The Daily Worker Newspaper, September 4, 1926, Page 11

NS “i \ ee Wife vir. in \! HAWN / | | Hi He aes ¢ | [O" Zé “MET. LLL. it to wind up-in... The speeches. are the flat, colorless:and- highly eulogistic type of oratory, that slightly altered and spoken: by different (but not always) persons, are heard on the Fourth of July or Decoration Day. e war, notably in the year 1918, Lor & yifvas used by officials of the Ameri- Federal’on of Labor as an occasion to rally the workers to “help win the war.” The day Was made over into a militaristic demonstra- tion on behalf of the “War for Democracy.” The American Federation of Labor officilaldom and all the little petty officials were hand in glove with J. P. Morgan trying to win an im- perialist war. Since that time, Labor Days have been hardly less servile in spirit, altho they of course lack the blood and thunder of that disgraceful spectacle. In recent years many local labor bodies have lost even the incentive to arrange parades on the day. In Chicago, for example, the question of a parade has been a disputed question. There has been no parade for five years. In several more years Labor Day promises to be 1othing more than a mere bank holiday. Such, in brief, is the record of Labor Day. Indeed, Labor Day has traced from year to year, a veritable. picture of the A..F, of L. To- day ‘the ‘effete Labor. Day-of. 1926. epitomizes the effete A. F..of L. of 1926. It is not our present job to go into the why of it. . It is pnough to say that the end of the militancy of the official labor movement approximates the beginning of the United States on its career 28 an imperialist capitalist power. New blood is needed. The present official- jom of the American Federation of Labor is a ad ang bloodless hand guiding a movement wh sMiggish thru too much patronage from pe masj>r class. _ And that new blood, when it cuts off-the dead hand'and revitalizes. the American Federation of Labor with the fighting traditions of its youth and the fire of struggle, will transform even Labor :Day into a day of demonstration against capitalism, and will also observe in a real militant. way the day of international working class solidarity—May Day. By PIERRE HAMP with dips::'» There is'a tragic harmony in‘théir-hidden suffering. » Their upregedes the light. They come in the agitated ‘hour of dawn. In the. factory, theiritramping changes to motionless transmis- sions. The) habitual motion of the machinist feels the serrated screw-nut to the last thread. It is fhe ‘hour. .. The slow starting of the potion. displays the light-colored oil on @ whe, smooth surface. The fly-wheel winds its cables onto its spokes which accel- erate themselves, great side-rods shooting out as if to seize an unattainable ideal. The looms go. The noise of the workship in the open morning seems like the buzzing of an insect gym | wings. C0) 1 tell of the lost paradise of this biimannity? But see the good gang of work- men labor: * Six steel frame-workers bolt a high beam. Under them the abyss where flocks pass by. Their dozen arms obey a single spirit, the spirit of the trade. He who misses here falls and kills the others. Against risk, they are armed with skill. Their motions set, one in rhythm with the other, form themselyes into a single motion. Nothing is so beautiful as labor. If al LAST week the mill-owners of Passaic defied public opinion thruout the country by refus- ing to deal with either the Lauck committee or the American Federation of Labor. They threw a challenge to the 16,000 striking textile work- ers of Passaic and to every conscious working man and woman of this country. To the let- ter sent by the plenary committee proposing negotiations toward a strike settlement, Charles F. Johnson, vice-president’ of Botany Mills, stated arrogantly, “ag far as We are concerned the strike is over.” é Harly in the evening the sireets near the mills were full of people going in one direction. These were the striking textile workers going to Belmont Park to. give their answer to John- s0n of the Botany Mills as to whether or not the strike is ovér. The streets are full of peo- ple.. Women walking in couples, heads: up, stepping out in wide springy footsteps. Streets full of people walking with purpose. They are gay and they laugh. These are happy people walking toward Belmont Park. It gets to be a procession. Thousands on thousands of peo- ple are coming together to tell the mill owners what they think of this new carefully planned offensive. It was a move calculated to break strike morale. Let the workers believe that there will be a settlement. Indicate that if their leaders will step aside that the mill owners will deal with the American Federation of Labor. Bring the striking textile workers to a high pitch of hope and enthusiasm, then as victory approaches snatch it away. Snatch it away just as they are about to change leadership. Separate them from. the leaders they Jove and trust on the pretext, of settlement and don’t give jhem a settlement. That ought to break ‘the workers’ spirit, especially workers who have been on strike seven months. So the bosses thought. cast The crowd going’ toward @ Belmont Park does not look as if it’s morale had been shaken. Thousands on thou- sands of people are there and more are coming. They stand quiet behind the high palings that shut the Park from the street. The tall trees spire above them. Dark trees form a background for the thou- sands of strikers’ families gathered’ there. _A car drives up, the speakers are getting out A murmur runs through the children, “Eliza- beth Gurley Flynn.” When the children here | have grand children her name will still be a beloved name. among the textile workers of New Jersey. The children who meet here every night to cheer the speakers, and espe- cially to wait for Albert Weisbord, set up a shout. The crowd opens to let the speakers through. Women put beautiful bouquets of flowers, zenias and dahlias, into their hands. On the platform’ are the: leaders. the: waiting people know and trust. They have been with them all the long. months of the strike. Al- fred Wagenknecht, relief director; Robert ‘Dunn of the Civil Liberties; Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. Rank and file leaders from the Botany Mills, from the Forstmann & Huffmann Mills, are talking to the crowd. They catch the mood of the calm, assured thousands, the they fall, it is without knowing that their fall pours forth into space a silent song great as the songs of Homer. In the resistance of giddiness; before the en- chantments of the fire, where sweat the faces of hard toilers, and whose active flame casts reflections on the hidden bodies, all these are the men who bear the grief of the world. In their spirit lives the millenary religion whose Messiah has not yet come: justice. Their dream is to hope for it, their passion to estab- lish it, They are capable of dying gladly for them. What more powerful spirit can give to art its inspiration? ; Passaic Strileeey Realy to Mill | By MARY HEATON VORSE. Bosses young local speakers laugh at the Botany of- fensive, The listening crowd stands there, easy as on top of the world. Their laughing calm is more formidable than the grey powerful picket lines. They have victory in their eyes; they have victory in their step: They laugh. Their faces have lost the anxious look. There has never been a strike -like this. Never in the history of this country or any other, can you find a strike where the workers would stand secure and laughing in face of an Offensive like today’s, made after seven months. They have the serenity of the invinc- ible. What a sight to look down on! Literally a sea of faces. Every one is here; not part of the people, but everybody, mothers, fathers, chil- dren carrying on the strike together. Not. just the men, with the women sitting at home scab- bing in their hearts, strikebreaking in their hearts.. The women in this fight have matched the men. They stand here quiet, clear-eyed. They have lost the mill pallor; they are people of defiance, they have the security that comes from strength. The sky grows darker, the electric lights are lit. A shout echoes through the town. It rises and swells. The young leader is being carried to the platform by his fellow workers. Eliza- beth Flynn has just finished speaking. She has brought word that Miss Wilkinson, repre- senting the striking miners of England, will bring their greetings to their striking brothers and sisters in Passaic. She finishes and her place is taken by. Weis- ord. ste What a jolly crowd, they take active part ‘n the meeting, shouting out full-throated an- swers to the speakers’ questions. There is a constant response, a give and take between the’ speaker and listeners that is unlike the usual stolid passivity of the average autliences. These... thousands of people standing here so quiet and assured, so alive, send up a stream of affection and trust toward their leaders. Weisbord is explaining that tomorrow the registration for the United Textile Workers will begin. Another shout goes up: The:work- ers. of Passaic are not alone in their: fight’ against Mr. Johnson’s “new policy.” It is as though side by side with this great crowd stood invincible the other workers who made, this.. sight possible. re : Who said’ you can’t buy health? happiness couldn’t be bought? can’t buy it, but you can give it. Did you go down in your pocket for Passaic? Did you give up something you needed for Passaic? Look at the Passaic workers, then you will see that the strike money can buy health and high cour- age to laugh at this last and most vicious at- tack of the bosses. The strikers answer to them is a shout from the thousands: of throats of “Union! Union! Union!” Who said No, maybe you * 4 ae