The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 15, 1926, Page 5

ZAUSNER TRIES | TO BLOCK PROBE IN MONEY GRAFT ‘Painters’ Unies Appeals “Exoneration” By a Worker Correspondent. NEW YORK, Dec, 13—The latest development in the investigation of the charges preferred by Painters’ jLocal 905 against the officers of Dis- trict Council 9 of Ra ieh York are as follows: The accusing local has appealed to the general executive board of the painters’ brotherhood against the re port of the trial committee, which ‘completely exonerated Phil Zausner, day secretary of District Council No, 9, from all the charges of misappro- priati(in of union funds and miscon- duct of office, It has also preferred ‘mew charges against the same of- ficials, for a conspiracy on their part }to block the investigation of their mis- conduct. International President Hed- rick has appointed a certain Doyle, former business agent of the painters jat Buffalo, and a notorious floor leader jet the brotherhood executive board wm the convention, to examine the ‘books of the accused officials, Doyle is asking the members of the local \paints’ union to take no action until such time as he will be able to give a |¢omplete audit report on the books of the district council, Zausner Cries Frame-Up. Zausner appeared before Local 499 and said that the charges were noth- ‘ing but a frame-up and a political trick to get him out of office. He was answered by Thomas Wright, secre- tary of Local 905, who said that Zaus- mer was blocking every road to an im- partial investigation, that the official books of the district council had been moveil out of the state of New York, and therefore are not available to the prosecution, that even by the meager evidenco of the business minutes he would challenge Zausner to an inves- tigation. by'a public accountant. He -gaid that he and his local would pay the expense of such an investigation ‘if it would prove the accused innocent of the charges, Would Try Violence, A very tense atmosphere prevailed ,thruout the discussion, and at times {it seemed as it the situation had pro- jgressed to a stage of slugging. It “was noticed and commented on by ;the members that were present that Zausner actually had some of the strong-arm forces around him, One of them, a man by name of Fried, who, as handy man to the official ma- chine, ig himself implicated in the graft, made himself conspicuous dur- ing the whole meeting by playing the role of a provocator of violence. It is significant also that the New Leader, a socialist weekly and for- merly a strong supporter of Zausner, is taking a stand against him ‘in its latest issue, in which it prints an ar- ticle condepning the graft in the of- _ fices of the district council. Steelworkers Inspired by Weisbord’s Message By a Worker Correspondent. + YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio, Dec. 13. Albert Weisbord, leader of the Pas saic textile strike, addressed large meetings of steel workers in Mahon- ing Valley and left no doubt in the minds of his listeners that the lessons of Passaic will greatly aid the steel workers when the ever-growing de- jmand for industrial organization is either recognized by the A. F. of L. or the workers themselves organize and demand entrance into the Amer- ican labor movement, The -heroic struggle of the textile workers and their loyality to their class and their union brought forth applause from the steel workers. Heartened by the struggle of the textile workers the steel workers are preparing to take advantage of the lessons learned. COMRADE SHEARS IS A CUT-UP! Clippings, cartoons and articles are coming in from all over the country. Comrade Shears sends them in! \ Comrade Shears is every com- rade in all cities who sends these clippings to help our editorial staff make The DAILY “WORKER the live workingclass paper it 1s. Become a Comrade Shears! Clip what you see in other pay a, ore on anything of interest or, , pal A “CUT-UP WITH A “PURPOSE! 4A THE DAILY WORKER eer ranma cnn once noe 1000 WORKER. CORRESPONPENTS BY JANUARY 13 1927 CHICAGO WORKER RESPONDS TO CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE AND WRITES TO THE WORKERS IN RUSSIA International worker correspondence, the writing “Ot letters by work. ers in America, Russia, France and Germany, telling of industrial conditions in each country, is gaining momentum, The DAILY WORKER i» here print- ing @ letter written by a Chicago worker, James Kreek, that he has sent to Pile, official organ of the Woodworkers’ Union in Moscow. Kreek recently visited in the Soviet Union and caught the spirit of worker correspondence there. He is, therefore, writing and receiving letters in regard to industrial conditions in the United States and in the Soviet Union, Kreek is a mem- ber of the Chicago class in worker correspondence, Kreek's letter follows: Editor Pila, Official Organ of the Woodworkers’ Union, Moscow, Dear Comrade: Two months ago, while in Moscow, I promised the comrades in the office of the central committee of the Wood- workers’ Union that I would write of the life and conditions of the workers in the United States. Upon my arrival I had to look for. a job, and since jobs are not so plenti- ful here as before I left the States in early spring, it took some time before I could concentrate on writing letters. Workers Eager for Facts. I found workers very anxious to learn about the conditions in Soviet Russia in every country I passed on my way back. Especially in Czecho- Slovakia, where I spent most of my time in Burope, every man I met, re- gardless of his political belief, was anxious to find out if the stories writ- ten in the papers about Russia are true. No matter where I was, if peo- ple found out that I had been in the land of the Soviets, I was besieged by questions of all kinds. And my im- pression was that when the full knowl- erge of what is going on in your country gets to the minds of a ma- jority of the workers the world over, capitalism will shake in its founda- tion. More Indifferent Here. The workers in the United States are far more indifferent to Soviets than the workers in Europe. The rea- son possibly is that the American proletariat 1s ‘still economically better off, and also is more efficiently satu- rated with the “democracy” and “free country” bunk. In spite of this, in the factory where I work now every worker I spoke to is glad to hear my report on the con- ditions there.. Almost all are foreign- born and Wo. have very interesting time. The wood carvets in this pic- ture-frame factory—there are seven of us—are working eight hours a day. The rest of the workers labor nine hours. The reason is that we have a union and they have not. A few years back there was an organization of all the workers in the picture-frame industry, but it lasted only about three years. Lack of honest leadership and concen- trated efforts of the bosses broke up the union. These workers, joiners, machine hands, finishers, many thousands of them, are paid very little compara- tively—$16 to $35 a week; while carv- ers in the industry get $1.15 per hour, due to efforts of the union, led by progressive bloc in it. Haven't Learned Lessons Yet. Agitation started by this progres- sive block to take into the organiza- tion ali the other workers engaged in the industry did not meet with suc- cess, due to the ignorance of the mem- bership of the merits of an industrial union as compared to a pure and sim- ple trade union, altho there were sev- eral lessons in the past few years, which showed the incompetency of eae eae See the trade unfon to fight the well- organized bosses. But it seems that American carvers are a lot that never learns its lesson, The membership consists in the main of old members— those that in the nineties considered themselves the aristocrats of labor— and tho the times have changed, they still cannot see tho necessity to take into te organization other workers, even tho they might be “common la- bérers.” Look Down on Unskilled. That is the psychology of the skilled workers.in this country—-their trade pride makes them look upon the un- skilled worker as inferior, and it is the hard work of the progressives within these organizations to break down this barrier to formation of in- dustrial unions, General conditions of the wood- working trade are not yery good. Many cabinet workers are unem- ployed, and the trend is to the worst. About 15 per cent of the employes in the picture-frame industry are women, In other woodworking industries the percentage is lower, They are the lowest paid workers. Need Unskilled. As a whole, the woodworkers, out- side of the building trades, are a very conservative element, especially the older generation, but we hope that with the use of ever better machinery the skilled worker will be forced to realize that he cannot fight his battles without the direct help of the un skilled—and that means an industrial union! The Tools. There are carving machines in all the larger furniture shops, which do away with a great deal of hard carv- ing. They carve out 18 pieces at a time and tho the carver must go over and put the life into the work, 75 per cent of the work is done by machine. Some furniture firms have as many as 10 of these machines, employing from 10 to 30 hand carvers. They turn out an enormous amount of fur- niture, In architectural and special, so- called custom shops the carvers get as much as $1.90 per hour. Big Shops Unorganized. s The biggest furniture shops in Chi- cago are as yet open shops. All ef- forts to organize them 100 per cent failed. The bosses use all their re- sources to prevent the organization of their workers. Enclosed you will find an Interna- tidnal Wood Carver, our monthly journal, for your information as to the statistics of the union, I will write a letter stating my ex- Pperiences in Soviet Russia to this journal, and hope they will publish it, If,you can send a letter in English to this trade union paper about the conditions in the trade over there it would be a very good start towards closer relations of the workers of both countries, Long live the workers’ and peas- ants’ government! Comradely yours, James Kreek, Chicago, Ill. AMERICAN WORKER IN SOVIET UNION TELLS OF ELECTRICAL DEVELOPMENT By JACK HARDY, American Worker of New York Die trict. MOSCOW (By Mail).—In 1920, when Russia was cut off from Baku, and consequently suffered from a se vere fuel shortage, Lenin and other leaders saw very clearly the necessity of replacing coal by electricity as the motive power in the process of social- ist reconstruction, The general plan of reconstruction of industry was, ac- cordingly, based upon electrical power, In December of 1920 a 10 to 15-year plan for electrification was drawn up, providing for 30 power stations. These |were to serve, not local districts or |sitigle enterprises, but whole districts and as wide areas as possible, Four To date four of these “have been completed, while that at Volkovstroy, the largest:im the Soviet Union, is fast drawing near completion and will commence operations during 1927, The latter station fs situated on the Vothova river at a point where it is 160 fathoms deep. A dam 320 feet long has been built across the river, which will cause the water to fall over it for a distance of five fathoms. The capacity of the station will be 40,000 horsepower and it will be able to provide 240,000,000 kilowatt hours per year to Leningrad and the sur roundinibant In Donets Baa, ‘the Donets completion, on Russia during lunch ‘This station, which Kyi already been sufficiently completed to supply power to surrounding districts for a radius of 26 miles, will, when, finished, sup- Ply energy to @ radius of about 65 miles. This will include 58 of the principal mines located in the basin. Spending Much, Within the next five years 639,000,- 000 rubles will be spent by the Soviet Union in electrical construction of power stations, which will have a capacity of 1,278,000 kilowatts, New stations ate being projected for the Ukraine, Svir, Yaroslav, Pskov, Syzran, Kazar, Penza, Astrakhan and in the Urals, In the Transcaucasian republic the construction of 13 stations is contem- plated and work has already been commenced upon six of these, During | the next economic year 2,400 Siberian farms in the Primor district will also be electrified. NEGRO WORKERS BAITED BY COPS IN EAST GHIGAGO Promiscuous Arrests Being Made JOE PLOTKIN. eo ¢, Correspondent) EAST CHI AGO, Ind., Dec, 13.—Be- cause a fewderimes have been com- mitted in whiéh Negroes are said to have been.implicated, the Hast Chi- cago police ie instituted a reign of terror against“ the Negroes. They have begun to arrest every Negro man, womanagd child they meet. No Negro, no matter how law- -abiding, is safe trom thesé'raidors, Denied Rights. The constftutional rights of those arrésted are not considered. They are held unbooked, are denied the right of counsel and held without privilege of communication. Placed in Filthy Jail. Many of the’ innocent arrested are young people, and are cast into cold, filthy jails with, the lowest types of criminals, The conditions in these holes are unsanitary and men sléep on the flood in herds, School Children Made Victims of ‘Drives’ for Capitalistic Work (By a Teacher Correspondent.) NEW YORK, Dec, 13.—In our school our children are being asked to give to another drive for money. . This drive is, of eourse, very timely. We are raising@ftands with which to buy presents “to“flsthe Christmas stock- ings for the siék soldiers., Our school tis: in a very poor sec- tion. work every day; leaving little children at home. Bit ‘the drives never pass us by. tale “Children,”” wrges the teacher for this season’s -drive, “these soldiers are in the hospitals because they were hurt in the big war. This war was fought beforé»any of you were born. Some of thege,men are blind, some deaf, some havé lost an arm or a leg. “Little children, who are going to have a bri Christmas them- Selves, can eat 1) these sitk men to be happy on Christmas Day.” The nickels,and pennies followed this plea. + This is only,one of the many occa- sions for. driyes..We have given to Thanksgiving; in the hospitals, we have brought @ans of condensed milk for Near East relief. We save our pennies for Junior Red Cross, and for Jefferson’s home in Monticello, and also for revels the ship “Old Iron- sides.” Housewives’ Council Protests Firetrap Tenemients in N. Y. C. By a Worker Correspondent. NEW YORK, Dec, 13.—The United Council of Working Class Housewives is protesting ‘against endangering the lives of the workers in the New York tenements. It is planned to have del- egations from all sections of the city march to City Hall to protest to the mayor against firetraps in the work- ers’ quarters. The council was moved to this ac- tion by the occurrence of a series of fires in ancient New York tenements in which many lives of workers and their children were lost. The number of fires is increasing with the age ef the tenements. The frequent fires in Harlem and the re- cent tragedy im Cherry street, where a worker and hig family were burned to death, demand that something be dorie immediately to eliminate fhis scourge. The United Couneil, which protects the interests of working class women, took the’ initiative to set a movement afoot whi¢h will compel the city to teur down the aged and rotten tenement houses, which are virtually falliig apart, and to erect new and safe dwellings at a low rent which the workers will be able to pay. The decision to visit the City Hall was taken at a well-attended protest meeting held py the council in Har- lem, PRIZES TO BE OFFERED THIS WEEK Again, three very aplendid books are offered as prizes for the best worker correspondent stories to be sent in next week. Every worker should have one of these books in his library. Send in that story today! Here are the prizes: 1 ly Heresy,” by Bishop aces a book destived for as great a Popularity as the author's firet one. Cloth-bound, orcas dae natin He Miata Dolson. by every worker, A book to be read TODAY wt Q—"My Flight From Siberia," Leon Trotsky’ famous story. p \ . Most of*otr mothers go out to) Page Five OPTICAL WORKERS ARE DETERMINED TO WIN IN FIGHT Strike Result. of Much Exploitation By JOSEPH SIMINOFF. (Worker Correspondent) NEW YORK, Dec, 13.—Since 1903 the optical workers of New York City have been fighting for the recognition of an optical workers’ union in their industry. They have made three un- )successfil attempts thru strikes to or- ganize the industry under the leader. ship of the American Federation of Labor, On each of these occasions the A. F. of L. has betrayed them and Yeft the workers to the mercy of the bosses, Conditions Grow Worse, The conditions in the industry grew worse. Organization became more and more necessary to the workers to meet the onslaught of the optical board of trade. Altho highly. skilled workers, the average pay of an op- tician is between $30 and $35 a week. Notice has been served by the opti- cal board of trade that the workers will have to accept a wage cut of 20 per cent. This wage cut was headed off by the earnest efforts which the optical workers put into perfecting and preparing their organization for a militant struggle against the bosses, On Nov. 1 @ strike was called by] the union and the entire optical indus- try is tied up. The workers are solid in their determination to stay out until they lick the bosses to a frazzle, Many Out of Jobs in Los Angeles; Facing Army Life or Prison By L. P, RINDAL. (Worker Correspondent) LOS ANGELES, .Dec, 13.—This is written not far from the slave market, Thousands are idle. Very little work to do. Altho the community chest tay proclamation helped some, the charity drive was a failure. Military en looking for recruits are to be m everywhere downtown. Los An- es has had more rain than usual this season, so that, too, ought to help increase the “cannon fodder” harvest a great deal. The whole police force is hunting vagrants. What are you going to do, boys? Join the army, or go to jail? But, before you answer, listen to what Maj. Gen. William J, Snow, chief of field artillery, has to say : “The most vital, the most neglected and the most harmful evil of all those under which the“army is suffering today is living conditions, Criminals in many local jails and most penitentiaries are in- comparably more comfortably housed than is the regular army at many stations,” So, you see, army life is hell—worse than jails and penitentiaries, to say nothing about imperialistic wars, cun- ningly advocated by “Brisbunk” art- ists in the Hearst's press. You won’t join the army now. But why go to jail? It is suggested that you can make enough to tide you over the winter by selling The DAILY WORKER. Order a bundle at once. Department Stores Keep Wages Down by Big Labor. Turnover By a Worker Correspondent. NEW YORK, Dec. 13.—To keep wages at the lowest level New York department stores maintain an elabo- rate employment staff all year round. Daily want ads are also kept the year round in the city’s leading newspa- pers. Sales clerks and office workeys are | paid as low as $13 a week, and $15 is about the average wage. Very few ever reach higher than $20. For this low wage .department store sales clerks and office workers have to work from 9 to 5:30 p. m. six days a week with only three-quarters of an hour for lunch, They are among the lowest paid in the city. The many aisle managers make tt almost impossible to organize by heartlessly intimidating the sales clerks with threats of discharge. The very efficient “employment personnel” department can supply a new worker ‘at a moment's notice, Gurley Flynn Draws Big Crowd in L. A.; Hits Syndicalist Law By a Worker Correspondent. LOS ANGELES, Dec, 13.—Elizabeth ,Gurley Flynn of New York, national ‘chairman of International Labor De- jfense, spoke at the Music-Art hall here, Her subject was “The Defense of the Workers.” The hall was over- crowded, enthusiasm high for the workers’ cause, and the collection amounted to $315. The meeting was held under the joint auspices of the International Labor Defense and the Civil Liberties Union. Miss Flynn covered the ground, past and present, mainly inythe textile in- dustries in the Bast, but did not for- got now and then to put in a “good” word for the homeland of the crimt- nal syndicalam law—California. The wm of Mooney, Billings and the L The Manager’s Corner | & aa. Women as Propagandists Experience has shown that the women comrades play an important part in the effective circulation and distribution of The DAILY WORKER and our literature, in general, We have a number of outstanding ewamples of this thruout the country, such as Sarah Victor, Elsie Pultur, Lena Rosenberg and many others, As our movement grows the success of these comrades will inspire many other women comrades to envuate their example. There are a number of outstanding reasons for this success, Securing subscribers for The DAILY WORKER or read- ers for our literature is slow, laborious work. In most cases it requires individual instead of mass approach. Not only does tt require individual approach but it requires regular and patient follow-up. Many of those who expect to accomplish the revolu- tion with a few bold leaps, have no stomach for this sort of slow but nedessary Jimmie Higgins work. “In work of this kind, re- quiring the utmost patience, oftentimes the most exacting fol- low-up, our women, comrades have been found to excel. By their persistenb effort and determination they have demonstrated the possibility of getting results, of securing readers and sub- seribers for The DAILY WORKER, and buyers for our liter- ature. Sarah Victor, for instance, has managed to run up the sale of The DAILY WORKER to 125 daily at the Ford factory in Detroit. Housewives especially are in a position to be of great service in this important field of Communist activity. Their hours are such as to enable them to be free at lunch hour and at factory closing’ hours when workers in factories can be readily approached. They can do this work easily where the ‘worker inside the factory may rum the risk of wnnecessary dis- \charge, for similar activity. In other words they can be en- cellent co-workers for the comrades inside the factory who are trying to do Communist work. Our women comrades have also been particularly success ful in house-to-house promotion campaigns for our literature. When carried out systematically this sort of work can be profitable not only for the actual sale of literature and the secur- ing of subscriptions, but also for the making of valuable con- tacts for our movement. Sections of the given city or town should be classified according to their adaptability for Com munist propaganda work, on the basis of their proletarian char- acter, whether former socialist, liberal, radical, ete. When house-to-house canvassing is carried on in a systematic organ- ized manner, it ceases to be the bugbear which it has usually been. In fact it can be developed in such a manner that the visit of the local literature agent, becomes a regular procedure, some- thirig to be looked forward to, especially during the dreary winter months. The future growth, of The DAILY WORKER into a masa organ will depend to a large degree upon the energy and ae- tivity of owr women comrades. BERT MILLER. WHERE YOU CAN GET YOUR TICKETS FOR THE GREAT FILM ‘BREAKING CHAINS’ Tickets for the moving picture “Breaking Chains,” to be shown here on Saturday, Dec, 18, at Ash- land Auditorium can be obtained at the following places, it is an- nounced by the International i ages? ers Aid: 1806 South Racine avenue. 3209 W. Roosevelt road. 2409 North Halsted street. 2733 Hirsch boulevard GIVE THE CHILDREN 3116 South Halsted street. 19 South Lincoln street, 1902 W. Division street. 3451 Michigan avenue, 1532 W. Chicago avenue. North Side Boak Store. FAIRY TALES FOR WORKERS’ CHILDREN Herminia Zur Muhien Color Plates by Lydia Gibson A book of beautiful stories that are sure to be liked by both grownups and children. Thous- ands of copies were sold imme diately on its publication, Over twenty black and white {llustra- tions and four full-page color Plates illustrate these splendid stories that breed the fighting spirit of revolt. Bound In duroflex Cloth bound NeNETTABYHA 1 ines Une: pal The next number of Prolet-Tribune, the Russian living newspaper pub- lished by the worker correspondents of Novy Mir, will be out Saturday, Dec, 18, at 8 p. m.,-at the Workers’ House, 1902 W. Division St. A picture of the audience will be taken at the request of the worker correspondents of the Soviet Union. -The picture will be sent to Soviet Russia. $75 1.28 RHYMES OF EARLY JUNGLE FOLK, by Mary Marcy—with over 70 beautiful wood-cuts, Cloth §2.00 FLYING OS8IP—Stories of New Russia, * Paper $1.50 Cloth $2.60 KING COAL, by Upton Sinclain— A splendid working class story of the coal mines, Paper $1.00 Cloth $1.60 RED CARTOONS—Over seventy beautiful cartoon in a 9x12 book. Board bound $1.00 PORE ae THE DAILY WORKER PUB, CO, 1118 W. Washington Bivd, Chicago, ll. GINSBERG’S Russian Masquerade in Chicago, Dec. 25, to Benefit Novy Mir A Russian masquerade for the bene- fit of the Russian Communist weekly Novy Mir, has been arranged for Sat- urday, Dec. 25, at Mirror Hall, 1140 N, Western Ave., near Division street. All friendly- organizations are re- quested not to arrange other affairs on that date, SEND IN A SUB TODAY. IN PHILADELPHIA There are only two places to eat~ HOME AND AT Hartung’s Restaurant 610 Spring Garden St. Home Open from 6. a. m to7 p.m. 2324-26 Brooklyn Avenue, LOS ANGELES, CAL. Cooking. WHAT ARE YOU--SLOVAK OR AN AMERICAN? It you are American read the fighting labor dail? paper—Tho DAILY WORKER, If you cannot read English, subscribe to the only Czecho- slovak workingclass daily paper in the United States and Canada— THE DAILY ROVNOST LUDU \ 4610.W, 18th Street, egy nay mm. Subscription rates: By mail §¢ a year; for Chicago, $8 a year, Vegetarian Restaurant .