The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 7, 1927, Page 5

News’ and Comment Labor Education Labor and Government Trade Union Politics BECKERMAN SUSPENDS CHAIRMAN FOR HIS OPPOSITION POLICIES (Special to The Daily Worker) NEW YORK, Jan. .5.—Abraham Beckerman of tne Amalgamated Clothing Workers’ Union has again demonstrated his colors when he “impeached” a shop chairman of one of the biggest shops in New York in his fight on the left wing. The chairman who was suspended merely because of his close connec- tions with the workers is A. Gold- stein. He was considered the best shop chairman in the city. His removal is seen as character- istic of Beckerman’s tactics. Beck- erman is reported to have declared at a recent meeting, in discussing a similar case, “I am the boss—I can elect myself.” Will Demand Increase for Machinists in U. S. Navy Yard; to See Cal WASHINGTON, Jan, 5.—President Alifas of District 44, International As- sociation of Machinists, representing navy yard mechanics, announces that be will appeal to the president and to congress the refusal of the navy de- partment to grant a wage increase to any but a handful of the civilian em- ployes for the coming year. The unions asked $1 an hour. They now have a wage rate of 84 to 91 cents an hour for machinists, Widows of Disaster Victims Bring Suit NEW YORK.— Suits for $100,000 damages are to be instituted by two widows of longshoremen lost on the launch Linseed King in Hudson River Dec. 20. Spencer, Kellogg & Sons, Inc., owners of the boat, are defend- ants. The suits bring out that federal le- gislation is still pending which would automatically compensate these wi- dows. The American Association for Labor Legislation finds the house and senate bills disagreeing in tech- nicalities which may disrupt the pres- ent effort of labor to secure federal compensation for longshore workers denied state aid by a supreme court decision. Every Worker should read The American Worker Correspondent. ° Organized Labor—Trade Union Activities IGANGSTERS HIRED BY SIGMAN BEAT GARMENT WORKERS TO FORCE THEM TO ‘REGISTER’; USE DUPE TACTICS NEW YORK, Jan. 5.—Attempts being made by the Sigman right wing machine in the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union to force ‘“re- gistration” with the international by the use of physical force and intimida- tion are becoming frequent. man clique in its efforts. at the tactics. there, but were repulsed. company, 322 Seventh avenue and without saying a word, approached an Italian presser and began beating him. When asked what the trouble was by an onlooker, one of the gang- sters explained: “It is due him: We heard he prevented the workers from registering with the international.” The presser was severely injured and was taken to a hospital. Police were prevailed upon to arrest the attackers. Make Promises to Bosses. All kinds of tricks are being used to impress on the dress jobbers and manufacturers the advantages of con- cluding an agreement with the Sig- man gang. They assure the bosses of a “good” agreement in case they get their support; to make an impression on them they advertise in the Jewish Daily Forward the “success” of their registration. They scream of long waiting lines, etc. In reality, there are no lines at all, as in fact, the registration places are closed most of the time and only occasionally, then by intimidation, do they succeed in bringing over a worker to their offices, An example of how the right wing leadership attempts to dupe the work- ers, selling them out to the bosses while prating of “union victories” is shown by the “increase” claimed to have been gotten for Cutters’ Local No. 10. A few days before the elections in the cutters’ local, Dubinsky declared in his speech that he got for the mem- bers a weekly raise of $3. The For- ward made the most of that incident. (Special to The Daily Worker) NEW YORK.—A big merger of chain stores in the tobacco field will be brought.about by the union of the old rival.concerns, the United Cigar Stores company and the Schulte Re- tail Stores. corporation. The com- bined assets will be $120,000,000. The merger will be known as the Union and United Tobacco corporation. It is understood that the department of justice has been carefully sounded . AY 1000 Speaker Talks of God Before Atheist Group; “Near Riot’ Is Result By L, P, RINDAL. (Worker Correspondent) LOS ANGELES, Jan. 5.—The sub- ject at the Music-Art hall Open Forum Dec. 26 was: “A New God for Amer- ica,” by John Jacob Lowman, edito- rial writer for several Los Angeles newspapers. As the hall was packed witb atheists, the lecture was religious enough to cause a “near riot’—to use a common newspaper phrase. A lot of people left the place in protest as soon as the speaker started his godly speech. The picture of the new god of tlie American capitalist class did not look any better to the audience of damned souls than the old one, namely, the “In God We Trust” dollar mark, During the question period the rad- icals made a complete fool out of this tool of the labor-baiting press. The speaker, not knowing much about the history of religion in the first place, was not able to answer anything. Bowery gangsters are being used by the Sig- The sentiment of the workers is greatly aroused A gang of sluggers hired by) the right wing visited the offices of the Joint Board intending to use physical force on the members They are also visiting the workers in the shops, beating the progressive members and threatening them if they do not “register.” went to the shop of the Monroe Dress + This week a group But left wingers stated at the time that no bosses give raises for the fun of them and that there was surely a “supplementary” agreement satisfac- tory to the bosses. Here follows a letter sent by the board of governors of the industrial council to its mem- bers: “The board of governors, thru a sub-committee, has conducted nego- tiations with a committee of the Cut- ters’ Union for some time, and an agreement has been reached that be- ginning with Monday, Jan. 3, 1927, all cutters, at present receiving less than $60 a week shall be given a $3 in- crease, This arrangement in the opinion of the board of governors will serve the best interests of the mem- bers.. “You are requested to inform this office of any instance of underproduc- tion, of soldiering op the job by the cutters, as our arrangements call for an immediate joint investigation and adjustment of your complaint!” Lynch Florida Negro Arrested for Liquor WALDO, Fia., Jan. 5.—George Bud- dington, Negro, was taken from the county jail here by a mob of white persons and shot to death. Budding- ton had been arrested charged with being drunk and attempting to secure money from a white woman. No ac- tion has been taken against mem- bers of the mob. CHAIN TOBACCO STORES FORM GREAT MERGER TO FIGHT CIGARETTE MAKERS and has offered no objection to the plan, From latest reports available, the United now controls 1,200 stores and more than 1,800 agencies, while the Schulte interests control about 300. The new organization plans to enter the manufacturing field, largely to fight the cigarette manufacturers, whose monopoly of that business is a thorn in the flest of the chain stores handling the product. WORKER CORRESPONDENTS BY JANUARY 13 “1927 Worker Checks Up on the Soviet Lies to Date, as Told by Chicago Tribune By DAVID POLLIN. (Worker Correspondent) Editor, DAILY WORKER: Many times we read the self-contradictory stories of the capitalist press and es- pecially the Tribune, in regard to the progress Russia is making in becom- ing independent, in spite of the refus- al of finance capital the world over to extend credits to the Soviets, as would be desired by the Workers’ Re- public. As an example of these false tales, on Dec. 19, the Tribune safd that the Russian crop last year was far be- low the expectations pf the Soviet government. On Deé, 23, The Tribune contained mention in a corner of an inside page of the marvellous advanc- es Russia is making in becoming eco- nomically independent. The Tribune in a Corner. The Tribune’s misfortune was that they had to admit that Russia has balanced her budget, without float- DETROIT, ATTENTION! AT THE “Freiheit” At the New $500.00 Cash and Valuable Articles For the Best and Most Original Masks ANNUAL Mask and Color Light Ball and Beautiful MASONIC TEMPLE, Temple Ave, and Second Blvd. SATURDAY EVENING, JANUARY 8, 1927 Good, Large Union Orchestra Original Attractions A chance to win a radio with every ticket _ A Good Time Assured to Everybody. Admission $1.00 ing huge loans in America. Again on Friday, Dec, 31, the Tri- bune carries an article relating to re- cognition of the Soviets by Washing- ton in which the Tribune blunders. Again, saying that Russia’s conditions are on the downgrade. The chief mo- tive of the Tribune's policy in manu- facturing these wild and contradictory tales in regard to Russia’s economic stability is to crystallize in the minds of its readers a wave of opposition against the class conscious workers, who demand recognition of the Work- ers’ Republic and against the so-call- ed liberals and insurgents, who for business and other reasons ask the present administration to recognize the Soviets. As “The Nation” Sees It. The Dec. 29 issue of the Nation, a weekly magazine, contains an article by their foreign correspondent, stat- ing that the pre-war levels in Soviet industry and agriculture have been reached; some regions have surpass- ed pre-war levels especially in the Ukraine, The workers’ buying power has: been increasing steadily and now their purchasing power reached and in some instances surpassed pre-war levels. While in the western Europ- ean countries and in all countrie: where capitalism reigns, the workers’ conditions have gone down and their purchasing power has been greatly diminished since 1913. This report was not written by a Communist, nor a friend of the Com- munists, but an impartial correspond- ent who reported precisely what he saw, while in Russia, NOTICE TO CHICAGO ' READERS According to a new and more economical system of newsstand distribution, The DAILY WORKER will be on the stands by noon each day, Watch for it. ! TMG VAILY Wonnen el Policies and Programs The Trade Union Press Strikes—Injunctions Labor and Imperialism WELL! WE CAN'T SQUEEZE QUT MUCH SYMPATHY ON BEHALF OF THIS RASCAL (Special to’ The Daily Worker) SAN FRANG@ISCO.—John H. Vail, one of the professional anti-l. W. W. witnesses used fn criminal syndical- ‘ism trials in California, is now on trial for his oOWn life in the federal court In Sani! Francisco. He is ac- cused of thé murder of James S. White, deputy? sheriff and game warden, whomche shot while lead- ing an unauthorized liquor raid in Castella, Shasta Co., in 1923. Vail was then a federal prohibi- tion agent, but was.on leave of ab- sence at the time. The evidence so far given shows that he shot White because the latter tried to protect the proprietor of the hotel involved from Vail’s illegal raid and ac- knowledged violence. Group Asks Workers to Join in Building Work to Aid Soviet LOS ANGELES,—At the call of the Society for Technical Aid to Soviet Russia, a group has been organized in Los Angeles, the aim of which is to send an organized construction ce operative to build houses in cities of Soviet Russia. The housing problem is one of the most vital affecting the people in Rus- sian cities. We American workers, by virtue of our skill in American building , industry, are equipped to render this aid to the Soviet Union. We, therefore call upon everyone whose sympathies are with Soviet Russia to lend us a helping hand, We appeal to those who are equipped to join our group to get in touch with us at once. For any information relative to this group, communicate with Secretary A. Kompanniez, 2630% Brooklyn Ave., Los Angeles, Cal, License Trans-Ocean Telephone. WASHINGTON, Jan, 5. — Secretary of Commerce Hoover today granted a license to the American Telegraph & Telephone Co., to permit the opera- tion of a radio-telephone service be- tween the United States and Eng- land. This is the first license of the kind ever issued. The service wili be opened to the public during this month, SHERWOOD EDDY ON RUSSIA We reprint herewith part of a re- port made by Sherwood Eddy, official of the Y. M. C, A., on his return from a recent visit to Soviet Russia. Mr. Eddy was severely attacked by some capitalist papers because he told the truth as he saw it of conditions in the Soviet Union. Owing to lack of space we are not able to publish the report in full, but the most important part of it is given. eee Russia, the Land of Contradictions. By SHERWOOD EDDY. URING August I made my fourth visit to Russia with a party of 24 American business men, editors, educators and social workers. After nine years under the present govern- ment, while our, country has been flooded by propaganda both red and white, it seemed that the time has come for an unofficial group to make an objective, impartial, fact-finding study of actual-conditions in Russia and to share their impressions with their friends in America. We were particularly onj)/our guard lest we should be a “personally conducted” delegation shown, only the most favor- able things byygovernment interpre- ters. Our. party} included four. per- sons who spoke Russian, and we em- ployed twelve other interpreters, the majority of whom belonged to the old order rather than the new. We were granted entire freedom in-Russia, we went where we;wished, chose the in- stitutions we wished to inspect, and freely interviewed. both friends and foes of the present government. OME of us flew from Berlin to Mos- cow in a day, in a never-to-be-for- gotten flight in) @ storm. During a total. of two weeks in Moscow we in- terviewed some. thirty of their prin- cipal leaders, including Stalin, who, more than dny, other, has succeeded to Lenin’s influence and power; Tchicherin, minister of foreign affairs; Lunacharsky, minister of education, and many heads of departments of the state and the church, members of the old czarist regime, foreign diplo- mats, business men and newspaper correspondents, as well as workers and peasants. We visited, of course, all places of importance, such as the historic Kremlin, the seat of the pres- ent government, as it has been the fortress and home of the rulers of church and state for eight centuries. We saw the palaces and crown jewels of the czars, a}jso factories, schools, prisons, pry galleries, and the yemarkable institutions of social edu- cation and ve for workers and peasants, of which Russia is so proud, doer significance of the present ex- periment in Russia can hardly be exaggerated either in its possibilities for good or for évil. Here is the larg- est country in, the world, with an area of twice Pa coocnen: of Europe, twice that of} United States, or one-sixth of the habitable land sur- face of the e with vast undevel- oped resources, Here is the largest white populatiin in the world, with 140,000,000, a ‘truly great people whose human resources far outweigh their materia}y possessions. Siberia alone, almost, continent in itself, rich and fertile, if populated with the density of Be’ 1m, would accommo- date almost twice the earth’s present population, Bihdghiadd and agriculture are stead- ily recovering. After having fallen to 14 per cent of their pre-war pro- duction in industry, this year they have recovered almost 90 per cent of their former maximum production, both im industry and agriculture, and will probably equal it next year. De- spite all obstacles, their budget has been balanced, their currency stabil- ized and most of their available land, altho nominally owned by the state, hag been divided up and has come into the permanent possession of the peas- ants. Wf Mia conditign of nine-tenths of the great masses in industry and agri- culture is on the whole slightly bet- ter economically and immeasurably better in the releasing of the human spirit for self-realization and self-ex- pression thay jt was under the blindly repressive czarist regime. This is true not only among the communal city workers, but particularly among the hardly individualistic and inde- pendent peasants now awakened by the World War, the new education and growing self-government. The 8,700,000 members of trade unions have more influence in the demo- cratic sharing of control in industry and in government than in any other country. HE co-operative movement is one of the strongest in the world, with 11,000,000 in the Consumers’ Co-opera- tives and 7,650,000 in the producers’ and farmers’ organizations, with some duplicate members, These are not only an economic but a vast educa- tional and social force, making for the recovery of the nation. ci present Soviet government has come to stay. It seems to be on the whole much better than -the for- mer hideous czarist regime. downfall has been eagerly predicted for the last nine years, it was never so strong as it is today. Whatever its faults, there is no other party or government in sight that could gov- ern the Russian people and maintain order. Few of the people want to go back to the slavery of the czars or the nerveless rule of Kerensky. We found no government in Europe more stable and strongly intrenched. No other has made so many changes and adaptations, none has been more will- ing to confess its many mistakes and learn from them. Its army has been reduced to one-tenth its size of six years ago, from 5,300,000 in 1920 to some 550,000 today, being less in size and expenditure, in proportion to pop- ulation, than those of the surrounding nations. of baseye government aims to end the domination of capitalism, to make war impossible, wipe out state bounda- ries, transform the whole world into a co-operative commonwealth, and bring about real human brotherhood and freedom. Of all their ideals none is more remarkable than that the teaders of the largest united republic in the world should endeavor to rise above personal profit and sordid pri- vate gain to the standard of unselfish social service for the common good. No member of the Communist Party is permitted to receive an income of | more than $112.50 a month, or $3.75 a day, or less than the wage of many day laborers in America, The man who goes in for profiteering for him- self is scorned as a moral leper as in no other country in the world, and if he is a member of the Communist Party, after a fair trial, he is exe- cuted or expelled. They appeal to the heroic and the sacrificial, All but two of Lenin’s cabinet had shared with him nearly twenty years in exile, pov- erty or imprisonment. Many of these elements in their ideals are closely akin to the christian virtues. CENTRAL AMERICA ‘GOOD WILL’ TOUR PLANNED BY ILLINOIS BUSINESS MEN Members of the IIlinols Chamber of Commerce are planning a “good will” ¢our of Central American countries to drum up business. In those countries for Illinois manu- facturers and agricultural products’ brokers, Seventy-eight members of the or- ganization will make the tour In a specially chartered ship. The group will leave Chicago Feb, 1. behind this crulse Is announced Secretary Harvey T. Hill, “We are going to Investigate potential markets for Mlinois manufacturers and Iilinols agricultural products.” The chamber believes that the opening of the lakes-to-the-gulf waterway will make Iilingis a great exporting state, as it believes goods should be pal tl down the Missis- sippi and tl ¢ port of New Or- a wrt a4 splendidly | Altho its | “Page Frv~ The Manager’s Corner or Not the Daily Worker. “Joseph ., Bernard H. and Victor F’. Ridder, sons of the late Herman Ridder, announced yesterday the purchase of the entire capital stock and debenture notes of The Journal of Commeroé and Commercial Bulletin and the goodwill, subscription lists and other assets of The New York Commercial for a total of about $2,850,000. » “They also said the new paper will be the ‘first responsible newspaper’ in New York, 8o far as they have been able to learn, to offer common stock for sale to the public. Thru Shields & Co., investment bankers, with the Chase National Bank as trustee. The Journal of Commerce corporation, which will publish the merged paper, will sell ten-year 6Y2 per cent sinking fund gold notes at a par value of $950,000. | “It is planned to have the stick listed Stock Exchange. “The Ridders and their associates in the merger stock to the amount of $650,000 for cash. “The Ridder family has been publishing newspapers in New York since 1876. Herman Ridder, who died in 1915, had been @ on the New York will buy director of The Associated Press, president of the American Newspaper Publishers’ Association and treasurer of the National Democratic Committ —Reprinted from the New York Times. The Drive For $50,000 to KEEP THE DAILY WORKER / DONATIONS—DECEMBER 17 DELAWARE— CALIFORNIA— John Volkman, Wilmington smn: 1.8 Fred W. hompson, P. ee Dan Dili, Plaster Cit der shan Vv. 8. Ware, Ventura Slovak Workers Society Br No, 24, Chicago . 5.00 MASSACHUSETTS— Street Nuc. No. 25, Chicago 20.00 Finnish Workers Club, Gardner... 50.00| Milan Zluniac, Workers Club, Chi. 33.28 MONTANA— MICHIGAN— J. Bodvinoe, Klein nw. 5.00} Detroit Workmen’s Corp., Detroit 250.00 oHIo— NEW YORK— Christopher Kraven, Cleveland ... 1.00) Aron Lev, New York 2.00 Nucleus No. 21, Cleveland 1.00 K, Tamkus, Cleveland ... 5.00 | OHIO— S. H. Babeoek and |, Bar- WISCONSIN— skey, Conneaut Loe 10.00 Jos. Rody, Wauntosa ... iui naiadenc- DONATIONS—DECEMBER 18 Bh ong M. Evans. Absrdaan, ow 5.00 ohn Hayden, Milwaukee 1.00 CALIFORNIA— Finn, Women’s Sections of Minn, S. Matsui, Berkeley’. $5.00 Dist., Wentworth 0.00 These Comrades Have Been Challenged to State What. They Are Doing to Keep The Daily Worker. WATCH FOR THEIR ANSWERS! Herbert Newton, Rowbury, Mass. David Milgrom, Philadelphia, Pa. Geo. Rupert, Elko, Nevada. Emil Honegger, Rochester, N.Y, R. Tlodi, Ambridge, Pa. Comrade Mendlin, ius aes F. L. Shippee, Bmil Niva, Salt Lake City, Utah. Frederick, 8. Dak. Waino Mellin, A. D. Boroff, Waukegan, Ill. Juneau, Alaska, H. Hagenen, Houston, Tex. Hl. F. Mins, Sam Cohen, Chicago, Ill. Nellie Katilus, Chicago, IU. Jennie Gorshin, Chicago, Ill. YOU May Be Next. | WCFL Radio Program | Chicago Federation of Labor radio broadcasting station WOFL ig on the air with regular programs. It is broadcasting on a 491.5 wave length from the Municipal Pier. New York, N.Y. Theodore Suderland, Berkeley, Cal. C. Buehler, Toledo, Ohio. THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF ATHEISM will mail its first annual report, comprie ing six pages of reading matter, and TONIGHT. other literature FREE to interested 6:00 p. m.—Chicago Federation of La- | people. bor Hour. D 6:30—The Brevoort Concert Trios ues $1 a year. Organizers wanted. Little Joe Warner. Write to ‘Hazel Nyman, accordion; Anna Freeman Hopwood, General Secretary, P, 0, Box 483, City Hall Station, New York City. Boehm, Lucky Wilbur, John Ude. 9:00—Alamo Cafe Dance Orchestra. 11:00—Alamo Entertainers, New York, Attention! DAILY WORKER ANNIVERSARY CONCERT With Co-operation of UJ ELORE Sunday, January 9, 1927, at 2:30 YORKVILLE CASINO, 86th Street and Third Avenue ADMISSION FIFTY CENTS. PROGRAM: PART I The Internationa Hungarian Choru “The Voice of Labor” Living Pictures. jandolin Orchestra “Lyra” «oRebecca Grecht PART II Feature Dances, a) Recondita Armonia from “To: b) Volga Boatmen’s Song Hungarian Folk '—Puccini. wihels.imile Bujacieh Workers’ Orchestra and Chorus. OO ws ~wew o }