The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 24, 1927, Page 5

THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, TUESDAY, MAY ‘ Page Five TRACTION TRUST HOPES TO MULCT CITY OF $70,000,000 IN LONG CONTRACT (Continued. from Page One) directors Interborough Rapid Transit Company when it was later formed. It would be too long a story to go into the records of graft and corrup- tion, the buying off of_city officials and the plunder of public funds which accompanied this deal, It need mere- ly be said here that out of. an original investment of approximately ..$10,- 000,000, the Interborough Subway Construction Company made over $10,000,000 profit. This. profit well as the exaggerated original in- vestment was turned in as part of the Interborough Rapid Transit pany’s investment under Contract No. 1, Other Contracts Even Worse, The conditians under ‘ which . the “agreement with the subsidiary com- pany of the B, M. T. were carried out were no less vicious though on a smaller scale. Bad as these condi- tions were, they are nothing as com- pared with the circumstances sur- rounding the execution. of the later Contracts Nos, 3 and 4. Under the first two agreements the city sunk some $63,000,000 already referred to. Millions of this amount were plundered through unnec excessive construction and But at least the city has re- ceived about 4 per cent return on the cos! investment from which it has been able to meet part of the interest on the bonds floated for the purpose of raising the principle. In the case of Contracts No. No, 4, under which the city has in- vested over $240,000,000, the swindle 0 executed that the city has re- and this enormous investment. In addi- tion it has been forced to meet a yearly deficit now amounting to over $11,000,000 to cover the interest charges on its bonds. The total of these yearly deficits has reached a sum which is rapidly approaching $150,000,000 of dead and irrecoverable loss. Dual Contracts. These Contracts No. 3 and No. 4 were likewise executed with the I. R. T. and the B. M, T. They date from March 19,. 1913, They came to be known as the Dual Subway Contracts. incorporating and superseding the earlier agreements. The and construction work was again pai for by the city. The companies doing this work were again the same con- cerns which operated the subways. Of the $240,000,000 now invested by the city, a vastly greater amount than in the case of the earlier con- tracts was plundered from the public treasury through the padding of con- struction accounts, double charges, wholesale corruption and unchecked graft. But thiswas by far the lesser evil! The conditions under which the traction companies undertook to oper- ate the completed subways stand out as a monument of didgrace to the people and the public officials who) permitted such conditions to be exe- cuted! Lines To Be Built. Under Contracts No. 3 and No, 4 some 48 miles were added to the I. R. T. lines and about 38 miles were were practically the same | Broadway set of individuals who were behind the | the city. as | Com- | ved not a single cent in interest on! excavation | north; and the B. M. T. built the main The following were the conditions under which the transit contpanies agréed to operate the enlarged sys-| tems: The first charge out of the earn-| ings of the subways was to go in payment as interest on the original city’s investment of about $63,000,000 under Contracts No, 1 and No. 2. This sum, a relatively small amount, has |been the only return which the city has thus far received on its total of $300,000,000 invested. The second charge is for and sinking fund charges watered stock and padded ments of the companies. Easy Money. The third charge ig in the form of a so-called “preferential” which was a sum arrived at by taking the amount claimed to be the earnings of the companies as an average for the ye 1910 and 1911. This prefer- ential of “guaranteed earnings” amounts in the case of the I. R, T. to the sum of $6,335,000 and in the se of the B. T. to the sum of 10,000 annually The “preferen- are profits practically guaran- teed by the city treasury. Only after the above charges which go to the companies are paid, does the city receive any interest on its in- vestments of over $240,000,000. There is another joker in the agreements: In the event that the earnings of the lines do not provide sufficient funds after the interest and sinking fund charges are paid to the companies to on cover the “guaranteed preferential” of 35,000 and $3,500,000 to the companies yearly, the city becomes indebted to the companies for the de- ficit and this deficit is cumulative and line through the heart of | bears interest compounded semi-| annually at 5 per cent. $700,000,000! Have you ever taken a sum of money and figured it at interest compounded semi-annually for a period of years? _ Then you know the joke! The loss to the city through this deficit alone estimated at the present rate of accumulation would, if carried out for the period of 49 years, the term of the contract, amount to SEVEN HUNDRED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS! The city has received not a cent of return on the amount of over $240,- 000,000 representing the additional investments under Contracts No. 3 and No, 4. To pay the interest on its bonds issued to raise this investment, it has yearly had td put on the city | budget a sum now over $11,000,000. The next article will explain the conditions accompanying the draw- jing up -of these monstrous agree- |ments and expose the grafters and corruptionists responsible for the wholesale steal. High School Teachers Ask Maximum of $3,600) WORCESTER, Teachers here long deferred immediately Mass., May 23.— are demanding that increases be granted by the school board. added to the B. M. T. On the I. R. T.| High school teachers ask the maxi- there was built the Seventh Ave. tension from Times Square south through the Clark St. tunnel into Brooklyn. The east side mum be raised from $3,250 to $3,600 for men and . $2,625 to $3,600 for | women and that elementary teachers line’ was be raised from a maximum of $1,800 built beginning from Grand Central! to $2,880. BUSINESS & PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY FRI:iWDS OF ORGANIZED LABOR —— ANYTHING IN PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO OR OUTSIDE WORK Patronize Our Friend SPIESS STUDIO 54 Second Ave., cor. 3rd St. Special Rates for Laber Organiza- tions, (Bstablished 1887.) Read The Daily Worker Ev Booth Phones, Dry Dock 6612, 7846, Office PRone, Crohabd 9319. MANHATTAN LYCEUM Large Halls With Stage for Meet- ings, Entertainments, Balls, Wed- dings and Banquets; Cafeteria. \\ 06-68 EB. 4th Small Mi ng Rooms Always Available. vel. Lehigh 6022. Dr. ABRAHAM MARKOFF sU! GEON DENTIST Ofttice Hours: 9:30-12 A, M, 9-8 P.M, Daily Except Friday and Sunday, 249 EAST 116th STREMT Cor. Second Ave. New York, Dir. J. Mindel Dr. L. Hendin ‘Surgeon Dentists 1 UNION SQUARE Room 803 Phone Stuyv. 10119 Orchard 3783 Strictly by Appointment DR, L, KESSLER SURGEON DENTIST 48-50 DELANCEY STREET Cor, Bidridge St. New York Telephone Mott Haven 0506. Dr. Morris Shain SURGEON DENTIST 592 Oak Terrace, Bronx, N. Y dist St. and Crimmins Ave. very Day itead The Daily | | AMALGAMATED YOOD WORKERS Bakers’ Loc. No. 104 Meets Ist Saturday he month at hird Avenue, ponx, N. ¥. Ask for Union Label | Bread 346 Worker E Every Day Advertise your union meetings ‘| here. For information write to The DAILY WORKER Advertising Dept. 33, Pisst 5t., New York City, MRS. ROGIN Vegetarian Restaurant 249 E, 13th St. New York For a Rational Combined Vege tarian Meal Come to Rachil’s Vegetarian Dining Room 215 East Broadway. Ist floor. Read The Daily Worker Every Day Phone Stuyvesant 3816 John’s Restaurant SPECIALTY: ITALIAN DISHES A place with atmosphere Where all radicals meet. 302° E. 12th St. New York Health Food Vegetarian Restaurant 1600 Madison Ave. PHONY: UNIVERSITY 6365, | Committee of 100 to Hold Affair to Help Jailed Cloakmakers The Committee of 100 will hold a eting for the ief of the fam- s of the imp ned cloak mak- | ers Wednesday evening at Webster Hall. Bishop Brown, the noted her- etic, Paxton Hibben and Pascal |} Cosgrove of the Amalgamated Food Workers will review the struggle for democracy in the trade unions and other issues in the labor movement. Robert W. Dunn will preside Admission is 25 cents, ce INDEPENDENTS. IN “EFFORT AT PEACE INL, LG. W. UNION Committee of ! of 50 to Seek Formula for Unity Plans were laid for a committee of 50 at a meeting last night of the In- dependent Group of the Cloak and Dressmakers in Cooper Union to bring about. peace in the International La- dies’ Garment Workers’ Union. Despite determined efforts to break up the meeting, which jammed the hall, a resolution w passed calling on “both factions involved in this struggle” to declare publicly that they agree for a peace wih submission of the question of new leadership to a referendum vote of the membership, conducted by an impartial committee. The committee of 50 is to “take steps to bring to an end the present struggle” with instructions to get in touch with the Jewish Council of Greater New Y. to assist in that work. The committee was given full power to work out plans to “estab- lish ordep” based on a “spirit of unity and solidarity of all members of our organization.” Harry Berlin, a member of Local 10, whom disrupters attempted to shout down, declared the big issue in the union is not Communism. “I am not a Communist,” he declared, if I were, I wouldn't be ashamed to admit it.” Heard Patiently. A, Student, another speaker, called the entire audience and the sponsors of the meeting “Communists” and re- fused to stép speaking when his time was up. He yelled, “I dare anyone to touch me and make me stop.” The audience would not be provoked but kept on shouting, “Time is up; time is up,” until he left the platform. Another trick that failed to break up the meeting was an attempt to switch off the light. A Sigman hench- | man was discovered in time. I. Brauner, chairman of the Shop! Chairmen’s Council, told the assem- bled workers that he is a member of the democratie party and a deputy \sheriff in Kings County, but. because {he is opposed to Sigman’s policy he jis accused of being a Communist. Alvois, Local 10, said that “it is difficult to be neutral after what has taken piace in the union A @US RIDE FROM FREIHEIT BUILDING Unity Camp (A. Workers’ tive Summer Co-opera- Resort All conveniences. Boat- ing, Swimming, Hiking, Fishing. Concerts and dancing every evening. Excellent food. Very fine educational program for the entire summer. Lo- cated in the midst of the beautiful WHITE ROCK MOUNTAINS Grand Opening Decoration Day Weekend Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Monday May 27, 28, 29 & 30 REGISTRATION OPEN for TENTS and BUNGALOWS BUSSES leave Union Square every Friday at 6 P, M., Sat- urdays at 9 A. M. and 1 P. M. FOR INFORMATION: “Freiheit” Office 2 to 8 P.M., 135 Lexington Ave, Unity House, and Harlem Co-oper- ative House, 1786 Lexington Ave., New York City, N. Y. but | | began a cross examination intended {the sore spot in every instance. jonly about 6,000 shares of the total [Brokers Hold Most of Building Bosses Lose Traction Stock Fight on Wage Rise (Continued from Page One) into submission had brought this re- sult: 1-—The Brooklyn plumbers out to a man, (Continued Pin Page One) an excuse, The reason for this signifi- jcant fact will be explained later. | * The hearings weré opened promptly |on the appearance of the three tran- | sit commissioners, Chairman John F, | 2¢ing aade. to: Ir th oe Piaees, Gilehrist, Leon @, Godley and Charles) _2-—The lockout against the Bronx C. Lockwood. Untermyer, special and Manhattan plumbers, engineered counsel for the commission, who is the | PY. this Sespene tiny as “OOLANNEC, main figure in the hearing, began u ~The lockout against the Queens with the reading of a long prepared | Richmond plumbers is being con- | statement, calculated to set at tinued, ; anyone who might presume to ques-| _, Local 1 Proves Correctness. |tion the propriety or the intention of Thus the militancy and god sense |the proceedings. The commission |! Plumbers’ Local 1 last week in re | would listen to all and view all ev fusing to arbitrate the five day week dence impartially, The commission is | ®"4 the oy aeale bee nate ptaerise in search of and will appreciate light |Jasting since April 1 is borne out by from every direction. the official commentators on the in- His statement further laid down a dustry itself. Shortly after Local 1 method of procedure for the later hed voted down overwhelmingly the hearings which consisted of five main International officers’ demands that principles: they return to work pending the arbi- First, the various interested com- tration proceedings, the Employers’ panies would record themselves as he- | A#sociation called off the Bronx-Man- ing a part to the hearing. hattan lockout, using as an excust Second, each witness of these com- Week Old injunction. At the same time panies to be called would appear ag | the international officials hied them- an individual. * } selves back to Chicago. Third, the commission counsel would| _ Building trades workers in Cooper- examine: withdesds, ative Hall, 347 East 72nd St. last Fourth, the company counsel might night reflected the optimistic turn oF then question the witnes events in a demand that the interna- Fifth, only one counsel would do the| tional union enter negotiations with pheatien the Plumbers Helpers’ ciation, Following the reading of this state- looking toward their admission into ment by Untermyer, former Governor | the union with regular standing. 1 Nathan I. Miller rose to present the | building workers also comme position for the B. M. T. He began | °#! : and called for renewed support by stating that the hearings were 0! the strike in Brooklyn and the “welcome” to his client and that they le¢ked out men in Queens and Staten would “cooperate” in a spirit of the Island. utmost helpfullness” and moré to this effect destined for the stuffed cars of the people. Fight Probe of Control. Presently he came to the point: The rest establishing the “nature of the direc- torship of the ompany. In a monient it was revealed that the members of the Board of Directors hold practitelly no stock in the company. The chair- B ef Aerie fight all attempts to’ man of the board and the chairman of Investigate the stock transactions of | the controlling executive committee of its lines, a matter which they would the board. E. J. Berwind of the Ber- wind-White scab coal company owns no stock whatever! Frank Hedley, president and general manager owns but fifty shares. Buckner, another di- rector, owned two! In fact all of the directors between them do not own a hundred shares of the company stock. This is a strange fact indeed. But the meaning of it soon will heéome clear. On further questioning it was revealed that the coal bill of the In- terborough amounts to some four millions of dollars a year: the insur- ance bill amounts to a figure in the large hundreds of thousands, perhaps maintain is not not “pertinent or re- levant” to the inquiry. The B. M. T. which is known defin- | itely to be the controlling company of all the city transit lines, as was pre- dicted in The DAILY WORKER, will seek to prevent all delving into its shady methods. Following this was a statement by James Quackenbush, counsel for the Interborough, who did not deign to present his company’s position in the matter but only objected to the waiver of immunity which Untermyer demanded of each witnéss. This point was left hanging in the air, so to peak, but*it appedrs that witneabes more; the amount could not be extri- will be under some persuasion to an- > io ae ie vs haoienss tal cag, swer though there is nothing now to stereh 20. die -quention “dtten::te- : peated as to how he explained the compel testimony. Who Owns I. R. T.? The first witness called was H. M. Fisher, secretary-treasurer of the In- terborough Rapid Transit Company. Fisher is a hard boiled chestnut, typ- ical of the Interbérough. He had hard- ly been sworn in before Untérmyer fact that none of the directors owned an interest in the welfare of the com- pany, Fisher had no available an- swer. Wall Street Control. The hearings broke off at this point. What do the two sets of facts dis- closed mean! The first, that the stock is in the hands of Wail Street brokers who are in possession of a voting | ust enabling them to manipulate it ‘at will, is proof that stock owners as well as the city and the public at large are being exploited by the huge Plunderbund inaugurated by the trac- tion bandits. The brokers have noth- ing to lose in the swindle inasmuch as they do not own the stock but have merely secured possession of it for | trading purposes and receive their |commissions. At the same time the brokers are themsélyes under the seems a pretty widely scattered own- 1 Mor: A ats whicl ership. But the first few questions | thumb of the Morgan intere ip ‘ ‘ 4 eo }now control the B. M. T. on this subject revealed the fact that Plundér Not Service: The second fact disclosed, that the directors of the I. R. T. do not own any of the stock, convicts them as | already stated in the DAILY WORK- ER, of being a mere Plunderbund whose interests are directly opposed to efficient service. They make their rake off and get | their graft through enormous salaries and through the sale of coal, insur- ance, building supplies, steel, and other materials to themselves at enor- mously inflated prices. They are limited in this graft only by the necessity of paying interest on the bonds of the company, a matter to reveal the real owners of the In- terborough stock. Fisher had a trying fifteen minutes in seeking to avoid the answer to di rect questions, Old mmy Unter-! myer, himself quite familiar with the internal affairs of more than a few concerns seasoned to put his hand on Then the information came out: The stock of the Interborough is held by about 2,5000 stockholders who own to- gether about 350,000 shares. This 350,000 were owned outside of Wall Street. That is, about 98 per cent of the stock and hence of the voting | power of the company is in the hands of the brokers in the financial dis- trict. The full significance of this revelation will become clear in rela- tion to the second fact disclosed. Untermyer then devoted himself to JIMMIE HIGGINS BOOK SHOP Announces its removal to 106 UNIVERSITY PL. south of loration) | that the city pays a yearly deficit of of the subways. The facts at the basis of the Plun- derbund are explained in another col-| 'umn of The DAILY WORKER. SACCO and VANZETTI | iSHALI NOT DIE! Reception and Ball to honor the FRIDAY NIGHT STAR CASINO 107th Street and Park Avenue The New Chevrolet will be given to a lucky worker promptly at 11:30 P. M. LOUIS HYMAN will preside. (One, block its. former Telephone: Stuyvesant 5015. Volunteer Bazaar Workers Recently Released Prisoners Admission 75c, For shareholders in the car 50c. Auspices: JOINT DEFENSE & RELIEF COMMITTED. ay | not difficult when it is remembered | (ora $11,000,000 towards the upkeep | NATIONALISTS SCORE VICTORIES OVER CHANG TSO-LIN-IN DRIVE ON PEKING ~~ NEWS PRINTERS (Continued from » One) s the report report British news , and an correspondents under Br uence, were wiring home about the fall of Shanghai; 2 from that city indicate Feng Co-operates. IN BIG SIX FIGHT Co-operating with Gene General Feng Yuchsis a “Christ jeneral”,, who has allied himself with the Hankow Nationalist Wahneta and Near- governmen Fen driven Wti r. % 7 Pei-tu, central Chives war lord, back, Wahs Slated for Defeat to Chengchow, where Feng is follow ‘ ‘ig hie Progres were winding up their strenuous ca aign today in Americans Bombard Towns, behalf of D'Arcy Milliken for SHANGHAI, May 23.—The United Typographical Local 6 States destroyer . when hit. by TEREWOROT Cet stray machine gun. fire, bombarded . forts and villages on the south ban! the of the Yangtse with her mai a Considerable damage was infli in 1924 at a time the bombardment, it is believed. almost had the great * * * hands, A third can- Britain Withdraws Consul, liam M. A, Powers, a HANKOW, May Great Britain rho has the support of has withdrawn her consul from Chin ary Wahneta group. kiang. All of the archives of the The Wah or ministration” consulate have been remover t is g for r inter ional reported. on and through a conspiracy with The withdrawal of the Chi ng apers and job of- consul coming on the heels of the re-, fices tried to starve out of the in- call of the British representative at) dustry the r nt members who ré- Hankow marks a new offensive of | fused to subscribe to Wahneta policies. The Ww imperialist Britain against the Na- hnetas were in charge of the tionalist gover here. nder the leadership of Mars- That Brita, ma to forci- | den when the 44-hour strike bly regain the Hankow conc was lost in many of the job shops, which she lost in a costing the union $10,000,000 and a early this year is not u heavy loss in membership. servers here regard t The tas in the present cam- the lowest ion with the boss. of “blood-dripping they have tried to of Great Britain's diplom Sentatives from cities in the control forms of co-oper: of the Nationalists is regarded as a| With boldface talk prelude to open war against the Han- flags of anarchy, repre ooped to kow government. besmirch one. of the union’s outstand- . 8 * ing leaders, “Doc” Mil n. Chang Totters. The line-up in the present election PEKING, Ma 23.~~Chang o- is Millike the progressive party lin’s position is becoming more and. candidate the turn coat who has held years whilé playing to the Progressives and Wahnetas and serving the employers: more precarious, Menaced by the rapidly advancing troops of the Hankow Nation having lost (apparently) the supy and Powers, the out-and-out Wah of Japan and facing the solid opposi- ditdate. tion of workers, peasants, merchants This 1s the first time in Rouse’ and students at home his fall appears, career as president that the Wahs to be near at hand. have failed to support him. But The north is honey Na- thére is only a slight difference be- tionalism and should neral Feng tween him and powers Even the com within striking distance of Pek- | stupid Wah gang realizes that he is ing, which appears like revolts in; discredited among the membership Peking and Tientsin would probably! and so have pushed Powers out. occur. Powers is ignorant of the labor move- ————- ment. BUY THE DAILY WORKER The election takes place Wednes- AT THE NEWSSTANDS day. =Ice———0 100 m05o NOT BATTLESHIPS - 2 LARGE STEAMERS (CLEARMONT and ONTARIO) will take 5,000 workers to BEARMOUNTAIN and BACK ON THE HUDSON Saturday, June 4th The Jewish Daily REIHEIT | TICKETS—In advance $1.25. At the dock $1.50, BUY TICKETS in adyance—and save time and money, Buy Tickets at the Freiheit, 30 Union Square, New Yor! i i *