The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 6, 1926, Page 1

== ‘The DAILY WORKER Raises ‘the Standard for a Workers’ NEW YORK and Farmers’ Governn * ' ED! TION 1 OX ; AFER Entered at Second-class matter September 21, 1923, at ti Post Office at Chicago, IlMnols, under the Act of March 3, 1879. nee OOP’ hale ROU gl In Chicago, by mall, $8.00 ; 9 shed Daily except, § ee OAR ery a Vol. Il. No. 98. e190" ¢. oy ee oe THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1926 cag" Eun Ree owen, eee TBE Bae oeket = Price 3 Cents STRIKE EXTENSION IS ANSWER TO BALDWIN BACKGROUND OF BRITISH CLASS WAR Issues Involved in Giant Struggle William F, Dunne, whose articles describing the background of the great struggle of British labor begin in this issue, has just returned from England where he spent a month in the closest contact with the move- ment, men and conditions of which he writes. By WILLIAM F. DUNNE ARTICLE I. The coal miners of England, Scot- land and Wales are fighting against the attempt of the coal owners and the government to reduce their wages, lengthen their™hours and break up their union, The entire trade union movement of Great Britain, convinced that the attack on the miners is an attack on the whole working class, knowing that the defeat of the miners would be the signal for an onslaught on the rest of the trade unions, has come to the assistance of the miners in one of thé most striking (the pun is ex- cusable) demonstratiots of solidarity in labor history. a The real mearting of the present struggle is that the British labor movement says to the British lords of industry and finance and to their in- strument, the British government: “Not one peany off from wages or one minute added to the hours of ALL SUPPORT TO THE BRITISH MINERS—CALL OF THE T.U. E. L. TO AMERICAN WORKING CLASS | The Trade Union Educational League issued today from its office at 156 \w. Washington St. a statement addressed to the entire working class of the United States asking support to the British general strike, The appeal is | signed by William Z. Foster, famous strike leader and secretary of the league. |The appeal follows: | ° * ° ¢ SUPPORT THE STRUGGLE OF THE BRITISH WORKERS! To the Working Class of the United States! (te All Trade Unionists and Milltant Fighters in the Cause of Labort | Brothers! Comrades! The British workers are fighting now for their very existence, It is there- |fore the duty of every honest working man and working woman in America to come to the immediate assistance of the British workers. -— Driven to desperation by starvation wages and brutal exploitation, a million British miners who were*practically locked out by the employers for refusing to accept further wage cuts or longer hours, have gone out on strike for a decent and humane living. + But the British government, loyal| |servant and defender of the interests | of the capitalists, immediately dec- lared the country in a state of; emergency which is practically mar-| tial law. , It ordered troops into every mining | * center. British capitalism has thus| UJ took up the chalienge. The strike is) Braet on. The great struggle has begun.| ois. CHAM 54 The success of the British woken, British Imperialism Is in this gigantic conflict is of concern - to every worker in every part of the Crumbling challenged the right of the workers to| strike for the protection of their in- terests, | The British Trade Union Congress | world. Workers of Americal Wm. Z. Foster, secretary of the The Trade Union Educational| Trade Union Educational League and nationally known trade union militant was interviewed by The DAILY League, which is the organization of the progressive and left wing militants in the trade unions, calls upon you to| WORKER for his views on the general to stand by the British workers, to strike in Great Britain. Foster has labor.” render them all material and moral|°My recently returned from Europe. British capitalism can survive only by lowering the standard of living of while ai. the same time forcing more teh: mornin. will tie adie vistors, production from the workers... In.snch. y oe bh "i waee | Trade Unionists of Americal a:situation labor's Spann inter - | Have your local union, City Central retiuctions and no increases in hours . +2.) | Body, State Federation of Labor, and etre bag ene eee international unions to mobilize forth- rn 4 The wage straggic in Great Britain| With the power; influence, end re hag: become a revolutionary struggle. | S0Urces of the organization for the Even Right Wing Lines Up. | support of the life and death struggle ven he of the British workers. The organ- For months the capitalist press Of|;,.4 labor movement all the world has been placing its con- worid'4a naw moving indee anaibicncd fidence in the right wing leadership of of the Mettah ween. the British trade unions as .the ; Pe Miners! Railroaders, Seamen! bulwark between the mine owners, the 7 government and the masses of the An attempt will’ be made to break the strike of the British miners with nates: xen: pont the help of American\ coal, dug by ‘Thomas are publicly. supporting both | American miners and transported by the. miners strike and the general| American railroad and seamen. This strike and the capitalist press is must not happen, No honest American aghast. worker will scab against the English For is this not Britain, the cradle strikers. The Trade Union Education- of capitalist democracy and parlia-}al League calls upon you—miners, mentarism, where the sole important |railroaders and seamen—to exert all survivor of European royalty still /your efforts in support of the courage- lives and thrives in Buckingham on |ous struggle of the British workers. the bounty of the bourgeoisie? Brothers! Comrades! All signs fail in dry weather says an The present strike in England is old proverb and the prophets of the Jone of the most historic and far-reach- capitalist press. have been unable to|ing struggles between the workers understand that just as British diplo-|anq their capitalist exploiters. Upon macy was the most successful in the |the outcome of this struggle will de- world when British finance ruled the|penq the standard of lite and well- world markets but meets humiliating | heing of the working class all over defeats in the present period (consult | ine world. Austen Chamberlain) so does the in-] ay support to the British miners! fluence of reformist trade union lead-| 423) the valiant struggle of the phil backs in a country of declining cap- working class of England! italism. ‘And British capitalism is on thel)yyu ‘ne tntebnational: gaticarity | Of detline. The British workers feel this The! ‘Nadioniad “Sormmittes “of dhe im the lowered standard of living and Trade UAtéi Rdueational’ Li chronic mass unemployment tho com- bacilli neacrrpesisiehrtent Me: byes (Continned on page 2.) Wm, Z, Foster, Secretary. ~ Saklatvala Arrested (Special to The Daily Worker) LONDON, May 4—The Communist M. P., S. Saklatvala, who was arrested today for seditious utterances was charged with having made © the following statement in a May Day speech: “The Union Jack has for hundreds of years been harboring and protecting rogues and fools, We know the government is prepared to kill us with aeroplai and bombs. The army and navy must revolt and refuse to fight its own fellows.” support in their desperate struggle for existence. The victory of the Brit- Best Wishes from the A. F. of L. (Special to The Dally Worker) WASHINGTON, May 4.—British labor will get moral, but not actual, support from organized labor in America. This was made clear today by William Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, who said that while the British miners Were justified in striking to obtain a living wage there was nothing American labor could do in the present crisis other than wish them success, r TONIGHT over the, | He was in England when the present crisis was in its first stages and made a study of the labor movement in the British Isles, “The present general strike in Great | Britain,” Foster said, “marks a tre- mendous step forward in the develop- ment of the working class intellectual- ly and organizationally. Twenty years ago the capitalists of England lived in a fool’s. paradise, believing that the then conservative British workers would never take up with revolution- ary ideas and actions. But a disin- tegrating British capitalism is revolu- tionizing the conceptions of the Brit- ish workers amd forcing them ever more to the left. The Triple Alliance. “In 1921, in the effort to swing the triple alliance in support of the strik- ing miners, they gave their first con- crete manifestation of the new and growing revolutionary spirit. But the Hodges and their like, petty bourgeois defenders of capitalism, still domin- ated the labor movement and were able to betray the workers in the his- toric Black Friday. Much water has run over the mill since then. A growing unemployment and constant- ly falling standard of living are fore- ing the working masses into action. They must fight and they will. “The favorable report of the British delegation to Soviet Russia, the for- mation of the Anglo-Russian commit- tee for world trade union unity, the rapid growth’ of the Minority Move- ment, and the successful resistance to the employers which culminated in (Continued on page 2) Brisbane Fears Workers’ Government in British Isles NEW YORK, May 4-~Arthur Bris- bane lines up with the king and cap- italists. He refers to the British em- pire and then says that “Britain has a republican system, disguised as a monarchy, that the strike may mean something of the Russian sort dis- guised as a republic. God save the king and Britian generally to say nothing of the whole of Europe. With two fighting dictators east and west and two so-called proletarian govern- ments ruling Russia and the British empire everybody will want to take out accident insurance and wonder where to get it.” Brisbane offers the suggestion that England under Cromwell took care of her monarchy. “Cromwell in Ireland sent the message ‘I shot every tenth man, the rest I sent to the galleys, the monks I knocked on the head’,” We have not heard of the arrest of Brisbane for criminal syndicalism as yet. at 8 p. Mou Meeting of the TRADE UNION EDUCATIONAL LEAGUE | Cor. North apd Western Aves. i y . \ | | | | | } | | j dressed to the es UNITED FRO TURNED DOWN 190,000 More Join Strike; Britain Paralyzed; Labor BY SOCIALISTS I. P.’s Boycott Parliament Oneal Plays Familiar Role By J. LOUIS ENGDAHL, (Editor of The DAILY WORKER.) PITTSBURGH, Pa., May 4. — Fear ing that the (Workers (Communist) Party would Win over Its remaining membership, thru united front activi- ties, the convention of the socialist party here refiised to join in any com- mon actions in the struggle against capitalism. This was admitted by Victor L. Ber- ger, the socialist congressman and ; member of the convention’s resolution jcommittee that brot in an unfavorable report in reply. to the “open letter” ad- convention by the Workers Party calling for united front action for the fall congressional cam- paign. After the vote had been taken supporting the committee’s report, Berger declared to your correspond- ent: “You see,” he said, “we don’t want to give you Communists an opportun- ity to bore within our party. We have | to protect our party against you Com- munists.” Onea® Still Raving. The committee report was a vicious production from the poison pen of James Oneal editor of the New Leader, the New York Socialist weo- | ly. The language was considered so | extreme, even for Oneal’s red-baiting| }jament, s. vocabulary, that even Morris Hillquit protested against it, and sought to) | make some changes in it. In this he} e was not very successful. Joseph A. Sharts, a lawyer from Dayton, Ohio, ‘reported for the com- mittee, first reading the open letter addressed to the convention and then the report of the resolutions commit-| tee, The report of the committee, para- graph by paragraph, with Hillquit’s auggestions for:changes and his argu- ments are here given consecutively as follows: Committee report’s first paragraph: “The socialist: party in national con- vention has received from the so-called Workers (Communist) Party a letter urging that the socialist party join with the Workers (Communist) Party in establishing-what the latter calls a ‘united front’ in congressional and state elections this year, and in solicit- ing the co-operation of economic and political organizations of the work- ers.” Neither Hillquit nor any of the other delegates found any objection to this paragraph. Attacks Red Russia. Committee report's second para- graph: “Weare for a ‘united front.’ We have always been for it, both be- fore and since the Russian Bolsheviki throttled the beginnings of democracy in Russia, and started their campaign of disruption among the working class organizations of the world.” Hiliquit urged that everything be cut out after the word “since” claim- ing that while what was charged was true, nevertheless it had nothing to do (Special to The Daily Worker) LONDON, May 4.—Four million workers walking out in solidarity with of Clown ithe million striking miners have paralyzed the industrial life of Great Britain and shaken the foundations of the empire. The strike is complete. All transportation is at a standstill. Building operations are suspended. The great iron and steel plants failed to open this morning. The Trade Union Congress is considering a further extension of the strike. Plans are before the council for calling out the 190,000 members of the shop assistants, warehousemen, clerks and porters’ union. A brief communique issued by the Trades Union Congress this morning said, “The ——. acamsaiuilicaescati 4 strike is functioning according to plan.” ; TORE CR The labor members of parliament have declared a boycott, | refusing to attend the house except to consider matters pertain- ing to the general strike. Electricians have threatened to throw the house into darknéss by stopping the power plant. A struggle ‘ to the finnish is foreshadowed in the government's refusal to} PARIS, May 4.-A committee of the resume negotiations until the géneral strike order is revoked. | French vag actus ieee Gane Before the strike was twelve hours old clashes between}... 114 sailors, today wot to ee strikers, police and the soldiery were reported from various dis-} ororis to aid in the success of the tricts. In the East India Dock Road in London, workers refused | pritish general strike. French union to allow vehicles to transport others to work. Police are reported | ists will refuse to transport coal and to have charged strikers in Glasgow. Rapid troop movements of and industrial products to England infantry in full field equipment * Se - have placed the large cities and icace= = TAST STRIKE BULLETINS rrest Saklatvala. AS WE 60 T0 PRESS The government, fearful and frantic } in the first hours of the strike, ar- STRIKE EFFECTIVE BEYOND EXPECTATIONS. French Workers Stand By (Special to The Daily Worker) Saklatvala for seditious} utterances, onstrations the government But fearing counter-dem- | rested the Communist member of par- merely | LONDON, May 4.—The effectiveness of the British general strike ex arraigned Saklatvala béfore a police | jmagistrate and asked him to enter | bonds to-keep the peace. | Arsenal Strike. | One hundred thousand special con-{ stables have been ordered to report for duty tomorrow morning. Troop{ movements have been hampered by} lack of train service and the govern- | ment has been forced to rely upon the} fleet. A guard was thrown around Woolwich Arsenal when the workers | came out on strike and surrounded | the arsenal with a picket line to pre-} vent others from going in. Newspapers Shut. All newspapers have been suspend-; ed except the Post, the ultra conserv-| ative organ which has been comman-| deered by the government as a bulle-j tin. All traffic in London is stopped except the cab service and the cab- men are scheduled to quit tonight. Infantry Moves. Three additional regiments of in fantry and one ‘of artillery were moved into Liverpool today. Troop ships landed at Liverpool yesterday and disembarked two regiments. The government says it expects trouble from the Liverpool dockers, This is the excuse for the troop movement Gunboats are anchored at Hull. Dictatorship. The government's efforts to resume a skeleton railroad service have so far been unsuccessful. The dictator- ship has been definitely established Emergency orders have already been ceeds the expectations of the strike leaders, according to a statement issued |, tonight by the Trades Union Congress council. “Reports from all sections of the country surpass all of our expectations,” id the statement, ° * * e NO MORE NEGOTIATIONS. LONDON, May 4.—The British government will enter no negotiations tc settle the present industria! cr » until the labor leaders have called off the general strike now in progress. The government tonight sent this ulti- matum to the Trades Union Congress. * » * * INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY. AMSTERDAM, May 4.—Unions of twenty-three countries, members of the | International Federation of Trades Unions, prepared to back the general strike in Great Britain, according to Secretary Oudegiest. Funds of the International Federation will be available to the Trades Union Congress, Oudegiest said. * J s * CRUX OF STRIKE FRIDAY. LONDON, May 4-—The first day of the strike ended with government officials calculating that the crux of the struggle would come Friday or Sat- urday. Both the government and the strikers, it seemed apparent tonight, are settling down for a hard, spirited fight. e . . ° RAILROADERS CHARGED BY POLICE. LONDON, May 4.—A number of railroad strikers were injured at Brix- ton when the police charged them in motor trucks. The strikers were march- ing on to the “Whitehorse,” a local tavern, and the police ordered them to dis- perse. When the strikers failed to disperse the police charged them, severely injuring a number, * , OR STRIKERS ACTIVE IN SHEFFIELD. SHEFFIELD, England, May 4.—Strikers here late this afternoon attacked coal carts leaving the mines and attempted to overturn them. The strikers with the united front with the |issued respecting transportation and also attempted to prevent a number of brewers’ vans from delivering beer, Workers Party in this country. Hill- | plans made for requisitioning food| but they were unsuccessful. quit wanted the’ paragraph to read, “We are for a ‘united front’ of all working class forces.” Oneal “Childish”—Hillquit. Committee report's third paragraph: “But this invitation comes to us while the official organs of the Workers (Communist) Party constantly malign and libel the socialists, individually (Continued on page 2) and essential services. Under the power of the state of emergency regu- lations were issued authorizing any, policeman under the order of a cabi- net minister to “enter by force any premises suspected of being used for the printing or distribution of docnu- ments calculated to cause sedition or interference with the food supply or mutiny. PROGRESSIVE MINERS SEND CABLE TO A. J. COOK PLEDGING AID TO PREVENT U. S. COAL SHIPMENTS The following cablegram was sent to the head of the striking miners in England by Alex Reid, secretary of the Progressive Miners’ Committee, the left-wing organization in the Unit A. J. Cook, Secretary, British Min Federation, London, England, ed Mine Workers of America: May 1, 1926, Progressive miners minority of United Workers pledge support to striking British miners and will endeavor to prevent American coal from being used against strikers, Just returned from a 6-months tour of Europe and Russia NORTHWEST HALL] Win, Z. Foster A. REID, National Secretary. ‘ | will speak on Bi “The Labor Movements Europe, Russia and of America” e * . * STEPNEY IS DARK. LONDON, May 4.—Employes of the municipal electric plant in the Borough of Stepney went on strike tonight, leaving the population of 250,000 without light and power, Oe Oo ee CROWD THREATENS GOVERNMENT GAZETTE LONDON, May 4.—A threatening crowd gathered about the plant of the Morning Post in the Strand tonight, after an official announcement had been made that the official government newspaper, “The British Gazette,” would be issued from the plant of the Morning Post at nine o'clock tonight. More than a hundred armed Scotiand Yard detectives were on guard in and about the Morning Post, prepared to prevent any attempt to storm the plant. . Warrants Out for Communists (Special to The Dally Worker) LONDON, May 4.—The government h. worn out warrants for the arrest of every leading Communist in Great Britain, it was learned tonight. These warrants, it is learned, will be held in abeyance and will not be executed un 8 engaged in ditious activ. ities.” The arrest of the Communist M, P., 8. Saklatvala, was de- scribed as having been taken “for exemplary reasons.” Admission Free HEAR THE STORY OF THE GREAT BRITISH STRIKE: