The Daily Worker Newspaper, July 22, 1927, Page 6

Page Six THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, FRIDAY, JULY 22, 1927 EVEN OUR RIVERS IMPERIALISTIC BROKEN LIRE SHOWS HOW RIVER CHANGES. ITS COURSE FROM U SHAPE TO TRAIGHT STARR / / x a BRIO GRANDE The valley of the Rio Grande away from Mexico and adding it to Texas counties along the lower river, according to surveys being * EDINBURG river is moving south, taking land made by international boundagy commissions. The southward movement is, of course, small—but steady and noticeable. M shows region chiefly affected. Woll Softens the _ Nicaragua By MANUEL GOMEZ. (Secretary—All-America Anti- | Imperialist League). WASHINGTON, D. C., (By Mail)» —Not even the slaughter of 300 Nicaraguans by the United States! marines could shake the complacent calm of the American Federation of Labor leaders under whose domina-, tion the fifth convention of the so- called Pan-American Federation of Labor has been holding brief sessions | here off and on for the past three days, carefully refraining from ac- | tion of any kind. The resolution of protest introduced by Salomon de la Selva of Nicaragua, | with the fiery warning that “if the | marines do not depart from Nicara- gua soon they will have to kill all) of us,” has been buried in the resolu- | tions committee, of which Matthew | Woll is chairman. | No action has yet been taken, or even formally proposed, in connec-| tion with the cabled news that the| Panaman and Haitian delegations; were arrested as they were about to embark for the United States. Inas- much as Haiti is directly under} marine rule thi, an “embarrassing question” for merican imperialism | and it apologists. | Today, lest one of the 20 Latin-| American delegates—most, but not| all, of whom are handpicked by the| American Federation of Labor bureaucracy—might be so incongid-| erate as to resuscitate the Nicara- guan issue, all sessions are called off | while the delegates are being enter- | tained on a personally conducted visit | to Mt. Vernon. | De la Selva’s resdlution on Nicara- | gua declared that: “Intervention of} the United States is creative of a} state of mind not conducive to friend- | ship and good will towards the Uni-| ted States and the American people, | who are in no we onsible for the incident.” against the the Uni ine corps in Nicarag st any interfer- ence ‘on th the United States Government the domestic affairs of the Nicaraguan people. “Resolved, th this resolution be transmitted by tel hh to the President of the United States of America at his summ resideni with the recuest the Uni- ted Stat: be withdrawn, from Nicaracua immediately, in accofd- ance with the spirit of this resolution.” ate had a resolution at liamentary ob-| jections by President William Green. allowed to present it my day morning. s moving immediate adoption. Delegat k Morrison of the A of Lgbor promptly aid: “Why that has to go to resolutions com- mittee!” Martinez Secks Prompt Protest. At this point Ricardo Martinez of the Venezuelan “Labor Union asked for the floor. There was some hesitation about giving it to him, but he suc- ceeded in saying: “In view of the enormity and im- mediacy of the matter dealt with in | -GEN. LOGAN FE- ve), is in command of ‘demonstravions by | proach | Catholic | Resolution Dead in Nicaragua Private Michael Oblarski of Rou- lette, Pa., U. S. marine corps, killed | at Ocotal, Nicaragua, when United States marines and_ constabulary | seized and fortified the town in the course of their campaign against| Nicaraguan independence. this resolution, in view of the urgent} necessity of putting a stop to the! crimes which the armed intervention | of the United States is committing | in Nicaragua, I believe that this con-| vention of the Pan-American Federa- tion of Labor cannot do less than| register its prompt protest. We must act not tomorrow but today. Let us} suspend the rules, and adopt this} resolution now. It should be done} unanimously.” But the rules prevailed. Green,! who was in the chair, looked a little} annoyed, pounded on the table with) his gavel and stated tersely that there would be no further discussion | on the matter until the resolutions | committee brought in its report. At the first meeting of the resolu-| tions committee it was plain that the resolution will not be allowed to go! thru in its original form. Woll in- d that some changes would have to be made, “in deference to the feel-| ings of a good many people in the| United States.” he was supported by N. Morones, head of the Mexi- a delegation. A tussle of three urs ensued in the committee, at} e conclusion of which a sub-com- r completely controlled by Woll|} and Morones was entrusted with the wing up a substitute for) resolution. ne attitude of the American Fed-| eration of Labor delegation (consist- | ing of Green, Woll, Morrison and} Noonan of the electricians) toward | conerete manifestations of American} imperialism, is all the more glaring | because it follows close upon. the ab- stract stand for self-determination of peoples contained in President Green’s welcoming remayks to the delegates at the opening session of the ‘convention. The speech, while carefully avoiding any direct criticism | of the United States government, | nevertheless did try to make an ap-| h to Latin-American sentiment | in a way which contrasted sharply! with the keynote addresses of Samuel | Gompers at previous conventions of | the Pan-American Federation of La-| bor. | Before the opening of the conven-} tion there was much speculation) amoyg the visitors as to what the at-| titude of the Mexican delegations | would be, Green stabbed the Mexi-| can labor movement in the back dur-, ing the recent conflict with the) reaction in Mexico, whic was intimately connected with the) struggle with American: imperialism | yver Mexico’s oil and land laws and} which théatened all the conquests of | | the Mexican revolution. At the height of the Catholic rebellion, the Mexican | Conferedation of later (C. R. O. M.) | appealed for support to the Pan-| American Federation of Labor. Green did not even make this appeal public, and when it was sent out to the news- papers from Mexico, he answered | with an ambiguous statement cham-| pioning “religious liberty” and de- claring that in any case the struggle) of the Mexican workers was a “purely domestic affair” in which he could not intervene. Because of the indignation caused by Green’s attitude among the work- ers of Mexico, because of, the recog- nition of Sacosa by the Mexican gov- (Continued On Column 5—6) | lecturer on the sightseeing bus, quite gravely, and his | Its construction first got under way in 1564. | of 500” and next for those of the Corps Legislatif (1829) Poor peasants and workers of Nicaragua, whose only fault is that they want their country free of Wall Street domination. Captured in raids by marines and U from the U. S. fleet. . S. sailors, and held for an unknown fate by guards 26 Communists in French Chamber of Deputies That Meets in Bourbon Palace By J. LOUIS ENGDAHL HE French chamber of deputies meets at three o’clock | in the afternoon. In the United States the American | congress assembles at high noon. | This difference is, of course, of no consequence. What matters is that the French parliament has a large Com- munist fraction, while there are, as yet, no Communists elected to sit in either the senate or the house of | representatives at Washington. The French chamber, therefore, proves of far greater interest than the American congress. The very air of Paris breathes with the Communist struggle. In a | different way and not to the same extent, to be sure, as in Berlin and Moscow. But one gets the “feel” of it anywhere.’ * * * “The Communists burned it down,” announces the little audience shivers. I was on my way in the early afternoon to the cham- ber of deputies, but couldn’t help hear the bus orator as the huge car stopped for a moment at the curb in the Rue des Tuileries. Evidently the Americans aboard, excellent prototypes of Mark Twain’s “Innocents Abroad, expected Bolsheviks to pop around the next corner. But the speaker was referring to an incident of the Paris Commune in 1871, more than half a century ago. * * * The Rue des Tuileries is one of the most interesting streets in Paris. It was laid out in 1878 and forms the boundary of the original Tuileries Gardens. The grounds on the east side of this street were laid out in 1889, on the site of the old Palais des Tuileries, which actually went up in flames during the Paris Commune, It is the building to which the sightseeing bus orator referred. These grounds were extended on each side of the Are de Triomphe du Carrousel in 1904-6. * * * When an aroused people burn a palace in a revolu- tionary period, it must have some history of interest attached to it. The Palais des Tuileries is of some interest. It was founded by Catherine de Medici, widow of Henry II. The site | beyond the city walls of that period, was at the old tile kilns (tuileries). The Pavilions de Flore and de Marson were afterwards incorporated with the palace. Before the revolution the palace was only occasionally occupied by the French sovereigns, but it was the per- manent residence of Napoleon I, Louis XVIII, ‘Charles X, Louis Philippe and Napoleon III, + With the exception of the Hotel de Ville, it is claimed that no edifice in Paris is so rich in historical memories. On Oct. 5, 1789, Louis XVI was brought from Ver- sailles to the Tuileries, and in June, 1791, he was again installed here after his arrest at Varennes. On June 20, 1792, the anniversary of the oath of the Jeu de Paume, the palace was attacked by about 30,000 people. On August 10, the death knell of the monarchy was sounded. On July 29, 1830, the Tuileries were again besieged by the populace, and Charles X, the second king of the restoration forced to seek safety in flight. The new July monarchy met with a similar fate on Feb. 24, j 1848, when Louis Philippe had to leave the palace, turn- ing it over to the not too tender mercies of the revolu- tionists. But it was not until the Paris Commune in 1871 that the full wrath of an aroused Parisian populace broke upon the Palace des Tuileries on May 22-23 of that year, with the result that it was reduced to cinders. * * * Along the Rue de Rivoli one passes the Hotel de Ville, which is the headquarters of the city government. It was on Feb, 24, 1871, that Louis Blane proclaimed the Republic from the steps of the Hotel de Ville. In May the building was fortified by the Communards and courageously defended by them against the troops from Versailles. The enemy set the building on fire and 600 Communards died, either being burned in the flames or shot to death. The building has since been restored. * * * One crosses the Rue de Rivoli towards the River Seine after reaching the Pont de la Concorde, being quickly brought back to present day realities by the gathering of a 1927 throng of Parisians, But it is only an American tourist, in his Henry Ford “flivver,” who has collided with a native bicyclist. Several excited po- licemen are trying to adjust the resulting. uproar. * * * Crossing the River Seine one faces the Palais Bour- bon. This meeting place of the French Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the French parliament, is located at the west end of the Boulevard St. Germain and opposite the Pont de la Concorde. The construction of the building, which is not very imposing in itself, | got under way in 1722, being erected for the Dowager Duchess of Bourbon, daughter of Louis XIV and Mme. de Montespau, It was enlarged in 1777 by the Prince de Conde, grandson of the duchess. The building was used from 1795 onwards for the sitting of the “Council and the chamber of deputies. | ‘The. original facade, on the side farthest from the | Seine, is in the Rue de L’'Universite. The Place du | leader of the Communist fraction jn the French cham- Palais-Bourbon in front of it is adorned with a marble statue of “Law” (1855), The facade towards the river, built in 1804-7 has a Corinthian colonnade of 12 columns, with a flight of steps flanked with statues of Themis ’ a and Minerva, D’Agnesseau, Colbert, L’Hopital and Sully. On each side are reliefs by Rude and Pradier, and in the tympanum a group of Cortot, “France with the Constitution” attended by “Liberty and Order, Com- merce, Agriculture and Peace.” * * * But all this display of historical characters, some real and others the phantasies of mythology, seems to have gone somewhat into decay. The flight of steps with all its statues is shut off by a high iron fence. The dozen columns of the Corin- thian colonnade look quite lonesome. Thus this main entrance is isolated. * * * I notice that taxicabs rush up a driveway leading to a side entrance, I pass thru a small gateway, making in the same direction. But I am quickly halted by two soldiers carrying rifles with fixed bayonets. They are quickly joined by another who might be called “the keeper of the gate.” Between the three of them, they could not understand a word of American. But I could readily see that they wanted some sort of pass or card of introduction before allowing me to enter. : * * * When I indicated that I had no pass, I could make} out, in what they said, the word, “Ambassador!” | But Myron T. Herrick, the American ambassador to} France, who had just issued a bitter attack on the! Soviet Union, is no friend of Bolsheviks, and I didn’t} need his assistance anyway. I had comrades of my own in the chamber and didn’t need the assistance of any capitalist spokesman. But it was a hopeless} effort trying to put all this over in French, my French- | American pronunciation of Marcel Cachin, Louis Gachery | and the names of the other French Communist deputies | that I remembered proving 100 per cent unintelligible, | insofar as actual results were concerned. * * * Help came in the shape of a French schoolboy, who was evidently studying English. He translated. An amicable understanding was reached. The soldiers re- turned to their posts. I was shown another entrance, for those who had special business with the deputies. At the same time I was given a card, to be filled out, to contain my own name and history, with the name of the deputy I wanted to see. Soon the card, filled out to the minutest detail, was on its way to Marcel Cachin, ber of deputies. Putting Lee in His Place—A Letter From James Fuchs Editor ‘Daily Worker: An extraordinary circumstance about certain personal remarks of Algernon Lee, published in your issue of July 20, is the fact that they contain only two lies in six printed lines—which is distinctly below his average: The first lie is, that my contributions to the Volks-/| zeitung and other labor papers are incessantly busy with| him and his doings: “Whenever he writes an article for them, he always makes a slurring remark about the Rand School and my connection with it.” Mr. Algernon Lee is suffering from delusions of great- ness: he thinks he is the right forefoot of a donkey,| whereas in reality he is only ‘the left hindfoot of one.)| I have in my possession letters from Marx Nordau, Israel Zangwill, Georg Brandes, testifying to the value| of my labors as a scholar and man of letters in terms} too glowing for repetition, even by way of defense against a stupid provocation. Norman Thomas—report- ed in the same issue of the Worker to have snickered over Algy’s remarks—wrote me a letter three weeks ago —in response to an invitation to write a review for the New Masses—assuring me of his especial confidence in my ability and integrity of purpose, Upton Sinclair (in a letter to Horace Liveright, which is in my possession) declared me “the ablest and most conscientious assistant he ever had.” To say that a scholar so qualified and always busy with important problems of politics and economics has nothing better to do than to advert in all or in a majority of his published yritings to Algy Lee and his mismanagement of the Rand School, is an out. | rage upon the credulity of mankind. Perhaps one of my | published articles in twenty makes casual mention of him| and a once valuable institution of learning which he is so palpably ruining with his cabal of soft-berth lads that even the S.. P. authorities are beginning to get uneasy, ; Lie Number Two: I never applied to Algy for a dec- turership, this season or the season before, but I sug- gested to him three seasons ago, when the disintegration of the Rand School was’not as yet manifest, that it would be a good idea to have me lecture on Sundays, in the bookstore on the books of the week. He took the attitude which solemn-faced, drifting boobies of his type always take with proposed innovations: he lied and pro- crastinated as long as he could, and when he couldn’t go | on that way any longer, he shifted responsibilities. He | wrote me a letter closing with my offer, telling me that the bookstore authorities are making the necessary prep-| arations, and wishing me the best of luck in my enter-| prise! That was two years ago—and “the bookstore au- thorities” are still preparing!! No apology, no explana-| tion, no reversal of decision, with or without cause, ever | came from Lee, in.two years!! After this juicy speci-| men, showing how business is transacted at the Rand | School, do the workers of New York (including all ra- tional and reflective-minded members of the S. P.) get an dating of the Why and Wherefore of the Rand School ruin? N. Y. City, July 20, 1927, JAMES FUCHS. SEND IN YOUR LETTERS i DAILY WORKER is anxious to receive letters from its readers stating their views on the issues con- fronting the labor movement. It is our hope to de- velop a “Letter Box” department that will be of wide interest to all members of The DAILY WORKER family. | | | | WHO AM I? I am the fellow that a popular American novelist immortalized. I am supposed to be the backbone of the country, but in fact I am only fit for membership in Kiwanian, Rotarian and “loyal” or- ders of one kind or an- other. I always talk of the country and denounce class rule. I am the “people.” You see me now trying to con- vince the public that Calvin Cool- idge, if elected, would not be serving a third term. I am nobody in particular but a composite of a large section of the population. You may recog- nize me the next time you go to your neighborhood drugstore to buy a bottle of listerine. (If in doubt write to the Who Am I editor of The DAILY WORKER.) GARBAGE MAN He tossed upon the truck a reeking can And cursed and quickly caught another one Upon his shoulder, gleaming in the sun With sweat that over his whole body.ran. He stopped and grasped his greasy hat to fan His florid face and wished his work was done. “This job,” he grinning said, “Is no dam fun! Summer’s no picnic for the garbage man!” But what to him the stench that thickly rose Around him there. His was no squeamish pang. He seemed to thrive on it--I held my nose. And then he said: “Where garbage is must hang The stink, just as where human beings. stay There’s garbage. SoI have a job, good pay!” —HENRY REICH, JR. New York Labor Activities WINDOW CLEANERS’ BOSSES TO FORM A DUAL UNION The union wrecking epidemic seems | industyy and restoring the conditions to have caught the imagination even | that have been lost in the last eight of the bosses in this trade. The ex-|years, The greatest difficulty was isting window cleaning union has im- the fact that there were tyo unions proved the conditions of the workers|in the field and a convention was to in the last strike and hence the bosses | take up this problem. Kutcher, fear- were looking for ways of breaking the agreement. They sent a few of their agents into the union in order if pos- sible to capture it, but having been j miserably defeated these agents called a meeting to form a new union. Hav- ing had no response they tried again to continue disruption at regular union meetings. By this time the members vhad become wise to their schemes and they were expelled. Whereupon they set up, with the support of the bosses, headquarters for a new union and the ments one after the other and recog- nize this new union until up to now about 38 bosses have relations with this scab union formed by themselves forcing these workers to join this new union in regular Matthew Woll style. The regular union, however, is not falling asleep and is preparing to teach the employers a lesson. A ser- ious struggle to force the bosses to live up to the agreement which they signeds can be expected in the very near future. Kutcher Trying To Become a Dictator. A few curious stunts were recently pulled off in a supposedly progressive organization, the Amalgamated Metal Workers. The membership of this organization, being mostly composed of progressive workers, for quite some time were seeking a solution to the problem of reviving the union in the bosses began to break their agree-| |ing that he may be in the minority | with his policy, which has made the | Amalgamated ineffectual, decided not ‘to recognize the convention. | In true bureaucratic style he finally ‘called a general membership meeting jin an unusual way. But finding out that he was in the minority even there the meeting was arbitrarily adjourned | without permitting the question to come to a vote. The strong sentiment jamongst the members against Kutcher’s conduct and policies is be- ing resented by the members more than ever, and shows that the possi- | bility of making headway in unioniz- | ing the metal machinery trade in New | York has more prospects of results |than ever before. Alteration Painters In Organization Drive. | The alteration painters who have |been conducting a successful organ- ization campaign are again on the ‘way to a considerable increase in membership. The new committee which has been elected stated that the policy of the union now is friend- ly toward the Brotherhood of Paint- ers and Paperhangers with which they are ready to affiliate anytime the latter makes it possible for them to organize the nearly 20,000 alteration painters in New York City. Their headquarters remain at the same place, 85 E. 116th St. The initiation fee is but $5. (Continued From Column 2) ernment, of which delegate Morones is an important cabinet member, and because of the general sympathy of Mexicans for Nicaragua and the other victims of American Imperialism, it was thought by some that the C. R. O. M. delegates here might have to make at least some show of resis- tence to the American Federation of Labor policies at this convention. Others, more familiar with the in- ternal politics of the Pan-American Federation of Labor, foretold that the C. R. O. M. delegates would outdo themselves trying to reestablish their place firmly in the good graces of Green and his associates of the American Federation of Labor exec- utive council. This has proved to be the case. From Morones’ speech in reply to Green’s greeting on the opening day, and from his attitude in the resolutions committee, it is already plain that the Mexican dele- gation and the American Federation .of Labor bureaucrats will present a solid front on all major questions. Morones’ opening-day speech was far more reactionary than Green’s, which at least played withh libertar- ian phrases. It did not contain a single progressive sentence. It did not mention Mexéeo’s differences with the United States government and ith the American oil, mining and ‘inancial magnates. It was one long Send in your letter today to “The Letter Box,” The DAILY WORKER, 383 First street, New York City. harangue against “the Reds,” The peroration was a paen of praise for WOLL SOFTENS THE NICARAGUA RESOLUTION | the erican Federation of Labor and for American Federation of La- bor methods. Aside from the C. R. O.'M. of Mex- ico and the .Free Federation of | Workers of Porto Rico (which is not an independent body but an affiliated section of the American Federation of Labor), there are no national | Latin-American’ labor federations of any importance represented here. Delegates are present from Guate- mala, Niearagua, Venezuela, Colom- | bia, Peru, Cuba and-Santo Domingo. In most cases they represent paper organizations which have no real \existence. Few of them have spoken aloud in the convention thus far. Their chief activity has been to fan themselves vigorously during the tedious reading of the officers, re- port,--which by the way, consisted almost exelusively of letters ex- change between William Green, the President of the United States and other important personages, with in- cidental attacks against the Com- munists, the larger labor federations of South America and the All-Ameri- can Anti-Imperialist League. Nevertheless, the three-hour bat- tle in the resolutions committee in- dicates that not all the Latin-Ameri- cans are content to play the role of “yes men” which has been cut out for them. With the terrific impact of the Nicaraguan events, we are likely to see some fighting before this convention closes.