The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 9, 1926, Page 5

f# the hands of incompetent ‘teachers, )! THE DAILY:WORKER | Sram oncamery ast: -oummarweenr etait ey Meenas smear ene News and Comment Labor Hducation Labor and Government Trade Union Politics GENERAL STRIKE OF FURRIERS A WINNIPEG, GAN. Strong Picket Line to Beat Open Shop By LESLIE MORRIS. (Special to The Daily Worker) WINNIPEG, Oct. 7.—-Commencing on Monday morning, Oct. 4th, a gen- eral strike of ‘all the fur workers in the city of Winnipeg was declared by Local 91, International Fur Workers Union of the United States and.Can- ada. The strike was originally de- clared on Saturday, September 25th in five shops, and extended to a sixth on Sept. 30th. - Strike Big Scab Shop. The sixth shop struck wag that of Elias Reich and company, the latg- est fur manufacturer in the city and unorganized until the time of the strike. However, this establishment being the center of the fur industry in the city, the strike committee of the union called a shop meeting ot the workers in the Reich plant and succeeded in calling out the major- ity of them. ‘ Call General Strike, Following the adoption of New York gangster tactics by the furriers’ sec- tion of the retail merchants’ associa- tion, and the absolute refusal of .the bosses to surrender, a general strike of all fur workers in the city was called in an attempt to force the de- mands of the union. These demands are incorporated in the form of an agreement that the union seeks to have entered into by the bosses, and contains as its prin- cipal clauses the adoption of the 44 hour week, recognition of the union, and pay for legal holidays. Fight Open Shop. At the present time the fur work- ers are working from 48 to 49 hours a week under open shop conditions. Scabs have been enlisted by the bosses, taxicabs used to escort ‘them to and from work, the aid of the po- lice and detectives secured, and no means spared to defeat the strike: » Picket Line Effective, In the face of this, the strikers have maintained a strong picket line in front of every struck shop and have succeeded thereby in persuading many workers to cease work. Pick- eting generally has been ,the most successful weapon of the’ Mixers. The Trades and Labor Council have endorsed the strike and promised fi- nancial and moral aid. The general boards of the International Fur Work- ers Union have promised aid to the strikers, and at a mass meeting ar- ranged this week further appeals will J be directed to the organized workers , of the city. Union Grows. ‘ Inspired by the success of the New York furriers the strikers are holding, their own and are determined to win. When it is considered that only a 25 per cent organization existed at the beginning of the strike, and that the number of strikers has trebled in the course of a week, a case of re markable solidarity can be seen. Mostly Young Workers. In the meantime the strikers, the majority of them youthful - workers, are using the Labor Temple as their headquarters, and are active day and night in crippling the entire fur in- dustry in order to force the bosses, at the time of the busy season, to grant their just demands. Incompetent Teachers Forced on Illinois ’ Children by Poor Pay PEORIA, Ill, Oct. 7—Declaring that the school children of Illinois are in due to the low salaries:’paid them, they being in some f $562 a year, Dr. David |LEFT WING FORCES ADVANCE AT CONVENTION OF THE CALIFORNIA . STATE FEDERATION AT OAKLAND (Special to The Dally Worker) OAKLAND, Calif—The 27th annual convention of the State Federation of California was held in Oakland during the week of Sept. 20 to Sept. 25. After the formal opening President Roe Baker took the chair. A local par- son asked the spookery for guidance. Then followed a speech of “greeting” from a moron official,of the strike-breaking American Legion in which the delegates were told that the legion and organized labor had a common aim, viz.{ to combat radicalism and promote patriotism. This: brought vociferous applause from the labor patriots fol- lowed by those delegates they are still able to delnde. A Hopeful Pessimist. On Tuesday the international presi- dent of the Culinary Workers made a speech in which he gave a pessimistic report of conditions in the industry, but, like a true Babbit, he made a show of optimism and declared tlfat while the industry: was “slack” it would improve—“at~ least’ we hope a0." To improve the conditions of the in- dustry (not the conditions of the work- ers-in it) he proposed that more time be devoted to eating—a request to the bosses to demand more service. ‘There were the usual perennial reso- lutions, many of them on public mat- ters only remotely concernéd with the workers. But the moment that the resolutions submitted by the left wing came up for consideration ‘the reac- tionary character of those in control became apparent, Dehorn Demand for Repeal of C. 8. Law. n It was on the repeal of the criminal ;Syndicaliem law that theim subserv- fence to the politicians,.their cow- ardice and fear of action showed most plginly. The resolution was adopted only after the teeth were taken out of it. As adopted it “reaffirms our opposition.” The part which reads, “We demand its repeal and instruct our incoming officers and. executive board to use all available means to secure its repeal,” was deleted, Left Wing Gains As It Works. As the debates.on the resolutions proceeded the left wing steadily gain- ed strength, winning more, and .more support from the rank and file ele- ments, from the proletarians, Resolution No, 67, declaring opposi- tion to and condemnation of citizens’ military training.camps “and kindred miltarist institutions,” was.rejected after a debate led Delegate, Glober- man (Cigarmakers). Touchy on Labor Party. “Resolution No, 68,#demanding the establishment of a labor party “broad enough to embrace all groups in the labor movement) and with a program upon which all workers can unite,” went the same way. The leaders are very touchy-upon this point. Political dickering with capitalist politicians, in which the “labor vote” is hawked about, provides a fertile field for securing tat jobs—for the leaders. Left Wing Scores First Victory, The resolution declaring opposition to the use of the public schools for spreading open shop propaganda by the chambers of commerce, boards of trade and industrial associations, brought. a recommendation of non- concurrence from the resolutions com- mittee. The motion, to adopt the recom- mendation of the committee met with strong. opposition, led by Delegate Dora Rosenblatt (Office Workers), Los Angeles, supported, among others, by Harvey Gorman, editor of The Citizen, also of Los Angeles, with the result that the motion was “defeated and a motion to adopt the resolution was carried. s Second Victory, Delegate Rosenblatt sponsored a resolution calling for moral and finan- celal support in organizing the office workers and was supported by Dele- gates Shultz and Jacobs against the reactionary forces led in the debate by the reactionary secretary of the Central Labor Council.of Los Angeles, Buzzell, Non-concurrence was voted down and a motion to adopt the reso- lution was carried... Third Victory, A resolution calling for support for the Passaic strikers also precipitated toromnssrnee 9,00 eo ee 3-00 0! + a strenuous debate. The reactionary Buzzell indulged in vicious and ig- norant red-baiting, attacking the spon- sors of the resolution instead of deal- ing with the resolution itself. It avail- ed him nothing, however, except to shown him up in his true colors, The resolution was adopted. Furesuth For Strike-Breaking, The left wing was gaining support with each resolution. One in support of Sacco and Vanzetti was adopted, but the one in‘support of the British miners and condemning the digging and transporting of coal to break the strike’ was defeated. The efforts of the left wing, led in this debate by Del. Feinstein, would have met with success were it not for the opposition of Andy Furesuth who wants the sailors to carry coal. for strikebreaking. The reactionary old |windbag resorted to the tactics of confusion and indulged_in ‘he usual red-baiting. The resolution was de- feated by a small majority, . Mooney for Class Struggle. Whilst the peddlers of spook dope and the agent of the strikebreaking American Legion were invited to address the convention, all who ad- dressed the convention did not deliver such tripe. To the discomfort of some of the leaders, the militant note of struggle was sounded by A. J. Mooney, a leader of the bitter carpenters’ strike in San Francisco. Mooney heaped scorn upon paci- ficism and told the delegates that more progress had been made in five months of fighting than was made in five years’ of “negotiation.” “Those had rights who dared main- tain them,” quoted the speaker who contended that a policy’ of struggle would be pursued until better condi- tions would be wrested from the em- ployers. MacDonald a Fighter, Another spéaker who breathed »de-~ fiance to the employers and their agents was Frank MacDonald, presi- dent of the State Building Trades Council. He assured the delegates that the carpenters would not curl up and quit in face of the slugging tactics of the industrial association and their hired thugs. They would meet them at their own game. The capitalist courts also came infor a severe castigation at the hands of MacDonald. Pall HY onony WORKER Send in a sub today! the Cover of a later issue of the American Wool and Cotton Reporter, textile trade paper, is blazoned the red headline: How Much Is Graft Costing the Textile Industry? Textile workers will doubtless be interested in the text: Overseer Oversaw Graft. A small woolen mill has been pur chasing 400 barrels of wool ofl each year, for nine years, at 88 cents a gallon. The®oil company has been paying one of the overseers in this mill $5 @ barrel graft. This same wool oil could ba bought from the same grafting concern at 50 cent.a gal- lon. Because the overseer has been getting $5 a barrel graft, he has used 400 barrels a year where 200 barrels would be sufficient. In the nine years MICHIGAN— Street Nucleus No. 3, Detroit ........ 10.00 MONTANA— dM, Great Fi ssspennsssannne ‘ose ih, Wolf Point nn. rnetein, Bronx hwartz, Brookly: tae Organized Labor—Trade Union Activities Policies and Programs The Trade Union Press Strikes—Injunctions Labor and Imperialism SACCO-VANZETTI MEETING IS HELD DESPITE COPPERS Police Refuse Permission and are Defied By IRVING FREEMAN, (Special to Thé Daily Worker) NEWARK, N, J., Oct. 7.—Police, after giving permission for a mass meeting in Doelger’s Hall to demand new trials for Nicola Sacco and Bar- tolomeo Vanzetti suddenly reversed themselves and said the meeting could not take place, Applications by Business Agent Kaplan of Painters’ Local Union No. 797, and Business Agent Klein of the Cleaners and Dyers’ Local Union for permits in the names of their respec- tive organizations met with like re- fusal, The Sacco-Vanzetti conference then decided to hold a meeting in another hall—Labor Lyceum, at Barclay and Montgomery Streets—without asking formal permission of the police. Elizabeth Gurley Flynn spoke and $103 was raised for the defense. Will Protest. Kaplan and Klein are asking the Essex Trades Council to protest the high handed action of the authorities. Protest is belng made by the Amer- ican Civil Liberties Union which has had to fight »previous interferénce with meetings by Newark authorities. Textile Strike Smashes _ Profits of Mill Bosses PASSAIC—(FP)—Net loss of $3,- 558,968 reported by the Botany Con- solidated Mills in'the American Wool and Cotton Reporter for the six months ending June 30 interests the Passaic workers Who have been strik- ing the company since January. “Never had workers a better case than the Passaic textile strikers, never a@ cause more juSt,” says the monthly bulletin of the Women’s Trade Union League of NewyYork, which is aiding in the relief drive. “Even in the face of major outrages and abuses they will carry on, provided they can con- tinue to receivé*the minimum ration of food they have been receiving from the Relief Committee (743 Main ave- nue, Passaic, N. J.). $15,000 a week is the price. Will you help?” James Starr, vice president United Textile Workers, in charge of - the strike, warned Chief of Police Zober of Passaic that brutal attacks on strik- ers must cease. Strikers’ testified to third degree méthods, refuting Cap- tain Turner, who denied any brutality by his department, MILL BOSSES REAP RICH GRAFT WHICH WOULD ADD TO WORKERS’ PAY; OWNERS CONCEAL PROFITS this small woolen mill has paid $158,400 for the wool oil, and the same result could have been secured for $45,000. Because of the graft-paying oil concern, and the graft-accepting overseer, this mill in nine years has lost $113,400. 7 A Business Proposition. Here is another case: A big textile manufacturing organization in New England is using a sulphonated cas- tor oil at 15 cents purchased from an unreliable concern. The same oi] was offered at 11% cents by another con- cern; was passed by the chemist of the corporation as acceptable; the lesman called upon the boss finish- er, and the finisher bluntly said, am using the So-and-So oll at 15 cents because they are paying me $10 barrel. Here is’ my home addres: and also my home telephone number. Come up to my -house and see me some night.” We figured that in that one large corporation more than $2,000,000 a year is lost to net profits thru the rampant graft and grafting in its organization, ‘The whole industry reeks with this oils, drugs, scour- ing ofls, fueling Vyee belt dressings, boiling ‘compounds, solvents, and other chemical concoctions to the industry are absolutely fraudulent in Purpose, price and process, Rich Profits Besides Graft. It 1s a fact, that this loss of millions to the textile mills of the country, due to graft and to the purchase of materials that have small money val- ue, is the fault of the heads of the mills, They can stop it any time they desire to do so, | Wool textile workers in such places a8 Passaic, where for seven months they have struck for decent wages, again see justification and more for demands boom gee ina ste” us answer cause of the depression i atekes Page Five LOS ANGELES IS MOST GULLIBLE CITY OF WORLD Aimee McPherson’s Suc- cess is Prime Example By BERTRAM D. WOLFE. LOS ANGELES, Cal. (By, Mail).— “Los Angeles has been the center of continuous prayer every moment for the past 22 months. Since the dedi- cation of Angelus Temple . . . from the dark hours of midnight, thru the dawn, on to midday and round the clock again, there has been a steady outpouring of prayer to god that has brought down showers of blessing upon thousands and thousands of per- sons. Up in the Watch Tower of the temple, night or day, prayer never ceases . , .” So wrote the Los Angeles Examiner some time ago before the amiable Aimee, whose exhortations scooped out the shekels to’ build”her mam- moth temple, was drowned, kid- napped to Mexico and enjoying a va- cation from righteousness in beauti- ful Carmel-By-the-Sea. The mere fact that this consummate actress and re- Jigious faker has been caught with the goods does not diminish the at- tendance at her temple. On the con- trary, crowds battle with each other every evening to get in, and the size of the collection is greater than ever. A Famous City. But this is to be expected in a city which Bob Shuler’s Magazine (a local weekly) credits with being famous for three things: “First as @ city where more suck- ers are stung... than in any city of like size in America. Second, as a city where . . . sex-stimulation is at the maximum, Third, as a city where there is more religious vagaries, more cults and isms, more psychic manifestations and delusions, more commercialized miracles and more flagrant deceptions in the name of the gentle child, Jesus, than in any other city possibly in the entire world. Los Angeles is fertile soil for every kind of an imposter that the face of the earth has been cursed by. The suckers all come here sooner or later and the whole twelve months is open season.” New Boom Every Day. Chicago or New York may get all fussed up about a Krishnamurti, but Los Angeles launches a new Messiah boom every day. If Aimee should suffer an immaculate conception as a result of her kidnapping or drowning or whatever it was, in place of losing followers, she. will no doubt create a new cult of the Virgin that will back the Mormon prophet of Salt Lake City off the map. It is hard to say why this wonder- thirst and religion-seeking and cult- faddism prevail in Los Angeles. ‘It would be an interesting study for an American Marxist to undertake. Its Population is continually increased by retired farmers from the Middle West, by New Englanders fleeing their hard winters, by people broken down in health and despaired of by the doc- tors. And California has more pas- senger automobiles per capita than any other state in the Union and has most of its dirty work done by Mexi- cans. All of these things help to ex- plain the atmosphere that prevails in Los Angeles, Explains Things. . They also explain why the city of Los Angeles is an open-shop town, where the Better American Federa- tion, the Merchants’ and Manufactur- ers’ Association and similar organi- zations unite to smash unionism and boast to incoming business men that “there are no labor troubles.” At present the Merchants’ and Man- ufacturers’ Association is all het.up about a successful strike that just took place in the city. True, it wi not in a basic industry, but the work- ers are the victims of so much open- shop oppression here that the M. & M., as it is known here, is rightly afraid that the inspiration furnished by the militant tactics and successful strike of the cleaners and dyers here will stir up other industries. Fight ‘Cleaners’ Union. Moreover, the anti-picketing ordi- nance was openly violated by the striking cleanersand dyers. Conse- quently the word has been passed around to frame-up and’ smash the Cleaners’ and Dyers’ Union and the few unsettled, shops are meeting with sabotage, violence, ruin and destruc: tion of property, etc., all of which is done by h: agents of the bosses and promptly blamed upon the union officials, Judging from present indi- cations, we may hear of @ frame-up case here any day. There is a whole tribe of profes- sional frame-up men here, who live on the prosecution of Wobblies and A. F. of L. union leaders, as well as under the criminal syndicalist laws. When I made an appeal for new mem- bers at my meeting here seven ap- plications were made out. One of the seven, according to my informants, was a stool pigeon. K. K. K. Again. A recrudescence of ku klux klan- nism {is also possible here in this city of so many notable things besides cli- An organization known as the So Chamber of Commerce is endeavo to prévent colored fami- Mes from moving into their district. «Copyright, 1926, by Uptom Sincisir) Bunny thought that he also would try his hand at card- writing. He got a plain postal and told Paul that they were all well and busy and producing a lot of oil to help defeat America’s enemie “Tam doing a lot of thinking,” Bunny added; but then it occurred to him that this might suggest a forbidden procedure to troops, so he got another card and told how happy everybody was and how well things were going, and he added, “I am coming to agree with Tom Axton in everything.” Bunny figured that the censor would hardly know, way out there in Siberia, how Tom Axton had organized the oil-workers in the Paradise field! All this time Bunny was torn between two sets of emotions, both strong within him, and absolutely contradictory. He had been in the army as a prospective officer and had burned with patriotic loyalty; but now, only seven months later, here he was with a desire to “root” for the enemies of his country and to cheer whgn the flag had to retreat! Yes, he was actually tempted to bé glad when he read that the American troops at Archangel were checked, and their British commanders foiled in their ob- jectives! He remembered the thrills that had stirred his soul in the training camp, when he had leaped from his tent at reveille, and seen “Old Glory” floating in the breeze of dawn; if in those days he could have seen himself as he was now, he would have called himself a black-hearted traitor! There were very few people in the world who thought the Russians would be able to defend themselves against the hosts of allthe world. Yet somehow they were managing it. There was a peculiar thing to be noticed in the newspaper despatches from the various anti-Bolshevik fronts. The allied troops would win great victories; they would take Perm, or Ufa, or whatever city it might be, and capture vast thousands of the enemy—it was no trouble at all for them to capture thirty or forty thousand, while five or ten thousand was hardly enough to make a news item. A month or two later they would win another victory, and again the patriots would be cheered up—until it occurred to them to get the map and compare the location of the two places, and discover that the second place was one or two hundred miles farther back than the first one! It was only afterwards that Bunny found out what this meant. The peasants had a way of staying quiet while the allied forces advanced, and then rising up behind their lines and forcing them to retreat. So mighty was Bolshevik propa- ganda—it was working thus in Archangel, and all along the western front from the Baltic to the Crimea, and all over Sibefia; no victory ever lasted. Admiral Kolchak got all the way across Siberia, General Denikin, in the Ukraine’ godt within a hundred and twenty-five miles of Moscow; but it.all came to nothing. Then, as summer turned into fall, and fall into winter, a still more terrifying thing began to happen. The armies of the great powers began to show signs of succumbing to the deadly propaganda poison! the armistice, and the soldiers thought the war was over, and why couldn’t they go home? The very worst of the prophesies of Eldon Burdick began suddenly to come true. The sailors of the French fleet in the Black Sea rose up and overthrew their officers and captured several battle-ships! German troops de- They were now in the second winter since ~ clined to win their way back to respectability by putting down. Bolshevism for the allies! to go onto the ships that were to take them to Archangel! And most appalling of all, a mutiny in the American army! The first mutiny in the whole history of “Old Glory!” Michigan Jumbermen and farmer-boys, shipped up there under the Arctic circle, put under the command of British officers, and ordered out te shoot half-starved and ragged Russian working men at fifty degrees below zero—these boys laid down their arms! The facts were hushed up in the newspapers—but not in the higher circles of the army and. of world displomacy,' nor yet in the office-buildings where the gentlemen and lady-patriots planned the future of the world! In the month of October the allies made their last military effort. They sent in the tsarist General Yudenich to take Petro- grad; they gave him all the supplies he could use and troops of many nations, and he got within a few miles of the city, so that the Soviets had to move their capital to Moscow. But the half starved and ragged Communists drove back their foes, and Bol- shevik propaganda proceeded to cause a revolution in Hungary and another in Bavaria! Also at home theré were portents. In spite of all the raids and jailings and deportations, great numbers of people could not be prevented from saying publicly and loudly that we had no busi- ness making war upori a friendly people. More and more there was discontent with the program of keeping our soldiers abroad after the war was over. “Radical” newspapers and magazines continued to be circulated, and in the big cities at any rate it was not possible to prevent mass meetings. It was a little diffeult to make any protest effective, be- cause of the peculiar condition into which the government had fallen. The president had set out on a tour, to convince the peo-’ ple that they should be satisfied with the peace settlement. He had come to Angel City, and Dad and Bunny had gone to hear him—in a vast haJl where ten thousand people were marshalled, and taught to stand up and sit down again, and cheer at signal, all very_reverently, quite like royalty. The great man’s voice was strained and his face had an unwholesome flush, and his arguments were as broken as His appearance. A few days later came word that his health had collapsed, and he was hurried back to Washington, where he had an apoplectic.stroke. Now he lay, a helpless, half-conscious invalid, and the country Was governed by a strange triumvirate—a Catholic private secretary, an army doctor, and one of the most fashionably dressed of Washington society ladies, , But somewhere, in the cabinet, perhaps, there was left @ trace of intelligence, with which to realize the mounting dangers abroad and at home. At Christmas time, while Bunny was up at Paradise, hunting quail and watching the progress of Ross Con- solidated, he went out one morning to meet the Ford car which brought the mail to the tract. He got his morning paper and opened it, and there on the front page was a dispatch from Wash- ington, announcing that the army authorities had decided it was no longer necessary for them to police the Trans-Siberian Rail- home. Bunny gave.a shout, and rushed into the house, callin; for Ruth. “Paul is coming back! . Paul is coming back!” Ther a chair! (Continued Tomorrow.) 4 WHO IS YOUR NEIGHBOR AT HOME, at work, in the mine, in the shop, on the farm, or anywhere? Is he a Slovak or Czech worker? Have him, or her, subscribe to the only Czechoslovak working class daily paper in the U. 8. THE DAILY ROVNOST LUDU British soldiers at Folkestone refused - way; we were going to leave the Japanese in charge, and come ‘ he had to run quick and catch her by the arm and help her to a