The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 20, 1927, Page 2

Page Two The ensuing is the ninth of Editor of New York World Calls “Big Four” Unfair WHAT'S WHAT IN THE INSURANCE EXPOSE. series of thirty articles exposing Herbert Bayard Swope Says Insurance Condi- tions Are “Unfortunate” and “Unfair” Che ABS avorid ew YORK HERRON? Bavane wore Exe ourve Corres i ABET December 13, 1028, na Baonias Charged in Ford- Jury Tampering Is French Miners = Professional Patriots Raise Yelp for Blood Of Sacco and Vanzetti Fight Plan to Professional patriots pledged to the fraudulent operations of the “Big Four” weekly payment in- surance trust, which is composed of the Metropolitan, Prudential, John Hancock and Colonial Life Insurance Companics. In the preceeding articles Mr. Harrison has made specific charges of | fraud, misrepresentation, overcharging and misuse of “mutu 4 ‘iy | funds belonging to the 40 million American workers who are ti- sured with this powerful combine. Names prominent in the ex- posé thus far have been Charles Evans Hughes, Charles M.| A ES || war against the “sinister radical |] influences which put La Follette forward” as a candidate for the Sapiro Libel Case} Slash Wages My dear Mr. Harrisons ~ D Hy, DETROIT, Apefl t0—Charges of} PARIS, April 19.—The idea of gen- jury corruption are flying thick and | eral strike is spreading. The mining fast in the Ford-Sapiro million dollar | companies are beginning to dread the libel suit, during the recess occasioned | anger of the miners. And they are | by the sudden ifn of the chief of | attempting to maneuver quickly, with | Ford’s attorneys, Senator James A. | the aid of the bourgeois press, a low- Reed. ering of the salaries of the miners. I was much interest, n Bon sind ter eete hc phyee us, but i “4 bi her eae a H if the consi tions y @ Be use in pe ped " presidency in 1924 at a dinner given by the Key Men of America at the Hotel Roosevelt last night. Frederick Marvin, labor-baiter and executive director of the Key Men who does a profitable business every ess Which, A it 1s reasonable to acewme, thove engaged therein are Schwab, Haley Fiske, Supt. of I H. Wiggin and others. ARTICLE IX. By CHARLES YALE HARRISON / Bucking billions of dollars is a| heartrending proposition. News- papers who are ever ready to take up| their editorial cudgels to beat down} “art magazines” and other fake lib- | eral causes turn green with fright at} a proposal to expose a billion dollar | plunderbund, When the present writer completed | his series of stories exposing the fraud of. “industr insurance and its attendant evils, he was naive| enough to think that all he had to do| was to take it to some nice, public-| spirited editor, and lo and behold the trick would be done. Advertisers Pay. But that was in the days before he | realized that a fat advertising con-| tract is more potent than all the truth in the world. So very naively he went to a friend | of his who edits a liberal weekly and asked for counsel and guidance. The} liberal editor read his weighty manu-| script and it was decided that the} facts warranted widespread pub-/} licity. Here was an expose that involved} 40 million people. Here was, edi-| torially speaking, popular appeal. | statement 4 tavle of statistics Was | footnoted giving the official source | of information. ‘the liberal editor was enthusiastic. Here was a big| “story.” In newspaper parlance a piece of news is xelerred to as a} “story.” a | Try It On the World. Finally, through a process of elimination it was decided that the New York “World” would be a suit-| able medium for the “story.” The reasoning that led to this de- cision was something like this: the editorial staff of the “World” is composed of amiable, forward-look- ing tiberals. “The. World” has always veen in the vanguard in protecting une people's interests. Look at the| uti-peonage campaign in Florida, 400% at the anti-iynching campaign in tue south, look at the statement o: euitorial policy which heads the edi: lorial page, written by none other unan the Joseph Pulitzer himself. We read: ‘THE WORLD, as established by | JOSEPH PULITZER May 10, 1888: “An institution that should always fight for progress and reform, never tolerate injustice or corrup- | tion, always fights demagogues of all parties, never belong to any party, always opposes privileged classes and PUBLIC PLUN- DERERS, (capitals ours) never lack sympathy with the poor, al- ways remain devoted to the public weifare, never be satisfied with merely printing news, always be drastically independent, never be atraid to attack wrong, whether by predatory plutocracy or predatory poverty.” All of which sounded very liberal and broad-minded, We read the Pulitzer manifesto again and finally decided that the World should be the paper to attack tne “Big Four.” Surely the “Big | Gold of the left wing furriers, charg- } surance nsurance James A. Beha, Albert} the great insurance fraud were found in the writer's mail box. In the package was this letter: “My dear Mr. Harrison:—I was much interested by the insurance matter you placed before us, but I am afraid that I do not find it available for use in “The World.” | I doubt if the conditions you com- plain of are properly described as ‘Scandalous.’ I incline to the view —and it is supported in authorita- | tive quarters—that the conditions | may be deseribed as unfortunate | and, perhaps unfair, but these are characteristic of almost every busi- ness which, it is reasonable to as- | ' sume, those engaged therein are | seeking to correct. | “If you should not place the ma- | terial elsewhere, The World might | be interested in one article from | you in which you might point out | where industrial insurance might | be strengthened and its costs re- | duced. Such an article might be | helpful, even though it lack sensa- | tionalism. With thanks for the | thoughtfulness that prompted you | to submit the subject to The World, | I am, faithfully, | Herbert Bayard Swope. | Two weeks after the receipt of this; masterpiece The World printed al series of camouflaged anti-labor} propaganda directed against Ben) ing him and his associates with brib- | ing the spotless New York police} force. Since then these charges have been exploded as arrant fabrications. The World considered this as a piece of “scandalous” news, Mr. Swope admits in his letter to) the writer that weekly-payment in- is unfortunate and unfair, | and still this Tammany-controlled publication did not feel it was unfair enough to acquaint a defrauded pub-)| lic as to the extent of the fraud. | How unfair must a condition be before The World begins to feel the | pangs of conscience? Obviously, | »|frone Mr. Swope’s letter, the “Big ‘our” are public plunderers. Joseph} Pulitzer, the founder of the World, | said that public plunderers must be} attacked. | But Not News, | The World is committed to the slo-| | gan that a campaign a day keeps the | | sheriff away. Art magazines, | “Reds,” Republicans, light wines and | | beer, Wayne B. Wheeler, any cam- paign is good enough that has |“peaders’ interest”—anything as long) as it does not attack the powers that| be, anything so long as it creates a/ flare that keeps the circulation cir- culating. But when 40 million American | workers are being deceived by the | slickest gang of financial buccaneers that ever looted the public, why, that’s not news. If the public de- frauded Wall Street looters that) would be news, according to the} World news standards. | Mr. Swope has it from“authorita- | tive quarters” that industrial insur-| ance is unfortunate and unfair. We are heartily in accord with Mr. Swope. In the interests of the millions of | those who could not.” seeking to correct. . From your on statement to appears that cert, @f the com; i 5 panies, (notab) Wetropoliten; you say) are seeking sei seotas Mee mittee of payments on industrial policies. a If you should not place th. fiegiere, Tue norad nugre be Interested tn Sar toticle night point out where industri insurance might be ‘strengthened ate fedoe "3 buch an article might be heipfal oven tee. sensationalica, ts reduced. elpful, even though it lacked ith thanks for the though * Prompted you to submit the subject to. The Nore t md fenny Fatthfully, Charles Y. Harrison, Esq, ima. 736 8t., St Brooklyn, ¥.¥. The opinion of the editor of the New York World, one of the great cap- italist dailies of Arferica, emphasized above, is corroboration of the charges made in our exposure of the “Big Four.” Please note that Swope solicited public indignation. MacDONALD FOE OF LABOR, SAYS — "7 " a tay| After he was stopped from speaking Char ge Former Py emier | Weisbord issued ‘the follow state- Assisted Capitalists | ment: | “TI must protest against the way the By A. J. COOK Dundee Republican Club conducted its (Special to The DAILY WORKER) political rally last night. These rallies The government representing the | Federation of British Industries,*has introduced its hill to attack the Trade * a Unions. The government has been| No Free Speech. forced to oppose the Trade Unions in| “Citizeris came to listen to all can- consequence of the great fights put | didates. 4 up by the workers last year during| “What must be the astonishment of |Weisbord Stopped From | Speaking In Forum | (Continued from Page One) | underworld elements of this city, who {are staunch suporters of Preskiel, gathered in the rear of the hall and tried to terrify him during the entire didates to express their views on the issues involved in the election. |the General Strike and the miners’ | the citizens lured into suchgrallies to | struggle. find that free speech and fair play The determined mass resistance of | are confined only to those candidates | the rank and file, last year, not only | whom the local politicians af the club | amazed the right wing leaders, it| desire to speak. As a‘nominee of the apitalist class. This explains why an | son, T believe I should be treated the attempt is being made to break the | same way as the others. organized power of industrial abor. Ruled Out Discussion. “ Need For Unity A | “Officials of the Dundee Republican One would imagine that, in facogf | Club ruled out all discussion relating the government’s reactionary ON- to certain activities of the present slaught upon the Trade Unions, the | commissioners. If we speak of wo- Labor Movement would be as united men’s club, it is slander. When we as a solid rock in defence of the | sneak of gas bombs, it is throwing struggles put up by the workers last | mud. When we criticize the commis- year, This, however, is not so. Just | signers, we are thrown off the plat- at the moment when the government | forms. Let the other candidates de- launches its offensive, Mr. J. R. Mac- | gy, ” wok : Dinah Sehink ts an L LP. clare, are they going to raise their journal, | voices for free speech, or under the declares :— |guise of fre ech ralli h all “Trade Unionism today is suffering bbe tigs pahyts aes are supposed to permit all of the can- | vightened the government and the | labor ticket with Bambach and Selik- | four” were PUBLIC PLUNDERERS, a surely the Wall Street gang who sat | workers-insurers who suffer from on the top of the defrauded heap | the malicious industrial insurance were “privileged classes,” surely here | system, Mr. Swope should reveal who was an opportunity “to attack wrong” | and ,, Where the “authoritative quar- and to oppose “injustice and corrup- | ters” are. uon.” Yes, the World was the paper | to handls the story, | Louisiana Leases Convict Labor Well Introduced, | NEW ORLEANS, April 19.—(FP) The editor of the weekly liberal|—In accordance with an act passed journal knew the “boys” over at|/by the last Louisiana Legislature, “The World.” Knew them well. | state prisoners are being leased for Would he be so good as to give the | construction work at a compengation present writer a letter of introduc-| fixed by the contractor and the war- tion to one of the editors. With| den of the prison. The revenue goes pleasure. So he sat himself down at| to the parish (county) from which his typewriter and wrote the follow-| the prisoners are received. ing letter. It read: “Dear Bill:—I don’t know a thing| about insurance, but Charles Yale Harrison has just come in with a whale of a story on ‘industrial in-| surance. If his facts ere right—) and he seems to be well documented | —-it ought to start another Arm-| strong Investigation. I think it will) be worth your while to give him some attention.” And He Signed It. Eventually a series of conferences | started with this net result. The} World decided that it would under-| take to expose the “Big Four.” A} story a day for thirty days. Yes, the! price was quite satisfactory. They Talk It Over. | Several editorial councils were held. Ways and means were no doubt dis-| cussed and the writer was informed | that he would be notified as to the first day of publication. Several weeks went by and no| news. Attempts to get Mr. Herbert) Swope, the managing editor, were abortive. A® polite secretary smoke-_ screened the executive editor. 3 “Unfortunate” them... one day the articles*exposing ed two feet more expected. prime minister he would be in favor of appointing a commission of inquiry | into Trade Unionism! Any real labor premier would tell the upholders of capitalism to keep their hands off the Trade Unions; and he would do every- thing in his power to strengthen the industrial power of the militant masses, Helping the Enemy Mr. MacDonald’s reference to the Trade Unions being misled into inevit- able defeat is another sneer at the General Strike resolution passed at the conference of T.U. Executives last May Day. If he knew the policy was stupid as it has never suffered before, be- Pema ot nae vn Alaa cause last year it was misled into bat- | ag a 3 tles where defeat was inevitable, and | “I challenge the candidates, especi- because the men who could have saved | #lly Mr. Presikell to debate with me it were temporarily pushed aside by | 0” the issues of the campaign. I also | challenge the candidates to answer— This is the sort of stuff that glad- | free speech, or no. Given free speech dens the heart of the reactionary tory #"d the ticket must win. who is plotting to find any sort of | Set excuse to attack Trade Unionism. He | ( ‘00 i i . takes it up—as it was by Mr. Spencer, | ~ | lidge, Having Done the Nottinghamshire renegade, and | His Job, May Withdraw also by the “Morning Post”—in order | . to show the need for “yetorming” | TYOOPS from Nicaragua Trade Unionism in the interests of | the community. | WASHINGTON, April 19—Presi- The statement by Mr. MacDonald | dent Coolidge hopes to be able to with- is almost on a par with his declara-|draw a considerable number of the tion to a Rotary meeting of business | U. S. marines from Nicaragua in the men in South Wales, that if he were near future, he informed callers at |the White House today. The Diaz government forces, aided by the marines, are gradually getting the upper hand in Nicaragua and con- ditions are becoming more stable. why did he not say so? He was on the platform and actually spoke in favor of the decision! His criticism of Trade Unionism, like that of Philip Snowden’s in the tory press, is not only an attack upon the organized workers; it is placing ammunition into the hands of Labor’s enemies, as he will know when Bald- win introduces his bill against Trade Unionism into the house of commons. A scene common along a 1,600-mile stretch of the Mississippi river—in this instance, the city being Hickman, Ky,, with flood waters eight feet deep in Clinton Street, the main thoroughfare of the city, and \ Official notice was given that a | mistrial would be demanded upon re- convening of the court. The action is 'to be taken by Stewart Hanley, of Ford’s counsel. The action is said to }involve serious charges against one \of the women jurors. Sapiro Also Kicks “exposing reds” was toastmaster. He urged the professional patriots who attended the dinner to see that Sacco and Vanzetti “do not get another trial.” Nationalists Make Feng M. Pigeot, preisdent of the Commit- tee of Mines of the Loire, has made the following statements: “Fellow workers,” he said, “ the English .miners were beaten, their salaries were lowered and their work | day was lengthened. Then look at Germany. The miners work an hour | longer and produce double the amount Anticipating the action of Ford’s lawyers, William H. Gallagher, chief }of the Sapiro legal battery, created |another stir by complaining that the | Ford secret police, or spies who are | maintained by the labor-hating lizzie | manufacturer, have been talking to | jurors. “Whether they are trying to | learn their state of mind, or influence | them, I am unable to say,” said | an article from Harrison which would be of assistance to the insurance com- | Gallagher. panies and a reminder to them that reforms were needed in order to forestall | Woman Dislikes Ford | gthe charges against the woman |juror are that she remarked five | weeks ago that she “would give Ford the limit” in the libel case. A num- jber of affidavits to this effect were | filed with the court. Judge Raymond appeared greatly | interested in the charges of the Ford | attorneys, but waved aside as of no consequence the complaints of |Sapiro’s attorneys. This has caused considerable speculation to the effect that Judge Raymond is influenced by the Ford interests in Detroit and many anticipate a victory for Ford. ‘Thousands Lose Homes | In Great Floods | (Conti:wed from Page One) Kansas Flooded. KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 19. —| | Southeast Kansas was today in the | grip of a flood, the third in two} weeks, with rivers rising at a rapid rate following heavy rains. Burlington, Kans., and Iola, were | | hardest hit the Neosho River at the | The Verdigris River at Madison was rising at the rate of thirty inches | jan hour during the night and by| morning had flooded lowlands and! driven residents from the town. | Many Again Homeless. Many were again homeless today | after they had returned from the two} | floods last week to set their homes | in order. Several small twisters visited the | vicinity of Eeastern Oklahoma but no} | lives were lost. At Texarkana, Ark., |one was killed and four injured in a} | tornado, | | Ottawa, Kas., 20 miles from Kan- sas City, was threatened today with | inundation. The Maires Des Cyone | River had risen to the highest level |for several years. * | ere Spread Iy Ulinois. | ST, LOUIS, April 19.—New breaks | below this city late yesterday inun- | dated additional territories in South- ern Illinois and Arkansas, The latest reported was in Illinois across the river from Cape Gipardeau, |Mo., driving 25 families from their |homes. These refugees and others between Reynoldsville and Gale, Ill, are being taken across the river to Missouri for safety while hundreds ‘are being housed in tents ere on high ground near Cairo. ibs ite. ae SPRINGFIELD, Ill, April 19.—A series of small tornadoes struck cen- tral Illinois today, causing a number of deaths, many injuries and heavy propery damage. One twister struck near Lincoln, Ti, killing two school children, Hobart Baker and Murray Goodwin as they fled from the village school of Chestnut, near Lincoln. Another tornado was reported to have struck De Kalb, injuring sev- eral and causing heavy property dam- age. All wires were reported down. Elkhart, Ill, Mt. Pulaski, Gales- burg, - Quincy and other points throughout the state were affected by the torrential rains which at times | took on cloudburst proportions, | say eee Thousands Homeless in Flood. MEMPHIS, Tenn., April 19.—Thou- sands were added to the huge army of homeless today following the crash of the St. John’s Bayou Levee near New Madrid, Mo, Twenty-one towns in Arkansas and | Missouri probably will be inundated in another 24 hours, and the course the greatest flood in history. The flood waters are reported sweeping through a mile-wide gap, and rushing down the Saint Francis Basin in a southwesterly direction, emptying back into the Mississippi iM the mouth of the Saint Francis iver. Sateen Mock Passover Affair Yields $30 At a mock celebration of the Pass- over Feast, held by “Yugend,” # Jew- ish workers’ monthly at 35 E. 2nd street, last Sundey, an appeal to. aid the defense, mace by Sam Liptzin netted the sum of § . | | | property loss will be many millions. | * * 8 | latter place spreading out over low-| |lands for three miles. | of the Mississippi River changed by | Commander in Chief jof the French miner.” | His conclusions were to the effect | |that a lowering of the price of coal) # * 1 | was impossible without a diminution | CPitated by Chang in @ small town \of salaries. The lowering of salaries | 2¢#" Harbin, Six students, three | would naturally mean a decrease in | labor leaders, two Communists, and |purchasing power, but this would not | the leader of the local trading organ- be as high as the losses sustained by | executed. striking. } Oppose Wage Cut. (Continued from Page One) ization were those | Rykoff Raps Imperialist War. } e . ‘ 5 es | The delegations of miners from Car- | MOSCOW, April 1 ‘Foreign bai | maux and Cagnac have passed a reso- | se hpi bp Rags persian smd luti fusi ditninatt sal- | Will evolve into an imperialistic war ution refusing any diminution of sal Lehich, as. 4 will Be fought én, the }eoast of the Pacific Ocean, will in aries. They declare that they will) \all probability be a world war,” said oppose in eevry way the reduction of salaries, and will demand of the fed-} Aen ‘ ; i |M. Rykoff at the opening of the All- setiony Cee Snereene Mein Aen Union Soviet Congress last night. the point of a general strike. * ri Pe ‘The miners of the Saar Basin, have | . Declaring that Britain bet attempt- decided to take similar action, so that |'"% to surround Soviet Russia and ta |now, 88,000 miners—70,000 in “the attempting to use the Chinese situa- Saar, and 13,000 in the basins of the | tion as the means of provoking the Aubin and Tarn are actually on the | Soviet Union to war, Rykoff denied eve of industrial war. * |that the Soviet Union has in any way |interfered with the Chinese situation. Shows British Guilt. Extent of Flood “We are accused of fomenting anti- ; British feeling in China,” he said, \“but let them give us the facts.” | Accusing the British of attempting to stir up anti-Soviet feeling in |China, he declared, “If our embassy |was raided it was only by the police | with the consent of the Diplomatic |Corps. It never has and never will |be raided by the Chinese people.” | +e | | Send More Robber Notes. WASHINGTON, April 19.—It was | learned today that the administra- | tion will join the four other impetial- |ist powers in a second set of identic {notes to the Nationalist government. | Minister MacMurray will be in- | formed by cable today, probably after \the cabinet meeting, of the views of this government. Following receipt |of these instructions he will confer | with the ministers of Great Britain, Japan, France, and Italy in Peking, jand together, these five envoys are |expected to draw up the new identic |notes. This task is not expected to jtake more than 48 hours because most of the ministers’ work has been jecompleted by the daily conferences | they have been holding since receipt jof Eugene Chen’s reply last Thurs- | day. | “Firm” Note. | The American minister will be in- | structed to make his note as firm as |possible. What response he will |make toward Chen’s proposal that an ———__— international commission inquire into Entertainment In Chicago. the facts of the Nanking affair could CHICAGO, April 19.—The Slovak | not be learned today. | Dramatic Society will hold an enter-| The American note may touch upon |tainment for Fraction 1, of the; Chen’s suggestion that the old un- | Czechoslovak Section, Workers’ (Com- | equal treaties be revised, but if men- munist) Party. It will be held Sun-| tion of this matter is made it is ex- | day, April 24 at Walsh Hall, corner | pected to be a refusal to entertain a of Noble St., and Milwaukee Ave., be-| Proposal at this time. | ginning at four o’clock sharp. NO Ra er AN ORE p | agaadidiieeiaibnacatiaet BUY THE DAILY WORKER _Read The Daily Worker Every Day. AT THE NEWSSTANDS 1 espe ila | | Here’s How To greet the workers of the world The DAILY WORKER will print the names of individual workers and all working class organizations in its SPECIAL MAY DAY EDITION. Here’s How Much Individual names will be printed at the rate of $1.00 per name. Organizations will be given a special rate of $1.00 per inch, Here’s When— All greetings must be mailed at once to reach The DAILY WORKER before April 25, All greetings arriving late will be printed in following editions. ij SEND GREETINGS TODAY