The Daily Worker Newspaper, September 21, 1927, Page 6

Page Six “Busi A Survey of the Union in its Princi- pal Centers— ets Speak Louder Than Beautiful Words. By A. TAYLOR. Usual” i ure one gets by mated weekly ing the —the / impress through nut For instz in the dustry for the He executive soundn keen f i Such rose-col presented by writers in “Square I Stollberg writing the needle in- ble comments n upon and attributes ation to h ive ingenuity. pictures are also other liberal Graphic,” co d various e “Survey and so forth. the Surface. we assume that the on of the / 3elow If descriptic oregoing rvation of factual character reveals an entirel, ent condition. Before going t might be in place to ask a few questions so as to get an idea what we are trying to prove. 1. Why were such drastic measures resorted to when the administration policy—that of fighting the insurg- ents—was put through in the New York market, 2 a more man, who is undisputably disliked and mistrusted by nearly all needle- workers placed in charge of the New York Joint Board. 8. Why were a number of able or- ganizers dropped from the staff and a few “trusted” ones remained? 4. Why are the members in num- erous markets constantly in revolt against their puppet administrations, which are being kept up by the in- fluence of the National Office? We could ask more, questions but these will suffice to clarify our con- tention for the present. It is, how- ever, within reason to state that if onditions are as pleasant as the of- cial family of the Amalgamated con- d that they are, then the existence of these evils gives the lie to the story they tell. y cibye we justified in asking the questions? Let us see. It s hardly necessary to substan- e the statement that the most tal and indecent tactics were used, under the supervision of Beckerman and the approval of the National of- ficers, when putting the so-called na- tional policy in force against the revolting rank and file in the New ‘York market. One only needs to re- fresh his memory a bit. Recall to mind the forceful Measures resorted to; the use of gangsters and underworld characters to break up protest meetings and to beat up the workers who attended them; the force and coercion employed when collecting dues and assessments —forcing the workers to leave the shop, admitting them only after their obligations had been paid; the dis- crimination against active union members, expelling them on some false charge, or depriving them of their jobs through various infamous schemes; the alignment of dis- reputable and mistrusted elements, Harry Cohen, _ cially found guilty of accepting graft from an employer; and Beckerman, a tool of the Forward clique; all for the sake of “unity” @roaning rank and file who revolted against the ruthlessness of the offi- cials. These are facts and their proof. is easily available to anyone who is afflicted with a doubting complex. They Hate Beckerman. That Beckerman is despised and distructed by the rank and file of the Amalgamated is an undisputed fact. The mere mention of his name among workers in New York is enough to generate suspicion and disgust. Not only are the New York members in- dignant over Beckerman’s czaristic behavior but. his infamy. has spread to practically all Amalgamated clothing centers. In Rochester a demonstration against him was staged on the first of May. He encountered a similar fate in Toronto a few weeks later. In Chicago, too, his visit created un- pleasant manifestations. There ‘is, furthermore, no love lost between Beckerman and the executives of the Amalgamated. Beckerman, as indicated previous- ly, is part of the Forward machine. Beckerman was brought into the or- zation to serve a purpose. Times turbulent. Official power was tottering and someone with a stern mature was needed to quell the riot- ous insurgents. Beckerman’s natural qualities admirably fitted him for the job. His connection with the under- world was excellent; the police were his ‘old acquaintances and no doubt he was capable to deal with the “radical dissenters.” However, now, when the “job” is about completed the axes are being sharpened for Beckerman’s decapitation, it seems. All in all this vile game at the ex- pense of the workers is being played very subtly and judicially under the tloak of various pretenses. Every thing is justified in the name of “order” and “discipline” and the game his V ted tells | § Why was a man like Becker-! to wit, who was offi-| against the , ness as Usual” in the Amalgamated {Anniversary of Olgin’s nice and let us turn el: other “Busine to other Suppose we take a look That market an im- cepting Chicago, r larly due 2 a financial econd highest— | hip of fully nine-| ng members. The | at ster is nationality are the claim that they were given their full number of it ither in the joint i on. ngs were held That matter, how- ever, is ver sd, it is alv omehow An insu of the membership urrence in Rochester ually followed by some mome y compromise which soon, in turn, is followed by another out- yurst of revolt, Local Jealousy. Until two years ago the manager of the Joint Board an outsider placed there by the National Office. y al in such cases, that fact met entment by the local office- Why have an outsider run when we have so many able fellows among ourselves who pacified, on the par could do the job better and cheaper, was their line of argument. Before long a group of local politicians capitalized the slogan of “autonomy and economy” and _ consequently gained power. A local man was placed at the head of the organiza- | tion. That group having gained power it immediately declared war upon those |who had opposed them in the past; |those, who with the National Office \fought against the ascendary of the |local group. The National Office, on the other hand, began fraternizing with the newly elected chief and his | associates; the very same group that | they fought most bitterly when they |were on the outside. As a conse- |quence of this double-faced role on |the part of the General Office one jItalian organizer and a Jewish | women-business agent were forced to leave Rochester shortly after. Needless to state that before long |the rank and file in Rochester began |to see and feel the acts of dishonesty jon the part of the local leadership. Abuses and wilful discriminations ;Were mounting. Because of their ignorance and utter lack of principle the local leadership became arrogant and insolent. They treated those who criticized them with utmost intoler- ance. The Italians claimed that they were, particulary, being discriminated against. No amount of supplication |tended to prevail upon those new | “leaders” to adopt a broader outlook toward the large rank and file. | To get a closer picture of the la- |mentable situation in Rochester an illustration is in place. Some time ago an employment exchange was |established. A man and a girl were |placed in the office; incidentally, or otherwise, the man was Jewish and |part of the local machine, and the |girl was Italian. After working in the capacity for several months, do- ing her work most satisfactorily, the | girl, for no definite reason at all was | Suddenly transferred to another de- |partment, and an inexperienced girl | was placed on her job. Naturally, the |news reached the Italian executive board members and they wanted to |know the reason for that change. | The facts are these: A member of Chatman’s—the man- | ager’s—machine quit his job in order to get a position in another factory |} that would enable him to earn more money. His name was placed in the {proper section on the employment jlist. It appeared, however, that sev- eral other workers were registered in |that section ahead of him. These workers were on the list for some time. Now, in order to give that |favorite the coveted job the other workers had to be somehow dis- pensed with. | Here the ingenuity of the Employ- ment-exchange-manager came into | play. Through tacit arrangements with a number of foremen he dis- patched these workers to various |Shops. Having thus temporarily dis- posed of them the favorite was given the job he desired. The other work- ers, needless to say, were back on the employment list within a day or so, having been fired from their trial- |Jobs as per arrangements between the foremen and the employment man- ager. | The girl, who attended to the job- |list objected to such tactics and her removal was affected. The following incident | pointed: | A girl was fired. She came to the! junion-office to complain against the |arbitrary dismissal. Imagine the dis- may of the girl when waiting to make the complaint to the employment manager she saw that worthy hand a working card to another girl with instructions to report} on the very same job from which the first girl was arbitrarily fired! What right had the manager to send another worker on that job before the reason for the dismissal was as- certained, “Pop” the Pacifier. | That question was asked by the Italian executive board members at) a special meeting a few days later. At that meeting*an old Italian or- ganizer, named “Pop” Artoni was present. He came there to pacify the is more already restless elements among the Italians whose constant THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 21, 1927 Bec inh gman We Celebrate the 25th Revolutionary Activities By J. LOUIS ENGDAHL, We have celebrated the anniversary of the 25 years of revolutionary activities of our’ comrade, Moissaye J. Olgin, first editor of the Freiheit, our Jewish Commu- nist daily, now editor of “The Hammer,” the Jewish theoretical monthly of our Party. It was the first “jubilee” of the kind in our move- ment. It was tremendously successful. A remarkable audience filled Carnegie Music Hall, with many stand- ing, while the overflow was packed into the Central Opera House. * It was a tribute to Comrade Olgin, of giant propor- tions. But it was more. Because when the revolutionary movement pays tribute to one of its leaders, it does honor to itself. For our Bolshevik leaders are born of and must always remain a part of the movement, ex- ig its best aspirations, symbolizing the correct- ness of its struggle, the living incarnation of its high ide: If they cease in this, then their leadership ends. i Similarly following the unsuccessful outcome of the | vevolutionary uprising of 1905, in Russia, a fresh flood ; of the exiles of czarism poured across the Atlantic. * * a The 1905 Revolution against czarism found Comrade | Olgin a part of that struggle in South Russia. After | its defeat, however, instead of coming immediately to | “America,” he went to Germany and Austria, there to | work and study. The outbreak of the world war in | 1914 found him in Vienna writing a book on “The Ori- | gins of Marxism in Russia.’ ” With the war beast raging thru Europe, Olgin could not return to Russia, nor could he remain in Austria. He came to the United States. * * * It was significant that among the speakers at the Olgin Jubilee were Louis Hyman, of the garment work- ers, and Ben Gold, of the furriers, who have become as distinctly a part of the American trade union movement, | | as Olgin has ef the Communist leadership of the Amer- ican class struggle, the Workers Party. Upon his arrival in this country Olgin joined the staff of the Forward, the Jewish socialist daily edited by Abraham Cahan, and he was immediately faced with the slternative of going with the Cahans, the Schlesingers, the Hillquits, the Sigmans, the Kaufmans, the Ship- | lacoffs and the other agents of the Gompers-Gteen-Woll reaction in the American Federation of Labor, or taking | his stand with the left wing and its Communist lead- | ership. * * * Thus the hour of the founding of the Freiheit, as the/ | organ of Communism, in the Jewish language, was an} | historic moment for the whole American working class, marking as it did the crystallization of the militant | forces of the workers on an‘important front. Thus, while the nearly 5,000 men and women of the | working class, who filled Carnegie Hall and the Central Opera House last Saturday night, did honor to Comrade Olgin, they also paid tribute to the growth of the revo- | basic industries. lutionary movement among the Jewish workers here in | the United States. They did more. They also commem- orated on this anniversary the advance of the revolu- tionary struggle of all workers in America, led by its Communist vanguard, the Workers (Communist) Party. The anniversary of Olgin’s revolutionary activities was therefore an anniversary of increasingly successful revolutionary efforts of the whole American working class. * * * It was in this sense that I brought the greeting of the Central Executive Committee of the Workers (Com- munist) Party to the Olgin Jubilee; the greeting of the Central Executive Committee of which Olgin is himself a member. We do not put comrades on our Central Executive Committee because they speak for the Jewish workers, for the Russian workers, for German, Italian, South Slav, Scandinavian, or the workers of some other na- tionality living in this country. They become members of our Party’s leading committee because they speak with the voice of the class struggle in this country. So Olgin speaks, writes, teaches and helps organize for the American section of the world revolution. The Eng- lish language has become his medium as well as Jewish combined outlook of workers of all nationalities, all lan- guages and all colors who suffer under the black regime of the American reaction. * * * Successive revolutionary waves that have swept over Europe have brought miany immigratits to America. | This country was first settled by the oppressed of Eu- rope. The revolutionary struggle that swept Europe in 1848, that was crushed in Germany for instance, by the bloody fist of Prussian militarism, sent many German revolutionists to these shores. With the developing in- dustrialism in this country the beginnings of Marxism were planted by these immigrants in the minds of Amer- iean workers. and Russian, and he strives to adopt as his outlook, the | the: Union» of Soviet Republics. Olgin as the first editor of the Freiheit was always anxious to link the efforts of the Jewish workers with those of the working class generally, especially in the He always sought to turn the faces of the Jewish workers, especially those of New York, to- ward the struggles in the coal fields, the steel mills, the railroads, the lumber camps, the automobile industry, and other great industries where few if any Jewish| | workers are to be found. * Thus Olgin typifies in great part the effort on the side of the foreign-born workers to link up their efforts * * with the native born, especially in the hour when James} J. Davis, the Coolidge secretary of labor, was announc- ing that there are millions of aliens illegally in this coun- try and therefore subject to deportation. Many of these immigrants come from such countries as Italy, under the heel of fascist tyrannies, that mur- der and imprison thinking workers. They create a new | trek of exiles across the Atlantic, but the United States is open no longer as a haven for political outcasts. It | plans its own system of registration, fingerprinting and photographing, aping the methods of the fallen regimes of czarism and kaiserism. It needs the whole strength of American labor, native and foreign-born, to combat this new attack against it. * * On this anniversary, it is significant that exiles do not seek these shores from at least one country—from Workers and peasants are happy and contented under the banner of the First Workers’ Republic, devoting their every energy to the task of construction, freed of the weight of all task- masters and exploiters, There is no migration from the Soviet Union to the United States. On the other hand, however, many workers in this country would like to leave these shores for the free territory of the Workers’ Republic. But the time de- mands that every revolutionary worker remain in this country. Olgin is typical of this demand, that, “We must accomplish our revolution in the United States.” On the anniversary of Olgin’s 25 years of service in the cause of the world revolution, we can all join in the declaration, “Forward to the Victory of the American Social Revolution!” * caused great worry to the national officials. “Pop” is a’ “regular,” i.e. Today, the few locals that still exist cided to retain him and his wages a trusted administration man. Due to his age and eloquence “Pop” is respected by practically all the Italians regardless of differences of opinions. At the meeting the exec- utive board members presented their grievances and demands. The charges against the administration were so flagrant that even Artoni, as already mentioned, a trusted adminis- tration man, became indignant. Remembering his position, how- ever, he asked those present—close to a thousand members—included among whom were the Italian busi- ness agents and the regular organi- zer, whether anyone had anything to say in defense of the administration. No one answered. Being convinced that the charges must be true, “Pop” asked the of- ficials to join him in a protest to the National Office. He immediately made out his resignation and pledged to lead the insurgents in their fight until their demands would be grant- ed. The demands were for a new election, the immediate dismissal of the employment exchange manager and a few other minor demands. The Heads Get Together. The next, morning the following notables arrived on the scene: Hill- man, Bellanca, and that “homeless” intellectual, Giovanetti. A hasty con- ference was at once arranged. “Pop” consulted with the “elite” behind closed doors. What took place there is easily surmised. Pop is an old man, easily persuaded. When he emerged from the conference he had the appearance of a beaten man. He position to his “followers,” the rebels, but with no avail. The show was over. “Pop” left Rochester that evening. The end dawned, The storm was} quelled. A few examples of “disci- pline” and “justice” marked the be- ginning of a new stage of apathy and reaction in the Rochester situation, What price “peace!” Leaving Rochester let us take a glimpse at Philadelphia—the secab- nest of the United States. -In that city of “brotherly love” the Amalga- mated is feeble and impotent. Kighty per cent or more of the needle in- dustry is run open-shop. Muddled attempts at so-called organizing cam- paigns are made seasonally and each time the inevitable defeat ensues. Almost every campaign-defeat fiasco is accompanied by a change in managership. Each manager, in turn, adds chaos to confusion. Every new manager has his pet policies to put over, The contemplation of new policies absorbs time and fruitless ef- fort. The arguments, consequently, overshadow the necessary construc- tive work and the organization usually descends into a further abyss agitation of apathy and impotency. a Fy constitutes each its own kingdom. Like the city-states of ancient Greece each group fights for its own ag- grandizement. Each unit tries to exert its control over the manager under threats of non-cooperation. Na- tional prejudice is extremely keen. ; The Jews have no use for the Italians or Poles and vice versa. This in- dividualism has literally rent the few remaining locals asunder, and resulted in conditions in the so-called union shops becoming notoriously degrad- ing. The workers whose wages were cut are extremely dissatisfied and there lis ugly talk concerning the honesty |The open-shoppers have taken great | pains to spread the news among their \workers and it can be easily seen |what capital propaganda against _trade unionism that will make. | One more ineident will further jillustrate the pitiful situation exist- ing in Philadelphia. Some months ago a “campaign” was inaugurated. Additional organizers were required. appointment. The pressers local put |forth a man named Hefler, not a |member of the union. Rumors have | it that he was in the liquor business at the time. His reputation is of a doubtful character. | His backers brought pressure up- ;on the manager and an agreement was reached that Hefler be placed on the staff as an organizer for a period of six weeks—for the duration of the campaign. At the expiration of the stipulated period our worthy candi- |and so-called idealism of unionism. | Each group proposed candidates for | | | ! j‘“lame ducks” are encountered, are being “contributed” by his fol- lowers. Workers who come under Hefler’s jurisdiction are forced to pay weekly assessments towards his wages ‘under the penalty of losing their job. Everything is lovely in the camp of the Amalgamated! Toronto and Montreal have extrica- ted themselves, almost completely, from the domination of the National Office. General Officers have no sway in cither of those cities. In Toronto the eritire administration is composed of anti-national-office-poli- cies and general officers seldom come there. Beckerman’s reéent hostile re- ception was already mentioned. In Montreal conditions stable, due to a protracted strike and the organization there is a heavy liability upon the National Office treasury. Due to that fact the atti- tude of the rank and file toward the general office is more or less tolerant. But the presence of administration “|men, however, always excites strong suspicion among the workers, One could enumerate these condi- tions almost unendingly. In every center the workers have tales of woe to tell, they may differ a little in par- ticulars but they generally run in the same vein. Intrigue, coercion, abuse, black-lists, these are the common al- lusions made in reference to the Amalgamated “leaders.” Apathy prevails everywhere. On every turn old-timers dominate everywhere: In the left wing lies the only hope | date refused to leave. His group de-iof the A. C. W. did make some effort to explain his | ~ ! i VOLUNTEERS | By H. G. WEISS. |The captain was a merry soul, a merry soul was he, He stood us up against a wall and spoke right cheerily: “Oh, Heinie has an enfilade on yonder Rue de pais, Oh, Heinie has a battery that’s slightly in the way. My noble men,” the captain said, “the rest is up to you; The colonel calls for volunteers--and whata yuh gonna do? | —Now whata yuh gonna do?” | It was a murky morn with rain, just quarter after five, | And every Tommy. thot how good it was to be alive! A Red Cross van went lurching by with bodies dripping red, And we could hear the hissing noise of zooming shells ahead; And every blooming soldier there, from non-com to a buck, Felt that for him to volunteer was sure to bring no luck. Sut the captain was a merry soyl, as I said in beginning, And to us down-cast heroes says in manner very winning: ‘°T is not compulsory to go; ye’ve got to volunteer; So those whe’d rather not, you know, take ONE STEP TO THE|urer. The governor made restitution REAR!” The captain was a merry soul, and merry felt we all, Por there was him, and there was us—AGAINST that damn stone ! wall! are very un-| The | , | Air Derby. | mile course. PLENTY OF SPIRIT! Piloting the Spirits of Ammonia, Jack Ash- craft of Towanda, Pa., is off with the Class B flyers in the National Ten stops are to be made by entrants along the 2,300- Letters From Our Readers } | | The Bolivian Uprising. | Editor, The DAILY WORKER: I have just finished reading the brilliant explanation of Horace G. | Knowles in the Times on the reasons for the recent Bolivian uprising. While being absolutely ignorant of the details of the insurrection, I have ventured to give a Marxist analysis of the basic causes and contradictions which brought on this incipient revo- lution. My information is entirely conned from Mr. Knowles’ letter. Here goes: In an article in the New York Times, Horace G. Knowles gives an interesting account of the causes of the recent Bolivian revolution. Mr. Knowles terms the outbreak as a “Scheme of certain sinister in- fluences to use the Indians as mere catspaws,” and goes on to describe the kindiy environment which the | Silas government has created for the \Inca. Yet on closer study Mr. | Knowles’ letter contains several con- tradictions. He ascribes the suscepti- bility of the Indians to revolutionary propaganda to their ignorance but forgets to mention the lack of educa- tional facilities that the Silas gov- ernment somehow has omitted in their campaign for the Indians’ “improve- ment and benefit.” Surely if ignorance it should be eradicated. Mr. Knowles continues with the information that the Inca leaders had been promised influental political of- fices and to their followers “a share of the property of the whites, or pa- trons and of the mines owned by foreigners if the uprising should be successful and the present govern- ment of the country be overthrown.” There, Mr. Knowles, is the crux of the whole situation. If the discontent of the Indians could be aroused to revolutionary action thru the applica- tion of the slogan “land to the In- dian,” this in itself presupposes what? Not dissatisfaction aroused by sub- versive propaganda of the Commu- nist, not an effort of a dictatorial coup d'etat, but of a chronic eco- nomic disease called “land hunger.” phenonoma. You have but to look at the growing agrarian revolution of the Chinese peasants and the example of the Russian revolution whose basic strength lay in the “mujhis” demand for land, for historical testimony. Albiet, your puerile eulogy on the pleasures of the primitive life to which the Bolivan Indian is bound, is nothing but a camouflage for the terrible conditions under which they ‘work and live. Stuff and nonsense, Mr. Knowles. Masses are not moved soley by Communist propaganda. The Communist Parties of the world are the class conscious vanguard of the | working class and as such an integral |part of it. You cannot ascribe the Inca revolt to mere propaganda. Eco- is a help to revolutionary tendencies, | And this, Mr. Knowles is no isolated | nomic conditions, we know, are the! fundamental reason for revolutions, | Zeubert, N, Y. and not as you imply, mere Commu- nist propaganda.—Lee Moth. * * * Writes of Ku Klux Klan. Editor, The DAILY WORKER: The threatening letter Camp Nit- gedaiget received from the honorable Klu Klux Klan and which you pub- lished is far too important, far too historical a document to let it pass without comment. Says the famous letter, “You foreigners, Bolsheviks, believe in robbing, killing and terrorizing. ... This is not the ignorant Russia. You want to destroy the liberty of this country.... We will take severe measures against you and you know the methods and tactics that we apply.” It must have been under a heavy influence of liquor that the good K.K. K. lauded us in such worthy terms, actually heightening us to their own level, making brothers out of us. At last we may boast of a great Ameri- can achievement. We can not be dif- ferentiated from the K.K.K. We are one and the same. We are told we believe in the very principles the K, K.K. pursue with so much fervent and religious zeal: killing, terroriz- ing, etc. Is not this grand boys? Christ bless us! a | “This is not the ignorant Russia. O no! This is the highly intellec- tual, cultural, musical, _ spiritual, poetical United States. This is the universal center of divine knowledge. What the ignorant Russia never dared, we the proud, we the highly intellectual, divinely cultural United States dared. For seven years we kept two workers in prison. They were innocent of all crimes, but they were ignorant “anarchist bastards.” That accounted for everything. For seven years we kept them in hell, in darkness, in torture, in the constant throes of death, and when we thought they had enough of this living death we, the judges, the presidents of uni- versities, the governors, murdered them. And that was that! “You want to destroy the liberty of this country?” Now boys, dont spoil the big favor you did us. Don’t accuse us of being so foolish as to attempt ta destroy something that does not exist. It’s impossible! But our friend Napoleon said that nothing was im- possible. So, perhaps you'll try. We understand you’re quite successful at such undertakings. Try! “We will take severe measures against you and you know the methods and tactics that we apply.” And in case you have forgotten, here are a few of the methods we “good Americans use”; We kidnap, we burn property, we rape, we unsex, we tar, we feather, we stretch living bodies until the limbs are drawn out of thelr sockets, we kill, we murder, we burn, we hang, we lynch, etce.... That’s what we “good Americans do,”—Emi (Continued from Page One) 2 valuable lesson in the necessity for mediums for the distribution of workingelass news and propaganda. * * “OVERNOR LEN SMALL, of Illi- nois is a firm believer in the-Gom- jpersian policy of “reward ycur friends and punish your enemies.” _Len has many friends in Illinois and | it speaks well for the ‘governor’s loy- alty that he does not forget those who do him a good turn, saved from a possible jail term by labor leaders who suffered :mprison- ment for contempt of court rather | than testify for the prosecution in jthe famous million dollar suit brow j against Len by citizens in an effort to recover that amount alleged to |have been’ misappropriated by the governor while he was state treas- in his own good time and at his own financial convenience, HE latest evidence of Mr. Small’s benevolence is the appointment of | Current Events By T. J. OFLAHERT He was | two Chicago labor fakers to two fat | political state jobs. One of the labor the workingclass to have their. own} leaders is Harry Jensen, former pre= sident of the carpenters’ district council. He is now a member of the | Ilinois Parole Commission. Sam Luz- zo, vice-president of the Building Trades Council, and noted red-baiter is appointed member of the State Athletic Commission. So the workers can emancipate themselves one by one after all! * * Heron D. BAKER, secretary of war in the Wilson cabinet may in- herit the democratic presidential nomination toga shed by William Gibbs McAdoo, or at least the por- tion of it held by the delegates whose loyalty to the Wilsonian tradition is still impaired, Baker, the pseudo~ liberal and alleged anti-militartst, developed into a rip-roaring reaction= ary when he was given the portfolio of secretary of war. If the democrat jackass is going to win the next white house race he will need a more stim- ulating rider than the Ohio “Newt” | | | |