The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 28, 1926, Page 6

zy aq $ __Dear Sir: al Page Six THE DAILY WORKER THE DAILY WORKER Gityation in Mexico and the Task of the Militants Published by the DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO. 1118 W. Washington Blyd., Chicago, Ml. ES Saat eee ate iam 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 $2.50 three months 00 three months $$$ ‘Address all mail and make out checks to THE DAILY WORKER, 1113 W. Washington Bivd., Chicago, Il, J. LOUIS AHL WILLIAM JUNN BERT MILLER .. Editors s Manager en at the post-office at Chir 1879. Entered as second- ¢ s mail September 21, 1 ll, under the act of Ma Adver ® <> 290 SS The State Department Makes War in Central America ‘The invasion of Nicaragua by armed forces of the United | States follows logically from the preparations that have been going on in connection with the imperialist offensive against Mexico American imperialism has no intention of tolerating a gov- ernment in Nicaragua at sympathi in any way with the tendency evident noy o and other Latin-American countries, to combat mili- in Me tantly the plans of American imperialism for outright and open | domination. The Diaz government of Nicaragua has no popular support. Tt is evident even from the biased atches in the capitalis press that the liberal forces in Nicaragua represent the mass movement against Diaz and his Wall Street backers and that they are well organized. This is the explanation for the landing of U. S. marines in one port while a battle fleet sails hurriedly for Puerto Cabezas. No narrow, isolated uprising \’ould require such extensive mili- tary and naval actions to supp.css it. In the meantime, the offensive against Mexico continues in advance of the beginning of the enforcement of the constitution of 1917 in respect to oil concessions, American imperialism is in deadly earnest in Latin-America and only very foolish people will continue to believe that battle- ships and troops are sent to terrorize popular movements simply because there is at the head of the state department a very jig norant and jingoistic small town lawyer by the name of Kellogg. The American labor movement, and all sections of the popu- lation who are in opposition to Wall Street’s schemes for con- quest, must be organized for nation-wide protest. These adventures conducted against a people fighting for national liberations, as the American colonists were in the war of independence can be stopped by the American masses. They will be stopped if labor speaks quickly and militantly. The Veil Is Too Thin American marines have a d d 1in been landed on foreign shore: for the “protection of Am n interests’. Also to “protect ‘American lives and property These are laudy phrases again being used in the declarations of the department of state heade by “Nervous Nellie’ Frank B. Kellogg. They are issued to th kept press, in sterotyped form, simultaneous with orders ‘issue to the navy department to proceed against some foreign people. _.-. Whether it is Mexico, the Philippines, China or some other country, it is always the same. Today it is Nicaragua. This thin veil of words, hiding Wall Street’s imperialist ambitions, is worn so threadbare by this time, however, that all should be able to clearly discern the sinister purposes of the international bankers in ordering an uncalled for invasion of this Central American country. T. S. Vaca, the Washington representative of the Sacasa government, that the United States is seeking to drive into the sea, points out: F “There are no American lives or property in dan zone of landing in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua.” But that makes no difference. The statement is issued, the Same as usual, at Washington, that American lives are “threat- ened” and must be “protected”. The best that the press could do, however, was to cook up a fake assassination plot against Wall Street’s puppet president, Diaz. Like all fake plots this one was unsuccessful. Diaz escaped unscathed. Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator of Italy, could not have done better. All this is typical of the propaganda that will be poured into thé columns of the American capitalist press in the days ahead to create prejudice and hostility against Nicaragua and Mexico. American worker and farmer masses must be on guard against it. The better they understand it, the better they will be able to fight it and overcome it. ger at the - It is announced that California and Texas are eager to admit Mexican workers who will slave under the worst conditions at starvation wages. But when the workers and peasants in the Republic of Mexico try to improve their living standards at home the whole weight of American militarism is thrown against them. When the worker stands erect he must also fight. tional campaign which is now being launched with a view to restoring national prosperity, The coal strike is over, BUT THE DISASTROUS EFFECTS OF IN- DUSTRIAL UNREST REMAIN, and British industry will have A STERN FIGHT TO MAINTAIN THE HOME MARKET AND TO REGAIN OUR EXPORT TRADE. THE VOLUME OF UNEMPLOY- MENT 18 SO GREAT that unless Speedy means can be devised for employing our people the OPPOR- TUNITY OF THE AGITATOR WILL RETURN and industrial peace will be delayed, One of the PRINCIPAL CAUSES OF INDUSTRIAL UNREST is the fact that our industries have been forced in certain cases to DEPRESS WAGES IN ORDER TO MEET FOR- EIGN COMPETITION, and this gives A WEAPON TO THE EX- TREMIST IN THE CLASS WAR. The Council of the Empire indus- tries Association, after due consid- eration, have come to the conelusion: that the only hopeful constructive measures for increasing employ- ment, reducing taxation wand ex- panding our trade, are a wide e: tension of the principle of safe- By WILLIAM F, DUNNE. HE British government spent $1,- 692,500,000 on “social services” for ‘the year 1925. The greatest part of this sum was for the maintenance of unemployment payments and govern- mental charitable institutions, This enormous amount is striking evidence of the breakdown of British capitalism. The huge expenditure is made necessary by the failure of in- dustry to furnish jobs for great sec- tions of the working class, One gets a picture of an empire in decay, OR the first time in its history, empire agencies are “panhandling” | for direct support of empire trade. No other word describes the sort of appeal that is made in the following | communnication, written on the letter: | head of the Empire Industries Associa- tion, signed by Sir Henry Page Croft, Bt. C. M, G., M. P., chairman of the executive committee of the above body tomposed of an imposing list of right honorables, earls, marquesses, girs, colonels, generals and lords to the ‘niimber of 76: December 3, 1926. writing on guarding our home market against femoire Industries unfair competition and a farreach- : attention to the duca- | Ing policy of empire development by [ Phone Monroe 4713 | $$ $$$ rates on application, | | too close to the Panama Canal for com-} By A. STRINER. HE struggle between the Mexican government and the Catholic church has ended with the victory of the ruling petty bourgeoisie. The bishops who had been assembled in the capital of the republic, made a proclamation in which they stated that the church submitted to the regulations of the republic, but that at the same time it hoped that the regulations restricting the rights of the church might be revoked by aci of parliament. The churches whicn had been ed by the government, were returned to thé clergy, and the clergy is continuing the struggle with greater caution and to some ex tent with different methods. , Contradictions. A number of contradictions whic are reflected in the whole economic and political life of the country, are characteristic of the present situa tion. Above all we must point out the following contradictions: qd) The clash of interests between the ruling petty bourgeoisie and the rui ng remnants of the feudal state. (2) The conflicting interests between the petty bourgeoisie with its nationa! deas and the economic rule of for- eign capital. (3) The conflicting in erests between national and foreign capital on the one hand and the pro- letariat and peasantry on thé other hand. (4) The clash of interests within the individual groups of those foreign capitalists who are fightin for thé exploitation of Mexico and (5) The clash of interests between the central government and the in- dividual provisional governments. The political power of the petty bourgeoisie in a state in which th» feudal remnants are still strong, and in which the rule of foreign capital in industry is unlimited, found ex- pression in the constitution of 1917 Without an economic basis and being still split by provincial separatism, the petty bourgeoisie could only maintain its power thanks to the concessions it made to the proletar- iat and peasantry on the one hand {and to foreign capital on the other hand. a Defeated Reaction. HE defeated reaction has more than once tried to re-conquer its former positions, Supported by for- eign capital, it organized counter- revolutionary revolts and instigated the Catholic church to rouse the pop ulation against the government. These attacks of reaction, however, did not weaken, but on the contrary strengthened the petty bourgeoisie. The latter was forced to form a closer alliance with the workers and peas- ants and even to arm them. This revolutionary role of tif petty bourgeoisie, however, did no‘ last long. As soon as reaction was defeated and the immediate danger past, the petty bourgeoisie began to abandon its former policy and to turn towards the right, it began to post- pone the fulfilment of the promises made to the workers and peasants and to link up its interests more and more with the interests of the pos- sessing classes. On Defensive Against U. S. HEREAS the government carried off the victory in the struggle against the church and reaction, it is on the defensive in its fight against American imperialism, It is trying to gain a breathing space by way of compromises and to turn to account the conflicting inter#sts of the vari- ous groups ‘of foreign capitalists. Mexico maintains particularly close relations with Germany and Japan. |Germany which, before the war, had a large export market in Mexico, has been clever enough ,to re-conquer its ‘former positions to,..a considerabic extent. Japan, whose relation to America is well known, is doing ev- erything possible to, consolidate its friendship with Mexico. In the United States itself there are two tendencies,,with regard to the Mexican question. The first tend- ency, which is chiefly, represented by financial capital ang by the naptha companies, is in fayor of armed in- tervention. It supports the counter- revolutionary intrigues on the Mexi can frontiers and is,hoping, by pro yoking a conflict, to. create a favor able excuse for intervention. The second tendency, which is backed by industrial capital, and in which the “White House” prevails, is striving to obtain predominance in Mexico by the method of exporting capital. It regards direct interyention as a toc expensive and dangerous affair. It is a much easier matter—and at the same time more “humane”—to “help” the young Mexican, . bourgeoisie tv create a “national independent” in- dustry of its own. “Independence.” HE program of the present Mexi can government, the program of the petty bourgeoisie and the reform- ists is to develop Mexico on the ba- sis of the industrial and political in dependence of the country. It is true that more than two-thirds of Mexi can industry is already in the hands of foreign capital. There is, however also a broad stratum of national ele- ments which are financially strong. Furthermore the rich elements in the country, i. e. the reactionaries, are conspiring with foreign capital against the interests of their own country. In spite of this, the petty means of a mutual preferential trad- ing policy, We believe that a permanent cure for industrial unrest depends upon this policy, and we are starting a campaign thruout the country in order that people may be immedi- ately educated on these vital issues. YOU WILL REALIZE THAT LARGE FUNDS ARE NECESSARY to promote this policy successfully, and on behalf of the association | am writing to express the hope THAT YOU WILL GIVE YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT, if you have not already done so. CHEQUES SHOULD BE MADE OUT TO THE EMPIRE INDUSTRIES ASSOCIA- TION, crossed “National Provincial Bank,” and forwarded to the Hon. Treasurers, Empire Industri As- sociation, 26 Abingdon Street, West- minster, ‘T will be noted that the author of the above communication, speaking for an organization of ardent believers in capitalism as a system and the British empire as its noblest exponent, does not waste time with the drivel to which we have become accustomed in the capitalist press. Sir Henry Page Croft does not acouge:the Bolgheviks of a plot to ruin the empire or even mention the Commi Party of Great Britain except ape 4 gonoral torm | / British Nobility Panhandles for the Empire of “extremist.” He speaks of the #volume of unem- ployment,” of r ‘wages “to meet foreign competition,” of the “in- dustrial unrest” ca by this. He admits the serious: of the situation by speaking of thésnecessity of storing national pr ity” and of the need “to maintain home market” and “REGAIN our port trade.” *« N short, British trade are at their history. No \ supreme in the does Britain even markets. She is being driven trom them, The working class is develop: \ing a revolutionary mood as a des- perate capitalism tries to force the masses to shoulder its losses. No more convincing proof of the critical situation into which capitalist decay and the growing intensity of imperialist conflicts bave placed the British empire has been furnished recently than the above begging let- lers sent out by an organization com- posed of the upper level of a ruling class which hes almost outplayed ite historical role of and robber of the woriing class and colonial peoples, The impertalists emselves are more honest in theif admissions ot ‘capitalist instability ¢ than are the wociel-democrate, bourgeoisie keeps up its courage and is eager to accomplish great deeds, but it is afraid to overstep the bounds of the capitalist order and to infringe the laws of private property. In spite of the struggle against the feudal landowners which has been car- ried on incessantly for 15 years, the | agrarian question is not yet settled. Not only have the peasants received far too little land, but the little they have received is bad in quality. The} property of the feudal lords has re- mained untouched and the miserable sums spent by the government on the purchasing of machines have not bene- fitted the poor but only the wealthy peasants. The government has done absolutely nothing with regard to so- cial and labor legislation. The estab- lishment of a national court of arbitra- tion which is under the contro] of re- formist trade union leaders, las only facilitated the sabotage and the rejec- tion of the demands of the workers. . False Perspective. HE petty the revolution is at an end and that the period of construction is now be- ginning. They believe that it is pos- sible to create a sort of co-operative republic with the middle class, the small peasantry and small industry as its social basis. They believe that the | out political leaders, bourgeoisie and the re-| formists hold the point of view that | Petty bourge exchange of goods can take place not through private merchants, but through co-operative organizations, for he financing of which the so-called abor and peasant banks are to be re* ponsible. This idea has indisputably ts good points. ‘It is also indisput- ible that the world “Co-operative Re- yublic” sounds well and that it will at least be possible, in the course of ime, for the development of the co- »peratives to be of practical help to the peasant population. It is never- theless a petty bourgeois illusion to believe that an industry of this kind can be built up independently of large capital, independently of the American banks and trusts, Federation Bank. VEN today the New York Federa- tion Bank and Trust Co, has con- ‘ributed a considerable sum towards the foundation of the first agricultural co-operative bank in Mexico. The New York bank referred to is a finan- 1 institution of the A. F. L. (Amer- ican Federation of Labor), which rep- resents the interests of American im- perialists in affairs for which a re- formist label is necessary. The finan- cial operations of this bank are de- scribed by the Mexican section of the A. F. L. as an “action of international solidarity,” as though in this way the ‘American comrades” wished to make present to the Mexican workers and yeasants, The program of the present gov- smnment is thus, in reality, nothing more nor less than a special form of reformist consolidation of the capital ist order of society, adapted to Mexi can conditions, There can be no doubt that the petty bourgeoisie will not succeed in removing the existing con- flict of interests. The more the young national bourgeoisie develops, the more the conflict of interests between it and the United States will grow the more industry develops, the more energetically will the working class fight for its demands, The petty bour- geoisie will not be able to solve the agrarian question without dividing up the property of the large landowners, and the more it veers to the right in its politics, the more intensively will the process of disintegration set in within its ranks. New Elections, A new presidential election is to take place in 1928, In Mexico this is equivalent to the prospect of a new civil war, Will reaction dare to start a new insurrection? Will the Refor- mists put up Morones, the present La- bor Minister as a candidate? Will Ob- region, who was president from 1920 to 1924 and therefore has no right, ac- cording to the constitution to be elect- ed @ second time, take part in the election campaign? Whose side will the United States take? It is. impos- sible at present to, er any of these juestions, and in case it must not election in Mexico is not decided by | the ballot papers. but only by arms. The worst feature in this situation | is the lack of; a revolutionary mass party. A large section of the work- ers and. peasants are at present with- We refer to the trade unions who are fighting against the Reformists and to the revolution- ary peasant organizations which are carrying on the struggle for the dis- tribution of all the land. These mass- es without leaders may easily become a plaything of the reactionary forces. The young Communist Party of Mex- ico has. great tasks before it. It must gather together the revolutionary for- ces and must unite them with the masses which are under the influence |of the petty bourgeoisie and the Re- formists. It must support the Gov- ernment in its struggle against reac- tion and Ameri¢an- imperialism and must at the same time endeavor. to intensify this struggle. On the other jhand it must combat the policy of co-operation with the bourgeoisie, the Utopias and the open | treachery of.the Reformists, | The political platform of the Com- | munist Party for the coming election | is—the formation of a worker and | peasant block on the basis of a con-' crete economic and political program, the. demand for the creation of a worker and peasant government. The party will only be capable of fulfilling this task when it has learnt how to concentrate its forces on becoming a mass party and on creating firm Com- | munist supports in the factories, the | industrial centers, the trade unions and the Peasant organizations, | CURRENT EVENTS | By T..J. O'Flaherty. ———$—_ (Continued from page 1) italist world. The answers are typical | examples of capitalist hypocrisy, but) our good friend Kellogg takes the) biscuit. While his admiral Latimer | was landing troops in Nicaragua to crush the victorious revolution against the United States tool Adolfo Diaz, | Kellogg was expressing himself on the | subject of peace as follows: “I should | rather see accomplished during the | coming year a few concrete evidences of the spirit of mutual trust than to | see the nations attacking problems in | guch a general and comprehensive manner as to preclude the possibility of solid results.” * .-* ‘O abstractions for Kellogg! Some- thing concrete is his aim. Con- crete is hard and so is a rifle. Kellogg fits. “Sioux City’s” labor is steady and for it, The state department forced the puppet re; of Panama to sign a treaty pledging military support to the United States in case of war. Panama is a negate of the league of nations and leagye,members are sup- posed to submit’their foreign troubles to arbitration before’they resort to the sword, But you can safely bet your last dollar that; the league will not interfere in the. private affairs of the United States. The kind of peace that imperialism takes s usly is that en- forced with guna, and poison gas. soe HE chamber of commerce of Sioux City, Iowa, extends a cordial invi- tation to capitalists to invest their money in local labor power. A circular issued hy that body jstresses the ad- vantages of Sioux” to the wide- awake citizen on the lookout for pro- will have peace even if he has to fight reliable” reads the circular, “coming from a population of less that 2 per cent colored, and a very small un- desirable allen population, The Scan- dinavian and German are predomin- ating foretgn “born, and make a very desirable working class, The small ) territory supply labor as | (Copyright, 1928, by Upton Sinclair.) The university had grown great on the money of Pete O'Reilly, the oil king; and Pet O'Reilly's son was a graduate, and the two of them, “Old Pete” and “Young Pete,” were the gods of the campus, When they came to commencement the faculty bowed down before them, and in all the stories which the umi- versity’s publicity man sent to the newspapers, the~names of Pete O'Reilly, father and son, never failed to be featured. The son was the most active of the alumni, and their god; when they had banquets, he was toasted and flattered and cheered; hé was the patron saint of all the teams, the bounteous friend of all athletes, And, of course, if you know anything about American universities, you know that this is what counts in the molding of the students’ minds; this is the thing they do for. themselves, and into which they put thei? hearts. At first it seemed all right. You knew that S. P, U. was a glorious college, and had splendid teams, ahd won victories that resounded up and down the coast. And _ presently there was a stadium, and a vast business of athletics, that resulted in infinite applause and free adver- tising for your alma mater. Of this you were proud, the whole stu- dent body was made one by it—the thing called “college spirit.” Bunny, a track runner, had had his share of cheering; and here was a “game’ could play with all his heart! c » But now he was a senior, and on the inside of things just as with the oil game, and with strikes, and with political campaigns. And what did he find? Why, simply that all the football and track and other ath- letic glory that had come to South- ern Pacific had been stolen, and “Young Pete” O'Reilly was the thief! The oil king’s son had put up a fund of fifty thousand dollars every year, for the purpose of turn- ing the game of college athletics into a swindle! The fund was ad- ministered by a secret committee of alumni and students,.and used for the purpose of going out into the market and buying athletes, to come and enroll themselves under false pretenses and win victories for 3. P. U. Husky young truck-drivers and Jumbermen and ranch hands and longshoremen, who could not speak correct English, but could batter down “interference” and crash thru" to a goal! And the pious Metho- dists who constituted the faculty were conniving at the procedure, to the extent of permitting these | young huskies to pass farcical exam- inations—well knowing that any professor who presumed to flunk a promising quarterback would soon be looking for some other univer: sity to presume in. Was not “Yi Pete” showing what he thought of professors, by paying a football coach three times the salary of the | best? And of course these hired athletes were hired to win, and did not bother about the rules of the game; they slugged and fouled, and the rival teams paid them back, and there was a- nasty mess, charges and counter-charges, brib-. ery and intimidation—all the atmos- phere of a criminal trial. Along with secret professionalism came its accompaniments of the under- world, bootleggers and bookmakers and prostitutes. Study was a joke to hired gladiators, and quickly be- came a joke to students who asso- ciated with them. The one purpose was to win games, and the reward was two hundred thousand dollars in gate receipts; and when it came to distributing this prize there were just as many kinds of graft as if it had been a county government: stu- dents putting in bills for this and that, students looking for easy jobs, students and alumni building up a machine, and paying themselves and their henchmen with contracts and favors. Such was the result of an oil king’s resolve to manufacture culture wholesale, by executive or- der! ? (Continued tomorrow.) U. 8, FOOLED BY NATIONS IN 5-5-3 NAVY TREATY, SAYS CHAIRMAN BUTLER WASHINGTON, Dec, 26.— The United States has been “fooled” on the 5-5-3 naval ‘imitation treaty, Rep. Butler of Pennsylvania, chalr- man of the house naval affairs ¢om- mittee, declared in an article in the Army and Navy Journal. 4 He said he had learned from the American delegation to the recent Geneva disarmament conference that “those other nations have built more ships than they sacrificed and that the spirit of the 5-5-3 treaty was not ° ru the construction of [ $ | 5 / ’ iF than those limited =f