The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 11, 1926, Page 1

The DAILY WORKER Raises the Standard for a Workers’ and Farmers’ Government i Vol. Il) 20; 92/,, R bassircoana awa fs or 3 Dh rs oe British Coal Barons or British Miners, President William Green? Public opinion, in Great Britain, might support the workers in their demand for the redress of just griev- ances whereas it would solidly support the government in its efforts to maintain the control of the government. .. ++ We express the hope that those qualities of delibera- tion and judgement which have always characterized the British people in every crisis will so assert themselves as to bring about an immediate settlement of the causes of the strike and to avert the dire consequences with which the people of the nation are threatened. —From the statement of President William Green on the British strike. "oO POs y S i} WIN FIGHT FOR FREE SPEECH IN PITTSBURGH, PA. Court Frees Engdahl and Jakira (Special to The Daily Worker) PITTSBURGH, Pa. May 8. — By Mail)—J. Louis Engdahl, editor of The DAILY WORKER, and Abram Jakira, Pittsburgh district organizer of the Workers (Communist) Party, were today freed of all charges filed against them by the police following the break-up of the International May Day demonstration here last Saturday night at Carnegie Music Hall. The cases against Engdahl and Jakira were dismissed by Judge Thomas J. Ford, in common pleas court, in one of the wierdest judicial acrobatics known to even Pittsburgh’s far-ffamed court system. Judge Ford held that the police were perfectly justified in breaking up the meeting and arresting the speak- ers. Nevertheless, he waved City Solicitor Randolph aside and, after lecturing Engdahl and Jakira, dis- missed the charges against them. Court Dodges Main Issue. Judge Ford refused absolutely, how- ever, to hear any arguments from Attorney George J. Shaffer, counsel for Engdahl and Jakira, to the effect that there is no Pittsburgh ordinance demanding that Communists or any- one else need have a permit for hall Wililam Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, and the executive council, have now an opportunity to show if, in some forgotten crevice of the magnificent building which houses the A. F. of L. in Washington, D. C., paid for by the subscriptions of the trade unionists of America, there remains enough of the fighting iraditions of the early American labor movement to bring a ringing call to the wealthy international unions urging generous and un- grudging financial support to the British strike. President Green is a member of the United Mine Workers of } America. The British Trade Union Congress called the general strike in support of the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain which, like the United Mine Workers here, is the backbone of the trade union movement. The British miners are fighting for the right to live. Last year they were able to earn less than 50 shillings ($12) per week. The mine owners, backed by the goverpment, propose to reduce this wage by 33 per cent. But, say the coal barons, if the miners will agree to work one hour longer each day, we will cut wages only 20 per cent. If the miners are beaten the standard of living of all the British workers will be forced down. The coal barons of America then, will try, to force American miners’ wages to the same level and the other industrial lords, a Py H 2 In Chicago, by mail, $3.00 y ‘hscription Rates: Suisse Exige Bo eee eae Entered at Second-class matter September 21, 1923, ft the Post Office at Chicago, Illinois, under the Act of March 3, 1879. knowing that Britain is the chief competitor of America in the world markets, will drive American labor downward to the lowered British wage standard. The defeat of the coal miners and the British labor movement means a new drive against wages and hours in every capitalist nation. ™ The defeat of British labor will give new. courage-to) reaction everywhere. i We do not believe that the membership of the American -labor movement have forgotten entirely that the eight-hour day in America was brought about by the determined nation-wide action of the workers against the opposition of the capitalists and theit’ govern- ment and tht the eight-hour day agreements which trade unions sign today are sealed with the blood of the Haymarket martyrs. We do not believe that the coal miners of America have for- gotten that their union was organized, wages raised and hours shortened, thru a series of struggles against the coal owners. and loeal, state and national authorities, acting as their agents, in which |‘ hundreds of miners have been murdered and jailed. The agreements made by the U. M. W. of A. with the coal barons today also are sealed with the lifeblood of men who fought and died that the union might live. The rank and file of American labor knows the importance of the British siruggle. It has brought the international aspect of the class struggle closer to America than did the Russian revolu- tion. What then, is the plain duty of the responsible heads of the Amer- ican Federation of Labor? Is it to issue statements which are a mixture of doubt and criticism with thinly veiled hints that the British capitalist gov- ernment is entitled to the same consideration from American labor as are the British trade unions which that government is trying to smash by the use of special legislation and the use of the army and navy? No! Such statements weaken support of the British unions. Every honest trade unionist in America has the right to demand from President Green and the’ executive council of the A. F. of L. a straight answer to'this question: : Are you for the British labor movement in this struggle or are you on the side of the British bosses and their government? The answer to this question, if-it is in the affirmative, can be given in only one way: _ By a call for financial support to the utmost and for the corse: of all shipments to or from Great Britain sent to every local union of the American trade union movement. Eyery labor movement in the world except the American is do- ing this much at least. meetings, ‘This was the issue it was hoped this case would settle. Judge Ford brushed this phase of the case entirely aside. The police tried to shift the case to the ordinance de- manding permits for street meetings. But it was shown that the May Day meeting, for the few minutes that it was held, was carried on from the broad steps of the Carnegie Music Hall and not in the street. Engdahl and Jakira were brot into court Saturday morning by Warden John McNeil, of the county jail, under habeas corpus proceedings demanding that definite explanations be made as to why they were being held. Served Four Days in Jail. The two Communists were locked up Wednesday afternoon after refusing the pay their fines. This was done by advice of attorneys and representa- tives of local organizations interested in the fight for free speech. It was held that this was an ideal case for testing out the power of the police de- partment to demand permits for the holding of hall meetings. To pay the fine under protest and then appeal the case would only result in the case dragging thru the courts and being forgotten, it was held. Thru habeas corpus proceedings it was hoped to get an immediate decision, Attorney Shaffer secured the writ of habeas corpus Thursday but Judge Ford refused to permit it to'come to (Continued on page z.) To the Members of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America: and to the Delegates at the Montreal Convention Statement by National Committee Needle Trades Section, T. ULE. L. Fellow Workers and Delegates: — The old militant spirit shown by the Amalgamated ten years ago is no more, It has been strangled by the President Green, the executive council and the heads of the}class collaboration policy of the Hill- national and international unions must decide now if they are to|™an bureaucracy. This bureaucracy join with labor of the world or with the enemies of labor the world over. They have no other choice—either they rally the trade unions for support of the British strike or they retain their critical at- titude and place on American labor the brand of Judas. This they must not be allowed to do. PICKET IS MURDERED BY GUARD IN CICERO MOULDERS’ STRIKE With but one death resulting from the great general strike in England involving millions of men, little Cicero, a suburb of Chicago, records a striker ‘killed while on picket duty before a shop. He was Thomas Hallwood, 39 years old. The struck plant is the Greenlee Foundry Company on W. 14th St., Cloero, , A guard emptied his gun at a group of pickets who resented the trans- portation of scabs to the plant by automobile.’ Hallwood fell with a bullet in his heart. The guard was riding the running board of the scab car:when he opened fire. The strike is now going on its seventh week. The picket tine will be maintained, (7 expels and suspends the most devoted and active members, blacklists them out of jobs, keeps them away from union activity, falsifies elections. This bureaucrarey works hand in hand with the employers to increase profits thru piece work and standards of produc- tion, This bureaucracy, in a time of prosperity in the industry, accepts wage cuts and reductions of working forces without even a pretence of struggle. The Amalgamated Under the Present Leadership. Gone is the old policy of struggle and working class solidarity. The union that once used to be the flaming torch of militant unionism in the United States has been weakened in spirit and power. While the union is losing in membership, expelling active militant members, and losing its hold upon the industry, our official leaders concentrate their éfforts on the Amal- gamated Bank, oii ‘insurance, housing, and other schémeh. The organization, josie TUESDAY, MAY 11, 1926 "°° Where English Strike Hits Hardest! OLE HOPE OF BRITISH INDUSTRIAL AREAS BB COAL AREAS has developed in the past three hundred years shows the places hardest hit by the general tie-up resulting from the great strike. 4 1. Fi T. U. Donates. AMSTERDAM, Holland, May 9.—In response to/a telegraphed appeal to affiliated and mon-affiliated though friendly natipnal labor centers abroad, the International Federation of Trade Unions has réceived promises of moral and financial support from American and Mexicah labor organizations in its campaiguto aid the British strik- ers. id The international federation today remitted £1,000 to the British Trades Union Council as the first installment of its finamcial assistance to the strikers. Er ae India:to Aid Miners. BOMBAY, British India, May 9.— The All-India Trade Union Congress HUGE UNION SQUARE MEETING SUPPORTS - BRITISH STRIKERS » NEW YORK, May 9.—Five thou- sand workers showed solidarity with British strikers at a Workers Party meeting at Union Square yes- terday. Meeting opened at 12 oclock and closed at 4. A resolution was adopte: calling upon American workers not to scab. Fifty policemen listened with sympathetic interest. thanks to the leaders, is deserting the field of struggle for the workers in favor. of capitalist business (trade union capitalism.) The abandonment of the class strug- gle policy fs demonstrated in the clearest fornby the Nash “open shop” agreement, according to which non- union men can work side by side with | union men with the consent of the union, Our Amalgamated, under the present leadership, pursues a policy of peace and co-operation with the em- ployers, the same as prevails in the building trades, the most reactionary of unions in the A. F. of L. It is be- coming an Amalgamated of wage re- ductions, of piece work, of Standards of production, of fake agreements, of graft and corruption, of expulsions and gangsterism, instead of what it once was, an Amalgamated of struggle and achievement. Don’t Be Fooled, ‘Those of you who live in New York and Chicago know that we are telling the truth. For a long time our Presi- dent, Sidney Hillman, has been fooling you and the whole world by “progress- ive maneuvers” at conventions, man- International Labor Supports Strike euvers which covered up before the rank and file and the world, they \ is arranging to assist the British strikers financially and already has cabled £200 to the British Trade Union Congress. ~ ee African Unionists Send Sympathy. CAPETOWN, Union of South Africa May 9. — The various labor bodies thruout the..Union of South Africa. have passed resolutions of sympathy with the British workers. The resolu- tions urge that appeals be made for funds to aid the strikers. see French Labor. Approves Strike. PARIS, France, May 9. — The ad- ministrative committee has issued ’a communique announcing that it ap: proved measures already taken by. the miners, railwaymen’s, dockers’, sail- ors’ and printers’ federations to im- pede exportations to England and help the British workers obtain their “legitimate demands.” The committee says the necessary arrangements have been made for as- suring the British workers important financial aid by an immediate con- tribution and thru a general appeal by the French organizations, eo 8 Hollanders Busy. AMSTERDAM, May 9.—Seamen and dockers in Holland are taking steps thru their unions to prevent shipments of coal from the reparations area to be loaded for English ports. disease of class collaboration that is gnawing the entrails and is killing the Amalgamated as a fighting workers’ union. Hillmanism is “The Forward,” as represented by Beckerman, plus the hypocrisy of progressive appearances. We say: don't be fooled by resolu- tions, by gestures towards the outside world, by proposals tor reforms that are not carried into effect, as Hillman- ism has shown in the past, and which serve, as a fig-leaf and opium to disarm you in the struggle. You must demand realities, a genuine fighting policy for the union. A Call to Struggle. Remember that many of those who could effectively voice the interests of the rank and. file membership as against the interests of the union bureaucracy have been railroided out of the union, expelled, suspended, driven out of the shops, coursed out in the elections, and their voice will aot be heard in this convention, But also remember that the issue between the progressive membership and the standpat bureaucracy must be settled right whether it is done at this convention or not, Remember, ‘the: re- actionary Boston convention of the (Continued on page 4.) Published Datly except Sunday by THE DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO., 1113 W. NEW YORK EDITION Price 3 Cents ‘ashington Bivd., Chicago, Ul. BOSSES Labeor’s Iron Battalions Balk British Government; Union Discipline Solid By W. N. EWER, Foreign Editor, London Daily Herald. (Cable to Federated Press) LONDON, May 9.—Very good evidence of the most complete |industrial tieup is afforded by the strenuous efforts of govern- |ment propagandists to claim that things are going well from their point of view. “Vital services improving,” says a big head- line in this morning's British Gazette. This soun4 fine, but when you read on you find all they are able to ci oy “vital services of food, milk, light, power are being success#y" ».nain- |tained.” As these are precisely the services which tie Trade | Union Congress ordered uninterrupted the claim amounts to just jnothing at all. ‘ Outside of this the only comfort the government organ is able to offer “Loyalists” is that a few passenger trains are run- ning on the main lines and the London tubes and that eighty out of five thousand London General Bus Co. busses on streets under police guard. That is the net result of the much vaunted volun- teer organization. And though it may impress London West End suburbanites thinking mainly of their own convenience it leaves i a od SER ik a Ah i, MA the economic situation entirely+ unaffected. { Industry at Standstill. |. Riding in buses and trains is not }exactly one of Britain’s staple indus- \tries. The.essential fact of the situ- ‘ ation is that all productive industry is at a standstill or rapidly coming to @ standstill. The country is in the iron grip of a magnificently disciplined working class which is grimly deter- mined to hold on until justice is as- sured to the miners, } Every foreign observer who visits working class districts of London con- fesses amazement at the sight of; enormous crowds, quiet with a grim determination. Everybody is showing | perfect order. Provocation. | You in America have no doubt been | receiving scare stories of riots. The} fact is that such incidents are the; fewest and of the least importance. | | They always result from some deli- berate or accidental provocation. { An example, of this was.,given .at Paddington yesterday. A scab lorry | drove into an orderly mass meeting and knocked down a striker, break- ing both his ankles. The driver nar-| rowly escaped injury at the hands of the infuriated crowd, which, how-; ever, finally contented itself only with smashing up the engine. | That case is typical but the big) fact is that with over two million | men on strike little more damage has} been done than that often done by} drunken undergraduates on a West} End boatrace night. Dictator Helpless. The situation in the North coun- | try can be gauged from the fact that Sir Kingsley Wood, chief commis- sioner of Northumberland and Dur- ham under the Emergency Powers Act has been forced to admit that he has lost control of the situation and has asked the local strike coun- cil to set up a joint committee to or- ganize supplies and maintain order. Wood offered, if they accepted, to advise withdrawing of all troops in the two counties. The council af- ter consultation with the Trade Union Council declined. The next invention of the strike propagandists after the “riots” stories is to spread the rumor that negotiations are beginning. All these rumors are entirely unfounded, Par-| liamentary gossip is all unreliable. No one has authority to initiate negotia- tions on behalf of labor except the General Council and the General Council has taken no step. | The government has devised 2 new blow at the British worker. An or der has been issued this morning con anti- AS WE 60 sible leaders of the strike situation, to the International News Service. J ° STRIKERS STOP vessels, ee of their wages to the strike fund, * . ‘MARTIAL | ganized LAST STRIKE BULLETINS MIEN MAY PROVOKE BRITISH CLASH Government Military Show Irks Workers (By W. N. EWER, Foreign Editor Daily Herald.) Cable to Federated Press. LONDON, May 9.—The most dan- gerous feature of the situation is the melodramatic psychology the govern- ment is rapidly developing. it is hand- fing-the--situation in-e-way-tiable=te. provoke serious trouble. 5 Though London is perfectly quiet and orderly, troops are being poured in. Hyde, Regents and Victoria Parks are all turned into military camps. Armored cars and lorries with ma- chine guns are ostentatiously parad- ing the streets. Troops were sent yes- terday to all docks. Quite superfluously armed guard? are now being provided to food wag- ons. British Gazette, official organ of government, daily grows more hystert- cal. Mornings chief headline is “Or- Attempt to Starve Nation.” Big type st leclares: “Organized Attempt is Being Made to Starve Peo- ple and Wreck States.” The paper thruout makes no pretense of giving | official objective news, but is a bitter- ly partisan sheet. The display of force and hysterical talk is very pleasng to government's middle class supporters who now openly deciare opportunity must be seized to break trade unionism for a generation. The first fracas of any importance occurred in Glasgow, when miners picketing tram car were attacked by police with batnos. Twelve were ar- rested, several ¢ red. The result was to consic embitter Clydesdale situation. s reported that a telegram censorship is being established, | fiscating all supplies of paper. Uniesa our stocks are exempted the British Worker must end shortly. Such a de liberate provocative act might have rious repercussions ‘on the psychol- ogy of the workers. TO PRESS ANOTHER WEEK, SAYS COOK. LONDON, May 9.—Another week of the general strike was forecast to day by A. J. Cook, secretary of the miners’ federation and one of the respon- “In my opinion there will be no official negotiations between the Trades Union Congress and the government for at least another week,” said Cook * * FOOD VESSELS. MANCHSTER, England, May 9.—Strikers prevented the unloading of the cargoes from two food ships here today. that a destroyer is being sent to guard strikebreakers who will unload the The authorities announced NON-STRIKERS GIVE 5%. LONDON, May 9.—The trades union conference tonight ordered all workers not yet affected by the gencral strike to contribute five per cent . * ATLANTIC PASSAGES CANCELLED, NEW YORK, May 9-——-Seventy passages were cancelled on six British liners clearing from this port today, according to company officials, MORE STRIKE NEWS ON PAGE 2. z eee er nani