The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 26, 1926, Page 4

$8.00 per year Lig is ll THE DAILY WORKE THE DAILY WORKER Published by the DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO. 1113 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, Ill. Phone Monroe 4713 | (EET NS SUBSCRIPTION RATES By mail (in Chicago only): By mail (outside of Chicago): $4,50 gjx 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 MAILY WORKER, 1113 W. Washington Bivd., Chicago, Ill, J. LOUIS ENGDAHL \ WILLIAM F, DU E en Entered as second-class mai] September 21, 1923, at the post-office at Chi: BERT MILLER .. cago, Ill, under the act of March 3, 1879. Advertising rates on application, The Morris Plan Swindle Four hundred workers, employed by Morris and company be- fore its merger with the Armour company, have been told by the court of appeals that they cannot collect the pensions for which they had paid three per cent of their salaries into the Morris company treasury. These workers have been swindled in a shameless manner and the swindle was perpetrated, not by some cockroach capitalist, but hy what was one of the largest concerns in the United States. What the capitalist gives he can also take away.. In this respect he measures up to scriptural standards of the Christian god of whom it is said: “The lord giveth and-the lord taketh away.” This similar- ity with the practices of the lord is about all the consolation these 400 workers have. Pension schemes, social insurance schemes, welfare schemes, bonus schemes, all manner of devices to fool the workers into be- lieving that they are considered in advance of returns on capital investment, are being advertised as solutions of the conflict be- tween labor and capital. For the capitalist these methods undoubtedly tend temporarily to turn workers into docile servants. But for the working class to surrender organization responsible to the workers for the transient benefits of these schemes is to court exactly such swindling as has robbed the former Morris and company workers. ‘ But the loss of pensions is after all a minor one compared with the loss of power and self-respect which the workers suffer when they trade THEIR unions for COMPANY unions or company “wel- fare” schemes. This danger is not always immediately apparent. Poisoned by the companies’ propaganda against “outside” influences—meaning trade unions—large numbers of workers, lacking leadership and confronted with a well-organized system of industrial espionage, which in plain English means stoolpigeonism, tacitly accept the company schemes. The official labor movement has to take a large share of respon- sibility for this state of affairs. It has not dared to make the issue class struggle versus class peace, but has put forward the worker- employer co-operation theory which makes it impossible for the aver- age worker to see any difference between company unionism for “saving waste in industry” and trade unionism for exactly the same purpose. Exposure of concrete instances like the Morris swindle, coupled _ with a clear program for building unfons and making them real weapons of the working class, are the methods the labor movement must use, and can use successfully, in smashing company unions, fake pension schemes and other methods by which organizations of workers dominated openly by capitalists seek to demoralize and wipe out the trade unions. | The Thompson Report Is an Imperialist : Document American imperialism has no intgntion of loosening its control | of the Philippines to say nothing of granting independence under the conditions laid down in the preamble of the Jones bill on which the fight for Filipino independence has been made so far. On the contrary, control will be tightened thru a larger bureaucracy. This is the gist ‘of the report and recommendations of Carmi Thompson, special investigator for President Coolidge. But there is some evidence that the Thompson report has been compiled with the view of placating middle class liberalism. This is shown by the criticism of the military government of the islands under the regime of Major-General Leonard Wood and the recom- mendation for a purely formal extension of autonomy. The opinion expressed in the report that withdrawal by the American government “might complicate international relations in the orient” can be taken as removing the question of Filipino in- dependence from the list of domestic issues. The Philippines, espe- cially because of the rapid rise to power of the Chinese na- tional liberation movement, are now more than ever an outpost of American imperialism in the Pacific and the struggle of the Filipino masses part of the world-wide struggle of the colonial peoples against imperialism. The intensified and extended plundering of Philippine natural resources and the Filipino masses which will take place ag a result ef the influx of American capital which will follow the adoption of the Thompson recommendations, will tend to set in motion great sections of the population whieh hitherto have demanded. little if any voice in the conduct of. the independence movement. To encourage, stimulate and actively assist in this new phase of the Pilipino’s fight for independence is the task of our party and of the American labor movement. ‘ From now on the Filipino independence movement, if it is to be anything more than a feeble parliamentary opposition to im- perialist domination, must prepare to base itself on the masses of Filipino workers and peasants who bear the heaviest burdens placed onthe populition by profit-hungry conquerors to whom the Filipino masses are merely pawns in the bloody game whose stakes are world supremacy. MRS. MOSLEY’S HUSBAND WINS OUT IN ELECTION AND GETS GOOD ADVICE LONDON, Dec. 24.—-Oswald Mosley, for Mosley, while the daughter, Betty the wealthy husbond of Lady Cynthia | Baldwin, acted as chauffeur for the Mosley, who was known Yor campaign | conservative candidate, Disorders purposes as “Mrs, Mosley," has won jmatked the whirlwind close, 48 a labor cand tate tn the by-elec-| The Communists had no candidate, tion in Smethwic’. He goes to par- | but Comrede Gallagher remarked in Vament for the fourth time by a | cammenting on Mo “In order smasfing majorfl; over the conserva: |that he can better battle for the work- tive und liberal bye lors he ought to go to the Clyde or | is Campaign was spect r, with | some other indy atrial genter and work | Preiier Baldwin's son j Honiering , Wi big hauds tor eer os fe,” vomnnasalnd i metatirmantenneas th t L of Santa Claus The New Drive on Militant Trade Unionist ARTICLE VII. By WILLIAM F. DUNNE, O-OPPRATION of the official trade union, capitd@ist and socialist press jin the drive against militant unionism jhas been shown. Co-operation of the right wing trade nion leadership with gencies such as the industrial com- nission of Governor Smith has bee own by the attempt of President | sixman and Morris Hillquit, leader of the socialist party, to settle with the governor’s commission over the heads ‘of the duly elected leadership of the |New York joint board in the cloak- makers’ strike. HE clubbing of strikers by “police and right wing gangsters during the demonstration of strikers before the Sigman headquarters and the For- ward building is another instance, The condemnation of the left wing strike leadership contained in the re-| port of thearbitration board of three which passed on the controversy with ;the submmanufacturers, written in by uppointees}of Governor Smith to aid the right wihg,—is another example, MERICAN Federation of Labor of- ficialdom takes a more active and | open part in the drive against-militant unionism in th needle trades and hus gives it the character of an of- ficial movement on a national scale. This is shown by the appointment of Vic President Woll, also a vice-presi- dent of the Civic Federation, as hon- orary chairman of the finance com- mittee of the Sigman machine. Here is shown again a close con- nection between labor officialdom and capitalist agencies like the Civic Fed- eration. (In the mad scramble of of- ficialdom for the favor of the bosses, it has been generally forgotten that the largest union in the A. F. of L., the United Mine Workers, prohibits membership in the Civic Federation under penalty of expulsion). ICE-President Wol] is one of the important links binding labor of- ficialdom to the employers’ organiza- tions and their instrument—the United States government. Woll keeps Presi- dent Coolidge informed of the activi- ties of labor officialdom. In a letter given wide circulation in the official labor and capitalist press during the week of November 21-28, written by Woll and addresséd to President Coo- lidge, he said: For a year past the country has been watching the efforts of Com- munista to capture and direct all the more important strikes, pecially in and around New York, such as those of the cloakmakers, the fur- riers and the Passaic textile mill workers. The Amertcan Federation of Labor is steadily defeating these efforts but there is no question that by confusing the real issue between employer and employes, the Com- munists have made the task more difficult. ICE-President Woll (of the A. F. of L, and the Civic Federation) {does not openly ask assistance from | Coolidge for the A. F. of L. campaign but Coolidge would have to be much less astute than he is not to be able to understand that such assistance would be welcomed as Woll is making what he believes are serious charges against the Communists. How have the Communists, in the strikes mentioned, confused the “real issue between employer and em- ployes,” as Woll charges, and what does he mean by such a statement? Is it a crime for Communist work- ers to lead or to try to lead strikes? EFORE an answer is given to these questions it should be noted that there have been only four strikes of any consequence this year—the an- thracite strike, the furriers’ strike, the Passaic strike and the cloakmakers’ strike. As Woll does not mention the anthracite strike in his indictment we Children of 4 4 government | jof the anthracite strike under direc- jents of militant unionism—John L. | strikes cannot be preyemted except by | Surely may conclude that the-Communist in- fluence was not an important element in this strike and that Woll therefore has no criticism to make of the out- come, It will be interesting to compare the methods and results of three strikes which Woll charges the Com- munists with “trying to capture and direct” with the methods and mesults ion of one of the most bitter oppon- Lewis. N the first place the fact that a strike occurred under’such reaction- ary leadership is sufficient proof that even in this period of “prosperity” surrender on the part of unions. Vice-President © Woll will not charge that John L. Lewis called the anthracite strike as Part of a revolu- tionary plot against the government jorgans make the which in 1919 he said “we fight.” But Woll, and all the other apostles of “worker-employer co-operation,” are insistent that militant unionism in the garment industry, the fur industry and the textile industry has nothing what- ever to do with wages, hours and working conditions but is simply the result of the activities of Communists who are trying to stir up trouble, The New York Times and other capitalist same categorical cannot statement. HESE spokesmen of the bosses go farther and say that Communists do not care whether the workers win strikes or not, that the strikes in the fur, garment and textile industry were unnecessary. They then try to prove their assertions by claiming that the cloakmakers haye won nothing, have in fact suffered a defeat. The New York Times makes the same state- What Money Gifts from Workers on ‘Outside’ Mean to Those ‘Inside’ Is Told by Noted Class War Prisoner an value of money and little gifts]to amuse himself and his companions to the class war prisoners confined |and that he can buy a thousand and in the penitentiaries of capitalism for their devotion to the labor movement is told in a letter received by Inter- national Labor Defense from Warren K. Billings, now in Folsom Prison, Repressa, California. Billings was sentenced to life im- prisonment in the famous Mooney | Billings frame-up which aroused the attention and protest of workers thru- | out the world in connection with the | San Francisco “preparedness” parade | of 1916. Subsequent revelations | showed a whole network of perjury in the testimony of the prosecution | which sought to railroad the two la- bor leaders to legal death because ef | their activities in the organized labor | movement. one other little things which folks on the outside have come to consider as necessities rather than luxuries be- cause they have had them always at hand and have never been denied them. We ‘inmates’ are not denied them, either, but neither are we sup- plied with them, State Doesn’t Provide, “There are no provisions in the laws governing the running of prisons which state that each inmate shall be supplied with toilet soap, bath towels, amusements, text books, bed sheets, summer underwear and safety razors, yet all of these things are within the |reach of an inmate who has a little |money at his disposal and it is all | this that makes the prisoner so great- Little Thing Means: Big Thrill. { “Suppose now,” writes Billings in| his letter, “that you had been in} prison for eight years_and a half or more and that all during that {ime you hadn't had a piece of chocolate candy, | and suppose some of your friends ‘outside’ banded together and took up a little collection and sent you—let us | say—five dollars, and this five dollars | enabled you to buy some of that choc- olata candy that you’d been craving for eight years or more—now wouldn’t you be pleased and ‘grateful? And would you not be very Hable to say to yourself, “Well, I’m damned glad to see that I've still Sot some good friends on the ‘outside2” Well, that’s just the way I feel about it. Peace and Security. “Of course, chocolate, candy isn’t the only thing that money enables one to buy in a penitentiary although it is an important item at that—especially to a man who hasn’t enjoyed the lib- erty of buying it at any time he want- ed it. But money means much more to the “convict” than mere chocolate candy. It means peace and security —it means that he can buy stamps and thus keep in touch with his friends “outside,” that he can buy writing materials—that he can buy books with which to improve his mind or to while away the time—it means that he can also enjoy such common, every-day luxuries. as possessing a Turkish bath towel; a comb; a brush; a mirror; real toilet soap to use in- stead of the “Jimmy Hope” brown soap that is the only “free” kind to be had. “Prison Luxuries.” “It means that he can buy extra to- bacco with which to assuage the only vice the law allows him in a place of this kind; that he can buy chessmen and checkers or dominoes with which under-paid or unemployed workers fii ‘fill their hearts with bitterness and 8 o ly appreciate what little assistance friends and friendly organizations can give him. “If you want to truly realize what / all this means to the man behind the bars, try it out on yourself. Go with- out the toilet articles you use daily, wipe on a linen towel as rough and sturdy as a cement sack, get shaved jonce a week in the Moler Barber Col- |lege and do all thts while all the men around you are enjoying the benefits of all these little luxuries. If you tried to live that way for a year, the mere sight of a Turkish towel would make you envious and seeing the other men smoke when they wanted to and grin at you over their chocolate bars on “commissary day” would make you want to commit robbery or ‘general mopery’ or some other such heinous crime. But when it was over you’d realize what a few dollars might mean to the man ‘inside.’” Is Reason For Christmas Drive, The Christmas Fund of the I. L. D., for which a campaign has been con- ducted in the past weeks, is being raised for the purpese of sending to all class war prisoners some of those gifts and money which bring to them the realization that the workers on the outside have not forgotten them and their cause, and are continuing the work of solidarity which will end only when all the working class prisoners have been released from the peniten- tiaries of the capitalist class, The Christmas party of the Chicago I. L. D., which fs to be held at West End Women’s Hall, Ashland and Mon- roe, on Friday, Dec, 24, will, besides affording those who attend a jolly time, serve to increase the Christmas Fund for the labor prisoners and for those who are on trial or about to be tried for their opinions and work in the labor movement. ment about the Passai¢ workers. These statements have ‘been shown to be without foundation in another article and here we wish only to ask} why the self-appointed saviors of the garment workers, fur workers and tex- | tile workers do not apply this same test to the anthracite strike, HIS is a strike that was lost if ever-a strike was lost. After five months of struggle by 150,000 miners, during all of which time Lewis allow- ed the maintenance men to work and} keep the owners’ properties in better condition thatn ever before, Lewis signed an. agreement with the coal op- erators Which does not provide for | the closed shop (the. check-off) the | union previously had and: which ac- | cepts exactly those:arbitration meth- ods (participation. ff. other persons | than representati the union) which” Workers have ith bound by, These statements may be denied by friends of President:Lewis but Presi- | dent Coolidge, whom Ppesident Lewis supported for election, knows other- wise. In his Tecent»message to con: gress Coolidge says: No progress seems to have been made within large areas of the bi- tuminous coal industry toward crea- tion of voluntary .machinery by which greater assurance can be given to the public of PEACEFUL ADJUSTMENT OF WAGE DIFFI- CULTIES SUCH AS HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED IN ~THE AN- THRACITE INDUSTRY. (Empha- sis Mine.) Tes miners are bound by a five-year arbitration. agreement and the president is therefore pleased, The Mining Congress Journal also states that the coal operators believe they have won a victory, in its issue for December: The operators claim that. it (the contract) PROVIDES FOR A RE- CIPROCAL PROGRAM OF EFFICI- ENCY AND CO-OPERATION, which will be the basis of arbitration for any disputed points hereafter. (Em- phasis mine.) The wage scale of the anthracite miners’ is not even guaranteed by this Lewis “victory.” The Mining Con- gress Journal further states: It is presumed that on January 1 some operators will ask for a re- duction in the wage scale and thus test out-the matter. F such a condition prevailed in the fur, cloakmiakers and textile work ers’ unions, after the left wing leader- ship had failed to use the full power of the unions as Lewis did, then the worker - employer co - operationists would have a slightly better case, As it is, facts show that the only strike that was lost this year was the anthracite’ strike, led by John L. Lewis, ina section of industry where the Communists did not have suffici- ent membership’ at the time to be a decisive factor, The campaign of the» reactionary trade union Officialdom, the socialist party, the bosses, the various agencies of the government and the capitalist press appears as a drive on the Com- munist Party and its members in the unions’ Where Communists are num- erous ‘and active, strikes are won. Actually’ it ‘is a drive against the right to strike and therefore a drive against the whole working class. ~ (To be Continued) CLASS STRUGGLE vs. CLASS COLLABORATION “By Earl R. Browder A keen study of modern class col- laboration schemes such as the B, & 0. Plan, Labor Banking and Workers’ Education. An indispensable book for anyone who is interested in the modern developments in the labor movement. | 10 cents 4 ebb om -of operators and) ie United® Mine | to refused to be| | 4 lon Sinclair 1926, by Upton Sinclair.) (Copyright, Bunny hauled out his checkbook, and sought to’ salve his conscience by making a present to his friends. But Ruth said no, she was sure Paul wouldn't let him do that. They were going to get along all right. Paul was a good carpenter, and sooner or later he would find some boss that didn’t mind his having been in jail, Bunny argued, but Ruth was obdurate; eyen tho she were to take the check, Paul would send it back, Bunny did not wait till Paul came } home; he made some excuse, and went away. He just did not have the nerve to sit there, in his fash- ionable clothes which Vee ‘has se- lected for him in New York, and with his new sport car waiting downstairs, and see Paul come in, half sick, discouraged, from seeking work in vain, and with all the black memories of injustice and’ betrayal in his soul. Bunny could make ex- cuseS, of course. Paul did not know he had been spending the summer at play with the world’s darling, Paul would believe that he had gone awayon his father’s account. But nothing could change the fact that it was on money wrung from the Paradise workers that Bunny was living in luxury; nothing could change the fact that it had been to, increase the amount of this money, to intensify the exploitation of the workers, that Paul had spent three months in jail, and the other fellows were to spend nearly a year in jail. So long as that was the truth, there was nothing Bunny could do but just run away from Paul! Il. Money! Money! Money! Jt was pouring in upon Dad and Verne. Never had oil prices been so high, never had the flow at Paradise been so rapid. Millions and milltons-+ | and they were scheming to make it tens of millions. It was a game, marvelous, irreststible; everybody was playing it—and why could not Bunny be interested? Why did he have to go sneaking around in the dressing rooms and behind the grandstands, finding out dirty and disreputable facts about the players of this game and their methods? It seemed as if the fates had it im for Bunny. Just as sure as he made some pitiful effort to be like his father and his father’s friends some new development would come along and knock him down! Here he had gone to a university, a solemnly re- spectable university, trying to im- prove his mind and make a gentle man of himself;-he had turned over his young and eager mind to the most orthodox and regular authori- ties—and surely they would know how to make him good and honest and happy, surely they would teach him | wisdom, dignity and honor! Such things were being taught te all students in this great institu tion, which had begun as a Metho- dist Sunday school, and still had more courses on the religion of Jesus Christ than on any other sub- ject whatever. Oh, surely yes! (Continued tomorrow.) Gitlow at Forum in Baltimore on Dec. 26 BALTIMORE, Dec. 24.—Ben Gitlow ot New York has been invited to speak before the Baliimore Open Forum as a representative of the Workers’ (Communist) Party. He will. speak there on Dec, 26th. This is the first time that a party member hag been allowed to speak at the Forum. ONE CHILD’S HAPPINESS IS ANOTHER’S TRAGEDY—THAT’S CHRISTMAS | ore TS sti . 1, 4 e&