The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 28, 1927, Page 6

Page Six THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 1927 |The Coai Miners’ Union Has | Had Leaders Who Dared| To Fight the Goverment) By J. LOUIS ENGDAHL | | T SEA, Aboard the United States Liner, President | Roosevelt, Sunday, April 10. (By Mail from Ply- | mouth, England.)—Back in “The States” the govern- ment will not admit that there are classes. The spread eagle orators of the established order always refer to | “The people,” bulking them all en masse. | But out here in the ocean, on this government-owned liner, the class: distinctions are as rigid as any Hindu caste system. It is first class, second class and third | class, according to the dollars that you have, with the | moneyed aristocracy in its cabins on the top deck feel- ing quite secure from those herded in the steerage far | beneath. | * . . | These distinctions come to mind in retrospection over the now famous declaration of President John L. Lewis, during the 1922 strike of the coal miners, that: | “T cannot fight the government.” | | * * * President Lewis made the same declaration later dur- ing tha struggle of the Nova Scotia, Canada, coal mi- ners, the government this time being that of his royal majesty, the king of England. President Lewis does not say how else the working class shall become the ruling power, except to fight the existing social order. As a matter of fact he does not | want the workers to become the rulers. * * The whole history of the development of the miners’ unfon has been one of continuous class struggle. It is well for the mine workers to know this, especially to get acquainted with those leaders and the fibre of the rank and file thru whose sacrifices the strength of the mine workers’ organization has grown in the past. The offi- clals of the early days of the union were of a different type than those now associated with Lewis in the pres- ent leadership of the organization. * * * * In the early Seventies of the last century the union was also in a crisis, Hardly had the Miners’ National Association of America gotten under way than it began to feel the effects of the panic of 1873. Wages were reduced as much as 30 percent in some cases and in other cases the miners were paid in “worth- less paper or such as (they) had to dispose of at 20 per- cent discount.” The leaders of local strikes were “vic- timized” (refused work) and those who had accepted their leadership were compelled to sign contracts abro- gating their affiliation with the union as a condition of obtaining work. In some cases the strikers were dis- placed by Negroes, many of them only recently released from slavery, who were brought north to take the jobs of union men. This was a confession by the mine own- érs, to be sure, that the nationality and religious differ- ences, that had been exploited to the limit by the mine owners, were no longer as great a source of dissension among the mine workers as previously. o * It was under these conditions that the officials of the } Miners’ National Association advised the loyal members of the union to organize secretly and to sign the con- tracts imposed upon them in the same spirit that Galileo retracted before the inquisition when he exclaimed, “But | and finding them. | wish you could see him do it. it (the world) does move after all.” Of course, the upstanding American citizen, John L.} Lewis, the present president of the United Mine Work-; ers of America, would not deign to build the skeleton | of an organization secretly in such states as West Vir- | ginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and elsewhere | that the miners’ union now finds itself practically out- | lawed. That would be un-paytriotic to his government | and disloyal to his friends in Washington, altho it would | be the basis of building the organization in the unor- | ganized fields. | ‘ * The president of the union in those days, John Siney, | and Xingo Parks, national organizer, were tried in Penn- | Los Angeles, last Sunday that a man| sylvania under the common law of conspiracy as par- | who produces by working, is called a! ticipants in a combination to raise wages. In his “History of the United Mine Workers of Amer- | ica,” Evans gives a summary of an extract from the | address of the prosecuting attorney, declaring twat, “An attempt was made to convict the national union, thru | its officials, under the plea that the acts and speeches | strike) together with its printed documents, constitu- tions and laws, represented the acts of the national | union and made it equally guilty of a criminal violation | of the law of conspiracy.” The government was fighting the union at that time. This was clearly shown by this attack. The difference at that time was that the union had officials who were not afraid to fight back, *. * . Pennsylvania had passed a law in 1869 which per- mitted workmen to organize unions, but a proviso was inserted that the act should not apply to Clearfield and Center counties, the area in which the local strike had oceurred. Whatever the reason for such a proviso, it left the law of conspiracy in full force in those counties. Another statute in 1872 had definitely relieved work- men’s associations from the law of conspiracy for refus- ing to work for wages or under conditions that were un- satisfactory, but it contained a proviso that the law should not prevent the prosecution and punishment of persons who hindered others who wished to work from so doing. This “joker” in the law enabled the prosecu- tion to charge Siney and Parks with technical violation of the law against picketing and with inciting to riot. * In the trial, Siney was acquitted, but Parks and the local union officials were fined and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. . * By 1875 the Miners’ National Association had reached its highest development. The 347 local unions, having @ membership of 35,354, were scattered over Pennsyl- vania (20,840); Illinois (5,122); Ohio (4,784); Indiana (2,135); Missouri (547); Wyoming (544); Maryland (481); Towa (272); Colorado (242); West Virginia (178); Tennessee (129); Kansas (123); and Indian Ter- ritory, now Oklahoma (57). It can thus be seen that the seeds of militant unionism in the mining industry wer being widely sown. The organization, however, soon came to grief during the severe business depression which followed the panic of 1878. Isolated unions sought, thru independent ac- tion, to prevent wage cuts locally. This greatly weak. | ened the organization nationally and by the middle of 1876 the national officers were forced to give up their headquarters. The coal miners had not yet learned to stand up as a unit against the mine owners, even to the extent that they were organized, and this national or- ganization, full of promise, melted away. * * | * o made by Siney and Parks (in connection with a local | {are slaves to the fishing cannery or “Sacco and Vanzetti Refused |New Trial by Massachusetts Su- |preme Court.”--Newspaper Item “The miners were again paying dearly for the disor- wanized stata of Mha industry; PLANES ee OLD Kies KILL CADETS Planes of the type pictured above are used to train student -¢#iers, on the theory perhaps that preparation for war includes getting usec to danger. Many have fallen lately. “The Skid Road” of Seattle, Washington (By ELLA REEVE BLOOR.) Have you ever heard men talk of the “Skid Road” and wondered what it was like? Let me tell you how I saw it last Sunday Eve. Such a back- ground, it has the Pudget Sound with its great boats sailing to the far north, Alaska and Arctic ports; huge liners for China and Japan. The men thronging the Skid Road could tell one all about these far off ports—sea- men they are, transport workers, long- shoremen, lumber workers, gathering here on the waterfront—some looking for jobs, some looking for old friends, It’s a friendly mob of travellers. Here, on the Skid Road, we feel at home, especially in one corner a com- rade from San Pedro called out, hello Mother, will you talk to us, another fellow-worker, whose bright intelli- gent face I had last seen in San Quentin, seemed so glad to see me— young comrades and old—waiting for the speakers who would give them the latest news from the battle-front of the Class War. Here Comrade 0. Hanrahan speaks every night, and sells The DAILY WORKER—and I Very often he takes a collection of a few dollars and with this buys The DAILY WORKER for distribution, to those who long to read the only daily that contains the truth about the great events in China,—the struggles of the workers in Hungary, Lithuania, and | LETTERS FROM The Fighters. ak | SAN PEDRO, Cal. April 20.— As I read your paper when I get aj chance, I am interested in it. I would like to write a few words) to your letter-box department. | I read in some capitalist paper of “moron.” Sure that is the right ex- pression. But here in Southern Cali- fornia, you have more “morons” in the fishing industry than you can find in any other industry, anywhere else. | Talking about old Southern days, | well that is nothing compared to! the San Pedro fishermen. They are| slaves to the man that owns the boat, | and 90 per cent of the boat owners corporation. The fishing corpora-| tion makes the fish prices, so the fishermen, with the boat owners, have to take their prices, or eat the | fish themself, Conditions are not worse anywhere else, in this line of industry. But what can you expect from such able- bodied men, when they don’t know any better themselves.—John Jurjev. Why He Left I. W. W. | Editor, DAILY WORKER: Fellow worker: There appeared in The DAILY WORKER an editorial why members of the 1.W.W. do not support the Industrial Worker. You sure hit the nail on the head. In my case that was only one of the rea- sons why I left the organization and the other is that the I.W.W. has forsaken what Marxism they ever had. The war has taught us and the Russian Revolution demonstrated it, that the workers must control industries as well as the administra- tions of legal and other functions. That’s what The DAILY WORKER is teaching; so more power to your! Long Live The DAILY! pen. WORKER.— Mm. Beck,, Ex-C. N. 183478, | By HENRY GEORGE WEISS. O Justice, is it vain to call In Massachusetts on thy name! Must our two martyred comrades fall To blazon to the world thy shame? O Raped, Defiled, turn way thy face! It is not good for men to see; Lest, sensing somewhat thy disgrace, They rend the limbs of Tyranny! the news about their own fellow- workers. How many papers are sold on the Skid Road every day? One hundred and twenty-five actually sold. Saturday edition 150, There are other water-fronts in this country where the same thing could be done. One can easily judge the educational effect upon these men by listening to their questions and de- bates. When I had spoken to them of the Sacco-Vanzetti case, and of Szanto and the 30 other Hungarian comrades in danger of death, they passed a resolution unanimously to be sent to the Hungarian Embassy at Washington. When I left to go toa meeting at the seemed to me I had seen the real Uni- versity of the Workers down there on the Skid Road—with The DAILY WORKER as their text-book. The students have travelling “scholar- ships” on boats bound to distant ports, have long months in the lumber camps; have places in stoke-holes. They will touch the lives of hundreds of other workers, It is up to the sustainers of The DAILY WORKER, and to the writers of The DAILY WORKER to realize their great responsibility to the eager open-minded young workers everywhere on all the roadé of the earth, and may they all be as earnest boosters for The DAILY WORKER as the migratory workers of the Skid Road of Seattle. OUR READERS TAXATION By JAMES ZUCHARY. Tax the people, tax with care, To help the multi-millionaire, Tax the farmer, tax his fowl, Tax the dog and tax his howl. Tax the hen and tax her egg. And let the bloomin’ mudsill beg. Tax the pig and tax his squeal, Tax his boots run down at the heel; | Tax his horse and tax his lands, | Tax the blisters on his hands. Tax his plow and tax his clothes, Tax the rag that wipes his nose; Tax his house and tax his bed, Tax the bald spot on his head. Tax his-“Henry,” tax his gas, Tax the road where he may pass, And make him travel on the grass. Tax his cow and tax his calf, Tax him if he dares to laugh. He is but a common man, so Tax his labor, but be discreet,’ Tax him for walking on the street. Tax his bread and tax his meat, Tax his shoes clear off his feet. Tax his pay-roll, tax the sale, Tax all his hard-earned paper kale; Tax his pipe and tax his smoke, Teach him government is no joke. Tax their coffins, tax their shrouds, Tax their souls beyond the clouds, Tax all business, tax the shops, Tax their incomes, tax their stocks; Tax the living, tax the dead, | Tax the unborn before they are fed, Tax the water, tax the air, Tax the sunlight, if you dare. | Tax them all and tax them well, | Tax them to the very gates of hell! Then watch the cash gravitate, By the iron hand of fate, In terms of millions snug and neat, To storage vaults on Wall Street. But close your eyes so you can't see, The coupon clippers go TAX FREE, Steel Trust Splits $45,000,000 Swag in First 1927 Quarter Directors of the United States Steel Corporation, at their monthly meet- ing yesterday, declared a® quarterly dividend at the rate of 7 per cent for the common stock, payable on the next dividend date. The disbursement will be made on the stock after the distribution of the 40 per. cent stock dividend. Net earnings of the steel corpora- tion in the first quarter of 1927 ag- gregated $45,584,725, against $53,- 602,525.in the previous quarter, and $45,061,285 in the same period last ye | Labor College it A Hero’s Reward By JACK BLANK. My friend, John Burton, was a jolly. young man, of middle size, dark complexion and with beaming eyes He worked steadily, went out with girls and as a re- sult got himself a beautiful girl. When the U. S. entered the world war my friend was in the first draft call and he had to go to war to fight for Lady Democracy. His girl encouraged him and sang to him the famous patriotic song, “I Love You, You Know, But I Want You To Go.” Patted By Boss, The boss patted him on the shoulder and promised that the job would be waiting for him. He went “over there,” and fought like a real American, took part in many battles and his heroism was admired by the mili- tary staff. When the war was over he returned full of hope and promise, The first thing he did as a practical man (realizing that business comes before pleasure) was to see the boss in the hope of getting his job back. The boss on seeing him was rather surprised, but he shook hands with him and asked him whether he par- ticipated in many battles and. how many times he was on no-man’s-land. Tells of Experiences. My friend told him all that he experienced with great enthusiasm. At the end of his enthusiastic outburst, he remained silent. Silence prevailed in the office for a few minutes. Then the boss rose from his chair, ap- proached my friend and said: “Burton, I am very sorry, your job is taken. I was very busy during your ab- sence, you know, the war orders came in a rush and I had to take new help.” The boss, however, promised him that he would see to it to get him another job. Gets Cigar. | He gave him a cigar and shook hands again and told him that he had a very important appointment that afternoon at the Hotel Commodore with a Western buyer. When my friend came downstairs he was in a state |of exultation bearing a cigar in his mouth, and the idea that he had just spoken to the boss about the | thrills which he experienced in France made him forget |what the boss told him about his job, and thus he pro- |ceeded straightway to see his “girl.” Was Married. | Coming to the apartment where the lady lived, he was met by total strangers. When he inquired about his fiancee he was told that she married a rich man, {a foreman of some establishment. This gave him a | life with her. He sobered up recalling the conversa- |tion with the boss, namely the words that he was so busy during his absence that he had to take new help. His spirit began to dampen, but the idea of seeing |his brother and friends cheered him up anew. He went |to the Iedging house where roomed his brother. The | janitor was the first one to see him, shook hands with him, and told him that he was proud of him, that he did his duty well. He saw his brother and for a few |days he had a pleasant time visiting their friends and relatives. Hunts For Job. His brother, being a travelling salesman, soon left town promising him that he would send him fifty dol- lars to enable him to buy new clothes and give him |leisure to look for a decent job. Meanwhile he did go blamed it on his appearance—but for factory work must one be dressed neatly? He questioned himself. He consoled himself that he would soon get the fifty dollars and everything would be O K, He visited the post office twice a day but the letter was not forthcoming. Days and weeks passed but the couldn’t “land” a job. The few dollars which he had were gone. Is Penniless. Finding himself penniless he tried to live on cigarets which he borrowed from his friends, and he slept at the railroad station, but his stomach persisted to send him increasingly unjust messages from time to time. The lack of food finally drove him to panhandle. The ashamed of himself, his heart almost broke. He ran like a madman to a side street crying to himself. “Am I a bum, John Burton a beggar, a bum.” No Check. One morning he was visiting the post office as usual asking for a letter for John Burton. This time the post office clerk asked him for his name, looked over the pile of letters, unearthed a long letter and asked for identification papers. My friend produced his army discharge papers, signed his name and received the letter in which he expected to find the fifty dollars. government, asking him to appear at military head- quarters where he would be presented with a medal for his heroism. He almost fainted from disappoint- ment and exhaustion. His Heroism. One morning as he was lying on the bench at the railroad station, his eyes caught his name John Burton in a newspaper column which was lying on the floor. It was a lengthy write-up in three columns about his heroism in the different battles in which he took part; and how he had saved on officer by carrying him three miles on his shoulders to the hospital. The ceremony was to take place at the Plaza field, a military band would be on hand and distinguished guests were invited to attend the ceremony of reward- ing the hero. When he had finished reading a feeling of dizziness arose in him from his empty stomach which had not digested food for more than three days. But he resolved to go. Brightens Up. Coming to the Plaza, he brightened up. Many flags were displayed, hundreds of automobiles surrounded the field and a band of music presented its chorus. He approached the headquarters. The officers on seeing a shabby unshaven man were taken aback. They asked him for the letter. He produced the letter, They told him that had he come a little earlier they would have “fixed him up” a little bit, but the hour was late and they had to start the ceremonial rites, They marched out upon the field, the band struck ~up “My Country ’Tis of Thee.” Then a speech was de- livered praising the hero, and a resplendent medal was pinned onto his lapel. The officers placed my friend at the very front with two officers at each side. The band was signalled to play a military march and the procession started before the eager spectators, As my friend wes marching under the stimulus of music, trying to pose as a hero, his legs suddenly began to tremble and after taking a few more steps he col- lapsed to the ground. kines my friend awoke he found himself in the hos- Pp 5 SEND IN YOUR LETTERS The DAILY WORKER is anxious to receive letters from its readers stating their views on the issues con- fronting ‘the labor movement. It is our hope to de- velop a “Letter Box” department that will be of wide interest to all members of The DAILY WORKER family, Send in your letter today to “The Letter Box,” The DAILY WORKER, 383 First street, New York City. |rude shock, as he expected to marry her and spend his | | toe work of G. Proudfast. “Disarmament Now Rests With Public’—Lord Cecil Disarmament has been proved practicable and it remains only for the enlightened public opinion to in- sist that this greatest of all reforms be carried out. So Viscount Cecil sums up the situation, What are all these myths called disarmament ana peace? Can we at this time speak of peace and disarmament when work- ers are being shot down in China and Nicaragua, by those very phrase mongers’ soldiers, for attempting to} better their conditions of life? Why were the workers shot' down in cold blood in Nanking? Why are all the allied forces massing their battle- | ships in the Chinese waters especially at Hankow, the seat of the Nationalist Government? Can we talk of peace SPORT DETROIT WORKERS SOCCER | TEAM MAKING GREAT RECORD | THIS SEASON. | | By WALTER BURKE | DETROIT, Mich.—One of the best} amateur soccer teams, in Detroit is| the Workers Athletic Club outfit. | The team recently climaxed-a most} successful season by handing the Fay | Mullers, an undefeated professional | team, their first beating. The yerrd |of the game was 2 to 0, and both goals were netted thru the accurate | An. outstanding feature of the ‘Workers” play is the remarkable | team work which they have perfec-| | about hunting the job, but it remained ever elusive. He) first quarter he received made him shudder, he felt| To his: astonishment it was a letter from the U. S.! ted. None of the players performed | for the gallery. | The Workers Athletic Club is affilia- | ted to the Detroit section of the La-| bor Sports Union, LABOR PAPERS BEGINNING TO FEATURE MORE SPORTS NEWS. Labor papers thruout the country} are beginning to realize the value of | featuring news of sporting events. | What with the tremendous interest of | the American workers in sports, it| is only logical that the trade union} papers should seek to satisfy this in- terest. In the past this news has dealt mostly with national and pro-| fessional athletic events, but lately | trade union sports activities, ed been written up extensively. To satisfy the demand for labor | sports news, the Labor Sports Press | Service has been started in Chicago. | This press service is sent out weekly | to labor papers free of charge. Scores | of labor papers thruout the country | are availing themselves of this press | service to add an attractive feature | to their columns. The Labor Sports| Press Service is issued by the Labor Sports Union at 453 North Ave., Chi- cago, Ill, TUNNEY EXPECTS TO GET $750,000 FOR NEXT FIGHT. Old time serappers who used to go to it for 15 rounds, or more, for an average of $2.50 a round, will read about the recent statement of heavy- weight champion Gene Tunney that he expects to get 750 thousand bucks for his next fight, and wonder what the old world is coming to anyway. In the so-called good old days, such a fortune would have coveted the net income for the entire boxing frater-| nity for a year. But times have changed. And by the way, wasn’t there a lot of tall at the time Tunney won the cham-| pionship that he was going to be the| “fighting champ”? Yes, it sure’ was a lot of talk! Boy Student of Bible Arrested For Stealing | Cecil Snodgross, a Biblical stu-| dent receives ten year sentence for, stealing. Hersy—Our youth must be saved otherwise who knows what these reds might do. | What All Young Workers Say: ve BEEN RosBED Stop crying and join the Young Workers League. National Office: 1118 W. Washing- ton Blvd., Chicago, Ill. N. Y. Office: 108 East 14th Street, New oYrk, N, Y. Special Drawings in the May Day Daily Woxker when we are at war—nonsense, The League of Nations can call a thousand disarmament conferences but each conference will only be a signal for further armament. The American youth is becoming more and more militarized, suffice it to men- tion the C,M.T.C.. and the R.0O.T.C, Are these signs of peace? M. Sokol, delegate to a disarma- ment conference at Geneva urges that the commission draw up a “normal balance sheet.” Is this a solution to the problem of militarism? Our slogans to the young worker and stu- dent are, “Boycott the C.M.T.C.”— “Fight Against Militarism”’—“Learn the Truth About the Situation in China and Nicaragua.”—John Post. Line O’type or Two Ao More WorReS Working Girls Wanted. Cyrus H. McCormick of the Inter national Harvester Co., proud posses- sor of the paltry sum of fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) married a poor working girl employee. Who said there were no opportunities in life, | Seven Hundred Students On Strike. Charles R. McClinn, Principal of New Albany High School and Miss Alice Funk teacher of botany are dis- missed as they approached age for pension. Seven hundred students go out on strike as protest. This game has been played many a time and often. ABOUT THE C. ML T. C. By JIMMY. (Sing this to the tune of Tramp, Tramp, Tramp the Boys Are March« ing.) 1 If you guys will listen clear *Bout a camp I'll tell you here That has fooled so many workers right along. C. M. T. C. sure’s the bunk Beware of swallowing their junk— "Cause if you do, I tell you now, your’re heading wrong. CHORUS: Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, they keep you tramping Work you till you’re blue and sore, And when you feel weak in your feet They give you rotten beans to. eat— Oh, catch me going back there any more! 2. They give you a vacation free, A month in camp—that did fool me I thought the boss was awful nice to let me go. But after one week had gone by, And I on hard beds had to lieE— I didn’t wish him anything—oh nol! CHORUS: 3. They give you lectures by the score (I wonder what the hell ‘re for) When most of us would rather take a nap— And then those damn old drills all day Till we're 'bout ready to fade away Whoever goes there sure must be some sap! SOCKED FOR A GOAL one They Bend end ‘su! YOUNG Wo! evel da; will be tate that socks SA +a en A RRR SARE ATENEO IE