The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 11, 1926, Page 6

THE DAILY WORKER THE DAILY WORKER Published by the DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO. 1143 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, Il. Phone Monroe 4713 Safa el a aida aed least SUBSCRIPTION RATES By mail (in Chicago only): By mail (outside of Chicago): $8.00 per year $4.50 six months | $6.00 per year $3.50 six months $2.50 three months $2.00 three months Address all mail and make out checks to THE DAILY WORKER, 1113 w. Washington Bivd., Chicago, Ill, ——————. J, LOUIS ENGDAHL \ WILLIAM F, DUD Editors BERT MILLER jusiness Manager Entered as second-class mail September 21, 1923, at the post-office at Chi- cago, Ill, under the act of March 3, 1879. Advertising rates on application, eB» 290 The “Save the Union” Program and Leadership Is the Hope of the U. M. W. of A. blo¢ in the United Mine Workers headed | will receive a big majority of the votes of the mem: | December 14 John L. Lewis has admitted in conference with other ‘y s, among whom was Vice-President Matthew Woll of the American Federation of Labor, in New York, recently, that} the membership will not support him and that Brophy will defeat him in votes cast. The “Save the Union” by John Brophy, bership on Tuesday, President ’ reactionary offic The union is in danger, but it can overcome allits difficulties and be made into the unbeatable weapon of the coal miners only if the fighting policy advocated by the “Save the Union” bloe is put into effect by honest, capable and courageous officials. Lewis has only one of the qualifications—courage—and that s displayed for the most part in a blustering attack on all those who teil the miners that his policy of desertion of unorganized mine who fought side by side with the union, persecution and expulsion of the best fighters in the union like Alex Howat, agreement with the | coal operators to starve 200,000 miners out of the industry, sabotage | of the organization work in the non-union fields, neglect to fight for | the enforcement of the contract, surrender of the check-off and accept- ance of arbitration in the anthracite, cannot build but must in-| evitably destroy the union. Conventions of the U. M. W. of A. have endorsed a labor party and nationalization of the mines. It is the official policy of the union. Lewis has not only done nothing to put them into practice but has fought them. 200,000 members have administration. The contract expires next spring. been lost to the union under the Lewis The union faces a fight for its life. | It must organize the non-union fields—bring them out on strike with the union fields or take a big wage reduction. Can Lewis lead the union successfully in such a situation? His whole record proves that he cannot. Elect the the Union” candidates, fight for honest elec tions, carry the to the convention, prepare the union for vic torious str le next April. c The life of the union depends upon the militant miners. They must save it and build it and they will—in spite of everything thc Lewis machine can do. How Mexico Can Get Peace resident Calles of Mexico, replying to a question put to him by according to a dispatch sent out by the 6. has made a stinging answer to the Mexico by the American imperialist the reply is Militant nationalism and newspaper man, Times December campaign carried on press. The ul tenor Calles concludes follows: I am sure that if instead of holding such ideals I would devote myself to the easy task of continuing the work of Porfirio Diaz, backing only the rich of my country, scorning the poor, | shooting the working men, squandering abroad the products of the land, paying papers to praise me and cultivate sterile flat- tery, I would obtain the false title of pacifier of this country and rebuilder of the nation. The similarity between this utterance and those of spokesmen of the Chinese national liberation movement will be noted. More} and more the leaders of the national revolutionary movements in| the colonial and semi-colonial countries tend to speak in the same tone as the front against imperialism grows. The hostility of the American state department to the Mexican government is the result of this attitude which expresses first in an attempt, not always successful, to restore the natural resources of the country to the nation, and second, by trying to raise the general socia], political and economic level of the masses. Even if allowed to retain their hold on the natural resources of the country the imperialists would still make war on the national governments who seriously try to raise the living standards of the masses and teach them the fundamentals of political thinking. The | conflict with the catholic church arises from this latter policy. The prerequisite for profitable imperialist exploitation is a dis- organized and backward class and peasant population with a low standard of living which can be used in procuring raw materials at wages greatly below those prevailing in the imperialist country. against of gene Searles, Editor of U.M.W.A. Journal, > Ba Who Never Belonged to a Union, Berates Communist Union Men By WILLIAM F, DUNNE, N the December 1 number of the United Mine Workers’ Journal, the official organ of the coal miners’ union, edited by Ellis Searles, a journalist who received his training on the capi- talist press and who is not now and never was a member of the United Mine Workers, there appears two arti- cles attacking the “Save the Union” bloc in the U, M. W. A, which is op- posing tha,Lewis machine and its poli- cies. One of the articles, signed by Vice- President Murray, attempts to prove |that John Brophy, president of Dis- trict 2, who is running against Lewis, is inconsistent—that he does not prac- tice what he preaches. This article will probabty be answered by Brophy and as all the inconsistencies charged have been carried out by Brophy un- der orders from President Lewis, they are of importance only as proving the hypocritical character of the election literature put out by the Lewis ma- chine, HE second. article, unsigned, and therefore in all probability written by Ellis entitled, “Warning f 1 is directed princi- pally against the Communists, The writer of the article referred to | carefully avoids any discussion of | pol either the policy advocated by 'the Communist members of the union of the policy of the Lewis machine. There are probably, two reasons for this, the first being that the editor of the United Mine Workers’ Journal does not know what the policy of the Communists or the present policy of the United Mine Workers is, and, sec- ond, that if he does, he would not | dare to compare the two item by item because he would be making propa- | ganda for the Communists and the left wing. For deliberate misstatements, half- truths, distortions and actual lies, this article is hard to beat. The first state- ment is: A gang of Communists and other reds recently published a paper at Springfield, Il, which they called The Coai Miner. The purpose of this gang and their paper is to so weaken the United Mine Workers of America that this union may be gobbled up by the Communists and the Workers Party and turned over into the hands of the Bolshevists of Russia, J\HE only comment necessary on L this statement is that if the Com- nunists really wanted to weaken the United Mine Workers they would not be fighting John L. Lewis and his pol- icies. A loss of 200,000 members in a little over two years and the destruc- tion of the union in West Virginia is enough weakening in this space of time to satisfy anyone who really de- sires it. The Communists fight the Lewis machine for the reason that it is de- stroying the union and placing it at the mercy of the coal operators, HE next statement of any moment is that + Th€ Coal Miner is the paper Alpert F-_Saxle, editor of the Brothe d of Locomotive Engi- neer' ‘nal, said in his notorious letter toa P Powers Hapgood, would sooh be started with $30,000, which would be furnished by “wealthy friends.’” The verbatim report of the A, F. of L, convention proceedings, giving this letter as it was read there, re- fers to The National Mine, not The Coal Miner. As for Powers Hapgood, he is a member of the United Mine Workers, employed in a mine at Gallitzin, Penn- sylvania, The Coal Miner is financed solely by subscriptions and donations and a query to Mr. Guynon, the printer in whose shop The Coal Miner is pub- lished, results in a reply that the pa- per, a modest eight-page sheet, one- half newspaper size, owes him in the neighborhood of $400 dollars, This would seem to dispose of the “ Those who think that Wall Street and its instrument, the state | “wealthy friends” issue, department, would cease their efforts to weaken, divide and conquer Mexico if that country would agree to allow American capitalists to retain all their concessions, are mistaken and badly mistaken. Mexico would have to also agree to allow the unrestricted ex- ploitation of the masses. By agreeing to these two conditions, Mexico can have peace—the peace of slavery that is the lot of a conquered nation rich in natural resources, President Calles is correct. HE further statement occurs: They insolently declare that their Purpose is to “Save the Union,” altho they are well aware that the policies which they preach would destroy the unlon-within one year and make it an easy victim of the Russian Bolshevists, It will occur at once to every coal miner, that granting, for the sake of If he will follow the policy of |argument, the childish statement that lutcher Diaz, who sold the Mexican masses to the imperialists, the|‘"® “Russian Bolshevists” want to \merican imperialist press will hail him as a great and good states- take over the United Mine Workers of America, the danger to the U. M, man and send gunboats and marines to fight for him instead of|w. 4. just now is from the coal bar- against him. American imperialism might under these circumstances even al- low him to extend his government over Nicaragua. ons—that portion of the American cap- italist class which is directly inter- ested in destroying the union, Two questions to the writer of the The Calles government is not a Communist government or even | article will make this clear: « working class government, But it is so far at least a defender of Who and what destroyed the U. M. ihe Mexican masses against American imperialism and as such|W. A. in West Virginia, Kentucky, vhould receive the support of the American labor movement in all|Te2messee and in the coking coal ' its branches. That it seems to be trying to organize a Latin-American bloc against American domination is a matter for congratulation. It is an indication that the Latin-American countries are realizing who and what their principal enemy is. SEND IN A SUB FOR THE DAILY WORKER! ‘ BR’ "3 fields of western Pennsylvania? Was it “Russian Bolshevists” or a combination of coal operators and wrong policies on the. part of the Lewis machine? tig to the policies advocated by The pre A hich the writer says are Com gt thoy we see no reason. iat they are approved Mi ” ~ % 6 at by Communists as policies for the United Mine Workers. As a matter of fact, many of them, like nationali- zation of the mines and the organiza- tion of a labor party, have been en- dorsed by the U. M. W. A. in conven- tion. The editor of the United Mine Workers’ Journal does not dare to state what these poliéies are. Ae cer- tainly knows, becdu$e they are no secret, They are“published in two boxes in the upperfcorner of the first page of The Coal Miner. HEY are : pe No wage cut. +?» Organize the nof-union fields. Clean out the corruptionists. Nationaljze the’ mines, No surrender of the check-off. Short-term joint: contract for the anthracite and bituminous fields. Honest elections.: Democracy in the union, Abolish the operators’ influence. Union job control. Support formation of a party, , Reinstatement with full rights of Alex Howat and ail others unjustly expelled. Will the editor of the United Mine Workers’ Journal please explain to a waiting world, and especially to coal miners, how these policies “would de- stroy the union within one year?” ‘S the editor of the United Mine Workers’ Journal opposed to “no wage cut?” To organizing the non- union fields? To cleaning out corrup- tionists? To honest elections? To abolishing influence of the coa) opera- tors in the union? To union job con- trol? To democracy in the union? If the editor of the. United Mine Workers’ Journal {s suith a stickler for “the ideals of the trade union move- ment,” why does he Say that a labor party and nationalization of the coal snines, endorsed by conventions of the U. M. W. A. would “destroy; the union?” E know, of course, that the editor of the Journal is opposed to the reinstatement of Alex Howat and all others unjustly e: d. It is to be expected he would be, never having belonged to a union and being simply labor a hired agent of John L. Lewis, for | whom he works .the same as he| worked for the capitalist press before he got his present, job. But he will find, if, rather “hard to prove how the reinstatement of Alex Howat would destroy, the union. The Kansas miners, 90 per cent of whom nominated Howat for district presi- dent this year, do not think it would. Napa dae statement is: As far as can be learned, there are no coal miners, connected with the publication of, The Coal Miner, except one man, whose name ap- pears as dummy editor. This man claims to be a member of the union, but he has no standing in the United Mine Workers of America. The miner whose name appears as “dummy editor” is Frank Keeney, for- mer president -of District 17, West Virginia, the man who led the min- ers’ march in 1922, who was framed-up by the coal barons of West Virginia and tried for murder, This is the man whom Ellis Searles, whose experience in the struggles of the union consists of drawing his pay check from the international union, says, “has no standing in the union.” doubt if Searles would dare to make this statement to Frank Kceney’s face or to any meeting of rank and file miners. He would not dare to make it in the West Virginia } elds to miners who were left to their tate by the Lewis machine after one oj the most heroic struggles in the history of the American labor move- ment. The article continues: In addition to The Coal Miner... the same outfit has issued a pam- phiet entitled, “A Larger Program for the Miners’ Union”... The name of John Brophy appears on the front page as the writer of the pamphlet ... The pamphlet makes a violent attack on the principles and policies of the United Mine Workers of America. HAVE read this pamphlet as it has appeared in The Coal Miner, and nowhere can be fownd an “attack on the principles and policies of the United Mine Workers of America.” There is, however, a very able criti- cism of the policies of the Lewis ma- chine and of the methods by which theyrare carried out. But since when has John L. Lewis been the United Mine Workers of America? In addition to criticism, the pam- phlet advocates the same program for the union as does The Coal Miner, and to which we Mave seen Kditor Searles can have no possible objection if he wants the U. M. W. A. to be the union of all the coal miners on this conti- nent. HEN Editor Searles becomes indig- nant because John Brophy criti- cizes him because no opinion contrary |to that held by the Lewis machine is ‘allowed to get into the official journal of the union, which is paid for by the miners—and not by Editor Searles, It is notorious that no rank and file expression on policy ever finds its way into the journal, Editor Searles tries to cVade this criticism by as- serting that “the reds of New York City” have tried to use the Journal “for the promotion of their destructive schemes.” Just how the “reds of New York City” could use the official organ of the U. M, W, A, is a mystery to which it appears Editor Searles alone holds the key. He might at least have spe- cified just when and how such at- tempts were made. Editor Searles is alarmed. Some- one else besides the Lewis machine has the ear of the membership. He says: Active, avowed Communists have been and are holding meetings in various sections of the country, Preaching their doctrine of destruc- tion of the United Mine Workers as a trade union. Some of these Com- munists have delivered speeches in District 1, of the anthracite region and elsewhere, DITOR SEARLES. must have de- struction on the brain. In the first place the U, M. W, A. is not a “trade union” but an “industrial union.” It takes in all workers in and around the mines, whether they be miners, machinists, boilermakers, elec- triclans or engineers. It is impossible to destroy the U. M. W. A. as a trade union because it is an industrial union —a form of organization of which Communists approve and for which they are working in other unions, What the Communists are seeking to destroy is the operators’ influence in the union and the deadening in- fluence of the Lewis machine and methods in the union, Editor, Searles must have rather barren sources of information, since he is able to mention only the anthra- cite specifically as a place where Com- munists arte working for the “Save the Union” program and ticket. HERE are many Communists in the United Mine Workers and they are active in the union, as they are in all unions. They want strong, fight- ing unions with honest and able lead- ership so that the wages of the work- ers can be raised, job control estab- lished, the workers trained in the schoo] of class-conscious unionism and the mass power of the workers or- ganized to take control of industry and government in the interests of the workers as @ class. Editor Searles does not believe in the working class or in a workers’ and farmers’ government. It is for this reason that he denounces every step of the rank and file of the miners’ union to a better understanding of the class struggle and more control of their union as “destructive.” What Editor Searles means is de- structive to agents of the bosses in the unions, to capitalism and wage slavery, Editor Searles is opposed to the de- struction of these things, and cdnse- quently he is opposed to the interests of the U. M. W. A. membership. The Fight for the F oreign-Born The ivinecneae National Council for Protection of Foreign-Born Work- ers, whose office is at 41 Union Square, New York, issues thé following con- cise data on legislation aimed at work- ers who happen to ha¥e been born out- side of this country ‘and incidentally at the whole working class: Bills proposing to wipe out elemen- tary rights guaranteed the workers of this country by the constitution of the United States, namely, the right of unfettered “pursuit of life, liberty and happiness,” hallowed by historical dec- larations such as the Declaration of Independence, have at various times in the history of this country been brought before the United States con- gress, Once again at this time a series of most un-American measures are be- fore the United States congress, pro- posing the registration, finger-printing and photographing of foreign-born workers, President Coolidge and Secretary of Labor Davis are vigorous champions of these vicious antiplabor laws. These bills, if enacted into law, will bring into the United States the black- est practices of Russian czarism and Prussian militarim, ¢ One of these bills,“bill No, HR-5583, introduced by Congtéssman Aswell of Louisiana, and now’ pending before congress, provides for the registration of aliens and for other impositions, Section 2 of this’ bill states thar “every alien in the Utited States shall within the time fixed’ by the president, in a proclamation mide by him, within 90 days after the ‘ehactment of this act, register as provided in this act. An alien under 16 years of age may be registered by parent or guardian.” Section 4 of the same bill stat “Upon the initial registration of each allen who has reached the age of 21 years, he shall pay to the officer regis- tering him a fee of $10, and for each subsequent registration he shall pay a fee of $5." Section 6 of this bill further pro- vides that even témporary absence from the district in which he is regis- tered must be , and a com- plete statement of his activities must be made toa mont official, d his certificate of identifica one of the department of the department of labor, or an officer designat the presiden Recall the h; ricalfdays of the war and the’viciousyess of this se€tion becomes at once Section 13 em; to require all or to report at such time and such places as he shall fix. The foreign born constitute a ma- jority of the workers employed in the basic industries, The low wages they receive and the oppressive conditions junder which they labor have in the |past, and will again in the future, jdrive them to strike. With the arbi- trary power placed in the hands of the president by this section, the’ presi- dent can break any strike, by the sim- ple expedient of requiring the aliens who are striking to “report at a time and place which he shall fix.” Re- fusal to obey carries with it deporta- tion, Section 17 authorizes the secretary of labor to empower anyone to enter any place and demand any informa- tion necessary to carry out the pro- visions of this act, and to arrest or detain any persons who refuse him j entry or refuse to give such informa- tion, Section 20 provides that any for- eign-born worker violating the pro- visions of this act shall be fined up- ward of $5,000 or imprisoned upward to two years, and upon completion of the sentence shall be immediately taken into custody and immediately deported. This legislation 1s a direct threat against the entire working class of this country. It is a threat against the trade-union movement. It wouid drive a wedge between the foreign- born and the native workers. It would segregate the foreign-born and, under the threat of deportation, use them as a club to batter down the standard of living. Workers of the United States, do your part in defeating this vicious legislation, Remember that this bill is only one of a number of similar na- ture. Do not allow yourselves to be divided along nationalistic nes, The bill is a blow at American as well as foreign-born workers. Answer the attack of the open shoppers by organizing Councils for the Protection of the Foreign-Born, or join the coun- cils already in existence, “Tiefland” to Feature Sixth Week of Civic / Opera in Chicago The sixth week or the Civic Opera season at the Auditorium Theater will bring the long promised production of “Tiefland” by Eugen d’Albert, an opera that has gained universal po- pularity in Europe. The two-thous- andth performance of “Tiefland” was recently celebrated in Berlin, and the opera was chosen as the season's premiere for five of the leading opera houses in Austria and Germany where it ranks in popularity with “Carmen.” Lik armen” the opera has a Span- ish setting and the plot is taken from Guimera’s novel, “Marta of the Low- lands.” This opera will give Chicago its first opportunity to hear Claudia Muzio sing a role i ish, for “Tiefland” will be si “ih verne cular a Friday evening the company will be in Milwaukee for a performance of “Tristan and Isolde,’ but will return Saturday, (Dec, 11) for a matinee per- formance of “Aida.” Saturday evening. (Dee. i1) will bring the farewell appearance of Toti Dal Monte in “Lucia de Lammermour,” Sunday matinee, (Dec. 12) will at every (Copyright, 1926, by Upton Sinclatr.) ’ In truth the land of the pilgrim’s + Pride no longer existed; in its place was the land of the millionaire’s glory. When a moving picture star went East, with or without a para- ™mour, she always left by daylight, and her publicity man saw to it that the newspapers published the time and place. There would be shout- ing thousands, and policemen to hold them back, and cameras click- ing, and armfuls of flowers to let everybody on the train know who was who. There would be crowds station, calling for a glimpse of their darling; and if she had an oil prince traveling in the Same compartment.that was not a scandal, it, was a romance, And when they got to New York, there was another crowd, conjured into being by the efficient publicity machine of Schwolsky-Superbs. At the hotel there were péople waiting, and more armfuls of flowers, and a dozen reporters demanding inter- views. And with all that free ad- vertising for the hotel, was any of- ficious clerk or house detective go- ing to concern himself with the ques- tion of whether or not the connect- ing door between the two suites was kept locked? And with a personage of such manifest authority as J, Ar- onld Ross traveling along, and beaming his approval on the situa- tion? Dad’s face was as good as a dozen marriage certificates at any hotel in the land! For the old man this journey was just peaches and cream all the way; a vicarious jag, with no “hang-over” the next morning. He insisted upon paying all the bills; and he had his secretary along, so everything just happened by magic—train accommo- dations, hotel suites, taxicabs, flow- ers, candy, theater tickets—you hed only to hint a wish, and the thing was there. What more could there be to add to mortal bliss? Only that Vee would have liked to eat a square meal now and then, and to have spent the morning in bed, in- stead of having to keep an appoint- ment to “reduce” at a gymnasium! They saw the world premiere of “Come-Hither Byes” Possibly you have never been to college in Amer- ica, and do not understand our lively ways of speech; s0 let it be ex- plained that sometimes the eyes of “co-eds” have been observed to pos- sess, whether from natural endow- ment or by practice acquired, a cer- tain. quality suggestive to the male creature of an impulse to proximity, A delicious title, you see; and a de- licious picture, transporting tired and bored millions into that very same world of glorious money-spend- ing to which Vee and Bunny had been lifted up. The mechanic who had been screwing up nut number 847 in an automobile factory all day, the housewife who had been wash- ing baby diapers and buying shoddy goods in a five and ten-cent store— these were placed in the same posi- tion as Dad, enjoying a vicarious jag with no hang-over the next morning, The scenes at the New York pre miere were the same as in Angel City; the crowds as great, and the cheering an enthusiastic. And Vee and Bunny, sitting up in bed in their silken garments, while black-clad robots silently and mechanically served breakfast on silver trays— Vee and Bunny read the accounts of their triumph, and who had attended and what they had worn. And then, turning over the paper, Bunny read a despatch from Angel City—ten thousand oil workers had walked out on strike, and the industry was tled up tight. The operators an- nounced that they were no longer willing to recognize the oil board, and issued a new wage scale that. was to be taken or left. Trouble was feared, added the newspapers, because it was known that radical agitators had for some time been ac- tive among the men. > (Continued tomorrow.) Books for the Worker’s Shelf LOOKING BACKWARD, by Edward Bellamy. 347 pages. Published by Vanguard Press, Inc., 80 Fifth Ave,, New York City. 50 cents. “Looking Backward” is an old book Everybody has read it—almost every- Wody has been influenced by it; that is, everybody who has been interested in sociologic questions, or been ¢ar- bring the season's first performance | ried along the great stream of radical of the ever popular “Martha,” Monday evening, Jewess” will be Ral ism. And yet, as one re-reads this (Dec, 13) “The | product of young Edward Bellamy, vis- given with Rosa |lonary with a mind for practical detail, one is amazed at its surprising fresh- Tuesday evening “Rigoletto” will be |n¢ss and remarkable applicability to repeated, with Eide Norona. Wednesday evening, “La Sonnam- modern life. The careful unfolding of the mechanism of living in the Utopia bula” will be repeated, with Florence |into which Bellamy suddenly projects Macbeth, his hero is still a stimulant to the in- Saturday matinee the tuneful “Blix. | tellect and as thrilling to the imagina- ir of Love” will be given for the first | tion as a novel, time this season, Saturday evening “Carmen” will be| Every Worker should read The repeated at popular ae Sunday matinee, (Dec. 19) will bring a performance 7 n Pi rovewee” your subseription now. aay American Worker Corre: Issue is off the pi The