The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 9, 1928, Page 2

‘| must see its contradictions, 1, fn ides Page Two THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1928 Membe USSR STANDARDS HIGH, DELEGATES TELL 900 WORKERS ' Contrast USSR Work-| ers’ Advantages PITTSBURGH, Pa., Feb. 8.—Speak- ing before an audience of 900 workers at Carnegie Music Hall, John Brophy, E. P. Cush and Ed Romese, returned members of the Trade Union Delega- tions to Soviet Russia, vividly por- trayed conditions as they found them in the first workers’ and farmers re- public, Cush was greatly impressed by the spirit of the Russian workers and the wonderful receptions accorded the delegation. He noticed new houses and improvements going up thruout the country. In some places whole new towns have been built up, he said. He portrayed the splendid working conditions and the many advantages enjoyed by the Ri ian worker and stated that the Ru n workers’ in- terest in building up industry and in- ereasing production thru the installa- tion of modern machinery proved that the Soviet government had the overwhelming support of the workers. Brings Laughter. After illustrating each point, Cush would state “Just like we have it in the coal mining camps here” which provoked considerable laughter. He wound up his talk saying that he left the United States 62 years old and returned 62 years young. Romese described conditions in the coal industry in Russia and stated that what impressed him most was the keen look of contentment he found on the faces of the workers, the extraordinary precautions to safe- guard the lives of the workers and the many clubs he found thruout the coal fields to care for their physical and cultural needs. These clubs con- tain libraries, gymnasiums, shower baths, dramatic clubs, recreation rooms, etc. Tells of Soviet. Brophy reviewed the events which led to the overthrow of the ezar and brought out that a few Bolshevik leaders with a small party having the support of the masses established the Soviet government. Altho wages in dollars were not as high as that of the American workers, Brophy stated that the Russian workers have a much higher standard of living than mere wages can indicate, considering that rent for the workers is free, food is sold cheaply at the cooperatives, medical attention is free, and a month’s vacation and unemployment | insurance is furnished the workers. | New Voting Machines | | Fat Bosses Must Climb Stairs While St rikers Picket Palaces rs of Labor Delegation Bring Soviet Workers’ Message to Pittsburgh ¢ rx Wealthy capitalists of the “biue-blood” district are walking up and down stairs and even opening doors for themselves while the employees of the big Bing and Bing apartment house, 1000 Park Ave., are striking because of the unjust dismissal of the building superintendent. A general strike of all the building service employes of all Bing and Bing houses will be called today if the superintendent has not been reinstated. “LABOR” PAPER SEEN AS A FAKE Merchant Write-ups Fill Sheet (Special to The Daily Worker) OGDENSBURG, Feb. 8. The New York State Labor Leader, a so- called labor paper which announces it- self as “A trade union journal de- voted to the principles and interests of the American Federation of Labor in general, state-wide and locally,” in- formation discloses, is a common swindle upon workers and merchants of this city and other cities of this section. The publication office is giv- en as Cohoes, N. Y. It has operated its scheme locally, also. Careful inquiry has failed to dis- close what if any labor organizations are supporting the journal. It pub- lishes practically no labor news. On the contrary it is filled almost exclu- sively with short write-ups, posing as news items, of numerous business houses in various cities. These write- ups are of the most eulogistic and misleading character. No mention is made of the fact that these items are all paid for by the merchants, are in fact advertisements; the difference be- ing that the reader is led to believe that they are straight news. Voting machines will be used all} In an enclosed box on the first page is printed the following illumin- (Continued from Page One) tivity cf Paul Reiss, “Daily” agent in that district. New readers have al- |so been obtained in Philadelphia, Bos- ton, Detroit, Chicago, Denver and oth- er western cities. That the new attack against The DAILY WORKER and its editors may be expected at any moment has been learned in the same way that The DAILY WORKER has constantly kept informed of the steps which the federal authorities have been con- cocting to stifle the voice of militant labor in the United States. Unmasked Militarists. The plan to railroad the three Com- munists now out on bail to a federal penitentiary is the fruit of the col- laboration of the American capitalists with several patriotic societies whose activities had previously been exposed in the columns of The DAILY WORKER as the tools of American capitalism. The Keymen of America and the Military Order of the World War, whose henchman, Captain George L. Darte, has a leading role in piecing together of a case against The DAILY WORKER and its editors on the pal- | pably fictitious charge of misusing the United States mails, are again at their old game. The rising tide of militant Amer- ican labor is threatening the secur- over Queens borough next November | ating item: “Labor will find here a|ity of the American capitalists and at the presidential election, it was | list of Business Friends who will in-| they are prepared to go to any lengths learned yesterday. This will be the|sure them a square deal and fair! in their alarm and to use any meth-| first time these machines have been | used anywhere in Queens. treatment when making purchases. We invite cooperation for success.” ods to smother the only English daily paper which can give expression to! ‘Connect American Fascists With New Attack on “Daily” the demands of the progressive ele- ments among the American workers. Exorbitant fines, thousands, of dol- lars spent in costly litigation forced on The DAILY WORKER by the bosses and their militarist henchmen, and long years of imprisonment for the Communist leaders who dare to give expression and direction to the needs of the American working class, are part of the program of repres- sion which the capitalists in America believe that they can carry out. United Effort Will Save Them. Only the united effort of the mili- tant American labor can defeat them and save The DAILY WORKER from destruction at the hands of its ene- mies, and its editors from living burial in the cells of Atlanta or some other federal penitentiary. The American capitalists have timed their blow to fall at the mo- ment when they felt most able to destroy The DAILY WORKER and the militancy of the American work- ers. They do not reckon with the re- sistance that they will meet from every section. of the militant labor movement in this country. They do not realize that while they are plan- ning to draw the net closer around The DAILY WORKER and Dunne, Miller and Bittelman, the militant American workers are bending every energy to save The DAILY WORKER a suppression and its editors from jail. Dunne, Miller and Bittelman are free today but their rearrest is a certainty within the near future, CONFERENCE OF MINERS CALLED FOR PITTSBURGH Penn. Miner Tells of Marching Strikers That an injunction against picket- ing issued 20 years ago is still being used against the striking miners in Butler county, Pennsylvania, was dis- closed by Amedeo Sabitini, 19-year- old miner, who left New York for Pittsburgh las night to attend a united conference for miners’ relief there. He has been aiding in relief work here. Sabitini will return to New York in time for the city-wide conference called by the Pennsylvania-Ohio-Colo- rado Miners’ Relief Committee for Saturday afternoon, Feb. 18, (not this Saturday afternoon, as was erroneous- ly stated in yesterday’s DAILY WORKER) at the Labor Temple, 244 East 14th street. ternational Relief is co-operating with this committee. 300 on March. When 800 pickets marched to the Whitelaw mine in Butler county, he said, the sheriff, accompanied by the entire company D of the state con- stabulary, equipped with a threaten- ing array of machine guns and gas bombs, stopped them. “Then they read the injunction,” he continued. “It was dated 20 years back. But I guess they’d use anything and do anything to break our strike. “We had to turn back that time. But we'll go again and when we do there won’t be hundreds of us but thousands!” Laud Committee Work. Since the office of the Pennsyl- vania-Ohio-Colorado Miners’ Relief Committee, 799 Broadway, New York City, has informed various strike areas of Western Pennsylvania of the impending city conference for min- ers’ relief, word has been received daily from one or another of the mining towns, felicitating the com- mittee on its work in their behalf, according to Fannie Rudd, secretary of the local relief organization. The attention of the striking miners is focussed on New York and the ac- tivities of the proposed conference, she declared. The purpose of the City Conference is to extend the scope of the activity and activize more organizations in relief work. Several striking miners, including Sabitini, will tell the story of the effect of the strike in their re- spective districts and of the spirit of determination which animates the strikers in their struggle. A wife of a striking miner will present the story of the women’s work in the strike, especially about the newly formed women’s auxiliaries of the United Mine Workers of America. Several striking miners’ children prob- ably will be brought here from the strike areas, “It is the purpose of the Pennsyl- vania-Ohio-Colorado Miners’ Relief The Workers’ In-} Royal Rowdy | | j | | Archduke Leopold of Austria who participated in a brawl recently at the fashionable Beaux Arts Ball at the Hotel Astor. His aide-de-camp, Captain Teodore Gruellnieyer was thrashed for his alleged misconduct towards the women present, YOUNG WORKERS FACING CRISIS Buro Meet Discusses War Danger ized young worke, for leadership’ in organized straggle. Militarization Intensified. Referring to the new army budget and the huge naval appropriations, Zam pointed out that this campaign of militarization had not called forth a corresponding response from the large masses of young workers. He further described the steps being taken by the League to meet this in- creased . militarization, as indicated by recent demonstrations at the navy yards in Brooklyn, Boston and Phila- delphia_in opposition to the sending of marines to Nicaragua. Zam stressed in order of their im- portance the task of defending the Soviet Union, defeating American imperialist aggressions and the pre- paration of the wide masses of young workers for the coming war. League Will Meet Tasks. Zam closed his report with the statement that the participation of the League in the struggles ahead would definitely strengthen and broaden the League and result in the drawing of hundreds of militant young workers into the organization. \, The enlarged buro meeting will ire} include reports on the coal ining campaign; on mass activity of the League and bridge organiza- tions, by Will Herberg; on “Organ- izational Stability of the League,” by Nat Kaplan, and on “The Sports foe of the League,” by Jack Stone. ooo Committee that every trade union and workers’ organization of whatever na- 2 Prat CHICAGO WORKERS IN NEW QUARTERS “Bring a Book,” Slogan for Dance Saturday CHICAGO, Feb. 8.—The Workers’ School of Chicago is celebrating its removal to new and better head- quarters with a dance this Saturday evening. In addition to the new headquarters the school also boasts an enlarged curriculum and a greater teaching staff. Among the courses offered at the opening of the semester, on Monday, were the His- tory of the American Labor Move- ment, Labor Journalism, Historical Materialism, Research, English, His- tory and Problems of the Youth Movement, League Training Course, Imperialism, Political Economy, Fune- tionaries Training Course, and Ele- ments of Communism. Two new teachers in the school are Carl Haessler and Leland Olds. The weekly Workers’ School Open Forum will be held every Sunday evening, 8 p. m., at 2021 West Division Street. Carl Haessler, who has just returned from the Soviet nion will speak on “The Wovtters’ epublic in Action” at the forum this week. All comrades are urged to come to the dance and remember the slogan, “Bring a Book,” to help build the new workers’ school library. MILITANT WAVE IN MINERS UNION Progressives Mobilizing for Fight (Continued from Page One) wage cut, has brought a new wave of militancy. Many formerly conservative miners are now denouncing the Lewis mach- ine. The younger elements are openly for a renewal of the fight in sup- port of the striking districts. The next few weeks are expected to bring an intensification of the struggle to win the strike on all fronts. Blame Operators For Terrible Con- ditions. WASHINGTON, Feb. 8.—Operators are to blame for the “deplorable con- ditions” in the Pennsylvania soft coal fields, Representatives Casey of Pennsylvania and La Guardia of New York, charged in the House today. They demanded a congressional in- vestigation of the bituminous strike. Casey declared that the Pittsburgh Coal.Company, “A Mellon concern, ture be represented by two delegates at the conference, is chiefly to blame for the terrible conditions.” Jay Lovestone Discusses “Prosperity” in Talk at Workers Party Plenum f THIRD INSTALMENT | (Continued From Yesterday’s DAILY | WORKER) “A few words about the question of the payment and the transfer of reparations. The Dawes Plan vitally affects every American working man. This year will see the beginning of the maximum payments of one and one-half billion gold marks annually by Germany in Dawes reparations. | What has been happening since 1924 is the following. The maximum pay- ments have not been due and Ameri- ean imperialism has been feeding Ger- man capitalism with a gold spoon. There are more than two Dbilli American dollars already invested } German industries. In the iast re-| sort the payment of these debts must | be in manufactured coramodities. A} large portion of the payments will come in gold. Now, what does that} mean for the creditor countries? 1i| the payments come in gold, in the} ereditor countries also operating on a} gold basis, the tendency will be to-) wards higher prices. If the payment: | is made in commodities it means an) undermining in production in the} ereditor countries. An undermining, of production in creditor country like the U. S. means unemployment, wage! cuts, worsened working conditions for) the proletariat. | “Ration on has been at one time the basie force in making for American prosperity. However, when we examine rationalization we must examine it not in a static sense, but dynamically and dialectically and There \ are definite stages and effects of rationalization. In the first stage of \ rationalization on a mass scale in the \U. S. the tendency was for increased offi employment in certain basic indus- tries, but in its second stage, nation- adm \ization develops to such a degree and fort \assumes such a quality that it tends Pare to throw out hundreds of thousands wf workers through the very increase if efficiency. In 1926 American capi- = Jalism ovine with four hundred less workers commodities ' | building trades, having a value of two and a half bill- ion dollars more than in 1923. Some of these workers thrown out from the manufacturing industries went into the distributive process. But now we are viewing rationalization in these industries also; it means that ra- tionalization here will throw out these workers who were rushed into the dis- tributive processes en mass as a re- sult of rationalization in the produc- e industries. “Let me read you what the Depart- mont of Labor, the chief of the bureau of labor statistics, says in estimating the effects of Americ m efficiency on the werkers during the last year. Mr. Ethelbert Stewart siys: “‘The year just closed has been a fair average year in industry with nothing stertling along any line. Outside of the strongly organized industries, such as those in the the tendency of wages has been slightly down- ard... . “‘The production per man per hour is tremendously on the in- crease. If the difference between man power and the manufacturing industries was 400,006 between 1923 and 1925, with the increase in pro- duction something over $3,000,000,- 000 it is safe to say that with an in- crease of probably %2,099,000,990 more in 1926 and $2,000,000,000 more in 1627, the number of men employed has been reduced by 10 per cent. “‘The question which everybody was asking in 1927 was: How is the reduced employment going to buy the increased output? (Rationali- zation spells increased output). 1927 did not answer the question, and let us hope it will be as success- fully sidestepped in 1928. Goods were sold: installment buying is probably the answer. “ ‘There is no limit to installment buying. The trouble will come with installment collection. . . . “Installment buying is a make- shift. It can only be maintained by mainfaining the fullest volume of employment at the highest rate of wages. Only human beings buy, horse-power has power... .’ “And Francis Jones, Director Gen- eral of the Employment Service of the Department of Labor, has said in part: “‘Owing to the increased intro- duction of labor-saving machinery, considerable labor will be dis- placed.” “Especially in the basic industries which .previously were sources of prosperity is the outlook for the work- ers bad. In the industries which have been weak, such as coal, oil, textile, the outlook for the workers is even no purchasing worse. These factors are making for the contraction of thé domestic mar- kets which is 90 per cent of the whole American market. | “Let us examine the eighth factor f a basic character undermining erican capitalist prosperity. When speak of these factors, I do not peak of temporary, periodical fac- rs, I speak of deep-going organic fhanges in American capitalist econ- my. The trend of prices: Here we ve conflicting forces. Surplus credits tend in a capitalist society to bring on higher prices. Mass pro- duction and efficiency tend to bring lower prices, But even the price de- cline does not mean the improvement of the standard of living of the work- ers. Why? First of all, big capital continues to dominate; secondly, with a decline in prices there tends to fol- low unemployment, wage cuts, and all other manifestations which are in- herent evidence of a depression. Thirdly, we must keep in mind the fact that the rate of decline of retail | Prices is always slower thanethe rate of decline of wholesale prices and is considerably slower than the rate of decline in wages. The fact of the matter is that in recent months retail prices have increased while’ wages have been decreasing. “The last basic foree making fer fundamental changes in American economy is the critical agricultural situation. Agricultural Comparisons. “The capitalist experts have been making a lot of noise about the fact a 2 that in 1927 the crop value was six j hundred thirty-five million dollars above the crop value of 1926. Here we must remind the workers of a saying about figures and statisticians. Why don’t the bourgeoisie compare the crop values of 1927 with 1925, with 1924, and they will find that 1927 “had a total crop value less by a half billion dollars than in 1925, end less by a billion dollars in 1924. Neither year was a startlingly pros- perous year, a banner year for the farmers, jap “Secondly, the farmers do not pro- duce only crops. They also have ani- mal products. ‘f we examine the total value of crops and animal prod- ucts we will find that it is less in 1927 than in 1926 by six hundred mil- lion dollars. One ean juggle figures easily, but one cannot hide realities, Supposing even that the farmers got this 635 million dollars. It would mean an increase in retail trade of Jess than 2 per cent, which is in- significant. Besides, most of this money went to bankers for old debts. The basic reason for the acute crisis in American agricultural economy is to be found in the so-called ‘scissors’ problem--the gap between highly de- veloped tthnical mass production and efficiency’ in industrial economy, and the relatively low development in ag- ricultural economy. We speak only relatively. But lot us suppose eapital- ism will introduce rationalization as some are now beginning to do in ag- riculture. Does that mean prosper- ity for the farmers? Within the last 7 years the net loss of farm popula- tion through migration was at least three million. If there should be in- ‘troduced rationalization the bour- 'gecisie would succeed in driving more} farmers off the farms and expropri- lating the farmers at a greater rate |than they are now being expropriated, ‘It is a fact that at about two out of every three American farms is ejther heavily mortgaged or tenants. “And the president of the Farm |Bureau Federation, a very reaction. jary organization, was compelled tc declare that in the ‘pi agri- cultural year of 1927, the number of forced sales and defaults of farms due to delinquent taxes, foreclosure of mortgages, bankruptcies, etc., reached nearly 28 per thousand, the highest level on record. Obviously, the prosperity of the country is not existent in so far as the agricultural masses are concerned and the critical condition of agriculture continues to ke a basic force for a deep-going de- | pression in the United States. “We must say a word about the differences in the effects of the world war oh European economy and on American economy. In so far as American economy is concerned, the world war proved a powerful lever, a powerful precipitant for rationaliza- tion, for increase in efficiency of pro- duction. The American bourgeoisie have had no real problem of stabili- jzation, like the Europeans, but only in a narrow sense, actually no sta- bilization. Our bourgeoisie had a problem of readjustment. With Euro- pean capitalism the war brought dis- ruption in economy, some rationali- zation and partial stabilization. | “Let vs also in speaking of de- the welfare, on the standards of Iiy- ing of the workers. ‘But American capitalism is still powerful enough to weather such a basic depression as we have without its being immedi- ately noticeable in mass misery. If France or Germany or Great Britain were to have such marked declines in industry as America has been hav-, ing, the crisis in its effects would be far more acute than in this coun-/ try. “Finally, what is in sight? It ean- not as yet be said that we are facing! an immediate, deep-going crisis. But it must be emphasized that the con-| tinuous development of the inner con- tradictions make inevitable this deep- going crisis for American capitalism soon. The productive capacities are far in excess of the domestic market. The developing crisis is not merely of | a temporary, cyclical character, but is of a fundamental character. The bottom of the present depression has not yet been reached. More wage cuts, more speed-up, more uncmploy- ment are coming to us, But we should not develop a dis- ease with which we once suffered in | pressions ask ourselves this question. | | Well, do you mean to say that we crisis, the collapse, to be around the America, where we expected the final | will not have prosperity again, in the | corner every time unemployment in- | United States? Didn’t we have a de- | pression in 1924? And then it endei , Yes, we may have an end to this de- reased in volume. American capital- ism still has tremendous resources and reserve powers to stay this crisis, {very dangerous for the, ‘arty to over- estimate. the basic, ghe fundamental strength of Am capitalism. We here point out certain basic, funda- mental organic contradictions in American capitalism which gnaws at the very vitals of American imperi- alism. We enumerate merely: “One The large excess productive capacity, “Two: The deepening fundamental critical condition of agriculture, “Three: The superabundance of credit. “Four: Intensive installment buy- ing, which is really intensive over- selling. “Five: Derangement in certain basic industries such as coal, oil, tex- tiles. “Six: Rapid development of great international cartels. “Seven: Dependence of American capitalism on other imperialist pow- ers for certain basic materials like rubber, tin, ete, “Bight: Increasing export of capi- tal creates a problem for American imperialism in the final repayment of commodities and puts in the fore- front the problem of tariff, puts in the forefront the weakening of do- mestic markets and involves funda- mental changes making for the sharp- © ening of antagonisms and contradie- pression in a short time. We may to counteract certain effects of the tons in capitalist economy in the still have and we certainly will have ups and downs in the curve of capi- talist development, but we must clearly notice certain basic differ- ences between the depression of 1924 and the depression which we have today. In 1924 stabilization in Eur- ope was in a different stage. Amer- ican rationalization then had a dif- ferent effect than it has today. In. 1927 we have the competitive stage of European capitalist rationalization which is no longer a stimulant but a competitive force for American econ- omy. | “Secondly, the contradictions of American capitalist, rationalization ae today so intensely developed that they have a very on 4 can increase, it can intensify its ex- ploitation of Latin-America. It can resort to still further rationalization, particularly in the distributive pro- cess, Electrificatfon and electric pow- er can serve as still more powerful forces for strengthening American im- perialism. “Also, there are certain artificial methods often resorted to by the bourgeoisie which by themselves have only a temporary effect, but when applied continuously over a period of vears have an effect which is not to be discounted lightly. I refer, for instance, to the role of the Federal Reserve Bank. “It ia our opinion that it would be ‘erisis on economy. For instance, it Wnited States. Obviously. the very contradictions make for an aggressive policy. Hence, Nicaragua, Hence, the Hoevana conference. That explains the speeches of Admiral Plunkett and other admirals about impending war with England. We say, no. over-es- timation of the strength pf American capitalism. American Aapitalism {s is symbolized most effectively in the existence of the Soviet Union, which is a dagger at the heart of interna- tional capitalist economy, not only in Burope but even in all-powerful Wall Street. (To Be Continued.)