The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 29, 1926, Page 5

—_—— News and Comment Labor Education Labor and Government Trade Union Politica STRIKE OF THE BEDMAKERS NOW NEARING A WIN “Tough” Dicks Fail to Scare Picket Line The strike of members of Local 114 of the Mattress, Box Spring and Bed- makers’ Union at the Superior Felt and Bedding company’s plant at 2447 Roosevelt Road is going strong with excellent prospects of a victory owing to the fine militancy of the strikers, mostly Negro workers, on the picket line, . Firm Calls for Sluggers. The swarm of private detectives who were guarding the scabs, have been changed for another swarm of about 15 “tough guys.” The boss went to the agency and demanded harder sluggers, saying, “We have to win this fight by .Wednesday or settle, We can’t hold out any longer.” The firm has lost two or three big furniture companies as customers be- cause of its fight on the union, and other contracts are pressing. Picket Line Strengthened. When the “tough guys” showed up Monday, the pickets were not much impressed. In fact the picket line was stronger than before. Four scabs, one equipped with a knife and two with clubs, tried to get by. Two finally got in, one changed his mind and jumped a taxi, and one is visit- ing the Cook county hospital. As a result, the police took up four pickets, picking them at random, choosing three colored strikers and one white, and hailed them into court. Asking for jury trials, the case was continued until November 10. Bosses Inject Race Prejudice. The bosses, in the court, tried to inject race prejudice ~by complaining that white pickets were speaking to colored girls and colored girls among the pickets speaking to white men—to tell them a strike was on and not to go to work there. The boss never complained about getting white and colored workers to work together for his profits, however. In his view @ colored man is a fine fellow if he will scab. A Class Question, There are only 10 or 12 scabs now, mostly ignorant colored girls, and the Negroes among the strikers know that the strike is a working class question, not a race question, and together with their white union brothers are sticking solidly, not one striker having turned scab and gone back. Restaurants used to bring lunch into the factory, but the pickets put a stop to that, so the police obligingly act as waiters now, to “tote” sandwiches. Augment Strike Aid to Cloakmakers; But Much More Required NEW YORK, Oct. 27.—The treas- ury .of the 40,000 striking cloakmak- ers will be increased this week by at least $100,000 as a result of the unan- imous decision of cloakmakers in set- tled shops to tax themselves another day’s pay on behalf of those still on strike. This was learned following a meeting of shop chairmen in Webster Hall. The ujgon was also able to an- nounce that to daté $150,000 cash has been received from trade unions in the United States in response to the appeal for funds issued two weeks ago. With pledges of additional funds soon to materialize, this figure, is re- sponse to the appeal, will be greatly augmented, Other large sums have been real- ized for the striking cloakmakers, now in their 15th week of struggle with their employers, thru voluntary taxa- tion by groups of needle workers in various parts of the country. But there are 40,000 strikers and much is needed. The Public Service Workers’ Union has adopted resolutions endorsing the strike 100 per cent and calling upon its membership to contribute to the strike fund.“ Local 48, Millinery Work- ers’ Union, contributed $210 to the fund. The blockers’ and sizers’ local of millinery workers appropriated $300 tor the fund and voted to tax each member $1 per week for the du- ration of the strike. This is expected to realize $1,000 weekly. A subscription to The DAILY WORKER for one month to the members of your union ie a good way. Try it. Shield IMT. OLIVE MINERS COMMEMORATE VIRDEN RIOT, WHERE FOUR LOST LIVES, WITH BIG DEMONSTRATION By ED HARRMON MT, OLIVE, Ill—(FP)—The 28th annual memorial demonstration of the Virden riot was held by the United Mine Workers here Oct. 12. Large delegations from surrounding mining communities swelled the crowd that lined the streets early in the day for the regular march to the cemetery where the four Mt. Olive miners who lost their lives in the Virden fight 29 years ago are buried, Tom Tippett, a young miner, now conducting an educational experiment for the Taylorville miners, spoke at the afternoon meeting with Agnes Nestor of the Chicago Woman's Trade Union League, Tippet Sketches History. Tippett called the Virden memorial the only remaining link between a labor movement) that has gone and the new unionism of today. He sketched the present situation in the miners’ union, calling it the most serious crisis that has confronted the union since its organization 36 years ago. He said the spirit of devotion to ideals that animated the early movement was lacking in the union today and declared ithat unless it could be reintroduced the organiza- tion was bound to fail. Organization Is Task, Organization of the ever increasing non-union fields was the biggest and most’ important task ahead of the miners, Tippett said. He further ad- vocated nationalization of the mines and the formation of a labor party to safeguard the workers’ interests. With that program, the movement would be given a larger program that would attract new members and re- vive the old fighting spirit of the once militant coaldiggers. A hearty response from the crowd greeted Tippett’s closing remarks when he said: “If you want the in- terest and loyalty of the younger men you must give us something to work for, something to fight for, something to live for, and if necessary, as at Virden, give us something to die for.” ee Agnes Nestor Talks. Agnes. Nestor spoke of her work with the industrial women and said that progress must be weighed care- fully to see what the actual gains are. Women and little children are merci- lessly exploited, she said, and de- clared that strong trade unions must be organized to guarantee the opera- tion of labor legislation. The evening meeting was addressed by Wm. Daech, the first Illinois miner to graduate from Brookwood labor college, ‘and Allen Haywood,,executive board member of the Illinois district. COMPANY UNION AND B, & 0. PLAN ABOUT THE SAME Workers Force a Three| Cent Raise on P.R.R, PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 27,—Shop crafts union-fighting Pennsylvania Railroad has finally raised pay. for their company-unionized shop workers three cents an hour, bringing the rate for some to the 76 cents standard of New York Central, which went-into effect Sept. 1. Pennsy’s rate increase is retroactive to Oct. 16. Sometime earlier Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, where the “B. & O. plan” of employe-management co-operation is in force bgtween American Federation of Labor shop crafts unions and the company, gave two cents on hour in- creases and time and a half for ‘Sun- days and holidays. These wage increases are tne first shop workers have received from eastern trunk lines since eafly 1923. About 43,000 workers, including help- ers and apprentices, are affected by the Pennsy order. Company union conferences were held in Pittsburgh, where wage de- mands of the workers broke in despite attempts of the company to have only its own lackeys elected as “employe representatives” under the company union system. Building Trades Plan Office Building; Cost May Reach $1,750,000 WASHINGTON, Oct, 27.~(FP)— Selection of a site for the finest labor temple in America, designed to fur- nish international headquarters to most of the building trades organiza- tions as well as their joint activities in the building trades department of the American Federation of Labor, is the first step in the building program unanimously indorsed by the depart- mental convention at Detroit. Secretary Tracy of the department has returned from the convention to investigate downstate sites in the capital. He will report to the exe- cutive council of the department when it meets in January. Offices will be rented to other than labor organiza- tions, As thus far developed, the plan calls for expenditure of between $600,000 and $750,000 on a site, and the erec- tion of an ornamental and solid struc- ture of about. 100x100 feet ground area with a height of 110 feet. Cost of the building would be upwards of $1,000,000. ; Financing of the project is thought to be beyond question, A holding company will be formed which will sell stock to/ the international organ- izations and to local building trades councils, Most of the internationals could buy at least $100,000 of the stock each, The bricklayers alone have assets of over $2,000,000, Why not a small bundle of The DAILY WORKER sent to you regular ly to take to your trade union meeting? of Engineers and I. A. M. Sign ‘Treaty’ Showing Jurisdiction Boundary WASHINGTON, Oct. 27.—(FP)— Text of an agreement signed by Ar- thur M. Huddell, general president of the International Union of Steam and Operative Engineers, and A. O, Whar- ton, president of the International \| Association of Machinists, defining the jurisdiction of the fwo organizations, is being sent out from Machinists’ grand lodge headquarters in Washing- ton to all local lodges. The pact declares its purpose as that of bringing about harmonious understanding between the members of the two unions in order that they may assist each other, secure better industrial conditions and maintain proper trade jurisdiction, It gives to the Steam and Operating Engineers undisputed control of the bullding, assembling, erecting, dis- mantling and repairing of engines and machinery of all descriptions used in any kind of service. When temporary emergency run- ning repairs are necessary the engi- neer will make such repairs as will keep the plant in operation. Both or- ganizations agree to assist each other in unjonizing all places ‘in which both have jurisdiction, SAN FRANCISCO — (FP) — Two anion carpenters paid $15 fine apiece ‘or violation of the San Francisco anti- picketing law, th connection with the carpenters’ strike that began last April. Letters from Our Readers From an Akron Rubber Worker. Dear Comrades: I am sending you under separate cover four copies of the Rubber Worker, which union is organizing now. It has made a former endeavor to organize, and I hope this. time it will bea crowning success, as this is on a much larger scale and besides with the paper, Rubber Worker, A Lot Left Unsaid, I have been a worker myself the past eight years, and to the best of my knowledge all that these papers say are true, There is a whole lot more also, not printed in them. There are a great many different languages spoken in the shops here, Perhaps your paper is printed in sev- eral. languages and sent to workers here, so you are at liberty to take from either or all of the four papers what you want and see fit to use in your paper, if you care to, It may aid a whole lot in enlightening workers of other languages—also strengthen the faith in others of the English lan- guage—get more to join also, Thousands Laid Off. But as conditions are bad in the shops now—work going down, laying off by the thousands, etc.=-it wouldn't seem a very good time to go any fur- ther than to just organize at present, but you may see different, Anyway, so many ate being lald off, have tami- lies, homes to pay on, paying rent and no jobs for them, it does seem quite awful. From a Rubber Worker of Over Eight Years’ Service, Labor. Institute, THE DAILY WORKER Policies and Programs The Trade Union Press Strikes—Injunctions Labor and Imperialism ae ACHINES SHOW OFFICE WORKERS Displace Some Labor and Speed up Rest By ESTHER LOWELL, Federated Press. NEW YORK,,),Oct. 27—Altho ma- chines displacing two to 15 office workers are displayed at the Business Show, Madison Square Garden, there is no immediate danger that the thou- sands of stenographers, typists, book- keepers, accountants, bank clerks, etc., will lose their jobs to these ma- chines, e's Investigating for the New York of- fice workers’ union, Leonard Bright found that there were fewer new ma- chines than had been heralded and that the cost of those displacing the most workers was too high for the average office to afford, Unionization the Solution. The solution of the machine prob- lem, Bright and Union Secretary Ernest Bohm agree, is not opposition to the introduction of the machine but complete organization of office workers. The organized workers can then fight to lower their hours of work and keep their wages rising as they are required to operate more nerve- straining machines, That office workers gre largely de- pended on to “sell”+the new machines to their employers was indicated by the press director for the show. He said that he had “killed” a story that thousands of office workers would be made jobless by the new machines because the workers’ good will is nec- essary in selling the machines. Machine Eliminates Workers. An elaborate calculating, bookkeep- ing device is supposed to eliminate 15 workers. Several. mailing devices stamp letters with a mailing permit sign while” sealing them—running them thru from 8,000 to 16,000 an hour, depending on the size of the machine, and doing. away with about six workers. Much of the improved machinery has been devised to sim- plify and cheapen the work of whole- sale direct majr advertising, a para- sitic industry which has been thriving as a method of gales-making because of its supposed personal appeal. Twenty-Seven New Titles Announced by Vanguard Press NEW YORK OITY,— Less than twenty-seyen titles appear on the in- itial list just made public by the Vanguard Press, These titles consist of current social studies, social sci- ence classics, radical ‘fiction and edu- cational outlines—subjects that are the chosen field of this new publish- ing house. Among the authors in- cluded in the first Vanguard list are Ruskin, Tolstoi, Marx, Lenin, Kropot- kin, Haeckel, Lecky and Darwin, and such modern writers as H. G. Wells, Bernard Shaw, Thorstein Veblen, Franz Oppenheimer, Upton Sinclair and Benjamin R. Tucker, Established as a non-profit publish- ing house, the Vanguard Press is set- ting a low price record for a full-size clothbound series—at least for the post-war period. All Vanguard books —Tunning from 18 pages to 416 pages —sell retail at 50 cents per copy. In the lst jubt announced are such well-known titles as “Looking Back- ward,” by Edward Bellamy; “The Theory of the Leisure Class,” by Thorstein Veblen’and “Progress and Poverty,” by “Hemry George, and specially prepared compilations of the radical writings of Marx, Shaw, Wells, Tolstoi, etc, Hight titles are devoted to summaries of classics of sci- ence and socio: and to scientific outline: 7 The Vanguard 85 is located at 80 Fifth Ave. New York City, Sl A Sc a RE ARB ISA RSENS Ee 08s RAED DE SPR ES RES A ere Sl Sie etn see et SR cn i pS 3 Earth Shocks Reported. WASHINGTON, Oct, 27.— Three earth shocks, one of unusually severe intensity, were récorded at George- town University within the six hours following 11:03 o'clock last night. Father Tondorf, seismographist, an- nounced today, He cowld not tell in what direction the tremors were, but sald they occurred 3,700 miles from Washington. We will send sample copies of The DAILY WORKER to your friends~ bend us name and address, MUST UNIONIZE IGENERAL FRIES RUNS POISON GAS PROPAGANDA Poisorier the Better ‘for . WASHINGTON, Oct. 27—(FP)— Gen. Amos Fries, head and high prop- agandist of the chemical warfare serv- ice in the army, has run afoul of Sec- of American ratification of the Geneva protocol binding the various nations against using poison chemicals or bacteria in ‘warfare. Fries has been carrying on a cam- paign against the abolition of gas j Warfare—sniping at it across teacups, at banquet tables, in conferences and newspaper columns, and more ie- cently in the meetings of the Amer- ican Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Association of.. Military Surgeons, and other bodies that mighi bring pressure to bear upon congress. MacNider for Gas. - Gen. Fries appears to have one friend—a powerful one—in the com- mander of the Legion and proud of his treat-em-rough record. When the press questioned MacNider as to where the War Department would stand as between the administration's policy and Fries and his Legion back- ers, MacNider sidestepped. His manner indicated that he was far from ready to bow to the White House when the legion had gone on record for gentleness in warfare as represented by chemicals. Saves on Lead Pencils. Secretary of the Interior Work has had himself photdgraphed with the evidence of his latest economy scheme. He gathered in all the pen- cils, pens and erasers in all bureaus in his deparffhent, and issued orders that henceforth on no account shall any high-grade employe have more than two pencils or two pens or one eraser. The chewed stubs are now being doled out on this basis, in response to requisitions from the employes. Stenographers are allowed four pen- cils each. Inspectors searched all desks to discover any hidden stubs of lead. After that Work went off to Penn- sylvania to urge the election of Vare to the senate. Vare got the nomina- tion for $850,000 or more. PALMER, OF ‘RED RAIDS,’ NOW IS FACING PRISON Attorney-Gen. Charged With Big Fraud BOSTON, Mass., Oct. 27.—A. Mitch- ell Palmer, former attorney-general of the United States and instigator of the notorious “Palmer red raids” which resulted in the frameup of Sacco and Vanzetti, is himself today facing prison. Palmer is the defendant, along with some other members of his depart- ment of justice, in a huge conspiracy case filed by the government. Defraud Government. They are charged with defrauding the government out of $5,534,564 by misrepresenting the assets of* the Bosch Magneto Company, which came under the alien property act. Others in the conspiracy are: Francis P, Garvin, former chief of the bureau of investigation for the alien property custodian (Palmer); Joseph G, Guffery, director of sales of the custodian, and the bankers, Horn- blower and Weeks, Boston, and Chase Securities Company, New York. ” Fake Assets, The. scheme, it is alleged, was to place John A. McMartin, another de- fendant in the case, in charge of the books of the company. He was to prepare a fake report on the assets. The sale was made for $4,150,000, when the actual value, it is charged, was $9,685,564., Much of the stock of the Bosch Company was owned by foreigners, bringing it under the jurisdiction of the alien property custodian. Passaic’ Cigar Men Strike; Feel Czarist Methods of Police PASSAIC, N. J., Oct. 24—In protest against the failure of thelr employers to Hve up to an agreement, the work- ers of the B. M. Klein cigar factory, 220 Second street, went out on strike yesterday, Saturday morning the cigar strikers had their first experience with the local boss-serving police cosgacks, whose brutal tactics in connection with the big strike of textile workers in this city have made them notorious aruout the world, U. S. General | retary of State Kellogg on the issue | | | INTERNATIONAL LABOR DEFENSE Will Hold Its SECOND ANNUAL BALL AND HALLOWEEN PARTY at Page Five By Upton Since {Copyrigat, 1926, by Uptom Sinciair) vil . Bertie came along, making one fmore “effort to drag he brother out into this play world, to which by right of inheritance jand natural gifts he belonged. Bertie had broken off her affaii with Eldon Burdick. He was a “dud,” she told Bunny, and al ways wanting to have his own way. There was another affaii on, a very desperate one, Bunny gathered, since his sist« posed her feelings even to him. It was,the only son August Norman, founder of Occidental Steel; the boy’s name Charlie, and he was a little wild, Bertie said, but oh, so fascinating and rich as Croesus. He had nobody to take care of him but a rather silly mother, who was still trying to be young and giddy, dressing like a debutante, and having surgical operations per- formed on her face to keep it from “sagging.” They had a most gorgeous cht down at the harbor, and had asked Bertie to bring her brother, and why wouldn’t he go and help her, as he so easily could, with his good looks and everything? Bunny thought his sister must indeed be hard hit, if she was counting upon his reluctant social charms! But he went; and as they drove to the harbor Bertie coached and scolded him- he must not talk about his horrible Bolshevik ideas, and if they mentioned his disgrace at Southern Pacific, he must make a joke oft. Bunny had already learned that that was the thing to do; and so he did it, and found that it was very easy, for Charlie Norman was one of those brilliant persons who found something funny about everything that cathe up; if he couldn’t do any bet- ter, he would make a bad pun out of your remark. Here was the “Siren,” a floating mansion, all white paint and shining brass, finished in hand-carved mahogany, and up- bolstered in hand-pained silk. The sailors who shined and pol- ished and the Filipino boys who flitted here and there with trays full of glasses, were spic and span enough for the vaude 5 stage. The party of guests would step into a launch and from that into several motor-cars and be transported to a golf-links and from there to a country club for luncheon; they would dance for an hour or two and then be whirled away to a bathing-beach, and then to a tennis court, and then back to the “Siren” to dress for dinner, which was served with all the style you would have expected at an ambassador’s banquet. There would me many- colored electric lights on the deck, and an orchestra, and friends would come out in launches, and dance until dawn, while the waves lapped softly against the sides of the vessel and the tangle of light along the shore made dim the stars. The people talked about the appearance and peculariti dventures of all their RoUHitnteteeae and it wal und © tie heir conversation unless you were one of their set: they even iad slang words of their own, and the less possible it was for art outsider to understand them, the funnier they seemed to them selves, They talked about clothes, and what was £ving to be tis lewest_ thing.” They talked about their bootleggers, and w ho was reliable. For the rest of the time they talked about the hit ting of little balls about a field; the scores they had made that day and previous days, and the relative abilities of various exe verts in the art. Was the tennis-champion going to hold his « os ‘or another year? How were the American golf players ml x out in England? Was the polo team coming from Philadel vhs and would théy carry off the cup? There were beautiful sil oe and gold-plated trophies with engraved inscriptions, which hel saa to hypnotize you into thinking that the hitting of. little ball, ne u a field was of major importance! patie: ede Vill Sitting on the deck of this floating mansion, Bunny read about the famine on the Volga. The crops had failed, over huge districts, and the peasants were slowly starving; eating grass and roots, eating their dead babies, migrating in hordes and strewing their corpses along the way. It was the last and final proof of the futility of Communism, said the newspaper editors; and if Charlie Normaf dd not take the occasion to do some “joshing” of Bunny, it was only because Charlie never read a newspaper, _ Bunny had talked wth Harry Seager, and got a different view of famines in Russia. They were caused by drought, not by Communism ; #aey had been chronic ever since the dawn of his- tory, and their occurrence had never been taken as evidence of he futility of Tsarism, Conditons were bad now, because of the breakdown of the railroads. But people who blamed that on Communism overlooked the fact that the railroads had broken down before the revolution; and that under the Soviet adminis- tration they had had to stand the strain of three years of civil war, and of outside invasion on twenty-six fronts. Newspapers which had incited these invasions, and applauded the spending of hundreds of millions of American mone: y to promote them, $ blamed the Bolsheviks because they were not ready to eave with < a famine! You can understand how a young man wit ; in his mind would not fit altogether into this D ocdhweg pe his best to be like the others, but they found out that he was “f erent; and presently Charlie’s mother took to sitting beside im. “Bunny, she said—for you were Bunny or Bertie or Baby or Beauty to this crowd as soon as you had played nine holes of golf and had one drink out of anybody’s hip-pocket flask- - “Bunny, you go t 4 ‘ atany fle iste go to the university, don’t you? And I’m sure you “Not very much, I fear.” (To be continued.) Eugene Debs The workers of the world have lost a great leader. ’ One who's honesty, sincerity and integrity could never be questioned in the trade union movement. We have suffered a very great loss. : ‘ISRAEL JOSEPHSON (Member of the Int'l Bro. of Electrical Workers) Friday Evening, October 29, peo 1 i