The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 20, 1927, Page 6

WE CAN STOP THIS MURDER! | EDITOR’S NOTES. (Continued from Page One) whole. By attacking the! foreign born workers the apitalists seek to weaken;and undermine the whole bor movement. Through the proposed murder of Bacco and Vanzetti the capitalist,class of the United . States is serving notice on the entire working class, on all oppressed and exploited as well as on the lib- eral middle classes, that the rule of big imperialist eapital wil be extended and sharpened and that no mercy will be shown to the opponents of the exist- ing order. This is a time which calls for the utmost concen- tration and solidarity of the forces of labor. This fs a time which demands a conscious political at- titude and a militant policy of struggle. The demon- stration dnd strikes of the past week indicate an awakening of American labor to the dangers con- fronting it. The masses must ‘not be deceived by the temporary reprieve but must extend and inten- sify the strikes}and demonstrations. This is the only way to savejand free Sacco and Vanzetti. This is the only way 't0 mobilize the forces of labor to repel the’ capitalist offensive. Undoubtedly we. are facing a renewed. capitalist offensive against the American workingclass: The threatened execution of Sacco and Vanzetti signal- zes the coming of this intensified capitalist offen- It is a fore-runner of new wage cuts, “open- shop” drives, attacks upon the militant, progre and left wing elements in the labor movement, “Red” raids, ete. Imperialism, militarism and general capi- talist reaction are raising their ugly heads in a move to smash the power and morale of the work- sive. . ingelass. Almost instinctively all the enemies of labor and progress are mobilizing their forces and concentrat- ing their. energies in the demand for the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti. They—-the champions of op- pression and reaction—secem to feel that if they succeed in the murder of our two brothers they will have dealt a severe blow the labor movement and all the truly liberal and progressive elements in the country. The case of Sacco and Vanzetti opens up all the big econemic and poliitcal issues around which the present day class struggle in America revolves it- self. It is the fight of the workers against the em- ployers. It is the fight of the poor farmers against the big bankers and monopolistic capital. It is the fight of all the genuine opponents of imperialism, militarism and war. It is the great struggle of ail true champions of the rights and interests of the masses against the brutal rule of the financial and industrial oligarchy which is exploiting and dominat- ing the United States. The fight for the liberation of Sacco and Van- zetti symbolizes the great historic struggle which the workingclass must wage and lead in order to free itself.and all oppressed classes from the yoke of capitalism. The organized mass effort to save and free Sacco and Vanzetti—through strikes and demonstrations—is an inspiration and stimulus to all the victims of American -imperialism whether op- pressed in America in the factories and on the farms, or exploited and persecuted in Nicaragua, Haiti, Mexico, Panama, the Philippines, China, ete. It is the world wide and epoch-making struggle for the abolition of capitalism, imperialism, militarism and war. American imperialism is fast establishing itself as the blackest and most hated explioter of the werld. The penetration and domination of the American im- perialists in Latin-America, in Europe, in Asia and everywhere is calling forth bitterness, resentment and antagonism to the United States. Thus the seeds Song of the Machine I am the machine, whirring and grinding and screaming. ceaselessly, ceaselessly. A thing of steel, with heat of steel and hand of steel and swiftly moving wheel. 1 crunch and I bend and TI break, I toil and I make the innumerable necessities of life. With needle and knife T sew and I cut, 1 print and I haul, T build and I wreck, T do all the things men once did with naked hands. (True, men tend me, but I do the work of a score ov a hundred or more.) i do not tire nor perspire nor sickens I am merely repaired er cast upon the junk heap when my efficiency is impaired cr when my usefulness is ended. ‘T preduce wealth and the great surplus of goods that must find world markets to fatten the purse of my owners, markets for which nations wage imperialistic wars, tearing to pieces the workers’ in the name of patriotism. I am highly exploited. Yet the worker who tends me is merely my slave and the exploited slave of the master who owns him and me. 1 seek liberation from these inexorable bonds linding man and machine. seek freedom ' when the worker who tends me shall take me for his own, and we shall make common cause for the betterment of man. less toil, more leisure! Less ignorance, more culture! More abundant fruits and the enjoyment thereof! HENRY REICH, JR. are being sown for conflicts, imperialist struggles and eventual war. The recent slaughter of 200 Nicaraguan workers and farmers by American. marines has had the ef- fect of on electric shock upon the peoples of Latin- America and upon the oppressed masses everywhere. This murder of Nicaraguans will not soon be for- gotten. The same as the threatened killing’ of Sacco and Vanzétti it constitutes &. grave reminder to the exploited masses as to what American imprialism stands ready to dc in order, to maintain its power ‘and profits. When the world hears of! the proposed murder of Sacco and Vanzeiti, it recalls immediately the slaughter of the Nicaraguans. the lynching and op- pression of M:groes, the Dawes plan in Germany, ‘te persecuticn ef the foreign born workers, the jailing for life cf Mooney and Billing, the challenge of world mastery delivered by American imperialism at the “disarmament” conference in Geneve. etc. The present ryling class of America is fast suc- ceeding in establishing for the United States the same kind of a reputation as that “enjoyed” by the former empire of the Russian ezar. And. herein lies the seeret of the tremendous volume and power of protest that is coming from all over the world against the murder-of Saeco and Vanzetti. 5 * * * The apparent disunity in the ranks of the capi- talist class on the matter of Sacco and Vanzetti is to be explained mainly by the fear of the radical- izing effect upon the American workingclass should the execution of our two brothers actually take place. Some of the capitalists are also in great fear of the hostility of the world which may seriously interfere with the promotion of foreign trade and the further development of American imperialist aims. This explains the origin of those capitalist voices which advocate the commutation of the death sentence to life imprisonment. Henry Ford, for in- stance, took that position. This also explains the pesition of William Green, head of the American Federation of Labor, in favor of commutation for life. William Green remains true to his role of agent of American capitalism in the labor movement. He knows that Sacco and Vanzetti are innocent. ‘He knows that the murder of ‘these two workers is ‘an attack upon the workingelass and the labor move- ment. But he also’ knows the voice of his master. And as usual he is doing his master’s bidding. / * * \ * The workingclass of America must rise to the occasion and do its duty in a full measure. Sacco and Vanzetti must not die, Sacco and Vanzetti must not be doomed to a living death which would be accomplished by commuting the sentence to life im- prisonment. Sacco and Vanzetti must be freed. The International Labor Defense will forever ‘be rémembered as the organization’ which ‘Vigilantly stood on guard, calling, mobilizing and leading’ the struggle for the liberation of Sacco and Vanzetti. The International Labor Defense (I. L. D.) is one of the few labor organizations in the Sacco-Vanzetti campaign which placed from the begining the main reliance for the release of Sacco and Vanzetti upon the organized struggle of the working masses them- Ives and of the labor movement. The I. L. D. is now again calling upon the working masses to strike and demonstrate for the freedom of Sacco and. Vanzetti. The same appeal comes from the Workers (Communist) Party. Only such mass pro- on the largest possible scale can now and finally alt the hand of the executioner, and save and free Sacco and Vanzetti. By WILLIAM GROPPER