The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 25, 1928, Page 2

4 J Page Two THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, WEDNE Y, JANUARY 25, 1928 Waterfront Hospital's Lowest Fee Is Larger Than the Income of a Worker -EMPLOYE 1 TELLS THE HISTORY OF ANY, INSTITUTION Broad Street | Got Boom An Wall St. Blast (By a Worker Correspondent). The Broad Street Hospital was a ope-horse institution with 30 beds until the Wall Street explosion of 2919 gave it a big income. The story of this hospital and the| ‘way employes and patients fare ther will illustrate to the worker-readers of The DAILY WORKER the causes back of the unhappy conditions, the the kennels provided as living quar ters which are the portion of hospital workers. Knowledge of graft and unfitr among hospital officials of this ci will help the worker to understanc why he is asked to pay $25 a week and more when he seeks hospital ad- Mission, and, unable to do so, finds the doors of the hospital slammed in his face. At the Waterfront. The conditions for workers and pa- tients at the Broad Street Hospital are the conditions existing in a hospital in New York. The Broad Street hospital is at | the junction of Broad and South Sts., at the East River waterfront. It serves a district in which thousands of longshoremen work and which at the same time includes the Wall Street financial section. It serves also the dismal living quarters of Washington St., screened from the eyes of big business by skyscrapers. The Broad Street Hospital was founded 11 years ago, thru the agency of one A. J. Barker Savage, a former Canadian medical student. Casting about in New York for a stead he succeeded in interesting sever: wealthy men, notably James Barber, " the senile head of the Barber Steam-| ship Lines, one of the worst exploit- ers of seamen, and William Hamlin Childs, a capitalist with hands in many a ficancial pie. Explosion Profitable. For a few years the sled wa hard for the Broad Street Hospital with its 30 or so beds located on the} site of a former warehouse. Then ——eeeatseatha celebrated WallStreet ex- plosion in 1919, which the govern- ment and the bankers attempted to blame on revolutionary workers, The _ Broad Street Hospital with its few beds happened to be but a few blocks @way and rendered emergency treat- ment to most of the injured. Savage Cashes In. A. J. Barker Savage cashed in on this fact. In a campaign he sent out donation-seeking circulars by the| thousands. He failed to mention that most of the sufferers in the explo- sion were workers, unable to pay hos- pital bills. They were, of course, sent to Bellevue, the city “slaughter house.” Wall Street, scared by the “red plot” invented by the William J. Burns International Detective Agency, responded generously and the money rolled in. An addition bringing the bed capacity to about 120 was built. Savage was superin- tendent of the hospital at a salary of $12,000 a year. His policy was to fawn upon the rich, especially the Wall Street business men. The Workers Paid. The men of business were given the best private rooms and the best of attention and the hospital bills were “taken care of” by Savage. poor had to pay or go to Bellevue. The attention of most of the hos- pital’s medical staff was showered on any broker or financier or a member ef his family, often ill with some minor complaint such as the grippe Little care and poor food continued to be given to the ward patients. The excitement of the Broad Street Hospital when James Barber, the hospital’s “sugar-daddy,” or some Standard Oil official or a relative of Elisha Walker, of Blair & Co., was a patient forms a neat contrast with the welcome accorded some South Street jobless seaman, brought in dripping with blood after a beating up by two or three policemen from Old Slip Station. Finances Drained. Savage’s assistants, whose number was legion, received large salavies The hospital, the treatment of the workers of down- town New York and their fami was steadily being drained of its finances due to mismanagement, high salaries and, according to the employes of the hospital, graft. Even the hard-boiled board of directors got tired at last, and in the winter of 1923 Savage and his clique were dismissed. A professional reorgan- izer was called in. At a salary of $12,000 a year and with a gang of | high salar‘:d officials he accomplish- ed nothing. [he hospital kept losing thousands of dollars annually. Masons Fill Beds. In 1924 the Masons decided to take over the hospital and its deficit. is were appointed officials at tuous salaries. Members of the ic order, scenting something for ieee swarmed down on the the} The j ostensibly founded for} Cupid Hits Heirs, Marriage Merges Money | | A case of “Abie’s Irish Rose” is the marriage of John Barry RB tune Ryan, to Margaret Kahn, daughter of Otto Kahn, Jewish banker millionaire who turned Episcopali made their money by exploiting in reverse among wealthy parasites yan, Jr., grandson of Thomas For- ian. The owners of both fortunes the workers. Luxurious trappings costing many thousands of dollars feature the wedding ceremonies of the rich while unemployment hardships among the workers. and starvation wages cause great | hospital, taking nearly every bed for | themselves, their families, their rela | tives and their friends. A sick work- er had a hard job getting in. The hospital beds were full of Masons. A line of workers, injured on the job and waiting to receive dispensary treatment, would be forced to wait if some Mason with a headache or stomach ache came rushing in de- manding instant treatment. Chronic alcoholics and syphilities would be | accepted because they were Masons while workers and their families con- |tinued to be sent to Bellevue. | Workers Turned Away. The hospital, almost exclusively | treating Masons free of charge, got into an inextricable financial fix. The Masonic officials of the hospital knew | nothing about operating a hospital Having milked the hospital dry, they gave it up in 1925. Another professional efficiency ex- pert, Cornelius Loder, was called in. His salary too was $12,000 a year. He fired the Masons from their soft | berths and brought in his own gang. A $100-a-week job here, a $50-a-week | job there and the payroll had nearly doubled. Loder instituted a speed-up system, and was constantly at the elbow of the workers, firing and hir- ing right and left. | Spies Are Hired. | Nearly every day the entire hos- | pital force would be called together and given a “pep and efficiency” talk by Loder. Stool pigeons were intro- duced among the workers. The Loder clique ran seni. Tam they..liked.antil | forced out in 1986. Savage was re- called, with a man named Torelli as his dummy. And now the old gang reigns at Broad Street Hospital once again. Since Savage’s return the hos- pital has had to relinquish its nurses’ training school and nurses’ home. Kitchen workers—cooks, dishwash- ers, kitchen porters, and waiters re- ceive $50 a month for 12 hours daily |labor. The porters and orderlies who elena up the hospital 12 hours a day get $50 a month. Quarters are Firetraps. The ward maids who clean up after the female patients get $30 a month. There is no hope for a raise for these workers and none has been given since the hospital opened over 10 years ago. Sometimes at Christmas a dollar or two is given as a bonus. The helps’ quarters at Broad Street Hospital are firetraps located in the same building as the wards for work- ers. Six or seven employes must sleep in the.same~room. The plumbing is out_of order So often that a decent bath is rare. The toilets are filthy, as are the toilets in the wards. The workers are subject to instant dismis- sal for any reason or no reason. Epidemic Traced. The workers in the kitchen, who | handle the food, are supposed under | -|Rroad Street Hospital, in which sev- | ill, | eral employes hecame severely One student nurse died. The epidemic was traced to a kitchen worker who was a typhcid carrier. Had he been properly examined before being hired the epidemic would not have occurred. Men with venereal diseases can se- cure employment in the kitchen, in any hospital in the city. The star- the law to be examined thoroughly when hired. A few years ago a} typhoid epidemic broke out in the where the patients’ food is prepared, | vation wages and long hours cause a! LAWYER ALLOWED TO REPAY GRAFT $90,000 Involved in Ex- cess Fee Exposure WASHINGTON § Jan. 24.—Abra- ham S, Gilbert, New Ysrk lawyer, was ordered to return graft amounting to about $90,000 which was paid to him by the Consolidated Gas Co., New York Gas Co.-and six other gas or- ganizations involved in disputes Gil- bert settled as special master. The facts became known when those com- panies to whom the decision was not favorable decided that they had not received value for the thousands paid in excess of the fee stipulated by the court. “Excuses” Acceptible. In the opinion handed down by the Supreme Court, Gilbert was cited for conduct “far from upright and ac- cording to law,” and was ordered to repay the huge slice out of the $118,- 000 he received. Gilbert will be permitted to offer “excuses” to the Supreme Court be- fore action is taken to strike his name from the court’s roll of -at- torneys. Con Shidots Cop; Jailed * COLUMBUS, 0O., Jan. 24.—Patrol- man W. L. Wade died in a hospital here early today with two bullet wounds said to have been inflicted by C. H. Lewis, a fellow policeman. Lewis is under arrest. huge turnover in hospital labor, the average worker staying less than two weeks, The trained nurses, who must at- tend a training school for two years, receive an average of $80 a month. Untrained nurses. who have not fin- ished training school, get $50 a month. All slave 12 hours a day. The clerks average about $20 a week. The rates for patients are $3 a day for ward beds, $4 a day for semi- private rooms, and $6 to $12 a day for private rooms. Charges are ade for urine examinations ($2), X-rays ($5 a plate), for use of operating room ($15-$25) and for drugs. With these extra charges a hospital bill averages at least $35 weekly, which a worker can pay only with heart- breaking sacrifices and borrowing, if at all. In addition a doctor's bill of $100 to over $1,000 must be paid. Bellevue for Workers. If a worker cannot afford a priv- |ate doctor he is placed on the routine service of a member of the staff of the Broad Street Hospital, who visits him perhaps twice a week, leaving |him at other times to the interns. On South Street are thousands of obless seamen. They face daily club- ings by the police for no apparent reason. Are these men, battered and bleeding, accepted as patients at Broad Street Hospital? They are sent to Bellevue. On Washington Street, behind the canyons of Wall Street, are the quarters of poverty- stricken workers of Greek and Syrian descent, dwelling in hovels owned by millionaire realty corporations. It is Bellevue for these too when illness comes Reminds Him of St of Editor, DAILY WORKER: | Permit me thru your columns to comment on the recent letter of Mat- thew Woll addressed to the Amer- ican-Russian Chamber of Commerce, in which he is trying to solicit the aid of that organization. Any worker who has followed closely the activities of Woll and his colleagues in the A. F. of L. will in- stantly recognize that this is nothing new, but just an extension of the treacherous official policy of the A. F. of L. Before Woll starts to attack the propaganda work of the Soviet Union in this country, he should first examine carefully the miserable fail- ure of the A. F. of L. to organize the thousands of unorganized work- ers in this country; and the murder 4 WORKER WRITESTO WOLL Struggling Miners of coal miners in Colorado and other strike regions. The attitude of the A. F. of L. to- ward the United Mine Workers, its aiding of the bosses in their onslaught on the miners, and its indifference to the breaking of the strike by the scabs—all bear evidence of thr treachery of Woll and his colleagues. But there is yet another thing which must be remembered by Woll before he starts to attack the Com- munists. And that is the criminal neglect of the A. F. of L. in organ- izing the Negro workers who com- prise a great part of the working | population of this country. Fraternally yours, —C, CHARLES ALEXANDER. New York City. AIR MONOPOLY TO RULE LATIN Admiral Moves to Beat Germans (Continued from Page One) cial aviation companies which are competing with United States inter- AMERICA, PLAN She Vamps Cop | ests in Central America. | ed the United States will be in a position to determine what planes pass over the Panama Canal, Guata- namo and other military and nava! bases. This is regarded as a direct | interests which were planning to es-| tablish a line from Colombia to Pa-j nama. United States airplane com- panies are working on plans for the establishment of similar lines to the Panama Canal. U. S. Would Control. According to the terms of the draft treaty as prepared by the Inter- American Commercial Aviation Com- mission in Washington last May, countries may prohibit flying over definite zones for military purposes; but this provision, according to the treaty, is to be applied to national as well as foreign planes. The Flet- cher amendments, if passed, it is pointed out, would place commercial aviation in Central America in the hands of United States interests be- cause the United States occupies the strategic position of the Panama Canal. The Mexican plan for curbing the complete control which the United States now exercises in the Pan American Union was attacked by Charles Evans Hughes, chairman of the United States delegation today. Hughes opposed any change in the present composition of the governing board, which is composed of the Latin American ambassadors to Washing- ton and headed by the secretary of state of the United States. Spoils System in Chi. CHICAGO, Jan. 24. — “Big Bill” Thompson, mayor of this city and self-appointed menace to British pres- tige -in- America,. was yesterday as- sailed by the public school emergency committee, composed of local citi- zens. The trial of William McAn- drew, deposed superintendent of edu- cation, was condemned as “an un- blushing and brutal plan of the spoils system to lay hands on the public schools.” BLACKSHIRTS TRY 4) COMMUNISTS GENEVA, Jan. 24—The trial against the Communist “deputy Lo- sardo and 39 Florentine Communists, charged with “taking an oath against the State” and with carrying on secret propaganda, is being pressed by the blackshirt authorities. The workers were seized during raids by the fascist police in De- cember. Houses were combed by the agents at that time and all persons suspected of Communist sympathy were questioned. Since then the Communists have been held in the fascist jails. Two women and the former Com- munist deputy, Dames, are among the prisoners. It is understood that all the workers will be condemned and sentenced to long terms on the Mediterranean islands at hard labor or in the fascist prisons. Dodging Power Guilt WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 (FP). — Another red herring has been drawn across the path of power legislation, anti-injunction legislation and farm relief by southern senators Swanson and Glass of Virginia, in a fiery de- bate Jan. 23 in which they disputed statements by Bruce of Maryland. who is equally reactionary and defend- ed the disfranchisement, in fact, of Negroes in the south. They denied that the 14th and 15th constitutional amendments, which guaranteed Negro suffrage after the Civil War, are be- ing violated. Hops From Pavement GARDEN CITY, L. I, Jan. 24— Clarence D. Cham- berlin yesterday hopped off from the pavement between a row of elm trees on a proposed 30,000- mile lecture and air tour thru the United States to drum up the interest of the American people in commercial and war aviation, He first touched at Curtiss Field, flying thence to Allentown, Pa., the first stop. His plane is a tiny C.D. Chamberlin, Helps War. \ If the Fletcher proposals are pass-| § blow to German commercial aviation | § While Billy Sunday, self-styled nemesis of the devil was pouring the wrath of God down upon the workers who seek to better their conditions, his daughter - in-law (above) was too friendly with a Los Angeles policeman, says Billy’s son, in bringing divorce action. FLOOD CONTROL COSTS LEAD 10 CONGRESS ROWS States Ask Contractors Paid by Federal Gov’t WASHINGTON, Jan. 24.—Who is to pay for the fat sums that will go to contractors for Mississippi flood control work—the states or the fed- eral government—is leading to a bit- ter struggle between the opposing groups in the senate and house com- mittees. The house flood control is badly split on the question it was disclosed in the committee’s hearings, which have already lasted for two and e half months. In the senate commerce commit- tee’s hearings, senators from valley states were attempting to drive home their contention that the people are already bankrupted in their fight against floods and that failure of the federal government to assume the whole burden means all flood control plans will fall. The Jadwin plan contemplates that twenty per cent of the $800,000,000 army engineers’ flood control plan will be paid by states and local com- munities. American Tel. and Tel. Co. Robs Workers and Public WASHINGTON, Jan, 24 (FP). — Nationalization of the telephone and telegraph lines throughout the United | States, through federal purchase, for | federal operation, is proposed in a bill intrcauced Jan. 23 in the house. Recent investigations have dis- closed that the American Telephone & Telegraph Co. does 72 per cent of the telephcne business of the United States, and dominates the rest. It is the richest corporation in the world. Through its control of the Western | Electric Co., of which it owns 98 per) cent of the stock, and from which all aephane companies are obliged to purchase telephone apparatus on a cost-plus basis, the trust exacts tribute from the American people from the time the apparatus is made, down to and including the time when the telephone user is compelled to pay exorbitant rates for the service he gets. In addition to squeezing the people for all they are worth by imposing a variety of unnecessary charges, the trust exploits the workers, compelling them to work for ridiculously low wages and for long hours at nerve- racking laber. Yale Student Fi ned, Rebuked, for Aiding Neckwear Strike NEW HAVEN, Conn., Jan. 24.—James T. Patterson, Jr., one of the 19 Yale students arrested for distributin g leaflets exposing conditions in the néckwear sweatshops recently removed here from New York City, was fined $2 without costs by Judge Dunn of® the City Court. A paternal warning was issued by the judge against “the spirit of youth” misguiding the students “into what the court would call too liberal an interpretation of liberty under the Constitution of the United States.” “Discourtery” Deplored. Although the judge said the in- dustrial aspects of the case “are not an issue in the consideration of the alleged violation of the city ordin- ance,” it is generally believed that the arrests were made in an attempt to stop the_Liberal Club’s agitation for unionization and improvement of conditions in the neckwear factories. The dean of the university issued an apology to New Haven capitalists for the students’ “discourtesy” to them. The Yale students intend tc carry their case to a higher court, it is stated, to prove the city ordinance in- voked against them is unconstitu- tional. Attorneys Philip Troup and Michael J. Quinn are being aided by Louis Waldeman, New York represen- tative of the American Civil Liber- ties Union. VAIN ATTEMPT TO BARE CAL'S BOSS WASHINGTON, Jan. 24.—A. pub- lie inventory of the stock and bond holdings of the President of the United States, all cabinet officers, all senators and representatives would be authorized under a joint resolution introduced in the senate today. The resolution was aimed particu- larly at learning what senators and representatives own stocks and bonds of electric companies, grouped within the so-called “power trust” which a democratic, insurgent coalition is at- tempting to investigate. BOMB SQUADRONS RUSHED TO INDIA LONDON, Jan. 24.—Two new air- plane squadrons will be despatched to India during the year, according to a decision of the British government. They will be composed of the latest type planes, equipped with bombing operations. The arrival of the planes will raise the total of British air squadrons in India to eight. The British air forces in India are disposed over the whole country with special attention to the northern dis- tricts of Punjab and the Northwest Frontier Province, where they serve the double purpose of preparation against the Soviet Union and against uprisings of the oppressed workers and peasants. The agitation which has followed the announcement of the sailing of the Simon Statutory Commission has frightened’ the British government into new preparations for maintain- ing its grip on India. Legionnaires in Bloc For Anti-Alien Laws ALBANY, N. Y., Jan. 24.—Seven| State Senators and 43 Assemblymen who are members of the American legion or veterans of the world war will organize a bloc to force thru the American Legion’s legislative de- mands, which would discriminate against foreign born workers while giving war veterans special privileges. The demands include the barring of any but a citizen for civil service examinations for public posts, giving eae absolute preference for the jobs. Private Interests Rock Shipping Board Fleet WASHINGTON, Jan. 24.—Hold up of sales of U. S. shipping boar’ steamers to private interests unti) shipping legislation is passed by con gress is asked in a resolution intro duced in the House yesterday by Rep MecDuffe, Democrat of Alabama. A similar resolution has been introduce: in the senate by Sen. Fletcher, Florid: democrat. Both resolutions, however, permit the sales if five out of seven} members of the shipping board think that the sales to private purchasers Sperry messenger biplane. “are to the best interests of v= ernment.” beat Essence of Diplomacy WASHINGTON, Jan. 24.—William T. Cosgrave, so- called president of the Irish Free State, after a 15-minute visit at the White House, linked Presi- dent Coolidge with George Washington and William Hale (“Big Bill”) Thomp- son, book-burning mayor of Chicago, in his official diplo- matic compliment to inarticulate Cal, Calvin Coolidge Me and George ¥ . a Righteous Governor “Send a man accused of crime immediately to jail, not hire alien- ists,’ says Governor Fred W. Green of Michigan, defending severe laws which are weapons in the hands of the courts against the workers. All sociologists today know that pover- ty and the system which produces it are the chief causes of crime. LA FOLLETTE MEN ) ENDORSE NORRIS MADISON, Wis., Jan. 24, — En- dorsement of Senator George W. Nor- ris of Nebraska as the progressive candidate for president and a demand that the Volstead act be modified in accordance with the recent Wisconsin referendum so as to permit the use in the home of 2.75 per cent beer were the oucstanding features of the La- Follette Republican platform made public here today. Big issues of farm relief and questions of the exploita- tion of the workers were relegated to a lesser position or absent alto- gether. Norris Heads Ticket WASHINGTON, Jan. 24.(FP). — Senators. LaFollette and Blaine of Wisconsin head the list of progressive republican candidates for delegates to the Republican National Conven- tion. George W. Norris of Nebraska is their candidate for the presidency. They favor a general policy of per- manent public ownership of natural resources now in government hands, with a like end in view. 192 Vol. VIII. No. 1. International Press Correspondence 1. CONSTITUTION OF THE NEW CENTRAL COMMIT- TEE—C, P. S. U. RT TO THE . SENTIMENTAL ASPECTS OF THE SACCO-VANZET- TI CAMPAIGN, . INTENSIFIED REACTION IN PALESTINE. AND OTHER IMPORTANT ARTICLES DEALING WITH CHINA, INDIA AND THE WORLD STRUGGLE OF THE WORKERS. SUBSCRIBE: A Yearly Sub. 86. Six Mo. $3.50 10 Cents a Single Issue, Order from WORKERS LIBRARY PUB- LISHERS, 39 E. 125th St. NEW YORK NEWS FROM U.S.S. R. Report of the First American Rank and File Labor Delegation to Soviet Russia Price 25c. Just Off the Press “A Land Full of Real Achievements Where Organized Workers Rule.” Cosgrave said he admired all three. WORKERS LIBRARY PUB- LISHERS, 39 East 125 St. NEW YORK.