The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 7, 1927, Page 6

i | Page Six THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, THE DAILY WORKER LISHING CO. Published by the DAILY WORKER P' Daily, Except Sunday 88 First Street, New York, N. Y. Cable Address: SUBSCRIPTION RATES : s By Mail (in New York only): By Mail (outside of New York): | $8.00 per year $4.50 six months $6.00 per year x months $2.50 three months. $2.00 three months. | Phone, Orchard 1680 “Daiwork” | | | ress and mail out checks to Ada: aoe THE DAILY WORKER, 33 First Street, New York, N. Y. ROBERT .- WM. F. DU Entered as second-class mail at the post-office at the act of M h 3, 1872. Imperialist War Preparations Exposed in Geneva The appearance of the delegation of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics at the league disarmament conference in Geneva, and its sweeping disarmament proposals, constitute an event of | the greatest historical significance. The demand of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics for | peace reverberated throughout the world. And once more the | toiling masses of the capitalist countries have the opportunity to | see for themselves that the Soviet Union is the only country on) earth sincerely desirous of disarmament and peace. | Maxim Litvinov, as head of the Soviet delegation in Geneva, | naturally has no illusions either as to the ability or willingness of | the capitalist governments to disarm or adopt a real peace policy. | In submitting his proposals for complete disarmament to the league commission, proposals which in their very nature presup- pose a struggle against imperialism and for the total abolition of the capitalist system, Litvinov expressed himself as follows: Militarism and navalism are essentially natural consequences | of the capitalist system, he said. He did not expect his proposals | to be accepted, and foreseeing that the servants of capitalism | would accuse him of carrying on “mere” propaganda, he stated | plainly that the Soviet government had always made propaganda for peace and would always continue to do so. | Why does the Soviet Union stand for complete disarmament | and peace? Because it represents a new principle of government and a new system of society—the system of working-class rule and so- | cialism. The Union of Socialist Soviet Republics is fighting for disarmament and peace because it wishes to devote every ounce | of its energy to the building up of its socialist economy and to the further improvement of the conditions of the masses. The| Soviet Union confronts the capitalist world with its peace program in order to awaken the toiling masses to the real source of the war danger and to combat the war machinations of the imperi- alists. This is not the first time that the Soviet Union is speaking | to the capitalist governments, and over their heads, on disarma- ment and peace. In 1922, at the conference in Genoa, the delegation of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics submitted a proposal for gen- eral disarmament and abolition of war. But the British delegation opposed the proposal and had the question taken off the order of business. During the same year, the Soviet government made an effort to reach an agreement with the capitalist states bordering upon the Soviet Union. A conference took place in Moscow. And again the opposition of the capitalist governments, particularly that of Poland, resulted in the defeat of the Soviet peace efforts. The significance of the present peace declaration of the Sov- iet Union lies in the fact that it comes at a time when every cap- italist government in the world is feverishly preparing for war— imperialist war against each other and war against the Unign of Socialist Soviet Republics. The imperialist powers know, how- ever, that the masses do not want war. The masses have not yet forgotten the imperialist butchery of 1914-1918. Hence the smoke-screen of hypocritical talk about security compacts and peace put up by the capitalist governments to hide their real preparations for war. And it is this smoke screen that the Soviet proposals will tend to disperse, compelling the imperialists to come out inte the open. Wg ae For four years the league of nations, in reality a band of im- perialist robbers, has been discussing disarmament. The result today is more armament, less security, and greater danger of war than ever existed before. The same was the outcome of the conferences initiated by the American imperialists (Washington and Geneva) for the limita- tion of naval armaments. The struggle for naval supremacy be- tween America and England has become even sharper because the irreconcilable conflict of these two imperialist powers for mastery of the seas and world domination is reaching a new and more evitical stage. : The Union of Socialist Soviet Republics realizes the true na- ture of the league of nations and therefore refuses to join it. The Soviet government carries on the struggle for peace by the force of the example of its own peace policy and by encouraging the struggle of the toiling masses against imperialism. War and im- perialism are inseparable. One flows from the other as inevitably as day follows night. Therefore a struggle against war means a struggle against imperialism, a fight to the finish ag@nst cap- italist rule and for the establishment of working class rule. The struggle for disarmament of the Soviet Union’s delega- tion at Geneva is doing the working class of the world a tremen- dous service. It forces the hands of the imperialists at a time when they are preparing a fresh blow at the peace of the world. It exposes the menacing danger of war and strengthens the forces of the workers against the forces of imperialism. It is for this reason that the capitalist powers dislike ex- tremely the disarmament proposals of the Soviet Union’s delega- “tion. Briand, speaking for French imperialism, declared the Soviet government's proposals unacceptable, harking back to his old tune of “security before disarmament.” Thus Briand puts forth again, as a condition for disarmament, the proposal of the French imperialists, known as the Peace Protocol or European security compact, that the big powers agree to recognize and de- fend the present frontiers of Europe, which would perpetuate the domination of France on the European continent. This proposal is at present the chief bone of contention between France and England, France and Germany, Italy and France, not to speak of the lesser capitalist governments, resulting in no security, no dis- armament, but a sharpening of imperialist struggle which is lead- ing directly to war. VMN AU The capitalist press in England pretends to dismiss the Soviet proposal “as a mockery” whereas in reality the British ruling class actually trembles for the effect of this proposal upon the British masses. Chamberlain’s pet scheme for “peace,” which means war against the rivals of British imperialism, against the colonial peo- t \s DECOY, 1927 CONGRESS OPENS By Fred Ellis The (Continued from Last Issue.) oped with particular In spite of the mdition of siege being declared in that town, the sailors t: to meet in the Sailors’ Hor d, finding it closed, held a mecting on an open place in the town. Lacaze. Vice- « her 4 Admiral, was obliged to flee from wait until demobilisation was «uffic- them. On June 11th, powerful iently advanced (September). Many demonstrations were held in the town. of the accused showed great firmness The flag-ship, a dreadnought of the of character during the trials, name of “Provence” refused to put Characteristic Features of the Revolt. to sea and set out to the Black Sea.; Two specially characteristic fea- The following demands were raised: tures of the revolt can be clearly dis- All mutineers of the Black Sea should | tinguished: be set free! An end should be put; 4, The overwhelming majority of to intervention with Russia! Imme-|the soldiers and sailors was still un- diate demobilisation!—A sailors’ com- ger democratic influence. ‘This be- mittee tried to transform itself into came particularly evident in the first a revolutionary committee by endeav-' two phases of the revolt. The sailors ouring to expand with the help of and soldiers revolted above all be- soldiers and dock workers. Mounted cause they were indignant at war be- gendarmes and cavalry took steps to ing carried on against Russia, al- disperse the demonstrators and above | though “France was not at war” with all, to prevent them storming the|that country, war being therefore naval prison. The sailors, being un-|“against ‘ the Constitution”. These armed, were overpowered. | were the chief arguments which the Scenes of similar vehemence also!mutineers used in their defense be- occurred in Brest and, to a lesser de-/for the court martial. Some of them On June jalso pointed out that the French revo- Revolt ; In the meantime, the trials of the |mutineers had begun on June 11th in Constantinople and Cattaro against the mutineers of the “Protet” and of the “Waldeck-Rousseau”. The re- that the government, in order to pro- ceed with the other trials, had to gree, in the other ports. 19th, the armed cruiser ‘Voltaire”ilution of 1789 had proclaimed the refused to leave Bizerta and to sail' right to insurrection in cases of in- for the Black Sea. On other war-|fringement of the Constitution. ships also, reports received on events} Only a small number of the leading in Russia occasioned great demonstra-;men possessed real class conscious- tions, not only in France but also in| ness, In the measure, however, as very remote places, for instance in| the mutiny movement developed, this Itea \(Greece) where the cruiser'class consciousness spread further “Guichen” was at anchor and on among the masses. Many sailors board the cruiser “D’Estrees” in' showed so much intrepidity, energy Vladivostok. ‘and cold-bloodedness that they would The government only succeeded in| have, succeeded in leading the whole checking this mighty movement by fleet into a revolutionary fight had organising a mass demobilisation and they been inspired by Lenin’s lucid the rapid disarming by numerous|theory. Their ideology however was men-of-war. confused, many of them tried to sponse was such, that the first trial) had to be postponed to July 4th andj “convince” the officers, they accept- ed their demobilisation in order later to be arrested as ringleaders on the first dccasion which offered itself. The fact that the sailors joined in the fight inspired the whole nation with intensified acrimony. The crews of the “Protet” and of the “Waldeck- Rousseau” were at a loss whether to return to France or enter the port of Odessa, i. e. join in the revolution. jIn the period of 20th to 22nd of April, the crew on board the warship “France” was prepared to reply to any attempt to bring colonial troops on board by cannon fire. The crew was in possession of the guns and ammunition; they turned the muzzles of their 305 millimeter guns on an English armoured cruiser which threatened them. Nevertheless they did not comply with the slogan of the Russian workers calling upon them to arm themselves and to fire on Headquarters. On the contrary, a large number of them preached peace, cautioning against “unneces- sary deeds of violence,” “as the right was on our side”. The third phase is characterised by an undeniable class movement: mass meetings, attempts to proceed in unionism with the workers, demon- strations in common with the workers, threats that cannonades would be di- rected against the authorities, at- tempts to set free political prisoners, ete. This class movement was chok- ed off by demobilisation and long- period furloughs which were followed by numerous arrests. The Black Sea revolt thus shows ideologically a far-reaching analogy to the military mutinies in Russia in 1905, especially to the rising of the Black Sea fleet in Sebastopol on No- vember 11th. 2. The revolt of the Black Sea fleet of the French Black Sea Fleet was a mass movement. refusals to obey orders occurred very seldom, as it had become clear that individual action was aysurd. The agitators, the ringleaders, directed all their efforts towards achieving a collective movement. Neither, with the exception of a single case, that of the armoured cruiser “Diderot,” did acts of sabotage occur. It is there- fore a gross forgery of facts to rep- resent the mutinies as acts of one person or of several individual per- sons. What was lacking, was both a clear ideology and organization. Almost all the revolutionary soldiers and sail- ors were under the influence of the socialist minority, whose tendency found expression in the paper “The Wave.” This newspaper deviated from Leninism in essential points, but it nevertheless exercised a propelling influence; its slogans were exactly followed in the mutiny. On the other hand, no real organi- zation existed; this could of course only have been illegal. Revolutionary |groups existed, it is true, on the in- dividual warships, but they had no general plan of action, there was no harmonious guidance and no connec- tion between the separate groups. On the “Waldeck-Rousseau” alone an or- ganization existed which included over the half of the crew and had been formed with a view to economic demands, This was the “Brotherhood of the Mariners” from whose midst a secret committee had arisen. This also explains how it came about that the revolt broke out on the said cruiser only four days after I had been confined there. BUILD THE DAILY WORKER! Pass the Paper to a Fellow Worker! ples and against the Soviet Union, is the scheme known as “re gional” security compacts. This instrument of British imperialism is designed for the main purpose of building up several blocs of smaller European powers, by regions, with England as the dominating force in each of them, to isolate France and to create a European imperialist combination against the Soviet Union. The imperialist struggle between France and England is at present revolving itself chiefly around the English proposal of “regional” security compacts as against the French proposal of a general European security compact. The first means English imperialist domination. The second means French imperialist domination. None of them will discuss—even discuss—disarmament on any other basis. The entrance of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics into ‘he situation with its proposal for complete disarmament upsets ‘he imperialist game and forces a showdown on the questions es- sential to peace. i saan Officials of the State Department in Washington, D. C., un- take to characterize the Soviet government’s proposal as a ture” and “Utopian.” The New York Times finds in the Sov- rogram “nothing but a hasty sketch” which “will not bear serious examination.” This is in line with Coolidge’s recent pro- nouncement that war cannot be abolished because “the Federal Constitution gives Congress the sole power to make war.” ‘This sort of attitude is quite typical of American imperialism today. The American ruling class is rather in favor of all-around limitations of armaments in Europe, on land and on sea, compar- able with the “need” of suppressing the workers, and for the fol- lowing reasons. First, because it will weaken the military and political power of its European rivals, notably England. Second, because a partial limitation of armaments would tend to improve the solvency of its European debtors. But the government of the United States is unalterably op- posed to the idea of reducing its own armed forces, let alone abol- ig 4 | ; ‘ - | ish them completely as proposed American imperialism is in favor of reducing the armed strength of its present and prospective imperialist rivals in Europe and at the same time for increasing its own armed strength to the maximum possible degree, —% by the Soviet Union. Hence, when confronted with a program for disarmament not Individual | only for Europe but for everybody including the United States, a program of complete and not partial disarmament, a program call- a policy of sea mastery and world domination for American impe- rialism, have only this to say: that such a disarmament program is “Utopian.” Utopian, indeed, as long as the capitalist class rules the United States. aa See And how was Litvinov’s declaration received by the League Commission? It was very fitting and perfectly in accord with the present role of the socialist leaders as lackeys of imperialism, that M. Paul Boncour, a prominent French socialist and member of the French delegation, was selected by the disarmament commission in Gen- ova to make the official reply to Litvinov’s declaration. According to press reports, Boncour advised the Soviet dele- gation, “in that’soft, polished manner of which he is master” that the league of nations had heard many diplomats speak on disar- mament, that the real trouble lies in the “lack of international spirit” and that the solution is to be found in linking up disarma- ment with security. The French socialist Boncour, the same as ‘he social reformists and trade union reactionaries the world over, ‘tood up in defense of the imperialist plans of his own capitalist yovernment and against the real international peace program of the Soviet government which is the program desired by the toiling masses in all countries. Sy The peace declaration of the Soviet Union will again remind the masses of the burning need of waging a struggle against im- perialism, the cause of war, for the abolition of capitalism and. for the establishment of the rule of the working class. _ | ¥ 4 ing for the scrapping of navies and air fleets as well as armies, | the officials of the American state department, who are applying | Red Rays \1 \T° use one’s head is a good business precaution, but to use one’s feet is sometimes better. Dancing is an exercise that cannot be too highly | praised, according to the owners of | terpsichorean parlors and _ publicity jag for affairs such as The DAILY WORKER-Freiheit Ball, that will be {held in Madison Square Garden on December 17th. * * * IT IS not often that this column re- | sorts to boosting; its chief | specialty is knocking. But there is a |/nickel under our heel, and we hope |that there will be thousands of dol- } in The DAILY WORKER y after December 17th. (The can do its own hoping).I hear tions from distant cities jare comii to the ball and this |should be an added incentive to at- nd it. Of course, the big incentive sire to help the Com- munist press survive the snows of winter, * * * i etenbe HALL, the _ historic headquarters of New York “demo- eracy” has been sold for about three quarters of a million dollars. The | wigwam will move uptown to the more respectable neighborhood of 59th Street. Perhaps Tammany has | grown too decent for the old-fashioned | burlesque house on 14th Street. Any- jhow, a tiger may change his under- | wear, but he never changes his char-: {acter. The odoriferous political in- | stitution known as Tammany, will be as corrupt on 59th Street as it was. jon 14th. | * * * | }JILLIAM J. BURNS is as clever at producing an alibi that will stand up in court as he is at jury-fixing. He now contends that he is no longer a |controlling factor in the Burns Agency and was not consulted about the con- spiracy to buy up the jury in the lai i This is just as able as if Henry Ford said that he did not dictate the policies of the Ford Motor Company. * * * |{OVERNOR Smith has decided to } probe the suspicious circumstances |connected with the Queens sewers. I cannot think of a more appropriate diversion for a capitalist politician, Should Mr. Smith delve deeply into the simelly recesses of*the latest muni- cipal scandal he should be properly | perfumed for the presidential nomina- tion when the time arrives for Wall | Street’s’two parties to pick their can- didates. * * * Te republicans and democrats are playing a tit for tat game in this jgraft business. A few weeks ago a prominent G. O. P. office holder was. charged with having misappropriated. over one million dollars of state |funds. At that time we predicted | that it would not be long until the re- publicans got something on their political rivals. The graft expose in | Queens is the- reply. | * * . |THE foxy Aristide Briand, former socialist, seems to be preparing an acid bath for the ex-socialist Mus- solini. Indeed it would not surprise us to hear that Great Britain has also been outmaneuvered at the re- cent Geneva disarmament parley. The rupture between France and the Soviet Union has been healed and the governments of both countries have agreed to resume the debt negotia- tions. The Soviet Union gained enor mously in international prestige thru the peace program put forward by Litvinoff. * * * Got BRITAIN is now the only big European power without diplo- matic relations with the Soviet Union. With the Soviet Union taking a hand in the business of preventing the small nations from being made the catspaws of the schemes of the im- perialist powers, Great Britain’s ability to use Poland, Lithuania and Roumania against the U. S. S. R. will be considerably lessened! Powerful financial interests in Britain are bringing pressure on the tory govern- ment to renew relations with the So~ viet Union. The tories are si necked and proud, but the “nation of shopkeepers” will swallow its i where pounds sterling are conce; * * om EUSENE TUNNEY the pugiljst who boxes with his feet as Yell ag with his hands: is developing (into one | of our most outstanding rotarians, | He believes that citizens should bathe | occasionally, refrain from beating j their wives and practise other equally | homely virtues. Addressing an audi- jence of school children the great leg | man paid a tribute to the quality of sportsmanship adding: “And the qual- j ity that I would place next to sports- ‘menship is loyalty—to principles, to god, to friends and to your country.” jere is a man after Bruce Barton’s | own heart, b, | * * ed. ie be Soviet government is publish- | ing the diary of Nickolas the Last jof Russia. It makes interesting read- ing. The miserable weakling did not appreciate the significance of the de- velopments which were taking place and he could not understand that the end of the system under which he lived in luxury and idleness was at hand. He writes: “It is disgusting to read in the papers what happened in Petrograd and Moscow. It is much worse and more shameful than the ‘troublous times.” (The period of the medieval defeats by the Poles and ae) It certainly was—for tha ware oe