The Daily Worker Newspaper, September 21, 1926, Page 2

Page Two P pre oan STREATOR MEET = SHOWS REACTION *. STILL IN POWER Progressive Measures > Meet Defeat (Special to ihe iDaily Worker) STREATOR, Li, |Sept. 19. — The convention of the\ I! linois State Fed- »fration of Labor .adjourned Saturday after having killed af 1 resolutions of a progressive nature. . The report of the * resolutions committds was deliberate- ly delayed by the ra.achine until the last day’s session, wien all delegates Were! unwilling to lisij to any debate and ‘hundreds had sviready left for their}homes on Friday’. } \Olander Chooses: Fascism. A resolution introdwced by delegate Antori« Presi of the ¢iranite Cutters, conde.zi1i m was amended to include\.Bo’ Ca mmunisn, ete., by the committee, Wictor Olander brazenlyydenounced tha) Soviet Union and decKred that he’ preferred the black shirk: government 4of fascist Italy to that of\ the workers’| and peasants’ of the Soviet Union. j Delegate Presi pointe\d outithe dif- ference bets’een the two gpowermments; that under Mussolini’s tule; all trade unions, whi¢h had numb ered’ 2,500,000 members a flew years agp, were com- pletely destrnyed, and that in Rus- sia before the revolution\there were fo unions. \ Quite A,Differen se, “Today,” said Presi, “there, are 8,000,000 workers organized in trade unions in the Soviet Union and that ought to be proof'enough :lor‘a labor gathering here to stop beilieving the lies in the capitalist press.” The solidarity shown byf the Rus- slan unions in the British strike was also brought out, but no ar; sument, no matter how logical, could wirk against the prejudice aroused by ' Olander’s Mes, with all the machine’sy nicely ar- ranged hostile demonstraticm, so Presi was forced to cut his address short. So-Called Progressives Dumb. All so-called progressive:si and form- er socialists who profess formerly to believe in the recognitjon of the Soviet ‘Union, failed miserably to show any sign of courage and + what they were doing in Streator is Nard to say. The resolution calling upon the con- vention }to:support the Mexican labor movement inst the ‘reactionary clergy went the same way. The com- mittee non-concurred’ with the: resolu- tion and neferred the) miatter to the A. F. of L. convention. _ Delegate \Overgaard pointed out among boos and tremendous noise from the reactionaries, that such a stand would simply destroy the Pan- American Federation of [Labor and that the American labor \ movement could not afford to play “neutral” like the Coolidge cabinet, but owed an obligation to the Mexican labor move- ment to support it in the struggle against American imperialism, with which the clerical\forces were /joined. The main “struggle” in thesconven- tion took place over‘that part-of Presi- dent Walker’s report which endorsed a list of candidates for the [legislature om the old, capitalist parties. Machine Opposes Labor\yParty. Delegate Overgaard of the machin- fists flayed the report wigorously, pointing out that there was} no more doubt in any worker’s mindyas to the rottenness of the two old,, capitalist parties since the recent exposure of the slush fund investigations, and that it was high time to stop fooling with these parties and build ajlaborsparty im the state, Walker headed the reactionary comeback, followed by Brigga of the Teamsters and A. B. Cline, once an I. W. W., now of the Auto| Mechanics, with ridiculous fairy tales and per- sonal attacks on Delegate Otvergaard. The so-called progresstves did not fight and only some 50 ors60 weak “no's’ were registered. The vote on the next convention city, on the Caraway affair; and the question (already settled by the ma chine) of increasing the salaries of Walker and Olander from $5,000 to $6,500 took up the major: energy of the convention. The climaxjof bouquet- throwing came with the withdrawal of Walker's opponent for re-election. Hast St. Louis was chosenjas the next convention city. ELECTION MEETING.OF FURRIERS’ LOCAL 45 POSTPONED TO SEPT, 22 A meeting of the Furriers’ Local 45, scheduled to take place today to elect new officers has been post- poned until next Wednesday, Sept. 22, at Ashland Auditorium West Room, 8 p. m. Progressive members are urged to attend this meeting to ald In electing a progressive ad- minstration for the union, NEW YORK An important event will take i ATTENTION— Make no engagement for erage Beso October 25th. Just a Small Part of the Program of Militarism ° “THE DAILY WORKER Z stories circulated by the jingoes that the U. S. air development is lagging. operations will have to be undertaken to get it out of the channel when it slips off the ways. 28 feet. The channel at low tide is 22. UNITED TEXTILE WORKERS’ MEET REVEALS REACTIONARY LEADERS (Continued from page 1) took the floor and said that the passaic representatives could tell the con- vention more about the strike than MacMahon, and moved they be given the floor. Gustav Deak of the Passaic local then spoke briefly, and without mentioning names refuted the slan- ders against the strikers made by MacMahon at Passaic. “Any impartial investigation,” said Deak, “would prove that it was the mill owners and their agents who used violence against us. We were deprived of every constitutional guar- antee, All civil liberties vouchsafed under the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the United States were denied us. We have been bru- tally assaulted; we have had to have recourse to the Jaw in order to com: pel Sheriff Nimmo to obey the law. The mill owners have imported thugs and gunmen and have subsidized the eity and county officials and the police powers against us. Hits at MacMahon’s Lies. “There is nothing new in all this. It has been the same old story of vio- lence used against workers on strike that has been repeated in Passaic, as in Homestead, the Cour de Alenes, Logan county, West Virginia, and doz- ens of other battle grounds of the working class, “Therefore we believe that any pub- lic statements blaming the Passaic strikers for the violence in Passaic will hurt our cause and will be mis- interpreted so as to absolve the mill owners and the city, county and po- lice officials who alone are responsi- ble for all the violence and unlawful attacks upon persons and property of the Passaic textile workers. Resents imputation of Bad Faith. “In joining the U. T. W. we wish to assure your convention that we did so without reservation. It was from the beginning our intention to organ- ize and then affiliate with the main body of the labor movement—the A. F. of L. Last April we approached the U. T. W. and elected a committee to negotiate for affiliation and so not- ified your general officers. It is un- fortunate that it should now be int!- mated that we had other motives. “The history of our strike is an open book. This historic strike has been investigated by our country’s most prominent labor leaders, pub- licis journalists and statesmen. Our strikers have at all times and un- der the greatest provocation obeyed the law. At all times our strike com- mittee and our leaders have counselled us to refrain from violence. All Labor Involved. “It is to the interest of the entire labor movement in general and to our own national body, the U. T. W., in particular, that relief and defense shall be maintained in order that our strike shall be won and not broken by starvation, “But whether our joining the VU. T. W. would have the effect of increas- ing such relief or not, we still would have joined hands with our brothers in the U. T. W. in the interests of unity in the textile industry. Proud of Their Struggle, “We place this statement before the convention in order to assure you of our single-minded and whole-hearted loyalty to the principles of the A. F. of L. and the U. T. W., and in order to make our record clear: a record that we are proud of and that will do honor to the great organization of which we are now a part.” This was quite a rebuke to the un- speakable attack of MacMahon and COMRADES! place. Watch for announce- stood out in contrast to the reaction- ary speeches of the first two days of the convention, opened by MacMahon with a eulogy of “our government” and all capitalist institutions, condem- nation of Communists as enemies of the labor movement and such rot. The Army Welcomed. In addition a colonel of the U. 8S. army, representing the National De- fense League, spoke saying that the purpoes of the army and the unions was the same. In response to such re- actionary agitation, the convention adopted a motion to support the Citi- zens’ Military Training camps. In the discussion on Passaic, Smith of Philadelphia asked why Weisbord was forced to withdraw, if the union had no better man to put in his place. MacMahon said that Weisbord had written an article in The DAILY } WORKER, was a college man and not a textile worker and didn’t believe in God. God Not an Issue. Smith came back with the state- ment that many delegates present did not believe in'god, and that religion and politics could not bar workers from membership, and Weisbord, even if he were a Communist, should have been retained as an organizer and advisor, as Weisbord had not op- pose going into the U. T. W. MacMahon answered that the con- vention could decide on Weisbord, but that if it should take Weisbord in, that he, MacMahon, would refuse to retain his office as president. Relief Asked—With a Statement. Upon the question of relief to the strikers, the convention wag told by MacMahon that it could not “bleed the U. T. W. units and other locals of the A. F, of L. for Passaic.” But up- on the motion of Smith the following action supporting Passaic was taken: “That a letter be sent to all locals of the U T. W, by the president and executive council, urging them to sup- port Passaic and to give until it hurts.” It was amended after discus- sion to add “That a statement be sent with the letter explaining the U. T. W. position on the strike.” A fight was made that open financial reports be made, since the U. T. W. *as not issued a financial statement for 20 years, but this motien was de- feated, Two Good Actions. The convention, however, adopted a resolution .against company unions, urging all workers in company unions to take steps to turn them into real labor unions of the U. T. W. Also, it adopted the following on organization of the unorganized: “Resolved, that the United Textile Workers of America at this, its 24th convention, goes on record for the in- itiation of a systematic and intensive campaign for the organization of the unorganized thruout the entire indus- try, for the purpose of bettering the textile workers’ conditions, hours and wages and for building up the U. T. W. of A. into a powerful union,” Bandits Repulsed By Gas, DETROIT, Mich., Sept. 19, — Two bandits who were repulsed by. tear gas while attempting a bank holdup today made a second attempt at an- other bank a few minutes later and escaped with $3,000. —_——. of Mme. Kol MOSCOW, Sept. 18.—The Soviet f 4 * This huge new airplane carrier, the U. S. S, Lexington, being built in the Fore River Channel, Mass., able to carry scores of airplanes in its hold to be launched at any time from the spacious deck, rather scotches the scare This ship is so big that dredging it has a draught of KLAN CHIEFTAIN HURLS DIRK AT ALIEN WORKERS Knight of Night Shirt Takes on Big Job By LAURENCE TODD. Federated Press. WASHINGTON, Sept 17.—No soon- er had the predicted march of 75,000 members of the ku klux klan thru the national capitol simmered down to a parade of only 15,000 than Im- perial Wizard Evans disclosed the ominous fact that he is going to try to force an alien-registration bill thru congress. The first session of the na- tional convention of the klan which followed the parade was marked by reactionary speeches by leaders whose names were kept secret. But at the next session Evans became the public spokesman for these ideas, To Save the Nordics. “To save America from alienism,” is the first of his obscurantist slogans. By that he means “tq@)prevent the mongrelization of our race and to pro- mote a steady nationalism rather than to permit the strength of America to be dissipated thru an insipid cosmo- politanism.” In definite terms, Evdns éxplained, this means the enactment of a law which will keep every alien under the official eye by means of compul- sory registration at stated intervals. This is the scheme which Secretary ot Labor Davis has advocated for the past five years without making any favorable impression upon congress. It is favored by the big non-union em- Ployers such as U. S, Steel. Down With Melting Pot. Next, the head of the klan propos- ed to bar all immigration of any kind so that America for the future would depend for her growth upon the hu- man elements already here. The re fuge of the oppressed of foreign lands and the melting pot of races and cul- tures would cease to be. Third, he would establish protest- antism as the unofficial but neverthe- less actual state religion in America. This would be achieved by putting “the bible and the flag” into every school, By the bible he meant pro- testant religious instruction, One of the “hooded” speakers at the first session indicated that the klan would not tolerate modernism in bible teach- ing. While the klan would establish “absolnte religious freedom” as a con- stitutional right, Evans said it would “remake and hold a sturdy protestant- ism” as the key to national destiny. ‘Woven thru these phrases was the general theme of political opportun- ism. The convention was told that the klan would use its power in ev- ery political contest, to elect its sup- porters and defeat men who did not stand for its national principles, CLARKSDALE, Miss, — (FP) — 20,000 additional cottonpickers will be employed in the Delta this season and arrangements have been made by J. H, Fallin, representativg of the U. 8. department of labor to in all the White tenant farmer egroes and Mexicans available, FLORIDA HURRICANE WRECKS MIAMI; 75 DEAD, MANY BUILDINGS RAZED NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 19.—Meagre wireless reports reaching here from Florida say that Miami is in ruins and seventy-five persons are dead as the result of a ninety mile an hour hurricane that swept the Florida coast from the Bahamas and left a trail of death and wreckage. The reports add that the strongest buildings in the down-town section of Miami were razed by the terrific wind while the streets are flooded and hundreds of boats have been beached. ANNOUNCE CHOICE OF KOLLONTA AS NEW AMBASSADRESS TO MEXICO 'Toilers Will Challenge “Open Shop Plan” of the Bosses in Hartford, Conn. | By J. LOUIS ENGDAHL. (Special to The Daily Worker) ARTFORD, Conn.,—(By Mail)— Walk down the main street of this industrial center of Connecticut and a huge sign on a giant building under construction hits you a strik- ing blow in the face with the decla- ration; “OPEN SHOP PLAN” Great delight was displayed in the announcement that this was an “open shop” job of the Associated General Contractors of America, It screamed it. This is the spirit of the employers not only in Hartford, and thruout Connecticut, but over all New Eng- land—bitter war against the work- ers. s 2 This “open shop” pronouncement meant that all work done on this building job was non-union. Bent- O'Brien & Co., Hgrtford, were pro- claimed ag the general contractors, with Lockwood, Green & Co., of Boston, Mass., as the engineers, But there was also the Baldwin, Stewart Blectric Co. that wanted it known that it did business in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and Charlotte, acting as an instru- ment in all of these places for the spread of “open shop” rule. They all had slogans. The Bald- win-Stewart claim to fame was “Skill, Integrity, Responsibility,” whatever all this means in bread and butter to the plundered working class. Not much! see Organized labor here numbers its members almost exclusively in the building trades. The unions here are very. weak, The billboard blazoning “Open Shop Plan” sounds rather the tocsin of victory over rather than a threat against the working class. This is in Connecticut where even the democratic party in state con vention denounces the fraud of Coo- lidge “prosperity,” declaring that instead the Coolidge-Mellon-But- ler regime has brought wage cuts in the unorganized industries, that it has brought growing unemploy- ment and poverty among the masses. But in republican Connee- ticut this democratic mail comes from a helpiess middle class minor- ity that suffers thru loss of work- ing class patronage. So it cries aloud in resolutions. se? Here in Connecticut the workers listen eagerly to the Communist. message, I found this out by ad- dressing an unexpectedly large and attentive open air audience, There was but one disturber in the gathering, a well dressed, satis- fied upholder of the Coolidge dynasty. But his efforts were short- lived. “Keep still!” yelled the crowd, “This speaker has got something we want to hear.” And the meeting continued peace- fully, an excellent contribution was made to the collection, and an en- couraging amount of literature was purchased. see The approach to the workers, however, must be carefully and sys- tematically built up. The next day we were not successful in holding a meeting in a factory district that employes an estimated total of 25,000 workers. The workers had not been ap- praised of our coming and the police permit had been secured for the wrong location, Most of the workers lived within a few blocks of the various plants. The noon whistle, giving them an hour to eat, sent them pell mell down the streets to their homes. No time there to listen to a Com- munist speaker, But there was the consolation that they would soon be coming back again. But this only resulted in a fresh disappointment. The return tide of toiling humanity did not set in until almost on the minute when the whistle would blow for the one o'clock resumption of the day’s labor. Then the race of the tide returning was as rapid as before. If a banner had been dis- Played in the early morning an- nouncing the noon-day meeting then many workers would have come back as quickly as possible to listen to the speaker, and many who re- mained within the buildings would come out to join the throng. This holds true everywhere, As it was, here in Hartford, a physical culturist had secured the strategic spot, at the very entrance house of this great prison house of toil, where a few gathered to get a breath of fresh air before rushing back to the machine, He had studied his problem in advance and solved it. er @ On this occasion we had to be satisfied to distribute our literature to these Hartford workers “on the run.” The eagerness with which they took this literature and carried it back into the shops with them, was sure indicating that they would read it. That is a beginning. Suc- cessful noonday factory meetings here will came. The standards of opposition to the “open shop plan” of the em- Ployers will be lifted triumphantly in time. CALLES SENDS BIG ARMY 10 FIGHT YAQUIS MEXICO CITY, Sept. 19.—Fifteen thousand troops were being mobilized against the Yaqui Indians, reported in violent revolt, instigated by the church. The original war department esti- mate was that 5,000 men would be sufficient for the campaign, but this number is now considered too small, the government being desirous of swift and decisive results, Entrenched Themselves, In former campaigns against the Yaquis where smaller bodies of men were dispatched the Indians usually succeeded in entrenching themselves thoroughly, thus ensuring a long- drawn out campaign without decisive outcome. The whereabouts of General Obre- gon and his fate are still obscure. One report has it that the state- ments earlier in the week that Gen- eral Obregon had been besieged and then relieved, were erroneous. No Word From Obregon. Apparently no direct word has been received from General Obregon, since it was reported that General Manzo's troops had relieved him. According to one version now in cfr- culation General Manzo’s troops fafl- ed to actually relieve General Obre- gon, but merely joined with the troops defending him and were last reported still giving battle to the Yaquis. Six Bandits Killed. Six bandits have paid with their lives for the kidnapping and killing of Jacob Rosenthal, American busi- ness man of Woodmere, N, Y., accord- ing to @ government statement today. Unofficial statements declared that as many as fourteen bandits had been executed or killed during the fighting between the bandits and troops, Taken to Kidnapping Scena, Three bandits, who had been held a8 suspects, were taken to the scene Maryland Tourist Camps Bar Negro BALTIMORE, Md., Sept. 19,—Ne- groes are barred from using state camping grounds along the National Pike between Baltimore and the Penn- sylvania line. Recently Mrs. C. 8. Alexander of Stephenson, Va., was re- fused entrance to the state tourist camp at Frederick, Md. She complain- éd to John Mackell, director of public works, He answered that “these camps have the same status of hotels and you know colored people cannot use the hotels in this state.” Queen Marie Coming In Oct. PARIS, Sept. 17, — Queen Marie of Roumania will sail for the United States early in October, the Rouma- nian legation announced today, Bishop Brown’s New Book “MY HERESIES" Bishop Brown. dust Received in Attractive Clothbound Edition SACCO DEFENSE SAYS EVIDENCE WAS WITHHELD (Continued from page 1) ther it is a republic or any other form of government,” declared Thomp- son, The prosecutor had previously declared that the government must hide its secrets to combat revolution, “What I want to leave with the court here ig that there are secrets admittedly concealed by the United States government,” said Thompson, “That’s what I want to leave with the court here. And that is basis for the granting of a new trial. Suppress Testimony. Thompson charged there had been a suppressing of testimony for the beginning to the end of the trial. Judge Thayer announced that it would be several weeks before he would render his decision, If it 1s adverse as many who have followed the case locally admit it! will be, then the demand for a new trial will be fought up to the Augie? S0eerer ** State Under Heavy Fire. By ESTHER LOWELL, (Federated Press.) DEHAM, Mass., Sept. 19.—Thruout the hearing on the final motion of Sacco and Vanzetti for a new trial, William G. Thompson, defense coun- sel, has emphasized the fact that he urged joint examination by both sides of all witnesses to forestall dis- agreement as to what was said or 0¢- curred. In contending that this would have been the only fair procedure, Thompson strongly attacks the state and implies that its representatives were not seeking the truth but rather to save their case. Asst. Dist. Atty. Dudley Renney is not blamed by Thompson. Respons!~ bility is placed at the door of his superior, Dist. Atty. Winfield Wilbar, and State Atty. Gen. J. R, Benton. Benton never called for joint exam- ination and Wilbar flatly refused such procedure, Former District Attorney Frederick Katzmann and his assistant Harold Williams who prosecuted Sacco and Vanzetti in the trial in 1921 are par- ticularly assailed by Thompson. Will- iams is now U. S. attorney and could certainly urge that the Boston files of the U. S. department of justice be shown to Thompson if there were nothing there to clear the defendants. Neither Williams nor Katzmann deny the affidavits of former federal agents Fred Weyand and Lawrence Lether- man, Katzmann is charged with paying his part of a bargain with the federal agents in the murder frame-up by egg- ing Sacco on to give a long speech on his radical views while on the stand. Thompson says this was done in the hope that Sacco would give in- formation which the federal men could use against friends of the de- fendants. That spies “were used; against Sacco after his arrest is not, disputed by the state. Sacco justly! feared the finst approaches of Ma-; deiros, the Portuguese from Provi- dence, who sent a note to the con- victed Italian while both were in jail here, saying that he, Madeiros, was in the gang which committed the | South Braintree payroll murders| which had been laid to Sacco and Van- zetti. Condemns Government Agents, Thompson unsparingly condemns the government agents “who were plotting for money against an unpro- tected woman with two children and! who played on the hysteria of some men and women about reds, (The Palmer red raids occurred in spring, 1920, when Sacco and Vanzetti were arrested.) “T leave it to the judgment of man- kind whether Sacco was justified in fearing spies,’ declared Thompson, “and whether or not an American can face the world knowing officials of his government can do that sort of thing. Courage to convict Sacco and Vanzet- ti? Moral courage 1s that required to acquit these men.” Once he in- sisted that it looked as tho the state wanted to execute Sacco and Vanzet- ti rather than face the facts fairly and convict those really guilty of the payroll murders.” Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Speaks Before N. Y. 1. L. D. Wednesday NEW YORK, Sept. 19.—A general membership meeting of all members of the International Labor Defense will be held Wednesday, Sept, 22, at 8 p. m.,, at Manhattan Lyceum, 66 B, Ath street. Baron, local secretary and delegate to the national conference of the I. L. D., will give her report about the con- ference held in Chicago. The newly elected national chair- man of the International Labor De- fense, Blizabeth Gurley Flynn, will speak, No member should fall to at- tend, ASZLO KULERAR MILWAUKEE, Sept. 18,— Lazzlo Kulerar, member of the Workers (Communist) Party and president of the Milwaukee Branch of the Work- men's Sick and Death Benefit and Educational Federation No, 31 die leaving a wife and three geo ay be nabs ee Hi 4 jr