The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 2, 1927, Page 4

” Hi Pg Men n narener Page Four THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, MONDAY, MAY 2, 1927 Published by tie DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO, Daily, Except Sunday | 83 First Street, New York, N, Y. Phone, Orchard 1680) | SUBSCRIPTION RATES | By mail (in New York only): By mail (outside of New York): 68.00 per year $4.50 six months $6.00 per year $3.50 six months | $2.60 three months $2.00 three months Address all mail and ke out checks to THE DAILY WORKER, 33 First Street, New York, N. Y. J. LOUIS ENGDAHL WILLIAM F. DUNNE BERT MILLER Entered as second-class mail at the post-office at New York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879. Advertising rates on application. >. LENIN SAID: It is better that ten men who work shall not call themselves members of the party (real workers do not chase after titles) than that one gas-bag should have the right and opportunity to be a member of the party. (“Lenin on Organization’—From speech delivered at Second Congress of the party in 1903.) The Soviet Union at Geneva Switzerland has apologised, agreed to make what reparation is possible for the cowardly murder of Vorovsky and the Soviet Union will be represented officially at the Geneva Economic Con- ference. ; Some idea of the critical condition of international economy can be gathered from the fact that the imperialist powers have been willing to force Switzerland to apologize to the greatest enemy of world capitalism in order that with the Soviet Union present some attempts may be made to harmonize the chaos that now exists in the fields of production and exchange. i At Geneva, the Soviet Union representatives will speak from a forum so strategically placed that the whole world will hear. At Geneva the struggle against world imperialism will be carried by different methods but methods that are deadly in their effect. The Soviet Union representatives will point out for instance that in the workers’ and peasants’ republic, ALONE of all the Euro-| pean countries, the standard of living of the masses rises steadily. | This one point is enough to make millions of workers ponder | the wisdom of submission to capitalism—which the Russian | masses conquered. Imperialistic Fashion-Killing Chinese Communists Chang Tso Lin has become a hero again in imperialist circles. He strangled to death 24 Chinese Communists the other day —-24 workers who had taken refuge in the Soviet Union embassy, ‘Ru@™vho were captured there by troops of Chang’s army whom the imperialist powers had permitted and aided to raid in viola- tion ofvall international law. , : The blood of these 24 lovers of and fighters for liberation of the. Chinese masses is on the hands of Chamberlain, Baldwin, Churchill, Kellogg and Coolidge. No protest will be made by the American state department against these cowardly and brutal murders. Coolidge and Kel- logg and their Wall Street masters are only too glad that there are 24 Communist workers less in China. If it is necessary to endorse the bloody acts of one of the most bestial bandits of whom history has any record, then this too will be done. ; Shameen, Shanghai, Nanking, Peking—the list of Chinese cities where Communist workers have died that China and the masses may be free grows steadily longer. It is their blood that waters the sturdy plant of the liberation movement. ; It is fashionable today in almost all countries to kill Com- munist workers. That they are Communists is sufficient excuse. Not a day passes but that the great press services record the slaughter of Communists—either on the battle line of the class struggle, in prison cells or on the gallows. aie In Russia it was also fashionable to kill revolutionists—a laudable and profitable occupation. It is different today. Will the imperialist press, the imperialist robber band and the claque of hangers-on be just as complaisant when the scale turns and the murderers of the masses are brought to the bar of revolutionary justice? , It makes no difference. The slaughter of Communists by Chang Tso Lin will not save imperialism from the vengeance of the teeming millions it has outraged. ; Even today the ¢ymand of Hands Off China raised by Com- munists and other workers in America is like a knife in the heart of Wall Street imperialism. Civic Federation Labor Leaders Come a Cropper. The Civic Federation-Green-Woll frame-up against the of- ficials of the New York Joint Board of the Furriers’ Union has had another body-blow dealt it in recent developments in the “in- vestigation” of charges of police bribery which it procured. ; Even a reading of the garbled reports published in the capi- talist press relative to Ben Gold’s testimony and that of _the stenographer for the Joint Board, whose certified notes contained no mention of the “charges” in contrast to the doctored notes of the. A. F. of L. committee, will convince anyone that Woll, Frayne and their assistants stooped to the lowest methods of stoolpigeon- ism to discredit and jail political opponents and smash the Fur- viers’ Union. : » It is our opinion that the frame-up has failed. It has suc- ceeded in convicting nine innocent fur workers but it failed to “get” Gold and Shapiro—the Joint Board officials whom the right wing and its Civic Federation backers desired most ardent- ly to jail. wit The main task of the militant trade unionists who have weathered this despicable attack is to strengthen the union, de- teat the bosses who have been taking advantage of the right wing offensive to worsen wages and working conditions, smash the right wing completely, free the nine workers who have been railroaded and expose before the whole labor movement the anti- labor character of responsible heads of the labor movement like Green, Woll, Frayne and their allies in official socialist circles. There is further, since the trial of the eleven workers in Mineola and the debacle of the “investigation,” evidence of an 4 a fe Official Labor Reaction Meets Political Defeat (John L, Lewis, Kneeling, Is Kicked in the Face by the Coal Barons) By WILLIAM F. DUNNE. Il. 'HREE hundred thousand coal miners are striking to save their ‘ union and their wages and working conditions. This struggle alone gives the lie to the labor leaders who put forward the theory that American capitalism ‘has become benevolent and that not to struggle against it but coopera- tion with it is the correct line for the labor movement to follow. The coal barons are determined to smash the United Mine Workers of America—the strongest and most important union. affiliated to the ‘ American Federation of Labor. (Only the United Brotherhood of Carpenters is numerically larger than the UMWA,) jhe Lewis machine which rules the UMWA has for six years systematically tried to stamp out of the union all vestiges of the class consciousness and militancy which |made the record of the UMWA stand | out first in the history of the strug- gles of American workers, _Persecutions, expulsions of indi- viduals, of local unions and of whole districts—and cooperation with the government authorities to jail mili- tant miners (as in the case of Alex Howat in Kansas) have been resorted fo in a shameless manner. President | Lewis and Searles, his man Friday who edits the United Mine Workers Journal, have shown new tricks to ex- attorney general Palmer and William J. Burns in their “red-baiting” cam- paign. EWIS, in 1923, allowed Searles to ;“ pay $25,000 for a series of “red exposures” which the union was made to sponsor officially, De- veloping with an ever increasing tempo, the drive against the militant rank and file was halted temporarily by the anthracite strike of 1925—— | which was lost, due to the “expert” | and conservative leadership of John L. Lewis, who finally surrendered the check-off and agreed to compulsory arbitration—abandoning the principle for which he had always fought—for direct dealing with the coal operators, OLLOWING the anthracite strike the war on the left wing was re-| sumed with new vigor and at the In- dianopolis convention the U. M. W. A. constitution was stripped of all demo- cratic provisions, the officials took j unlimited power, raised their already thing from the law and procedure of the union which could be said to be in any way tinged>with radicalism, proof possi was read union wr percent American union such as Mr, Dooley once described—‘“no wages, no working conditions, no dues, no officers and damn few members.” revamped into thoro respectability the next step was to peddle the union to the coal barons. The first inducement offered the coal barons by John L. Lewis was a decision to call no national strike pending negotiations following the | ment, (union which they had watched Lewis | huge salaries and eliminated every-| and his henchmen weaken over 4} | three-year period, |_ The Lewis machine had made no veal attempt to organize West Vir- of Apyril. | "THE policy of the Lewis machine has been a suicidal one-for the union. {It could have been followed only Sl A 0 ITH the constitution uf the UMWA| Policy designed to appeal to the coal | Bowers the music. The production | barons—to placate them, convince \them that the UMWA was a “good” ‘union with which they could deal in | safety to which no possible objection | a “Oh Ernest” Coming to |Royale Theatre, May 9 | | Among the openings for the week The coal Larons were given all the | ginia and other rich non-union fields after the coming one will be “Oh r ble that the U. M, W. A.) and it watched complacently while Ernest,” which will have its premiere to do business—not as a/the operators mined and stored mil-; at the Royale Theatre on Monday tradition of a fighting | lions of tons of coal in preparation | evening, May 9th. This is the musi- past but as a 1927 model of a 100/for a stoppage of production the first | eg) comedy version of Oscar Wilde’s |“The Importance of Being Earnest” | Which is being produced’ by P. T, | Rossiter. ' Francis De Witt wrote the | book and lyrics and Robert Hood will be tried out in Ford’s Opera House, Baltimore next week. The cast is headed by Marjorie Gateson, Hal Forde, Harry Mc- expiration of the Jacksonville Serer | could be raised on the ground of radi- | Naughton, Dorothy Dilley, Ralph Lat tai on militancy. zs | Riggs, Katharine Witchie, Flavia Ar- | This was the policy. The result is| | before the whole labor movement. The coal barons are out to smash; the miners’ union in spite of the fact | ff Marlowe. caro, Barbara Newberry, and Vivian | The coal barons laughed in Lewis’ | . r ka gible exceptions, remained adamant, | that Lewis tried to ‘give it to them it & their pleasure and profit. Lewis’s next bargain-counter pro- | : Q posal was for district agreements in- | THE task of the left wing in the stead of one national agreement—a| * miners’ union is to see that every voluntary division and disruption of | miner understands that Lewis has led the union without precedent in the | them into a fight badly prepared history of the American labor move- | from the standpoint of finance and ment. | organizational morale for the reason . ; x ‘that he was willing to give away the ‘OR the United Mine Workers of-| wnion to avoid a militant struggle ficialdom to make such a proposal and preparation for militant struggle us this before there had been a single | which would have brought him into test of strength was the same as sur-| disfayor with the capitalists to whom rendering without firing a shot—or!| he kowtows. Then the left wing calling out one coal digger. | must organize to save the union- ‘The coal barons laugher in Lewis’| ‘The coal barons have wiped their |face. They closed their mines and! shoes on John L. Lewis—the blatant stated publicly that they would never | apostle of efficiency unionism for the re-open except when a reduction of | mining industry. wages had been accepted and working) ‘The miners must make sure that conditions “adjusted,” | the coal barons do not wipe their feet In return for the slimy truckling/on the union or’kick it to pieces, tu the demands of ‘the operators, | rl mares which is what war on the Gonitiaisate| EADS SoUsba atin ROPEN PEGe Be and the left wing has been from the| all times (but it is.» complete very beginning, in return for the sys- tematic failure to take up the thou- sands of grievances which had been allowed to pile up under the Jackson- ville agreement, in return for Lewis’ | support of Coolidge in the last elec- | tion—the coal barons laughed in his ‘ace, | of “experts” to increase production |in the industry met with considera- |failure so far as the Lewis type of |labor leader is concerned when the | bosses refuse to do any collaborating jin spite of abscene appeals to their | “humanitarian” instincts and grossly | criminal neglect of the welfare of the! union. The right wing in the miners’ union particularly and in the whole labor OT even his offer of a commission | movement generally has had a crush-! | ing political defeat handed it by those | Upon whom it depends for approval jtion, The coal barons had their own | and support of its drive against gen- ideas xs t; how to increase profits and production—by smashing the juine trade unionists. 1 (To Be Continued.) ~ May Day in the American Labor Movement By As BIMBA, | AGAIN millions of workers all over \-~ the world join their hands on the First of May—the International La- bor Day. The First of May is a great day. It belongs to the work- jing class. It is ours—we who work jand toil, who produce the necessities |of life and at the same time live in | constant need and poverty. |. The imperialist world is trembling before the rising of the new sun in the East. Even its mighty machine |guns that guard its greedy interests jin Asia cannot save it from shud- \dering with fear. The “stabiliza- \tion” of capitalism is in great dan- |ger. Its very foundation is shaking jas if from a mighty earthquake. The world proletarian revolution which |started in 1917 with the overthrow lof the bourgeoisie in Russia is again ie eruption, | HAVE wandered away from my |". subject. But can I help it? Can |we talk of the First of May with our jeyes closed to the greatest fight that | the oppressed have ever been en- | gaged in or, for that matter, will | ever ‘be engaged in? Nay, we can- jnot. The First of May, if it is any- | thing to us at all, a symbol of strug- ‘gle. It is a holiday to us in the sense that we, on that day, stop |slaving for the master class, solidify |our ranks, prepare ourselves for the | next move in the great arena of the class struggle. It is a day in which we issue a challenge to our enemies. This is the real meaning of the May Day to the revolutionary work- jers of the United States—the Com- |munist and their sympathizers, WY see labor movement in America is very weak organizationally and in fighting spirit, proportionally weak- er than in any other capitalist coun- try. Today when the American war- \ships are bombarding the industrial cities of China and slaughtering thousands of innocent men, women and children, our official labor move- ment does not even raise a voiée of protest against the government. But was the American labor move- ment always so backward and con- servative? What does its history show? It shows exactly the contraty to that which we see today. With the ex- ception, probably, of the labor move- 1871 in the establishment of ‘the Paris Commune, the labor movement of the United States way back in the seventies and eighties of the last century was the most militant in the world. The great strike of the railroad workers, in 1877, in which many workers were slaugh- tered in cold blood by the federal troops and state militia, was the greatest labor upheaval at the ‘time in the entire labor world. The Amer- ican bourgeoisie was struck with the greatest fear, lest the history of the |glorious Paris Commune would be re-enacted on this continent. It mo- |bilized all of its forces to crush the strike. And it succeeded, AFTER the defeat of 1877, the labor movement, for the time being, seemed to be entirely exhausted and turned its attention to the co-opera- tive movement and to financial re- forms, as expressed by “Greenback- ism” of the seventies. With the be- ginning of the eighties we see a re- jawakening of the militant labor movement. The formation of the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States of America and Canada, the fore- runner of the present American Fed- eration of Labor, in 1881 was the signal on the part of the workers that they are rallying their forces once again for the future battles. In the same year the Order of the | Knights of Labor came out into the open and planged into many militant strikes, though very often against the will and best desires of its offi- cial leadership. This was an indi- cation that the great masses of work- ers were moving forward to take their proper place in the American society. The Federation embraced the skilled workers, while the un- skilled and semi-skilled rallied un- der the banner of the Knights of Labor. HE culminating point of the Amer- |* ican labor movement of this per- iod was reached in the general strike for an eight-hour system on the First of May in 1886. This strike gave birth to the celebration of the First of May as the labor holiday, as the day for the workers, by the workers and of the workers. {ment of France whiéh culminated in { inner conflict within official A. F. of L. circles. No one occupies such a vulnerable position as an unsuccessful stoolpigeon even tho he may be high in the ranks of the labor movement as is Matthew Woll, vice president of the A. F’. of L. and acting presi- dent of the National Civie Federation, dominated by labor-hating capitalists whose open shop corporation connections The DAILY WORKER is exposing. With the slogans, “Build the Unions” and “Abolish Stool- pigeonism ia the Labor Movement,” the rank and file of the needle trades worka:s have ammunition with which to fight a successful struggle under the leadership of the left wing against both bosses and bosses’ agents masquerading as labor leaders. In 1884 at its Chicago convention |the Federation adopted the following | resolution : Resolved, by the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada, that eight hours shall con- | stitute a legal day’s labor from and after May Ist, 1886, and that we recommend to labor organizations throughout this jurisdiction that they so direct their laws as to con- form to this resolution by the time named. It also invited the Knights of La- bor “to co-operate in the general movement to establish the eight-hour system.” ND how was this new system of labor to be achieved? What meth- ods were to be employed? Did the Federation at that time propose to the workers to shorten the working hours through various schemes of class collaboration as it is being pro- posed today by the Greens, Wolls and Sigmans for bringing about a labor “millenium” in the United | States? Not at all. Very far from | it. HE Federation proposed to fight tor the achievement of this great aim. It boldly decided to bring about the eight-hour day in the in- dustry through a general strike. In spite of the sabotage on the part of the leaders of the Knights of Labor, the rank and file of that organization also joined the struggle whole-heart- edly. The refusal of the leadership of the Order to come into the eight- hour day movement officially, dis- credited the Order in the eyes of the masses. gained great prestige in the eyes of the workers. It appeared as a mili- tant leader of ‘the masses, It came out of strike many times stronger. From now on its growth was as- sured, E general strike for the eight- hour gystem on May Ist, 1886, at- tracted the attention of the workers | all over the world. This was the first time in the history of the working class that the workers were to achieve their object through a gen- eral strike. The American labor movement became the leader of the international labor movement. May 1st, on the motion of an American delegate to the International Labor Congress held in Paris in 1889, was made the International Labor Day. This is briefly the history of the International Labor Day. It was born on American soil, It is a product of the American soil. It arose in the ; midst of struggle, It symbolizes the | Struggle of the working class against the enemies—the bourgeois class. Today the c"ficial labor movement of the United States rejects the First of May as the labor holiday. It accepted the so-called “Labor Day” On the other hand, the Federation | Broadway Briefs | The Theatre of the Dance under the | direction of Dorsha will open tonight at the Grove Street Theatre, present- | ing three new ballets: “The Legend of jthe Phoenix” set to Stravinsky's | “Firebird Suite,” “Earth Fire,” to Brahms Hungarian dances and “The Immortal Lover.” The Oriental suite will include “The God Breaker,” sug- gested by Roerich’s painting, “Mys- tery.” “Cherry Blossoms,” the musical play current at the 44th Street The- atre, will move Monday ‘to’ the Cos- mopolitan Theatre, At the Palace Theatre this week are the following: Irene Bordoni; Janet | Beecher and Crane Wilbur and Com- | p MADISON SQUARE GARDEN | TWICE DAILY, 2 P.M & 8 P.M. | RINGLING BROS. CIRCUS | a. BARNUM & BAILEY |Incl. among 10,000 Marvels PAWAH SACRED WHITE ELEPHANT TICKETS at GARDEN BOX OFFICES | Sth Ave. and 49th St., and Gimbel Bros, Theatre Guild Acting Company in PYGMALION GUILD THEA., Ww. 52 St. Ev Mats. Thurs. and Sa’ Next Week—The Second Man MR. PIM PASSES BY GARRICK $9 1. 35 st. Eva. 8:30 cy ats. Thurs. and Sat, _Next Week—Right You Are ‘NED McCOBB’S DAUGHTER \gon Th.,68, Rot B’ Yehn Golden Fp3t Pot y ICirate Next Woek—The Stiver Cora | Sam THEA. West 42nd St, Ss" HARRIS Twice Daily, 2:30 & 8:36 ‘WHAT PRICE GLORY Maia, (exc. Sat.) 50c-$1. Eves. 600-$2, In the new comedy, “Katy Did,” opening at the Bronx Opera House tonight. pany in “Quits,” by Vincent Lawr- ence; Ned Wayburn’s “Promenaders” Revue; Long Tack Sam and his band of Chinese; Claudia Coleman; Henry Garden and Homer Romaine. Lillian Ross will plait the leading feminine role in “He Loved the Ladies” which opens atthe Frolic Theatre May 9. ) Three openings are scheduled for this evening: The Sierra Spakish Art Theatre in “The Road to Happiness” at the Forrest; “Lady Screams,” at the Selwyn and “The Seventh at the Mayfair, \ eart,” <i TIMES SQ. Thi W. 42 St. evi H z. ea) guns °° (CRIM with Jam: Rennie & Chester Morria, The LADDER Now in ne OE . WALDORF, » East of B'way. Mats. WED. and SAT. treet, Bronx Opera House {3°5? 5,3°% Pop. Prices. Mat. Wed. & Sat, ‘KATY DID” A New Domestic Comedy WALLACK’S West 42nd __ Street, Evenings 8:30. Mats. Tues, Wed., Thurs, and Sat What Anne Brought Home A New carrot, Vanities 3 Thea. 7th Ave, & 50t Barl Carroll fate tua aoe" BUY THE DAILY WORKER AT THE NEWSSTANDS i These Comrades Responded | to the Call for Ruthenberg Sustaining and Defense Fund | J. Zuparka; Hillside, N. J....... 5.00 G. Anderson; Conneaut, Ohio... .11.00 V. Modiayo; N. Y. C,...... id N. Probulas; Norwood, N. Amalg. Food Workers Local N. Y..C Prog. Group, Br. 5 Workmen’s Circle; N.Y. C.. Bertha Greemnerg . in September as its own. The “Labor Day” has the approval of the capi- talists as the substitute for the May Day. Wear a great change since 1886! And the history of this change ‘on the part of the leadership of the American labor movement is very interesting. Its pages show that as capitalism developed into the stage of imperialism, it drew closer and | closer to its bosom the leadership of | the labor movement. Yet in 1904 Gompers declared: “Officers of an organization of labor who have served any con- siderable period of time as offi- cers, having responsibility that comes from defeat, seek by every means within their power to avert and avgid contests and con- flicts. The men who are most successful in the movement of la- bor, in having confidence and good will and respect of their fel- low-workmen, are the men who have done most to avert and avoid strikes,” Today class struggle has been sub- stituted by class collaboration, as far as the officialdom of the labor move- ment is concerned. If there still are strikes in this country led by Greens and Wolls they are against their wishes. In view of these facts, the Inter- national Labor Day eannot be cele- brated by the labor movement led by the reactionary trade bureaucracy. The International Labor Day signifies and means struggle, fight, militancy, if it means anything at all. Qur Greens and Wolls hate struggles of the working'class not less than their masters themselves—the Morgans and Rockefellers, BUY THE DAILY WORKER AT THE NEWSSTANDS \ Anna Zaretsky ....... 1.00 Abe Kalnick ......... vs ee b00 Tl Lavaratore; share of profits | of Ball . -» 75.00 | Leo. Steinfeld . ae Mania Feingold . |Jacob Prokop . R. Auerbach .... Elizabeth Lerner . |J.L, Sherman ...... |M. Grossfeld; Nuc. 5s . | A. Friedman .. | Eli Nisce .., | Frank Themo . |J. Nudjus ... Jukowsky, 2F, A Wolman; 3D, 2F . Auerinsin; 3D, 2F Lewiton; 8D, 2F .. Waxman; 8D, 2F . Lebowitz; 3D, 2F W. Rosman; 3D 2F .. Wengrowsky; 3D, 2F . S. Kostiw .. D. Benjamin .. Ritza; 8¢ 4 shop Co a ee Ch. Goldon J. Goldman ... F | Rappaport; 5S Br. 4, | Rappaport; 5S Br, 4 .. World Chapel, (M. Davis) | Martin Hovanan 1,00 Kling; Sec. 1 Sub Sec. A. C, Fac, |Nusenbaum .... H. Greenblatt; N. |H. Baumholtz . Riedei_ ..... Carl Gengg .. | Leo Kling; I A. C. } Lena Getzels; Factory Unit 8F..760 HE. Lebowitz; 26 F D 2........10,00 | Kessler; 2A Unit 3 . | Leo Rabinowitz ........., L..Kling; 1 AC Factory 3 , Robert Silver ... Abr, Surzman ...,., Coupon Book No, 7424 , ;Carmuner; 3B 1F Steinfeld Pasternak. H. Kahn; 1B 3F .. Kessler P. Greenberg .. Hoffman; 1AC Tony Varchuk ... Factory