The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 1, 1927, Page 3

4 TOOL OF AMERICAN INiPERIALISTS By J. Nevarez, Organizer, Commun-; ist League of Porto Rico. i Santiago Iglesias, honorable sen- ator and leader of organized labor in Porto Rico, shares with Don. An- tonio Barcelo the political leadership of the island. In Porto Rico, Sena- tor Iglesias is hailed as Barcelo’s fu- ture rival for the office of governor should the colony be granted political g@atonomy (which the two above men- tioned are jointly campaigning to se-| cure from congress) or as the logical | senator from Porto Rico, should the} impossible happen and Porto Rico be} admitted to statehood. In the con- vention of the Pan-American Fed-; eration of Labor, however, Iglesias | presents a pitiable picture, a meek and most perfect flunkey of the lead- ers of the American labor bureau- cracy, an interpreter for President} Green to whom he bows with meek | reverence at the slightest nod. i It was at the last convention of} the Pan-American Federation of La-j bor that Iglesias was given the post} of Spanish secretary to that body, a} job which hq deserves for his serv- ices to American imperialism in Porto Rico. Iglesias has proved his ability to stem the tide of¢ anti-| imperialism developing in the labor movement of Latin America. Faker Betrays Latin Labor. The island of Porto Rico, the first of the colonies secured in the war with Spain, to be completely subju- gated to the will of Wall Street,| served as a sort of experimental laboratory for the American imper- ialist. With Gompers’ aid, the scheme | jers, coupon clippers, in the form of | fell into the hands of American and| other foreign corporations, who de- voted these lands to large agricul- ture, sugar, tobacco and coffee cul-| tivation. The thousands expropriated | were forced into wage slavery, to} labor in the plantation sugar mills | and tobacco factories, Yorto Rico | then became the scene of the most brutal exploitation of workers; hours, sunrise to sunset; wages 60 cents per} day, together with the plundering jof | the wealth created, by the stockhold- | profit and “earned” dividends, Exploited Workers Revolt. | Such conditions did not long pre- vail. without creating a feeling of re- volt among the masses of exploited, which gave birth to the desire for workers’ organization. This move-| ment for workers’ organization came | under the leaderhip of Santiago| Iglesias, an anarchist emigre from Spain, who because of his experience | in the anarchist movement in Spain, | and wider experience in work of | jagitation among the masses, became | outstanding in the workers’ move-| ment in Porto Rico and was trusted | by the workers to lead them. | American economic and_ political | rule in Porto Rico is not entirely free from resistance on the part of the| Spanish and native capitalist class. | On the contrary, the resistance of-| fered the Americans by the native bourgeoisie, primarily of a political |, nature, was one that worried the American authorities. Thus the out- standing political leader of the Porto Rican and Spanish bourgeois, Luis} GEN. VON SEECKY @ Five German leaders are being regarded as possible successors to President von Hindenburg as his eightieth birthday, on Oct. 2, draws near and talk of his resignation persists. He is an old man | Delegate Will Risk It and many believe he thinks it is time for him to retire. Those most prominently mentioned to suc- z ceed the man tho has exerted tremendous power in Germany for many years are Gen, Hans von Seeckt, Hjalmar Schacht, former chief of the army; Walter Simons, chief justice of the supreme court; Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann, 2nd Hans Luther, president of the Reichsbank. was conceived of bringing the labor}Munoz Rivera, fought the American|workers to the support of American | movement of Latin America under, the domination of Wall Street’s labor} lieutenants. by-product of this experiment staged} political administration, demanding | political independence for the island, | American political rule. The Amer-| domination. | The Executive Council proceeded Santiago Iglesias is ajuntil 1915, when he capitulated to/by extending offers of material and other practical assistance to Santiago | in Porto Rico, and the organization|ican rulers sought means to over-/| Iglesias in his efforts to organize the} in 1918 of the pan-A. F, of L. is the result. Porto Rico, previous to the Yankee invasion, was a country of small, di- versified agriculture, the land being,! for the most part in the hands of| small land owners, with large fam-| ilies and tenants depending on them.! The semi-feudal social*forms of old| Spain prevailed there. With the American invasion in; 1898, the change from a colony of semi-feudal Spain to that of a mod- ern highly developed imperialist power, effected an immediate econo- mic revolution in the island. The} immediate penetration of American finance, thru the National City Bank of New York and others, led to the hasty expropriation of thousands of landowners, estimated to date at. about 40,000 titleholders plus their . dependents. Thousands of the is- come this resistance on the part of} the bourgeoisie and prevent any mass movement coming to the support of | the “independendistas” (at that time} the unionist party) 1900-1915. And) here is where Sam Gompers ‘came to | the assistance of American imper- ialism. | Gompers Bribed Iglesias. | The A. F. of L., thru the good) graces of Gompers, became interested | in the workers’ movement led by the| anarchist and militant Santiago Igle-| sias, who rallied workers and peasan- try to organize and fight their ex- ploiters, both ‘foreign and native, and| who therefore was constantly perse- cuted and jailed by the local authori- workers, and creating a labor organ-| ization whose avowed aim would be} to strive to eliminate the semi-feudal | condition which oppressed the masses, } and raise the standard of life of the| Porto Rican masses to that of the| American workers on the continent. | The American authorities cooperated with the A. F. of L. in offering| Iglesias protection in his mission, a} thing of which Iglesias speaks with) sentiments of almost childish grate- | fulness and admiration. Thus, by such methods of bribery the American rulers won over the leader of the workers’ movement and | the masses of workers. iglesias to| this day is an ardent exponent of land’s besa and most fertile acreage ties and his life threatened. | Gompers saw in the movement led by Iglesias an opportunity of win- ning mass support away from any independence movement led by na- tive’ bourgeoisie and bringing the | American “democratic” institutions, | ja preacher in Latin America of Gom- perism and the good intentions of the | Yankees. The following shows how jIglesias bows until his nose touches the tips of the Yankee boots; thus in | Offer GOODWIN No. 2 (Ansco) No. 1 CAMERA Regular Price $2.50 | Takes an Standard Roll Film, Pictures 24x3%. This | model is finely finished and | complete in every detail. | Has two finders for Vertical | or Horizontal Pictures, i Adapted for Time or Snap- | shot exposures. Highest quality Meniscus lens. With ..boek of instructions, COUPON 7-15-27 DAILY WORKER 33 First Street, New York, N. Y. Inclosed herewith you will find dollars for a months’ subscription seeevees dollars 20 NEWSSTANDS COUPONS, with my Please send me Offer No, ...... Name . Address city Attractive Offers | for New Readers of the Daily Worker | These valuable premiums, worth $2.50 each, can be secured FREE With Every Annual Subscription to The DAILY WORKER or through payment of only $1.50 with 20 Coupons clipped from the Newsstand Edition on 20 different days. | ‘upholding American administration he speaks to workers in Porto Rico: “In office where questions affect- ing laborers are to be passed on, we| ‘need Americans who are accustomed | |to treat laborers like people, not caciques (native bourgeoisie) who be- \lieve laborers to be inferior beings.” |(Union Obrero March 16, 1912.) | Hence followed the creation of the| Free Federation of Workingmen of| Porto Rico, affiliated to the A. F. of| L., whose policies are dictated by the| A. F. of L. executive council and ad-| ministered by Iglesias and his gang} lof retainers. Any One of These Splendid | Books Each Worth $2.50 rrr STORIES, PLAYS REVELRY by Samuel Hopkins Adams A_ story of the corrupt regime of Harding, Hughes, Coolidge. An inside view of phe ss American political life. jever, took the organization of the | Federacion Libre seriously, consid- }ered it as a means by which they leould organize and struggle for bet- |ter conditions. Thus the workers ral- lied around the Federacion Libre, un- |til its ranks in 1916-7 counted 80,000 members, and, during the war years, | Porto Rico became the scene of great |mass strikes in the sugar, tobacco, \and all other industries on the island. Starvation for Workers As Japanese Seek Cheap Labor Supply in China | | | HONOLULU, July 31.—Declaring that the United States is working }against Japan through China and |that Japan is no longer antagonistic to the Soviet government, Yusuka Tsurumi, Japanese political orator, jolted the imperialists assembled at the Iinstitute of Pacific relations yesterday, by announcing that Japan intends to hold the lease of the Kwantung peninsula and the South Manchurian Railway zone and de- mands its right to own and lease land in any place not decided on, while Japanese are to have full right to travel, reside and trade in Man- churia. He further insisted on the joint Sino-Japanese operation of the Hanyan Pinnan mines. He frankly states that Japan’s im- |perialist policies in China are dic- tated by Japanese need for raw ma- terials and announced the “natural | rights” of peoples to seek the best means of livelihood. While admitting that the “stabil- ization” of China and its penctra- tion by Japanese imperialsm would ereate a desirable and unlirhited source of cheap labor, Tsurumi stated unemployment was acute in Japan and the poverty ef the people would be further increased by Japanese im- perialism in China. Dr. Shiroshi Nasu of Tokio Uni- versity addressed the conference on the Japanese cooperative movement, producing figures showing that there are now 14,000 cooperative locals in Japan with a membership of 3,000,- 900. The peasant organizations num- Offer No. 2 ELMER GANTRY by Sinclair Lewis The famous author of Bab- bitt has given a fine rendi- tion of the hypocrisy and | sham of the American clergy. , EMPEROR JONES by Eugene O’Neill and other plays Includes the hig! Nerd plays ..“Gold” and “The First Man.” MARXIAN CLASSICS ECONOMIC THEORY OF THE LEISURE CLASS by N. Bukharin Thoughtful Marxist read- ers wilt find in this book a guide to an understanding of the ideologists of the mod- ern bourgevisie, The book is written by the foremost Marxian theorist of the day. LITERATURE AND REVOLUTION by Leon Trotsky A brilliant criticism of present day literary group- | ings in Russia, and a dig- cussion of the relation of art | seveeeetO Life, | Offer No. 5 MARX AND ENGELS | by D. Riazanov | A striking account of the | lives and Lhegories and prac- | tucal achievements of the founders of scientific social- ism, by the Director of the +-Marx-dingels Institute, | nena er eRMR Tere meen eRe aeeNRe ree ; ie | These Offers Are Good Only | | Until August 31, 1927, The workers of Porto Rico, how-! Po” Proc Von HINDENBURG | y 31. (FP).— By HANKOW, C! In the great 4th cc Hankow, I was struck by the faces | of some women delegates. Girl dele- gates, I should have said, since they were clearly not over 20. One of them, when she bent her soft round face and soft bobbed hair over the| We expect an 8-hour da desk to write her notes, might have | wages. been a 10-year old in a primary| Women who are most oppressed of school, so gently childlike was she. | all human beings. Not only must the|paper men his displeasure with what gs of the All-| their union four or five contributed China Labor Fedaration meeting in| parts of the answer: Page Three Soviet Union Finds Health Buea Good lottsvi large two volume eal inspection of t jist Soviet Rex that while there is number of cases of tubereulo: | trachoma, id a wave of m | just now sweeping the ma | gions, other ases shov » due to c the methc | dec | ments o | health smallpox, | enza | Infant mortality is reduced to 177 deaths per thousand s much lower than in the U | The Moscow birth r thousand and the N ) twenty-one per thousan Dr. Gantt has the highest for the State Health bur Soviet Union and for th physicians who work for th | Amsterdam Disliked | By Iglesias, But One a point York rate is praise GusTAV STRESEMAIY WASHINGTON, July 31—Sam- uel O. Yudico, who has been acting as a member of the Mexican de ition at the Pan-American Feder {of Labor convention here, has left |for New York, whence he is to embark for Amsterdam, as a fra- |ternal delegate to the forthcoming congress of the International F |tion of Trade Unions. Yudic member of the Mexican chamber of |deputies, and also a member of the executive committee of the Mexican Confederation of Labor (C. R. O. M.) we get the union, for without it the/The departure of Yudico for Amster- unions are always suppressed and|dam recalls the fact that the leaders shot. The union is all of |Iglesias, Spanish-language us, so it fights for what we need.|of the Pan-American Federation cf| y and better|Labor and right-hand man of Presi- This i§ specially needed for|dent Green in Latin America, ha requently of late expressed to ne Asked what they expected from the Nationalist government and from “From the Nationalist government | Later’I learned that she was Wang| Woman work long hours in the fac-|he calls “the manipulations of the Ken-Yin, head of the ers. Ardent Speakers. i There was another girl who sat di-| rectly below the platform. At first I was hardlygfure if she were a girl} at all and YBsome glorious glowing boy in his s, full of ardor and devotion. Hé@oyish bob, the swing- ing gesture h which she ,hurled her clenched’ Jist into the air, cry- ing out the iogans, and especially the embarras} d grin with which she sank back hen once she had shrieked a slogan all alone, were all} boyish rather than feminine. At high moments of the congress her rapt uplifted face showed a deter- mined willingness to walk straight into machine guns whenever demand- ed. Only when she turned at the meeting’s end to drop her arm around the two girls behind her, and I saw her entire figure, was I certain of her sex. * I invited the women delegates to dinner, on behalf of the workers’ press of America. We talked for hours together, and they told their stories. Of 20 women from 4 prov- inces attending as labor delegates, 17 were workers direct from the shop. Direct From Shops. ss Wang Ken-Yin,, the child-faced orator from Shanghai, is 20. From the age of 8 she has worked in spin- ning mills. For the first 6 months of labor she got no wage at all, be- ing merely an apprentice. Then she began to get 6 cents a day. Miss Wang has worked in 4 different fac- tories through the days of her youth. She gets now the magnificent sum of 21 American cents a day. Miss Wang told me the benefits of the union, organized two years ago in the great explosion of labor ac- tivity after the May 30 shooting by the British in Shanghai. “Formerly we had half a day holiday on Sun- day; now we have all day Sunday be- cause of the union,” she said. “When I was young and made mistakes, the foreman beat me; the older girls he did not beat, but fined them very high. Now the union protests the | beatings and does not allow big fines. Studied in Lunch Hour. Twelve hours a day is the time Miss Wang must work. But other girls from Shanghai told me they worked 16 hours, from 4 a. m. to 8 p.m. In the modern factories which work two shifts the day is 12 hours. I asked the Shanghai girls how many could read and write. Three out of eight (not counting the stud- ents), said they could read but not write. Since most had begun their factory life at the age of 9 and had worked 12 hours or more ech day, I asked when they had learned. “Till Chiang came the union sent teachers to the factories at lunch time,” they explained. “It was the one free moment in the day and we used it to learn to read.” Even though illiterate, they were fully aware of the work of their trade union. “We held public meetings be- fore Gen. Chiang Kai-shek started his oppressions,” said Miss’ Wang, bh» 4000 with 340,900 members, “but now they are secret.” Shanghai! tory, but she must wash and sweep} Amsterdam women’s delegation, who delivered | at home and also comb her hai on the second day of the congress aj such thin most fiery speech against Gen. Chi-| alist gov ang Kai-Shek’s suppression of work-|Ties have International the and | American continent.” We expect the Nation- amen to make the facto-| schools for us to learn} on things. And ° feed babies And also hospital | }eare when we are sick, because we| are all too poor to pay for doctor's | eare. And also vacation with pay} before and after babies are born.| Also to abolish all cruel and shame-} ful punishments.” Chiang Kills Girls. | Cruel and shameful punishments | they defined as “being shut in a lit- tle wooden cage all night that you} can’t lie down in, for making a mis-)| take.” All of these girls face capture and death if they return to Shanghai where Chiang Kai-shek has been ex-| ecuting hundreds of workers for al- leged Communist tendencies. They smile. It is evident that they are too full of life to take the thought of! death seriously. Yet girls as young! as these have already gone bravely | to death at the hands of the counter- | revolution in China’s coast cities. They all send greetings to Amer- ieca’s workers. It would be incredible | to them if I should explain that mil-| lions of American workers are not at all interested in world revolution. I do not tell them. I smile back and convey their greetings. Prison Made Shoes Stamped as Munson Last Army Product WASHINGTON, July 31 (FP)—) Shoes made in the Indiana state pen-| itentiary are being sold on the mar-| ket as United States army Munson last shoes, asserts the federal trade commission in ordering the Common- wealth Manufacturing Co, not to} place the letters “U. 8.” on its prod-| ucts. These shoes, made by forced labor of unpaid prisoners, compete on the open market with union-made shoes, depriving unionists of work and adding to the glut of footwear now congesting the market, The Commonwealth firm, whose stockholders profit from prison labor and fraud, is also ordered not to rep- resent itself as a “manufacturer” to hide the fact that its shoes are pris- on-made. The firm merely a wholesaler. The Commonwealth’s prison shoes are “greatly inferior in| quality and workmanship” to the commission states. Big Croton Dam Ove: CROTON, N. Y., July before in mid-summer has there been | an overflow of water at the big Cor-| nell dam of the New York City’s chain of reservoirs in Croton, but to- day a waterfall three inches in depth is flowing over the wide spillway of | the dam and being lost in the gorge of the old Croton River bed 150 feet | below. The daily water loss is about 500,000,000 gallons. ‘ the | s army shoes they are made to imitate, |; «occa! won HAYS Il Radio Talk Says Legion Leads Attacks On Liberty Certain reactionary organizations, including the American Defense So-| ciety and the National Security Lea- | gue were atacked as “unpatriotic” by | Arthur Garfield Hays in a radio ad- dress broadcast Monday night by ion WPCH at Park Central Hotel, New York City. Mr. Hays, who is a member of the ecutive Committee of the Ameri- ean Civil Liberties Union, also branded the American Legion, Wo- man’s Temperance Society and Ku! Klux Klan as “censorship organiza- tions.” Losing Liberties. “Litle by little the liberties of American citizens are slipping away,” | said Mr. Hays, “and the process is! so gradual as to be hardly noticeable. | However, we are gradually losing even the fundamental rights of free speech, free press and free assem- blage. “You can speak and write on any subject you please in Pennsylvania, | West Virginia and New Jersey, un- less, perchance, the subject concerns unionism in time of strike. “In California the I. W. W. ar jailed for expressing their views. In Tennessee, you can talk, I presume, on any subject except that which is closest to the hearts of the people,— to wit, religion. No Refuge Here “Freedom of residence is a funa- mental right and yet in 1925 Dr. Os- sian Sweet and ten other Negroes in Detroit were put on trial for murder for defending themselves against a) mob of white men who tried to force them from their homes. “We are no longer the country of the oppressed of other nations. Our immigration laws bar out the seekers of opportunity in America. We are not even the country of political re- fugees. We send anti-Fascisti back to Italy, Sometimes to jail and tor- ture. Legion Worst “Unfortunat during the last year, the American Legion appears to have been a fairly active agency of intolerance and oppression. Twenty- n states report that they were se than the Ku Klux Klan. An exception of course must be made in favor of the Willard Straight Post and a few others which regard them4} selves American first, to whom intolerance is more hateful than} radicalism. But many of our former soldiers regard themselves as poten- tial guardians whose duty to protect | present conditions is more important than the obligation to defend eternal | principles.” | THINK OF THE SUSTAI G FUND AT EVERY MEETING! The Fight Against Another a Thirteen yeats ago the workers of the world were confronted with the terrifying prospect of a World War. This war lasted for three long years, which cost us millions of dead and wounded, and heavy financial burdens placed upon the working class. August 4th has burned a lesson deep in our hearts: .- We have resolved that there shall never again be another August 4th, that never again shall the workers of the world become cannon fodder in the interests of the J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller and the rest of that pirate crew. ’ The drive for Five Thousand New Readers for the Daily Worker . is one effective way to fight against the danger of another August 4th, which is : daily and hourly threatening us, Already our gunboats are in China. Already our marines are in Nicaragua. Already the clouds of the capitalist offensive against the Soviet Union are gathering. We must build our army for the fight. We must spread the knowledge of the new disaster which threatens to overtake us. We must do this by securing Five Thousand | New Readers for the Daily Worker,