The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 31, 1926, Page 4

i t 1113 W, Washington Bivd., Published by the DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO. Chicago, Il. Phone Monroe 471i SUBSCRIPTION RATES By mall (In Chicago only): $8.00 per year $4.50 six months $2.50 three months By mall (outside of Chicago): $6.00 per year $8.50 six months $2.00 three months Address all mafi and make out checks to THE DAILY WORKER, 1113 W. Washington Blvd. Chicago, fl, J, LOUIS ENGDAHL WILLIAM F, DUNNE MORITZ J, LOEB......00 wracscegyreseosenshseoree EGItOTS teen Business Manager Entered as second-claas maf] September 21, 1923, at the postofiice at cago, Ill., under the act of March 3, 1879. <> 290 Advertising rates on application, The Progress of Dictatorship in America The steady progress of government contralization is drawn |!ng of the fact that fewer labor dis- again to our attention by the recent decision of the supreme court upholding the right of the president to remove federal appointees | “the advice and consent of the senate.” without One step more has been made in making a president elected for four years a dictator without check or hindrance. Able to hire | LEADERS OF STATE LABOR MOVEMENT CONTINUE TO THE RIGHT AT HIGH SPEED | SECOND ARTICLE, seinen A EEO ie! his report to the Illigois State Fed- eratio of Labor convention held jat Streator, Ml, recently, President | Walker painted a rather dismal pic- jture of the future of labor while at jthe same time stating, which he un- |doubtedly thought rather gratifying, that there had been fewer labor dis- | putes in the state during the last year than previously—only 84 strikes: thru- out the state, whereas, in 1917 there were 282, in 1917 there were 267 and in 1920 there were 254, He said noth- putes in this instance signify a failure by organized labor to utilize the favor- able situation for aggressive organiza- | tion activities. The losses sustained by the various unions, both in mem- bership and organized positions, dur- ing this period wets completely tg- and fire at will, in an immense country such as this, with its|oreq by him. Prosident Walker pre- veritable army of employes, themselves wielding tremendous power | dicted a period of decline in the in- since the extension of centralized government control to almost | dustrial activities for the future, but every phase of social, industrial and political activity, the presi-| dent now symbolizes the concentrated force of the strongest sec- | tions of American capitalism. It is significant that the decision was written by Judge Taft, that fat and faithful friend of big capital and that Justices Holmes, Brandeis, McReynolds, who cling to the traditions of the compe- titive period of American capitalism, dissented. The capitalist press is practically a unit in welcoming this decision. It assures them of a curtailment of the restrictions which | the franchise places upon big capitalism and places them in a more favorable position in relation te the profession politicians of the capitalist parties. For the workers the decision American capitalism is strengthening its hold on the suppressive | is one more. significant sign that machinery of the state, organizing it so that in the hands of its henchmen it can be mobilized against the masses with the least possible difficulty. without suggesting any measufes whereby labor could fortify itself or | giving the slightest lead for militant | fight against the open shop, which is again threatening the unions. Injunctions. 'N this same report President Walker also claimed that there had been less injunctiong during the past year | because of the injunction limitation bill. Yet injunctions have-been is- sued against the Chicago Retails Clerks’ Union by the notorious Dennis BH, Sullivan, who ‘also imposed . fines and prison penalty upon members of that union for picketing and declared the injunction limitation act uncon- stitutional. An injunction has been issued against the oulinary crafts, cov- lering some 150 Chicago restaurants, | prohibiting any efforts of organization. This increase of the power in the hands of the executive is the | an injunction"lias been issued against more dangerous for the American working class in that it comes |the machinists on strike in Chicago, at a time when the labor movement has made but the barest be- | 2°t hed apsmpreaas ne bo ead | mem Ts oO} e International Ladies’ ginnings in eileen & labor party to fight for its interests against Garment Workete' Giton Were tuewn the centralized ey er of capitalism. |into prison to serve various terms for The Worker (Communist) Party of America alone is carrying | maintaining their union rights against on the struggle for a labor party with its base in trade unions /|am injunction in 1924. While many and other organizations of the workers. The decision of the su- | resolutions have been adopted against h h: teristic of ti |such usurpation of power by the ee ee en a ee ¢ of reaction | courts, the labor leadership of Ilt- all we have said about the necessity for American centralizing all|nois did nothing to keep these labor its struggles in a powerful party of its own. | prisoners out of jail save to beg re MANY INDUSTRIES SHOW BIGGER OUT.- vt. 2 eros PUT WITH FEWER MEN EMPLOYED | course, lived up to his oath and his | | pledge to the republican party pro- gram and this back-door politics | expressed for these quite worthy, and quite harmless objects, while speeches were made every day for the union label, One real issue, that of organizing unorganized workers, came’ up and was slightly discussed, but the net re- sult was merely the: adoption of a resolution relative to the automobile industry resolving to “look for the union garage shop card.” In its attitude towards relations with or the sending of a labor delega- tion to the Soviet R jlics, the reac- tionary leadership became particu- larly revealed. Tt attenipted to place the Soviet Republic @ parallel with the fascist dictat ip, which exists by the foul murder pf thousands of workers and destruction of their or- ganizations, . Drift to Right. 'THP by step, the ols State Fed- eration of Labor has ‘during recent years gone completely ‘to the right. It has made a considerable swing since 1919, when Duncan McDonald became its president for one year. Subsequently, John Walker stumped the state as candidate for governor on the farmer-labor pafty ticket at the saine time that Len Small was put on the unfair list by the Central Labor Council at Kankakeg, ‘Now the turn is completed and the union leadership has formed a solid alliance with the stinking, corrupt Len Small machine. This leadership gave full endorse- ment to Frank L, Smith, so-called friend of labor, prior to the exposure of the hundreds of thouands of dollars contributed for his campaign by the utilities corporations, The exposure proved a concrete example of the out- right buying of political candidates of the old parties by the big capitalist corporations. Incidentally, it also laid bare one of the greatest combinations of big business, dirty politics, and crime all united to perpetuate and strengthen the capitalist system. The choice of the Ilinois labor leadership was the alliance with this combina tion, through Frank L, Smith and Gov- ernor Small, to the Crowe-Barrett or- ganization, notorious for its labor union busting activities, for its violent gunplay and election steals. Maintain Alldance. HE exposure, however, has not as yet brought the repudiation of this | alliance or the endorsement made. On the contrary, several of the leaders j insisted on and actually attempted to | maintain their endorsement, but it met | gained nothing for the workers, while | | with such strong opposition from the Ke Suh strengthened the employ- | prennan and beer supporters who had The remarkable increase in produc tivity per man-hour in American in- dustry since 1914 is again emphasized in a U. S. department of labor study of the cement, leather, flour and sugar- refining industries. “Of the 8 industries studied so far,” says the department, “one—the auto- mobile industry—has shown an in- Grease in man-hour output for the pe- riod 1914-1925 of over 200%; 6 indus- tries have shown increases ranging from 25% to 60%, while in the boot and shoe industry the increase has been 16.5%, which is somewhat below the average. Cement Industry. Workers in the cement industry in 1925, the report shows, produced 57.8% more per man-hour of work than in 1914. It says: “This indus- try has been favored by a tremendous increase in the demand for its product during the past 4 years, so that it has \ undergone considerable expansion, a ‘situation which is usually favorable to sing output per man-hour. Con- ditions in the leather industry are practically the reverse of this, for | there has been a steady decline in leather production since 1923 and not very much of an increase in recent years over 1914. Yet in spite of this situation the output per man-hour in the leather industry in 1925 was 28.2% greater than in 1924, while a B-year average, 1921-1925, shows an even larger increase—34%. In flour milling the output per man- hour was 39% greater in 1925. In sugar refining-the 1925 output per man-hour was 27.3% above 1914, but in the postwar years 1919 to 1920 it was 20% below that level, In the leather industry 1925 produc- tion stood 13.6% above 1914, but.the industry employed 11.4% fewer work- ers. In 1924, with 14%. fewer work- ers, there was produced 15.2% more leather than in 1914, an increase of 34% in labor productivity. The aver- age working week in the industry has declined from about 57 hours in 1914 to 61% in 1923. O* the question of the injunction the Illinois State Federation of labor convention resolved, “That the campaign of education shall be con- tinued to enlighten our membership and the decent citizens of our state as to its dire possibilities.” These organized capitalists and their tools, the injunction judges. They are tak- ing ‘advantage of it, while the labor leaders completely fail to measure up to the requirements of the situation, Free Books. (HE convention further voted for free text\books for schools, better salary for factory inspectors, better {and more compensation laws. It voted support for the retail clerks, attempt- ed to terrify the employers with their unfair lists, and voted to support the new tax amendment to the constitu- tion, which has already been adopted by both houses of the state-and will be submitted to a referendum at the elections November 2, Support” was possibilities are well reeognized by-the | | become strengthened and encouraged by the growing dislike for the once celebrated Volateaina and, wanted to promote their own éhoice. . The sit- uation shortly before the recent State Federation convention held possibili- | ties of a conflict within the leadership between these two forces. But the lid was clamped on tight, A compro- mise had been effected based on the endorsement of candidates for the JIli- nois legislature only. The Moribund Progressive Party. The Illinois Progressive Party at- tempted to hold a co: mce simulta- neously ‘with the scdgpuiiae. It re- ceived little support, They are the remnants of the movement, which once had labor endorsements galore. Parley Parket Christensen is their nominee for U. 8. senator. They are now so few that they have nothing to lose, and yet théy did not have enough guts to make @ fight for their candidate as against the corrupt twins of “slush fund” fame, There is little hope of any political lead being given by this group for a real progressive movement, even tho several of its supporters claim sympathy for the idea of a labor party. No Signs of Progress. HE course of the Illinois State Fed- “eration of Labor and its leadership shows no sign of learning from the experienge of the movement. The pe- riod ‘of “prosperity” has by no means been taken advantage of. Instead of strengthening the movement, it has, generally speaking, become weakened. The policies of the state movement once going toward the progressive di- fection have undergone a complete turn and are now proceeding back- ward, The Decatur convention in.1922 was the beginning of the backward change. The Streator convention reached*the peak of reaction, Altho a large dele- gation was present, labor from the basic industries was conspicuous by its absence. Nothing touching the’ CURRENT EVENTS By T. J. O'Flaherty. (Continued from page 1) ‘Selyes while at the same time helping to prevent the workers from doing anything that would seriously endan- ger the existing order. soe ‘HEN the American workers are driven by the crue] slave-driver necessity to organize politically in a mass labor. party, when the sheep dogs of capitalism can no longer hold them in the folds of the two capitalist par- ties, then our Greens and our Walkers will follow the flock, but only to lead them into another fold. At the same time, however, the revolutionary wing of the labor movement, represented in all countries by the Communist Party, is on the job and contesting every inch of the way with the labor traitors. While the latter tell the workers that co-operation with capitalism is the best policy for the workers, the Com- munists point out that too much co- operation with capitalism has left the workers enslaved and that only a. break with the capitalist sygtem will free labor from the chains that now bind it, that until this system is over- thrown this, world will be a huge prison where the body and soul of humanity is fettered to the chariot of greed. see INCERE but weak-spirited individ- uals despair of human progress when they see this selling of labor go on year after year. It is not hard to find a man who was formerly active in™the radical movement expressing the belief that nothing can be done for the working class, that they are not worth bothering with. Some of those people are now well-to-do. Some are on the bum, One of the latter walked into the office a few days ago. He is now selling razor-blade sharp- eners, “The workers are not worth saving,” he remarked. A member of the staff replied that our visitor found them worth shaving. > =F ‘ yom is a lot of philosophy buried here. Evidently this man threw himself into the movement at one time with the consoling thought that he was going to help save the workers. For himself, perhaps he needed no sal- vation, He could get afong fairly well under capitalism. There is no reason why a good soapboxer should not sell Florida or Los Angeles real estate, vital need of the movement was given the slightest chance ‘to come before the gathering and only once were the delegates stirred and rose to their feet, namely, when the resolution granting a wage increase to the presi- dent and secretary-treasurer from $5,000 a year to $6,500 was carried, Yet there is nothing dismal about the picture presented. Conditions of today are not the same tomorrow, The period of capitalist imperialist bribing of the labor bureaucracy divides the rank and file and the reactionary lead- ership, At any rate, the needs of the labor movement become ever more outstanding and will also become | t) clear to the rank and file members, ‘HE present weakness of the trade unions just. makes so much more necessary a revival of the militancy | , of the past, while it also holds the possibilities of the left wing move- ment of the future {? every issue which Presents itself is properly capitalized. | ,. start a religion or become a chiro- | 8: practor, But this particular persdn found the workers receptive to his message when their bellies were.sen- sitive, but when they had something lesque show or took a girl tothe movies, while the evangelistic ‘soap- boxer was developing. a nice dose of bronchitis onthe street corner, or watching the pecerancnees in ‘some filthy jail, t+ si Pe a while the martyr Spirit pre- vailed, ‘but..at.last the spiritual bone cracked and our evangelist be- gan to hate the working class, And here we find him, either rolling around | j in his Chrysler or selling snake oil to the citizens of Madison street, whose stomachs are massaged none too kindly by the barbs and darts of alley moonshine. He has lost all hope, he 1s another unit of human. wreckage that goes down in the struggle: But what about the successful ex-radical who loses faith? Where is his compensa tion? Happiness is an elusive fairy, but it is very questionable if those who have lost the only worthwhile | purpose in life can be compensated by | money for the loss, pees ew EVERAL columns could be written on the baffling question’ Why do some people follow the thorny path that leads to physical suffering with- out either the prospect or desire to better their own material conditions? The few have been persecuted in all ages because they refused to accom- modate themselves to the legal class requirements of the rulers of the day. Yet the masses, who either ignored their trials or joined their masters in persecuting them, were the beneficia- ries of their sufferings. Thus progress hobbles along. 2): 8 ‘ AARADOXICAL tho it may seem to many, days of prosperity are not days of mental ease for the radical— under cgpitalism. Those aré the days that try souls. It takes more than the spirit of an evangelist or an anti- vaccinationist to stand up under the spectacle of a labor leader driving a rivet into the keel of a capitalist bat- tleship or another labor leader buying orange groves in Florida with the money of union members, either freely given or involuntarily, with the con- soling thought that as. long as they” were getting theirs they could afford to let him have ten times more, A knowledge of history is what will keep you from \flying off your base and out of the abyss of pessimism, from which, like hell, there is no redemption, INJUNCTION USE IS DENOUNCED BY W. P, CANDIDATES Labor Party Is the Only. Solution , Xi (Continued from page 1) organization and to the right of unions to strike’ and picket. complete<abolition of this eyil of in- Junctions in industrial disputes, have: urged “werkers nullify the-ifjunction by mass picket- ing and to kilbinjunctjons in the same method ii which the Industrial Court Act. wag: kifled. by similar action of We favor tho We to completely! he progressive miners of) Kansas, Neetl-Labor Party. “2. We abgolitely favor the enact- ment'of 4n afiti-injunction bill by the: tate legislature, limiting the power of the courtgato issug injunctions in trade, and labor: disputes, We will do everything in our | power to help very movement of the .workers for the passage of such legislation; at the ame time wertake the liberty of pointing out.that not until labor par- ticipates in independent; political ac- tfon; thru the-establishment of a labor party will it-be insu to fill them with they went to a bur- | vi -e tM capitalist representatives against workérs«on strike. against such icious measures bythe courts and by “The present™ rrests and brutality of the police. “against the! cloakmak- ers of New York points tothe neces- ity of cleaning ‘out of office the capi- talist, politi¢ians and doing away with the futile: policy of rewarding friends and punishing enemies’ which has done nothing to.abate the evil of in- junctions.and stop the policy of po- lice _persecutions against strikers, “With every assurance that we will do all in our power to wipe out the injunctions against labor, we are “Sincerely yours, “Ben Gitlow, candidate for governor; Franklin P. Grill, lieut. gov.; Juliet Stuart Poyntz} comptroller; Belle ' Robbins, attofhey general; Wm, F. Dunne, U. S. Sénator; Boris Lifshitz, 6th A. D., Manhattan; Rebecca Grecht, &th A. D., Manhattan; Ju- lius Codkind, 17th A, D,, Manhattan; Abraham Maéfkoff, 18th A. D,, Man- hattan; Charles Krumbein, 13th C. D., Manhattan; Alexander Trachten. berg, 14th-C.-D., Manhattan; Elmer. T. Allison, 14th S. D., Manhattai Wm. W. Weinstone, 20th C. D., Manhattan; Elias Marks, 3rd A. D., Bronx; Isidore Steinzor, 4th A. D., Bronx; Chas. Zimmerman, 5th A. D., Bronx; Joseph Boruchowitz, 7th A, D., Bronx; Moissaye J. Olgin, 23rd C. D., Bronx; George Primoff, 6th A. D., Kings; Samuel Nesin, 14th A. D., Kings; Fannie Warshaf- sky, 23rd A. D., Kings; Bertram D. Wolfe, 10th C..D., Kings; Morris Rosen, 7th S. Di, Kings.” ~ SUNDAY SCHOOL HEAD FACES SENTENCE FOR “MANN ACT VIOLATION DETROIT, Oct. 29.—Charles Kirk- patrick, former Sunday school su- perintendent of McGregor, Mich., today faced a prison term of from one to five years following his con- viction last night on-a charge of violating the Mann act. He will be sentenced Saturday. ~ Kirkpatrick was found gullty af- ter Ruby Bopra, 18-year-old miald servant -in his home, told of thelr elopment to Chicago where she sald they lived as man and wife. : STRIKE STRATEGY By WILLIAM Z. FOSTER ARTICLE II THE STRIKE, iS, even when small and weak, constitute a break of the workers with capitalism. They are a living refu- {ation of the time-worn conservative trade union slogan that the interests of capital and labor are identical. They are expressions of the irreconcilable quarrel between the workers and the employers over the division of the workers’ products. They are skirmishes in the great class war, fore- shadowings of the final struggle which will abolish capi- talism. During strikes workers are in an especially militant and rebellious mood. They are then highly receptive of revolutionary ideas. It is then above all that they can and must be taught the full implications of their struggle. To rouse the class consciousness of the workers and to educate © them to understand the class struggle,and the historic mis- sion of the working class is alw~ 4 a first consideration im strike strategy. Strikes are of many kinds and characters. Losovsky lists 13 types, as follows: Spontaneous, organized, offen- sive, defensive, solidarity, intermittent, local, district, indus- * trial, general, international, economic, political, Others might be mentioned. The character of the strikes in a given country or period is determined by the state of its capitalist system. hree broad types of strikes are to be noted in the ze of development of a capitalist system. The first is the series of desperate upheavals, animated by confused objectives, typical of countries in which capitalism is just beginning to grow, such as the Chartist movement in Eng- land, the early French. strikes, the strikes in modern col- onial countries, ete. ‘The second type is the organized craft or industrial eythane mt stn am owe Pn ‘of a declining capitalist system, such as the post-war strikes the workers with the necessary consciousness and political organizations for the struggle. The policy of the right wing union leaders to keep our strikes on a purely eco- = basis disarms the workers and is fatal to success in the struggle. The experience in the British General strike, where the leaders stubbornly refused to recognize the polftical character of the strike every when the capitalists were using ‘the whole governmental power against the workers, suffici- ently signalizes this danger and the necessity for arousing the Workers to conscious political action and organization. Tue Generat Sreixe. “The bitter experience of the British workers in their it general strike raises sharply again the question of part to be played in working class strike strategy by general strike. The conservatives, who flagrantly be- the British strike, are shouting in all keys that the strike is useless, that it cannot be employed effec- ly in the struggle against capitalism. But such reasoning is fallacious. These ‘reformists, who are opposed on principle to directly attacking capital- have always rejected such a drastic weapon as the gen- eral strike and are only too eager to seize the slightest pre- ‘to discredit it. In reality, the general strike is one the most powerful of the workers’ weapons. But it it be used judiciously and courageously. The first necessity for its correct use is an finderntande ing of its full revolutionary implications. When the work- ers of a given country in a deep crisis, as in Great Britain, declare a general strike in all the key and basic industries it constitutes a direct challenge to the ruling class and its state. Inevitably the latter will use against it all its armed forces: the army, the police, the fascist organiza- tions, ete. Those at the head of the general strike must realize beforehand that the capitalists will employ these violent methods to break the strikes and they must be prepared to | counter such methods by mobilizing the full political power | the workers for the struggle. big x09 dats Sic Pha‘ win over or neutralize the army, strike, typical of the period of strong capitalist growth and development (pre-war Europe and present day United States), when the workers strike for modest demands in the vain hope of permanently improving their conditions within the framework of the capitalist system. The third type is the revolutionary mass strike, typical din Germany and the British general strike, when the work- ers, more or less clearly, seek to destroy the capitalist sys- tem and to set up a proletarian order of society. The first period produces semi-revolutionary unions, the second | period reformist unions, and the third period revolutionary unions. Economic anv Porrtrcat Strikes. Marx says, “Every economic struggle is a political strug- gle.” This is profoundly true, for even the smallest strikes have their political causes and consequences. But the de- gree of the political character of strikes varies. Whereas, strikes in the period of a declining.capitalism are highly political (such as the German general strike during the Kapp Putsch), those in the present day United States, though fast taking on @ political complexion, still are pre- dominately economic. The employers are more and more giving a political character to strikes, especially those in key industries and during crises by using all branches of their state power against the workers. Thus an imperative phase of our strike strategy must be to develop a political consciousness and activity among the workers in their struggles. A prime objective of ours is to clarify the aims of the present scattered, blind strikes of the workers, to raise them above purely economic ends, and to unite them all into a broad political attaék against the entire capitalist system. Consequently, we must fight for a break with the old capi- talist parties and utilize every strike to further the move- ment for the creation. of a mass political party of the workers, the labor party. This course brings us into violent conflict with the conservative trade union bureaucracy, who refuse to recog- nize the growing political character of strikes, and to arm Woe be to the general strike if it is headed by reform. ist leaders who refuse to fecognize its’ political character, or by syndicalist visionaries who beli¢ve it can be won simply by-the strikers.folding their arms. In either case the capitalists will tear the strike’to pieces and administer a crushing defeat to the workers. “The general strike is no’ toy, It isa revolutionary. weapon of the first order, Working class strategists, including those of the most courageous type, must learn to use the, general strike ju- diciously. “The danger whén conservatives head a general strike movement is that they will first choke back its de-, velopment and then betray it_w! it occurs in spite of them, A danger in the use of the general s strike weapon by left wing’ leaders is that they’ in their eagerness to fight; capitalism, will call the workers ‘ou when the latter do, not understand the issues at stake or" ‘are not prepared to fight to the end for them. © © f Many examples could be citea of the latter tenibagis } In France, for example during the heyday of French Syn- dicalism (1910-14) pa general Strikes were called in ~ support of trade demands of indvilgal unions, At first fhe, workers struck fairly well, more as a matter of discip than anything else, but after afew. experiences of this kind they became “strike-tired” and réfuséd’ to respond to the periodic general strike calls, with disastrous results to the unions. The I. W. W. has made similar mistakes in this country, by calling out the workers in support of demands which they did not understand or feel keenly interested in. . Another left wing mistake is tocall indeterminate gen- eral strikes when strikes for a spectiied term would be the’ proper policy. Typical ‘examples of ‘this error were the Seattle general strike and the national, strike to free Tom Mooney, In both these cases highly successful protest or demonstyation general strikes for.a certain period of time could have been carried through, But the mistake was made of 4 the pein 9 for an ‘in inite, od, with the result’ sa ig interested enough |, y 2