative to the commission report, which Is based on lower wages, we shall strengthen, not socialism, but capital- ism in our time, The I. L. P. conference called for whole-hearted: ,participation in the trade nioh ‘movement. Unless every socialist and militant today does his utmost towrally all the workers in the etrign round nano, and gm The I. L. P. rence protested against the infringament of civil liber- ties. Unless ablesbodied men and women trade uniopists are enrolled for service in defemge of meetings, on communications, apd so on, in the event of a general,gtrike, the O. M. 8. and the B. F.’s will, see to it that we have, not soclaleghi but fascism in our time. Therefore it is ‘to ‘be hoped that the resolutions passed at Whitley Bay will speedily resolve themselves into practical leads to the I. L. P., taking the bitter capitalist attacks a little more into account than was the case at the conference. After the resolu- tions, in particular we can see no earthly reason why the I. L, P. leaders should continue to refuse to co-operate with the Communist Party in bringing the four principles its conference en- dorsed so heartily down from the realms of theory into those of. prac- tice. ~ When labor fs girding up its loins to beat off the bi st capitalist of- fensive in its h , Tefusal to put one’s shoulder to common wheel is inexcusable, And pedantic excuses about how capitalism is to be over- thrown will not go far with workers whose chief conoerg.is to keep capital- ea es Porn > aS | By A. J. COOK, Secretary of the British Miners’ Federation, (This is the first of two articles by A. J. Cook, secretary of the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain, on the ap- Proaching coal industry crisis.) CRISIS of the greatest magnitude faces the Bfitisn working-class movement, Capitalism ‘in the mining industry has reached a stage at which the maintenance of the present basis has become impossible and drastic changes must take place if the indus- try is to continue to exist. The mining industry. is the key to the economic position of Great Brit- ain. In the period of progressive de- velopment of British capitalism, the miners were in the vanguard of the working class movement, building up a national industrial trade union or- ganization and leading the way in the |struggle for better conditions and workers’ control of industry. In the present period of capitalist decline the miners once again occupy the key position, but in a different way. They are now the most exposed to the cap- italist attack, bearing the brunt of the attempt of capitalism to re-establish itself at the expense of the workers. The first attempt in this direction in 1921 ended victoriously for the em- ployers, but it only staved off the crisis without providing any lasting solution for the problems facing the industry. The critical situation that has now arisen is a direct consequence of the flouting of the recommendations of the Sankey commission. If the San- key pledges had been honored the coal industry would have been in a far sounder position altogether, it would have been in a position in a large measure to meet satisfactorily the dif- ficulties of the present economic situa- tion, and the crisis as it is now would never have come into existence. The Sankey Commission, ee Sankey commission recognized and stated in the clearest terms, that: “The present system of ownership and working system of ownership stands condemned, and some other sys- tem must be substituted for it, either nationalization or a method of uni- fication by national purchase or by joint control.” The second report of the Sankey commission was devoted to working out in detail how the substitution should be made. The report was ig- nored and the mine owners were per- mitted to carry on their short-sighted policy unchecked. The result is seen in the position of the industry today. No one can challenge the fact that private ownership has created chaos, conflict and confusion. While the min- ers’ standard of living has been forced down below the pre-war level, all the tremendous economic waste of royal- ties, profit-making on inflated capital and uneconomical working and organi zation have been retained. : Real Wages Decline. ia* the present time wages are ap- pallingly low. The average earn: ings per day worked vary from 8s 5d (a shilling is 12% cents) to 10s 4d, for the most part the increase over the wages paid in July, 1914, lying between 50 to 60 per cent, altho the official index of cost of living is 75 per cent above pre-war. Even the mine owners in presenting their case quoted a figure of only 61 per cent as the increase in miners’ wages over the pre-war level, and their ‘figure took no account of short time, and, therefore, is considerably in ex cess of the actual earnings. The a¥- erage actual weekly earnings of the miner do not amount to more than 48s 6d per week. At this level, and ,there are many thousands of miners who are getting considerably less, the miners are receiving far less than any decent minimum of subsistence. Yet it is well known that the industry~has been a very profitable one in the past. The following table shows the aggre- gate profits made in the peices ed since the year 1913: \ Year ended Aggregate March 31 Profits, . £16,900,000 21,100,000 13,900,000 26,200,000 « 39,800,000 26,300,000 22,300,000 41,800,000 3,100,000 000 15,800,000 28,800,000 .- 6,900,000 After 1917, when government con- trol was introduced, the profits from by-products are excluded. These prof- its are estimated to have been at least six million pounds sterling annually, Rich Royalties. 'N addition to the profits of the col liery owners, the industry has also provided enormous sums in royalties and wayleaves, The amounts paid to royalty owners in Great Britain aver- age over £6,000,000 per annum. The following are examples of the sums drawn from the industry by certain members of our aristocracy: » Per annum Keclosiastica Commissioners £370,000 Marquis of Bute (six years average) eesivsnvvens 116,772 Duke of Hamilton (ten ie average) . 113,793 Lord Tredegar (six years average) . 83,827 Duke of Northumberland (six years average) ..... 82,450 Lord Dunraven (1918 Karl Elsmere Karl Durham ey Notwithstanding that is at present “on the dole” the and wi leaves ownerg: draw these huge sums from the in- dustry, Coal Owners’ Lackey. HEN the coal owners refer to the poor results of the industry in 1925 as regards dividend-paying ca- pacity, they omit any consideration of the profits earnéd over a number of years, They say nothing of the ex- tent of over-capitalization by the issue of bonus shares or of the payment of royalties, More important still, they say nothing of the profit of the coal industry as a whole, of which coal getting forms only one part, and a part which cannot rightly be consid- ered in isolation. The official profit returns take no account of the other processes from which the owners de- rive substantial profits. The position is that the profits of coal getting may be deliberately kept at low figure in order to enhance the profits of coal using concerns. As put by my col- league, Mr. S. 0. Davies, before the Samuel coal commission: 8 “The statement in our appendix proxes that the.persons who largely control the coal trade today are inter- He Writes Articles in Daily Worker ested in a number of other industties that use or deal with a great deal of our coal output. Now, we have cor to the conclusion that there is not 1 Same concern today in the mining in; dustry to secure profits as there was in the past. It does not matter to the people, who are largely interested in coal today, whether they make their profits from their coal or from their by-products or from the other con- cerns in which they are interested, which use, consume or handle a great deal, of coal.” Industry Can Pay Living Wage. VEN granting, therefore, the gen- eral dislocation and depression of capitalist industry as a whole, there is no reason to believe that the coal industry is unable to pay a living wage to its’ workers. At present the indus- try is suffering more from the!:tre- mendous internal inefficiency, wasteful and unscientific method of working and costly and inefficient methods, ot distribution, than from the decline: in the purchase of British coal by foreign users. (Anothef article tomorrow.) A. J. COOK. oe WHAT DOES AMERICAN LABOR THINK OF THE STRIKE OF THE PASSAIC TEXTILE WORKERS? The following editorial appeared in the April issue of the Journal of Electrical Workers, official! publication of the International Brotherhood” of Electrical Workers, rightly describes the Passalc police as mad dogs and favors the immediate organization of the 16,000 Passaic textile strikers, whom President Green of the American Federation of Labor refuses tc organize despite their urgent appe EMPLOYER LAWLESSNESS So wild things happen at Passaic. Policemen run like mad- dogs ‘thru the streets harassing women and children, beating down strikers, ° ry cameras of news-reporters, disobeying the American constitution, and oy more like savages than men. Every canon of free speech has been b While the mill owners sit back in their luxurious homes and plot t wages, now at the astounding level of $21 a week, Passaic—with its dark, crazy industrial feudalism—again ittadtbanee” the value of unionism. Value to industry to the community as a whole: ~The textile masters of Passaic are autocrats because they have no check placed upon them by organized workers. The workers are violent because ee lack the discipline of a union with its strike bax me ‘MAY DAY IN CLEVELAND M** DAY will be a big day in Cleve- land. Arrangements have been made for a mass demonstration at the Moose Auditorium, 1000 Walnut Ave., on Saturday, May 1, at 5:30 p. The demonstration will be held un- der the auspices of the Workers Com- munist Party and the Young Workers Communist League. These two organ- izations offered the united front to a number of so-called progressive labor organizations, such as the Socialist Party, Socialist Labor Party, the Pro- letarian Party, the Industrial Workers of the World, the Amalgamated Cloth- ing Workers, the International Ladies’ Garment Workers, but these organiza- tions refused to demonstrate even the slightest token of solidarity on this, labor’s international holiday. A few other organizations accepted the Unit- ed Front, but the district executive committee of the Workers Communist Party decided that, for the protection of these organizations, it would be Hhest to hold the demonstration alone together with the Young Workers Communist League, bes The demonstration will nonetheless be a mass demonstration, John J. Bal lam, member of the central | vem committee of the Workers Party, will be the principal pio The other speakers will be I. Amter, district secretary, Harvey betel id ing district organizer of the bod Workers Communist League, 8. sky of the Young Pioneers, wae Boich, chairman. The Fretheit u sverein, the finest workers’ the city, and the South Slavic ers’ Chorus will furnish the ; program, There will be on the evening, a At 11.30 a, m. there will be a ing at the Public Square, at known speakers will address the The Coal Crisis and the Way Out — = ers on the significance of a | All class-conscious workers of land, is cer of their pole pacicin egeey pence apa celebration and ita a history of _ ot T per cent ors