The Daily Worker Newspaper, September 15, 1926, Page 2

Page Two ~ ~—«..- os * MEXICAN LAWS CONSIDER RIGHTS OF THE WORKERS Lively Scrap Expected at (Special to The Daily Worker) WASHINGTON, Sept. 13—Reports persist that a group of delegates in the forthcoming convention of the American Federation of Labor will seek to force withdrawal of the A. F. of L, from the Pan-American Federa- tion of Labor, on a pretext of econo- my but actually as a slap at the Mexican labor movement. A hot de- bate is in prospect. With that situation in mind The Federated Press presents this week some extracts from the Mexican con- stitution of 1917, which is the work of the Mexican Regional Confedera- tion of Labor and dts allies, and is now under attack. That constitution differs from all others in the w hemisphere in one respect—it p the interest of the workers first, It is a working class instrument of self. emancipation. Rejection of affiliation with Mexican labor because of Mexi ean labor’s identity with this consti tution, made by and for the Mexican workers, may put the American labo: movement in a strange position be fore the world. Laws Relating to Labor. Article 123 is labor’s magna charta. % declares first of all that “The Con gress and the state legislatures shall make laws relative to labor with due regard for the needs of each region, of the Republic, and in conformity with the following principles, and these principles and laws shall gov- ern the labor of skilled and unskilled workmen, employes, domestic serv- ants and artisans, and in general every contract of labor. “1. Bight hours shall be the maxi- mum limit of a day’s work. “2. The maximum limit of night work shall be 7 hours. Unhealthy and dangerous occupations are forbidden to’all women and to children under 16 years of age. Night work in iac- tories is likewise forbidden to wom- en and children under 16 years of age; nor shall they be employed in commercial establishments after 10 o’clock at night. Hours For Child Labor. “3, The maximum limit of a day's work for children over 12 and under 16 years of age shall be 6 hours. The work of children under 12 years of age shall not be made the subject of @ contract. “4, Every workman ghall enjoy at Teast one day’s rest for every six days’ work.” Section 5 grants to working wom- en three months’ rest with pay pre- ceding childbirth and three months with pay after birth. Two half-hour periods for nursing the baby are granted for the ensuing months while nursing continues. A Maximum Wage. Section 6 provides that the mint- mum wage for a worker “shall be that considered sufficient, according to the conditions prevailing in the Tespective region, to satisfy the nor- mal needs of the life of the work- man, his education and his lawful Pleasures, considering him as the head of a family. Im all agricultural, commercial, manufacturing or mining enterprises the workmen shall have the right to participate in the pro- fits.” The determination of minimum ‘wages and profit shares is to be made by special commissions to be appointed in each municipality, acting under the authority of a central con- ciliation board in each state. Movie Actrees Seeks to Find Out Where Her $1,500,000 Went LOS ANGELES, Sept. 13.—The fa- mous suit of Mary Miles Minter against Mrs, Charlotte Shelby, her mother, for an accounting of the $1,500,000 said to have been earned by the former screen star during her minority was recalled when J. Homer Reilly, father of the actress, filed a complaint in equity against Mrs. Shelby for a separate accounting of Miss Minter’s huge salary. The suit of Miss Minter against her mother is scheduled for trial next March. Doheny Opposes the Cancellation of Lease WASHINGTON, Sept. 13.—Edward L. Doheny, oil magnate, carried an appeal to the supreme court to pre- vent cancellation of his lease of the Elk Hilis, California, naval oil reserve, and contracts for construction of a naval ofl base at Pearl Harbor, Ha- wail, to be paid for with crude oil, a Project involving the expenditure of the equivalent of $15,000,000. Doheny lost inthe district and circuit courts, 7 Die in Kansas Flood. BMPORIA, Kan., Sept. 13.—Seven dead was the known death toll in Kast Central Kansas ag flood waters reced- ed this afternoon. Three wore report- ed drowned yesterday. This afternoon three unidentified bodies were recover- | ed near Madison and Russell Scott, of Ruggell, Kan,, drowned today when try! to ford a stream, i pon ONT. | | TRADE UNION UNITY GAINING IN | SPAIN AGAINST COMBINED FORCES | OF S. P., ANARCHISTS AND POLICE By A SPANISH WORKER. MADRID (By |by the San Sebas |Pone the conference, jconference. The police are holding+ |up all mail in regard to the conference, have forbidden the Communist paper, |“La Antorch,” to do any campaigning |for unity and in general carry out all kinds of violent suppression to ob- | struct the preliminary work necessary | to the conference. Discussion of adherence to the con- |ference is not allowed to be heard in |the trade unions by the reformist | leaders. Socialists Collaborate with Police. The socialists are helping the police in their repression of the movement for unity by informing them of all Communist activity in the campaign. The socialists now have a new op- portunity to show their gratitude to the military dictatorship which ex- *|pelled the Communists from all the | workers’ organizations of Viscaye. The socialist party and the police form a |} united front against the movement for | trade union unity. Persistent Sfruggle. Notwithstanding, numerous organ- zations have favored and work for unity, in spite of the opposition of the Union General de Trabajadores, the central reformist organization, which has menaced with expulsion the trade unions that manifest adherence to the }San Sebastian federation’s call for | conference. The Confederation Nacional del Tra- bajo, the central anarchist organiza- tion, is also carrying on a violent cam- paign against unity. The reformist leaders have even ex- Pelled union members who carry on “La Antorcha,” the Communist paper. But the sentiment among the work- ers is for the conference of San Se- bastian, and the campaign for the unity of the trade union movement is stronger each day. Why not a small bundle of The DAILY WORKER sent to you regular- | ly to take to your trade union meeting? dividends, of $495,335 on an invest- ment of $41,575. A tidy 1,190 per cent, according to the journal’s figures, 600 for 100. The original shares were first quoted on the stock exchange at $51.75 or $5,175 for 100 shares. In 1917 when the original New Jersey corporation was reorganized as a Delaware con- cern the owner of 100 shares received 500 shares of the new company in ex- change for his holdings. In 1918 this stockholder could subscribe for 100 additional shares at $118 each, bring: ing the total shares he held to 600 by an additional investment of $11,800. His cash dividends up to that year had amounted to $18,500, providing him with plenty of money for stock purchases, 6,150 for the 100, In 1920 the corporation added 15 shares to this investor’s holdings by a 2% per cent stock dividend, and then issued him 10 shares of no-par stock for each share in his possession. At this point he held 6,150 shares in place of his original 100 shares, The com- pany then let him buy 1,230 no-par shares at $20 a share, involving an additional investment of $24,600. It then issued two more 2% -per cent stock dividends, 7,753 Shares for 100, Thus by the end of 1920 our original investor had put a total of $41,575 into the corporation and held 7,753 no- par shares of the stock. His cash divi- dends so far had amounted to $32,736. The last change in capital structure prior to the 1926 stock dividend was made in 1924, when General Motors issued one share of the present stock for each four shares then outstanding. Thus just prior to the 50 per cent divi- dend the original investor held 1,938 shares of stock, for which he had paid $41,575. These shares had a market value of $225 each, so that the total market value of his stock was-$436,050, His dividends to date total $100,860, Fabulous Profit, In the ten years 1916 to 1925 General |Motors has made a profit of $462, |864,299 with a plant which today is carried on the books at $290,370,705. In that period it has paid common stockholders $209,293,072 in cash divi- dends and has accumulated $:¥6,262,- 481 in working capital, more than double the amount in its treasury in 1921, The Same Elsewhere. This picture of the way the rich get richer simply by holding their in- vestments, while the workers labor to produce the wealth, might be dupli- cated in almost any important corpo- ration, A Chicago Journal of Com- merce article entitled “1000 Per Cent Profit in Five Years” shows that 100 shares of Quaker Oats Co. common stock purchased for $7,300 in 1921 would now have a value of $74,000, In the méantime the company has is- Propaganda for unity by distributing | |ENORMOUS PROFITS TAKEN BY LABOR BY GENERAL MOTORS CO., SHOWN BY WALL STREET JOURNAL By LELAND OLDS, Federated Press. Swollen fortanes, built up by capitalizing excess profits, are typically shown in a Wall Street Journal analysis of changes in the capital structure af General Motors Corp., which has just announced a 50% stock dividend. The purchaser of 100 shares of the original stock in 1911,.4f he exercised his various rights to subscribe to additional stock, has made a profit, including ~~ na a ail)—The national conference called originally for May 1, ian trade union federation to discuss the Spanish workers’ movement for trade union unity, had to be postponed to August. Now, the San Sebastian federation has once more been forced to post- The police are holding up all mail in regard to the ETHYL IS BACK’ TO FACE DAMAGE SUIT OF WORKER NEW YORK, Sept. 18.—(FP)— Standard Oil company of New Jersey has a suit for $200,000 on its hands because a former worker at Bayonne claims he is the sufferer from his employment with tetra-ethyl lead. Henry Callis says that he fs afflicted with a “serious disease of a nature not clearly established by medical sci- ence” as a result of his exposure to tetra-ethyl lead treated gasoline in September, 1924. The worker says he has had to re- main in bed since that time. Stand- ard Oil company gave no warning of danger, provided no masks or gloves and did not have sufficient ventila- tion in the workplace. Eleven Died, Eleven workers in all are known {o have died during various firms’ ex- periments with tetra-ethyl lead gaso- line, The scandalous list of dead and injured workers employed in the mak- {ng of the supposedly “knock-proof” fuel finally brot a national conference under the United States surgeon-gen- eral and the ultimate promulgation of jrules governing the manufacturing process. May Poison Public. Tetra-ethyl lead treated gasoline is now being made and sold generally. A Swiss scientist insists that wide- spread use of the fuel will mean the | depositing of great quantities of lead |dust on public highways and the pos- \pible poisoning of not only hundreds of thousands of workers but of the ‘general population. sued four shares of no-par stock for each share of the original stock. The new shares have a market value of $185, equivalent to $740 a share for the old stock. In addition the com- pany has paid cash dividends totaling $9,000, so that the total profit on the investment of $7,300 has been $75,700, Biscuit Profits, The Wall Street Journal gives a similar picture of how fortunes are made in a note on the extra dividend recently declared by National Biscuit Co. According to the journal an in- vestment of $11,500 in 500 shares of National Biscuit stock in 1900 would now be worth $315,000. If you had made such an investment your portion of the recent quarterly dividend of $1 plus 50 cents extra would be $5,250, which the journal thinks a very com- fortable three-month return on an in- vestment of $11,500. College Boy Scabbing Is Condemned by National Students’ Conference RICHMOND, Ind., Sept. 13.—“Be it resolved that this conference goes on record as against the practice of col- lege students scabbing during indus- trial disputes.” ‘This resolution was passed unanimously at a conference of thirty young college students who have been spending their summer va- cations as manual laborers in indus- try. The conference, held at Earlham college, passed few other resolutions, being largely devoted to a discus- sion of the value of college students working in industry and what the various students could do in the com- ing year to establish closer contact between students and industrial work- ers, Sixteen Colleges, The students, both young men and women, represented 15 colleges and universities in the central west as well as two labor colleges—Brook- wood and Commonwealth —and the Bryn Mawr summer school for wom- en in industry. With them were five young industrial workers, most of them working in organized trades and being members of their respective un- Jons, and several other active work- ers in the labor movement. A committee was elected to carry the idea of the conference into the colleges next fall and to make plans for a larger conference next year to exchange ideas and experiences among those students who spend thetr vacation in industry, This was the first national student-indndustry eon: ference and delegates came from a far west as Denver and as tar eas as New York {ME DAILY WORKER REACTION IN CHINA SPLIT BY RIVALRIES Japan Playing Her Own Game Against British SHANGHAI, Se. . —- Altho Brit- ish marines have been landed at Han- kow and the British in China are eager for intervention against the rising power of the Canton govern- ment, they admit that intervention is | futile unless Japan and the United States participate. Japan is in no hurry to aid the British, since Great Britain is her chief rival and a weakening of the British position leaves ja freer field for Japanese trade, whidh Japan does not intend to lose isharing in a British attack on Chi not, at least, if she can help it, | Each Fears Rivals. The United States: is also in no haste to join in intervention, for fear that the Japanese would utilize their opportunity to send in enough forces to shut out America as well as the British. But the U. S., while claiming its neutrality, is watching the growth of the national revolution with great alarm, The British are removing all na- tionals from the upper Yangtze region west of Hankow, The Japanese are strengthening their naval forces and Real Admiral Araki has been sent to take command at Hankow of the Jap- anese units, Cantonese Drive Onward, There seems little likelihood that General Sun Chuan-fang will be able to check the Cantonese advance in the province of Kiangsi. Sun’s com- manders from Kiansi, Fukien and Che- Kiang provinces are in Shanghai to hold a council on the situation, Sun has appealed to Wu Pei-fu for help, and the two claim that if they can reorganize Wu's. scattered forces, they may together m: an attack on Hankow to dislodge thg,eantonese and recapture this iniust&elly developed Section of the rich Yatigtze valley, Marshal Chang Tso-lin, the Manchu- rian reactionary, is hastening to Pe- king to rally his troops against an ex- pected attack from the Kuominchun army of Feng Yu-hsiang. The Kuomin- chun is again threatening the reaction- aries from the northwest of Peking, and thus is diverting the forces of the reactionary allies from a concentrated counter-attack on the Cantonese to the south. American Visitors to Soviet Unidii' Ask Its Recognition by U. S. NEW YORK, Sept. 13. — The dele- gation of American writers, educators, businessmen, churchmen and others headed by Sherwood Eddy, secretary for Asia of the national council of the Young Men’s Christian Association, has returned to the United States after an extensive study of conditions in the Soviet Union, with the recommen- dation that America recognize the Soviet government, This was the first American group to study from a cap! it viewpoint the economic, political, social and reli- gious phases of life in the Soviet Union to determine the advisability of recognition of the Soviet government. The commission admits that to the capitalist world Soviet government is decidedly objectionable, but points out that it has greatly benefited the masses of people and igs one of the most stable governments in Europe. Without passing on the merits of the Soviet form of government as a principle, the commission and its ac- companying unofficial delegates recom- mend the recognition of the Soviet Union by the United States govern- ment, They state that the Soviet gov- ernment permitted every access to in- stitutions, industrial plants and gov- ernmental documents and data. “Shoot to Kill” Is Police Order to Six Cops in Moron Hunt Six Chicago policewomen have been assigned to the Summerdale district with orders to “Shoot to kill” a man that has been lurking in this district preying on the women, of the neigh- borhood. This action pn the part of the police force was taken after a maid employed in the home of a wealthy plano manufacturer wag as- saulted about a block away from Mayor Dever'’s home. , Chicago within the past weeks has been forced to take drastic measures in an attempt to rid the city of morons that have been victimizing women in outlying parts of the city, The “curfew law,” which provides that all young girls under 16 years of age must be in their homes by 10 o'clock in the shape is one of the measures .adopt- ed. —_—_. Cigar Man Wounded In Hold-Up, William G. Gerard, cigar store pro- prietor, wag shot three times and pro- bably fatally wounded in revolver duel with two bandits who attempted to hold him up today, The bandits escaped, altho Gerard told police he believed one of them was wounded. Mother of 7 Kiiled, Mrs, Frances Schuler, 33, mother of seven children, was killed in front of six of them when an auto truck, piloted by one of the sons, on which the family was riding into a om tg Dunes Records Are Smashed By Industrial Gains in the Union of Soviet Republics By J. LOUIS ENGDAHL. j ALTER DURANTY, the Moscow correspondent of the New York Times, is getting worried about the conditions in the Union of Soviet Republics. He is troubled by “the writing on the wall” of “clumsy peasant fin- gers” demanding “Give us goods!” Yet Duranty admits that the So- viet officials are not as much troubled as he by the “assertive- ness” of the peasantry. Duranty Says: “Stalin and his associates do not ignore the growing clamor and do not, I believe, really regret the increased political conseious- ness and self-assertiveness of the peasants, embarrassing as it is at the preent juncture. Considering that they have followed a policy of trying to educate and stimulate the peasants, it is quite illogical to sup- pose that they are unwilling to allow the expression of grievances which they know are genuine enough.” pee. ee, Duranty is chiefly worried be- cause “agricultural production has rapidly increased until now it has reached 90 per cent of pre-war at a general cost—which is an important point—not much higher than pre- war, Industrial production also im- proved satisfactorily enough, but— which is an even more important point—by the time the manufac- tured goods reach the peasant their cost is three to four times pre-war.” Thus the whole attack of the cap- italist press has changed its front. The charge is no longer made that Soviet rule has plunged agriculture and industry into chaos, from which neither can be extricated. That was the customary song of the anti- Soviet chorus, Duranty, a capitalist journalist: friendly to the Soviet Union, now worries because agri- culture is improving much more rapidly than industry, claiming that agriculture is making demands upon industry that the latter cannot meet. It was perviously charged that everything was disintegrating under Soviet rule; now it is admitted that construction is going forward rap- idly in both city and country, the lat- ter & little bit more rapidly than the former. The only trouble is that the city-country teammates are not runnipg abreast and pulling together to the best advantage. ai a But Duranty offers no encourage- ment to the czarist emigres in the western capitals of reaction, in Paris, Berlin and London. Instead of attacking Soviet rule he pictures the peasants as saying: “Hey, you comrades there In Mos- cow, don’t forget that this is our country, too, When we were slaves to the czar or the landlord we were forced to suffer in silence, but this is a free country nowadays—you have said so, and you have made it so, and we have helped you and be- lieved you—now we can say what we like, and we are saying it.” Their demand is for cheap goods, not cheap in quality but in price, and plenty in quantity. To answer that demand is the task of the city worker, who led the revolution to victory. How well they are suc- ceeding is shown by statistics taken from the September, 1926 (this month) Russian Review, published by the Russian Information Bureau at Washington, D, C. ao @ The Russian Review states: “Industrial production in the So- viet Union registered big gains dur- ing the first half of the Soviet fiscal year, Oct. 1 to April 1, according to preliminary figures of the Supreme Economic Council, As compared with the same period of last year, production increased by 44.7 per cent. “The average number of workers employed in industry increased 30.2 per cent and the average output per worker increased 11.1, Advances were particularly marked in the heavy industries.” Here are four big facts: (1) Pro- duction is increasing; (2) greater numbers of workers are being drawn into the industries; (3) the cost of production is falling; (4) marked gains are being shown in the heavy industries, the last to recover from the heavy blows of the world war, the civil wars and foreign interven- ./ tion, The hopes and ambitions of the not long ago are even now com- ing to pass. But there are new problems, se 8 The cement industry led the gen- eral increase, the output being 113 Der cent greater than that of the same period last year. The rubber industry increased 96.5 per cent and the output of cast iron Gained 92.6 per cent. The coal industry, which advanced very little last year, increased by 44.4 per cent during the period, with an output of 12,410,000 tons. The tobacco, industry increased 43.4 per cent, branches of the tex- MILL STRIKERS MARCH IN HUGE DEMONSTRATION Parade Marks Entry Into New Union (Continued from page 1) knecht, who heads the Passaic strik- ers’ relief committee that has been fetching thousands of dollars a week from the rest of the labor movement and conducting kitchens and chil- drens’ camps told of the long struggle that had built a new big local into the official labor movement and said the Passaic strikers would aid the union in all efforts to organize the million workers in the textile industry. Applaud Welsbord. Wild applause greeted the name of Albert Weisbord who resigned as the price exacted by the United Textile Workers’ Union for its entry into the fight. The cheering came when Gus- tav Deak, the 22-year old Botany woolen worker, who is now president of the new local union, lauded the “splendid devotion and leadership of our former organizer, Albert Weis- bord,” and continuing said: “For seven months he led the strike and the fact that we are able to join the United Textile Workers of America with unbroken spirit and united ranks tile industry showed gains of from 27 to 46 per cent, the output of Marten steel increased by 63.3 per cent and of rolled iron by 71.4 per cent, see You may inquire as to where these production figures stand with rela- tion to the pre-war output. What is the output of the industry under Soviet rule as compared to the out- put under the deposed czarist rule? Here are some of the figures: The output of the paper industry advanced to nearly double the pre- war rate, The newspapers today have a far greater circulation than under czarism, books and pamphlets is a.monument to him, and in his withdrawal we have additional proof of Albert Weisbord’s unselfish devo- tion to our cause and to the cause of organized labor.” McMahon Critical. President McMahon did not respond in similar vein, He lectured the strik- ers on the propaganda that had been employed and said that he disapprov- ed of the methods used in criticizing the mill owners and the police of the town. He argued that the strikers could not expect their leaders and their opponents to get together and sit at the same time in mutual recog- nition if criticisms that he charged are being published in increasing quantities and illiteracy is being rap- idly wiped out. The linen industry has advanced to one and one-half times pre-war, and the match industry to one and a quarter times the figures for 1913. The coal, oil, cement, textile and rubber industries each showed about 90 per cent of the pre-war output. The most backward industry is the metal industry, the cast iron out- put for the period being 48.5 per cent of pre-war and the output of Marten steel 65 per cent. But this condition is rapidly mending, as is shown by the above figures for the current fiscal year. >< 2 The peasants looking toward Mos- were of a scurrilous nature were con- tinued. He emphasized that a dif- ferent leadership had come into the strike but said that the United Tex- tile Workers was determined to win recognition for the union. Relief ac- tivities will continue to be carried on by the old Passaic strikers’ relief committee. Floods in Missouri. KANSAS CITY, Mo., Sept. 13—With telegraph and telephone communica- tion to East Central Kansas points badly crippled or demolished and trains running hours behind schedule or tied up by washouts, the flood area around Burlington, Iola, Emporia and Neosho Falls, Kan., assumed a more serious aspect. cow, as Duranty points out, learn |__At Iola, south of Emporia on the that industrial production in April (this year) broke all monthly rec- ords since the Bolshevik revolution. April production was 3.26 per cent greater than that of March, and 50 per cent greater than that of April, 1925. This is the first time in four years that the April output exceeded that of March. The increased output was accomplished despite a decrease in the workers employed by 1.3 per cent as compared with March. As compared with March nearly all the principle industries showed increases in April, ranging in the case of the cement industry as high as 17 per cent. New records for monthly production were established in the oil, cement and other indus- tries. th, oe Another encouraging indication is the fact that the Soviet Union con- tinues to take up the production of necessities that would otherwise have to be imported. Thus the Puti- lov Steel Works in Leningrad are being re-equipped in part for the pur- pose of turning out spare parts for Fordson tractors, At the present time the number of Fordson tractors working in the Soviet Union is about 20,700, where there were none hefore the war. It is expected by the end of the pro- posed five-year period their number will increase to 77,500. This will nearly quadruple the present num- ber. ee The actual figures showing that socialized industry in the Soviet Union is winning the war: against private industry, over which there has been so much argument, are as follows: GROSS OUTPUT IN THOUSANDS OF GOLD RUBLES. Percent- age of Large Scale Industry: 1924-25 Increase ots 4,913,606 Ly Co-operative 394,460 Privat 262,247 28.9 Total Large Scale Indust 5,560,313 48.4 try: Small industry hsaek igs 1,703,050 16.00 Total Small Industry... 1,668,361 1,936,284 16.0 Grand total ... sess sereesseess 5y414,778 7,496,597 38.4 The relation between the nationalized and non-nationalized industries is expressed by the following figures (in thousands of gold rubles): —1923-24— —1924-26— Percentage Percentage Nationalized ... 69.3 5,640,300 74 Non-Natlonallzed 30,7 1,965,297 26 Total .. if 100 7,496,697 100 Thus about three-quarters of the Industrial output of 1924-25 were pro- duced In state or soeperative entenp eines. my f Thus the worke: of Soviet and peasants, arm in arm in the Unjon Neosho river, water was rising and grave fears were felt for villages and towns along the river. WCEFEL 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 p. m.—Chicago Federation of La- bor talks and bulletins; address by Charles MacGowan, LaFollette Memo- eial Legion. 6:15 to 6:30—Fable Lady—Stories for children, 6:30 to 5—The Florentino String Trio, dinner music; Harold Groissaint, ianist; Cook, contralto; Nick Alamo Cafe Orc Little Joe Warner, c i songs; Cralie White, Harry Dr Daddy Davis, WCFLF Ensemble. to 2:00 a. m.—Alamo Cafe Orches- id Entertain 900 workers are sending news of their lives, the job, and their unions to The DAILY WORKER. These workers are organized in many cities—and they issue a small newspaper of their own! SUBSCRIBE and learn where, what, when and how to write. ‘WORKER. alan My Avmont 1880 qe Prine 6 Cont Bat He Must Also Write! tra Only 50 Cents a Year. The American Worker Correspondent 1118 W. Washington Bivd., Chicago, Il, se”