The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 15, 1926, Page 1

— « 4 the Standard for a Workers’ and Farmers’ Government BREAKDOWN OF - INDUSTRY CAUSE OF POLISH WAR Repor ts Conflict on Pilsudski Success BULLETIN WARSAW, May 13. — Marshal Pilsudski is in complete control of Warsaw and it is understood that he intends to take over the govern- ment functions tonight. The Marshal has refused to nego- tiate with the Witos government, which has retired to that section of the elty which is under the protec- tion. of loyal government troops. eer) (Special to The Daily Worker) BERLIN, May 13. — The strict cen- sorship ring around Poland the past few days has made a definite calcula- tion of the status of the political situa- tion there difficult, but the basis of the political chaos is certainly Pol- and’s economic exhalstion. While a report from Dantzig re- ceived here today says that heavy fighting is going on in the streets of Warsaw and that public buildings have been captured by rebel troops under Marshal Pilsudski, former Polish pres- ident, other reports state that a com- promise has been reached in confer- ence between Pilsudski and President Wojciechowski, What is known is that following the crisis of last week when Premier Skrzinski, a representative of big business, was forced to resign, the whole political situation has been in turmoil and troops under the influence of Marshal Pilsudski have been de- manding the resignation of the presi- dent also. Whether Pilsudski’s intention is to deman@ a@ dictatorship under his own sword or merely to introduce an in- timidating military maneuver into the political situation cannot yet be de- termined. Conflicting Reports. While the official government state- ments coming from Warsaw claim that Pilsudski’s forces are small and that the government has the situation qvell in hand with a large regular army force, a Berlin newspaper says it has knowledge to the effect that Pilsudski is at the head of a large force and is dictating_termS~to the government. The present crisis began brewing last week when the Skrzinski cabinet was forced to resign. Several at- tempts were made, one by Grabski, another by Marek, a deputy from ‘Cracow, to form a new cabinet and no one succeeded until Witos, Pilsudski’s old enemy, and leader of the rich peasants, gathered together a cabinet ' that was, to say the most, unstable. Economic Break-Down The basic reason for the instability of any Polish government is the break- down of the national economy. There are many small parties in Poland, none of them with sufficient authority to run the government. ,Pilsudski, a ‘former’ member of the socialist party but now a leader of a militarist group, probably has in mind something ap- proaching a fascist dictatorship if his treops are successful in overthrowing the government. The president represents no ‘out- standing political group, one of the reasons why he was chosen, and it is doubtful whether or not hes will be able ‘to stand out against Pilsudski. London reports that the president has already offered his resignation. * : The American Worker Correspond- ent is out! Did you subscribe?) = 4 Po rtolomeo Vangetti Pine uw Ws | Nearer the Electric Chair In Chicago, by mi Outside Chicago, ates: S the details of the agreement co: Eni jail, $8.00 per year. by mail, $6.00 per year. H LABOR The Calling Off of the British General Strike te Workers (Communist) Party me thru on the basis of which the Trade Union Council of the) British Trade Union Congress agreed ‘to the calling off of the general strike, it is clear that the right wing leaders, the Thomases and Ramsay promise with the government which i: MacDonalds, have made a com- is a betrayal of the miners and the militant British workers who rallied to their support. It is true that the general strike retreat. The immediate reduction of forced the government to make a wages and lengthening of hours of the miners, which the miners answered with a strike, are withdrawn by the mine owners and the government agrees to continue its subsidy to the mining industry during the negot' iations for a settlement. HE agreement between Baldwin and Thomas, however, goes further than that. settlement of the struggle*in the m cut for the miners, It recognizes the possibility of the negotiations for a ining industry resulting in a wage “There should be no revision of the previous wage rates unless there are sufficient assurances tha proposed by the royal commission dustry will be effectively adopted. it the measures of reorganization for reorganization of the coal in- “Any wage agreement should be, if practicable, on simpler lines than those hitherto followed. way the wages of the lowest paid men. It should not adversely affect in any It should fix reasonable GERMAN STEEL MAGNATES BACK " FASCIST COUP Trust Financed’ Move for Dictatorship (Special to The Daily Worker) BERLIN, May 13—Minister of De- fense Gessler was appointed acting chancetlor "by. President von Hinden- burg,. who-has’ released Luther from hig interim, dutie BERLIN, May 13. — Documents seized in raids on headquarters of fascist groups’ in Berlin have led the police to bélieve that Dr. Albert Voeg- ler, head: of the newly formed $200,- 000,000 steel trust; Emil Kirdoff, ader of the coal barons and noted Ruhr industrialist; Von Lowenstein, managet of* the Association of Min- ing Interests; Herr Wiskot, chairman of the Association of Mining Interests, and Herr Kinkhaus, one of the direc- torate of the association, are the finan- cial backers of the fascist coup which was to have brought about a fascist dictator in Germany. Plan Dictatorship. The fascisti had planned to have Hindenburg appoint a new cabinet and then dissolve the Reichstag. Hinden- burg was then to resign and a new chancellor having the power of a dic- tator was then to be appointed and martial law was to be declared on the ground of a threatening Communist revolution, The three dictators to be appointed were to be Dr. Neuman, mayor Leu- beck; “Herr Hugenberg was to be ‘thes finance “miflister, and von Moehl war minister: Hindenburg was to be- come the dictator after the prelimi- nary steps establishing the dictator- ship had been completed. Abolish Republican Constitution. The Weimar constitution was to have been abolished and one which was found in the documents seized by the police consisting of thirty para- graphs, containing a threat in every (Continued on page 3) tered at Second-class matter September 21, 1923, at 4 SATURDAY, MAY 15, 1926 Post Office at Chicago, Illinois, under the Act-of March 3, 1879. a» \ figures for the wage of unclassified labor for a normal customary week’s wo! “which should not be reduced in any circumstances.” HIS is the (reported text of the agreement. . The minérs have refused to call off their strike on the basis of this agreemeh been fightin The call Trade Union) them to conti was the call The demi ance of the | crimniations |} in working c! satisfaction among the workers with right wing leaders, From theibeginning of the strike son and Mage! ers. They struggle to i The acceptance of this agreement by the miners would be an accepti hee of a wage cut in the future—the thing that they have Against and which they struck against. off of the genera! strike by the General Council of the ongress, without consultation with the miners and leaving the strike alone, is as base a betrayal of the miners as of the general strike a demonstration of solidarity. nstrations in the Poplar district of London, the continu- ike by the railway workers because of efforts of dis- the railway companies, the massing of police and troops sections by the government, indicate the general dis- ald were not working for a victory for the British work- looking for a hole thru which they could craw! out of a ich they were opposed. They had been forced into the strug- a (Continued on page 3.) ; the calling off of the strike by the it was clear that Thomas, Hender- ZINOVIEV, IN PRAVDA, DENOUNCES TREASON OF BRITISH REFORMIST LEADERS IN GENI By JOHN PEPPER. (Special Cablegram to The Daily L STRIKE r) MOSCOW, U. S. S. R., May 13.—Gregory Zihoviev, president of the Communist International, writing in the British general strike was betrayed by th “As soon as the General Council of the Congress admitted the Thomases and the Mac! decisive part in the direction of the strike, The moment the leaders of the General that the strike was non-political and ravda, declares ‘that 1¢ reformist leaders, cause was lost. gave assurance accept financial help of the international unions, ¢————___- it became clear where things were going. “Nevertheless the British general strike will play an important part as a rehearsal for future great battles. The British working class will hence- forth make great progress in liberating themselves from reformist illusions. The great strike prepared British soil for the strong, rapid growth of Bolsev- ism in the British labor movement. An editorial in Pravda says that this lesson of unheard-of treason will have grave consequences for the Brit- ish workers. The struggle of folded arms’ is finished for Great Britain, and now begins the acute and merci- less class struggle. The conference of miners of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, RESULTS OF THE TN many respects the British gen- eral strike was a victory for the working class. The Baldwin govern- ment was forced to retreat from its autocratic position and to resume ne gotiations with the unions. The mine owners were compelled to withdraw their lockout notices. The subsidy to the industry will be continued. The program of wage reductions has been practically knocked on the head. The ruling class of Great Britain has been taught a new lesson of the power of the workers, The material victory of the workers would have been far greater had it not been that the Mc- Donalds, Thomases, and others fo the right wing leaders were able to slough off half of the victory over the con- ference table with Baldwin. But the rel victory of the workers was in the fact that the general strike actually took place. At the head of the trade unjons and labor party, oc- cupying the key positions in the Brit- ish labor movement, are a powerful group of right wing leaders, such as McDonald, Clyne, derson, Thomas, et al. These then, in season and out, are desperate and unscrupulous ene- mies of the whole conception of the general strike. The fact that this great strike could be developed in spite of them indicates better than anything else the rapidly growing soli- darity and revolutionary spirit of the British working class, These right wing leaders betrayed the workers in qi to gals 1921, by’ blocking the proposed strike of the Triple Alliance in support of the miners. They would have done the same thing this time had they had the power. But the masses, driv- en onward by the hard economic con- ditions and capably led by the British Minarity,.Movement, could not be stayed. The great strike took piace + { By WILLIAM representing 340\000 members of the Miners’ Unionjcopened today in Mos- cow. Having earned of the end of the general stelke and the continua- tion-of the minees’ strike, the confer- ence cabled to-ithe executive commit- tee of the British miners’ federation, declaring unalt its resolution to lend full support-to the British min- ers, their struggle being now still harder and more*responsible. Collec- tions for the Bfitish miners are pro- gressing thruontithe entire Union of Socialist Soviet ‘Republics with the HENRY SWEET’S CASE IS NOW IN HANDS OF JURY Defense Motions f or Mistrial Denied (Special to The Daily Worker) DETROIT, May 13.—The jury in the trial of Henry Sweet, younger brother of Dr, Ossian H. Sweet, and one of the 11 Negroes that are ac- cused of conspiracy to murder Leon Breiner, are now deciding the fate of this young militant Negro. In his instructions to the jury the judge warned against race prejudice keeping the jurymen from making a proper verdict in the case. Motions made by the defense for a mistrial due to many untrue and lying statements by the prosecutor in the case were denied. same success, the collected funds be- ing transferred ‘to the general council of the Trade Unions of the U.S. S. R. as relief funds to be put at the dis- posal of the British strikers at their first request. GENERAL STRIKE Z. FOSTER. in spite of the right wing leaders. The most the latter could do was to check its militant: spirit and to throw away the best part of the victory at the settlement conference. The strike willihave profound after effects. Undoubtedly it will lead to a great left wing development all over the world. Even the conservative American tradeswnion movement will not escape its re-vivifying effects. Es- pecially deep will be its consequences in England. Class antagonisms will be sharpened, andthe class consctous- ness of the workers will increase. Soon the situation’ will boil up to a still greater social outburst. Inside of the labor movement the fight of the left wing againstythe right wing for leadership of thesmasses will be in- tensified. Even as graphically as the Black Friday betrayal in 1921, this great strike has shown that a militant struggle by the workers of Great Brit- ain ts impossible so long as such men as MacDonald and Thomas occupy key positions in the labor movement. After this historic struggle the Britigh trade unions will move still more to the left. With their Russian brothers, the Brit- ish workers will more and more take the leadership of the revolutionary movement of the world. When the last trial of Dr. Sweet and 100 co-defendants took place the jury were unable to agree on a ver- dict. The defense then demanded sep- arate trials for each of the defend- ants. If Henry Sweet is acquitted by the jury in this trial it will result in the quashing of the state's cases against the other 10 Negroes involved. Note.—Early story on page two. ‘ROAD TO INDIA’ ISSUE RAISED BY BRITISH STRIKE Weakens Hold on All Key Positions By WILLIAM F. DUNNE., SEVENTH ARTICLE. The whole foreign policy of British imperialism is built around the pro- tection of the route to India—the richest colony possessed by any power. Not orfly has the general strike se- riously damaged the prestige of Great Britain among the capitalist nations like Spain, France and Italy, who are in a position to threaten the key posi- tions on the Mediterranean route, but the colonial peoples have had now, in the emphatic form of the general strike, proof that in their struggle against British imperialism, and the small imperialisms which operate within its circle of steel, they can count upon the aid of the most power- (Continued on page 3) NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE REPORTS NEW ENGLISH WALKOUT (Special to The Daily Worker) NEW YORK,/May 13.—While domestic trade and industrial reports were generally favorable in the stock market today, securities of the European countries were in a turmoil, with the British raliroad men out on another strike, the Polish-eapital reported in the hands of revelutionists and discord in Italy and Beigium. 4 Publiahed Dally except Sunday by THE DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO., 1118 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, Ill, NEW YORK EDITION Price 3 Cents TAYS ON STRIKE Workers Battle Bosses Effort to Bring Lock-out BULLETIN. (Special to The Daily Worker) LONDON, May 13.—A specidl session of the Trades Union Congress general council has been called. It is the belief that it is gathering to consider the official re- sumption of the general strike in view of the lock-out campaign of the employers and the government, and the fact that the government has violated its promise not to allow an attack upon the trade unions after the strike cancellation order had been issued. eae eee eas {Special to The Daily Worker? LONDON, May 13.—The fact that the general strike has been called off has made no appreciable change in the situation. There has been no general movement of the workers to return to their jobs. The cabinet has been called into special session to consider this. In effect, the general strike is still on. The situation is fur- ther complicated by the refusal of many large employers to allow their men to return to work under the old contracts which they claim have been violated by the sympathetic strike. The government has practically given its support to the re- calcitrant bosses by broadcasting a statement that it has no power to interfere. This amounts to a widespread lock-out with government support. Oppose “Emergency Order.” Many of the workers had declared their intention of remaining out until the emergency order of the government is revoked. Others had previously stated that they would not return until some 400 political prisoners, jailed during the state of siege, were released. i The government has declared its intention of continuing the state of emergency. Scotland Yard has announced it will retain all special constables and soldiers demobilized. The food crisis is by no means over, The food depots are still operating with volunteers under the protection of soldiers. Coal Miners Meet Today. The miners’ executive met today and prepared a program to be con- sidered by the miners’ national conference tomorrow. The million miners have obeyed the orders of their executive and/have not resumed work. How many union executives have instructed thelr men back cannot yet be de- termined, but the fact remains that there is no general resumption. The police continued making arrests under the power of the emergency act. It is estimated that several hundred arrests were made today. The call- ing off of the general strike under the conditions, aggravated by the lockout move of the employers, has increased rather than decrased the number of clashes between strikers and police. ANTI-UNION RAILROAD BARONS SEEK WEAPON AGAINST GENERAL STRIKE OF LABOR IN FUTURE (Special to The Daily Worker) LONDON, May 13.—More than half*a million railroad work- ers acting thru their three unions today decided to continue on strike, and the railway clerks, who had heretofore remained at work, decided to join the strike. The decision of the railway unions was taken after the rail- road companies had issued a joint statement that employes who struck had broken their contract and they would be taken back {oo on conditions which would make another genera! strike im- propable, and the railroads? Big demonstrations of strikers would reserve the right to take |. ainst the calling off of the general back only those whom they | strike took place, particularly one in chose to reinstate. the Poplar district of London, Strikers Attack Terms, The coal miners’ strike of 1,000,000 Thruout Great. Britain the general| continues solid without a break, reaction of the strikers is that the While Premier Baldwin spoke in terms on which the general council! parliament yesterday of “peace” Scot- Right Wing Leaders Admit Bankruptcy MacDonald's Statement LONDON, May 13.—Ramsay MacDonald, speaking in the house of commons late this afternoon said, weighing each word, “Tonight 1 am informed that there are more men out than there were yester- day because the employers are offering terms making it imposeibie to continue industry under peaceful terms.” Thomas’ Statement During a tense moment, J. H. Thomas arose and said, “The gov- ernment has broken both the spirit and the letter of the Premier's promise of not permitting any assault on trade unionism.” Thomas charged that the admiralty had lesued lock-out notices to admiralty workers who went on strike, called off the general strike are unac- ceptable, The terms agreed to by J. H. Thomas, Ramsay MacDonald and the right wing leadership of the general council in a conference at which the representatives of the one million min- ers were not included, are regarded as an agreemnt that the miners’ wages are to be reduced and their wage question surrendered into the hapds of a wage board controlled by e government and the employers. Cook Fears Wage Reduction. A. J, Cook, secretary of the miners’ federation, is quoted as making a statement that the terms accepted by the Trades Union-Gounci! would mean that the miners*weuld be forced to j accept a reduction of pay. ‘ land Yard acted to hold together its strikebreaking force, issuing orders that the special police be kept to gether “for at least a forntight,” and today two movements of large detach- ments of police to the working claes quarters of London indicate the plans of the government. Following the cabinet session it fe authoritatively stated that the govern- ment’s policy will be to handle the sit- uation “as it did before the general strike,” altho “this “will be done as ible in order to avold any possible charge of provoeation.” It is said on the same authority that the cabinet is sorely perplexed over the practically universal refusal of the strikers to retarn to work, (Continued on page 8.) '