The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 11, 1928, Page 2

THE DAYLY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1978 | Connect National Republican Committee With $3,000,000 Oil Graft Bonds SEN ATE PROBERS Gm Company’s Neglect on eines af | EX-CONGRESSM AN Starved Employes; Spent meee “4 Women SM ALL REN AMES AVOID QUESTIONS Fj pe HPRAISES COURTS; jar , %' | SMITH SENATOR ABOUT W. HARDING jx IN SOVIET UNION DESPITE PROTEST Another Vital Witness Rank and File Member Magnate Was Rejected Disappears Ridicules Axtell for Slush Fund Use Rise Snake of aed aes a SPRINGFIELD, Tll., Feb. 10. — || making a better record for themselves Frank L. Smith, the Illinois million- \than the courts in any other country . pay lin the world, and Silas Axtell’s. scoff- aire who was denied admission by the ing statements are entirely without Senate because of the corrupt and. il- foundation,” declared Ernest Lun- legal primary and election, has handed in his resignation for the disputed deen, prominent lawyer and ex-con- ifth distri " Pimps push rude iets seat, and has been appointed by Gov- ‘ ernor Len Small to succeed himself Minnesota who returned on the Beren- garia yesterday, the last of the rank for the, duration of the unexpired term. Smith announced\that he would and file trade union delegation to leave Russia. Has Visited Courts. be a candidate in the republican prims “I had heard that Axtell said the aries for the senatorial primaries j which Governor Smith has called for ‘April ,10, and also in the senatorial Barsian courts ware a ioke and coo] ANT CTRIKE LAW HARD WORK WITH IS LOSING FAVOR TELEPHONE BOOKS isc" nwnatn ; ; WASHINGTON, Feb. 10.—The sen- ate committee on public lands inves- tigating the Teapot Dome oil ruption s nding it daily void bringing the| 1 committee itself m of the Contin- 3,000,000 oil deal cor- Students and teachers of the De Witt Clinton High School were suffering Thursday from inhalation of gas fumes which had seeped into the school building as a result of the negligence on the part of the Consolidated Gas Company while dismantling an old gas tank. Various complaints had been made but the gas company went right on despite the fact that the weather has been damp recently, thus preventing the gas from becoming dispelled. All windows on the west side of the building were kept tightly shut but the fumes were so strong that three students were overcome and two teachers, Mildred Wincor and May Condon, were forced to give up teaching for the day, The three students are here shown studying in the open to clear their heads from fumes. Two of them are Sidney Broder and Max Whitman. republican n into its investigat bonds. To suggestions that it find out how much of the $3.000,000 the republican national committee took to pay of: ythe expenses of Harding’s election in * 1920, members of the committee an- swered yesterday that some specific eharge must be made before they may consider such evidence. Such an in- quiry at this time would not be “proper” for this reason, committee members say. Trace Part of Bonds. Evidence is believed available that ' N. Y. Apartment House Strike apres tiaman ances) May Spread; 5 Locals to Vote fellow committeemen experienced dif- | | Sebastian S. Kresge, multimillionaire five and ten-cent store owner, lavised the wealth he squeezed from the starvation wages of his girl employes and the quantities of cheap goods he sells workers thruout the country, on women friends. His wife, who makes these meet any man who makes statements like that on any public platform and prove that his statements cannot be substantiated. He couldn’t have any facts to back him up, because they are all against him,” he declared. Lundeen said that he visited courts siderable inverest that 1 visited the courts there. Now I am ready to ja candidate for renomination and. ~ | election will be filed next week. The senate denied Smith admission on two occasions because of charges that a huge slush fund both in the Criticism Shows How !|Donnelly Takes Advant- Arbitration Works age of Workers fieulty in paying off the $2,000,000 debt of the republican party jter Harding’s election. Part of these bonds have been traced from Harry S. Sinclair to Al- hert B. Fall, the former Harding-Cool- idge secretary of the interior. * * * Will Quiz John D. WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 10.— In addition to John D. Rockefeller, Jr., several clerks employed by the New York branch of the Dominion Bank of Canada and Wayne O'Neil, son of James EF. O’Neil, will appear before the senate Teanot Dome graft investigating committee tomorrow morning. The Contirental Trading Co. did its banking with the Dominion bank. James FE. O’Neil is “vacation- ing” abroad to avoid testifying about the $800,090 slice he received of the over-night profits of the Continental Trading Co. Rockefeller will be asked to tell what part the Standard Oi] Company of Indiana nlaved in the Continental dep]. He will also be questioned about ernversations he had with Robert W. Stewart, who refuses to make any statement before the committee. Stev may be foreed to resign his ehairmanship of the Indiana Company to save the face of Standard Oil. Action of this sort is usually not taken without advantages to the per- son involved. * ° ° WASHINGTON, Feb. 10.—Wayne O’Neil, sen of James E. O'Neil, who received $800,000 of the Continental Trading Comany’s Liberty Bond “slush fund,” has fled to Europe, Jesse D. Moore, U. S. marshal at Brooklyn, today reported to the sen- ate’s Teapot Dome committee. O’Neil was subpoenaed last week beyause W. S. Fitzpatrick, chairman of the Prairie Oil and Gas Company, testified that the vouth had been cus- tedian of his father’s share of the Continental bonds. | to picketing the apartment house. At a meeting of the Building Serv- ice Employes’ Union Local 658 Thursday night to decide whether the strike should be made into a gen- eral strike affecting the 600 union | workers in all the apartment houses owned by Bing and Bing, the owners of 1009 Park Ave., the sentiment of the membership was overwhelmingly in favor of a general strike. Altho the meeting was called for the pur- pose of taking a general strike vote, |the union officials backed down when jthe rank and file showed that its | sentiment favored a general strike. R. | Fiore, the business agent of Local 58, |opposed the wish of the membership, |and forced the vote to be deferred un- til a general meeting of all four New York Building Service locals is held, The membership then voted to hold a al meeting of all four Building Service locals in New’ York. 5 Locals to Vote. This meeting, at which Window Queens Local 62, the superintendents’ Local 82 and the Manhattan local of the Building Service Employes’ Un- ion will be represented, will take place next Friday. About $2,000 was raised at the meeting Thursday night among the rank and file for the support of the workers of the 1009 Park Ave. apart- ment house, The workers at the apartment house, which rents at $5,000 and up, suddenly received notices of discharge early last week from Bing and Bing, millionaire real estate owners, with over 90 apartment houses in the so- called “blueblood” Park Ave. and ; West End districts. A 14-Hour Day. No reason was given and the work- ers could imagine none except their membership in the Building Service Employes’ Union. When the wealthy tenants found themselves helpless, the FIFTH INSTALLMENT. (Continued from yesterday.) “As a movement the labor pai has gained in recent months. is is due to tl.e economic and political de- fiderable sentiment in cert sections of the country for the lal party, but we must at all times distinguish between sentiment and organizatio “The trade union bureaucracy is working overtime in trying to hinder the development of a labor party. For example, the resolutions adopted in Florida at the last meeting of the executive council of the A. F. of L. Today, the trade union bureaucracy politically is even far to the right of what it was when it half-heartedly pretended to support LaFollette. “While we work energetically to mush the labor party as the next dicwerd step in the development of the American workers politically, we ‘must keep in mind very distinctly the “1, We must never forget in all the phases of the labor party campaign that our fundamental task is to utilize this campaign for the building of the Workers (Commun- ist) Party into a mass party. “2, Our aims should be to af- filiate the trade unions and other labor organizaticns with the labor party and to draw the individual militant workers into the Workers (Communist) Party. "| “43. We must at all times main- tain our organization independence, our freedom of criticism, our press | end literature. We must initiate | our own campaign in the name of | the Workers (Communist) Party | and endeavor to secure the indorse- | ment of the labor party for these | campaigns, rare, | We must earry on system- atic agitation and propaganda cam- paigns amongst the members of the labor party and systematic recruit- ing campaigns to win the best ele- ments as members of our Party.’ | “We say to the comrades in those The employees of the palatial apartment house at 1009 Park Ave. who | are out on strike in protest against the dismissal of James Barrett, the build- \ing superintendent, because Barrett was a union man, continued yesterday Cleaners’ Local 8, Brooklyn Local 15,! fact that the labor party is not a ‘districts where the labor party has 2 d and most .| some mass basis today, that they os Abeta That a ‘ene pee should never allow the Workers cannot be an agency for seizing power Party to be a recruiting ground for FF Re ARR EaABRE REI se ER hae: E men were taken back. But a few days later Barrett, the superintendent, was discharged. All the men then went | out in sympathy as a protest. The employes of the 90 millionaire apartments owned by Bing and Bing are forced to slave 10 to 14 hours a day for $85 a month, Recognition Refused. Yesterday Bing and Bing offered to confer with Fiore, the union’s busi- ness agent, as an individual, but re- fused to meet a committee of the strikers. This Fiore refused, Offers on the part of Peter Doyle, of the state labor department to mediate with the owners also have been re- jected by Bing and Bing. Fiore com- plained at the meeting Thursday that Vice-President Nicholsen of the Build- ing Service International has been negotiating with Bing and Bing with- out consulting officials of Local 58, which is conducting the strike. Beck Is Seated WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, — The House election committee yesterday voted 6 to 3 to seat James M. Beck as Representative. from Pennsylvania. Beck was accused of being a non-resi- dent of the Philadelphia district in which he ran, and it was charved that he leased’ an apartment in Philadel- phia especially for the purpose of run- ning on the republican ticket for the office. Beck was solicitor general un- der the Harding administration, and he has also been mentioned in the Vare election fraud case. Kent of Pennsylvania charged that the elec- tion commit-ee’s action yesterday was a step towards the “rotten” borough system of England, under which a res- ident of one district may be elected from a far-distant section which he has never even seen. Opponenis of Beck have promised a fight against him from the House floor. nominated wherever we have suffi- cient support and especially where the trade unions are weak. “In drawing up demands in the labor party campaign we must care- fully avoid having such demands which can be realized only through the establishment of the proletarian dictatorship, only through a revolu- tion. The Workers Party must al- ways be in the labor campaign. But at as the conscious and militant force of the working class. Our influence as such is far in excess of our num- bers, and therefore we must appear in the 1928 elections, whether a labor party movement is developed or not, as that party most deserving of the support of the workers. | The Situation in the Labor Moyement. “}egaraing UheSituauon in the la- bor movement. Important changes have occurred in the position of the working class in recent years. There was a marked development townrds homogeneity with the beginning of the} World War. The gap between the skilled and unskilled declined. The shutting off of immigration, the levelling wage process, the in- creasing strike-breaking role of the government, have served as forces for the Workers Party must be pointed | all over Russia, the People’s, District and Supreme Courts, and was struck by the rapidity with which cases are disposed of, quite unlike the clog- ging of court calendars in this coun- try. Pro.eedings Simple. “The entire proceedings are simple, sympathetic. The judges themselves ask most of the questions, and they get to the heart of the issue quicker than in any court I know. The judges are experienced and learned in lav,” he said. Lundeen, who served in the Spun- ish-American War in his boyhood, investigated the Red Army barracks with keen interest. As soon as the soldiers learned that he came fr 1 America, the officers immediately stopped their drill, ranks were broken, and about 1,000 soldiers surrounded him with demands for a speech. “That evening I visited some army officers. They suggested that we go to the circus. I wasn’t over-keen about going to a circus, since my stay in Russia was so short, but I agreed since the others were so insistent. For Peace, Not War. “The ‘circus’ they took me to, was a huge round building, somewhat like an armory, It was crowded to the roof with soldiers. But instead of bayonet practice, they were listening to speeches about peace, the foreign situation, local problems. They asked us. to speak, too, and then a Red soldier answered. “Tell the imperialists the world over, we mean no aggression to any- body,” he said. “But if they invade our country, they’ll break their teeth on our swords!” After Meyer Greizer, a member of the New York Painters Union, who accompanied him greeted the soldiers in the name of the workers, and Lun- deen in the name of the farmers in his part of the country, 3,000 en- thusiastie red soldiers surged about and tossed them into the air, he said. “The Red Army is really a uni- versity. No one leaves without know- (Continued from Page One) law with impunity. Even now there is pending Pacific. railroad who been done 'to punish them. Other Violations. organization. By the simple device of organizing a company union it has been able to use the law to refuse recognition of the union. In fact any form of “arbitration” law, it is pointed out, is a weapon primarily against the unorganized workers, inasmuch as the law by set- centage of workers organized “legitimate” unions. In the discussions now taking place, it has been broadly hinted that only “conservative” unions would be con- “the others favor strikes.” templates “voluntary” arbitration, any less reprehensible and misleading. The members of the Bar, it is charged, know very well what pressure can be brought to bear on unions which re- fuse to “arbiirate” any disputed ques- tion. The law in fact, will become a scheme for “compulsory” arbitra- tion, and compulsory enforcement, at the same time preventing the organi- zation of the unorganized. eee ing how to read. Wherever I went even to the remotest corners of Russia, I met ex-soldiers spreading what they had learned while in the army. They are the backbone of the villages, the most militant leaders.” Negro workers, for a while an in- creasing gap between the wage scales of the skilled and unskilled workers particularly evidenced in the basic in- dustries. The mounting capitalist exports and the superprofits have enabled our bourgeoisie to resort to further cor- rup.ion and have increased the im- portance and the influence of the la- | bor aristocracy in this fashion. As a result, primarily of these counteract- ing forces which tend to hinder but do not change the basic line, we have had. four significant changes take place in the labor movement within the last five years. “These are: First, the leadership of the labor movement has gone to the |right. Consequently, the official la- bor movemen; went to the right. The dominant trade union bureaucracy be- came integrated in the very imperial- ist apparatus. The sweep and variety of class collaboration, company unions, arbitration schemes, Watson- Parker laws, and the fight against che labor party, were the fruits of the labor movement going to the right. “Secondly, the progressive leaders of yesterday and many of their fol- lowers swung to the mght because “The Labor Party,” Lovestone Continues Analysis in Report means wavering. The grand offen- sive of the capitalists, which drove nearly two million workers out of the trade union movement, ‘was largely against the unskilled and the semi-skilled workers who had come into the unions in the war period and who were a basic source of strength in the left wing and be- came the leaders of the left wing in many instances, The progressives of yesterday often became leaders of reaction. The B. & O. plan was welcomed by them enthusiastically. The Hillmans, the Nockels and others are such types today. Third, the number of organized workers has decreased, American ex- perience has indicated that during periods of prosperity trade union membership rises. Then, why is it |that during the recent period of eco- |nomic prosperity trade union mem- jbership declined sharply? There were causes for this decline in trade | union strength. These are the fol- lowing. First, the employers have resorted to new methods of struggle — company unionism, welfare schemes, stock ownership, ete. Sec- ond, there has developed a close bond injunction proceedings | for the rights of the workers, I know against four chiefs of the Southern] that it would be interested to learn deliberately} of the intolerable conditions under used the protection which the law|which workers labor for the firm of gave them against strikes to break] Rouben H. Donnelly, who have the up the union efforts of the Brother-| hig contract for telephone book dis- hood of Railway Clerks. Nothing has| tribution for the New York Telephone The Pullman Company has violated tions, the Railroad Labor Law in refusing tions ate compel ry + : J pelled to do this work. to deal with the Sleeping Car Porters Since I have distributed books for sidered under the law, inasmuch as|‘UYned. Since old books are hard to primaries and in the election had been used by Smith and Samuel Insull, fli- nois power magnate. Irregularities in the election were also charged, and substantiated by the Senate Slush Fund and Election Committees.» In-a statement issued by Smith following his appointment by Gov. Small, the millionaire with senatorial ambitions waxed indignant over the Senate’s ac- tion in refusing to seat him. This business man, who has totally ignored in the past the constitutional rights.of the workers employed in the firms in which he holds large interests, is now claiming that his own constitutional rights have been violated by the sen- ate’s action, and calls upon the Con- stitution which he has abused in his dealings with his workers for protec- tion. Editor, The DAILY WORKER: Since the “Worker” always fights Co. Due to acute unemployment condi- hundreds of men of all voca- Donnelly since it began the last dis- tribution in November, I know how shamefully we are taken advantage of. ay The work is tedious and hard; one is obliged to carry a bag of books weighing about 60 pounds. These ting up “peace” plans between labor books are delivered from trucks; there * 8 «© and the employers uses all the forces| #¢ fifteen men on each truck, exclud- of public opinion and the press against | ing the driver and the foreman. ‘The any strikes for organization. It also|!@st delivery on each trip is usually assumes labor to be a small per-| ‘five blocks or more and in the course in|of a day’s work a man makes about Senate Attitude Firm. WASHINGTON, Feb. 10. — The Senators who opposed the admission of Frank L. Smith as the senator from Illinois have all indicated that they will take the same stand when Smith, again comes before the Senace for ad= mission following his reappointment by Goy. Small of Illinois. The “ine surgent” republican senators and the democrats who combined to keep 12 trips. The pay for this work is two dollars a day, to -which the “gen- erous” firm adds the sum of one-and- a-half cents for any old books re- get, due to the fact that many homes Nor ia the claim that the lew contort closed and for other reasons, this| Smith out of the Senate twice before does not boost the pay up much. assert that his character has not Hoping to see this in print, I am,|changed simply because he has re- Fraternally yours, ceived the appointment from the gov~" —BERNARD ROSENBERG. |ernor instead of obtaining it in an New York City. election, LECTURES AND FORUMS THE PEOPLE’S INSTITUTE AT COOPER UNION Muhlenberg Branch Library (8th ST. and ASTOR PLACE) (209 WEST 23rd STREET) At 8 o'Clock At 8:30 0'Clock. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12th MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13th. DR. MARK VAN DOREN MR. HARENDE SN Eight Poets—“Shakespeare.” WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16th DR. ROBERT CHAMBERS Experimental Analysis of the Living Cell—“Living Protopiasm in Its Re- lation to the Environment.” THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16th DR. E. G. SPAULDING Fundamental Philosophical Prob- lems—“What Is the Meaning of a Priori?” Plato. Kant. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18th DR. HORACE M. KALLEN Fate and Freedom—“Fate and Free- dom Among the Ancients.” TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14th DR. PAUL RADIN “The Humanistic Side of Primitive Culture.” FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17th Mr. EVERETT DEAN MARTIN The Psychology of the American Public—* ‘Young Man, Go West. The Psychology of the American Frontier. Davy Crockett as a Type.” ADMISSION FREE. Open Forum Discussion, American Association for the Advancement of ATHEISM INC, Announces its second annual report. FOR FREE COPY, WRITE FREEMAN HOPWOOD, General Secretary, 119 EAST 14th STREET NEW YORK, N., Y. cs TOMORROW NIGHT 8 o’cloci. JAY LOVESTONE ixecutive Secy. of the Worker: (Communist) Party of America Will speak on. . “‘Prosperous’ America” Che meaning of “Coolidge Prosper Tomorrow night at 8:30 sharp MANUEL GOMEZ will discuss “OUR WAR AGAINST NICARAGUA” BRONX OPEN FORUM of the vast flow of superprofits ity” and how it affects the workers. i 5 % E. 180 St.) th ‘kers. The Labor Party the labor party. In our campaign for |class consciousness on a national mass| hich enabled the bo isie to| between the employers and the trade ||| 2075 Clinton Ave. (near ‘At the : gic Medeslie step in the politieat | the labor party we further continue jscale. Witness the big mass strikes widen the base of the tane ers union bureaucracy. Thirdly, the in-|||vmxT SUNDAY: Leon Plott will WORKERS SCHOOL FORUM Gevelonment of the American work-| to emphasize the fact that the Work- |in 1922. This basic tendency towards creasing strike-breaking role of the cracy among the workers and to Beer as ai sis spread the poison of corruption. The strikebreaking policy of the government defeated the naticnal strikes of 1922 and discouraged the workers, and therefore increased the wavering of the progressives. The progressives in the ‘working class tend to occupy a role similar to the speak on “LI iat Us Under the auspices of the BRONX WORKERS’ SCHOOL. 108 EAST 14th STREET Admission 25c¢, NEXT SUNDAY: Bertram D. Wolfe will speak on “What's Happening in Mexico,” 5 ers Party is the only revolutionary the homogeneity of the working class party of the proletariat. Only the has continued and is continuing today Workers (Communist) Party can lead through such manifestations as the and organize the proletarian revolu- completion of the proletarianization tion. I believe ‘we should be more jof the exploiied farmers who were critical in our attitude towards the driven into industry. A new genera; British Labor Party in the press and |tion of native workers of foreign par- agitation of our districts. We should |entage is arising. ‘he Americaniza- ing class. It can and must be made} to serve in some measure for ad-! yancing the immediate interests of, the working class. I refer you to a resolution unani- mously adopted by the National Con- ntion of the Party held in 1925, the government. Finally, the sweeping consolidation movement, trusts, and mergers. Picture a struggle between the United States Steel corporation headed by J. P. Morgan on the one hand and Mike Tighe’s organization, the archaic, backward Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel & Tin the 1924 elections made for the wip- ing out for some time of the labor party movement as @ mass move- ment. eevee, LABOR TEMPLE 14th street @ “SUNDAY, FEBRUARY ina’ 5 P. M.—Lecture national convention, which the|always function as an independent |tion of the immigrant mass is proceed- $ Workers. tt cana Saco en Mae ntral Committee reiterates insofar |force with our own platform, speak-|ing. But while this basic trend con-| Petty bourgeoisie in class relations “Fourth “Tt is only und fi ed aon week o) tbuen'a Seay, ‘ ean bees at in capitalist society. The progres- ‘ourth, the decline of the Labor|these four significant events for the |||_ jie ‘ the role of the Party in the labor|ers, agitation and wherever possible 'tinues there have appeared within the | '” Party Movement:—enabled the b working class that we can under-||{7°2¢ P- M.—Am, Int. Church. | fs \. party campaign is concerned. Thejour own candidates. It would be |last five years certain counteracting | *ivé masses are between’ the labor PP Pagmdan wert ha pei Daren 3 Dr, 3. B. Chatfee—“Abraham Lin- Fa comrades must keep this in mind in| wrong to pursua a policy which would forces which we must keep in mind, | 2*istocracy in its purest form on the geoisie to split the workers and to|stand the basis of the present vicious all our energetic activities in the labor | mean running Party candidates. Only |These are continued mass immigra-|0M¢ hand and the basic unskilled| #lleviate the agricultural crises. ag to heel iret Ab pint y campaign. The convention then|in cases where we lack mass support. |tion not only legal so-called, but also proletariat on the other, Besides, the disruptive role of the ¢ ‘i ads Direct Party candidates should be |eo-called bootleg, mass migrations of| To occupy a position . between! petty bourgeoisie led by La Follette in (To be continued) 3:30 P. M.—-Forum Dr, Hannah copgbeols! &