The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 27, 1927, Page 6

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we Ate S ¥ . Page Six THE Published by the DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO. Daily, Except Sunday New York, N. Y. 83 First St Phone, Orchard 4928 SUBSCRIPTION RATES By mail (in New York only): By mail (outside of New York): $8.00 per year $4.50 six months $6.00 per year $3.50 six months $ three months $2.00 three months Address all mail and make out checks to THE DAILY WORKER, 38 First Street, New York, N. Y. J. LOUIS. WILLIAM F,, DUNNE {****"*° BERT MILLER.. s/twibia Editors ‘ond-class mail at the post-office at New York, the act of March 2, 1879. Entered as Advertising rates oh application. British Isolation in China. It now appears certain that the British government has failed to secure concerted action on the part of the other imperialist powers in support of a war against the revolutionary Canton government which controls over two thirds of China and exer- cises moral hegemony over the remainder. Japan has definitely decided to adopt a ‘““Hands Off China” policy as far as resorting to armed hostilities against the Na- tionalist government is concerned. Japan has adopted this at- titude for business reasons rather than because of any altruistic motives. The important consideration in this instance, is that objective conditions are such that Japan felt it the better part of wisdom to court the Cantonese government rather than make war on it. The policy of the United States government as announced by Coolidge indicates that Weshington will not join Britain but insists that it will protect “American lives and property.” There is reason to believe that the Coolidge policy in China which has been a sabre-rattling one, bearing all the earmarks of the Wall street policy in Latin-America has been. considerably modified by pressure of mass opinion. There is also reason to believe, that Washington promised co-operation with Great Britain in China in return for benevolent neutrality towards American policy in Nicaragua and Mexico. That some such agreement had been reached can be gathered from the howls of rage and the groans of disappointment emitted by the tory gov- ernment organs when news of the latest Coolidge announcement reached London. Coolidge will defend Wall street’s interests in China by the sword if necessary but since the main stream of Chinese anti-imperialist hate is now directed against British im- perialism, American imperialism will continue to slap John Bull on the back, tickle the Chinese under the chin and try to get away with more of the bacon. The reports that France had reached an agreement with Britain were properly giggled out of credibility by The DAILY WORKER. Britain’s efforts to secure aid in saving her commer- cial and political chestnuts this time—for the first time in his- tory, perhaps—have proven to be a ghastly failure. As for imperial Britain! She continues to dispatch troops and marines and warships to China. But what can her twenty thousand mercenaries do in face of a China of 400,000,000 people, a people more united than ever before and fired with the burning zeal of a nation that has tasted the bitter fruit of oppression for centuries, from their own corrupt rulers and again from the brutal exploitation of foreign imperialism and its tools, the »native tuchuns? In addition to the resistance that the New China can put up, we see powerful opposition developing in India and in the British Dominions. Hindoo nationalists resent seeing Hindoo troops being sent to murder the Chinese, and the Australian workers have served notice on the empire that they will take active steps to prevent the transport of Australian troops and munitions of war for the British campaign in China. British isolation in China is as complete as anything can be. The cabinet meets in London under auspices more gloomy than hung over the imperial fortunes since Napoleon squatted on the cther side of the channel with a dagger in his hand intended for the British nation’s heart. The two situations can only be con- sidered comparable in a military sense. In those days capital- ism was rising to power and England, the nursery of capitalism, had a historical mission to fulfill. History is now about to write “finis” to that task. Today we are living in a period of capitalist decline on a world scale. World capitalism is standing on the brink of the historical abyss and the old guard of capitalism, its British sec- tion, is doomed to be the first to go. Britain is fighting for her imperialist life in China’ The failure of the other imperialist powers to help a brother. in distress, proves once more that aside from the rising power of the revolutionary workers and subject peoples, intent on doing away with exploitation, the contradic- tions inside the, imperialist system, their mutual antagonisms and conflicting interests, prevent them to unite against their common enemies, the workers and subject peoples, thus helping to write the music for their funeral dirge while the grave is being dug by the exploited masses of the world. Hail the gallant Chinese millions and their allies in all lands! Speed the day when the pirate emblem of Great Britain sinks beneath the waters of the Yellow Sea to be followed by the im- perialist symbols of all powers that are holding the human race in bondage. And speed the day when the symbol of the World Soviet Re- public of industrial workers and tillers of the soi! vises on the ruins of world imperialism. —_ McClure, the publisher, returns from Italy with praise for Mussolini on his lips. It’s a happy land says McClure. Nobody in Italy thinks of profits any more. No, nothing but their coun- try. We suggest that McClure return to his favorite country on the next boat. This is just about what McClure would say to a Soviet sympathizer on his return from a visit to the Soviet Union. The Pope's action in disbanding his scouts is praised by the fascist press. It is quite likely that the Pope did not throw out ‘his dirty water until he was assured of a fresh supply. Which means that Mussolini and the Pope have a new deal on. We do not believe that the Pope and Mussolini can afford to allow their _ differences to reach a definite rupture. Their thrones are at staxe. 7 John L. Lewis insists that the miners’ union under his lead- ership wii never take a backward step. But John has been travelling backward so lgng that he can see through the back of | “ . ( DAILY WORKER Chicago Daily News Questions Answered by Russian Communist By G. MELNITCHANSKY. Some time ago Junius Wood, the Moseow correspondent of the Chicago Daily News asked G. Melnitchansky, president of the Moscow Central La- bor Council seven questions about the effect of the revolution on the social and cultural positions of the Russian workers and on their material con- ditions. Whether the Daily News published the answers given by Melnitchansky or not, they are of much interest to the America® workers and we here- with publish the answers to the first three questions. The balance will ap+ pear in our next issue—Editor. ** * Question 1—In what way has the revolution improved the social and cultural position of the worker? Answer: Prior to the Revolution the working class in Russia had | rights, it was an oppressed and ex-i ploited class, enslaved politically and economically. The October Revolution transferred the political and economic power to the working class, establish- ing the dictatorship of the proletariat, which is being exercised by the work- ing class in alliance with the poorest peasantry through the Soviets of Workers’, Peasants’ and Red Army deputies and from an enslaved class it has turned them into a privileged one. The October Revolution has secured for the working class the freedom of expression of their opinions, the free- dom of assembly, of organization, ac- cess to knowledge, the right to pos- sess arms and to defend their work- ers’ State, the equality of workers of all nationalities and races, the free- dom of conscience and of anti-reli- gious and religious propaganda. The October Revolution has transferred the ownership of the means of pro- duction (factories, mines) to the workers. The Soviet government has promulgated a Labor Code which con- tains the minimum conditions of work, which cannot be reduced in any undertaking or establishment, be it private, public or State (8-hour work- day, obligatory social insurance, etc.). Prior to the Revolution only the possessing class had free access to education, The Soviet government aims to give all workers a general and complete education, and for this purpose it first of all takes measures to eradicate illiteracy among the la- boring masses and has established workers’ workers for higher institutions of learning. The People’s Commissariat of Education has covered the U. S. S. R. with a network of schools of vari-} ous types, courses, kindergardens, in-. dustrial, pedagogical and art colleges and many other educational institu- tions, to which workers and members of their families are admitted first of all. The trade unions are enabled to carry on great educational work through the clubs, libraries, reading- rooms, the press, etc., while at the same time taking an active part in the introduction of all educational measures by the various State bodies. In this sense the Revolution has made a radical improvement in the social and cultural condition of the workers, * * '* Question 2.—How has it improved his material position? Answer: The Revolution made it possible to carry out all the basic de- mands of the workers in the realm of social insurance. Social insurance in the U. S. S. R. covers all persons who work by hire and includes all forms of relief, as medical aid, unemployment benefit, relief in cases of temporary disability (sickness, accident, quarantine, preg- nancy, confinement, care of sick mem- ber of the family), invalids’ pensions, special allowances for infant feeding, | sick-room supplies and burial and| lastly, relief to the family of the in- sured in case of death or disappear- ance of the bread-winner and during unemployment. The insurance premiums are paid by the undertakings and individuals employing hired labor, the insured be- ing exempt from any asséssments or charges for social insurance. Social insurance is under the direction of the trade unions, which elect the in- surance bodies, In addition, workers and employees are accommodated frée of charge at rest homes, sanatoria and health resorts. In municipal services, edu- cation, ete., the working class enjoys certain preferences, and the charges are fixed in accordance with the wages and the family status. Industrial undertakings must also contribute 10 per cent of their prof- its in addition to the insurance pay-, ment and paid wages for improving the general living conditions of the workers, This money is spent on the construction of housing for workers and other material or cultural needs (clubs, public dining-rooms, nurseries, ete.). Wages, which were very low during the acute periods of the civil war and economic collapse, are now, with the restoration of the public economy, constantly rising and have reached throughoyt the Union of Soviet So- cialist Republics, on the average, 97 per cent of the pre-war level and in some industries they are higher than pre-war, For instance, in textile, food and other industrie: faculties to prepare the .@ level. If one takes into consideration that prior to the Revolution the work- ers did not have social insurance, free medical aid and medicines, low rents, health resorts, rest homes, sanatoria, the 8 and 6-hour day, annual vaca- tions for 2 to 4 weeks with pay, and adds all that to the wages, it appears that the material condition of the working class after the Revolution has improved considerably. The basic improvement in the condition of the working class consists in that ‘the public economy, the industries, are in the hands of the State—the workers’| state—and that they are being devel- oped in the interest of the working class. The growth and development of industry lead to the immediate im- provement in the economic condition! of the working class and not to the amassing of large fortunes by a small group of capitalists—private property owners. . * . Question 3.—What principles of Soviet unionism would be of benefit to the American workman? Answer: (a) The trade unions in the United States, mostly under the influence of their leaders, deny the revolutionary class struggle, reject strikes as a means for improving the condition of the workers, although every-day life reveals facts indicating the growing acuteness of the class struggle which goes on without the trade unions or is glossed over by them. The basic principle of the work of the Soviet trade unions is the or- ganization of the revolutionary class struggle, participation in the building of the proletarian state. If American trade unions should adopt this prin- ciple it would benefit the American workers. (b) A majority of trade unions in the United States, also under the in- fluence of their leaders, deny the ne- cessity for the working class to take an active part in the political strug- gle, by creating their own proletarian political party. Therefore an over- whelming majority of the workers are indifferent to politics and do not fight against the existing political order, and many of them, with the aid of these same leaders, are drawn into! the nets of the bourgeois political parties, which thus strengthen their| power and use it to enslave the work-| ing class still more. | The trade unions of the U. S. S. R. hold the view that it is necessary for the working class to have an inde- pendent proletarian political party, which should direct the political strug- le of the working class and aim te wrest the political power from the bourgeoisie, securing it for the work- ing class. If the trade unions and the workers of the United States should adopt this point of view and apply it in practice, it would greatly benefit the American workers. Then the pow-| er of capital would be destroyed, the workers would make an end of the spy and strike-breaking agencies, the injunction process would be abolished, the special policemen and soldiers would not break strikes and the heads of the strikers, and the judges would not send the workers to workhouses and jails. (c) In the. United States, where the} most highly developed and concen- trated capital rules, where the num- ber of gainfully employed persons reaches 32,000,000, the trade union movement is Weak and disintegrated. It is organized along most backward ODE TO LENIN By ADOLF WOLFF You rise To ever greater Stature As Time recedes In inverse ratio To the size of those THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 1927 lines—craft unionism. Craft unions, disunited, compete with one another and undermine the power of the work- ing class. The unions, affiliated to the American Federation of Labor, the I, W. W., the independent unions which attempt to form at the same plants, compete among themselves. by most unfair methods, create confusion and disorganization in the midst of the working class, The number of or- ganized workers does not exceed 4) million, The American Federation of Labor, after 45 years of existence,' has in it 2,800,000, which consti- tutes an insignificant percentage of the total number of workers. In many trade unions Negroes and work- ers of the yellow race are not admit- ted, common laborers and semi-skilled workers are not organized and not taken into the unions. But the trade unions in the USSR are organized along industrial lines— one industry (one factory), one union. All, beginning with the common la- borer, the watchman, the sweeper and up to the highly qualified spe- cialist, belong to the same union. The trade unions are open to all workers irrespective of race, nationality, re- ligious and political views. 87 per cent of all people working by hire are members of trade unions. All the trade unions are amalgamated in one central body, the USSR Central Council of ‘rade Unions, and help each other in their work. ©n July 1, 1926, we had 9,270,000 trade union members—88 per cent of the total number of people working by hire. If the American trade unions were organized along the same lines as the | trade unions of the USSR and should embrace even 50 per cent of all per- sons who work by hire and be organ- ized in one central body, it would be cf great benefit to the American workers, The trade unions of the USSR are} organized on the basis of democratic centralism. The rank and file are drawn into trade union activities; | they elect and control their leaders. | As soon as any trade union leader becomes estranged from the mass of workers and begins to manifest symp- tems of a bureaucrat, of an official who attempts to rule over the mem- | bership, such a leader is recalled from his post and another, more worthy leader is elected in his place. Our trade unions are of the opinion that it is not good for people to occupy) leading positions too long; we do not recognize life jobs .in- the trade. unions, That. helps much against con- servatism. Our trade union leaders, and active workers are all revolution-| ists who work for an ideai and they) do not look upon their trade union) post as their vocation, as their privi-| lege and monopoly, and they do not! fight for their jobs. Tf all that should be adopted by the American trade unions, we would not! be witnessing how their leaders be-! come life-long rulers and czars of! their unions, we would not be wit- nessing the reign of the fist and the) strong arm in the American unions | which is fostered by many trade union officials, we would not be wit- nessing the bureaucratism, conserva- tism and venality which obtain there,| and that would be very, very advan- tageous for the American workers. (Concluded tomorrow.) Who strutted History’s stage - But yesterday And. are today, faint memories, Where are the Clemenceaus, Whose rage shook Nations; The Woodrow Wilsons? Whose Von Hindenburg, Castrated ruler of a vasal State? Where are those cocky statesmen In whose fat palms The fate of Nations lay? They were the servants Of a passing phase, A momentary spasm, A system that Must die. But you You lived and died suave hypocrisy embraced the World. The crafty fox Lloyd George? For that greatest of all causes: The emancipation of man From the tyranny of man. And while like creeping shadows, They slinking merge Into the blackness of the Past; You rise and rise and rise To ever greater heights In the love and estimation * Of ever greater masses, Like a sun Casting the light of Liberation ‘ Over ever widening areas, There was another charge --the prophet was said to be fond of the company of handsome young won:- en, That was a cruel thing to hint, because Eli was strenuous in de- nouncing fornications and adulter- ies, as much so as any nahi prophet of the First Revélation. Dad chuckled and speculated until it happened one day that he and Bunny took a long drive, and stopped at an unfrequented beach, looking for a place for Bunny to get a swim, There was a cheap hotel on. the waterfront, and com- ing out of the door, whom should they run into but Eli Watkins, with an’ indubitably handsome young woman! The young woman walked quickly on, and Eli exchanged gTeetings with Dad and Bunny, and then excused “himself. Dad stood for a minute, looking after the cou- ple and saying, “By golly!” Then he turned and went into the hotel, and to the man at the desk remarked, in a casual tone, “I met that gentleman, but his name has slipped my memory—the one that just went out.” “That’s Mr. T. C. Brown, of Santa Ynez.” “Is he staying here”? “He just checked out.” Dad began to glance over the hotel register, and there he read, as big as life, “T. C. Brown and wife, Santa Ynez.” And in the crude scrawly handwriting of Eli Watkins, which Dad had at home upon several business letters! It was all Dad could do to keep from bursting: out laughing. By golly, if he were to tip off Tom Poober. to the contents of that hotel regis- ter, he would knock, the Third Rev- elation as high as a kite! paee . President Harding died; and Dan Irving wrote Bunny the gossip from Washington. The old gentle- man had been reluctant to take the oil men’s money, so Barney Brock- way and his “fixer” had fixed “things~ for" him—they had “carried an account” in.a Wall Street brok- erage, a method whereby business men make life comfortable for statesmen. Every now and then they would bring the old gentle- man a bundle of liberty bonds which they had “won” for him. And now his widow had found sev- eral hundred thousand dollats of these bonds in a safe deposit box, and become convinced that he had meant them for another woman, and was in such a fury about it that she was telling all her friends, and giving great glee to Washirg- ton gossip. And then the new president; a little man whose fame was based upon the legend that he had put down a strike of the Boston police- men, when the truth was that he had been hiding in his hotel room, with a black eye presented to him by the mayor of the city. His dream in life, as reported by him- self, was to keep a store, and that was the measure of his mentality. He didn’t know what to say, and so the _ newspapers called him a “strong silent man.” Bunny didn’t publish much of this, because Rachel didn’t approve of gossip. But they did publish some of the inside facts about pro- fessionalism in college athletics, and when this was offered for sale on the campuses, the athletic students mobbed the “Ypsels.” But even the mobbers read the paper, and Bunny was having the time of his life. In December the new Congress assembled, and an alarming state of affairs was revealed; the “in- surgents” had the balance of power in the Senate, and their first move was to combine with the Demo- erats and order an investigation of ‘the oil leases, This news fell upon Dad and Verne like a thunderbolt— their scouts in Washington had failed to foresee such a calamity, and Verne had to jump into his pri- vate car and hurry to Washington, to see what a last-minute expendi- ture of cash might do. Apparently it didn’t do much, for the committee proceeded to put witnesses on the _ stand and “grill” them—a z 35 Brae TE i NOVEE Upton Ginclair the witness stand, and he had to ex- plain that it was all a misunder- standing—what he had said was not “sixty-eight thousand dollars,” but “six or eight cows.” You can see how easy it was for Such a mis- take to happen! But then it was shown that Sec- retary Crisby had deposited a hun- dred thousand dollars in his bank one day; and where had he got that? A great Washington news- paper publisher came forward to declare that he had loaned his dear friend the secretary that little sum for no particular reason. The great publisher then went off to Florida to spend the winter, and he was sick and couldn’t possibly be dis- turbed. But the perverse commit- tee sent one of its members to Florida and put the publisher on the witness stand, and in the pres- ence of half a hundred newspaper reporters pinned him down and made him admit that his story had been a friendly fairy-tale. Where had the hundred thousand come from? The scandal-mongers were busy, of course—fellows like Dan Irving running to the com- mittee with tales of what Washing- ton gossip was saying. So the committee grabbed “Young Pete” O'Reilly, and “grilled” him, and made him admit that he had car- ried the trifling sum of a hundred thousand dollars to Secretary Cris- by in a little black bag—more stuff right out of a movie! And then they grabbed “Old Pete,” and he claimed it was just a loan—he had got a note, but he couldn’t recollect where the note was. He finally produced a signature which he said had been cut off the note, but he. couldn’t tell what had become of the rest of it; he was very care- less about notes, and thought he had given this one to his wife, who had misplaced all but the signature. And these scandalous details about the leaders of the most fashionable society in Washington and Angel City! The newspapers published it, even while they shivered at their own irreverence, (To be Continued.) “Breaking Chains” An Epic Labor Film By Leon Blumenfeld. Judging by the interest taken in the sensational film, “Breaking Chains,” which is scheduled for a de luxe pre- sentation, Sunday, February 6, at the new Waldorf theatre on West 50 Street, capacity audiences will be present to further inspire and en- hance the principle of the interna- tional worker. It will be the initial performance in New York, and will be given under the exclusive auspices of the International Workers Aid, “Breaking Chains” is a significant title for this classic photo-drama. It is a brilliant succession of evente entwined into a beautiful love tale, the ¢entral theme of which pleads for the proletarian laborer the world over. It possesses all the essential ingredients that go to make up a great picture. Love, hate, irony, suf- fering, brutality, and licentiousness are some of the outstanding elements depicted. It is not meant to shock, but rather to teach, to summon up courage and penchance. Filmed entirely in Russia and’ deal- ing with the late Russian revolution and the overthrow of the Czarist reign, “Breaking Chains” was im- ported to this country at a great ex- pense by the I. W. A. It will thrill, enrapture and fluster American au- diences as effectively as it has on the other side of the water, because its appeal is of a universal nature, This European motion picture is not to be mistaken for a news reel. It is a tense human document containing actual news, photographed dexterious ly, a love story with a char ung maiden, a hero who wins her at the final fade-out, and the symbolical villain with his cursed and morose tactics, and so on, It reveals the up- building of a new nation in the Rus- sia of old. 4 Tickets can be purchased in the box office of the Waldorf theatre, in Jim- mie Higgin’s bookshop and at the of- fice of the Daily Worker. There will be 4 showings, at 2 p. m., 4 p.m, 7 p.m, and 9 p. m, Assembly Bill to End |New York Movie Censor ALBANY, N. Y., Jan. 26,—Repeal of the New York state motion piciure censorship law is provided in a bill introduced in the legislature today by Assemblyman Hackenburg. The measure carries out a recommenda- tion by Gov. Smith, ES Nn SY ES SES SRR 6S ESAT AS SINR SR Es Rene ee “The censorship law is a ‘blue law’ . enacted to pacify the te formers,” said a statement by Hack enactment it has purpose than to create fobs’

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