The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 2, 1927, Page 10

SUPPORT T Page Four SPECIAL MAY DAY ye Po . » ‘Wall Street Takes Nicaragua By ROBERT W. DUNN ineluded in the colonial empire of the United It is slightly larger than Cuba but with only a fifth One of the “dependencie: States is Nicaragua. of Cuba’s population. Nicaragua is chiefly important to the American empire because through it lies the route for a second canal connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific. The United States Empire needs such a canal. This explains “our” pro- tectorate over Nicaragua and “our” military interventions in Nicaragua in 1899, 1907, 1910, 19 1927. It explains why a High Commission of three persons, one representing the State Department of the United States and one representing the American bondholders, the third a Nicaraguan, acts as a collection agency for American interests in that country. An American, appointed by the President of the United States, collects all the customs in Nicaragua. Then Americans have investments in lumber, fruit and mining enter- prises in that country. They exploit “cheap,” “native” labor. The landing of marines is necessary, if for no other reasons, Calvin Coolidge contends, than to protect those interests. He puts it this way: “If the revolution continues” agai Mr. Coolidge’s and the bankers’ pet president, Diaz “Amer- ican investment nd business interests will be very seriously affected, if not destroyed. The proprietary rights of the United St. in the Nicaragua Canal. place us in a position of peculiar responsibil- ity.” Very peculiar. So “we” are in a canal and Americ Nicaragua is a good | bankers are modest that is with the proper security. This is, of course, not the fi marine game Nicaragua. In 1§ a reactionary, became president. aragua with six thousand marines because we need | bankers and business men need more profits and e from which to direct an attack on Mexico, The | They might even be satisfied with a 6 per cent. loan— | The marines are that security. | time the United State: has played the} 2 the bankers’ friend, Don Adolfo Diaz, | When a revolution broke out against him | American marines were landed under the command of Major Smedley D.| Butler, late of China and forme of Philadelphia. Eight American war- | ships and about 3,000 men did the trick. Diaz was restored, a number of marines were left on guard to see that he was kept in office. All reyolu- tions were then kept down, just as previously they had been fomented by | the Americans when it served the interests of Brown Brothers & Co., to start one under the proper reactionary auspices. The marines placed in Nicaragua in 4912 stayed until 1925, having crushed several attempts at revolution by the Liberals of the country. A few months after they were withdrawn, in 1925, a general pulled off a coup d'etat, later resigning to permit brother Diaz to be “elected” by a hand-| picked congress from which all Liberals were excluded—as most of them| were then in jail. Immediately upon his election the Wall Street govern- | ment of Washington recognized Mr. Diaz. But the Liberals started a coun-! ter-movement threatening Diaz with force in an attempt to put in the al- | ready constitutionally elected President Sacasa, who had been forced to flee | the country. Whereupon Washington rushed in the marines and proceeded | to declare as “neutral” zones the important parts of the country held by the Liberals. “We” are still extending these “neutral” zones. | The situation is to be summarized in the words of Senator Lynn J. Fra-| zier of North Dakota: “The present dictator of Nicaragua, Diaz, whose | illegal usurpation of power provoked the existing trouble, is and always has | been a mere pawn of the American banking interests, as was his associate | and predecessor, Chamorro; and it is a curious coincidence to say the least, that for @ long period of years the Department of State always has seen fit to invoke the might of the American marines to put down he Liberals and never yet has deposed one of these dictators who have betrayed | their country to the American banking interests.” | There is nothing curious about this, however, when one remembers our “peculiar responsibility” and that Nicatagua is for sale over the Diaz! counter to the American bankers. They might have to pay more for it if they bought it from some other\party. A Diaz agent in search of a loan of $20,000,000 has agreed, “in return for the advantages accruing to Nicaragua from such a loan we are prepared to accept any measures of control by an| American financial advisor and receiver general which the American Gov-| ernment might consider proper.” \ te x So as American capital and its government work around toward the | granting of the loan, the marines remain on the job, naval vessels patrol | the harbors, the “neutral” zones are being extended, the Diaz national guard is being trained by American military men, the customs continue to be collected by a man from Wall Street, the national bank is run by Ameri- can directors and managers, Americans direct the national railroad, and Mr. Diaz, the American installed president, is sitting pretty. If you would know the full story of American intervention you must not lose sight of Brown Brothers & Co., J. & W. Seligman & Co., Baker Kellogg & Co., the J. G. White Engineering Co., The United Fruit Co., and Robert F. Loree, President of the Bank of Central and South America. These are some of the important firms and figures who have helped to de-| termine events in that country. The Atlantic Fruit Co. and the Cuyamel | Fruit Co., have also important interests as have a number of other commer- cial firms. Over 70 per cent of the foreign trade of the country is with the United States. But chiefly one must remember the canal and the aims of the Ameri-| can Empire in the Caribbean, The United States is in Nicaragua to stay. The rights to this second canal must be protected. The usurper Diaz hap- pens to serve best the imperialist interests of the United States and their designs on Mexico. There is no danger of “war” with Nicaragua. It is our country now. Its military, forces could scarcely cope with the police force of. New York City. It is as completely a part of the American Empire as Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. RED GUARDS HOLDING THE PASS (By GEORGE JARRBOE.) Stand! It is the evil hour. The road is blocked ahead, behind. The toxic clouds above us sour, And Death pours through the shrieking wind. Home is far but trenchant steel Holding in an unfaltering hand, We smile. Despite the wounds we feel We shall stand. Steel we hold is unfaltering will Working through the pliant hand, Each soul a high, impregnable ‘hill, We shall stand. We shall stand. AT THE FAMOUS WHITE ~ '- HOUSE BREAI.FASTS Be- CAUSE OF THEIR ALLECED FATTENING EPRECT UIONTHE WHITEHOUSE SPOKESMAN'S HEAD-~— HOWEVER-—~ (S€# NeXT PcTURE ) ' OER AT THE DEMARTMENT | OF STATE Mi IKELLOGG IS STILL. HANDING OUT | THE SAME OLD BRANDOP * BOLONEY/” HE MINERS’ STRIKE; MAKE WAY FOR THE UNION! THE CLOSED DOOR OF THE OPEN SHOP SAVE THE MINERS’ UNION! ‘The By WM. Z. FOSTER. HE outstanding characteristic of | the American labor movement is | | the drift of the trade union bureau-| eracy to the right. This has been |an almost unbroken process since the ; close of the war. Three great land- marks stand out in this rightward | tendency of the trade union official- jdom. These are the movements of | the steel workers in 1918-19, of the| | railroad workers in 1920-22, and the} jcoal miners in 1925-27, These are ‘three key struggles and have exert- ‘ed profound effects on the general | ‘course of the labor movement. | The Great Steel Strike. | |"PHE organization of the steel | i workers represented the highest | | point ever reached by organized la- | | bor in this country in establishing | | unionism amongst the masses. The| lcampaign of organization received | ‘little or no support from the upper | | bureaucrats, And when the steel| | workers were attacked by the steel | | companies those bureaucrats betray- ;ed the movement outright. They abandoned the steel workers com- | pletely. The latter demanded co-op- | eration from the miners and the rail- road workers to tie up the steel mills, | but their proposals went unanswered | by the reactionary leadership of these | organizations. HE strike was lost. Had it been won, as it might easily have been | with support from the related basic | industries, it would have enormously | strengthened the entire labor move- ment and fortified it for the bitter struggles ahead. But due to. the| treachery of the class collaboration- ist leadership it was lost. In conse- | quence the union line-up of the work-| ers was weakened and the employers | were encouraged to redouble they at- | tacks against the trade unions. The jloss of the steel strike was followed by a decided drift to the right of the Make the Miners One Hundred Per Cent Strike! ALL SUPPORT TO THE STRIKING MINERS! FELLOW Workers and Brother | Unionists: | The miners strike is already one month old. Over 150,000 miners | have downed tools and gone on strike | to prevent further cuts in wages andj worjening of conditions of labor, The | striting miwers are waging a valiant | struggle to protect themselves, their wives and children, from starvation and misery that the coal operators are | bureaucracy, The Railroad Shopmen’s Strike. T the close of the war the bloc | of 16 railroad unions were the | Strongest and most progressive sec- | tion of the labor movement. In 1921 strike. The strike of the miners must be won for the sake of the miners and for the sake of the en- tire working class of America. Stop Sabotage of Strike. 'HIS is a crucial moment in the life of the Amerjgan labor movement. In the face of the indifference, ‘sabo- tage and outright treason of the re- actionary Lewis machine it becomes | the particular duty of the rank and file, the left wing, and the honest progressive elements in the labor | the railroad companies opened their Learn Through Struggle. jcampaign aggressively to shatter In this struggle the miners andj} these organizations. First they split workers generally will gain experi- | the four brotherhoods from the rest | ence and a wider: understanding of | of the unions by promises of conces- the class struggle. They are learn-| sions. Then they cut the wages of ing and will continue to learn the | the shopmen and worsened their con- | ditions so that they had to strike, in capitalist nature and strike-breaking | role of the American government.| spite of the prevailing unemploy- They will gain a true insight into| ment. Their great national strike in the intimate connection between their | 1922, like the steel strike of but two struggles here and similar struggles| years before, was shattered by the of the working masses throughout | attacks of the employers and the the world, as well as of the oppressed | treachery of the union leaders. The peoples of China and Latin America, | latter abandoned the railroad work-| The workers engaged in the strug-|ers on strike even as they had the | ger of destruction. | operation of the government, and the| iStration, into a state of passivity determined to force upon them. They | movement to exert all their efforts the fighting to save their union, the| to insure the victory of the strike. backbone of the American Federation! No honest worker, regardless of his of Labor, which is in danger of being | political opinions, can permit himself destroyed by the combined efforts of ‘ i the coal pedis ora the friendly co- | the government and the Lewis admin- and to be terrorized by the coal operators, | gle must and will learn the absolute | steel workers. The strike presented | need of independent class political ac-| the sad picture of nine unions stay- tion by the workers. This will ex-|ing at work while seven were on jtend and strengthen the movement| strike. Real solidarity by the 16 | for a labor party, it will give power | unions would’ have resulted in a mag- | and swing to the movement for the | nificient victory. Drift of the Labor | Bureaucracy to the Right the organization. During the an- thracite strike of 1925 there was a splendid opportunity to rehabilitate the organization by pulling out the bituminous miners. But Lewis re- fused to do this, He permitted the employers, under the fiction of the Jacksonville agreement, to under- mine the organization, to the extend that where three years ago union bi- tuminous miners were producing 70% of the bituminous coal and non- union miners 30%, the percentages, on the eve of the present strike, were almost exactly reversed. Lewis’ pol- icy brought the union in actual dan- The “Save the Union” slogan of the progressive bloc in the recent elections, was based upon the realist of realities. HE loss of the vital steel work- ers’ and shopmen’s strikes result- ed in the bureaucracy of the labor movement going far to the right, with consequent neglect of the workers’ interests and to the demoralization and weakening of the unions. Al- ready the weakening of the Miners Union has had a reactionary effect upon the labor movement. And the loss of the present bituminous strike, which would shatter the U. M. W. A., backbone of the American labor movement, would also drive the bur- eaucracy still further to the ‘right and inflict fresh disasters upon the trade unions as a whole. Hence the rallying of all possible support bee hind the striking miners looms as the major task confronting the labor, movement. at the present time. The miners’ strike must be won in spite of Lewis’ policy of betrayal. The Road Ahead of Us. if ets present fight of the workers for a powerful and militant la- bor movement is a difficult one. The reactionary bureaucracy, who are set upon their policies of no fight against the employers, cling to the control of the unions by autécratic measures which outrage every tradition and practice of democracy in the unions. But the situation is much better than it appears upon the surface. There is widespread discontent among the masses of workers. This was evi- denced in the recent miners’ elections, when the opposition undoubtedly pol- led the majority of the votes cast. It is also manifest in the vast un- heaval now taking place in the needle trades. In the Machinists’ Union, which the recent election demon- strated, the workers are discontented with the reactionary leadership. Even in such organizations as the carpen- ters, the rank and file (witness the jelections in Chicago and other cities) are finding themselves in conflict with the reactionary officialdom. N the unions there are great num- bers of workers at odds with their leadérs. The task is to unite these under progressive and left wing lea- dership. They lack organization and a definite program. It is not that the bureaucracy is so strong eriminal negligence of the reaction-| ary Lewis administration. E miners are fighting for their| very existence. The strike must) ; be won if the miners are to retain! even a semblance of a decent stand-| nationalization of the mines, and will | inactivity. : 3 s a ba generally raise the economic and poli- | ’ s}..| but that the opposition is so disuni- HE eae ck ne: sbowmen’s, I ar nia TU Le with tee abe coming at the end of unsuccéss- | It is the sacred duty of every honest | worker, left winger and progressive to stand in the front line of the | battle, to encourage, mobilize and lead the workers to struggle and victory. ard of living. The coal operators must be defeated if the miners’ union | is to be saved from destruction. The | | miners must be victorious in order to | | prevent a serious disaster to the en- | tire American labor movement. | Broaden the Strike. | MINERS! Workers! Demand that) all the efforts of the miners’ union | and of the entire labor movement be | immediately concentrated upon bring- ing the unorganized miners out on) strike. Demand that preparations be! started forthwith to strike all the| mines in the anthracite region. De-| ‘mand that the maintenance men in| | the striking bituminous mines be De.| | mediately called out on strike. De- | mand that all the material and moral; | resources of the miners’ union and of | the whole labor movement be instantly | mobilized in support of the miners) STOP WAR! | tical power of the workers. Onward to Victory, | The strike must be won. All support to the miners’ strike. | No wage cuts. Wage increases for | the unorganized miners! | Concentrate upon bringing the un- organized miners out on strike! | Call out the maintenance men and | prepare for striking the anthracite | mines! Demand a national strike and a na- tional agreement! | _ Mobilize the whole labor movement | for material and moral support of the | strike! | Watch the Lewis administration | and: resist sabotage and betrayal! Every honest worker, left winger and progressive must take his post {and do his duty. | Demand that the government keep its hands off the miners and abstair from strike breaking activities! Help win the miners’ strike! Central Executive Committee, Workers (Communist) rty of America, Economic Notes for Workers | By SCOTT NEARING Since Europe was divided into two | | parts by the Russian Revolution of) | 1917—Sovietism in the East and cap-| | italist imperialism in the West, a tance sheet hag been drawn up th | looks something like this; { | | | 1. Capitalist Imperialism — West-| ‘ern Europe. | eg Land and tools privately own- | ed, b. Land and tool owners living | parasitically, as a leisure class, on | the labor of the workers. | ¢, Owners rich; workers poor. | d, Labor. movement crippled or | smashed, e. Extensive preparations for the next world war. f. Revolts of the exploited peo- ples in Morocco, Syria and China met with machine guns and shell fire. g. Lowered wages; extensive un- employment, 2, Sovietism—Eastern Europe. a, Land and tools socially owned. b. All able bodied people doing productive or useful work, ¢, Leisure and culture shared among the workers, d. A labor movement that, in DOGS Just yesterday In Hankow, Concession gates Carried such signs as: “Dogs and Chinamen, Keep Out!” And today It seems The tables are turned, And ‘signs Will be put up, saying: “Imperialists and Dogs, Keep Out!” numbers and in organization, is the strongest in the world. e, Successful efforts to bring the peoples of Asia into a bloc that stands for the co-operation of peo- ples in the advancement of their mutual interests, f, Little peoples inside the Sov- jet Union given their cultural in- dependence; encouragement for the oppressed peoples all over the world tq establish their indepen- dent existence. g. Steadily rising standards of productivity and of livelihood. Glance over this balance sheet of European achievement. If you are a banker, you must conclude that the system of western imperialism is best suited to the advancement of your in- terests. If you are a worker you must see that the Soviet system means most to you and yours. A May Day Resolution: “I will work for the economic system that of- fers the greatest advantages to me and to those dependent on m*’ | ful struggles by the unions in the! textile, building, meat packing, and | | other industries, drove the timid tea- | | dership still further to the right. | |They concluded that the railroad} | corporations, fattened like the rest) | of American capitalism by the super | | profits of imperialism, were too| | strong for the unions to resist. Hence, | |instead of adopting the T. U. B. Ly program of amalgamation, a labor’! party, the organization of the un-| organized, and the development of a militant fight against the employ- ers, they surrendered to the employ- ers. This surrender takes the shape of the whole series of class collabor- ation movements, such as labor bank- | | ing, the B, & O. plan, etc. | |/T.HE entire A. F. of 1. bureau- | | eracy also plunged into a retreat |to the right in the years following this struggle. With their “new wage policy,” and worker-employer co-op- eration scKemes they have fallen in step with the program of the em- ployers -to company unionize the trade unions and to reduce them to mere auxiliaries of the exploiters to speed up production and to check class consciousness. An inevitable phase of this retreat to the right is the bitter war being carried on against the left wing, that has cul- | minated in the unheard of persecu- | | | now in the needle trades. The Struggle of the Coal Miners. E come next to the vital strike taking place. This strike was pre- ceded, as well as accompanied, by the rankest treachery on the part of |the Lewis machine. For the past two years the employers have been | literally cutting the Miners Union to | pieces, smashing them in district af- | ter district. Yet Lewis has done gans of organize the unorganized within and without the existing un- jons, the amalgamation of the craft unions, the formation of a labor par- ty, and the democratization of the unions, points the way to victory. What is needed is the development of a widespread united front of pro- gressive and left wing elements to put these vital slogans into reality. This is the specific to stop the drift of the present leadership to the right. It is the way to a militant and suc- cessful trade union movement. MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS—1927 Sacto and Vanzetti No murderers are you. But worse,than mere assassins, That judiciary crew, Grim, black robed and stony Just like their Plymouth rock Killing guiltless workers By electric shock. These judges hang together They ought to hang—by God! These foul birds of a feather | tion and autocraey being practiced|Smell worse than putrid cod, That is to say, the “justice” That in this case they’ve shown of the bituminous miners, now|There is no worse injustice In, legal records ‘known. Oh land of boasted freedom Whence liberty has fled / {t seems that even your justice Is cock-eyed drunk or dead. | —ADOLF WOLFF, | nothing to prevent the destruction of ie | DUST RECENTLY THE CHINESE PEOPLE GOT SherneiRet TASTE OF CHOP SUEY ~——-BuT- WHAT WORRIES THE CAR (TALISTS OF TRIE WORLD 1S THAT THEY ARE ALSO * BEGINNING TO USE THEIR NOODLES! 4 (