The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 7, 1926, Page 4

Page Four THE DAILY WORKER — THE DAILY WORKER Published by the DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO, 1118 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, Ml, Phone Monroe 4713 SUBSCRIPTION RATES By mali (in Chicago only): By mall (outside of Chicago): $8.00 per year $4.50 six months | $6.00 per vear $3.50 six months $2.50 three months $2.00 three months Address all mail and make out checks to THE DAILY WORKER, 1113 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, IIlInols J, LOUIS ENGDAHL WILLIAM F, DUN: \. ditors MORITZ J, LOBB.. stem BUSINESS Manager Entered as second-class mail September 21, 1928, at the post-office at Chi- cago, Ill., under the act of March 3, 1879. <BR 230 Advertising rates on application. “Freedom of the Press” London members of the British printers’ union refuse to set in type editorials denouncing the strike and the strikers. They also refuse to set up government appeals for strikebreakers, The capitalist press is forced to suspend and Premier Baldwin issues a statement accusing the labor movement in general and the printers’ union in particular of interfering with “the freedom of the press.” It may be necessary, says Premier Baldwin, to’ suspend publication of the Daily Herald, official organ of the Trade Union congress, as it is manifestly unfair that the labor press should ap- pear while the capitalist press cannot. This statement is worth examination because it embodies the whole capitalist theory of freedom of the press. It is obvious that the freedom desired by the organs of the bosses and the government —the enemies of the labor movement—is freedom to lie about the trade unions, agitate against the strike and initiate a program de- signed to crush it. The freedom desired by the British capitalist press is freedom to smash the trade unions and every intelligent worker will ap- plaud the very sensible action of the printers in stopping the flow of poison into the minds of the British masses. Considered from the standpoint of practical politics it is quite; clear that freedom of the press in a capitalist society is freedom for the capitalists and their agents to deceive and demoralize the, working class. Only an idiot, a person who cares little for the victory of his class, or those simple-minded individuals who seek the perfumed flower of pure democracy in the cesspool of capitalist society, will prate of freedom of the press for capitalist and worker alike when,| against the tremendous might of the capitalist machine, millions; of workers are fighting for the right to live as human beings in-| stead of beasts. The workers need to make but one concession to the advocates | of freedom for the press in the abstract. In the British situation the workers can concede the right of the capitalists to publish their papers if they can—but without printers. Parading Their Shame Those surviving policemen who forty years ago participated in} the so-called Haymarket riots met on the evening of May 4 to com.| memorate their infamy. It was a bum show with a tenth rate politician, County Treas- Ce 04 ci MOEA SNE 25 ay Persecution of the Communist Party of Great Britain and Offensive Against the Working Class By H. E. BROWN. HE arrest, trial and subsequent im- prisonment of the twelve well- known Communist leaders in Britain cannot be viewed as an isolated inci- dent. To obtain a clear conception of the importance of this event it is es- sential to consider it in relation to, and as part of, the general attempt of Brit- ish capitalism to steal a new lease of life at the direct expense of the living standards of the working class. For some years past’ industry in Britain has been in a sorry plight. An industrial system which once boasted of being the “workshop of the world” found itself being steadily, but none the less surely, relegated to the posi- tion of a secondary economic power. Exports, the life blood of an industrial country like Great Britain, were stead- ily on the decline, Unemployment was widespread and intense. The trade outlook for the future held out tio/ hope. In the first half of 1925 the capitalist ond line is the campaign outside— the campaign of Joynston-Hicks sup- ported by the legal—and illegal—state apparatus with its courts, police and political spies. The Communist Party standing as the vanguard of the Brit- ish working class is, of course, expos- ed to bear the brunt of both these at- tacks. MacDonald chose the Liverpool con- ference of the labor party as the oc- casion to launch his attack, Support- ed by the well-organized official ele- ments of the right-wing he was able to record a large’ measure of success. | Resolutions were passed aimed at the expulsion of the'Communists from the labor party as individual members and at crippling the! activities of Commu- nists who were delegates from the trade unions. » | This by itself,;would not be of very great consequence had the conference settled down to, real consideration of the vital problems which were con- fronting the working class movement. | But in his campaign agaThst “extreme- class decided on a campaign to cheap- | ism” MacDonald carried the fight a en “costs of production.” This was} definite stage further. He challenged absolutely necessary, it was claimed, | the whole working clasg policy of the if British products were to compete left wing. By careful manipulation of successfully with those of other na-| the trade union delegations prior to tions produced under conditions which | the conference and by expert manage- featured low wages and long hours.| ment during the conference proceed- With the usual capitalist method of| ings, a political program, which is reasoning and without any thot of cur- tailing profits or of more scientifically organizing industry, it was claimed that “costs of production” couid only be brot down to a competitive level if the workers were prepared to accept |an all-round drastic reduction of wages and in some cases (mining, textiles, etc.), if the number of working hours was extended. The Attack and Subsequent Retreat. HE miners were singled out as the first section to be subjected to the depression of living standards. The capitalists reasoned as follows: If the well-organized miners’ trade union, with its 900,000 members and its com- paratively advanced working class out look, can be isolated and defeated, then it is only a matter of time before the same treatment can be meted out to every other section of industrial workers. Unfortunately for the plans of the attacking force the most class consci- ous elements in the British labor movement saw this also. ment was at once given prominence by the Communist Party and its ally, the National Minority Movement. A clear call for national trade unica unity was sounded, the masses responded. On urer Patrick J. Carr, as the principal haranguer, with minor roles| being played by a stone-age editor named James Keeley and Richard Henry Little, who has charge of the slap-stick vaudeville column called the “Line o’ Type” in the McCormick Harvester trust’s Chicago Tribune. These “survivors,” whose sole claim to notoriety is the fact that they were present when the first act of the diabolical scheme to rail- read the leaders of the eight-hour movement of ’86 to the gallows was carried out, were praised by the political and journalistic boot- lickers of capitalism as “the men who checked anarchy when it threatened our city.” So well established is the fact that the leaders of that strike were imprisoned and assassinated by the state of Illinois on per- jured testimony supplied by an unprincipled scoundrel of a state’s attorney, who was the agent of the Marshall Fileds and the McCormicks, before a corrupt judge willing to commit murder for his capitalist masters, that it is almost incredible that, after forty years, those who aided in this monstrous crime still parade their shame. Few remember their names, and fewer care to remember. Not even the ruling class that praises them can respect them. It is quite appropriate that on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary a former editor of the Tribune, Keeley, and a present clown for that publication that sings the songs of the McCormicks of this genera- tion, should extol the mercenaries of the McCormicks of a past gen- eration. * How puny are these creatures who meet to vilify the men they helped murder forty years ago! And how stupid! Do they not yet know that the police who were killed on the occasion of the Haymarket riots met their death at the hands of the spies and provocateurs of the union-smashing employers of that day? Time, however, is merciful to such creatures as these self-styled “saviors of Chicago.” Each year, while they live, their banquet will be noted in the McCormick press. The following day no one can recall one of them. When they finally cease to pollute the earth with their presence they will go to eternal oblivion. But Spies, Par- sons, Engel, Fielden, Lingg, Schwab, Nebbe and Fischer—the men “they jailed and murdered—will be remembered as long as human memory endures upon earth. One Labor Baiter to Another Charles Piez, a pompous bourgeois, who is president of the Iilinois Manufacturers’ Association, and whose business in life is to try to break strikes and encourage scabbery, has tried to crawl into the limelight reflected from the British crisis by sending a cable to the tory premier, Stanley Baldwin. Says Piez: “Good citizens everywhere applaud your firmness and courage in defending parliamentary government against revolutionary as- saults by trade unions.” Since thousands upon thousands of useful workers of Chicago in mass meetings and in regular union meetings have expressed their determination to back up the British unionists we presume they are outside Mr. Piez’s category of “good citizens.” It is a mere matter of classification. Those “good citizens” of Mr. Piez’s ciréle are the merchants and manufacturers, the employers of women and child labor, the parasites upon industry and their retainers, the in- dustrial spies, thugs, penny-a-liners and others of that motley crew. Piez and his cohorts send their greetings to Baldwin. The overwhelming mass of American labor sends its greetings to] Ramsay MacDonald and supported by| Campbell on the legality of such an Cook and the five million workers challenging the threat of the gov- ernment, as the instrument of oppression in the hands of the em- to smash their unions. July 31st (Red Friday), the date fixed by the coalowners for the operation of their proposals, the miners were sure of the active support of all other im- portant unions . If the coalowners had forced their threatened lock-out it would have meant plunging the coun- try into the throes of a general strike. The governing class was hardly pre- pared for such a contingency. A re- treat was ordered. Government money was forthcoming to subsidize the coal industry as a temporary expedient and a truce was called to extend over a period of nine months. The New Attack. The retreat was necessary in order that more detailed consideration could be given by the,governing class to the | new situation and that new plans could be laid prior to returning to the | This argu-| completely based upon the continuity of the capitalist system, was foisted |on the labor party. Liverpool was claimed as a great victory by the whole of the capitalist press—even the Stock Exchange re- joiced. Since Liverpool, the head of- fice of the labor party, which is com- pletely dominated by the right-wing, has joined hands with the capitalist press in directly inciting not only to the expulsion of Communists but of |whole local labor parties, trade union | \branch and district committees which | ‘refuse to endorse the Liverpool decis- | | joans. | Joynson-Hicks Follows MacDonald. |] IVERPOOL cleared the way for an} open attack on the Communist |Party. A few days after the labor| |Party conference, the conservative {party met at Brighton. They compli- |mented MacDonald for his fight jagainst the extremists at Liverpool |and called upon the government to | take further action, The raid upon the offices of the Com- munist Party, the National Minority Movement and the National Unem- ployed Workers’ Committee, followed. in addition to the arrest of twelve | comrades the police systematically set to work to smash the central leading organs of these three important work- ing class movements, All books, ‘pamphiets, documents and files were confiscated. The tech- nical staffs were intimidated and everything possible was done to pre- vent a recovery to normal routine work. The positions held by the men ar- rested are also indication that choive } Was made, not with reference to re- | sponsibility so far as the actual | charges were concerned, but because ‘of their holding key positions in the ‘advanced working class movement. |For instance, Comrade Pollitt was in- cluded in the list, not because he had written or spoken seditious words, but | because he is the leader of the frac- tion of Communist elements at al} na- the unity of the labor movement must | Conferences and because he is the be smashed if it was within the power | acknowledged leader of the rapidly- of the governing class to do so, Fail-| rowing Minority Movement. Com- ing this, then the way must be per-|rades Inkpin and Rust are chief of- pared for the whole force at the dis-|ficials of the party and Y. C, L. re- posal of the capitalist class to be/spectively. Comrade Gallacher, as mobilized and held in readiness to be | head of the parliamentary department, fray. It was, of course, decided nes tional Jabor party and trade uyion thrown into the battle at the oppor- tune moment. In furtherance of this. alternative policy of “mobilization” the govern- ment got busy at once. Official sanc- tion was given to the creation of a huge blackleg organization (Organiza- tion for Maintenace of Supplies) for | Was arrested because he is responsible |tor the contacts between the party and | Sid antes working class movement. | Fac s could be produced to show sim- | ilar reasons for the arrests of all the | other comrades. The raid and arrests | were’ prompted by the sole desire to | put the Communist Party, the Na- course, the obliging judge—a notor- fous enemy of the labor movement— willingly agreed. But no amount of verbal juggling can alter the fact that, for once in a while, this spokesman of the old order spoke the truth ag to the future intentions of the government. The case for the prosecution was one of the weakest ever propounded in a Brittsh court of law and this is ad- mitted by even bourgeois legal spokes- men, But in spite of this the twelve were found guilty and those with prev- fous political convictions against them sentenced to one year in prison. The judge, during the concluding scenes, furnished a final illustration of the real purpose of the prosecution. To the remaining seven comrades he made.the following proposition. If they would agree to renounce the Com- munist Party and undertake not to preach its doctrines amongst the work- ing class they would be given their freedom. Of course ,they scornfully and indignantly refused and the great- est trial in modern political history in Britain closed as they were sentenced each to six months’ imprisonment. What Are the Results of MacDonald’s Campaign? T 4s one thing to manipulate a con- ference into accepting a program of capitalist continuity and another to get the working class which control the local organs of the labor move- ment to accept it. The pressing need for unity in face of the capitalist of- fensive, a unity based upon a working class consciousness is making the Mac- Donald resolutions of Liverpool scarcely worth more than the paper they were printed on. Even before the arrest of the Communist leaders near-, Donald and Joynson-Hicks. {ly 50 important city or divisional la- bor parties had refused to operate the Liverpodl decisions.’ In all parts of the country left-wing blocs of Commu- nists and sympathetic trade union del- egates have been formed to carry on a campaign for unity. The net result of Liverpol is to have translated ten- dencies toward working class unity into definite organs pledged to fight for unit yand a reversal of the Liver- pool decisions of disruption. Without the arrest of the Commu- nists the pressing urges of the eco- nomic situation would have forced unity in the face of Liverpool but the situation now after the arrests leave MacDonald in a pitiable position. No wonder he writes to the London Times asking: “What good is it our fighting Bolshevism if it is to be manufactured | by the government?” What Are the Results of the Offensive Against the Communist Party? _— reaction in the labor organiza- tions and amongst the workers gen- erally is of such a character that (to quote a leading conservative referring ‘to MacDonald): “he who was the en- emy of the Communists at Liverpool now perforce must be their friend.” One might add that this is necessary to keep his position ag leader of the labor party. ‘ The trial and conviction of the Com- munists has raised a tremendous storm of protest from all sections of the labor movement. Hundreds of res- olutions are to hand from all parts of the country. Tho release of the pris- oners is demanded officially by the fol- lowing organizations: The Labor Party; The Trade Union General Councti; The Communist Party; The Independent Labor Party; The E. C. of the Miners’ Federa- tion; The Parliamentary Labor Party. The labor organizations in all im- portant cities associate themselves of- ficially with the campaign. Over £2,000 has already been subscribed by the rank and file to defray legal ex- penses and maintain the dependents of our comrades. The mass demonstra- tions called to. demand the release of the priosners equal in size and deter- mination those which are peculiar to times of urgent national crisis. Finally, the volume of support is so great that the British Communist Party, altho declared an illegal organ- ization in the courts of law, carries on its work openly with confidence in the determination of the workers to pre- vent it from being driven out of ex: istence. The attack of the govern- ment in the open has failed more sig- nally than the subversive attack of MacDonald, The Crystallization of the Left Wing. huge period just prior to and since the arrests is marked by the ten- dency of the various left wing groups to come out into active opposition against the disruptive tactics of Mac- Cook, Lansbury, Wheatley and Wedgewood \have all decleared that Liverpool was the prologue, and the arrest of the Communists the first act in the pro- cess of splitting the labor movement. Forty-six leaders of industrial and par- liamentary labor have joined hands in issuing a manifesto complimenting the Communists for their fine work- ing class ‘stand and pledging them- selves to. carry on a campaign to preach the class war and to call upon |the soldiers to refuse to shoot the | strikers during times of industrial dis- |pute, The columns of the “Workers’ Weekly,” the “Sunday Worker,” and |the labor press generally are crowded | with letters from all quarters in which \left-wing leaders and rank and file workers vie with each other in sug- gestions and programs for the forma- |tion of a national left wing bloc, The |burden of all these letters is that all working class elements should unite to turn the labor. party and the trade unions into real instruments of the workers in the class struggle. But during November a further stage was reached, Ten London labor parties sent fifty delegates to a left wing conference, Here it was decided to form a provisional left wing com- mittee charged with the task of for- mulating a working class program of action and to organize an all-inclusive London conference for January, At- tempts, are also being made in other large cities and negotiations are pro- ceeding to unite them all in a national left wing bloc. The Task of.the Communist arty. BVIOUSLY the Communist Party cannot stand apart from all this work, We must, by every means pos- sible, assist the formation and parti- cipate in the work of these left-wing blocs and endeavor to secure a united left wing association. The situation becomes so acute that the most impor- tant task of the party is to mobilize. all these elements to fight the attack of the governing class. At present these groups of the left wing are not united. We must obtain an organiza- tional basis and a program of action on which all these groups can make @ common fight. The strength of the left wing would be great as the fol- lowing list of present groupings will show. 1. The Communist Party. 2. The National Minority Move- ment. 3. The Unemployed Workers Com- mittees. 4. The Left Wing blocs in the La- bor, Party. 5. The left wing trade union group (Purcell, Hicks, Cook, ete.), 6. The left wing parliamentary group (Wheatley, Wedgewood, Max- ton, etc.). 7. The Plebs league. 8. The Lansbury group (G, Lans- bury, Postgate, Price, etc.), Of course, it may not be possible to obtain an organizational basis wide enough to include them all, but a pro- gram of action could be hammered out which would guarantee joint fight- ing against the attacks of the govern- |ment and its allies, the right wing re- actionaries, Watch the Saturday Magazine Section for new features every. 2@a EVERY POINT For Every Sub for Which You Win Prizes Also Counts for the TRIP TO MOSCOW! Russian Workers’ Delegation in China By VICTOR VAKSOV. 2. The Blockade of Canton. In south China, that is, in Hongkong, and in Shameen (the foreign settle- ment of Canton) 170,000 workers are on strike. The strike was called in June in protest against the Shanghai shooting and the subsequent firing at a labor demonstration by the British at Shaki Road, Canton. The strike is conducted courageously and deter- minedly. You will become convinced of this if you follow along with us to the labor organizations, to the labor the purposes of keeping the essential tional Minority Movement and the Un-| meetings, everywhere where our Chi- running during a general This organization is officered services strike. \employed Workers’ Committee Move- ;ment into a weak or non-functioning nese comrades take us. Well, let us begin with the lunch- by well-known “pillars of the capitalist | position during the troubled times im- |rooms, They are full of people, most state” and is busy enrolling recruits from the ranks of the bourgeoisie and the higher-paid professional classes. The government is also recruiting large forces of special police, none of whom must be trade unionists, A cen- sus is being taken of the technical qualifications of soldiers, sailors and other state servants. The fascisti are openly encouraged and their offences against the law condoned. In short, the governing classes are preparing for a new type of struggle, never prev- fously experienced, for which they may need to bring up all their forces, economie, political, legal—and illegial— and military. They are making these preparations openly and busily, Here it is important to note that the only party which is demanding that the workers shall take a realistic view of these preparations and organize Work- ers’ Defense Corps, to protect the la- bor organizations from fascist and state violence, is the Communist Party, To Smash the Unity of the Workers. HILST all these preparations for the use of force are being com- pleted the governing classes are push- ing forward with an endeavor to break up the united working class front. For this purpose they have two lines of attack. The first Js waged inside the labor movement and is led by Rothermere and Beaverbrook, lords of the capitali¥f press. the campaign against “extremisi within the labor movement. The “| the , This 4 | | mediately ahead. With these out of | | the way the government would have | been able to concentrate its repressive | force upon the left-winers of the in- dustrial and political labor movement. The Thial of the Twelve. HE attempts of the crown lawyers, which included the attorney-gen- eral, Hogg himself, to limit the trial to a purely legal one of conspiracy to! preach sedition and mutiny failed. The three spokesthen of the Communist Party-—Comrades Campbell, Gallacher and Pollitt sitecessfully prevented its achievement.» In addition to a fine de- | fense of the principles of the Commu-/ ‘nist International they, with the aid| | of telling facts and examples, proved | conclusively, that the attack upon the Communist Party was par of the widespread operations against the whol¢ working class, But it did not even need the excel- | lent speeches of our comsades to bring out the real nature of the trial, So in- tent was Hogg upon his task of bring- ing the bourgeois jury to a sense of its class responsibilities that he stated: “What would happen if troops were ordered to suppress a strike, | if these men were allowed to con- | tinue the work of seducing soldiers | from their duty?” Later, when challenged by Comrade | | order, he tried to explain it away as a slip of the tongue. He asked permis- sion of the judge to insert the word mutiny” instead of “strike.” Of Ce ee ee ae of them Hongkongers, of whom. there are 60,000 in Canton. The rest have been temporarily sent to the country, where they are kept by the peasantry, Our appearance causes surprise. Ever since the strike was declared Shameen has, barricaded itself up and not a single European has dared to show up in town. The few Soviet citizens re- siding in Canton have already become known to the natives, while the Ger- mans walk around with white ribbons which announce to the world that thet are not to be mistreated. Oppressed nations always sympathize with each other, especially if they have a ¢om- mon oppressor, The German Armed Bands, It is only a question whether the protecting ribbon should be worn by the Germans living and trading in Canton or by those others who have remained at home under the yoke of the Deutsch nationale. Well, who has the time in Canton to bother with these things? There is plenty to do without it. One thing should be noted, however. Prior to these events the honorable sons of the fatherland were decorating their homes with the flag of the monarchy. When things became turbulent, however, the old flags, were immediately replaced by the black, red and gold (the republi- can colors), The social-democrats have some- thing to rejoice about. The bour- geoisie use their flag to guard against the menace of the revolu move ment. However ,we can disclose a little secret: the Chinese never noted the change of flags, for they are tod busy fighting the British imperialism and they are hopeful that the German working class will itself manage its Hindenburg. Meals of Rice and Worms. Well, then, back to the strikers’ lunchrooms. We examined the food. Not so bad, better than the usua! coolie fare. The Chinese generally feed badly. You can’t go far on rice and worms. The Chinese have appar- ently already realized that it is time to take up’ more nutritious food and just because they have realized this they continue uncomplainingly to feed on rice and ‘various insects which are served out to the strikers for 20 cents a day each. Every day of the strike costs 7,500 Canton dollars, Already 400,000 dollars have been spent. And money is not easy to get.. Those sections of the population which fylly sympathize with the strike have little money to spare, while those who have the money have to give their whole, attention to the curtailment of their trade turnover in connection with the Hongkong block- ade. Still collections are being made. Relief {s pouring in not only from within the country but from the Chi- nese abroad as well. To ‘be suro, the imperialists do everything possible to prevent the in- flux of funds from abroad, but some money does leak thru, If onlyythere were a will to help, the way will be found. We are told of various sums being held up by tho British authori- ties (about $80,000 definitely known to have been held up). This money was mailed to Canton by Chinamen residing in Vancouver, Annama, Siam, Java, Manila, Singapore and other colonies. Mail drafts are being stolen. Most noble, isn’t it? It would be in- teresting to know whether the British trade unions are aware of it. They should certainly be informed. The torles are only preparing to forbid the trade union from receiving money from fraternal organizations abroad; but they are already stealing mail dratts trom the workers of Canton, The Rice Blockade, Not only drafta, but whole rice car- goes as well. e were told quite officially in the strike committee that a steamer loaded with rice which the Chinese residents of Siam sent to Can- ton (the Quantung province depends chiefly on imported rice) has been detained by the Britishers. A block- ade, We Russians know well enough the meaning of a blockade and the results of this humanitarian act. Hongkong is blockading Canton. The Hongkong authorities have even 4s- sued an order forbidding those leay- ing Hongkong from taking more than $5 with them. This aims at establish- ing a financial blockade of Canton, and causing a money crisis tm the southern revolutionary capital. But just imagine, this financial trick of Hongkong fell thru. The panic- stricken depositors of the Canton. State bank got all the silver they wanted» in exchange for bank’ notes. “I even ordered that longer hours be kept in the bank,” Mr. Sung, the di- rector of the state bank* and former commissar of trade snd industry 4n the Canton cabinet, told us. ‘Well, what do you think; no one came to exchange bills on the next day.” Mr, Sung is a practical business man and the Canton dollar remained stable, A blockade. Hongkong is blockad- Ing Canton, Well, let us make a tour of the strikers’ dormitories. They are all Hongkongers. Here live ship duild- ers, there butchers, in that room Hongkong street cleaners, further on electricians, food ‘workers, seamen, postal employes, domestic servants, in short the whole congregation is here. They accommodated themselves in an organized manner, along Industrial lines, so to say, Let the gentlemen themselves try to clean the streets, run down to the market place and at- tend to all the other little things. Here, too, we have a blockade, but of quite a different nature: without de- stroyers, without guns; based entirely upon national class solidarity, (Continued bait of '