The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 26, 1926, Page 5

te an _ THE DAFEY WORKER Page Five Organized Labor—Trade Union Activities News and Comment Labor Education Labor and Government Trade Union Politics Bosses Make No Offer of Settlement, Union Reply of Accusation NDPW YORK CITY, Aug, 24.—Louis Hyman, chairman of the Cloakmakers’ General Strike Committee, character- izes charges made by Hénry H. Finder, president of the manufacturers’ Asso- ciation, that strike leaders’ were tak- ing dictation from Soviet Russia or other Communist sources as “too ab- surd to dignify by a reply.” Finder, in a statement, had com: Plained that the leadership were “merely figureheads” and “seemed to be without authority to make a settle- ment.” ‘To this Hyman replied: No Offer of Settlement. “While I have no authority to settle a strike in which 40,000 men and wo- men are vitally affected, I am em- powered to bring to the attention of our organization any offer of settle- ment made by a manufacturer which I consider has merit. As yet, none has been forthcoming frem the indus- trial council of the manufacturers.” Ten more settlements with inde- pendent manufacturers were made yesterday by the union’s settlement committee, bringing total settlements to date with independents, jobbers and members of the industrial council to 151, Two concerts on behalf of striking cloakmakers were given Monday at one p, m. at Webster Hall, 119 East 11th Street, and Bryant Hall, 725 Sixth Ave. Artists included Rose Dreeben, Hyman Pestun, the Freiheit choir, David Shapiro and Bertha Gerston. British Young Miners Stand By Coal Strike, LONDON, England.—There were 28 delegates present at a Young Miners” Conference, called last week by the Taylorstown Lodge, South Wales Miners’ Federation. J. Mardy Evans, chairman of the lodge, presided, Messages of greetings were received from the executive committee of the Young Communist League, the Na- tional Minority Movement and the Youth Delegation Campaign Commit- tee» ¢ After adopting a program for the young minerq which was in accord with the program of the Young Com- munist League, a committee was elect- ed to carry on the work. The confer- ence expressed itself in wholehearted opposition to the bishops’ proposals for the settlement of the coal strike. Theatrical Union Asks Forty Percent Raise NEW YORK, August 24.—The The- atrical Protective Union No. 1 is de manding an increase of 40 per cent in wages from all legitimate theaters in this city. A negotiations committee under the chairmanship of Samuel ‘Goldfarb has been in communication with the managers’ representatives. Union Charges Embezzlement, SHREVEPORT, La., —(FP)—After a years’ absence as a fugitive frem justice C. L. Brooks, who for nine years served ag treasurer of the street carmen’s union has been returned to answer a charge of embezzlement of $2,327 of the union’s funds, Why Not Become a Worker Correspondent? Get a copy of the American Worker Correspondent. It’s only 5 cents, WITH THE LABOR PRESS COMPANY “UNION” SHAM EXPOSED. The strike of workers on New York subways is a revolt from the com- pany. “union.” Tho strike has crippled that city’s underground transportation system, but the public is not told of the company “union” fallura or that the strik- ers seceded from the “union” and formed an independent organization. Wages are low and hours are long, but the subway management believed conditions ould ‘be maintained by organizing a “union.” Following the tisual custom, company favorites and straw bosses were placed in key positions of the “union.” clamped. The lid appeared to be tightly The company was too sure of its ground. A considerable number of the workers awakened to the sham and ceased work. This incident is occurring every week in sections of the nation’s coal area, where operators have also formed “unions” after they broke their agree- ment with the Miners’ Union. Workers have no present or future in the company “union,” It is a lure. It is intended to drug and deceive, This mirage of a promised land is placed before employes, who believe honeyed words and growing promises, The purpose of the company “union” is seen in the New York subway strike and similar movements in the. bituminous coal fields. The company “union” does more than defend low wages and long hours. Its deadening effect on faculties, inherent in every Manly man is its great- est and most lasting. evil. Generally speaking, the company “union” member is a social cipher, Without ideal or hope, he takes no part in the civic, industrial or political affairs of life. He is submissive, He is blind to injustice, He has a childlike faith that someone, somehow and sometime will come, like the good fairy, to improve his lot in life. He 1s applauded by his employer, and ‘by a press that echoes the lat- ters’s views, but his voice is never raised in Protest against wrongs organi- ized labor combats, From the standpoint of both principle and practice the company “union” is indefensible, It solves no problem in industry, nor does it improve work conditions, It brings but a narcotic peace that with rare exceptions develops helots and flunkeys on the industrial and political fields, This type of worker is desirable for the employer whose one goal is production and profit; but it has no place in American citizenry, —The Industrial Weekly, Syracuse, N, ¥, ‘O trade union official has done greater disservice to the cause of labor than has President William Green of the American Federation of Labor in his public statement praising Citizens’ Military Training Camps. It is true that President Green is well within his technical rights. The American Federation of Labor en- dorsed this militarist institution at its El Paso convention and President Green is giving @ practical applica tion to this endorsement. UT such conscious and militant or- gans of capitalism as The Chi- cago Tribune give intelligent workers a corrupt appreciation of this united front between labor officialdom and American capitalism. The C. M. T. C.’s are endorsed and supported by the worst labor-hating open shop corpora- tions in the United States—by the Steel trust, by the Rockefeller inter- ests, by the Pennsylvania railroad, by the Morgan banks, by a collection of the most powerful capitalists. The list of supporters of the C. M. T. C. can be found in another section of The DAILY WORKER RESIDENT GREEN and the Amer- ican Federation of Labor leader- ship therefore are linked up in sup- port of this militarist activity with the open and avowed enemies of the labor movement. The full text of President Green’s statement {s as fol- lows: 1 can scarcely hope to convey In words the deep impression made by thie visit. We have been much In- terested in the great movement rep- resented here. | can truthfully say there has been a wrong impression In some quarters as to the purposes and objectives of the military ti ing camp. | think the American Fed- eration of Labor, thru Its organiza- ton and its officers, can do much to acquaint the public mind with what is being done here toward the de- velopment of young men, mentally, morally, and physically, NEW YORK, ATTENTION! MAGNIFICENT SPECTACLE AND . SYMPHONY CONCERT Proceeds go to. buy MILK AND BREAD for the children of the Passaic textile strikers, >, Wagner-Tchaikowsky Program “Pavid Mendoza, of Capitol Theatre, Conductor, Famous\Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakoff Directed by Alexis Kosloff of the Metropolitan Opera. CHORUS OF 250 VOICES led by Jacob Schaefer. SATURDAY EVENING, AUG. 28, 8 P. M. \ at . CONEY ISLAND STADIUM . Surf Ave. and W. 6th St. General Admission $1,00 7 Reserved Seats $2.00 Tickets for sale at the Daily Worker Office and 799 Broadway, Room 512. AN eR BRNO USRRO GTN MRR MRE ACN LAER TENN ay Open Aid to Labor’s Enemies PRMENT GREEN not only par- rots the militarist propagandists who try to conceal the deadly purpose of the military training camps by stressing their alleged “development of young men, mentally, morally and Physically,” but puts the A. F. of L. machinery at the disposal of the mili- tarists, President Green is a member and former secretary-treasurer of the United Mine Workers of America, a unlon which prohibits its members under pain of expulsion from Jjotn- Ing the national guard or militia, a union which has had its best organ- izers and fighters butchered by na- tional guardsmen in strikes from Colorado to Kentucky. If anyone should know that the armed forces of the state and national govern- ments are used against workers it Is President Green, : pe President Green actually be lieve what The Chicago Tribune says in its comment on his speech? The camps, Mr. Green discov- ered, are dedicated to the task of making America a better and safer place to live in. Does President Green think that when the United Mine Workers of America begins, as itt must, a cam- paign to organize the coal miners in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama, that the military forces of which the “students” of the C. M. T. C, are a part will be protecting union men from the gunmen of the coal companies, alding in the organ- ization of the non-union mines, guard- ing the tent colonies that will have to be established? i will the militia, with its quota of C. M. T. C, students, bé asked for by the coal owners, sent in by the state or national government and used against the miners and their unions? To ask this question is to answer it—the armed forces, no matter what they are called, are part of the ma- chinery of qovernment, that machin- ery is organized—as bitter and bloody experience has shown—to protect the Profits of the capitalists, ‘THE miners know this if President Green does not. But President Green does know this and if he boosts an institution which is designed solely to perfect the mili- tary power of the capitalist class it must be because he favors the bosses as against the. workers, Like The Chicago’ Tribune, he fa- vors “making America a better and safer place to live in’—for the ex- pPloiters of labor. This is the purpose of the C, M. T. C—to make America afer for Wall Street and all it represents and to make it more unsafe for strikes, strikers and unions, In addition to this purpose there is of course the -preparation for protec- tion of the investments abroad of the big bankers, What has American labor in com- mon with either of these two sinister purposes? ‘Will President Green explain how endorsing the pet scheme of the ene- mies of labor helps the labor move- ment? 0 —W. F. D, Get an autographed copy of Red Cartoons by Fred Ellie ard Robert | Minor, on & Policies and Programs The Trade Union Press Strikes—Injunctions Labor and Imperialism Lewis Substitutes a Freight Rate Fight for Unionizing Drive The Interstate Commerce Commis- sion had before it today a petition from John L. Lewis, head of the United Mine Workers of America, ask- ing it to reverse the findings of its ex- aminer, William Disque, of New York, which led to the commission’s recent refusal to recommend readjustment of freight rates on Indiana and Illinois coal, Disque’s findings held that the rates were not unfair and were based on high wages received by Illinois and Indiana miners, Lewis, in his petition, held the de- cision to be “an amazing and gratui- tous attack” on the wages and living standards of union miners. He fails to disclose that a strong union in the present unorganized flelds would com- pletely remedy this situation. The present inequality could be corrected by complete unionization and no freight rate change would have any effect on the miners, Milwaukee Sends Delegate to A. F. of L. Detroit Convention MILWAUKEE, ‘Wis., August 24, — Frank J. Weber was chosen as the delegate from the Milwaukee Central Trades and Labor Assembly, to the American Federation of Labor conven- tion in Detroit. James P. Sheehan was elected alternate. This is the first time‘ the Milwaukee central labor body has sent a delegate in several years. “The pen is mightier than the sword,” provided you know how to use it. Come down and learn how in the worker correspondent’s classes. | (Continued from page 1) population of Passaic is the largest among the working class in that city. Says the bulletin: “In most ¢ases Polish-born mothers had young children, Over three-fourths of these breadwinning mothers had children under 5 years of age; nearly a third had children of 5 and 6 years of age at home, and 10 per cent had children of those ages at school. Children Forced to Mills. Not only must the mother work her- self to help keep the small children alive, but as early as possible these chidren must go to work themselves. Miss De Lima read from the bulletin again: “Another striking feature is the tendency .. . to send the child to work as soon as the law permits.” Why? Not because the parents don’t want the child to get an education. Nor because the child just naturally likes to work in a mill, No. Simply because the father and the mother to- gether do not make enough to keep the economic wolf from the door. Women’s Double Burdens, Again from the bulletin of the de- partment of labor: “Over four-fifths of the breadwin- ning women who were or had been married were maintaining homes and hence were carrying the double burden of household duties and gaining em- ployment.” Imagine the mill owners’ wives or daughters in such a predicament! They don’t even cook and make their beds in their own homes. Let alone going to work in a mill days or nights. They keep cool in the mountains or by day in the home and by night in the mill. And when the mill mothers go to work in the mills what happens to the little ones—and most of their children are little ones—at home? The depart- ment of labor tells us that: Children Without Care, “The important facts disclosed by the field inquiry as to the provision for care of children in the absence of working mothers were that over one- fifth of the mothers worked at night when husbands or other adults were at home to look after the children, that one-tenth left their children to hus- bands who were night workers and at home in the day time,” Still others left their children with neighbors, boarders or landladies. And many of them “had to leave the chil- dren virtually without any care except such as could be given when there were other children, altho in none of these cities were the children as much as 14 years of age.” It must be remembered that the figures and percentages just given are for all women who earn their bread | Hit at Vile Conditions in Passaic | in mills of all kinds in Passaic. The percentage of night working mothers ‘s much higher among the woolen workers 60 that the situation as ap- plied to these mothers is really much worse than even these figures would indicate and they’are bad enough. Inadequate Wages, As Miss De Lima pointed out in her address ¢he lunportant {aot fe that 2 hh Al dis 5, i the final analysts he strength wean ro oe LACK OF CREDIT SURE TO COMPEL FRANCE TO SIGN Coolidge Is Pleased with Kellogg’s Policy PAUL SMITHS, N. Y., Aug. 24. — Following conversations between Coo: lidge and Secretary of State Kellogg, the president expressed his satisfac- tion with Kellogg’s handling of in- ternational affairs, ..particularly on the matter of Mexico and the French | debt situation. | Coolidge is quite satisfied that | France will finally ratify the Mellon- | Berenger agreement, because French | credit is suffering ftom the credit em- bargo which is forcing acceptance of | the debt agreement in*order to save the franc from complete collapse. As to Mexico, the president upholds the viewpoint that the Mexican gov- ernment, in carrying out its anti-cleri- cal decrees, has not violated any | rights of American citizens. For} this reason, it is claimed, the admin- | istration refuses to lift the embargo | on arms so they may be sent to Mexican civilians, Subway Construction Soon in Chicago; Maybe A swbway advisory commission headed by Russel Tyson of Aldis & Co. and including among its members the manager of Edison and Chicago Trust Bldgs., various theater and ho- tel owners and downtown business men of Chicago, has evolved a plan for improvements in the “worst trans- portation system in the world” to be largely financed, so they say, by volun- tary assessments of the loop business men and others located in districts most benefited by better communica- tions. The plan is for a three level sub- way in and near the loop, one level for fast express trains, another for trolley cars, and a mezzanine walk un- der the street but above the tracks for pedestrians. Extension of the “L” service is also contemplated. ‘The cost of immediate construction is set at $36,400,000, women who work in the mills are not so much the young unmarried folk but the married women who. are living with breadwinning husbands, . This shows clearly the Inadequacy of the wage of the men workers, And yet the citizens’ (strikebreaker), committee is still trying to tell the public that the Passaic textile workers are receiving fine wages. Fine wages for what? .Fine wages to drive mothers into,the mills at night. Fine wages to make them leave their babies and small..children at home in charge of other small children or landladies? Fine wages for starva- tion, sickness and general destitution. Worse Than Jacksonville! Let the citizens’ committee read this report on four cities and their bread- winning mothers. They will find that Passaic is in fat worse condition than the other cities—even worse than Jacksonville, Fla., where thousands of Negro mothers have to earn their liv- ing by working for a living at home. But the Passaic women workers go out of the home and into the mills leaving their children behind them, What kind of citizenship can be pro- duced under conditions such as the bulletin describes: | “The findings prove that the care of young children left in the home (in Pas- saic) was frequently inadequate and casual; that scarcely more than one- fifth of the breadwinning mothers of young children had any help in the performance of household duties; that the help came chiefly from the older children, relatives or lodgers, and that over one-fifth of the mothers worked at might, caring for the children in the intervals between indispensable Test taken during the day.” All In Passaic. And remember, this is for all Pas- saic. The conditions of the mothers in the woolen mills is much worse than the average. Let us set down some of the con- clusions of this government report: Fight For Adequate Wage. “It is obvious that many of the prob- lems connected with breadwinning wives and mothers would be dissipated if the husbands and fathers were to recoive a wage adequate for the family needs, “The coupling of economic respon- sibilities and domestic duties for women tends to menace the health of women and the happiness of the home, ‘ “The failure of men to secure a living wage ¢or the family necessitates the entrance of wives and mothers in- to breadwinning activities, “Better wages for men would frequently mean withdrawal of a large Broup of wives and mothers from breadwinning activities.” And again: 7 “The disastror effects resulting from neglect of the urgent problems related to breadwintiing women under mine each community where harmful conditions are allowed to exist and in By Uplon Sinclair (Copyright, 1926, by Upton Sinciair) WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE. When “Bunny” Ross, son of J. Arnold Ross, California oll operator, Is thire teen years old, he goes with 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’s Poor ranch in the San Elido Valley because the family were “holy rollers.” Hie brother Eli\is\ @\ cripple who has fits and “heals” people. From time to time Bunny hears. from Paul and sends money to his famil In the meantime Bunny Is learning the’oil business with his Dad who, along with other oil operators is Profiting by the war that had broken out in Europe. Bunny persuades his Dad to go for a quail hunting trip to San Elido Vatley. There they meet the Watkins family and Bunny becomes acquainted with Paul’ ter, Ruth, whom he likes. While huntingy they locate oii on the ranch and Dad wheedles it out of old Watkins and algo buys adjacent property eeoretly. in the meantime Bunny starts to high school at Beas; City and falls in Jove with a fellow student, Rose Taintor. Wheststhey are ready to drill Bunny and Dad go back to the ranch to direct the work. They persuade Paul to come to live with them and work as a carpenter. Paul had been living with «lawyer who took an interest in him and left hthta Tégacy of books when died. Paul and Ruth live in a shack near the well sight-..Gventually the well is begun and Ell, now turned prophet and the pet of wealthy. adherents to the faith, makes a blessing as the drilling. be- Gins. Bunhy gbes back to school and finds himself tiring of Rose Tafntor, But soon the glad news comes that Bunny's well in the San Elido Valiey has struck oll lands, A new field Is started. As Bunny-and Dad watch the drilling the oil suddenly hours out in a great Jet—and it catches fire. Everyc runs for their fives. Dad drives in great haste to town—for dynamite. H blast is quickly gotten ready. When the charge is set off, the out and the well saved. Bunny is a millionaire ten times ov ‘The boy is now eighteen years old and begins to worry about the administration of his field, now grown -to 44 derricks. He begins also to: wonder about the relations. be- tween capital and labor and asks his Dad some embarrassing questions con- cerning his*rélationship to his workers. in the meantime war with Germany looms and at-the. the same time the meh in: the oil field under the inspiration of an organizer for the Oil Workers’ Union, named Tom Axton, prepare to strike for an eight-hour day and a raise in wages. e e e Bunny was appalled; for he had thought of his father as one of the richest men in the state, and one of the most independent. “Why, Dad, we don’t own our own business! We don’t even own our souls!” That started the other on one of his stock themes. Business: was business, and not the same as a tea-party. Property was hard to get, and, as he had told his son Many times, there was always people trying to take it away from you. If there was going to be any security for wealth, there had to be discipline, and men of wealth had to stand together. It might seem harsh, if you didn’t understand, but it was the way of life. Look at that war over there in Europe; it was a horrible thing—jist made you |sick to think about it; but there it was, and if you was in it, you was in, and you had to fight. It was exactly the same with the business game; there was no safety for you, unless you stood with the group that had power. If you stepped out of the reservation, the wolves, would tear you to pieces in short order. But Bunny was not satisfied: with general principles; he wanted the details of this situation:: “Please tell me, Dad, just who are these men we have to work with?” Dad answered: they were a group, it was hard to define them, you might say the “open shop crowd”; they were the big business men who ran Angel City, and the territory which lived upon the city, or supported the city, according.as you looked at it. They had several organizations, not merely; the Petroleum Employers’ Federation, but the Merchants’ and Manufacturers’ Association, the Chamber of Commerce, the Bankers’ Club. They werevinter- locked, and a little group ran them all—Fred Naumann could call a dozen men on the telephone, and turn you into an outcast from business society; no bank would lend you a dollar, and none of the leading merchants would give you credit, some would refuse to do business with you even for cash. To the hour of his death, the elder Ross never really under- | Stood this strange son of his. He was always being surprised by the intensity with which Bunny took things, which to the father were part of the nature of life. The father kept two compart- ments in his mind, one for things that were right, and the other: tor things that existed, and which you had to allow to exist, and, ~ to defend, in a queer half-hearted, but. stubborn way. But here: was this new phenomenon, a boy’s mind which was all one com- partment; things ought to be right, and if they were not right, you ought to make them right, or else what was the use of having any right—you were only fooling yourself about it. “Listen, Dad,” the boy pleaded: “isn’t there some way wei could break that combination? velopments, and put everything on a cash basis, and go slow? You know, that might be better, in a way; you're trying to doi too much, and you need a rest badly.” Couldn’t you stop your new de-. The other could not help smiling, in spite of the pain he read) in Bunny’s face. “Son,” he answered, “if I set out to buck that game, I'd never have another hour’s rest, till you buried me up) there on the hill beside Joe Gundha.” “But you've got the oil, and if you settle with the men, it will go on flowing. It will be the only oil from this whole district!” “Yes, son, but oil ain’t cash; it has got to be sold.” “You mean they wouldn’t take it from you?” “T can’t say, son; I’ve never known such a case, and I don’t, know jist what they’d do. All I say is this—they wouldn’t let me lose their strike for them! They’d find some way to get me, jist... as sure 48 tomorrow’s sunrise!” 4 IV Dad went back to the field and got the representatives of! his men together. He did not tell them the whole story, of course, but said that he had tried his best to bring the employers to his views, and, had failed. He was bound by agreements that -he could not, break, but he would be very glad to meet the men’s terms ifthe Federation would do so. If there was a strike, he! would make*no attempt to work his properties for. the present. * It would mean heavy losses to him, the shutting down of his best paying wells, but he would try to stick it out and his men might consider they were taking a vacation, and come back to him.. when the strike was over. Meantime, he would not turn them out,.- they might continue to occupy the bunk-house, provided they). would keep order, and not injury the property. That was 6f course: a very unusual concession, and he hoped the men would appre-+ ciate it. would do 80; they were deeply grateful to Mr. Ross for his at- titude. The “committee answered that the men undoubtedly: The. members of the committee were embarrassed, and . 4 very respectful; you see, it is hard for humble workingmen to,, confront their employer, a “big” man, and armed with the magic power of money. The strike was called for noon on Wednesday, and the men all marched out singing songs. Not more than ten percent had!” joined the union, but they quit to a man—the few who might _ have liked to stay were not enough to work the wells, anyhow... They shut off the flow, and left everything in good order, and; > marched into Paradise, where they held a mass meeing. There were nearly three thousand workers in this field, and they all came, and most of the town’s people, and a number of the ranch- * ers; the sympathy of the community appeared to be all with the: workers. (To be continued) on — nan ial bi