The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 16, 1927, Page 1

The Daily Worker Fights: For the Organization of the Un- organized. For a Labor Party. For the 40-Hour Week. \ccsiareteiennentinstenianessasinnnistemeeeeaciesiaeiainnt Vol. IV. No. 53. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In New York, by mail, $8.00 per year. Outside New York, by mail, $6,00 KELLOGG AGAIN DISCRIMINATES; REFUSES VISA TO PIATOKOFF MOSCOW, March 15.—George Pia- tokoff, who had been designated to be head of the Soviet Trading Cor- poration at New York, has returned here from Berlin where he stayed for the past threé months awaiting his visa for entry into the United States. The state department at Washing- ton, D. C., is maintaining its usual Policy of silence and has not notified Piatokoff what it intends to do in his case. Piatokoff, whose application for en- try had the endorsement of a group CURRENT EVENTS By T. J. O’7FLAHERTY. DMINISTRATION newspapers are laughing at senator King because of his failure to secure permission to enter Haiti, the island republic that is actually a branch office of the Na- tional City bank. King delivered a speech last year in which he said that Haiti was not free but was actually a pupp. of the state department. To prove that King was not stating the | truth President Borno put up the “no/ admittance” sign for the senator and | the state department says: “Now, who is running Haiti?” . ‘HE state department will not in- sist on the president of Haiti granting King a visa to enter the country. But if President Borno treated a Wall Street banker in this feshion, a few of the battleships taat are not engaged protecting Wall Street’s interests in China, Nicaragua and the Philippines would be churn- ing the ocean immediately on the way to Haiti to show Borno where to get \ off at. Which proves that a senator | who falls foul of the money barons does not amount to much. o; Ee Ss b rncieats MacDONALD is coming to the United States and there is some talk that the more progressive wing of the Labor Party are.in favor of giving him a permanent vacation. MacDonald got in wrong w* > his party on the Chinese questiot vit- ish i bor leaders have a habit of taking an an. YOyagé When Home life gets too strenuous. J. H. Thomas came to the United States after he betrayed the miners a few years ago. When he helped to betray them last year he went to Canada and to re: euperate from the same kind of activity Ramsay MacDonald went to the Sahara desert. Things move slowly in England but’ the British working class are preparing to send their reactionary leaders to the poli- tical wilderness. * * ERENSKY tells us that )Stalin hates the peasantry and that the only difference between Stalin’s policy and Trotsky’s is that the latter wants to kill them right away while the former would go about the busi- ness of extinction more methodically and cautiously. Kerensky declares quite correctly that the peasantry comprises about 95 per cent of the population of the Soviet Union. Yet these peasants seem to like their enemies. Kerensky’s lies are so feeble that even the capitalist newspapers decorate them with invisible question marks. « * * * * OR Mr. Kellogg has a terrible time trying to deny that he in- structed the American charge in Nicaragua to bring about the election of the reactionary Diaz. It is re- ported that Mr. Dennis, the charge in question who, is returning to the United States to become head of the Latin-American section of the state department has such a document in his possession. It may be lese majeste to say that Mr. Kellogg is lying but the secretary of state has been caught 8o often taking liberties with the truth that his denials carry no more weight of prominent New York firms, be- lieves that he is being victimized by narrow-minded Washington officials, and that the refusal of a visa to him would be in keeping with the previous record of Kellogg barring foreigners to come to America. Rumors coming from Berlin state that the U. S. consul there was, given instruction to refuse a visa to Pia- tokoff as the state department at Washington has found him “inadmis- sible.” Panic In State Department As Dennis Sails Brings Letter Involving Kellogg in Diaz Plot WASHINGTON, March 15. (FP). —Scandal and panic in the state de- partment, pious expressions of bene- volence toward Nicaragua issuing from the White House, copies of doc- uments, leaking from the American legation in Managua, quoted in the columns of the Washington Post, showing that Secretary Kellogg or- dered that all possible effort be made to elect Adolfo Diaz as president. That’s the picture of the Coolidge- Kellogg-Nicaraguan intrigue presen-| ted a week after the adjournment of | congress. Dennis Peeved. A long letter of complaint by Law- rence Dennis, recent charge d’affairs at Managua, against high-hat and stupid management of state depart- ment publicity was the first docu-| ment quoted in the press. It appears that copies of this letter fell into the hands of press correspondents now watching the Kellogg war in Niéara- gua. Dennis roasted the “imitation British” snobbery of the Division of Current Information and the clique of so-called career men who domin- ate the policy of the department when the secretary is not actively giving orders. His complaint was inspired by the! fact that three of these members of the “club” of wealthy young men in the service had refused to accept appointments to relieve him in his) disagreeable post in Nicaragua. They | NEW YORK’S LABOR DAILY THE DAILY WORKER. Hntered as second-class matter at the Post Office at New York, N, Y., under the act of March 3, 1879, aeiendh per year. Jury Picked in Ford-Sapiro Libel Suit | Anti-Semitic Issue Creeps Into Suit for Cash DETROIT, March 15.—A jury of | housewives, small salaried employes} and small-town merchants, was final- | ly chosen this afternoon to sit in judgment on the million-dollar libel suit of Aaron Sapiro, wealthy Chi-| cago attorney, against Henry Ford,/| America’s first billionaire, What this jury will have to decide} is whether the Detroit manufacturer | was justified in declaring, in various} articles in his magazne, “The Dear- born Independent,” that Sapiro, or- ganizer of more than 40 cooperative | associations and author of a farmers’ | cooperative law, was the prime mover in a “conspiracy” of Jewish international bankers to throttle ag-| riculture. The Issues Are Clearer. Lines along which the libel suit will be fought became clear with the} examination of the prospective jurors. As the questioning by the high-priced attorneys progressed it was quite evident that even the de- fense, which has firmly maintained | that Jewry was not an issue, never- theless took sharp notice of the dif- ference between the Jew and non- Jew as jury material. One candidate for the jury box who testified that he once “joined the | Ku Klux Klan, more out of curiosity |than afiything else.” was subjected to hard questioning by lawyers for Sapiro, the man who wants Ford to pay him $1,000,000 as damages for} the statements which he made about him and his activities. When the selection of the jury was finally completed, there were two | |Jews among the 12 talesmen in the |box. They stoutly maintained that | they could give Ford a fair trial. | | There seems to be slight interest} jin the ease here. Should Ford sud-| denly make. his appearance, however, | there is no doubt that the case would take on “Peaches-Browning” interest in the public estimation. Will Henry Ford Appear? Much legalistic discussion has tak- en place in the last 24 hours as to whether or not Ford has officially been subpoened to appear. Sen. “Jim” Reed, of Missouri, counsel for Ford | said, however, that “there will be no |trouble having Mr. Ford here if the court wishes his evidence.” (Continued on Page Two) had not been punished for refusal. than a preacher's tirade against the devil. 3 * 7 * My Nationalists are forging ahead in China. Shanghai, the prize 'y of the Orient, seems to be ready fall into their lap. If they had to only with the feudal militarists theiy,task would be simple. Even de- opposition of the Imperial- rs whose money is financing its the revolutionists ap- on the verge of attaining Too much stock should not reports of conflicts inside the Kourmintang Party. Of course there are Wifferences on questions of policy and there is no doubt but the (Continued on Page Two) Baumes Commission — To Spend $50,000 More ALBANY, March 15.—-Gov. Smith has signed the bill extending the life ‘of the Baumes Crime Commission for He had to resign in order to leave to come north. | Had The Evidence. | Up his sleeve Dennis held a trump card which caused the White House and state department to writhe in agony. It was a letter of instruc- tions, which came to him in the diplo- matic pouch from Washington, bear- ing the signature of Secretary Kel- logg, instructing him to see that Adolfo Diaz was chosen president of | Nicaragua when Chamorro, close as- | sociate of Diaz and author of the: military coup that overthrew constitutional government, should. get out. Saved The Letter. This letter was, to have been burn- ed, it appears, but for some reason of prudence Dennis not only preserv- ed it but made a copy which he is bringing back to Washington. The original is said to be locked up in the legation files. While administra- tion sources have replied by declar- (Continued on Page Three) Marconi Shareholders In Disorder When Loss Is Announced to Them LONDON, March 15, — Disorder marked a meeting of the sharehold- ers of the Marconi Company today. The meeting was called to consider a recommendation of the directors that the capital of the company be reduced forty-six and one half per- cent to meet a reduction in the com- panies assets, caused by losses. This would mean a reduction in the -par value of the stock held by the share- holders. | The shareholders gaye every evi- dence of being greatly annoyed at | the recommendations and booed Mar- coni when he arose to speak. Marconi told the shareholders he would sever his connection with the company unless the recommendations |Were carried. The financial history ‘of the company has been full of ‘charges of fraud and mismanage- NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 1927 << Dunne Member C, I. Executive Following Ruthenberg’s Death William F, Dunne is now a mem- ber of the Executive Committee of the Communist International, fol- lowing the death of Charles E. Ruthenberg. At the Fifth Congress of the Communist International held in June “924, Ruthenberg and Wil- liam 7 ter were elected as mem- bers Dunne as alternate. According to the statutes of the Communist International the mem- bers of. the Exeéutive Committee are elected by the Congress and not by the various ‘sections. Dunne was chairman of the Amer ican delegation at/ the Fifth Con- gress. He and J) Louis Engdahl are the editors of The DAILY WORKER. Capture of Wuhu Big Victory for Nationalists Nanking Now Next Objective Of Revolutionary Troops SHANGHAI, Mareh 15.—The City of Wuhu was reported to have fallen into the hands of the revolutionists. The fall of Wuhu to the National- ists would mean the cutting of the these two important cities, Nanking and would probably be the forerunner of the fall of Nanking. Present maneuvers of the Nation- alists appear to be directed towards Nanking, the campaign being based upon a belief that with the fall of Nanking the Shantungites would find Shanghai untenable. ¥ Private agvices cable dispatch- es make it etal: the eventual suecess of the Nationalists is gener- ally anticipated. General Chang Chang, who has taken.ster tte ez nse-of: Shang- hai, is apparently preparing to give | up Nanking to the revolutionists. The evacuation of Nanking can only be followed by the surrender of Shang- hai to the Cantonese, since Shanghai depends upon Nanking for its de- fense forces. Two-Sided Drive The Nationalists are making a two- | sided drive to bring about the fall of these two important cities, Nanking and Shanghai, and unconfirmed re- ports state they have already cap- tured Wuhu, which would mean the severance of the all important com- munications between Shanghai and tacking Sunkiang and on the north their drive is directed at Soochow. Private advices intimate that Gen- eral Chang Tsung Chang, the Shang- hai defender, knows full well that he ean not hold Shanghai or Nanking against the Nationalists and that he is merely maneuvering to secure all possible loot from these cities before he withdraws into his own territory to the north and permits the Nation- alists to rule in full sway over Shang- hai and Nanking. Chang Fights Wu Marshal Chang Tso Lin, who is the actual power behind the northern de- fenses, remains in Pekin, apparently more interested in a “private battle” against his ancient enemy Wu Pei Fu ‘than in the war against the Nation- alists. We Pei Fu has failed to re- spond to Chang Tso Lin’s demand for aid against the southerners, though it is reported that he personally de- sired to ally himself with Chang. but his subordinates refused. Chang ‘ment. GANIZE “HANDS OFF CHINA” CONFERENCE IN N. Y. 100 DELEGATES OR | The “Hands Off China” conference | held last night at the Labor Temple, 4th street and 2nd avenue, was at- tended by over a hundred delegates representing 61 labor unions, workers’ organizations, and political bodies throughout the city. The Provisional Committee which issued the call for this conference in- vited all groups interested in the fight for Chinese freedom, to join in formulating ways and means to pro- test further interference by foreign powers in the internal affairs of China and her people. Pickens Chairman, ‘ Last night’s conference Lr Will- Indian Nationalists Regret the Death of Chas. E. Ruthenberg SAN FRANCISCO, Cal., March 15.—The Hindustan Garder Party, the nationalist party of India, has sent the following message on the death of C. E. Ruthenberg: “The Hindustan Garder Party deeply regrets the death of Mr. Charles E. Ruthenberg. In his death not only the Workers Party has lost a great man, but all the op- pressed nations of the earth have lost a real friend. We hope the Workers Party will soon recuperate from this great loss.” . MUNSHA SINGH, Secretary. BUY THE DAILY WORKER AT THE NEWSSTANDS dition of his Fengtien troops into Homan, the province considered sac- red to Wu. These troops threaten to capture Chengchow, an important city, and to exact tribute for Chang Tso Lin from a territory heretofore ruled and taxed entirely by Wu Pei Fu. Feng To Seize Homan The Nationalists, however, are not prepared to let Honan pass under the Pekin influence without battle. Gen- eral Feng Yuh Siang is reported in Sianfu, capital of Shenzi, with 150,- 000 well trained troops, ready to march into Honan to attempt to oust the Fengtien troops and take control in the name of the Nationalist Gov- ernment, Further south in Yunan, a territory which has always been considered loyal to~Pekin, there are evidences that the revolutionists have sown well and this territory may go over to the Nationalists at any moment. The Nationalists at the present mo- ment appear about to win sweeping victories, while the northern war lords wrangle among themselves. Fatty Arbuckle Comes Back. LOS ANGELES, March 16,—Roscoe C. Arbuckle, rotund film comedian of other years, is about to stage a return to the silver, serson, it .was learned here today. Nanking. On the south they are at- | Tso Lin has therefore sent an expe-| PUBISHING Woll’s “Report” Apparently “Filed” Mayor Walker’s office again stated today that it had no announcement to make on the contents of the report of last year’s fur strike which was turned over by the Special Investigat- ing Committee of the American Fed- eration of Labor last Friday. A copy of this report, in fact the only copy in existence so it is said, was handed to the mayor for his in- | formation because, according to Presi- dent Green, it contained information | supplied by members of the Furriers Jaint Board relative to payments made to the police during the strike. What use he made of the report was left to his honor. Tammany’s Own Cops! So far Mayor Walker has made no comment at all upon the report. The rumor is that he is not going to make any, and that this whole graft charge against members of the |police department will be quietly | shelved. sooner it is forgotten, the better. For, what was intended as a frame- Joint Board of the Furriers’ Union, and planned as a means of discredit- ing them in the eyes of the worker: and the public, turned out to be » attack on the city’s police departmen —and not even A. F. of L. officials ean hit Tammany Hall’s police and get away with it. Not Even True. head of the investigating committee, acting-president of the National Civic | Federation, and the leader of the re- actionary forces, wrote the report of what he wanted to find in the inves- tigation of the Furriers Union and that all the other members of the com- mittee signed their names, without reading carefully. At Least Lose Majesty. }came the newspaper headlines, “A. |F. of L. Investigating Committee | Charges $100,000 Graft Paid to New York Police.” The next morning, so the rumor goes, Inspector Broderick of the Industrial Squad visited Joseph P. Ryan, president of the New York Central Trades and Labor Council and a member of the Investigating Committee, and said: “Hey Joe, whathehell!” And so Ryan telegraphed Woll, say- ing: “Hey Matty, whathehell!” Flat Contradiction. And then President Green tele- graphed back that the American Fed- eration of Labor was a responsible body and stood by its statements. Whereupon Ryan announced that the charges of graft were absolutely not true; and after that things began humming. The result was that Green did not come to New York right away to see Mayor Walker as was the announced plan. Then the mayor had to go to Havana, and he was busy when he first returned. And finally by the time President Green, et al., reached the New York City Hall last Friday, they “made no charge against the po- lice,” and they did not even recollect that there had ever been any charges made at all. . No Money For Cops. Members of the Furriers Joint 3oard have denied that they ever made any statements which would indicate that graft had been paid to the po- lice, and they have dared the In- vestigating Committee, or the officials of the International to hold a public hearing on this and all the other charges made in the report. Since Mathew Woll, and his com- mittee have shown no desire to turn the light of day on the contents of this report, and since Mayor Walker surely does not wish to use against the police department reported state- ments which are flatly denied by those quoted, it looks as tho the matter would be dropped. So the forces attacking the pro- gressives in the trade unions once more defeat themselves, U. S$. Financial Barons Are Not Popular Abroad Charlie Schwab Learns Charlie Schwab, steel king, who returned today aboard the Levia- than, has discovered that American financiers are not very popular abroad. “They don’t come right out and say it but it is very evident that Americans are not liked in Europe,” Schwab said. “I don’t think that I will ever go back again. All Right te lie About Fur | ‘Workers, But Not Tammany | up on members of the New York! |ble for water power. It is reported that Matthew Woll,|and democrats was brought to a head jfor an “investigating commission, | Which, by wasting time, would permit|or that one had been with him in Then Woll went to Florida and out | | York, Governor Smith introduced bills | ing those who were to be arr: |in the legislature providing for a New| York State Power Authority empow- jered to submit a comprehensive plan |for “public development” of state wa- |ter power. Published Daily except Sunday by THE DAILY WORKER CO., 83 First Street, New York, N. Y. Darrow Sick, But Negro Lawyer Defends Sterry In Blasphemy Hearing TORONTO, Ont., March 15— With Clarence Darrow, famous Chicago lawyer, unable to be pre- sent on account of illness, the trial of Ernest Victor Sterry, editor of the Christian Enquirer, accused of “blasphemous libel” was opened to- day. Sterry is being defended by E. Lionel Cross, brilliant Negro at- torney, assisted by Norman Waldo. Hell of a Note. The indictment sets forth that the defendant published certain statements in 1926, “unlawfully and wickedly, and with intent to asperse and villify Almighty God and bring the Holy Bible, the Holy Scriptures and the Christian re- ligion, te the evil example of all others.” Smith, Mellon Scramble Over | Water Power It was a nasty boomerang, and the | Governor Favors General Electric Company ALBANY, March 15.—Republicans |and democrats in the legislature are at each others’ throats in their scram- stand the General Electric Company and the Mellon interests pulling the strings. é The fight between the republicans last night when Governor Smith in a special message to the legislature flat- ly rejected the republican proposal republican leaders to hand over New York's rich power resources to the Mellon interests. , {Public Ownership.” Making a plea for “public owner- ship” of the power resources of New Governor Smith’s plan would permit the General Electric |Company tv mulct the public for pow- er generated by the state. Owen D. | Young, vice-president of the G. E. C. was a prominent contributor to Gov- ernor Smith’s campaign fund. The hypocrisy of Governor Smith’s| Back of them| FINAL CITY ‘EDITION Price 3 Cents AFL. Committee Arrests More Furriers Basoff, Right Wing Stool, Picks Schneider, Lenhard The reactionary, union-smashing forces of the International Fur Work- ers’ Union and the “Special Commit- tee” of the A. F. of L., brought about the arrest of Jack Schneider and Otto Lenhard, last night at the Joint Board headquarters, 22 East 22nd street. These two active union members were taken into custody by plain- clothes men who visited the office in the company of Bernard Basoff, well- known right wing tool, who identified |them as having been connected with the Mineola case which grew out of the fur strike last year and has al- ready involved many workers. Regular “Informer.” It was Basoff who caused the ar- rest of Ben Gold, I. Shapiro, and S Mencher several months ago, on the charge that they too wefe connected with this case; and these three leaders |are at present out on bail waiting to |be called when this case comes to | trial. Basoff was a fur worker arrested | with others on an assault charge pre- ferred by an employer of Rockville Centre, L. I., during the strike. This case was tried at Mineola and the {men were convicted and given heavy |sentences. The case was appealed }and a new trial was granted, but no date has been set for it so far. Became Professional Witness. However, while the appear was pending, Basoff, doubtless under the promise of freedom, yielded to the |pressure of certain interests who wanted to use this case as a weapon |against leaders in the union. He was taken out of jail and began a series of “identifications” of those who were | wanted, willingly stating that this one Rockville Centre, or had s | there. | It was evident from the first that \ someone was directing Basoff's “iden. | tifying” activities. Someone had sup- | plied his bail, and someone was select- sted. | Part of Campaign. | Basoff, with the detectives, was seen at intervals in the fur market |yesterday; but it was not until 7 | o’clock that he visited the Joint Board office and Schneider and Lenhard | were pointed out. They were taken to | Mineola jail last night, and at a late |hour efforts were still being made to | bail them out. There is little doubt that these ar- plea for public development of power rests /_ a “ the pie to hai the resources was clearly indicated in his| Progressive leaders from the union message which stated that the “Power 5° that the right wing traitors may Authority would finance the building take possession. It follows the lines |the dams and plants at the river|o! Special Organizer Edward Me- through the contracts which it would|Grady’s announcement at the meet- make for selling the power to be gen-| ing of the Boston fur local, on March erated to private companies which th, that within 72 hours the capture | would finally market it to the people.” | of the New York Furriers Joint Although Governor Smith makes no | Board would be accomplished. A few mention of the company which is to | !¢aders would be in jail, some would market the power, it is quite obvious | be deported, and the whole thing to those in touch with the situation | Would be over. ‘ that the fat contract will go to the! ite Is MeGrady’s Scheme. General Electric Company. Governor) While McGrady’s plans have gone Smith has on a number of occasions S°mewhat awry, he showed what the proposed Owen D. Young as chairman | reactionary forces have in mind and of the Water Power Authority, and| What dastardly deeds they will at- Owen D. Young, with true christian | tempt in their efforts to break the gratitude, has reciprocated by boost- ing Al Smith for president. Governor Smith’s bill was intro- duced in the senate and the assembly by Senator Bernard Downing and As- semblyman Maurice Black after the reading of the Governor’s message. Young vs. Mellon. Determined to maintain the present power laws which would permit them to grant the Mellon aluminum trust} the power resources of the state, re- publican leaders are waging a bitter war against the Power Authority Bill. | The 4luminum Company of North America with its numerous subsidi- aries, all of them controlled by An- drew D. Mellon, is back of the repub- lican opposition to the bill. junion. No act is too low or despic- jable for them. They are enemies |who must be routed and driven out of the labor movement before the workers can hope to progress and better their conditions. Another Bank Fails; | Charge That Official Wrecked Instituton BOSTON, March 15,—Suspension of the Waldo Trust Company, of Bel- | fast, Maine, with branches in Castine, Brooks and Unity, today led to a grand jury probe here of the activities {of Norman H. White, of Brookline. MASS MEETING TOMORROW STARTS ORGANIZATION CAMPAIGN AMONG NEW YORK’S MANY AUTO WORKERS The first shot in the battle to or- ganize the thousands of New York automobile workers will be fired to- morrow night when a mass meeting will be held at the Labor Temple, 243 E. 84th St., near Second Ave. Organizer To Speak, Arthur E. Rohan, International or- ganizer for the United Automobile and Aircraft Workers’ Union, will be the principal speaker at the meeting which will be followed by many others during the next few weeks. Other speakers include Miss Harriet Silver- man, of the Workers’ Health Bureau; August Claessans, and William Green- berg, local organizer for the auto workers’ union. Intense opposition has already de- yeloped toward the .moyement ta or- ganize the auto workers on the part of New York bosses. Attempts to distribute leaflets to employes of the ‘Theuer Wagon Works, 601 W. 56th St., resulted in the bosses calling in the assistance of the police. | The local campaign for organizing the auto workers is an independent effort. A. F. L. Delays Action. The American Federation of Labor at its last convention in Detroit went on record as favoring the immediate waging of an organization campaign of the auto workers, but it subse- quently decided to defer action. Meanwhile organization has been going on independently in various cities, in many cases with the active assistance of the Machinists’ Union,