The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 28, 1926, Page 5

oY } THE DAILY WORKER 2 £1] bis. a Organized Labor—Trade ene Activities News and Comment Labor Education Labor and Government Trade Union Politics CARPENTERS 376 ASKS LOCALS TO CHECK OFFICIALS Hutcheson Persecution Basis of Appeal (Special to The Dally Worker) BROOKLYN, N. Y., Aug. 26—Local No, 376 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, is appealing to the other locals of the union to take action against the ar- bitrary regime of President William L, Hutcheson of the general organiza- tion, Expels His Opposere. Under the pretext of technical vio- lations of the union constitution, Hut- cheson hag punished all who oppose his policy by a whole series of sus- pensions, expulsions and charter re- vocations. Local No, 376 has had its charter revoked because its recording secretary, Nathan Rosen, was the candidate against Hutcheson on a progressive program in ithe last elec tion. Each local union is receiving from Local No. 376 a letter explaining its appeal to the general organization, a resolution for consideration by the local receiving it, and a small book- let setting forth in detail the conflict between Hutcheson and tthe progres- sives in the union. An appeal is made to all local unions to defend the con- stitutional rights of the members and locals and stop Hutcheson’s persecu- tion of all progressive opposition to his autocratic rule. A Progressive Program. The progressive program proposes measures to strengthen the union or- ganization, give the carpenters job control and the forty-hour, five-day week. Amalgamation of the ‘build- ing trades upon a departmental basis is included, in the demands, along with uniform agreements, expiring at the same time and to be ratified by the rank and file. “WRITE AS You FIGHT! | WCFL Radio Program Chicago Federation of Labor radio broadcasting station WCFL is on the air with regular programs. It is broadcasting on a 491.5 wave length from the Municipal Pier, TONIGHT, 6:00 to 7:00—Chicago Fi bor talks and bulletins; solos. 7:00 to 7:30—The Florentine String Trio, dinner musi ation of La- Instrumental 7:30 to 8:30—Vella Cook, contralto; WCFL Ensemble; Clarence Theders, baritone. 8:30 to 10:00—Little Warner, gloom chi Al Scott H: Trio; Cook Features of Next Saturday’s Issue of the New Magazine Supplement 'y V. F. CALVERTON T. J. O}OFLAHERTY MANUEL GOMEZ JESSICA SMITH ' HARRY GANNES and all the leading figures in the American Communist h movement. “\ ART WORK AND ’ CARTOONS \ ; by ELLIS K. A, SUWANTO HAY A, JERGER VOSE and Others Poems - Movie ’ and other features od Be Sure to Get the Issue of Saturday, August 28th WITH THE LABOR PRESS (More than 600 trade union papers—official organs of national and International unions, state federations of ldbor, district councils, central labor bodies and local unions—advocate correct, partially correct, or in- correct policies, volce poorly or well, represent or misrepresent, the opinions of the rank and file of the trade union movement. This is the field in which our party must conduct most of its work and it is a field of activity about which we must of necessity have the most detailed and accurate information, The publfvation.in this department of editorial comment from the trade union. press doesnot mean necessarily that we are in agreement with it, We publish this material to inform our readers of the trend of thought expressed In the labor press and when necessary such editorial expressions will be’accompanied by our own comment.—Edltor’s Note.) : ° r : The Capitalist Press and Stoolpigeons. A very superficial observation of the local gang of stoolpigeons of the capitalist class, reveals at once that they are very crude and brazen in their operations in the logal labor movement, if indeed it can be called such. However, they: imaginethat they are clever. But they possess the clever- ness of an elephant plowing thru a snowbank. Of our 20 years experience in the labor movement, we can honestly say that we have never seen a more cumbersome set of lieutenants of the capitalists, than those who operate in Great Falls. They are whitened sepulchers of dishonesty and corruption. And when sometimes the air is pregnant with foul and nauseating odors, it is because these creatures.in human sin are about. It is well for the honest rank and file of labor to’ know what constitutes the earmarks of the stoolpigeon element within its ranks. Once the work- ers know the line that séparates the honest from the dishonest leaders of labor, it will have no difficlty in taking care of its interests. For instance, the element that works in close co-operation with the two local organs of the Copper Company, the Tribune and the Leader, is an ele- loent that receives its orders from the Anaconda Copper Company. Every worker who is conscious of the fact that he lives, knows that the Tribune which waxes fat on county printing contracts, is the official morning hand- bill of the Copper Company, while the Leader is the official afternoon hand- bill of the same trust. Both of these capitalist sheets are as spiritual as a hog at the corn trough. For a cigaret and a glass of wine they are prepared to sell the nation, the state, its inhabitants and wealth, both natural and cre- ated, to their god, the Anaconda Copper Company. Every time that they yelp at the honest elements in the labor movement, and back the Plots of the stoolpigeons’ elements, the whole world sees their spotted tongues lined with copper. But while these sheets have not organized the workers into labor organizations, they have, as every intelligent worker knows, put out streams of propaganda against the unity of labor, thru the instrumentality of the shady elements within the ranks of organized labor, ‘That is the very purpose of their existence; to promote dishonesty in our political and industrial life asa people. They never have a word to say in the upholding of honesty anywhere, 3 Therefore, workers, beware of that element which uses the capitalist press withn your ranks, to advarice the plans and plots of the capitalist class, it is a sure sign that it is not too honest with labor, as that two and two make four, There will always be more or less differences between groups in the labor movement, as to economics.and policies. How could it be otherwise? Since labor all over the world is becoming rapidly the dominant actor in the political and industrial lite of the nations, it stands to reason that there is bound to be conflicting opinions on some important questions affecting policy and tactics, Perhaps that is as it should be. Everything thet is alive ig in a process of agitation. Only the dead are dead. And as workers, it ts our duty to ‘study the various labor ideas, in order that we may be in a position to fight effectively in the class struggle. If it is in the interest of our class, we shall adopt it. But there cannot be any difference pt opinion among the workers of all shades of labor opinion, as to the socialogical fact, that any element or individual who works with the agencies of capitalism, such as the capitalist press, is a stoolpigeon of the capitalist class, either conscious or unconscious, Again we say, guard yourselves against them, Great Falls, Mont., Town Topics. PAINTERS’ UNION GETS RAISE FOR CHICAGO MEMBERS; BOOM IN BUILDING MAKES IT EASY As a result of the 85% organization of painters and glazers in Chicago, some 17,000 members of that union will receive an increase in wages on Sept. 13 from the present dollar and a half an hour to $1.62%, or thirteen dollars a day. ‘The tact that union conditions prevail has had a good effect on the employment situation. Work is plentiful in the territory over which the Painters’ District Council of Chicago has jufisdiction, and which includes everything between Lake Michigan on the east and the county line on the west, between North Chicago and the Indiana line, my The use of paint spraying machin- ery threatened the life of the organ- ization for a while, but finally pro- vided a fatal argument against itself, Painting is one of the dangerous trades, on account of the prevalence of lead poisoning. The danger in- creases directly as the length of the day increases, and as the wages are lowered, for this means longer expos- ure, insufficient recreation, and lack of hygienic facilities. In the old days be- fore the union organization was strong “painters’ colic’ or lead -poisoning was a greater thing, There is still too much of it, but organization and union conditions have reduced it re- markably, Lake. Every reader around New York should attend the Daily Worker Picnic SUNDAY, SEPT. 5 Edenwald Park, New York — (No admission charge) Take Third Ave. “L” to.i3Fd Street SWS} or Lexington Ave. Subway to 180th Street. Transfer to Westchester Rail road, Get off at Dyer Ave, (Fare 7c.) Auspices: Daily Worker Build. nahi el le. an argument that is in some states embodied tn the law, Spraying paint by machinery vaporizes and scatters the finely divided particles of lead thru the air, where they are certain to be breathed in not only by the work- ers on the chines but by others around about, The spraying machines are also used now for the cheaper work as fine even coats of paint are not yet Possible by this method. The Painters’ union is one of the largest of the building trades depart- ment to reject the Landis award, The open shap drive culminating in the de- cision of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis several years ago brought chaos into the building industry, and Some of the unions which had form. erly co-operated well with each other signed the award, Others did not, The open shop drive was smashed largely by the building boom and while there is plenty of construction going on, individual unions can, by or- ganization activity, raise their wages, However, when the building boom ends, there may be another story to tell. Then the need of close relation- ships between the various unions of the building industry will be very ap- Parent, the left wing members point out, and the old clauses for sympa- thetic strikes will have to go back in- to the contracts, and machinery wil) have to be created for some common action. The loft wing in the Painters’ union also is emphasizing now that a thoro discussion “by thé’ tembership of the proposition for amalgamation of build. ing trades w departmentall- zation, as on the 1913 Build. ing Trades De, ent Convention ig feta la Policies and Programs The Trade Union Press Strikes—Injunctions Labor and Imperialism LIVE UNION OF LABORERS IN WORCESTER Wage Demand Pending May Bring Strike By SYDNEY BLOOMFIELD, WORCESTER, Mass, Aug. 26.— Without the blare of trumpets the work of organization has been going on steadily in this city, known thru- out the land as the “mother of the open shop” until today, a lusty young union of laborers marches proudly with its more than 600 members to challenge the dictatorial rule of the most militant open shop labor-hating outfit known as the Building Trades Employers’ Association of Worcester. A Live Local, ‘The Laborers’ Union, Local 620, is affiliated with the International Hod Carriers’, Building and Common La- borers’ Unton of America, and bids fair to set the pace in reactionary New England for militancy and progress. A young militant and class-conscious element is at the helm and its special meeting held at Victory Hall, Shrews- bury street, which was attended by the bulk of the membership, making it more like a mass meeting than an or- dinary business meeting, bears elo- quent testimony to its ability to fight and win, The union demands a straight 60 cents per hour for all laborers. This and other demands are now before the employers association, who have persistently tried to avoid the issues with all sorts of lame excuses, among which a few are: that the union is not yet six months in existence; that they did not hear of such a union being organized (despite the fact that all employers received our letters in- forming them of the organization and existence of the Laborers’ Union, etc. Bosses Fight Standard Wage. One of the large contractors de- clared that they are paying a scale ranging from 40 to 70 cents an hour, and because of the great difference in quality of workmen in this partic- ular line, this contractor said, they had refused to consider setting a standard wage. \Of course the declara- tion of this contractor is sheer bunk. In the first place, no laborer is at the present time getting 70 cents an hour, this exaggerated statement was meant to show thru the local papers which carried his statement that the boss was even paying more than the union is asking for, if the laborer de- serves it. This. statement was in- tended to show how “good” the boss is to “deserving” workers, and thus creating in. the public mind the idea that those who do not get 70 cents an hour don’t deserve it, thus paving mind in the event of a strike, when the contractors will try to show that the union is asking for unjust de- mands, etc, All Driven Alike. Secondly, the scale averages about 45 cents an hour, and regardless of the claims as to the “quality” of work- men, every man on the job knows that he is not out on a picnic. The straw boss attends to the driving of the men, regardless of “quality.” A stronger man probably endurés the driving a little better than a weaker man, but they all do the same work. The union is going thru with its demands and a strike will tie up every big construction job here if the bosses don’t sober up. Negotiations with the Employers’ Association are carried on thru William L, Allen, secretary of that association, which will meet to decide upon our demands, and the executive committee of the Laborers’ Union will meet on the following night, when a reply from the bosses will be had, Support Passalc. At the special meeting of the union the principle sp rr was Brother Kula of Springfield, Mass., who spoke in Italian. The meeting also unant- mously voted to assess each member 40 cents for the following purposes: 15 cents for the Passaic, N. J., textile strikers and 25 cents each for the purchase of a banner with the union emblem for use in the Labor Day pa- rade, ‘The union will turn out 100 per cent strong in the Labor Day parade and before joining the main parade of the other local unions, we will start from our hall with a band and parade past the headquarters of the Employers’ Association to show them that we are in business to stay. It was also de- cided that every member in line will carry a placard with militant and labor-rousing slogans. The parade will be utilized for arousing the labor movement inthis olty to the needs of a huge campaign for organizing the unorganised. Will Give to British. When Joseph Jones, the British miners’ delegate, comes to this city the laborers wil] be on deck not merely with a sing welcome, but with substantial striking miners 1 pnt | vince the farmers that the source of h for the heroic PAINTERS SOLD OUT IN STRIKE AT CLEVELAND Unity Needed in the Building Trades CLEVELAND, Aug, 26.—After the painters had been out on strike since March 1, the strike committee about ten days ago demanded from the} meeting of the painters full power to} act. The contractors declared that | they could not deal with a committee | that had constantly to report back to the membership and get their ap- proval altho this plan had been sat-| isfactery to the unions and the strike committee till that time. More significant was the demand of the strike committee when it was stated by the “Citizens’ Committee” representing the contractors and the open shoppers generally, that there would be no compromise, that “the train had left.” This was clear. The contractors had a fund of $5,000,000 to fight the painters and glazers. In addition, “vandilism” was raising hell in Cleveland. It was simple for the contractors to find men who would engage in breaking windows, setting bombs, etc. That is a simple and general practice, when men are striking. So all the accompaniments of a strike in which the employers go the limit were in motion. To give the strike committee full power under these circumstances was a serious mistake. Several weeks ago the contractors offered the painters $1.30 an hour, 54¢-day week, which was overwhelm-/| ingly rejected. What must have been the surprise of the painters today when they read that their committee did not get $1.37% an hour, 5-day week, but gave in to the demands of the employers, viz., the conditions| that the workers had when they went out on strike, that is $1.25 an hour, 54-day week. In other words, the workers won nothing, but have lost everything. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been lost in wages and the union has been decidedly weak- ened. “Public Interest” the Excuse. This is the accomplishment of the strike committee with full _ powers. According to the papers, “public in- terest, the growth and prosperity of the city of Cleveland, the continued expansion of facilities for the hous- ing of new industries, seem in the opinion of the officers of these organ- izations and the business agents of their district council, to make it de- sirable that the men return to their jobs at the old rate of wages.” This ts what was said in the case of the building laborers, who after several months of strike had to re- turn on the original terms. Next year the carpenters intend to make their demands. It is high time building workers in Cleveland to take matters into their own hands and or- ganize properly, As already stated in these columns, they must see to it that: What to Do, 1. All agreements of the building for the rank and file of the}. trades terminate at the same time, the road for prejudicing the public, Ma¥ 1. 2. No agreement should be for more than one year. 8. The two building trades coun- cils must be merged without delay. The existence of the two councils— both affiliated to the A. F. of L. but only one belonging to the Cleveland Federation of Labor—is a menace to the workers. 4. A grievance of one union must be regarded as a grievance of all unions—a stoppage of work by one must immediately be followed by stop- page by all. ; Workers and Farmers Urged to Hear Engdahl Speak in Wisconsin Serious unrest is sweeping over the farming and laboring population of the country as some of the recent primary election results show. Does the government at Washington want to solve the problems of the work- ers and farmers of this country? CAN the American government solve them? These are the questions of the day and exactly these questions will form the subject of the speech by J. LOUIS ENGDAHL, editor of The DAILY WORKER, who is going to Merrill, Wisc, to speak on the sub- ject: “Can the American Govern- ment Solve the Problems of the Work- ers and the Farmers?” The meet- ing will be on Friday, August 27, 8 Pp. m. at Arcadia Hall. ‘The rich bankers are trying to con- all their troubles is the high wages of the city workers. Is this true? Aro the workers and farmers enemies or friends? Engdah) will answer this question in his speech, “Why the Workers and Farmers Are Natural Allies” at Bloomville, Wisc. Satur- fay, August 28, 8 p, m., sharp. The meeting will be held at the Town Hall, Refugees Flee Guif Hurricane. PORT ARTHUR, Tex., Aug, 26.— Refugees from nearby towns who had fled from the coast to highland places prepared today to roturn to their homes when the gulf hurricane, which spent most of its fury around New Orleans failed to strike the West ult Coast iad j By Upton Sinclair (Copyright, 1926, by Upton Sinciair) WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE, ba When “Bunny” Ross, son of J. Arnold Ross, California of! operator, Is thir- 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.” His brother Ell is a cripple who has fits and “heals’ people. From time to time 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 oll operators is profiting by the war that had broken out in Europe. Bunny persuades his Dad to go fora 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 oil on the ranch and Dad wheedles it out of old Watkins.and also buys adjacent property secretly. In the meantime Bunny starts to high school at Beach City and fails in love with a fellow student, Rose Taintor. When they 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 a lawyer who took an interest in him and left him a legacy of books when died. Paul and Ruth live in a shack near the weil sight. Eventually the well is begun and Eli, now turned prophet and the pet of wealthy adherents to the faith, makes a blessing as the drilling be- gins. Bunny goes back to school and finds himself tiring of Rose Taintor. But Soon the glad news comes that Bunny’s well in the San Elido Valley has struck oll lands. A new field is started. As Bunny and Dact watch the drilling the oil suddenly pours out in a great Jet—and it catches fire. Everyone runs for their lives. “Dad drives in great haste to town—for dynamite. He returns and the blast is quickly gotten ready. When the charge is set off, the blaze is snuffed out and the well saved. Bunny is a millionaire ten times over. The boy Is now eighteen years old and begins to worry about the administration of hie field, now grown to 14 derricks. He begins also to wonder about the relations be- tween capital and labor and asks his Dad some emburrassing questions -con- cerning his relationship to his workers. in the meantime war with Germany looms and at the the same time the men in the oil field under the inspiration of rn aroanizer for the Oil Workers’ Union, named Tom Axton, prepare to strike for an eight-hour day and a raise in wages. Dad attends a meeting of the Yegeration and realizes he has no chance to buck up against the huge combine he faces there in attempting to advance the interests of the men. The strike is called and Dad, along with the rest of the operators, takes the thugs and guards supplied by the association to “protect property.” ° ~ -~ Vv Paul had gone with the strikers, so Bunny learned. Mtn Ross had offered to keep him on, for there was some building that needed to be done, and the carpenters were not on strike. | But Paul had thought it over and decided that his duty lay with the oil workers; they hadn’t many educated men among them— that was one of the burdens the twelve hour day put upon them; so Mr. Ross would have to accept Paul’s resignation, perma- nently or temporarily, as he might think best. Dad had said there would be no hard feelings, and Paul might come back when the strike was over. Bunny went up to the Rascum place to see Ruth and ask. her about it. The “Superintendent of Horticultural Operations”' had gone on strike with the boss carpenter, but they were still! occupying the bungalow, and Ruth did the work for Dad, when- ever he occupied the cabin. Ruth said that Paul couldn’t get out here any more, he was sleeping on, some sacks of straw in the union headquarters, where he worked about twenty hours a day. So Meelie was staying with her sister, and they spent all their Spare time baking things, and old Mr, Watkins came with the! same old horse hitched to the same old wagon, and carried the things to Paradise, where they were sold to the strikers. They had closed up their stand at the Watkins tract, because there wasn’t nobody there but guards, and they wouldn’t feed no guards, not if they starved. So spoke Meelie, who was a little chatter-box; and Ruth looked at Bunny with some embarrass- ment, thinking that wasn’t proper talk before him. But said he wasn’t strong for guards himself, it had made him sort of sick to see them on the place that was supposed to be his. And Meelie said the man that was in charge at their place wasn’t a bad fellow, he had been a forester and fireguard; but some of them others was awful men, and Pap was a-scairt for the girls to go on the road at night, they cussed something fierce, and they had liquor all the time. There was an alluring odor of hot gingerbread in the kitchen, and Bunny had not yet had his lunch; so the girls set the little table, and the three sat down, and had a meal of scrambled eggs and potatoes, and bread and butter, and goat’s milk and ginger- bread and strawberries—for the plants which Paul had set out had been diligently tended by Ruth, who couldn’t bear to let Ify- ing things suffer, even green ones. Ruth was now a young lady of almost eighteen, the same age as Bunny, but she felt @ lot older, as girls do. Her fair hair was done up on the top of*her head, and you saw her bare legs no longer. She always looked nice working in the kitchen, because then her cheeks were-rasy; she was competent in her own domain, and told you to sit down | and not mess things up trying to help. She had the bright hkre eyes of all the Watkins family; in her case they went with.a-can- did, quiet gaze that seemed to go to the depths of you, and: make both deception and unkindness impossible. Bunny at this time was just beginning an‘intense back at home—his first serious love affair, about which we shall be told before long. Eunice Hoyt was a rich girl, and complicat- ed; to know her was sometimes pleasure and sometimes torment. But Ruth was a poor girl, and simple; her presence was : calm and still like a Sabbath morning. Paul was.a great and good man. Now Paul had given up his ten dollar a day job help the strikers, and Ruth was baking food for’the strik while they had money she would sell it to them, and when tty had no more money she would give it to them, Meelie, likewise, was delighted to bake for the.men, but that: was not her only interest in them. The coming of oil to the! Watkins tract had meant vast changes in Meelie’s life, she was no longer to be recognized as a goat-herd, but had blossomed | out, acquiring sophistication and conversation, and a bright col- ored ribbon in her hair and a necklace of yellow’beads about her neck, Meelie had been to town the evening before, and it had been so exciting! Eli was a full-fledged preacher now, with a church of his own, and was holding services every evening for the glory of the Lord, and great numbers of the strikers had come, and grace had been abounding; and in between the pente- costal manifestations, Meelie had picked up news of the strike— there had been a fight on Main Street because a drunken guard had been rude to Mamie Parsons; and Paul had been one of a committee to see the sheriff and demand that he take either-the liquor or the guns away from his deputies; and tomorrow Meelie was going to church again—there would be three services all’ through the day; and it was said that on Monday the operators were going to bring in strike-breakers, and start the wells flowing on Excelsior Pete; and the men were they could—it would be terrible! (To be continued) GINSBERG’S Vegetarian Restaurant as 2324-26 Brooklyn Avenue, LOS ANGELES, CAL. The Biggest Pvent of the Pienic Season in Chicago Th. E..L. PIGNIC SUNDAY, Sept. 5 at Stickney Park Grove “Say it with your pen In the correspondent page of The DAIL’ WORMEA;" uae getting ready to stop that if «|