The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 7, 1928, Page 4

Sd Page Four THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, T SDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1928 Bankers, 7 eneerans hoe Yellow Press Just “Discover” Plight of the Miners OFFICIALS SEEK TO STAVE OFF RISING REVOLT Miners’ Relief KeepsUp |; Fi ghting Spirit Ly J ACK RODGERS. PITTSBURGH, Pa., Feb. 6. sisters, big hearted capitalist politicians have | suddenly come to a realization of the fact that a strike which is going in- to its eleventh month has left hunger and disease in its wake among the | hills and valleys of Western Pennsyl- vania. Here a smoke-smeared hangs like a pall over the giant steel mills in which hundreds of thousands ef workers sweat out their lives pro- ducing millions for the lords of in- dustry who own the government of Cossack-ridden Pennsylvania. Sudden Discovery. Not only are the demagogic cap- omer as see a d the political pand- | ies walking up to the cri caused | the strike, but the high officials | by of the United Mine Workers of Amer- | jea, in Indianapolis, seem to realize | that there is a strike on. How else can the visit paid to this city a few) days ago by John L. Lewis and omas Kennedy be explained? Hitherto Mr. Lewis has confined his , strike activities to occasional blasts against the “reds,” polite communica- tions to the “public” thru the press, or playing the leading role in confer- ences of his peers, where well-groomed and prosperous labor leaders meet in the first class hotels to talk, pass resolutions, praise each other and de- part to meet again at another con- ference. There are several reasons for the belated interest taken by business men and reactionary labor leaders in the serious situation resulting from the long-drawn-out strike, but tHe most determining factor is the growing re- volt among the rank and file against their own officialdom as well as against the operators. Hence the sobsisters—the female Fanny Hurst for the Hearst sheets and the male Basil Manly. for the Scripps-Howard syndicate—cracked the whip over “Bolshevism” which is represented as “stalking thru the coal fields” and issued a solemn warning to the operators that unless they dis- play a more conciliatory attitude to- wards the Lewis machine those pesky radicals will get the leadership over the rank and file, and then they will have a real fight on their hands. “Better a union leadership that be- lieves in co-operation between capital and labor than a leadership that will fight every inch of the way for the, interests of the coal diggers and be- | lieves that their can be no cooperation hetween -capital and labor except at the expense of labor.” This is the club that is being waved over the} heads of the die-hard operators who refuse to come to terms with the labor | officials. Those officials have hinted strongly time and time again that! they are willing to reconsider the Jacksonville scale with a view. to re- vision, but that all the “concessions” | must not be made by the workers. The rank and file of the strikers, on the other hand, stand solidly for the Jacksonville scale and for strictly |* union workirg conditions. Polifics Finter. While other considerations, such as loss of trade in certain lines of busi- ness and the approach of the presi- dential elections, are partly respot iblé for the recent flurry of excite- ment over the strike, the threatened £ the coal situation in p senate; of the coal and iron poi by the governor of Pennsylvania, the organization of al business men’s relief committee in . Pittsburgh; all are chiefly due to the revolt of the rank and: file of the | striking miners in Pennsylvania and | Ohio against the corrupt do-nothing- but-draw-salaries poliey of the Lewis ~ Sob | pseudo-labor economists and | mocratic and republican | | of which are shown above. out jobs as a result of the fire, and Intense hardship and privation reign today among the workers, following the fire which started in the Pocasset Mills, the ruins Between 5,000 and 8,000 workers are with- i Fall B yer the workers fear that the bosses will use the fire as a pretext for wage cuts. (Continued from Page raya hue hia ah |ficials by throwing the glaring light jof publicity upon the situation. Meantime, the sheriff of Allegheny | county ordered three deputies to} Curry, Pa., to man machine guns for the protection of school \there. The Curry School, bullet- scarred from recent volleys from company gunmen will be reopend for the first time since the lives of its 130 pupils were endangered by snip- ers’ bullets. The Montana senator, himself a member of the interstate commerce committee, went to Bruceton, near here, where the homes of union min- ers were fired upon, a te By T. J. O}FLAHERTY. PITTSBURGH, Pa., Feb. 6—When Anthony P. Minerich, chairman of the Pennsylvania-Ohio Miners Relief Committee, and member of local union 4238 North Bessemer, was arrested by state troopers a few days ago, he ; Was addressing a miners’ relief meet- ing in the Orpheum Theatre, Me- Donald, Pa. Six state policemen were in the hall when the meeting started. They were armed with rifles and revolvers. The speakers urged the striking miners to violate the strike-breaking injunctions issued by corporation judges. He quoted the late Samuel Gompers on injunctions. Tho Gom- pers was a conservative labor leader Minerich stated, he agreed with him See |iNegal use of the murderous coal and iron police against the strikers. With one hand they give a loaf of bread to a striker’s child, while in the other hand is a gun pointed at the child’s \father. This is practically how the bankers give relief. Distributing Relief. i And but for the activity of the |Pennsylvania-Ohio Miners Relief Com- | mittee which is now giving relief to lever one hundred camps in Western | Pennsylvania and Ohio, the bankers | |would gcbble their delicacies without | a thought for the hungry men, women | jand children in the strikers’ barracks. | However it is not the relief given to \the strikers by the Pennsylvania {Ohio Miners Relief Committee that | spurred the bankers into a semblance ef action, but the propaganda that goes with the relief. The miners are ncouraged to violate the anti- ing injunctions, to go in hund' e the picket lines, to organiz Party, to agitate for a nation the organization of the uno i and other progressive polic that {would strengthen the union and make jof it a real fighting machine. That this propaganda is having effect has | }been proven by the action of the min- jers in Neffs, and Rush Run, Ohio and | in Coverdale, Daisytown, California | children | State Troopers Break Up Relief Meeting for Miners on his slogan: tions.” “To hell with injunc- Unlimber Guns. At this point the six troopers ad- vanced to the platform with their guns unlimbered. They ordered the meeting to disperse and placed the speaker under arrest. | The crdwd, which was estimated at | 500, left the hail expressing indig- |nation at the action of the state con- | stabulary. | Minerich was lodged in the Can- jonsburg city jail and several hours elapsed before the International Labor Defense, an organization which exists to protect the legal rights of workers arrested for activ- ity in the class struggle, was able to locate him. Finally‘ Released. At first the state police threatened to charge him with “inciting to riot” which draws a heavy sentence on con- viction. But anxious tho they were to put a temporary stop to Minerich’s activities in providing relief for the striking miners and their dependents and encouraging them to conduct the strike in a more militant and effec- tive manner, they finally were un- able to book him on a more serious charge than “disorderly conduct.” He was released by Justice McKnight of Houston on $25 bail, which was. fur- nished by a resident of Canonsburg. The Pennsylvania-Ohio Miners Re- lief Committee, with headquarters at 611 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa. | which is giving relief to over one hundred mining camps in Pennsyl- vania and Ohio, brands its chair- }man’s arrest as a part of the cam- |paign now being conducted by the coal operators thru their tools, the {state constabulary, to hinder the |work of the relief committee, with |the object of starving the strikers into submission. and forcing them to return to work on starvation wages. Chairman Minerich on his release from jail, declared that the Pennsyl- vania-Ohio Miners Relief Committee would continue giving relief and en- couraging the striking miners not to | allow strike-breaking injunctions is- | sued by coal company judges to stand in the way of victory. | In Dire Need. “Hundreds of thousands of union miners and their Wives and children are in dire need of food and clothing” he said. “The strike must continue until the bosses are forced to sur- render. If the strikers are provided | with the necessary food and clothing for themselves and their dependents | they will be in a position to hold out | Juntil victory is the Mass picket- | | | | | | \ing, instead of the few pitkets allow- | ed near the scab mines by the injune- tions, has proven an effective method | in shutting off the scab supply. The union must be saved at all costs for miners are forced to work under | gang. ‘This revolt is finding leader- |and Bentleyville, Pennsylvania, where | ‘yellow dog’ contracts they will be| ship and direction in the “Save the |hundereds of miners and sometimes | completely at the mercy Union Committee” of the miners union and thru its organ the “Coal Digger”, the first issue of which has | reached thousands of miners through- | out the U. M. W. of A. Lose Confidence in Machine. vonfidénce in Lewis, Murray, Fagun, and the rest of the payroll gang and | |their vomenfolk jevery day. An investigation of the strike situ- ation by a senatorial committee is al- most assured new. The anti-Mellon | picket the mines wing of the republican party will vote | zation exists, and where about 100,- | The striking miners have lost all |for it and mosttof the democrats, with |900 mine workers are dependent on} tbe exception of the “senators for ecal” will be glad for political reasons | tons * * * | BROWNSVILLE, Pa., Feb. 6. In the Connellsville coke revion and ‘other fields where no miners’ organi- the coal industry, thousands of the workers have worked in some of the are now turning to progressives and | tc make Mellon, the boss of the Cocl-|mines for from ten to thirty years. radicals like John Brophy, lowers! Hapgood, Alexander Howat, Pat Too- | hoy, Anthony Minerich, Vincent Ka- | i Menovitch in Pennsylvania and to Joseph Tumulty and several others in i Tlinois. The most farsigh'’ed of the coal eperators are visualizing the con- | Sequences that may follow, should the r ressives secure the leadership of the miners union and. they favor a mere conciliatory attitude towards she Lewis machine. A committee of Pittsburgh pankers last week organized a relief eommit- tee but left the work in the hands of a group of church social workers. As usual the princival activity of those people will be confined to headlines in the press and whatever relief will be} supplied by them, will be accompanied y propaganda urging the strikers to o back to work. Those bankers have 7 raised their voices against the 4 ideo nfortable, igation will, p by recom- | st’ in all probabili | mending reorga of the in- jdustry at the txpense of the miners. | Don't Need Investigation. The miners do not need an investi- gation. They know what is the mat- |ter with the coal indust The trouble is not too many miners. The trouble is too many par > coal |eperators. Their solution is nét to tnrow 300,000 mer out of the industry as John L. Lewis and secretary of | labor Davis so generously suggest, | but to organize the industry one hun- dred per cent and to reduce the work- jing day to six hours, thus giving employment to all the miners in the industry. The miners are working for this solution thru the “Save the Union Committee.” | Many of them have large families, |while others have sons and grand- sons working in the same mines. | The coal miners in the unorganized | ‘fields have, from time to time, suf- fered wage cuts. Here in the coke | region, at the beginning of 1925, the coal companies began to cut the min- ers’ wages, The Reiney Coal Com- pany, and the Hillman Company, who were the first to start the wage cuts, scale. Utilize British Strike. They were followed by other small coal operators, but a few weeks later the British miners’ strike began thus opening a market for American coal. Then the American companies took the opportunity to show how gen- erous they were by giving their work- ers a raise in wages. They operated under the 1920 scale. But the real IN BIG PARK AVE, if the the union is smashed and the! of the oper- tried to operate under the 1927 wage | | APARTMENT BLDG. | Superintendent Fired for Joining Union The eight employees of the fashionable 14 story apartment house at 1009 Park Avenue are out on strike today because Bing and Bing, owners of the apartment, discharged James Barrett, the superintendent of the ipartment, evidently because he was a member of the Building Service Em- vloyers Union. Early last week, all the employees of the building, consist- ing of two doormen, two elevator operators, two firemen, two porters and the building superintendent re- ceived notices from Bing and Bing, millionaire owners of 90 fashionable “$5,000 and up” apartment houses in the Park Avenue and West End dis- tricts, informing the workers that their services would be dispensed with for the good of the building. No reason was given for the action, nor could the workers imagine any, ex- cept the fact that they.were all mem- bers of the Building Service Em- ployees Union. Unable to do without them, the owners of the apartment house took the men back, but a few days later Barrett, the superintendent, was dis- charged again without any reason be-{ ing given. All the other workers at 1009 Park Avenue then struck as a protest against the unjust action. Picketing in front of the apartment is going on, and a letter to each apartment lessee in the building has been sent by the union, stating the case of the workers. For $85 a month the workers in Bing and Bing houses are forced to work 10 to 14 hours a day. On Thursday a vote for a gen- eral strike in all the apartments owned by Bing and Bing will be taken, unless the discharged superin- tendent is taken back. Bing and Bing, a huge real estate corporation, own some of the most expensive apartments in the city, no- tably on Park and West End Avenues. The apartment at 1009 Park Avenue brings in about $143,000 a year in rent to Bing and Bing, stated Mat- thew Fiore, agent of the union, while only $8820 is paid out in wages each ‘year to the workers in the building. ———————————y—————— purpose of this raise was not to improve the miners’ conditions but to have a comeback when they com- plained of extra work. Cheated On Pay. | In the first place, the diggers were forced to load the coal wagons with a hip up, which means that at least a half ton was loaded in each car without pay. In the second place, the miners were forced to work un- der more unbearable conditions. Yet if they protested they were told that they did not mention the fact that they were being paid extra. If they didn’t like it they were told to take their tools and get out. This condition kept the miners slav- ing until after the British strike. Wages were'‘again cut by the same companies and in November, 1927, they went as far as not paying timber, slatey water, and other dead Russian Film “Ivan the! Terrible” Artistic, Says Board of Review The Anikino Corporation which rep- resents Sovkino of Moscow in thc United States, has been informed by the National Board of Reivew of Mo- tion Pictures that Sovkino’s latest Eurépean success “Ivan the Terrible” (Wings of a Serf) has been unani mously selected by the Exceptional Photo-Play Committee of the Nation- al Board of Review as the outstanding | picture submitted to the committee | during the past year. The National | Board of Review places “Ivan the | Terrible” in the same artistic cate- gory as Potemkin. “Ivan the Terrible” is at present being exhibited in the first run houses in Paris and Berlin. Critics | of these two European capitals con- sider this picture one of the best ever presented on the screen. The Film Arts Guild will present the American premiere of the Sovkino film at the Cameo Theatre, Saturday, Feb. 25. “Ivan the Terrible” re- creates the life and times of the mad czar with all the eccentricities of his perverse personality. The background and atmosphere of the 16th century is retained and projected with a pow- erful touch. The character of Ivan is played by Leonidoff of the Moscow Art Players. PEOPLE’S SYMPHONY SPECIAL CONCERTS FOR WORKERS AND STUDENTS Starting this coming Friday eve- ning at the Washington Irving High School, 16th St. and Irving Pl., the People’s Sympohny Concerts offer a course of three Chamber concerts, and three artists’ recitals. Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Hughes in a two piano recital Feb. 10; Feb. 24 William Durieux, cellist; March 16 the Stringwood En- semble; March 23 Elly Ney, the well- known pianist; and April 20 the Den- ishewn School in a program of pan- tomimic interpretations. The total sum for these six concerts is $1.00 to students and workers. Course tickets can be purchased at the of- fiee of the People’s Symphony Con- certs, 82 Union Sq., and at the door Friday night. ===Screen Notes==||| “The Cohens and Kellys in Paris,” will be shown at the Colony Theatre beginning today. Alexander Markey, explorer and} writer, will shortly embark for New| Zealand with a staff to make a pie- | ture from an original story of the! Maoris. He will establish headquart- ers in New Zealand and plans to make his picture on the little known people in the South Sea Islands. | “Love Me and the World is Mine,” will be the screen presentation at the Roxy Theatre this week. .This is the first American production of | E. A. Dupont, the German director ‘work they were still paying on the 1920 scale. of “Variety.” Philbin and Norman Kerry head the cast.~ \ WW FOR 1. Organization of the unorgan- ized, Miners’ Relief. 3. Recognition and Defense of the Soviet Union. 4. A Labor Party. 6. A Workers’ and Farmers’ Government. | i NAME ADDRESS } OCCUPATION .,. | please check this box. 0 | UNEMPLOYED AND STRIKERS | and recelve dues exempt stamps un’ me a Fighting Party! Join the Workers (Communist) Party of America | Application for Membership in Workers (Communist) Party { (Fill out this blank and mail to Workers Party, 43 E. 125 St., N, Ved.) | If you are on strike or unemployed and cannot pay initiation fee | (Enclosed find $1.00 for initiation fee and one month’s dues.) AGAINST Injunctions. Company Unions. Unemployment. Persecution of the Foreign | Born. War. ADMITTED WITHOUT INITIATION til employed, | Winter Garden HELEN CHANDLER “The Silent play opening to- night at the Morosco Theatre. Heads the cast in House,” a new S. Moss’ Broadway Theatre, com- mencing Monday, will show George O'Brien in his new cinema, entitled “Sharp Shooters.” Lois Moran plays the heroine. Metro has acquired the motion pic- ture rights to the play, “Four Walls”, which recently completed a long run at the Golden Theatre. “Four Walls” is the work of Dana Burnet and George Abbott. “The Private Life of Helen of Troy” picturized from John Erskine’s novel, is staying a second week at the Cameo Theatre. Maria Corda and Lewis Stone are the featured players. “The Student Prince” will remain another week at the Capitol Theatre. “The Crowd,” the newest King Vidor production, will be shown on the Capitol sereen, beginning Saturday, February 11. Flood Relief Tangled. In Political .Web WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 6—A thorough canvas of the sentiment of administration members of congress | is said to have disclosed the hopeless- ness of solving the problem of pro- jtecting the Mississippi, Valley from the flood menace. The Whole issue of flood reliéf has evolved itself into a sectional and individual fight, with the political aspirations of several members of both houses exercising considerable influence. IMMIGRATION BAN AGAINST WORKERS SLATED TO GROW |Bill Would id Make New Restrictions | WASHINGTON, Feb. 6.—An_ ex- tension of the countries in the West- ern Hemisphere to come under the | restricted immigration laws is pro- ‘posed in a new bill-submitted to the senate by Senator Watson, republi Indiana. £ The bill is said to be particular’ imed at the immigrants from the atin American countries, especially | Mexico. | It provides for the admission of | 10,000 laborers from Canada and Mex- jico in the fiscal years 1929 and 1930, but the workers would be allowed to remain but six months, or until the |need for their labor was not so great. The bill also provides for preferred admission of aliens in whose behalf contract labor provisions in the im- migration acts have been waived. TO VOTE ON COLO. STRIKE TACTICS (Continued from Page One) claiming that directions and financial assistance have been received from Haywood in Moscow. Another rumor is the amazing fact that the Colorado strike was organized in Chicago over a year ago and this rumor is un- doubtedly part of the “valuable evi- dence” concerning the alien direction of the strike which is being investi- gated in Washington. Orr Case Forgotten. In the case of A. K. Orr, British subject taken from the Pueblo jail and beaten over two months ago, no action has been taken as yet, despite wires from the state department in Washington to Governor Adams ask- ing why he had not reported the acci- dent. What kind of a report can be expected is seen in the calling of Lewis Scherf, chief killer in the re- preparing the report. * ** EDITORS NOTE: This proposal of changing the strike to a strike on the job is an old tactic of the I. W. W. leaders long criticized by mili- tant workers, and means virtually the calling off of the strike. Many militants among the strikers who have been in favor of mass picket- ing are opposed to this move which offers ax excuse for giving up the struggle and returning to work. Eves. 8:30. Mats. Thurs. & Sat. 2:30, WORLD'S LAUGH SENSATION! Artists * Models t WriruRoP AMES presents JOH?*, GaLSWORTHY’S: ESCA P E “nowsnn® BOOTH "Yet; W. 45S8t. Evs. 8:40 Mats, Sat. & Wed. Th.,W.44 St.Bvs. Broadhurst {isweaesaura pifeaw anceetee ts ue $s 7 OF VENICE Race. 0 0 B way, 46 St. Evs. 8.30 Mats, Wed. &Sat. 2.30 “BETTER THAN THE BAT” | ERLANGER’ Ss Thea. W, 44 st, pies THE MERRY MALONES - with GEORGE M. ComaAN 41 St. way 0, Mts. Wed.. abn 2:30 “The Til of Mary Dagan with gAnn Harding-Rex Cherryman ne | Dugan” | — The Theatre Guild presenta —~ PORGY Th., W. 42d. Evs.8>: 4 Republic jrats WeaaSat.2 EUGENE O'NEILL'S Marco Millions a | Th., W. 52d St. Evs, 8:30 Guild yyats. Thurs. & Sat. 2:30 Matinee Wednesday ‘he Doctor’s Dilemma” +O Neil's chem» Strange Interlude John Golden 'Thea., 58th, Evenings Only at 5 Eugene Th , 424, W. of HARRIS Bway, Eve, 8:80. Mats. Wed. & Sat. LOVELY LADY with Edna Leedom & Guy Robertson. MUSIC AND CONCERTS AMERICAN OPERA COMPANY ist N. Y. SEASON, SUNG IN ENGLISH GALLO eas Eves, 8:20. Mats, 2120, of B PH COL, 1140, Bright far been strictly | Lawson fe one of | wrights of this country, “Mr. Lawson has picked out a fj | Tickets on Sale Now at Daily Worker, | 108 E. 14th St.—10” Discount. | THE INTERNATIONAL BY JOHN HOWARD LAWSON Author of “Processional” | “an honest and courageous attempt to treat a subject which thus taboo in the American bourgeois theatre... . mast vital and The play is worth seeing.” biggest that a playwright could choose” “Deserves the attention of those interested in 00d, plays well off | the beaten track of the triangle and its possibilities.” DON’T MISS IT—GET TICKETS NOW! The New Playwrights Theatre 36 COMMERCE -ST.—PHONE WALKER 5851. 8 Blocks South on 7th Ave. CLOSING FEBRUARY i1. advanced of the younger play- —DAILY WORKER. big theme—in fact just about the WEEKLY PEOPLE. —TELBGRAPH, Subway from Sheridan Sq. cent massacres, to Denver to aid in 5