The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 19, 1926, Page 5

a eee eee een METAL TRADES ASKED TO JOIN INTERNATIONAL 3 Delegates Coming to Persuade U. S. Unions By LAURENCE TODD, Federated Press Correspondent. WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, —(FP)— Three fraternal delegates from the Jaternational Metal Trades Federation, wpose héadquarters are in Bern, fwitzerland, are about to visit the Wnited States to bring an appeal to me Metal Trades department of the A -prican Federation of Labor that it x~ {the European federation of work- es Jin that industry, The delegates are Conrad Ilg, general secretary; Sec- retary Brownlie of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers—British repres- entative in the Bern Federation—and President Dissmann of the German Metal Workers’ Union. Years Negotiations, These men are going to lay before the convention of the Metal Trades Department, in Detroit just preceding the convention of the A. F, of L., their arguments for Ameriean participation in a world-wide federation of the work- ers in the metal industry. They have been in correspondence with President, O’Connell ‘and Secretary Berres of the department, on this issue, for some years, Nothing has come of the dis- cussion. The International Association of Machinists, comprising what was for many years the largest single organi- zation in the metal trades in this coum. try, also corresponded with Secretary Ilg, and on one occasion . President Johnston of the Machinists proposed to Ig that the metal workers také steps to induce all governments to turn their arsenals and navy yards in- to plants for the production of things useful to humanity. ‘ To Visit Industry. Landing in New York on Sept. 15, the visitors will be met by Arthur older, former editor of the Machin- ts Journal and legislative agent of e A. F. of L., who has been assigned to them as secretary, and by William Schoenberg of Chicago, general or- ganizer for the Machinists, who will act as interpreter for Herr Dissmann. They will visit big industrial plants in Schenectady, the Pittsburgh district, Cleveland, Chicago and Detroit, study- ing American industrial conditions af- fecting the production of electrical equipment, steel, engines, general me- tal manufacturers and automobiles. After attending the convention of the Metal Trades Department and wit- nessing the opening sessions of the convention of the A, F, of L. they will return to New York, sailing on Oct. 9 for home. Dr, Klein’s Confession. In connection with their inquiry into w American wholesale production is ing developed, the statement of Dr. lius Klein, director of the bureau of reign and domestic commerce, de- partment of commerce, will be enlight- ening. Klein agrees with the A. F, of L. theory that the low standard of living forced upon European workers since the war is a factor in the present prosperity of American manufacturers of goods sold abroad. “Regardless of depreciated Euro- pean currencies and low wages—in fact, partly because of the low stand- ards of living which they imply,” say@ Klein, gloating over the situation— “the intelligence and resourceful adaptability of the American manufac- turer, backed by a firm policy as to quality in goods and services as against cut prices, have made a place overseas for American fabricated wares which bids fair to continue its steady growth.” Exports of finished manufacturers from America during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1926, were 16 per cent more than in the preceding year, and nearly three times as great in value, or twice the amount in goods, as in the average of the five pre-war years. What About Heavy Industry? The visiting metal trades unionists will notice, however, that Klein does not claim that American goods will drive European competing goods from the European market, What Klein goes on to say is that European goods will regain their old markets while American goods of special kinds, and those based on quantity production, will develop a bigger consuming-power broad as. they have at home, The visitors: will ply the American de union leaders with questions as why, in view of this industrial pros- perfiy, in the United States, the trade union ovement itself is not more in- fluential in Schenectady, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago and Detroit, Coolidge Henchmen Fear Butler May Lose Senate Seat » WORCESTER, Mass., Aug. 17.—The loss of Senator William M. Butler, publican of Massachusetts, from the ate “would be a great blow to the nistration and to the republican y thruout the country,” declared Representative John O, Tilson, of Connecticut, republican floor leader the house, at an outing in honor of “DISCHARGE SHERWOOD EDDY’ 18 FRANTIC CRY OF CHICAGO TRIBUNE “The Y. M. C. A, ls supported by selfish capitalism,” the Chicago Tribune sarcastically reminds Sher- wood Eddy, the Y. M. C. A. worker who has offended American capital- Ism by praising Russia for its chal- lenge to nations ruled, as he termed dt, by “swollen selfish capitalism.” The Tribune wants Eddy run out of the Y. M. C. A., indignantly add- ing that “the men who contribute so liberally to its upkeep, including the payment of the salaries of Y. M. C. A. workers,‘are capitalists and believers in.capitalism.” (Tribune editorial Aug. 13, 1926.) MID-WEST LABOR GIVES FUNDS TO PASSAIC RELIEF Support Increases . As Unionization. Comes The Passaic relief work in the middle west is broadening as the situation of the 16,000. woolen strikers, who are about-to enter the United. Textile Workers after. a..7-months’ — strike against. wage. cuts, becomes more sympathetically realized. A.remittance ‘of $250 was recently added to other funds sent by the Chicago conference and a further check -has. been prom- ised by one of the building trades unions; c Detroit Unions’ Fine Response. In Detroit the unions. responded cordially, the chairman of the confer- ence being a delegate.of the electrical workers, the secretary a pressman, the treasurer a painter, with delegates from the. carpenters, bakers and fire- men and oilers on the executive com- mittee: The. painters donated. $100 and voted to have-each member work one hour overtime, the proceeds to go to the Passaic: relief. |The print- ers are circularizing their 1,000 mem- bers with a special appeal. Wisconsin Doing Well, The Milwaukee conference has for- warded $230 and obtained the dona- tion of services of the bill posters’ union in advertising its picnic Aug. 29. Merchants are donating goods to be auctioned then. A collection at a Kenosha carpenter local meeting netted $72.85 to be followed by a gen- eral tag day. In Waukegan a house to house canvas is being made for re- lief funds. Relief organizér Rebecca Grecht reports much sympathy among the unions in the Passaic strike. The great odds pluckily feaght by the strikers have roused national enthusiasm for the workers, Grecht. finds. | LETTERS FROM OUR READERS | LABOR BANKING, 8. A. Darcy's article, “De-bunking Labor Banking,” in the Aug. 5 DAILY. WORKER is sound in every particular, so far as I can see, Yet it encourages me in bringing out an idea which has obtruded itself into my cranium. ever since labor banks were started. It is simply this, that instead of investing money in private exploiting enter- prises, such banks should use it in starting co-operative enterprises in essential industries. This, it seems to me, would be gradually capturing industry and using the large union funds and workers spare money in a way evidently so remunerative as to make labor banking a great weapon in the class struggle and would not pre- vent labor funds from being drawn on to win strikes, ‘ I offer this idea for critical examin- ation.—S. Garborg, American Worker Correspondent. Dear Comrade: Copies of the Am- erican Worker, Correspondent can be meetings of;central labor councils and in meetings of local unions also—W. W. W., Durham, N, C, ’ Pound Sterling Drops Slightly. LONDON, Aug, 17.—The pound ster- ling dropped today. from $4.86. to in the New, York bank rate. Financial circles state that the New York ad. vance precludes any reduction in the London bank rate, interest and j given out to good advantage in the |. $4.85% as the result. of the increase. THE DAILY WORKER LOUISIANA LABOR DEPARTMENT \IN REPORT PROVING LOW WAG AND LONG HOURS AND LABOR PEONAGE By LELAND OLDS, Federated Pre Coolie labor conditions in the south are exposed in the biennial report of the Louisiana department of labor for 1924-26. The commissioner shows wages 80 low that even imported Mexican workers move on, while protection for child workers and for wage earners cheated out of their pay by dishonest employers is practically non-existent. Conditions surrounding farm labor are pictured as so bad that in spite of considerable unemployment in industrial centers there is a constant short- age of farm help. The commissioner 4- reports that when cotton pickers were greatly needed there were hundreds of men and women idle in north Louisiana, , ; Practical Peonage, Irregular wages, no regular pay days, long waits for money, enforced trading at company stores Which charge exorbitant prices—these are among the reasons given to’ the com- missioner for shying away from agri- cultural jobs. They reveal’a state of semi-feudalism under agricailtural cor- porations. Wages paid common labor by Louisiana industries, the report shows, run as low as 12% cents an hour, or $1.25 for a 10-hour day. The highest wage shown is $3.50 a day, paid semi- skilled workers in the oil fields. In at least two industries the 12-hour day prevails, The wages and hours of common and semi-skilled labor in 1924-25 are shown by industries as follows: 1924-5 Wages and Hours in Louisiana. Pay Clothing industries $1.25 Clothing workers .... 10 1.25 Cottonseed products ..... 12 2.25 Tce, light and bottlin; 10 1.50 Lumbering 1.75 Naval stores 1.75 Oil field workers 3.50 Rice mill workers. 2.25 Sugarcane & farm wkrs. 10 1.25 And This is “Freedom.” Such wages mean that thousands of adult workers earn less than $400 a year, even if they secure full employ- ment, which is not likely. And if the employer fails to come across with the meager. wages, the poor worker has no tecourse, for legal costs would far exceed the wages recovered. To get legislation for the adjustment of such claims without expense to the claimant the commissioner kept a rec- ord covering over four months. In that period separate claims of 50 cents to $7 combined to form a total of $8,000. Child Labor. The commissioner emphasizes Lou- isiana’s backwardness in child labor legislation. He points out that it is one of 18 states that do not require certificates of physical fitness for em- ployment, one of 19 that have no com- pulsory education requirements, and one of, four states allowing the em- ployment of children 10 hours a day and 60 hours a week, Such conditions are to be expected in a state which seeks to attract capi- tal by. boasting freedom from inter- ference by organized labor, a veritable openshop paradise, “Say It with your pen In the worker correspondent page of The DAILY WORKER.” ANOTHER “FRIEND OF LABOR” HELPS BOSSES ~ BREAK WORKERS’ STRIKE GRANITE CITY, Il.,—(FP)—Fed- eral Judge FitzHeney has issued a temporary injunction against 500 strik- ing ‘employes of the National Stamp- ing and Enameling Co. of Granite City. The writ contains the usual drastic anti-picketing provisions. On Sept. 1 the workers must show cause why they should not be permanently enjoined from conducting an effective strike for union recognition. Judge FitzHeney formerly edited a labor pa- per at Bloomington, Ill. He was ap- pointed to the bench by President Wil- son with the support of organized labor, The Granite City strike has been on for. three months. Of the 500 workers who, went on strike, only five have broken ranks and returned to tho shop. One striker was shot down on e street, while another was danger- a wounded by gunmen imported to break the strike. A committee from he central body is conducting a drive strike funds. The St. Louis, Cen- al Trades union sent $200, Other organizations are responding in like manner. BOSSES SEEK STATE GUARDS IN MISSOURI Attempt to Revive Strikebreaker Army ST. LOUIS—(FP)—+Vigorous mea- sures are being employed to resus citate the Missouri National Guard. Throughout the state this uniformed, state-financed organization of strike guards has declined rapidly in the last three years. Adjt. Gen. Rumbold, state commander, states that unless popular support is speedily forthcom- ing, it will be impossible “to main- tain a national guard organization in St. Louis.” Appealing to “the business inter- ests of the city,” Rumbold stresses the danger of an undermanned nation- al guard “when its services may be needed in a minor or major emergen- cy, and the organization may be found wanting, to the detriment of the business interests.” Feeling against the Missouri Na- tional Guard is particularly bitter in labor circles since the recent railroad shopmen’s strike, when the militia were sent into peaceful strike cen- ters to police the scab shops. Nu- merous St. Louis unions have by-laws prohibiting membership in the militia and making such membership suffi- cient cause for immediate expulsion from the unton, Building Contractor Cheats Workers Out of Their Wages Due The practice of some employers of casual and unskilled labor to cheat their workers out of wages earned seems to be illustrated in the instance of a building contractor named Swan Swanson, of 2954 North Keating ave- nue, according to employes of this character who complain te The DAILY WORKER of being deprived of wages due them. 3 Swanson is a contractor who does concrete and cement work on founda- tions and such sort of jobs, requiring the hardest sort of manual labor. Yet when asked for his pay from a worker, Ilo Johnson, who -quit after some weeks, Swanson stalls the matter off from day to day, the custom of dead- beats who hope to tire out the worker who is forced to go somewhere else to work and leave the wages due him, Swanson has this custom, according to information, another worker named Silas Walter having finally gone to Wisconsin after fraitless efforts to get his pay. Swanson hires several men and fires them frequently to get a new batch of workers to play the same game with, it is said by his workers, Pottery Workers Seek Small Pay Raise from Bosses; 8,100 in Union ATLANTIC CITY, N, J., Aug. 17.— Wage increases of 4-15% are asked by the National Brotherhood of Operative Potters in conference with the United States Potters’ Association. The agree- ment expires October 1, The week's conference at Atlantic City is expected to work out the new agreement. John T. Wood, president of the union, from East Liverpool, Ohio, leads the union group. The union reported 8,100 mem- bers last year. Watson Will Not Run. MOUNT VERNON, Ill, Aug. 17. — Senator James F, Watson of Indiana, whip of the house, is not a candi- date for president and he will not be. The statement was made by the senator in an address here today. He was speaking before a gathering of farmers from over the state. Mr. Watson supported the MoNary- Haugen farm relief bill, the high pro- WeckseCorreapondatis for stories sent in this week to appear In thé issue of Friday, August 20 —OIL IMPERIALISM,” by Louis Fischer. A new book on the story of Oll and the part America plays in this struggle. bound edition, LYING OSSIP,” Stories of New Russia. Unusual stories by the most significant of the new Russian writers, ‘AWAKENING OF CHINA,” Dolsen. A new book that makes a splendid addition to every workers’ library, tective tariff, the agriculture tariff and declared the farmer must have some relief. One of the most‘ significant pas- sages in his lengthy address was: “Our friends argue that we should not do naything that will cause our workmen to pay more for what they buy than the foreign workman pays. (He said earlier that the American workman receives a much higher wage than the foreigner.) As an in- dustrial high protectionist, I could not without consistency support that po- sition, If our friends (the Mellon-Coo- Cloth- by Jan A. DEMANDS TREATY MAKING POWER FOR PRESIDENT Wilson’s Political Poodle | Raises Hornets Nest (Special to The Daily Worker) WASHINGTON, Aug. 17. — National leaders of the democratic party were incensed today over the latest pub- lication of Colonel Edward M. House, who served as a confidential adviser to Woodrow Wilson. After arousing a storm of democrat- ic condemnation by publishing a diary, in which he criticized the war-time president, House has stirred up a new imbroglio by a magazine article, assail- ing the constitutional power of the senate to approve or reject interna- tional treaties, In it, House declared the president and not the senate should have the treaty-making power and “he should not be embarassed by having to obtain the ratification of two-thirds of the senate.” House Gets Panned. The newest House pronouncement drew a counter-attack today from Sen, Kenneth McKellar, Democrat of Ten- nessee, who charged the author was attempting to amend and reform the constitution “‘after having established that he was the only brains of the Wil- son administration.” “Seriously, Col. House should inform himself before speaking about such a matter, of which he apparently has little knowledge,” said McKellar. “A ten-year-old boy ought to know that the president is not given a ‘mandate to govern’ except under the terms of the constitution. The president is a leader and not an absolute monarch.” In Great Britain and France, Me- Kellar pointed out, all treaties must be approved by majority votes of both houses of the national parliament. In Japan, the privy council approves treaties while in Italy, in pre-Musso- lini days, the King’s ministers passed upon international pacts. House’s Many Roles, “It is a long step from being private adviser of the kaiser, counsellor of the king of England and his ministers, di- rector of Woodrow Wilson and author of his own wonderful biography, in which he shows that Wilson was a pygmy compared to him,” McKellar added, “down to the very prosaic task of amending the constitution, but it shows the wonderful versatality of this self-annointed great man. “Col. House will have to write many more books, find many other diaries, prove ungrateful to,.many other frienss, before he will be able to get this provision amended. There is no real reason why this most excellent check of executive power should be changed or modified.” Balkan Alliance More Proof of Failure of the League of Nations PARIS, Aug. 17.—The weakness of the League of Nations is seen in the formation of various alliances since the league came into being. The lat- est of these is the alliance between Roumania, Jugo-Slavia and Greece, primarily against Bulgaria, with side issues such as Jugo-Slavia’s defense against Italian expansion. The wonderful treaty of ‘“‘peace” has caused no end of trouble in the Balkans. Bulgaria, the loser along with Germany, has been carved up and divided among its allied neigh- bors. Roumania got a big slice of purely Bulgarian territory of the Do- bregea on the Black Sea at the mouth of the Danube. Not satisfied with merely holding the territory, Roumania wants to drive out the Bulgarian inhabitants and give the land to Roumanians. Po- lice and troops evict Bulgarians, who fight back and much blood is shed by the Versailles treaty of “peace and amity.” Greece wished to prevent Bulgaria from using the port of Dedeagatch in Greece as an outlet, as provided in the (Copyright, 1926, by Upton Sinclair) WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE, son of J. Arnold Ross, California oi! operator, is thin ith Dad to Beach City to sign an oil lease. There he meets Paul Watkins, near his own age who had run away from his father’ Poor ranch in the San Elido Valley because the family were “holy 'rotiers.”” Hig brother Eli is a cripple who has fits and ‘heals’ peopie. From time to tim( Bunny hears from Paul and sends money to his family. In the meantime Bunny is learning the oil business with his Dad who, along with other oil operators it profiting by the war that had broken out in Europe. Bunny persuades his Dae to go for a quail hunting trip to San Elido Valley. There they meet the Watkins family and Bunny becomes acquainted with Paul's sister, Ruth, whom he likes While hunting, they locate oi! on the ranch and Dad wheedles it out of old Watkins and also buys adjacent property secretly. In the meantime ®unny starts to high school at Beach City and falls in love with a fellow student, Rose Taintor, When they are ready to drill Bunny and Dad go back to the ranch te direct the work. They persuade Paul to come to live with them and work as @ carpenter. Paul had been living with a lawyer who took an interest in him and left him a legacy of books when died. Paul and Ruth live in a sack near the well sight. Eventually the well is begun and Eli, now turned prophet ana the pet of wealthy adherents to the faith, makes a blessing as the drilling be- When “Bunny” Ro: teen years old, he goes gins, Bunny goes back to school and finds himself tiring of Rose Taimtor. But Soon the glad news comes that Bunny’s well in the San Elido Valley has struck oll sands. A new field is started. e e » . Bunny saw his father, and ran to join him. Dad was rally: ing the men; was anybody hurt? He got the crew together, one by one; they were all there, thank God! He told Paul to run down to the ranch-house and get his family up into the hills; he told Bunny to go with him, and keep away from the fire—a long way, you never could tell in which direction it would explode. So Bunny went flying down the arroyo at Paul’s heels; they found the family down on their knees, praying, the two girls.hysterical. They got them up, and told them where to go; never*mind thetr few belongings, cried Bunny, Dad would pay for them. Paul shouted to see to the goats, and they ran to the pen, but they weren’t needed; the panic-stricken creatures flung themselves against the side of the pen and broke through, and away they went down the arroyo; they would take care of themselves! F Bunny started back; and on the way, here came+Dad in his car. He was going after dynamite, he called to them; they were to keep away from the fire meantime; and off he went in the darkness. It was one time in his life that Bunny knew his father to be caught without something he needed; he hadn’t;thought to carry any dynamite around with him on his drives. Of course Bunny had heard about oil fires, which are the terror of the industry. He knew of the devices ordingrily used to extinguish them. Water was of no use—quite the ‘contrary, the heat would dissolve the water into its constituents,and you would merely be feeding oxygen to the flames. You must have live steam in enormous quantities, and for that you needed many boilers, and they had only one here, this fire would govon burn- ing all the while they were fetching more; Bunny had heard of a fire that burned for ten days, until they made a great conical hood of steel to slide over the well, with an opening in the top through which the flames rushed out, and into which was poured the live steam. And meantime all the pressure would be wasted, and millions of dollars worth of money burned up! Bunny real- ized that, as a desperate alternative, Dad was going to'try to plug up the hole by a dynamite blast, even at the risk of ruining the well. The two boys skirted the slopes, and got back to the well, on the windward side, away from the flames. There they found the crew engaged in digging a shaft, as close to the fire as they could get; Bunny understood that it was in preparation for the dynamite. They had set up a barrier against the heat, a couple of those steel troughs in which they mixed cement; upon this they had a hose playing, the water turning to steam as it hit. |A man would run into the searing heat, and chop a few strokes with a pick, or throw out a few shovelsful of dirt, and then he would fiee, and another man would run in. Dave Murgins was working the hose, lying flat on the ground with some wet canvas over his head. Fortunately, they had pressure from the artesian well, for their pump was out of commission, along with every- thing else. Dave shouted his orders, and the hole got deeper and deeper. Paul ran in to help, and Bunny wanted to, but Dave shouted him back, and so he had to stand and watch his “wild- cat” burning up and all he could do was to bake his face a little! They got down below the surface of the ground, and after that it was easier; but the man who worked in thatwhole ~was risking his life—suppose the wind were to shift, even*for affew seconds, and blow that mass of boiling oil over him! But. the wind held strong and steady, and the men jumped into the hole and dug, and the dirt flew in showers. Presently they*were tun- neling in towards the well—they would go as close asjthey-dared, before they set the dynamite. And suddenly Bunny thought of his father, coming with the stuff; he wouldn’t be able to drive up the road, he’d have to come round by the rock hill-side, carrying that dangerous load in the darkness. Bunny went running, as fast as he dared, to help, There were cars down on the road; many people had seen the glare of the fire, and come to the scene. Bunny inquired for his father; and at last there came a car with much tooting, and there was Dad, and another man whom Bunny did not know. They drove as far up as they dared—the Watkins house had been long ago swallowed by the flames. They stopped and got out, and Dad told Bunny to take the car back to a safe place, and not come near him or the other man with the dynamite; they would make their way to the well, very carefully. Bunny heard Dad telling the other man‘to go slow, they’d not risk, their lives jist to save a few barrels of oil. treaty. Jugo-Slavia has material in- terests in opposing Bulgaria and Italy. as well, So the peace treaty leads to war, U.S. Bankers To Get A New Grip On Chile SANTIAGO, Chile, Aug. 17, — The Chilean congress has approved of a foreign loan of 100,000,000 Chilean Pesos, oF $36,000,000, $4,320,000 of which is to be used to pay back sala- ries due the government employes from June. The loan is said to be forthcoming from the United States bankers, — State Federation Meets. ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug, 17, — The annual convention of the Minnesota State Federation of Labor is being held this year at Hibbing, beginning August 16. The credentials handed in at state headquarters indicate a good- sized gathering of delegates from local unions thruout the state, 19 Injured in Wreck, JERSEY CITY, N J., Aug. 17, — Nineteen men were injured, three cri- tically when a New York train, en- tering the Jersey City terminal of the Erie railroad, sideswiped another train today. Passangers were thrown trom their seats and showered with When Bunny got back to the well again, Dad and the man were already there, and the crew was setting the dynamite. They had some kind of electric battery to explode it with, and presently they were ready, and everybody stood back, and the strange man pushed down a handle, and there was a roar and a burst of flame from the shaft, and the geyser of oil that was rushing out of the well was snubbed off in an instant—just as if you stopped a garden hose by pinching it! The tower of oil dropped; it leaped and exploded a few times more, and that was the.end. The river of fire was still flowing down the arroyo, and would take a long time to burn itself out; but the main part of the show was over. And nobody was hurt—that is, nobody but Bunny, who stood by the edge of the red glare, gazing at the stump of his beautiful oil derrick, and the charred foundations of his home- make bunk-house, and all the wreckage of his hopes. If the boy had been a little younger, there would have been tears in his eyes. Dad came up to him and saw his face, and guessed the truth, and began to laugh. “What's the matter, son? Don’t you realize that you’ve got your oil?” Strange as it may seem, that idea came to Bunny for the first time! He stared at his father, with such a startled ex- pression that the latter put his arm about the boy and gave him a hug. “Cheer up, son! This here is nothin,’ this is a joke. You're a millionaire ten times over.” “Gosh!” said Bunny. “That's really true, isn’t it!” “True?” echoed Dad. “Why, boy, we got an ocean of oil down underneath here ;and it’s all ours—not a soul can get near it but us! Are you a-frettin’ about this measly little well?” “But Dad, we worked so hard over it!” Dad laughed again, “Forget it, son! We'll open it up > or drill a new one in a jiffy. This was jist a little Christmas fire, to celebrate our bustin’ in among the big fellers!” - ”