The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 14, 1926, Page 6

b et 4 Page Six THE DAILY WORKER Published by the DAILY WCRKER PUBLISHING CO. ‘113 W. Washington Bivd., Chicago, TL. Phone Monroe 4712 SUBSCRIPTION RATES By mall (in Chicago only): | By mali (outside of Chicago): $8.00 per year $4.50 six months | $6.00 per year $3.50 six months / $2.50 three months | $2.00 three ‘months Address all matl and make out checks to THE DAILY WORKER, 1113 W. Washington Bivd,, Chicago, Iilinols J. LOUIS ENGDAHL { WILLIAM F, DUNNE MORITZ J, LOEB, .. Editors Business Manager eens sasbtheitteethtittstet ena mRTAL Ein eee) 4 Entered as second-class mat] September 21, 1928, at the post-office at Chi- ° cago, Ill, under the act of March 3, 1879. <> 290 Advertising rates on application. — Amalgamation Before the Amalgamated The convention of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers’ Union, now meeting at Montreal, has it in its power to give a much needed lead. to the American trade union movement. The clothing industry has drawn into its factories the best trained, from the working class viewpoint, section of ‘workers in the United States. The majority of them are class conscious in the sense that they know the class nature of capitalist society and are not feoled by its democratic pretenses. With the exception of the United Garment Workers, the needle trades unions are the most militant in America. In a comparatively short time the needle trades workers Have made substantial pro- gress in job control and working conditions. Further advance is checked by the division of the workers into Journeymen Tailors, Hat and Cap Makers, Ladies’ Garment Work ers, Amalgamated Clothing Workers, Furriers and United Garment Workers. Amalgamation into a departmentalized industrial union is the next step and there is plenty of evidence that the majority of the membership is willing to take this step. As a matter of fact all of the most important unions in the in- dustry have endorsed amalgamation in principle. It remains now to give it concrete expression. A resolution making practical proposals to this end is before tWfe convention. If that body acts favorably upon it and instructs the executive board to proceed to the calling of the preliminary conference of all needle trades union executives to be followed by an amalgamation convention, the rank and file will shout approval. Every delegate with the interests of his union and his class at heart will vote for the resolution. A powerful industrial organization in the needle trades will be a forceful example to the rest of the labor movement and assure the one hundred per cent organization of the needle and kindred in- dustries. Slackening Business and the Unions A large black speck has appeared in the almost flawless future of American business as portrayed by the professional optimists in the shape of a 511,959 ton decrease in unfilled orders of the United States Steel corporation for last month. This, the largest. drop in advance business since May, 1924, coupled with the total of the smallest booked tonnage since Decem- ber of last year—3,867,976 tons, 578,592 below April last—is an in dication of a general slowing up in consumption and undoubtedly means the closing of a number of mills. “It is not probable that an immediate wave of unemployment is due in the United States but we can except a steady decrease from the present high point especially. in the building trades. The unions must launch an organization drive this spring or summer or else face a period of unemployment without having recovered completely from the depression of 1920-21 and the open shop drive of 1922. The biggest and*most important task of the labor moyement ‘is the organization of the millions of workers in basic industry and the unionization of at least 50 per cent of the 25,000,000 workers now outside the trade unions and at the mercy of the bosses. The Cash Values of Polar Flights The enslavement of scientific achievement for the benefit of purely suppre shown by the f ve anti-working class capitalist enterprises is well act that the flight of Byrd over the North Pole is being utilized for a nation-wide propaganda in behalf of the navy. In the New York Times for May 10 is a page of praise for the success of the venture launched contribute. Almost everyone of and emphasize the important role ment. by the navy to which 31 persons the tributes manages to bring in played by the navy in this achieve- The cash value of this exploit to the builders of battleships, the naval caste which commands them, and the oil, copper and: bank- ing interests which use them to extend their control over the labor and lives of the working class at home and abroad, will be seen in the next naval appropriation bill. TEN BIG CHAIN STORE CORPORATIONS MAKE $100,000,000 PROFIT IN 1925 Huge profits are revealed in the 1925 reports of mail order houses and chain store corporations. Ten of these big distributing concerns in 1925 handled over a billion dollars of business. Their profits totaled nearly $100,000,- 000. Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. is not included in this group because its report is not yet out, Its inclusion would bring the total! sates to over $1,500,000,000. A. & P., with its 14,000 stores selling about $450,000,000 of goods in the year, is unapproached by any other chain system. Sears Roebuck leads the present list with sales of $2 But its $20,975,304 profit is second to Wool- worth’s 10c stores. The Sears Roe- buck profit represents a return of $20.87 a share on the common stock outstanding. Since 1910 stockholders have received in stock diytlends 2 additional shares for every one origi- nally “held. So the 1925 profit means “ 78% on the original investment, Woolworth Stores. _ Woolworth comes second in total sales with a 1925 record of $236,032,- 946. Its $24,601,764 profit leads the parade. Woolworth owners profit more than «lc out of each 10c purchase. "These profits mean a return of $9.46 on @ $25 share of common stock, Tak- ing into account the expansion of hold- through stock dividends the 1925 profits are more than 50% on their in- vestment. Woolworth is operating 1,423 stores in the United States, 203 in England and 1 in Cuba, Montgonsry Ward & Co, ranks third in value of goods distributed, but falls | below the Kresge 5c to $1 stores in profits, year amounted to $170,592,642, while profits totaled $11,358,498. This gives common stockholders a return of $8.05 on each $10 share or approximately 80% on their investment. Kresge Stores. The 330 Kresge stores distributed $105,965,610 of goods in 1925 and made a profit of $11,809,260. Owners of com- jmon got a return of $31.75 per $100 share. But through stock dividends distributed since 1920 the owners now | have more than 3 shares for each orig- |inal share. The 1925 profit is, there | tore, a real return of about 98% on | their investment, Kresge, like Wool | worth, is rapidly expanding out of surplus profits, Other chain store systems report 1925 profits as follows: United Cigar Stores Co. $8,813,228 or 28%% on the investment of the common stockhold ers; Schulte Retail Stores Co., $6,416, 931 or about 97%, calculated on the stockholders’ investment prior to re: cent stock dividends; McCrory Stores Corp., $2,750,000 or 42%, and the Na- tional Tea Co., $1,569,936 or more than 97% on the stockholders’ investment, a Ward's total sales for the | sill ee cman As in ancient Egypt, the Jewish worker has not escaped the lash of the exploiter in modern Palestine., The Soviet Economy Has Won | The Most Important Features: of the Economic Situation (Extract from the Report at the Meeting of the Central Executive Council of the Soviet Union. ‘HEN, under Lenin’s leadership, we carried out the transition to the New Economic Policy, the extent of the decline of our country was charajc- terised by the following figures: In- dustrial production amounted to 18— 20% and agricultural production amounted to 49% of the pre-war pro- duction. By comparing these two figures one could, at the first glance, arrive at the conclusion that agricul- ture was in a better position than in- dustry, Such a conclusion, however, would be extremely superficial, as it would leave out of account the fact that the bulk of the agricultural products is consumed by the peasants themselves, | while almost the whole of the indus- trial products is sent to the market. At the beginning of the New Econ- omic Policy agriculture sent such an insignificant portion of its products to the market that we experienced at the time an exceedingly severe food crisis. The development of our entire economy, including the development of industry, encountered before all in this period the difficulty presented by the weakness of agriculture. The workers had to have bread, the town population had to be supplied with food, and industry with raw material. All this was only possible thru the development of agriculture. Hence, at that time agriculture was the weak point in our entire dconomy, the strengthening of which was the necessary pre-condition for the econ- omic reconstruction and further dev- elopment of the whole country. Indi ry 95% of P HE present economic situation differs greatly from the original stage of the New Economic Policy. Industry has now attained about 95% and agriculture 91% of the pre-war standard. At the commencement of the New Economic Policy there exist- ed hunger and food crisis. Today, there prevails hunger for industrial products. If one wished to express in a short formula the chief difference between the present economic situa- tion and the situation at the beginning of the New Economic Policy, one could say: At that time agriculture was in a backward condition, and as ja result there prevailed thruout the whole country a severe food crisis; today it is industry that is in a back- ward condition, and as a consequence we are in the second year of shortage of goods, Thus the importance and the role of agriculture and industry in the in the Soviet Union. BY A. RYKOV: | believe that our state is the only one that has succeeded In overcoming the enormous devasta- tion without foreign loans, | also believe that our state occupies a unique position in that it has proved capable of achieving econ- omic successes such as other states have not been able to obtain even with the ald of foreign loans and the support of other states. Our economic successes have—and everyone must realize this—a tre- mendous political importance as they prove that In spite of all the attempts of our nents to prove the inability of the Working class and of the peasantry to organize economy without..the fatcory own- ers and landlords, that the workers and peasants know, how to build up the economic life of the country and to organize It"Better than was ever the case under the rule of the bourgeoisie and the landlords and under the capitalist order—Rykov. whole life of our upjon has changed, although at the same time industry has developed at an,exceedingly rapid rate, Last year it,jnereased its pro- duction by 64%, in the present year it will increase,dt by about 35%. The yearly increase, ip industrial pro- luction considerably, exceeds the srowth of agriculfural production, aevertheless there prevails a shortage of gabds, t | Stabilized «Budget. | peepee with the growth of industry and agriculture—and this is one of the symptoms of this general process, of reconstruction— our budget has grown considerably, and this year attains a balance of over four milliard roubles as against 2,298,- 148,000 roubles in the year 1923-24 and 2,905,070,000 roubles in the year 1924- 25. It must be borne in .mind that we have achieved these results without any help whatever @rom outside, I believe that our state is the only one that has succeeded infovercoming the enormous devastation without foreign loans. I believe that our state also occupies a unique ition in that it has proved capable achieving econ- omic successes such as other states have not been able»to obtain even with the aid of foreign loans and the support of other states’. Our economic successes have—and everyone must realize this—a tremendous political | French and Spanish Troops Use European Methods on Riffians ar Class Dates of the birthdays of class for the months FEZ, Morocco, May 12.—The French and Spanish armies are using Eu- ropean warfare methods in their war on the Riffian tribesmen, The com- bined armies have made advances into Riff territory as most of the Riff warriors are still in the harvest fields gathering in the grain that will be needed by them to carry on their wi vainst the imperialist powers, The French army at one point in their line were badly beaten when » number of Riffs with two artillery pieces peppered them, Negro Held by Police Shot to Death by Mob 8ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., May 12>— The body fo Parker Watson, 4 negro, who was taken from two deputies last night while being carried to the Clear- water jail, was found today. He had been shot to death. Watson was ac- cused of house breaking, ‘ 6, Ff and June ar fense as follows 4 R. 1, Huntsvilléf Texas, leston, Mass. June 16—John Bruns, 40054, June 17—Thomes Herty, Box 1 Blue Strike for Honesty. SUGAR NOTCH, » Pa.— (FP)—A thousand anthracite miners are strik- ing at Sugar Notch colliery No. 9 of the Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Co, because the company posted a notice that the mina wauld glose if a check- - ae ar Prisoners’ Birth Dates May 15—AbFaham Cisnoros, 37486, Wynne State Farm, Box 1, May 16—A, E. Anderson, 38376, San Quentin, Cal. May 25—Wm. Joozdeff, 37649, San Quentin, Cal. June 3—B, Johanson, 38364, San Quentin, Cal. June 11—Bartholomew Venzetti, Bridgewater Hospital, Char- , 36458, Brazoria Co, Farm, Dewalt, Send these maiy letters of greetings and appropriate gifts birthdays. Don’t forget the working class fighters who are in. importance, as they prove that, in spite of all the attempts of our op- ponents to prove the inability of the working class and of the peasantry to organize economy without the factory owners and landlords, that the work- ers and peasants know how to build up the economic life of the country and to organize it better than was ever the case under the-rule of the bourgeoisie and landlords and under the (capitalist order. Soviets Superior Over Capitalism. HESE successes which we have attained not only compel quanti- tative respect, but they imply at the same time a gigantic moral victory, as they prove the superiority of our order compared with the bourgeois- capitalist order. As I have already said, in spite of the fact that we have attained 95% of the pre-war production in our industry and 91% in agriculture, there prevails a shortage of goods. Wherein lies the cause of this? If the proportion be- tween the quantity of goods produced by agriculture and the quantity pro- duced by industry has remained about the.same, and the rate of development of industry even exceeds the growth of agriculture, then the chief cause, apparently, myst be sought in another sphere. : The chief cause of the shortage of goods is the forced growth of effective demand. | Peasant Problem Is Changed. | a inarecaap has been a great change in the budget of the peasant as com- pared with pre-war times. The nation- alization of the land, the freeing of the peasants from the burdens of pur- chase of land from and payment of rent to the land-owners, hand in hand with the advance of agriculture, alone increase the purchasing capacity of the peasants. The freeing of the peas- ants from a number of other liabilities which were part and parcel of the landlord regime, increases at the same time the purchasing power of the vil- lage, and therefore the growth of agri- cultural production of the peasants involves a greater demand for indus- trial products. Thanks to the cogsider- able reduction of the agricultural in- come tax and the increase in the price ON THE JOB IN THE THIRD ANNUAL NATIONAL BUILDERS’ CAMPAIGN Here They Are! Communist builders of the press who have all the earmarks of real can- didates for that trip to Moscow. All of them have gathered more than a thousand points to their credit. Look them over! Elsie Pultur, Boston, Mass., District 1. W. H. Scarville, Pittsburgh, Pa., District 5. Sarah Victor, Detroit, Mich., District 7. Eugene Bechtold, Grand Rapids, Mich., District 7 John Heinrichson, Chicago, Ill., District Paul C. Reiss, Los Angeles, Cal., District 13. Frank Spector, Los Angeles, Cal., District 13 And Look Out for These! Another group with 500 points to the good and their eyes in the direction of Moscow! A. Ohprover, New York City, District 2 Leo:Kling, New York City, District 2... Jenni¢; Cooper, Buffalo, N. Y., District 4... Alfred Vallentine, Chicago, Ill., District ‘Joseph Angelo, Springfield, Ill, District @L STOCK-OWNERSHIP DEMOCRACY BUNK IS BLASTED BY ABLE STATISTICIAN By LELAND OLDS, Federated Pre: Don’t fall for the bunk about industrial democracy coming thru the enormous increase in the number of stockholders. That myth is completely exploded in a New Republic article by Lewis Corey. He shows by analysis of income tax statistics that labor's share in corporate ownership is insig- nificant and that since 1921 the concentration of ownership in the middle and upper clasess has been increasing, In 1923, according to Corey, $3,256,000,000' of the $4,169,117,678 in cash dividends paid by American corporations went to individual American stock- “holders. porations, institutions and foreign in- dividuals, On this basis individual Americans own 78% of the corporate ‘stock ‘worth $62,500,000,000 at par. He continues: Big Business Runs Industries. “On the basis that each group's per- centage of dividends equals the per- centage of stock owned we get the following results: of corn, and thanks to the generous granting of credits to our organs re- sponsible for collecting grain, the pur- chasing power of the village has great- ly increased this year. (Continued Tomorrow.) war prisoners in the United States ‘e given by International Labor De- San Quentin, Cal, “A”, Thomaston, Me, Ridge State Farm, Hobby Tex a weighman suitable to the emp were not elected by the minérs. The workers refused to change. thelr elected man and charge that the com- pany is running condemned coal through the breaker during regular working hours. t af se Approximate Distribution of Stock Holdings, Income No. In Pet. of total Groups group stock 600,000 75.0 $3,000 to $5,000. 400,000 12.9 Below $3,000 -. 000,000 8.1 Not reporting 8,000,000 4.0 “The statistics reveal,” he points out, “overwhelming concentration: 600,000 stockholders ‘or 4% own 75% of the individual holdings; while 8,- 000,000 stockholders ‘or 53.3% own 4%.” - ‘ Workers Own Little, Corey shows that altho the share of national income and dividends going to incomes over $5,000 declined from 1917 to 1921, this decline reversed it- self in 1922, From 1922 to 1924 the larger incomes recovered nearly two- thirds of the proportion of dividends lost in the period of decline. Treating all incomes over $3,000 as belonging predominantly to other than wage-earners, he finds the proportion of dividends going to this non-wage group to have beenin 1918, 94.4%; 1919, 94.8%; 1920, 94.56%; » 86.5% ; 1922, 90.1%; 1923, 91.6%," and 1924, 92.3%. Thus the wage-earners’ share increased from 5.6% in 1918 to 13.5% in 1921, but fell back steadily to 7.7% in 1924. He says, “Actually the per- centage is much lower, Incomes be- low $3,000 includes wage-earners, farmers and tradesmen.” Distribution, Estimating the distribution between farmers, small (business mea and being The balance went to cor-¢———___ wage-earners on the basis of 1916 re- turns he finds the class distribution of corporate ownership in 1924 to have been: Class Stock owned $1,520,000,000 2.3 Wage earners 1,650,000,000 2.5 Non Wage Earners Below $5,000... $5,000-$20,000 Above $20,000 “Corporate cludes, “is a non wage-earning class monopoly (exclusive of farniers) of 95% at least, 79.9% being concentrat- ed among those with incomes above $5,000. The class concentration of cor- porate ownership is not being broken, nor are there any indications of its ken, Under prevailing con- ditions we are not approaching, either 1ediately or potentially, working immy class Ownership and management of corporate industry.” m Senate Prohibition Committee for More Teeth in Volstead Act WASHINGTON, May 12.—The sen- ate prohibition committee approved the Goff bill for putting new teeth in the Volstead act. The measure would increase the government's control over use of industrial alcohol, the manufacture of cereal beverages and provide stiffer penalties for numerous classes of bootleggers. ~ At the same time, the committee re- ported favorably a bill proposed by L. Cc, Andre dry czar, to permit em- ployment as pfohibition officials of re- tired army officers without loss of their retirement pay.