The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 11, 1927, Page 3

THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 1927 Page Three ‘Wages Slashed in Italy; Firms Fail EAMAN JUST OFF ORGANIZED AUSTRALIAN LINE As Lire Goes Up CONTRASTS POOR CONDITIONS ON U.S. VESSEIS os —— | thru a period of severe economic de- New York’s Water Front News and Views of the Biggest World Port Ss NEW YORK, May 1 A seaman, 30 minutes and less than ah hour, coming from Australia is sure doomed | one hour at overtime rates must be | pression. for a shock especially if he intends} paid, and so on. For the firemen and| Workers are suffering wage slashes, to follow his vocation, Leaving a/|coal passers the dumping of ashes is| business failures are rapidly increas- country where his craft is organized | overtime, for the sailors the clearing | ing, and prices, despite the increased one hundred per cent, he arrives in| of decks, etc., is overtime; also, where| market value of the lira, have not a country where unionism, among! seamen assist im working cargo aj declined. seamen at least, is a farce. | differential rate is paid, which means} Beonomists here attribute business As I have just arrived in New York | the seamen’s wages are made equiva- | depression to Mussolini’s attempt to from Australia, and having ex-|lent to that of the longshoremen; the| cover himself with glory by raising perienced the above shock, I feel it|donkeyman or fireman for keéping| the market value of the lire. Mus- incumbent on myself to use my voice | steam, and the deckhands for working | solini has borrowed enormous sums and pen to point out to my craft, and| winches, etc., are paid differential! of money from foreign bankers in incidentally, my class, the dire need | rates. baw effort to stabilize the lire, and the/| for organization. Time Off. increased market value of money has| Wages Lower Here. Again, seamen are entitled to|increased the cost of -production for I will give a brief outline of wages| weekly time off. A seamen must|Italian manufacturers. There has and conditions, also the method of| have four clear hours off from duty} been a eorresponding drop in foreign organization, in Australia; then we) in his home port, or be paid overtime | orders. | will analyz® conditions here. I feel | rates for same. Home port means the | 2 s While business failures in 1913 and | port where the seaman signs Articles./ 1926 averaged twenty-five per busi-| This leave time can be allowed by! ness day, failures for the first three mutual consent to accumulate and be: months of 1927 have averaged thirty-| taken off as whole days, a day in/ five and have often run as high as port being from 7 A. M. to 5 P. M.| seventy-five per day. positive readers that my working class will agree with me that! working conditions ave of vastly more importance than are wages; however, the seaman’s wage in Australia is| much higher than here, as indicated; When a ship arrives in port he| by the following comparison: Australia. | Australia. He cannot leave the! | waiting shed to sign on without his| | book; the members see to that. The seamen’s union holds its business | on the shipowners’ time. On the last Tuesday of each month, the seamen leave their ships to attend the Stop| Work Meeting at the various Trades | Halls in the different ports between | the hours of 8 to 12 noon. | Here they discuss any grievances they have and formulate tactics to| watches must be broken, unless the | ship leaves the same day. If watches are not broken overtime rates must be paid for all watches worked be- | tween 5 P. M. and 7 A. M. Again, the |seaman is entitled to seven days leave of absence ow full pay for each ix months’ continuous employment, Supplies From Bosses. Also, mattresses, blankets, eating utensils, soap and towels, separate bath and mess rooms must be pro- Donkeymen Firemen and oilers . Coal passers and wiper ais 1 aurea ig ee MOOI astern United States. Oilers and watertenders $6 Firemen Coal Passers and Wipers Bo’sun 1-65. | 0.00-69.00 70.00-80,00 | ALBIS sce. i 55.00-62.50| vided by the shipowners. Another The messmen, ordinary seamen and | point is that the seamen do not have cones bap mene oe hes Pde a ‘i +i i * | ereate ne s im- boys’ wa are in proportion, and to run around the ships or companies’ ry sa Lt ass rs “a vata nad as I am a fireman I am not sure what| offices looking for jobs, wearing out | PTOVeMeMs: ete. P mecting Heine | held on the shipowners’ time, all the | seamen in Port assemble together | and the open forum being the order | of the meeting, an unanimous decision is easily and quickly arrived at; the men then act in unison, Hence, their success, While they may not have an El} Dorado in Australia, they are at least | , so have omitted it, but} sufficient to show that higher. Note this: the| shoe leather or paying fares. The seamen gather together at the Ship- ping Office where a waiting room is provided by the government, between the hours of 9 to 11 in the forenoon and 2 to 5 in the afternoon, and per week, (Exchange value £1 here| where there are vacancies the en- is $4.86). Just figure this out your-| gineer or officer must pick his men self, jat the waiting room between the wages cost of living in Australia is cheaper | are than here, good board and lodging! for a single man costs only £1.10.0 Conditions Worse Here. above hours, or go without, The sea-|0" the right track. The Stop Work| Now, we will look at conditions.|men of Australia will not take a| Meetings are centers of education; | In Australian ships the three watch | ship to sea short-handed. The Cap- Ac, Secyine mee He SRENOG OO enforced by the members. No official | can defy resolutions for long, ex- | pulsion stares them in the face, What No Democracy? Let us’ see what we find here. I joined an American ship in Hewst castle, N.S.W., Australia. system is in vogue; eight hours con- | tain can read the Riot Act until he is stitute a day’s work, any work over, blue in the face and the seamen’ will and above eight hours must be paid|be adamant; they are organized. for at overtime rates of 2/9 per hour, | any work done which occupies less | than Meet On Company Time. | We will now deal with organiza- 30 minutes, half an hour at|tion. Every seaman is a member of ne rates must be paid; if over|the Federated Seamen’s Union of NEW BRITISH “MYSTERY S! a ee ne ee tenet et) IP” GOES TOSEA & Photo of the huge new British battleship “Nelson,” recently completed at a cost of $35,000,000, passing down the Tyne to the sea, The original type of superstructure and other modern features 0% Doctors Choose President-Elect. NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y., May 10.) Dr. Harry R. Tri day was made Presid New York State Medical Society, in convention here, to succeed Dr. James KE. Sadlier of Poughkeepsie, who becomes President. According to the By-Laws of the society’ the president-elect must serve one year before becoming president. of Buffalo to- nt-EKlect of the the wages were lower I had heard that conditions were good on Ameri- can ships; also that jobs were plenti- ful and commodities cheap, and that America was a democracy. This little illusion was soon to be destroyed. 1 soon discovered that the eight hour principle did not apply to American ships. On several occasions I had to assist for two hours in filling oil tanks, also serub foc’s! and paint it, pack glands, do scouring, etc., all extra work, for not overtime pay The food was an abomination and. there was even a scarcity. course, is futile. Out of the whole erew I found only three men in a union. Verily, the ship owners have it their own way. For such an im- portant section of the working class as the seamen not to be organized is a tragedy. In my talks with seamen they tell me the union will do nothing for them, forgetting that they them- selves are the union; that without them there can be no union and con-| the dreadnought have earned it the title of “mystery ship.” ment To pro-j test was to protest alone which, of! CURREN | . EVENTS By. J. OFLAHERTY (Continued from Page One) warn his flock against them. But my friend was unconvinced. He read himself away from the confessional. It is not surprising that the forces of reaction should favor the index nurgatoris, * * * Chinese policy British govern- reformation of Britain failed to HE change in it announced by th is akin to the a played-out roue. induce the United Stat d Japan to conduct an officially aggressive campaign against the Chinese people, even tho the naval agents of United States on the spot are enjoy- the ing themselves pouring shot and shell on Chinese towns and cities. * * * HILE Calvin Coolidge is. using the language of peace General | Butler in command of its marine for- ces in China boasting of the abil- ity of one “American to lick several hundred Chinese. The general did not make an nate of how many rs it would take to beat (For the benefit the uninitiated General Butler t into the Quaker City with the ject of cleaning it up. Well, to put it mildly, the general beat a hasty and rather undignified retreat and Philly is ‘still the same old Philly, I] am informed.) .The hypocrisy of ce tain liberal opponents of the poli of force in China is demonstrated by their ostrich-like refusal to see the wide gulf between the word of the’! Coolidge administration and the acts marine office one Philadelphian. of i | they are on the right | notorious of those conspirator: , of its satellites in China. HE hour set for the execution of |§ acco and V ti is approach- of feeling pro and t is becoming more and more ¢ rt that the opposing sic care less about 2 technicalities of the case than about the social ideals put forward by Sacco and Vanzetti and opposed by their persecutors. And if the governor of the state of Massachusetts decides to pardon the victims of capitalist injustice it will rot be because his eyes have been opened to the palpable frame-up that sent them to the shadow of the trie chair but to the mighty wave of tion aroused all over the world lec- oppos against the threatened execution, he wie HE governor of Mas: should be given dist derstand that the masses of farmers and _ progr in the United States and thruout the world will consider a commutation of the death sentence to life imprisonment as an insult added to the injury that has already been inflicted on our comrades. They must be freed. They are innocent of the crime with which they are charged. And when the prison doors close behind them, and side of those doors, the perpetrators of this no- torious frame-up should be put on the carpet. And the People of Ma sachusetts should see that the m Judge Thayer, should never again sit on a judicial bench. two | New York Bankers Loan $5,000,000 To Soviet Union Credit amounting to $5,000,000 will be granted by London and New York bankers to nce shipments of American machinery t Union, it was jounced the Fox Brothe Inter poration, The credit is t its kind known to have been ad to the S nion to aid American trade l R. cash for goods exy to the Soviet Union $ atisfac- |tory to eriean rs and satisfies the need J, §. SR. for long term credits, Bigger Credit for 1928. “While Russia received credit of $100,000,000 from Germany last year, it was found that the cost of this credit to Russian importers was reaching as high as 30 per cent,” said bard, vice-president of Fox International Corporation. Officials of the Fox Brothers said ne plan met with a satisfac- response, a $10,000,000 credit tory would be arranged in 1928. Rail Merger Hearings Start, WASHINGTON (FP)—From six months to a year is the time which Inte 2 Commission ex- be required to de- the Pere Marquette merged with the peake Ohio, in the newest Van ingen promotion scheme. Hear- on the petition of the C. & 0. for permission to acquire a controlling amount of stock in the Pere Mar- quette began at the headquarters of the commission on May 10. Minority kholders of the C. & O. are fight- ne apolication. ate Comm e whether is to be They were able to defeat an earlier | merger attempt by the Van Swearin- Employes of the Pere are threatening to strik President Alfred to apply dard es in the same w peting s also dem e runs through ma will deflate the market Marquette to compel e stan- that com- them. Th it value of the | company’s stock. STOP THE MURDER SACCO AND VANZETTI | WORKERS! | OF LENIN ON THE IMPORTANCE OF COOPERATION “With us, so it. seems to me, in- sufficient attention is paid to co operation. It is doubtful whether all} understand that since the October re-| volution, and independently of the new economic policy (or alternately thanks thereto) cooperation has acquired a most exceptional importance. . .In the new economic policy we made a concession to the peasant as also to the trader, with regard to the prin- ciple of private trade, and hence the gigantic importance of eooperation (contrariwise to what some’ people think) Essentially speaking, the co- operating of the Russian population, widely and deeply and to an adequate extent, in, presence of the new eco- nomic policy, is all we require. . . Out of cooperation and cooperation alone, which we formerly treated as a trading affair, and which we are en- titled to treat similarly now, under the new economic regime—is not this all that is necessary for building up a complete socialist sodiety’? It is not the building of a socialistic society, as yet, but it is quite requisite and adequate for the building thereof. Here is the very cireumstance unap- preciated by many of our practical workers. They look negligently on cooperation, without understanding the exceptional importance of cooper- ation has, firstly from the standpoint of principle (the ownership of the means of production in the hands of the State) and secondly, in view of the transition to a new order by a possibly simpler, easier and more ac- cessible way for the peasant.”—Lenin in Soyus Potrebitelei, June, 1923, Ya Although | ditions must inevitably get worse. Sooner or Later You Will Become a Co-operator WHY NOT NOW? id aioe SIRs aes SUG <A a ere TS a RTS | | Co-operators’ Annual Festival | MAY 15th, 1927 ULMER PARK, Foot of 25th Avenue, Brooklyn PROGRAM SPORTS AND ATHLETICS Musical concert by Brooklyn F. $. Club Band. are the main features in the forenoon. Speech by the secretary of the C. L. of A. Cedric Long. Singing by New York Male Chorus “Laulumiehet”. Speech by the Ed. Director of F. C. T. A., Henry Askeli. Singing by Brooklyn F. $. Club Male Chorus. Parody by Leo Kauppi. oe ~ Recitation by Hjalmar Nylander. Cornet solo by Vaino Keuppi. Wine Greetings by the delegates of the various Co-operatives. D A N C I N G FINNISH CO-OPERATIVE TRADING ASSOCIATION 4301 EIGHTH AVE. Tel. Windsor 9052 . BROOKLYN, N. Y. Bakery, Meat Market Restaurant, Billiard Parlor ee a ee | There will be running, jumping, shotput, discus throw- ing and other sports for men, women, boys and girls, Valuable prizes given, 1,500 meter relay race starts at 11 o’clock a. m. a a ESO ee |AWORD FOR YOUR MOST SERIOUS CONSIDERATION | Comrades: | For many years we have been busy preaching our com- rades. For many years we have been trying to tell you that cooperation is important for the workingclass; that | it is one of the trinity of weapons the j workers must use in their fight for liberation. But our work so far has Our voice has been much ignored. Large numbers of comrades have not understood the co- \operative movement as of any im- portance, cooperation to been much in vain. Comrades! The cooperative move- ment is your movement. Workers should € ate themselves into three cor ory movement po- and opposite unionistie pulling in They belong together. the same cause, they are related in time, circumstance and purpose. They all sprang out of the social anarchy lereated by the industrial revolution. |All of them aim to delivering the | workingelasses from the bonaage of |capitalism. All of them should work |together consciously for the common | purpose. litical, cooperative, directions, Arising from You must give active support to the cooperative movement. This does not }mean platonic affection. It means | that you do your’ daily shopping at your cooperative store. You must re- member the cooperative organizations {all the time, not only in the time of |need as heretofore. | An ideal radical worker is he who \is a member of a union, the workers’ | political party and a consumers’ co- operative organization. - a sare