The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 16, 1928, Page 5

WORKERS PARTY. OW IMPERIALISM Lenin Membership Drive Is Planned A general membership meeting of the New York District of the Workers (Communist) Party held at the Man- hattan Lyceum Thursday night en- dorsed the report of the district com- mittee for increased activity against the imperialist war in Nicaragua end for a membership drive commencing with the Lenin memorial meeting and closing with the Ruthenberg memorial meetings. The report on the Nicaraguan sit- uation was given by W. W. Weinstone, district organizer, who pointed out that the Nicaraguan situation is al- lied with imperialist aggressions in, Latin-America and is part of the world imperialist activities in China and against the Soviet Union. Support Sandino. In his report Weinstone emphasized that it is not only necessary ‘to con- duct agitation and demonstrations against imperialist activities but above all to win support for General Sandino’s fight for Nicaraguan lib- eration. The activities of the Party must be inereased in all fields of work, by greater discipline and centralization of units and consolidation and stabil- ization of activities, continued Wein- stone, Of great necessity, he said, are the broadening out of women’s «work to draw in new circles of women in the anti-war activities, the strengthening of Negro, youth and defense work, bringing in particularly the left wing, the broadening out of the Party’s trade union work and the drawing in of militant workers in ; the struggle against the war and the } reactionary position of the labor of- | ficialdom. Aid Anti-Imperialists. Aid must be given to building up an All-American Anti-Imperialist League section in the United States and to the tying up of the war situa- tion with the brutalities and violence against the working class in Colorado, Pennsylvania and Ohio. It is also nec xy that the slogans of the Par-, ty distinguish between the Party’s position on war and that of the lib- vrals, socialists and so-called progres- | sives, whose main line is that of pa- cifism. Miller Reports. Bert Miller, organization secre- tary, in his report emphasized the , need of more systematic activity on the part of all members to draw in new members, persistently to look after sympathizers and to abandon the policy of aloofness and exclusive- ness which is too often the tendency | of Party members. . | The necessity of building shop nuclei, particularly in war industries and establishing shop papers also was emphasized by Miller. He pointed out that now is the most favorable time for increasing the membership and for the activity of the Party. French Communists. The meeting was attended by two French seamen, who brought the greetings of the French Communist Party, which is well known ip the im- ternational Communist movement for its valiant fight against militarism | and imperialism, its struggle in sup- port of Morrocco against French im- perialism and its activities against the French imperialists in the Ruhr. The meeting very warmly greeted the representatives of the French sec- tion of the Communist International. The reports were followed by a! lively discussion by members from the floor, who gave examples of good work in the units and who endorsed the idea that the rking class can depend only upon tie Party for lead- ership in a militant struggle against imperialist war. Fall River Wage Cut FALL RIVER, Masel Jan, 12.— The American Printing Co. has post- ed notices that operations would be resumed in the cotton goods division next Monday with a 10 per cent re- duction in wages effective in both the cotton goods and printing divisions. Four thousand six hundred workers are effected. Furrier Fined $5 Isidore Weisman, of the Joint Board of the Furriers’ Union, was arrested at noon yesterday when distributing , leaflets at Sixth Ave. and 26th St. He | was,fined $5 in the Jefferson Market Court by Magistrate Dodge. The In- ternational Labor Defense paid the. fine, Wages Are Threatened | _tion of a youth conference to organ- ize the young workers for the sup- port and relief of the striking miners, part: “Whereas, the miners’ strike THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, MONDAY, J ANUARY 16, 1928 Page Five ie oc. AND COMMENT ky LABOR EDUCATION | LABOR AND GOVERNMENT ] TRADE UNION POLITICS ies USSES | WITH LOCAL 41 | “In spite of the attempted reorgan- | lization ef our local by Sigman our | huge sum taken by the 30,000 in-j International president, a majority of | \the independent manufacturers have | renewed their agreements with the unjon.” This was ‘stated by Morris aft, manager of the Tuckers’, Pleat- and Hemstitchers’ Union, Local . at their office Frida: | Taft is the trade unionist who re- \cently appeared before Supreme ! Court Justice Crain and openly told | jhim in court that he intended to vio- {late an anti-picketing injunction the judge had issued to prevent Taft from \calling strikes. | | Meeting Tuesday. On the coming Tuesday at four} jo’clock in the afternoon a member- jship meeting will be held at the Irv- | ting Plaza Hall, 15th St. and Irving | |Place. The leaders of the local will | [report the names of those firms that | |have signed up, also declaring on jstrike every employer who has not | | renewed his agreement. | This one hour stoppage is also | lealled to show the right wing group | in the union and the bosses that the | loyalty of the workers to their union ‘is unshaken, it was further stated. CHICAGO MOVIE MEN GET RAISE CHICAGO, Jan. 15 (FP).—A raise | 5 per cent this year and 5 per cent} r with some improvement of work conditions is the victory sained \hrough negotiations by the} movie operators in Chicago. Local} 110 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes"& Moving Picture Machine Operators ratified ie agreement Jan. 10: and it became fective Jan. 11. The 1928 minimum will be $66.12 a weck and the max- imum $94.81. For 1929 the rate will be 5 per cent higher. The working day is 4, 5 or 6 hours depending on che shift. Overtime will be paid at regular rates until mid- night. After midnight overtime is paid double the regular rate until 8 in the morning. About 600 men are benefited, Agitation for a 6-day week instead of the presen: 7 days will con- tnue, according to local officers, and may becorne the principal issue in the negotiations for a 1930 scale. ‘Bill Would Prevent R. R.’s Grabbing Land) ‘TRENTON, N. J., Jan. 15.—A bill | to repeal any laws enabling the grab- bing by railroads of “paper” streets | (undeveloped city property adjoining railroads) was introduced in the As- | sembly here today. ' A similar bill, | introduced at the last session of the State Senate by Republican Senator Mackay, turned out to be a measure which enabled the railroads and in- dustrial corporations in the northern part of the state to gain title to “pa- per streets.” The new bill is sponsored by Assemblyman Barrison, a demo- erat from Hudson county. The Lehigh Valley Railroad, New Jersey Central Railroad and several real estate companies subsidized by railroads have just filed papers clear- ing their tities to such properiy, claimed by Jersey City to rightfully belong to the municipality. Miners’ Local Issues | Call for Youth-Meet | WILLOW GROVE, Ohio, Jan. 15.— In a resolution calling for the forma- and carried at a recent meeting of the United Mine Workers Leeal 3562 held in this town, the union says in has now entered into the tenth month, striking against the attacks of the powerful coal corporations who are determined to destroy the United Workers of America which is the backbone of the American labor move- ment, and, if Therefore, we consider it necessary it | ceeding $50,000 a year each was d | vocated by the Board. TRADE UNION ACTIVITIES | By LELLAND OLDS a) ' SIGN UP | The sharp line between those who| 9% came from | work for a living and those who own| ties, partnerships, one is clearly defined in the repo ofthe U. S, commissioner of inte nal revenue covering incomes in 192 The report shows wages and salari comes of the “rich. The bulk of the dividuals with personal incomes e: rived from the exorbitant profits df industry. The 228 individuals with incomes of more than $1,000,000 each in 1926, of which only about 3% came from their wages and salaries. On the other hand 37% of their income came from dividends and 51% from profits on the sale of capital assets. These 2 items together accounted for 88% of xeport Huge Incomes Are Ninety Percent Unearned The remaini , rents, ro their total income. The 465 individuals with income: ranging between 500,000 “and $1, 1000,000 each had a combined’ ine: of $361,838,001. In this group div | ‘as an insignificant part of the in-|dends and profits accounted for about | | 82% of the total income. In contrast with such huge incom |the incomes under $10,000 each ai derived more ti 70% from person: | industry, that is from wages, salaries, | business: and. par’ hips. Of the total of°$2,128,637, reported by the 1,016,153 individuals reporting net in-| | comes “between $1,000 and $2,000 !about 90% came from these sources. | | And below these are the millions of | workers with such small incomes, en- tirely dependent on wages and sal- aries, that they do not have to report. Wage Cuts, Injunctions, : Facing Workers in 1928' By ESTHER LOWELL, (Fed. Press). How will the year 1928 go for or- ganized labor, eastern unions pond: as the signs develop in these early days of the year. Building trades workers of New York feel safer now that the electrical workers df Local 8 have concluded their new agreement and kept the $12 scale for 8 hours. For awhile the employers’ threat- ened a big fight for the union. shop. operation was boosted by the Electrical Board of Trade. Dealing with the 17 former officials ousted from Local 3 for graft was also ad- But intern: tional vice-president H. H. Broach re- fused to deal with the mixed board {and signed up the independent Electri- Other } cal Contractors Ass’n. No. 1. union employers came tumbling after into independent settlements with Lo- cal 3. The local has more members than ever as the year opens. New England Wage Cuts But while building tradesmen and printing workers of New York are holding their own and making slight gains, textile workers throughout New England feel less secure than ever. The first big break has come in Fall Rives, Mass., where the American Printing Co. suddenly announced 10 per cent slashes, in wages for its 4300 workers. Stevens mill had pre- viously cut fer its 800 employes, but the bigger mill’s: action is expected to draw others into line. Some protest may come from the American Federation of Textile Operatives, an independent union with headquarters in Fall River, but this organization has never led a general strike in the city’s mills. The Ameri- can Printing Co. produces 300,009,000 yards of cotton goods a year, which makes it one of the town’s most im- Open- | {portant mills. Glove workers in upper New York State are continuing their 1927 wage scale with few modifications, meagre | notices from Cloversville indicate. The machine operators met employers in a mass meeting to work out changes in the union agreement. Neekwear Workers Fight. A real airing of the United Neck- wear Makers’ case against runaway shops is coming out in the trial of 19 Yale Liberal Club students ar- rested for distributing pamphlets on the unions’ fight. The union is fight-| ing at New Haven, Conn., where the Yale men were jailed, and Pough- keepsie, N. Y. to organize firms which left New York City. I. R. T. Decision. Besides these smaller indications of labor’s trend in 1928 is another which affects a more fundamental challenge of the organized trade unions. Hast- ern union officials read in the revers- ing of an old injunction obtained by the Interboro Rapid Transit Co. more hope for the American Federation of Labor fight coming up this month. The appellate court decision against jthe Interboro made violence or in- tended violence the necessary grounds ‘for an injunction against a union. So the effort of the I. R. T. to ban the whole A. F. of L. from aiding the union organizing campaign on the subways is in a weaker position. Nathan D. Perlman, associate counsel for the A. F. of L. and Amalgamated Ass’n. of Street & Electric Rwy. Em- ployes, insists that there is no. evi- dence of violence the Interboro can give against the unionists. Union ‘counsel will argue that the company union is not legitimate and cannot be the subject of an injunction suit against bona fide trade unions, Suspicious of Jardine Scheme to Centralize Farmers’ Cooperatives ROCHESTER, N. Y., Jan. 15, — Declaring that agriculture on a pro- fitable -basis is impossible because the 13,000 farmers’ cooperative market- ing organizations are blocking one another, William M. Jardine, secre- tary of agriculture recommended that they be consolidated and centralized. “The smaller units are in many in- stances competing against each other,” he said, “and consolidation and cen- tralization will give the farmers bar- gaining power.” The farmers however, disillusioned by unfulfilled promises for relief, fear that consolidation under government control would give too much oppor- tunity for graft. N.Y. City Departments forget? Their Reports Although city departments are re- quired .to issue reports quarterly, more than 20 departments have failed to do so since the beginning of Mayor Walker’s administration, according to a statement by William A. Allen, di- rector of the Institute for Public Ser- vice. The parole commission, the purchase department, and the Queens borough president have not issued a report for 5 years, while the plant and struc- tures department and the water sup- ply are two years in arrears, the ;to endorse a call for a conference of | statement says. The. tenement house PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 15.—Union- |! young workers’ organizations, to) commission and city chamberlain have ized hosiery mills here which recent- | ly announced plans to operate on an) open shop :basis and reduce wages | from 10 to 25 per cent are only wait- | organize in a body to get behind and assist the miners’ struggle in every way possible.” ing for some one of their number to ‘West New York Cop begin, according to the manager of | one of the mills, i i GOVERNOR'S WIFE GETS QUIET Ropes barring traffic on Twelfth Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, where St. Vincent’s Hospital is located were removed when police authorities learned that the condition of Mrs. Alfred Smith, the governor’s wife, a patient in St. Vincent’s, had improved. ‘ Held for Brutal Murder Emil Von der Linden, of the West New York police force, was arrested yesterday at his home, charged with the murder of Robert Albericci, who died yesterday from a fractured| Coolidge administration for his fine | makers’ International Union will be skull. . not made reports for 10 years, ac- cording to Allen. Maurice Connolly. president of Queens borough, is under fire in the current $29,500,000 Queens sewer graft scandal. MILITARIST LOSES JOB. WASHINGTON, Jan. 15.— Hanford MeNider, former American Legion head who later was awarded by the fascist service as assistant secretary Rockefeller, Jr. . May. Testify in * * Oil Fraud Quiz i j WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 15.— \John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and the Rockefeller Foundation are expected to figure in the testimony which Sen. Walsh of Montana is about to require, in the inquiry which a subcommittee of the senate public lands committee will conduct, as to what became of the | Liberty Bonds that were left to the credit of the Continental Trading Co. after Albert Fall received $230,500 from that source. One of the chief partners in the pool of oil men who created the secret | fund of the Continental was Standard | | Oil of Indiana, in which the younger | Rockefeller and the Rockefeller Foun- | |dation were largely interested. George |E, Vincent, former president of the | University of Minnesota, is head of the foundation, which distributes huge sums for medical education and re- search in various parts of the world. The investigators will try to learn whether the foundation itself, thru Standard of Indiana, contributed to the corruption fund. Recent calculations indicate that only $3,080,000, and not $8,000,000 as stated by Sen. Norris in offering the resolution of inquiry, was the sum actually collected by the Continental Trading Co. The sum missing is therefore $2,849,500. Women’s Rights ALBANY, Jan. 15. — Two equal rights for women bills have been in- troduced in the state legislature by republican Assemblyman Hofstadter of New York county. One bill would permit: women to serve on juries if they desire to and to claim exemption because they are women if they so desire it. The second bill would more exactly define the domicile of a mar- ried women by the- same facts and rules of law as prevail for men for the purpose of voting, holding offic: and taxation. WASHINGTON, Jan, 15 (FP). — General headquarters of the Cigar- moved on Jan. 27 from Chicago to Von der Linden is charged with of war, has resigned that post which! Washington, where jt wil® be located striking Albericei. with a blackjack|is now taken by another Jowan,|on the sixth fl after a quarrel, - Charles D. Robbins. vie of the new Car- penters’ Building. ie POLACL#S AND PROGRAMS STRIKES —— INJUNCTIONS THE TRADE UNION PRESS | LABOR AND IMPERIALISM FIND OUT TIMES’ UNDERCOVER MAN Espionage activities in which large |corporations cooperate with the New York Times, “frame-ups” against railroad workers, stri! breaking maneuvers. and the indifference of union officials were among the rev- elations disclosed ~ yesterday by sources close to the New York Times, the most powerful organ of big busi- ness in America. When Local 807 of the Teamsters’ Union went out 6n strike on Sept. 1 of last year, five truck drivers em- ployed by the New York Times struck with other union men of the city. Practically every employer of the cit: promptly settled with the striking drivers granting the $5 increase per week demanded. Employs Strikebreakers. The New York Times, it is reliably reported, immediately decided to re- fuse further dealings with the union ey and promptly replaced its five strik- | ing drivers with five strikebreakers secured from a local agency. Among these, according to reliable | information, was one G. E. Dobbs, who is still employed by the New York Times as an operator of one of its Packard delivery trucks. Anticipating the strike, the New York Times had sent on Oct. 31, to a loeal detective agency for an “under cover” man. Dobbs in the guise of a regular strikebreaker was sent to- gether with four other men. In addition to acting in the capa- city of espionage agent for the Times, Dobbs has been employed by the Bal- timore and Ohio Railroad on similar work out of Baltimore, also by the Pennsylvania Railroad on the Long Island division. A monthly receipt ticket, now in the possession of The DAILY WORK- ER, reveals Dobbs as Member 525 of the Brotherhood of Railroad Train- men of America. The practice of this stool pigeon, it has been disclosed, is to ride on the various railroads and by displaying his membership card in the union secure from the conduc- tor free passage, Has “Framed” Many Workers. Dobbs has been engaged for a num- ber of years in this “framing” inno- cent conductors and reporting them to the railroad officials. The punish- ment in most cases is a month or two suspension but in some instances it has led to dismissal of the conductor. For instances, one in which the con- ductor received a month and the other in which he received a two month suspension, are on record. During the period that Dobbs has been carrying on his under cover ac- tivities for the New York Times, he has maintained his membership in the ‘|Trainmen’s Union and has passed his tieket to other workers who have been known to use it for free transporta- tion, Thereafter it has been his prac- tice to learn the time and date of their passage and thus to report the con- ductor to the railroads. G. E. Dobbs lives at Fallsburg, N. Y., where news of his espionage ac- tivities are becoming known to his former friends and acquaintances. A Long Time to Wait That the finest apartment houses in New York will be oecupied by the workers within 40 to 50 years was the consolation given by Harold Reigelman, counsel of the Commission for the Revision of the Tenement House Law, in speaking at a lunch- eon of the Brooklyn Real Estate Board in the Leverich Towers Hotel, Brooklyn. The joker in this deck of cards, however, is that by the time the workers occupy these houses, in Reigelman’s opinion, the houses will be abandoned as uninhabitable by the present occupants. Radium Workers Sue NEWARK, N. J., Jan. 15—With one leg shrunk three inches and suf- fering serious injuries to her joints as a result of radium pofsoning con- tracted while employed by the U. S. Radium Corporation, Edna Hussman of Hillside, in Chancery Court here. testified yesterday in her damage suit against the company. Mrs. Huss- man and four other employes of the company ask damagés totalling $1,- 250,000. At night, Mrs. Hussman tes- tified, her body and her hair are luminous. Examine Primary Bills SPRINGFIELD, IIL, Jan. 15 (FP). —Primary election iegislation, now under consideration by the Tllinois legislature will be scrutinized by ls- bor this week. The exeeutive board of the State Federation of Labor and the joint legislative board, which in- cludes representatives of the railroad brotherhoods as well, will examine the bills. The present special session was called to replace the invalid primary law bygone that will pass the courts. \ | | |Union, and the Consolidated Rabbit |Lenin’s Life in Paris Told by His Collegue; Memorial on Saturday | Details of t “BELATED PROBE "OF EDISON 60, | ife of Lenin when he lived in P are told by Z. Kr y in his “Glimpses, Longacre Déal Under of the Life of Ilyitch.” A Lenin memorial meeting will be held at} Madison Square Garden next Sat- Charge of Crime urday eve! begun re Krshishanovsky writes as fol- | low : { ; “Lenin lived in Paris, as al sedi nk Ape cre Electric Light | with Krups : rn | who was al y franchise, it was learned | Wee tods companion. oday. > AG, | Witnesses prominent in Wall ja kitchen which Served as a dining ‘room. | “And when I asked V. I. Lenin what their material situation was, | ‘he replied: ‘Well, we have the mini- | | mum existence of Paris workers,’” | } of the district attorney’s offiee is thd assertion of the New York Edison Co y RABBIT DRESSERS i i |Company that $325,000 of notes ' fF |made out in the name of the Edison * J |corporation or with its lawful ap- ng, legal and public util- been summoned to County prosecutor’s to phi of the somewhat mysteri- us t Tho immediate cause of the action | proval. Adjourning at the request of the | r nnlernane ae hi Y jemployers, yesterday’s conference be- |. he so-called ‘Longacre a reat: tween Rabbit Dressers’ Union Locals |'% ® perpetual right to conduct @ power and electric light business in \the city of New York. It cannot be Dressers’ Association, has ended. The ded ‘by. tha a bier ae bn ed representatives of the employers ask- jother of like oe ove? Se eae ed for time to consult their member- | | Recognizing its immense value the ship before answering the refusal of | !ate Attorney N. Brady, chairman the union to arbitrate the question of |°f the board of the New York Edison Company, and others in, control of the Consolidated Gas . Company, started a drive to secure the Long- acre franchise more than ten years age, Long Island Railroad Fires Boilermakers to 25 and. 58, International Fur Workers’ a wage reduction, | The workers by a vote of 600 to 9 had. refused to arbitrate the 25 per| cent wage reduction demanded by the bosses, although Moe Harris, business agent of the Brooklyn Local No. 58, had urged the workers to accept ar- | bitration. | After a five hour discussion the | workers definitely let it be under- stood that they would “fight to the last ditch.” STRAW HAT UNION UP FOR CONTEMPT. William Golden, chairman of the Straw Hat Blockers’ Local 42 of the Cap and Millinery Workers’ Union, | and other officers and members of the union, are charged with contempt of court for violating an anti-picketing injunction obtained from Supreme Court Justice Churchill by the firm of Federal Hats, Inc., in an application made by the latter in the supreme court Thursday. The employer charges the union with picketing in spite of the injunc- tion. But the pickets, they say, have changed their signs to read: “The Union Workers of Federal Hat Works, Inc., have been locked out by their successor, Federal Hats, Inc.” The union showed that the com- pany had moved and changed its name to escape union conditions. Four Workers Injured in Subway Explosion Four workmen were injured yes- terday in an explosion in a new sub- way excavation at Second avenue and Fifty-third street. Two ambulances were rushed to the scene of the ac- cident. Inquiry will be made into charges that the explosion was caused by defec'ive equipment. For the Nicaraguans Six new light cruisers are being built by the navy, each equipped with entirely new turbine generating ap- paratus, combining features of light weight and compact design. Each cruiser will have four sets of the new paratus, each set being rated lowatts. These are the first ship projects of the American navy since the 1921 Arms Limitation Conference. ‘Hire Again as Helpers Deep indignation was felt yester- day when about ten boiler makers {who were discharged by the Long Island Railroad in Richmond Hill ook jobs as helpers at pay reduc- tions that average 10 to 15 cents an hour. About fifty per cent of the crew ;of eighty boiler makers were dis- charged yesterday’ under the senior- ity rules. When they learned of their dismissals they agreed with railroad officials that they would work as helpers for 56 cents an hour. The cents an hour. \>-Year Term Is Given Mario Giletti, 21, convicted Dec. 7 of assault in a fascist frame-up, has been sentenced to a term of one year and six months to five years by Judge Albert Cohn in the Bronx County Court. stenographer made an error in read- ing that constituted grounds for set- ting aside the verdict. “In America we are not interested lin the political differences in foreign ‘eountries,” the judge said after pass- |ing sentence. | Giletti was convicted of shooting \two fascists Jan. 25, 1927. During the | trjal it was shown that fascist agents in the United States were responsible for the arrest and+conviction of the |youth, who first made and later re- | pudiated a ecnfession. ‘Round Box Makers Vote to Join Union | The round paper box makers, who have been organized as the Progres- sive Round Paper Box Makers, have ‘voted to affiliate with the Paper Box Makers’ Union, Local 17962, of the American Federation. of Labor. A series of meetings are being held at Astoria Hall to enable all round paper box makes to join. A meeting will be held tonight immediately after work. DETROIT DETROIT Lenin Memorial Meeting at the ARENA GARDENS Woodward, near Hendrie SUNDAY, JAN. 22nd, 1928, at 2:30 P. M. BERTRAM D. WOLFE, of New York Principal Speaker. GOOD PROGRAM. AUSPICES: WORKERS ADMISSION 25c. (COMMUNIST) PARTY. PHILADELPHIA at CLAYTON HALL, Auspices: PENNSYLVANL “Flaming” Milka Sablich, Fishting 19-year-old Protest Mass Meeting — Against atrocities done to Colorado, Ohio and Pennsylvania Miners Strikers TUESDAY, ‘JANUARY 17th, 1928, 8 P. M. ADMISSION ‘A, OHIO AND © PHILADELPHIA girl, the 9th and Girard Ave. FRESE. 4 wages of boiler makers average 70 , Judge Cohn,denied that the court in Fascist Frame-up___ é E 2 t 2