The Daily Worker Newspaper, July 6, 1927, Page 6

SG ea ge ep -- Page Six ‘How the Frame-Up Works | on Henry Ford's ‘Model Ships | 5 An Amazing Tale of the Methods Used By the Understrappers and Legal Lackeys of the Great “Philanthropist” To Stamp Out All Protest Among Seamen—This Story Is A Documer= of the American Class Struggle of Interest Not Only | To Seamen But To All Workers. | | HE following story concerns sailors, Georg: Ford Motor Com Loomis and Jam itself the experiences of two . both employed I e tug “Ball Car s in the | These sailors, both of whom have, proven their competence and able seamanship by years of work at their | trade, had absolutely no doubt vo! as to their ability as able when they were employed Ford Motor Company. who, besides his able seaman’s also holds a third 1 s licens been going to for nine Loomis had, b marine service, a training, totaling years. The Ford Cow in its choice of carefully investig: seamanshp and ch eter k are signed on for the “model shi Put HE publicity agents Motor Company paint the picture has mi city Bunk. of the of working conditions on the boats in the are the b; suffers z other gets quarters; ¥ job are the tive.” These s keep the under a constant tem wh calculated ute and u not able to k than a few tied down b: cumstances 4 pendent on Fo houses. ENRY FORD has gained control of the stores and middlemen’s trade patronized by the workers in| these plants; and now it seems as though Ford were extending his sys- ter ed tyranny to the high seas and inland waters, and entering into the lives of the workers on the ships in 1 drive for more profits and gr control and power. che » are more for such v families that are de- 1 and his commissary Faulty Seamanship. which in the} “Hi tug “Ball Camp” on i these two sailors signed month of November, 1 was a badly mastered ship so far as sea-| manship was concerned. ' She had a fifteen to twenty degree list all the way from New York to Quezee due} mainly to the incompetence of the} captain and the chief engineer. These | officers had neglected to properly| ballast the vessel and in the cour of the trip they had no real a tempt to correct Because of this list .the into the} quarters of the crew, sng them wi told mis uring t and lack of sleep. ll hands worked Jonz hours s er coal to} right the ship and avoid a disaster. | Along with this difficulty the heat-| ing system was out of order and the} crew suffered cold damp and wet of the water shipped at i. This defer heating 2m also manipulation of the ve leaking steam in capstans, winches, | ete.; in fact the sel was abgo- lutely unseaworthy. HE men were left in misery below, | but the officers lived amidships in comfortable quarters above the water! line. The dry stores, kept in the| crew’s quarters against regulations, were wet when the seas came in, and had rotted away in the crew’s quar- ters from the salt and filth; then after the ship had made part of its run it ran short of ice and the meat| for the .crew’s consumption became foul; such ice as there was being re-| served for the officers’ choice cuts.| These were some of the conditions with which the crew had to contend, so that when the boat came into port over night, they were only too glad| ‘to run ashore for a breathing spell | and rest somewhere else to break up) the grinding monotony of the miser-} able trip. | Captain Incensed at Complaint. HEN the ship arrived at Quebec the crew asked the captain for) half of their wages, to which they are entitled at any port according to the seamans’ act, after five or more act-| e| these two were Loomis and sj ald ,| tain made preparations to leave , | by. rd ashore by virtue of the fact that they HILE the crew were still assem- bled at the office of the consul he followed the us . procedure and picked out two men to act as spokes- men for the crew. It happened that} The became ince th two ain heard of th d at the action militant workers. When of -| the consul came aboard ship at five that evening, the captain claimed y|that he did not have the money with which to pay off the men but that he would pay them off the next day. At two o’clock that morning the ca and five had pulled out, leaving Loomis and Fitzerald on the beach. them was also left a fireman the name of Gormely, who had been active in the previous eve- ning’s experience. These men had the right to go were not on leaving the e watch at the time of ship and were off watch for re period of the night. They een authorized by the chief under wh watch they Listed As WHEN the “Ball Camp” arrived at al the Captain reported to “Deserter: nsul and listed the Gormely and serters. He also took tl line of hiring three other men in r places, and S|the ship left port. In the meanwhile these three sea-| men were left in Quebec without| money, food, shelter or friends to whom they might turn in the midst of bitter cold weather. They wan- | 1 the streets penniless and hun-| or a while and then turned their | eps to the American Consul. This} worthy official, after four, days final- | ly gave them their fare ‘to Ogdens-| burg, N. Y., where they hoped to} eatch the “Ball Camp” on its way to| | Detroit and the Ford works. When the men arrived in Ogdens-| burg they found that the ship had| not yet arrived so they were forced | to make for Cornwall where they! caught up with it. Upon arrival) aboard ship they reported to the cap- tain, who told them that they would be paid off in Ogdensburg the next! day. | During this time the marooned men} stood ready to assume their routine | duties aboard ship. The captain,| however, purposely did not allow them to return to work on any occa- sion, thus proving not only his preju- dice against these militant workers but ¢ the fact that he had some} preconceived plan of meting out re-| venge to those who had stood up and} demanded their rights as*seamen. It turned’ out that when they did arrive | in Ogdensburg, the United States| Deputy Marshal came board the ship| and read the names of Loomis, Fitz- | gerald and Gormely from a slip of} paper which has been furnished ‘him | by the captain. “You are under ar-} rest,” the marshal told the three sea- | men, “come along.” Arrested Without Warrant. ITZGERALD demanded that he be shown the warrant for their ar- rest, but the marshal refused to do this saying that they must come along; that their arrest would be ex- plained at the proper time and that he didn’t know the reason for it. Railroaded to Jail. He took them to the Ogdensburg} police station where they were kept outside of the inner door while he talked to the chief of police,who re-| fused to hold them or have anything to’ do with their case, on the basis of | there ybeing no specific charge) against them, but the marshal con- tinued his bluff and took the men along with him. This time he took them to the Oswetachie House Hotel in Ogdensburg. He forced them to register and told them that they had to stay there until the captain came} back from Detroit. Even at this time he didn’t show them any war- rant or tell them the reason for this arrest, Held Three Weeks. | tual days of work. | "THEY were kept at this hotel for a The captain, fearing to lose the period of three weeks, during erew who were indignant and angry | which time the captain, on his return, at this shabby treatment, refused to| came up to see them in company with| pay them off. Thereupon the men|the deputy marshal, and trieq to| went in a body to the American Con-| make them accept various sums far! sul at Quebec and placed a complaint! under the actual amount due as the| against the vessel on the basis of its| full payment of their wages. The| being unseaworthy and improperly| men refused to take this offer as| provisioned. In this they were en-|there was about three hundred dol- tirely within their rights as an|lars due them collectively and they) American crew and American citi-|were legally entitled to the full| zens. The consul, after hearing the} amount. | men, came aboard ship, spoke to the captain and ordered him to improve nll conditions. This should have been enough to indicate that the con- ditions aboard ship were really bad; yet there was no immediate attempt to rectfy them or to fulfill the prom- ise made to the consul by the captain. They were told to get a lawye and got one by the name of Wat | man, who made a demand upon the| captain for the full sum of their| wages; but the captain refused ag: to pay them. (Continued tomorrow) as THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 1927 War is useful to the exploiter. WAR—THE PANHZ DLER _ Whats Whati'Washingto WASHINGTON, Ji 5 (FP). War is in the air, Transatlantic and Pacific flights, diplomatic threats at Geneva of armament races, rumb- lings in European foreign offices, the restiveness of the colonial peoples, ex- cited harangues by the home generals and admirals, superheated. congress men tossing threats of billions for \“defense” through the receptive press, ail give confirmation to General Las siter’s warning on his return from Europe: sand Ck James of the mili- tary affairs committee, who demands that economy be thr to the winds So we can have < air fo} dicts with line fighting planes ted airmen. * * 000 eni Houghton Ruins Chances. Of all the sor ux pas executed 2 the last blue moon, none has ap- ssador Houghton’s out- in suggesting that the Se When the lives cf workers are not being demanded for battle |7™ 9"4 is ending up with American “The whole world is in a state of people be allowed to vote on the next unstable equilibrium. Life now. Horror, and cautious sugges- is like living in a high explosiy, that the Amb lor to the tory. From what I have seen at had “gone bol- jand from what I know of world c wa e cial reaction, One pretty certain in the minds ny number of higher-ups: Hough- ditions, I am of the opinion’ that an thin explosion is almost sure to come.” of | Lindbergh and the War-Mongers. . ton will never succeed Kellogg as sec- |. Young Lindbergh, winging his sol- retary of state. No secretary of state, itary way across the Atlantic, probab- ceoped up in the same building with ly could not foresee that his feat the secretary of war, could ever have | would start the war hounds on a ram- @ thought like that and function suc- | page which will cost American work- cessfully as head of American foreign ers billions in added military expendi- affairs. ° |tures in the next few years. But the Houghton was speaking before Har- military crowd in Washington and vard when he suggested a constitu- their congressmen, including heads of tional amendment to take the war- the military and naval affairs com- making power away from president |mittees in the House, see it. and congress. and lodge it with the Chairman James of the military people. He made a closely-reasoned ommittee, in his perfervid plea for analysis of nations slipping into war .|the immediate creation of a Depart-| through the maneuvers of their rulers. ment of National Defense to meet the He asked for an international agree- | emergency, cries: “Every time a Lind-| ment practically outlawing war for bergh goes to France or a Chamber- 100 years. Washington gasped, and lin to Germany, or more especially if, then drew the curtain down. Maybe a British or Italian or Frenchman or that’s why you have heard nothing of German comes over here, it brings the Houghton plan through the press, the Department of National Defense | be id * that much nearer.” | The ladies of the ritzy Washington That is the paradoxical effect of Democratic club are sloganizing. Hav- |Lindbergh’s effort to bring the na- ing produced such corkers, through a ‘tions closer together; of the Geneva private contest, as Hight years of Wall |conference which started out to dis-,Street—now give Main Street a chance; Lorimer, Newberry, Smith and Vare, what next will the interests Haun ~ErHo%rs threats to spend $250,000,000 to sacrifices, the earnings of workers are being wasted in “preparedness” for battle. 63-Hour Journey From Moscow, U.S.S.R. to Paris Touches Four ( Countries By J. LOUIS ENGDAHL. (Special to The DAILY WORKER.) PARIS, France (By Mail).—It is 63 hours as the train goes from Moscow, U. S. S. R., to Paris, capital city by the River Seine of imperialist France, One travels over Poland ’neath the bloody oppression that is begging Wall Street for a loan to bolster its tot- tering tyranny. One passes over Germany, thru Berlin, where the workers are being lashed to the point of extreme ex- haustion in order to fulfill the demands of the Dawes Plan, and at the same time create a new “place in the sun” for the present capitalist ruling class of the Vater- land. | One even passes thru Belgium where the battlefields | are being well preserved for the sightseers who bring money from other lands, principally the United States, to give nourishment to the toppling franc. Then France, where the franc sells more than 25 to the American dollar, “The Dollar” that is accepted gladly everywhere in lieu of the national currency in every cap- italist land of Western Europe. The Contrast in Europe. It did- not take the nearly two months that I spent in the Union of Soviet Republics to get the inspiring feel of the huge optimism of the workers and peasants there. Tremendous contrast with the despair of the workers in Western Europe groaning under thcir many burdens, It was on a pleasant Sunday afternoon (June 19th) that I started on my return journey. One of my last visitors at the Hotel Bristol was a Chinese comrade, who had just arrived from Canton, with the latest news of the revolution in China. It would have been pleasant and instructive to spend hours with him, but trains in Moscow depart punctually, more punctually I found than in those lands where the initiative that is supposed to grow out of private owner- ship is charged with paving the way toward perfection. The pavements of the Toverskaya glistened in the sun as we sped along to the White Russian-Baltic Railroad Station, In spite of the huge throngs that had yesterday and early this day departed for “the country,” the streets were nevertheless crowded. Men, women and children in large numbers joined in the promenade along the Toverskoy Boulevard, where only the day before other crowds had gathered to witness the start and finish of the Moscow Marathon run around “the Boulevard Ring.” Moving picture machine operators had worked | clothes of the women. zealously as a bakery worker, an official in his union, a tine specimen of an athlete had won the contest. | * * * Reminder of Voikov’s Martyrdom. | The afternoon was quiet at the station. It was the| lull between the morning rush of those leaving the city, | and the rush that would be repeated on their return in| the evening. This was the station at which the Funeral Train earry- ing the body of Comrade Peter L. Voikov, Soviet am- bi dor assassinated at Warsaw, had arrived from the Polish capital. Moscow, with the entire Soviet Union, was still in mourning for Voikov. The workers of the Soviet Union do not forget. | “This train that was to carry me to the Polish borde: ‘was comfortable and modern as any in the world, I had well-equipped sleeping ears and it carried its dinin, car that boasted an elaborate menu card in two language —Russian and English, “Good Bye!” to Moscow. On an adjoining track a local train arrives, well filled with early returning excursionists. They wave an en-| thusiastic “Good Bye!” as our “Express” begins to move | out of the station at 4:10 on the second. Our route leads | | directly west, the route that is followed for a time by| the air service on its way to Berlin. As we pass one station after another ,without il a ping, it is clear to be seen that the railroad depot in the rural districts of the Soviet Union, as in rural, America, acts as a sort of social center, where great numbers ga- ther to meet acquaintances and “to see the trains go thru.” Often one sagv knots of hikers along the roads, not “hitch hikers,” since the automobile is not as prevalent in the Soviet Union as in America, not yet. These | hikers, in knickers or the much shorter “trunks” of the | |his position on the end platform. athlete, showed that these Russians took hiking seriously as a “sport” that was an aid to physical development. There were many picnics in the luxuriant forests thru which we' passed. White was a predominant color in the Thus afternoon passed into eve- ning until the lateness of the hour ended the day and turned into a memory these gay and discussing throngs of the cities thru which we had passed, of Wjasma, Smolensk and Orscha. We Approach the Border. The early morning found us at Minsk. It was on June 7th, the same day that Voikov was assassinated at War- saw, that a railway catastrophe was organized between the stations Shdanovitchi and Minsk, which resulted in the death of the authorized representative of the “G. P. U.” for the White Russian Military District, Opanski, who was accompanying an arrested Polish spy, an officer. In addition to Opanski, a chauffeur was killed and two other persons wounded. This outrage was merely one incident in a whole cam- paign of terrorism which an official communique of the Soviet Government declared made it “completely clear that the British government, which is feverishly prepar- ing for war against the Soviet Union, is using all the means in its power to interfere with the peaceful con- structive work of the workers and peasants of our State.” There is no indication here, on the platform of the rail- road station at Minsk, that there is any increasing tense- ness close to the border. To be sure there are a few soldiers of the Red Army about. But there are usually one or two at every station. The official of the Soviet Government who, comes thru to take up our passports has but one assistant with him. This indieation of a feeling of security was another contrast with the extreme nervousness to be found in Poland, in Germany and even as far west as Belgium, where a regular stream of sol- diers appeared every time that we reached some new border. Land of Timothy and Clover. We leave Minsk behind. The country is hilly. The fields of timothy and clover bend before the breeze. It is not much unlike the farming districts of Minnesota, for instance, in the United States. I was reminded of the figures that I had been shown, revealing the fact that this year would again give an abundant harvest to the peasants of the Soviet Union. Between the fields came the pastures where herds of cows and flocks of sheep were grazing. Many spirited horses were also enjoying the freedom of the open. Thus we came to the border town of the Soviet Union, Wolkowysk, where the passengers have their baggage taken into the station for examination before leaving the country. Little interest was shown in my baggage. The Soviet cfficials looked a little bit regretfully, however, at my portable typewriter. Machinery of any kind is treasured in the Soviet Union. They didn’t like to see even a portable typewriter leave the country. Finally a long document was made out and I was taxed one rouble (50 cents) for the privilege of taking the machine with me. When the examination was completed we returned to the train with our baggage. Soon we could see in the distance the outpost of the Red Army. It looked like a comfortable clubhouse with Red Army soldiers lounging about, a few on duty. We rolled slowly past it. Not many yards beyond was the frontier and a short distance beyond that the guard house of the Polish Army. Around this Polish outpost and stretching in both direc- tions, North and South, was one of the most elaborate barbwire entanglements that I have ever seen. There was the usual network of barbwire. But on each side were three additional rows of entanglements stretched on long, sharp spikes driven in the ground. More Soldiers Than Passengers. Our train halted at this barbwire frontier. I wa’ on the last car. A soldier of the Polish army, with rifle and revolver and plenty of ammunition, with bayonet fixed nd the Polish eagle glaring from his helmet, took up In another few mo- ments what appeared to be a regular army came pour- ng thru our coach, I counted more Polish soldiers than here were passengers. There were offi in three different kinds of uni- forms. Some carried revolvers with long barrels, others had little toylike appearing automatics. So we passed over into Poland surrendering our passports to the offi- cials of the Polish government. We pass the Polish frontier town of Baranowicze and then on to Stolbzy where our baggage is searched, the main lookout of the customs officers being for “Bolshevik propaganda.” Some passengers possessed Russian literature, books and pam- phlets, or newspapers. It was carefully scanned. The customs officers were somewhat puzzled by my latest copies of The New York Times, the Annalist and the Wall Street Journal. They couldn't read them. All they knew was that it was not Russian, So they turned it back to me, * * * ‘omorrow:—-The journey thru Poland and Germany. achieve parity with the British fleet. | All Washington, except for the small voices of a few peace-seekers, has joined the war cry. What Congress will do about it is| indicated pretty clearly by the senti-| ments of Chairman Butler of the} house naval affairs committee, who | predicts appropriations to enable the American navy to command the seven |seas and tear down Britain’s superior- dare; Let’s bust the power trust; Can we can,Cal—I’ll say we can, the ladies Have thrown the*contest open to the nation. Democratic politicians who are try- ing to stem the At Smith tide by boosting Owen D. Young, the General Electric chief, as Democratic candi- date to oppose Coolidge, smile patron- izingly at the ladies’ efforts. Partic- ularly the third slogan. By BERT MILLER. If the seriousness of the illness of a patient may be judged by the num- ber of doctor’s visits, then the de- gree to which international capital- ism is concerned about its. own inter- nal disorders, may be judged by the number of conferences whith are be- ing held to find a remedy for the suf- fering organism. Flush upon the heels of the futile Economie Confer- ence at Geneva and in the midst of the growing dissensions between the Powers at the so-called Disarmament Conference, comes the announcement of a mysterious meeting of the leading figures in world finance, to be held at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York City. Included in this gathering are Sir Montagu Norman, Governor of the Bank of England; Dr. Hjalmar Schacht, President of the German Reichsbank; Charles Rist, Governor of the Bank of France, and Benjamin Strong of the New York Federal Re- serve Bank, a consultation of special- ists indeed. It is not yet clear as to just what problems this highly important and well-guarded conference will tackle, but certain features are significant. Says the New York Times: “While each of these foreign bankers had visited America within the last few years, it was the first time that the International Bankers Confer ‘Big Three’ of European finance had assembled here at the same time.” It is to be noted that America has the decided advantage of playing the host during the “conversations.” One is left to wonder whether the foreign guests came in response to an invita- tion’ or an order to be present. Whether or not the pending negotia- tions on these shores will affect the outcome of the present Disarma- ment Conference, whereby some bar- gain may be struck between the United States and Great Britain, also remains to be seen. Various re- ports are current as to‘ the purpose of the conference, although the con- ferees maintain a discreet silence on this point. The question of the inter- allied debts, the raising of reparation funds, a European federal reserve system, the regulation of interna- tional gold shipments, all these are suggested as the possible topic of this conference. Though hidden in an atmosphere of mystery, the conference of four of the leading figures in the world of international finance is something which the workers of the world had better follow with the utmost atten- tion. Whatever may come out of it will be nothing more or less than a new yoke upon the necks of workers of the world. NO MONEY TO RAISE POSTMAN’S WAGE BUT ENOUGH TO FIX LUXURIOUS YACHT Photo shows the Mayflower, the President’s yacht, being over: hauled at the Charleston, Mass., navy yard while the Coolidges are vacationing in South Dakota,