The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 8, 1926, Page 3

THE FIRST PRIZE WINNER. AMALGAMATION IS TURNED DOWN BY A.C. W. LOCAL 144 Also Take Reactionary Position on Amnesty By BEN GORDON, (Worker Correspondent) At the coming convention of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers to be held in Montreal, Local No. 144 of Chicago will not fight for amalgama- tion or the week-work resolution, two outstanding demands of the needle trades workers thruout the country. This was the decision of the special meeting called by that local. Recommendations in the form of resolutions were passed by the local to be used by the delegates as in- structions on how they should vote. In place of the amalgamation resolu- tion the local adopted a resolution calling for a federation of needle trades, a scheme tried out before and proven a failure. It will be remembered that the amal- gamation resolution was passed at the previous conyention of the A. C. W. with instructions to the G. E. B. to work towards that end. Yet at this late date we heard a brother advance the antiquated argument that amal- gamation would mean the breaking up of the existing unions. The reactionaries also won out on the resolution for the release of poli- tical prisoners of all countries. An amendment was presented by Broth- er Green on this resolution which proposed the changing of “of all coun- tries” to “of all capitalist countries.” Brother Stollar, notorious for his hatred of the Soviet Union, and others took advantage of this situation to make their attacks upon Soviet Rus- sia and argued that there are also political prisoners in the workers’ government. The arguments were so vile that they even got under the skin of the opposition, and one after an- other, in speaking against the amend- ment, specified that they did not agree with Stollar. To the credit of A. Wexler, presi- dent of the local, he was the only leading official who defended the amendment. His reply to Stollar and others was that they were to be pitied because of their ignorance. “Only workers who read nothing else but such papers as the Chicago Tribune, could advance such attacks on the Soviet Union. Their minds are pois- oned with the lying propaganda that the Tribune gives to the gullible American public,” he said. He quot- ed from the report of the Trade Un- jon delegation of Great Britain, to Soviet Russia where they prove that those who are imprisoned by the Workers’ Government are in the em- ploy of capitalist governments of oth- er countries and counter-revolution- aries who aim to destroy the first workers’ government. The machine under the leadership of Michelson succeeded in defeating the amendment. The original resolu- tion was adopted. In spite of all this local 144 stands out as the most progressive local in the Chicago organization. A number of resolutions progressive in charac- ter were passed at this meeting, such as the resolution on the Labor Party, the 40-hour week, rank and file or- ganization committees to organize the unorganized workers connected with the men’s clothing industry, against expulsion and complete amnesty for those members who were expelled be- cause of political opinions contrary to the administration, This resolution urged that the con- ‘vention goes on record “for full and unconditional amnesty for all cases resulting from political conflicts on policy and methods of organization and that all members that have been expelled or suspended be reinstated ‘and be placed back on jobs wherever removed and their fines remitted.” Resolutions demanding the return of full citizenship to Debs and many oth- er resolutions of a similar character ‘were passed. THE AMERICAN ASSOCIA- TION FOR THE ADVANCE- MENT OF ATHEISM, INC. 49 Vesey St., New York City A militant, uncompromising foe of the church and clergy. Litera- ture free upon request. Send mem- berships ($1.00 a year) to FREE- MAN HOPWOOD, General Secre- tary, P. O, Box 483, City Hall Sta. New York, N, Y. THE DAILY WORKER 1000 WORKER CORRESPONDENTS ee eter: England?” by Leon Trotsky. A brilliant work that throws light on the great strike going oe rawanenliig of China,” by Jos. H, Dolsen. The latest publication On a great event. bape Lay and Shadows,” by Ralph Chaplin. Beautiful poems written by the author while a class war prisoner in Leavenworth. WIN A BOOK THIS WEEK! THE WINNERS The winners of three prizes this week are workers In the clothing, textile and coal mining industries. around that issue. to demand the carrying out of the being violated. BOOK 3 PRIZES For Winning Worker Correspondence to Be Printed in the Issue of Friday, May 14th: The first prize, “Whither England?” by Leon Trotsky, goes to Ben Gordon, member of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, who reports a union meeting pointing out the poisonous propaganda spread against Russia by the reactionaries who are fighting every progressive move The second prize, “The Awakening of China” by Jos, H. Dolsen, goes to a Passaic striker who wrote a very fine descriptive article about the conditions in one of the dye mills now involved in the strike and an appeal for more active participation in the strike by the women strikers. The third prize, “Bars and Shadows” by Ralph Chaplin, goes to a coal miner in Daisytown, Pa., who, in his article, calls upon the miners All three are very fine worker correspondents’ articles and we hope many more like them will be sent In during the next week. COLTre on now. Cloth bound, union contract which at present is CONFERENCE URGES EXCHANGE OF CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN WORKER CORESPONDENTS OF ALL COUNTRIES We print today the resolution on international relations passed at the Chicago district worker correspondents’ conference held May ist, RESOLUTION ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. To develop feelings of international solidarity and to acquire more knowledge of the International workers correspondent move- ment, the conference recommends that exchange of literature, pub- llcations and worker correspondence should be developed between the United States and other countries, In view of the fact that the International Communist Press Day, May 5, is almost unknown in this country, the conference recom- mends that the attention of all party editors should be called to this day and that a -special drive for worker correspondents should be conducted every year beginning on May 1 and ending May 5, Special slogans to be printed in all our newspapers during those days, the dtive ending with living newspapers, worker correspondent confer- ences, or other affairs of like nature, THE SECOND PRIZE WINNER. ROOMS LADEN WITH GAS AND HEAVY FOGS, AND REEKING WITH FILTH AT UNITED PIECE DYE WORKS, LODI, N. J. By a Worker Correspondent. LODI, (Near Passaic), N. J., May 6, —conditions in the United Piece Dye Works are very bad. This is true of every department, In the new frame department the steam is so dense the workers are in constant danger of being caught in the machines and being badly injured, even Josing their lives. Many workers in this department suffer from headaches because of the gas used in making the steam. Sani- tary conditions are bad and nothing is done to improve them. 160 Hours In Two Weeks, There are no regular hours for work in this mill. Sometimes we work as high as 160 hours in two weeks, and women as well as men are forced to work nights. If they refuse to work they lose their jobs. If a worker is five minutes late his pay is docked 15 minutes, ten minutes, he loses 30 minutes of his wages. In the shipping department the same working hours prevail, the same in- tolerable sanitary conditions, the same indifference by the bosses, Here the dust is heavy and the workers fill their lungs with it all day. Many of the girls are tubercular. The floor is never washed. The oil that is used for the machines makes the place grimy in ad- dition to its being filthy. Steam, Dust and No Air. Heavy fogs fill the room of the chiffon finishing department so that the workers can hardly see each other. Gas is also used in this department. And to add to the misery of the work- ers the doors and windows are kept closed and no provision is made for ventilation. To get to a lavatory the workers must walk thru an open air GRAND MAY CONCERT & BALL will be given by the Ukrainian Labor Club and Its Young Section Sunday, May 9, 1926 at MANHATTAN LYCEUM. (Ukrainian Labor Home) 66-68 East 4th Street Part of the proceeds will be donated to The DAILY WORKER, : NEW YORK CITY Dance music played by a first class orchestra, BEGINNING AT 7 P, M, ADMISSION 65 CENTS ,|fore and victory is ours, Passage way. You can imagine their suffering during freezing weather, coming out of a steam laden atmos- phere into the freezing air. Many accidents occur in this work room. Workers easily get their fingers caught in the machines, Fans used to spread the steam are another danger. When the steam is dense one is likely to get hit on the head by these fans. Thruout the winter there is no heat in the examining department and the girls are compelled to wear their coats while at work. The girls work 10 hours a day and are always suffering because of the benzine used in large proportions causing many diseases. In all the departments there is no lunch hour.. The workers eat while they work. The girls begin to work from 14 years of age up, their wages 21c. an hour 'till the age of 16, After that no matter how old they are they receive 25c, The men’s wages are from 387c. to 41c, an hour. The younger boys receive 33c. an hour. The strike in Lodi continues with more enthusiasm. The picket line in- creases day by day.in number. The strikers are determined not to return without a complete victory. The women should be more active in this struggle because the result of this battle signifies more bread and butter for their children, It signifies less hard work for them and for their husbands. It also signifies better sanitary conditions in factories and provement of their economic condi- tions. They should come out on the picket line in greater numbers. The picket line is the place where we can show our solidarity and our strength to the mill owners and the scabs who do not understand the fight. y A scab is the worst rat on the face of the earth because by scabbing he robs the children of their bread and butter, But their scabbing will not break the strike because the solidarity of the strikers is so powerful nothing can destroy it, ‘Women, come out on the picket line, Now is the time to demonstrate your fighting spirit. Now is the time to show what real fighters the women can be. Show your determination to win this fight against the despotic mill owners who are stealing our children’s bread. At this critical point of the battle we must stand firmer than be- Open your eyes! Look around! There are the of the workers’ struggres around you begging to be written up. Do it! Send it in! Write as you fight! \ PONG CHE BY JANUARY 13 1927 THE THIRD PRIZE WINNER. OWNERS VIOLATE MINER CONTRACT AT VESTA NO. 4 Men Should Demand a Square Deal By ZERQ, Worker Correspondent. DAISYTOWN, Pa., May 6. — The Vesta No. 4 mine is working under the Jacksonville agreement, but it is not helping the miners as the bosses are aggressively violating the agree- ment. Why’ should they not do this when they have the union officials to sustain them in every decision they hand down to the men who have man- hood enough to demand that the agreement be enforced. The Art of Weighing Coal. The coal here is weighed on the so- called beam scale. Beam scales are very old fashioned and are only good at mines where coal is dumped slow, but here it is dumped at the rate of six wagons going over the scale a minute. The check boss hag no time o adjust the pea on the beam’ to se- cure proper weight (at times he does not want to adjust, it). While he is still sliding the pea across the beam he wagon go¢s off the scale and it means a loss from two hundred pounds to half a ton of coal to the miner, There are five or six kinds of wag- ons here that weigh, empty, from 2,900 to 4,300 pounds. It is impossible to get the company to weigh them empty and mark weight on each wa- gon so they are weighed and added up and averaged. At this mine we have the average light weights, one is 3,700 and the oth- er is 4,300. When a digger gets a wa- gon that is light, let us say 2,900 pounds, in order to reach the required average (8,700) he loads 800 pounds before it will be registered for him. Usually the wagons are divided in pro- portion so as to give the digger the short end of the stick. When the miners ask for a uniform size wagon the mine management tells them it is impossible to get a uniform size. Good reasons why it is impossible! Miners’ Demands Rejected. The miners at one time demanded that a so-called quick weight attach- ment be installed on the scales to in- sure against dishonest weigh bosses. But the management refused to con- sider such a proposition altho {t would have only been a matter of $150 to a scale of three hundred, for both scales, This would bring more har- mony and eliminate lots of grumbling by the men, yet the management of the mine from the ‘highest official to ‘owest straw boss have enough cheek to tell the men on every occasion that “our company treats its men better than any other company in Pennsyl- vania.” The reason the company gets away with all this is mainly that the union officials have betrayed them, and those who did have spunk enough to take the case against the company, were afterwards crucified and discrim- inated against to such an extent that they gave it up for fear of losing their jobs. This is a wrong policy and the men suffer because of it. The correct pol- icy is to fight, not to lay down. Go to your local union and have the mem- bers take up the cases. If the pres- ent officers will not act recall them and elect men who will fight for you. Get all the progressive elements together. Show them that it is their union and not the local or district officers’ union. In this way we will again renew the fighting spirit of the men working in Vesta No. 4. It will bring better work- ing conditions, better the standard of living, insure us against the danger of being fired at a boss’ whim and then we will be treated as men who pro- duce all the wealth derived by the Vesta Coal company, USE OF GUNMEN IN PRIMARIES Crowe-Barrett Alliance Tries to Block Expose The extent to which gunmen tactics were used by political workers and professional gunmen to put over their candidates in the April 13 primaries will be probed into before the board jof election commissioners. The inquiry into the part played by gangsters and gunmen and the use of threats, guns and other methods of coercing voters to cast ballots for certain candidates was opposed by As- sistant State’s Attorney Joseph P. Savage, who won the nomination for county judge on the open-shop repub- lican party ticket and Attorneys John F. Tyrrell and Edward K. Prindiville. The three represented the Robert E. Crowe-Charles V. Barrett alliance in opposing the inquiry into the practic- es of Crowe-Barrett workers in the primaries. Municipal Judges William L. Mor- gan and Daniel P. Trude, who Was the candidate that opposed Savage, point- ed out that for thirty years the prac- tice of the board had been to investi- gate these practices and that the board was perfectly within its rights to do so. “Two people went into the polling place to vote and after they had re- ceived ballots, their right to vote was challenged,” Judge Trude declared. “One of them slipped into the booth and the other had marked his ballot for Savage before it could be recall- ed. When the first one emerged from the booth, his ballot also was marked for Savage. Gangsters Beat Policeman. “The policeman stationed at the polling place placed the two fraudu- lent voters under arrest. Almost im- mediately six gangsters, headed by Vincent Drucci, marched into the place and at the point of six revolvers took command. “When the policeman sought to do his duty, the gangsters hit him on the head, causing a gash that required three stitches to be sewed. The pre- cinct worker jumped to the aid of the policeman and two shots were fired at him. McSwiggin Aids Gunmen. “The gunmen took the prisoners away from the policeman and hur- ried out with them. A little later Mc- Swiggin came in. The worker plead- ed with him to protect the place. Mc- Swiggin, according to the worker, re- fused.” Bank President Heads Boy Scouts WASHINGTON, May 6.—Walter W. Head of Omaha, Nebraska, was elect- ed president of the boy scouts of America. He is president of the Omaha National Bank. FIGHTING WRITERS TO SHOW THEIR SKILL TOMORROW NIGHT By a Worker Correspondent. There will be a big crowd of workers next Saturday, May 8, at the Workers’ House, 1902 W. Divi- sion St, Chicago, where the worker writers will stage the first Living Newspaper In ‘English. Efforts have not been spared to give the Chicago workers something worth while. The worker correspondents well deserve some boosting; come and give it to them. Stories about the life of the work- ers In the shops and mills by the worker correspondents. Not all of them serious. The affair will be seasoned with humor, poetry and cartoon drawing, as well as inter. pretative articles on the general strike in England. The sum of 15 cents, three nickels, will gain ad- mission for anyone who wants to e and get acquainted with the fighting writers. It is worth the money. Come and convince yourself. MAY ISSUE IS OUT! (ae as you Figt f AMERICAN WORKER. , CORRESPONDENT ‘and For Workers in the Factories, the,Mines, the Mills and on the Land Subscribe! AMERICAN WORKER CORRESPONDENT, 1113 W. WASHINGTON BLVD,, HATTA A TSEODSEUULLCTOAC LTH AU ATHY HHHHHNLALUT Only 60 Cents Per Year! SATURDAY NIGHT Something new will be shown to Chicago workers at the Workers’ House, 1902 W. Division Street. to which admission is only 15 cents, the worker cor- respondents will bring literature, art, news, and a good deal of wholesome fun in the first LIVING NEWSPAPER GET A COPY! Price 5 cents Become a Worker Correspondent! CHICAGO, ILL. For this affair TTA TT MAY PROBE THE Page Three Michael Reese Nurses Refuse to Give Up Half-Holiday Leaves The nurses at the Michael Reese hospital were notified that, “Begin- ning with next Sunday (May 2) the half holiday leaves for nurses are can- celled.” The nurses met at once and decided to continue taking the half holiday, with the patients and young doctors of the institution backing them up. SHIRT IRONERS MAY STRIKE T0 FORCE DEMANDS Union Insists Bosses Sign New Agreement NEW YORK, May 6. — The agree- ment between the Shirt Ironers’ Union, Local 280, and the employers expires on May 15. The conditions under which the shirt pressers work in the laundries are unbearable. In the five work days during the week (on Monday there is no work for the pressers) the shirt ironer works on the average from 60 to 65 hours, and his wages are not more than $35 to $40. But the employers are not content with this. They force on the workers an additional five hours work a week dampening the shirts for which the workers are not paid at all. The members of Local 280 presented to the laundry bosses the following lemands: Instead of 12c. a shirt as paid here- tofore, they demand 13c., which would amount to a raise in the wages from $3 to $4 a week; the elimination of the non-paid work—the dampening, and the full recognition of the union, JUDGE ENGLISH SEEKS AID OF KLAN’S LAWYER Hooded Order to Help Gompers’ Former Friend WASHINGTON, May 6.—Judge Geo, W. English of the federal district court at East St. Louis, Ill, impeached by the house and brought before the bar of the senate of the United States to stand trial for high crimes and mis- demeanors, came leaning on the legal arm of the ku klux klan . This fact caused. more comment, when the accused walked into the senate chamber on May 3 and entered his plea of not guilty, thay. did the text of his plea. For the lawyer who sat next to him, and who had the case in charge, was Zumbrun, chief counsel for the imperial headquarters of the klan in Washington. Zumbrun had represented Mayfield of Texas, the first klan senator to be seated, in Mayfield’s election contest before the committee on privileges and elections. Zumbrun had been brought in by Steck of Iowa, also, toward the close of Steck’s fight to unseat Brookhart. In his answer to the impeachment, English says that he has not violated the law; that his efforts to prevent picketing and other strike activities were in the interest of pub!le order and opposed to revolution and bolshev- ism, and that he is entitled to the |thanks of the nation for his firmness in dealing with these incendiary ele ments, When the senate gets down to the trial of English, the maneuvers of his lawyer, Zumbrun, will furnish almost as significant press material as will those of the strikebreaker judge him self. . Hit ’im Again! Every sub you land puts another dent in the dome of capital. For every blow: RED CA A beautiful collection of proletarian Art— RTOONS With Every 100 POINTS A BUST OF LENIN By the noted young pro- letarian sculptor G. Pic- coli— With Every 500 POINTS GET THE POINT! Subscriptions: The Dally Worker 1 year—100 points Yo year— 45 points 3 mos— 20 points 2 mos.— 10 points The Workers Monthly 1 year—30 points Yo year—10 points The Young Worker 1 year—30 points Ye year—10 points The Young Comrade 1 year—10 points A TRIP TO In Chicago Subscription Rates: Elsewhere $8.00 4.50 2.50 1.00 Prize winning points count for votes in MOSCOW Renewals count for points and prizes. THE DAILY WORKER, 1113 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, Ill. Enclosed $...ccsccoore FOF «e000 Months