The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 7, 1926, Page 2

Page Twu femmeneaminge rors ngeeconcnir comer anrnm ean emanm aeerNNR RECALL CHICAGO LABOR TO MENACE OF INJUNCTIONS Delegate Reports New) Writ to. Federation zo' Federation of The Chica Labor | was remin that there is still an injunction nace in Chicago when Ida Rothst lel 2 Inte nationa orkers Union ing of t junct unfon meet- aD i in of a smell shop in | | which a nakers is be- | ing conducted. | Arrest Two. if A business agent 1 an organizer | were arrested on a t ped up charge | of trying to ass > manager of the shop, Rice, Turner and Rose at| 326 Adams t injunction re- strains p! of the pre- mises, in also report- ed that the join rd of the Inter- national Ladies ent Workers’ Union was in conference with the bosses Sunday afternoon over new union demands for wage increases and a forty-hour week. Six Window Washers Die. Delegate Wills of the ( Window Washers’ Union said that six build- ing service employes had been killed im the past year due to the fact the city and state officers had not en- forced safety laws, He urged that the federation sénd a letter to both May- or Dever and Governor Small calling attention to the insufficiency of build- ing inspectors and demanding entorce- ment of safety statutes. A delegate from the Iron Workers’ Union said that his organization wait- ed-on the mayor to demand similar action. The mayor, the brother r& marked amid « plause, was much too busy entertaining queens to give the| matter his considered judgment. De- ver also comp ied about the ex- pense involved in having building in-| spectors on the job. The newly formed union of city i reported thru their n, that the doc- tors w mal demand of the board for an in- e in wages from the present $100 | per ‘month to $200 per month and], $75 for the use of _ their cars for which they are not remunerated. Sullivan also assailed the capitalist press for the slurs it cast on the city | doctors when the fact of their organ- izing into a union became news. Lo al papers had charged that the dia | gnosticians were not competent doc- Yors. Sullivan said he and the mem bers of the new union were proud to be part of the organized labor move- ment and that so far as doctoring was concerned, they could be classed with the best. Most of Sunday’s meeting of the federation was taken up with the question of the labor radio station and 4 fall half hour was given over to listening to the radio performers sing jazz songs such as “I was Happy Be- cause 1 Made you Cry.” No labor angle was discernable in the perform- ance. Secretary Ed. Nockels made a plea for support to the radio when he said that all the large radio sta- dons were coming under the domina- tion of big interests and that WOFL ‘Was now the only exception to this mile in the middle west. Ford Lay-Offs Give the Lie to the Plan for Five-Day Week (Coninued from page 1) The Studebaker plants shut down for three weeks, the Dodge and the Hud- on plants are working part time and there are rumors that they will soon alose tor the gbalance of the year. ‘There are no accurate statistics avail- able. This is the kind of information which the bosses are not eager to fur- nish. Building Takes Tumble, ‘The building industry which flour- ished in Detroit for many years has during the last few weeks taken quite a tumble. Hundreds of carpenters and hundreds of painters and other building tradesmen are walking the streets looking for jobs. President Frank Martel of the Detroit Federa- tion of Labor and Danfel Collins of the Bricklayers’ Union are in Wash- ington pleading with the Commission- er General of Immigration for more rigid enforcement of the immigration Jaws so that Canadian residents to the number of 15,000, according to them, would be stopped from crossing the Detroit river and working in De- troit, in competition with Detroit workers. The situation would have been ma- terially worse but for the thousands | of former miners who shipped back to the mines which revived as a re-| sult of the British miners’ strike. | However, there are thousands of | workers in front of the employment} offices daily seeking work in vain. These are thousands who have made up their minds to expect nothing un- til after New Year's. They are going | to watch and walt. Such is the situation in the capital @ the automobile industry in the month of December, 1926, a month daring which more than a billion dol-| lars in dividends will be distributed |a fashion, while he was alive. ‘observing the improvement Here Is a picture of Edward L. Doheny, oil magnate, taken In Washing- ton where he Is on trial with Albert B. Fall, former secretary of the interior, who gave away United States oll reserves. ‘ ‘CURRENT EVENTS By T. J. 1, O'Flaherty. (Continued from page 1) and to the profit and glory of the other. t RS. Frances Stevens Hall and her ‘brothers, Henry and Willie Stev- |ens were acquitted by a jury of their | peers of the double murder of the Rey. Hall and his favorite choir girl, Mrs. Eleanor Mills. The clergyman was the husband of Mrs. Hall afier Whiie we do not claim to be prophets, we crave the forgiveness of our readers if we call attention to a prediction made in this column last week after in the portraits of Mrs. Hall, distributed by \the capitalist press. HEN it looked as if the jury might hand the Stevens boys and | Mrs. Hall a noose for a Christmas sift, Mrs. Hall’s picture looked like a Tusty revolver but suddenly there was a change for the better and th¢ lady looked quite angelic, the kind of @ person that no honest jury would suspect of inflicting summary justice on a pair of lovers under a erabap- ple tree. This*column stated that un- der those conditions an acquittal was on the order of the day. It was. INCE his return from the empire conference William Cosgrove, president of the executive council of the Irish Free State has used up con- siderable energy urging the Irish peo- Ple to forget the past unpleasantness with the British government. The result of his observations has been to convince the Irish people that there was dirty work done in Buck- ingham Palace where Cosgrave tasted the royal champagne. The Irish are naturally suspicious and Cosgrave cannot convince them by logic that his words do not spring from an un- purchased soul. Some people don’t object to big things but little things are Hable to irritate them. When Cos- grave and his group sold Ireland to the empire thru the treaty of 1921, the majority of the Irish people did not feel terribly offended but dining with royalty is quite a different mat- ter. as Irish Labor Party is preparing its forces for a general election in the near future. It is to be regret- ted that the Labor Party is too much under the influence of the league of nations’ type of labor politician to ap- Preciate the importance of using the national antipathy to England as a weapon in the struggle of the sub- Ject classes against imperialism. Un- der the leadership of Thomas John- ston, who is featured in the Voice of Labor, (official organ of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union) the Labor Party representa- tives in the Free State parliament have devoted their time to present- ing a dignified opposition to the gov- ernment instead of making a fight, not merely on the theory that the government is “indecent” but from the point of view that the govern- ment is acting as the executive -com- mittee of the ruling class and that it is the duty of a party of labor to \take advantage of every opportunity tp combat capitalism, and its political apparatus. HE official labor movement of Ire- land has little in common with the revolutionary policy of James Con- nolly, tho Connolly was no dogmatist. As Comrade Schuller points out in a recent issue of the Communist Inter- national, official organ of the Comin- tern, Connolly was oue of the first to grasp the importance of revolutionary nationalism in the internationai struggle against imperialism. Con- nolly’s alleged followers in Ireland, those who profess a regard for Con- nolly the person, do not seem to have to the owners of the moans of pro-|any inclination to fellow Cénnolly, duotjon and distribution, the revolutionist, Bie lal OPENSHOPPERS IN BOYCOTT ON ILLINOIS COAL Manufacturers Try to Break Union (Coninued from page 1) coal originate at mines from 400 to 750 miles distant, and is available at an f, 0, b. Chicago price at or below prices on Illinois coal.” Coolidge’s Hand Seen, Attention has been called frequently to the complicity of the Coolidge- packed interstate commerce commis- sion in this anti-union movement. The commission established rate differen- tials favorable to the entry of remote non-union coals into markets normally belonging to Illinois miners. Thus the government has played a role second only to the wage-cutting tactics of the non-union operators. Warns Against Tactics. In July, 1925, before the Chicago Association of Purchasing Agents, Honold: condemned the purchase of coal from other states as uneconomic. He said: “While you may at the pres- ent time, because of the excessive cost and unjustifiably high freight rates to which Illinois coal is subjected, be able to figure an equality of value, f. 0. b, your plant, on outside coal as compared with the average Illinois coal, you are still the loser because you increase thereby the cost of Illi- nois and as a result the ultimate cost of all coal at your plant, Lessens Purchasing Power. “To the extent also that eastern coal purchases shall take money away from Illinois mining districts and send it to eastern non-union districts,” he con- tinued, “all Illinois business suffers, since all the large number of supplies that move to Illinois mines is reduced. The loss is direct and positive. The payroll disbursement at various [Ili- nois mines showed a shrinkage in 1924 as compared with 1923 of slightly more than 25 per cent. In dollars and cents this amounts to something over $35,000,000.” Still Exists, The situation described by Honold still persists. Illinois production in the eight months ended Oct. 31, 1926, was 38,724,051 tons, a monthly aver- age of about 4,591,000 tons or about half capacity. Honold, who belongs on the operator side, condemng the situation as uneconomic from the point of view of linois business. The big purchasers of coal are fol- lowing the dictates not of good busi- ness but of the open-shop movement, which aims at destroying the, miners’ union, NAVY HEA GAGS | WITNESS IN OIL CONSPIRACY CASE | Wilbur Would Prevent Trial Testimony (Special te The Daily Worker), WASHINGTON, Dec, 5.—Secretary of Navy. Wilbur is. attempting to pre- vent the navy department’s connec: tion in the Fall-Doheny oil conspiracy being divulged im the trial here, it has developed. Government jattorneys re- to Admiral John K, Robison, defense witness, to refrain from giving any testimony on anything he learned in his capacity as an officer of the United States navy, . Glves Robison Letter ’ ‘When Robison entered the court- room to testify in the case he was met by Wilbur, who handed him an envelope, containing the following command: “You are hereby directed as @ witness that you cannot disclose any confidential information that came into your possession as an officer Lad the navy.” May Be Defense Strategy. Two possible reasons for Wilbur’s action are seen by court observers. One is that Robison knows facts that will incriminate both Fall and Doheny, former secretary of navy. The other that this is merely an attempt of the defense to build up their case that the oil leases were granted Doheny because of the fear of war with Japan. Claim War Scare, The defense is basing most of its defense on the latter reason, They claim that Japan was arming against the United States, and development of the oil leases was necessary for the national defense, The defense has con- tended thruout the trial that Fall and Doheny were “patriots and should be eiven medals for their actions instead of being forced to submit to a criminal trial.” The government counsel scouts the war scare defense. It points out that the leases were signed after the sen- @te had already ratified the Washing- ton four-powers arms treaty for peace in the Pacific, arid that the govern- ment had no fear of “war with Japan.” Made to Testify. Judge Hoehling ruled that Wilbur could not prevent Robison from testi- fying, and said that it could not be claimed that the oil testimony would divulge “high state secrets.” Robison testified that it was de@ided to give Doheny the oil lease because he promised “to come to the aid of the country _and place il in the Ha- waiian Islands to be in case of war with Japan.” Patriotism Profitable, The government attacked this at- tempt to paint Doheny as doing a patriotic deed by revealing that the lease provided for huge profits for Doheny’s oil company, Robison answered questions in re- gard to the navy department’s fears only under compulsion of the court. Judge Hoehling declared that the court would assume responsibility for di- vulging of “state secrets.” Wisconsin inet to Refuse ditions Imposed on ming WASHINGTON, Dec, 2-—The west- ern insurgents in the house never will don the mantle of party regularity if they are forced to abide by the caucus system, members of the Wisconsin delegation annowdnced. This answer to intimations of re- publican leaders that the insurgents would be restored to committees from which they were expelled if they enter party caucuses, somewhat dimmed the possibilities of the impending senate armistice spreading to the house, “I will never enter into an agree- ment to bind myself in advance on a vote,” declared Representative Henry A. Cooper, fhe dean of the insurgent band. \ “Moreover, I think, that any mai who does so violates his oath of office. The insurgents will demand their right to be considered as republicans, but will make no lures to the majority, it was declared by Represen- tative James A, Fresr, also of Wis- consin, Use your brains and your pen to ald the workers in the class struggle, Soviet Puts Flag on Herald Island : Near Alaska; Proclaims Sovereignty MOSCOW, Dec, 3.—The Soviet polar expedition, aboard the ship Stavropol, has raised the Soviet flag on Herala Tsland, near Alaska, and Soviet sov- ereignty has been affirmed over the island, the foreign office announced today, The foreign office announces that a previous expedition Had removed ali foreign flags from the island and that the action taken by the present expe- dition excludes the possibility of fu- ture attempts by the United States or Great Britain to claim the isiand, U, S, Passes Up Protest. WASHINGTON, Dec. 3,—-The state dopartment has no present intention of protesting Soviet occupation of Her- ald Island, which’ near Wrangel Island, it was red today. No Americans are on | island, PARIS LABOR LEADERS ASK INTERVIEW WITH GOV, FULLER OF MASS. (Special to The Dally Worker) PARIS, Deo. 3-—A number of la bor and Communiat leaders have written to Governor Fuller of Massa- chueetts asking for an interview, when they may present a plea for leniency in the cas®s of Sacco and Vanzetti, al Communists, sen- tenced to In Massachusetts, Governor Fuller is giving the mat- ter hie consideration,'énd may grant the Interviews —s baal serine Parle: vealed that Wilbur had given orders | Be Made to HIS week, Saturday, December 11, will witness the dedication of” WCFL, “labor’s first radio station” in the United States. It is announced as “a notable event in the history of the labor movement.” The station itself has been estab- lished in one of the ‘huge towers at the far end of the Municipal Pier that juts out into Lake Michigan. The dedication will be held at the Ashland Auditorium, the home of the Street Carmen’s Union. oe 8 There should be considerable food for thought for Chicago’s workers in the presence of Mayor William Dever at the dedication. It was Mayor Dever’s police who beat up the pickets in the last strike of the International Ladies’ Garment Work- ers’ Union, arresting many of them. Dever'’s friends, the bosses’ judges, sent the pickets to jail, and Dever’s friends, the north side jailers, kept them behind bars, the last of the prisoners being only recently re- leased. This has been repeated on a lesser scale in every industrial struggle that has taken place in Chi- cago during the time that Dever has been in office. In Saturday's dedi- cation, Dever typifies the ruling class taint that dangerously poisons the whole organized labor move- ment, tending to paralyze it against effective class action. The Chicago labor officialdom invites rather than fights this pernicious influence, - ee “WCFL” can only become an ef-~ fective publicity médium for the working class when it develops in- to a “labor radio” actually fighting the battles of the workers. It does not do this atthe present time. In fact, on listening in on the programs+ of the “WCFL,” with its jazz and din, it is difficult to differentiate be- tween what it has to offer and what is put on the air by any other broad- casting station, The advertised “Chicago Federation of Labor Hour,” 6 to 6:30 o'clock, which is supposed to be given over to some message to the workers, !s usually filled in with music or other attractions, It hardly ever gets beyond the printed program. It is usually a dead let- ter. When it is taken advantage of occasionally, the offerings are not such as to enthuse any numbers of workers. E. A. Brabandt, business representative of the Retail Furni- ture SaleSmen’s Union, for instance, is advertised for a talk at 6 o'clock, Thursday, Dec. 9. He is the only speaker announced for the whole week, It may be taken for granted that he will not say anything of in- terest beyond the immediate con- fines of his own organization, with the result that the’ busy housewife, preparing supper, or the tired work- er returning from the day's toil, will switch on something lively from one of the other stations; i This does not mean that there are not messages of broad interest that organized labor has ready and eager for delivery to the broadest masses of the workers. But, first of all, it is necessary to develop a position separate and apart from that championed by the dominant ruling class. Statement of the Central Committee of the, Wor brs pce Party. ecu ve Yomi of the In- oat jon. bor Defense has is- sued an §ppeal for contributions to a Christmas\ Fund ‘for relief of class. war prisoners and their dependents, The central committee of the Work- ers (Communist) Party, endorses the appeal of the International Labor De- fense ‘and urges all members of the party and all workers to give the ef- fort of the International Defense to bring cheer to valiant fighters be- hind prison bars who have been sin- sled out by the capitalists because of thelr part in the class Struggle, The fact that ther ‘are. 50 workers behind prison bars of their part in the class ) in the United States is evidence of the na- ture of the struggle which the work- ers are fighting. It shows that the capitalist slogan of “peace and pros- perity” is a myth, It proves that cap- italists maintain their system of ex- ploitation and oppression only thru force—thra throwing behind prison bars those who too openly challenge their robbery of the workers. Today capitalism singles out the most mill- tant of the workers fighting in the workers’ interests to stifle their yolces’ behind prison bars, To morrow it may again, as it did in 1919, resort to mass arrests and persecution E ‘those who lead the fight against ex; and oppression of the workers, For the class struggle fighters be- Pipe, prinon. hare aie 1 ae: Crpaeen q i! Really Serve the Workers Effectively By J, LOUIS ENGDAHL. This is especially true) for in- stance, in the parllamentary strug- gle. The officialdom now directing the fortunes, or misfortunes of la- bor’s radio, are tied up to the cap- italist parties. The only speeches made by officeholders, or office seek, ers over “WCFlg” so far as we know, have been made by old party poli- ticians, That is enough to make the ordinary worker gag. He can get enough of that from every point of the compass. Labor's radio must become an in- strument for developing the workers’ independent political power—the La- bor Party. It must attack all the vital issues @Onfronting the work- ers from the workers’ class stand- point. Instead of permitting Mayor Dever to speak at the dedication Saturday, somé labor speaker might’ well open the spring mayoralty cam- paign with labor's attack on the crimes of the Dever administration. That would help make the workers realize that they have a fight of their own on their hands, and that they are not merely a tolerated ap- pendage to one of the capitalist par- ties, sneered at and reviled. 7 2 @ “WCFL” did broadcast one speech by a representative of the striking British coal miners, and another speech by a spokesman for the Pas- saic strikers. The former event took place when the British strike was four months old, while the latter’ talk got on the air only after the Passale struggle had been on for more than eight months. This shows @ lack of support for workers’ strug- les that have engaged the earnest attention of the whole working class. On May 1 and ever since, the Brit- ish general strike and the British coal strike have interested this whole nation. It was not until the latter days of August that it got on Chicago’s labor radio. During the bitterest hours, of the Passaic strike the radio was silent. se. 6 Similarly in every labor struggle, No word is sent out, no “S, 0. 8.” call issued on the Sacco-Vanzetti ease, altho Chicago labor. officials speak at a Sacco-Vanzetti protest meeting. The other class-war pris- oners, like Tom Mooney and Warren Billings, are unnoticed. The Chi- cago Federation of Labor takes a laudable stand against the visit to this country of the terror queen of Roumania, byt does not use its only means of publicity tospreadits view- Point. It supports the campaign for the protection of the foreign-born, officially, but not actually. There is enough material to furnish daily a crowded “Chicago Federation’ of Labor Hour” if the radio is allowed- to speak as it should. eee The dedication of “labor's first radio station” Saturday will be an event in its way. The day will be notable, however, when this radio is developed into an effective weap- on in the workers’ struggle, and not until then, is To accomplish this change is the task of the mass of Chicago labor, that not only pays for the broadcast- ing station, ‘but also purchases the receiving sets to get what “WCFL” to offer, ) ee Jouant orccinn SHORT SESSION — OF CONGRESS IN SESSION TODAY Not Much. Expected of Lameduck Gathering WASHINGTON; ‘Dac. 5.—As lame : lame duck congress that has ever met will convene Here Monday, the last session of the sixty-ninth con- gress. The session wil jast three months, being forced to adjourn by constitutional provision on March 4. Won't Do Much. No great faith is placed in what the session will accomplish, a conscious effort being made by leaders of all factions to prevent anything of an im- portant nature being done. Regular republicans and* reactionary demo- crats insist that there is no time for anything except appropriation bills and ‘consideration of the Coolidge- Mellon tax reduction proposals. They are attempting to steer clear of every- thing connected with farm relief le- gislation, May Force Extra Session, Advocates of farm relief threaten to filibuster on the appropriation bills in case. farm relief is blocked, in or- der to force an extra session. If the extra session is called the regu- lars will not have the excuse of, “no* timey to prevent discussion of tarm relief. Some of the matters slated for ac tion, include ‘appropriations, tax re- duction, the allen property claims, wa- terways and harbors legislation, and prohibition, Plan Coal Legislation. Mt is reported that an effort will be made to pass legislation to give the president power to act in case of a coal strike. This power fs in- corporated in a bill to be introduced by Sen. Copeland of New York. This bill has been approved by the com- mittee on labor and education, A propaganda campaign is now being conducted to create public opinion in favor of such legislation. eee a). unk rssed Americans Are Given Coftcession to Hunt “for Gold in Siberia MOSCOW, Dec, 8, — Four: Amer- icans have been awarded an agree- ment by the concessions commissariat of the Soviet government. to explore for gold in a specified area in Hast- ern Siberia until March, 1928, It is stipulated that if results are satistac- tory the Americans will be given a 20-year concession on terms requiring a minimum annual production of 360 pounds of gold, The Americans are T. P. Lord, R, EB. Hiswalf, D, A, Hammerschmidt, and E, C, Becker. Canton Holds Britain Responsible for Lives of Students Arrested’ ‘ * (Continued from page 1.) ernment, @n attitude that seems con trary to the p rinciples of interna tional law and the rights of our, peo- ple.” It assails the British action as a “crime against humanity and a will- ful and deliberate pronouncement by the British authorities in China against the national aspirations of the people of China.” Every Worker should read The American Worker Correspondent. The latest issue is off the press. Send In your subscription now. 60 cents a year source of Guittes and strength to stand up under the persecution of the capitalists than to know that they have not been forgotten by those for whom and with whom they are fight- ing. To know that the struggle goes on, that others stand in their places carrying on the fight, this is what steels the spirit of the working class victims of capitalist persecution. Thru sending to each class war prisoner some little means of comfort to brighten their hard and barren sur- roundings, thru, contributions to the dependents of these victims of the class struggle, the International La- bor Defense will give a concrete ex- pression to working class fighters be- hind prison bars that they have not forgotten, that the fight for a better Illinois Farmers Are Denied Electricity by Hogging of of Franchises (Special to The Da Daily Worker) SPRINGFIELD, Ill, Dec, 6,—Illinois farms are being left without electric: ity because control of granting of franchises centers in the cites which are thus hubs of power distribution, witnesses told the legislative termina- ble commission in session here. Wisconsin, with fewer farms than pe 4 has more rural electrification and in progressing more rapidly in current to ae bi its permit, Jaw, Dr, B. Waite, Chicago, told Support the I. L. D. Xmas Fund euffering and sacrifice is not in vain, because it inspires others to take up the struggle. The greater the demonstration -of support the more heartening it will be for our comrades, fellow-workers and brothers behind prison bars. The central committee of the Workers (Communist) Party therefore calls up on all workers to rally to the support of the Christmas Fund of the I. L. D., by making generous contributions. to this fund. Make the Christmas Fund an Im- pressive demonstration of solidarity with all the class war prisoners, Stand behind the 1. L. D. in Ite fight for the class war prisoners. Central Committee, Workers (Communist) Party, life for the workers goes on, that their Cc. E. Ruthenbery General Sec’y, He estimated! that an investment of from $125, 000,000 to $150,000,000 would be required to electrify Ilinots farms * needing current, and this investment cannot be made, he sald, without sta- bility and continulty of franchise rights, Fi Hungarian Aristocrats Play Swords BUDAPEST, Hungary, Dec, 8. — A sabre duel ‘was fought in a lonely wood near here today at sunrise be- tween Count Andreas Bethlehn, son of former Premier Bethlen, and Count Paul Almasy, Both duellists fought until count Almasy received a wound in hig sword hand, The duel was the outcome of a recent peer in a night - club b®