The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 13, 1928, Page 2

Page Two THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1928 Gas and Electric Bosses Thruout East Will Pool Forces to Fight Workers — Job Keeps Slave Harnessed WER TRUST |S, PO ean ee ee REPORTED UNDER FORMATION HERE Billion Dollar Combine Proposed Reports of the formation of a huge Fastern power trust are now current in the financial ict, in which it is stated t the Consolidated Gas Company, the Brooklyn Union Gas Company and the Brooklyn Edison Company will take the lead in form- | second in size only to} jean Telephone and Teie- fraph Company. Possibilities re indicated that the | merger of the t s in Greater New York will also take in corporations in other states, making them part of a huge super-power s m that will ex- tend from Phil: 1 thru New Jersey and northern New York and Massachusetts. The impending mer- ger is considered certain to take in all Westchester county, dominated by} idated Gas Company, and} Long Island, controlled by interests headed by E. L. Phillips. Mellon Interests. The United Ga nprovement Com- pany, a Mellon int controls the huge Public Service ration in New Jersey and together with the General Electric Company and the Brady interests controls the up-state power systems which will also be con- solidated in the reported merger. The } New York Edison Company, one of} the largest power companies in the country, and the United Electric Light and Power Co., which share with the Consolidated the control of Manhat- | tan and the Bronx far as power and light are concerned, are both cewned by the Consolidated Gas, said to be the prime mover in the direc- tion of a power trust. The proposed trust would be worth over a billion | dollars, it is said. Workers Not Organized. | The thousands of workers in the | gas and electrical light and power} industries in the states which the re- ported merger will cover are prac-| tically all unprotected by labor or- | ganizations of any sort. They have } succeeded in winning but few im-| provemen in the foul conditions} under which they work. It has been | feared in the past year that a great wage cut is impending. The workers’ | weakened condition will render them powerless when the huge open shop | constantly \their exploiters and their agents, and The jury for the trial of Gov. Ed Jackson of Indiana, George V. Coffin and Robert I. Marsh, re- publican and Ku Klax Klan leaders in Indiana on bribery charges, is being selected from five farmers, a funeral director, a banker, an iron worker, 2 Negro laborer, an auto accessory dealer, a gasoline station owner, and a laborer, all shown above, with two bailiffs at the extreme right. Jackson, Marsh and Coffin are charged with having attempted to bribe former Governor McCray to appoint a friend as Marion county prosecutor. McCray himself has just finished serving a term in Atlanta Federal Penitentiary for corruption in office. McCray and Jackson are both republicans, but have had a politica! feud, on ac- count of which McCray will testify against Jackson. By RALPH INGERSON. (President Burke County Farmers’ Union.) FLAXTON, N, D.—In the minds of many farmers, there is considerable confusion and indecision as to what means can best be applied to bring to them, as a class, the nearest pos- sible approach to justice; which method can best be used to abolish the various forms of injustice that are oppressing them. This confusion is due largely to the reiterated statements of even by some of their so-called lead- ers that “nothing can be done to re- lieve the farmers’ economic condition political field, and finally the very limited success that has attended their lefforts through cooperative legisla- ition to fight monopoly in the pur- chase of the things they buy and the manipulation of the markets where their products are sold. The fact of the matter is that only by intelligently utilizing both meth- ods can satisfactory progress be made. By recognizing the limitations of each and the necessity for both, those who have espoused one method and excluded the other may bring a united front to oppose the forces of exploitation. Sure to Bring on a Battle. Any effective program of farm re- corporations pool their resources lief whether cooperative or political, through legislation, or governmental | action’--the continuous propaganda | |belittling their achievements in the egainst them. MINERS DEFEAT ‘must be organized to attain the same lobject: that is, to remove some of the parasites that exploit the farmer. | Any program that will do that, even |if only to a limited extent, will very ATTEMPTED COUP (Continued from Page One) “shut up the crazy membership of this locality.” The 500 rank and filers present at the meeting answered with hoots and jeers when the officials proceeded to appoint a chairman. Protesting from ell quarters of the hall, the miners demanded the right to name their own chairinan. A deadlock lasted for) an hour aud a half. At the end of| that time a chain named from the floor called the m ng to order from the cpposite end of the hall. Every} soon attract the united opposition of the exploiting class. When the kept press attacks either a farmers’, poli- tical or cooperative organization it is good evidence that such organization has a program that is effective and is a threat at profits. ims nowadays freely made by s and some labor and farm- srs that it is possible to bring to farmers through some hocus- pocus in a new method of applying the republican protective tariff, is of this class, and is foredoomed to fail- ure. It is fundamentally impossible to give the masses an unfair advan- tage such as is given the capitalist exploiters by the tariff. It is only an advantage for them because it will miner in the hall then turned his chair|enrich the few at the disadvantage around and faced the progr d expense of the many. The masses lected. leannot be given any such special ; privileges because they are not “few” land there are no unorganized “many” for them to exploit. chairman thus e The foll dent Lewi their purposes Must Control Government. president of rogram of organized kins, » directed toward the Secret ous forms of in- the sub-district ver Y them were the handful of supporte: them. They rol government, to establish government-owned institu- they had brought with them. On his| way out of the hall Clinque threat- ened certain individual miners. A resolution urged a general strike of hard and soft coal miners and a demand for the resignation of Presi- tions that will perform services at cost that are now contrelled and mon- opolized by capitalist exploiters who render service at enormous profit to themselves. Institutions such as state and na- dent Lewis. The resolution urged also that the salaries of the interna- tional, district and sub-district offi- cers be suspended for the duration of tional-owned terminal storage facili- ties, mills, packing plants, railroads, markets, etc. Such things as will the strike and turned into the strik- es’ relief fund. It charged also that the union of- ficials “have made no effort to or- ganize the unorganized fields.’ FIRE HOLDS 40 IN MINE TRAP TIMMINS, Ontario, Feb. 12.—Al- most forty miners remain trapped in .the Hollinger gold mine here, more han 500 feet underground, while six we positively known to be dead. A dozen men were rescued yester- y while the miners’ wives and ilies around the shafthead held we hope that at least a portion of 40 imprisoned men might still be saved. actually abolish some of the parasites that feed on the farmer, should be the kind of political program that farmers should support. In the cooperative field, farmers soon come to see its limitations. They can make some savings by buying their supplies cooperatively and can secure other benefits through mar- keting their products collectively. When either those methods show promise of being effective-—that is, begin to jeopardize the profit of some parasite—the powers of the exploita- tion bring to bear upon them all the corrupt forces of intrenched privi- lege; the courts, discriminatory trans- portation rates, boycotts by manu- facturers, jobbers and wholesalers, unfair grading rules, ete. The mem- bers of the cooperative soon begin to see the necessity of political action to protect their cooperative endeavors. So far in America, farmer and labor organizations have attempted. to use The fire broke out two days ago |talist controlled parties, the republi- at the 550 foot level in rubbish which |can and democratic parties, and up to ‘the company had allowed to accum- ulate for years. this time they have been led up blind alleys by the promises of politicians movement. Choosing Weapon That Can Fight for Farmers, Workers iy |their political power in the two capi-| that some way will be found to make farmers prosperous by using in some miraculous way, the same machinery of exploitation that made them poor. The chief value of cooperative or- ganizations among farmers is that the experience of their members will en- able them to more wisely form their programs of political action in the fu- | ture. Until farmer and labor forces unite | on the political field in a party of their own, removed from the compro- mising influences of the parties of | Vall Street, they will make very little progress eitucr in forcing recognition | of their political power or in gaining | any very substantial benefits through | their cooperative enterprises. | COLO, MARTIAL LAW GETS TEST DENVER, Feb. 12.—An action to test in the federal courts the Colo- rado statute under which virtual mar- tial law has been declared in the coal districts will begin in the federal dis-: trict court here tomorrow. The American Civil Liberties Union has wired Attorney Guy D. Duncan to institute a habeas corpus proceed- ings for the release of Frank A. Palmer, former editor of the Colorado Labor Advocate. Palmer wasgarrested without a war- rant at Lafayette January 21 after addressing a meeting of strikers. He has been held without trial or charges. Issue Is Clear. Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union here state that it of- fers the first chance to get before the courts a clear issue of the power of the state, without declaring mar- tial law, to suspend civil rights and establish rule by the state militia on the mere declaration of the governor or a local military officer that a ‘state of insurrection exists.” The International Labor Defense is conducting the cases of coal min- ers arrested for participation in the ‘COOLIDGE SHOWN IN TEAPOT GRAFT Continental Oil Loot in 1920 Election (Continued from Page One) for the Republican National Commit- tee, and who used them in paying off | the $1,800,000 known debt incurred in electing Harding and 1920. Thet Coolidge knew that he owed his election to the funds originating in the “Continental” steal was indi- cated when it was admitted that the information is not new, but was brot out in testimony before Senator Thomas J. Walsh of Montana four Coolidge in jyears ago and kept as a carefully guarded secret since then. John D. Jr. Testifies. In a session marked by the testi- mony of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and no less marked by the servile attitude of the senatorial committee, the ex- ense was offered by Walsh, the Stan- dard Oil senator from Montana, and other members of the committee, that the significance of the present evi- dence was “not then realized.” Twenty-four of the seventy-five $1,000 Liberty Bonds given to Will H. Hays by Harry F. Sinclair bore the same serial numbers as bonds bought hy the Continental Oil Company in- volving both the Sinclair and Rocke- feller interests. ~ These bonds were transferred to Gen. T. Coleman du Pont by Hays, to pay off the balance of two loans made by the Republican National Commit- tee at the Empire Trust Company of New York, of which Gen. du Pont was then chairman of the board. Other Bonds Traced. The entire slush fund of the Con- tinental consisted of $3,080,000, and tho investigators have only reported tracing 24 of these bonds to the Na- tional Committee as yet, they report conclusive indications that the rest of the bonds used to pay off notes totalling $266,620 which was the or- iginal amount the Republican Na- tional Committee owed the Empire Trust Company, came from the same source. A complete list of the bonds js in the hands of Senator Nye, and strike. BY ARBITRATION (Continued from Page One) S. H. Huff shock hands ment with Chief Justices of the Supreme Conrt of lina and former Secretary Treasury Leslie M. Shaw, North C: of the the two further revelations are expected in the immediate future unless further steps for a whitewash bring results {before the reconvening of the Com- (mittee on Public Lands next week. Total Debt $1,809,009. | Since the total known debt incurred \in-the election of Coolidge and Hard- ing was $1,800,000, all ipdications seem to point to the balance of the | payment of this debt coming from the with the corruption members sources, cabinet ex- dals, this would just about total the $3,000,000 in Liberty Bonds distrib- x the Teapot Dome scan- | : A | unknown source out of the “neutral” arbitrators. | uted to an unknown Something, however, happened: dur- ing lunch. When these neutral arbi- trators returned that afternoon, they argued for less than half the increase profits of the Continental Trading Company. Canadians Testify. Clifford $. Howard and A. W. Rice they had agreed upon. of the Derinion Bank of Canada, told A long and heated discussion fol- lowed, it is reported. Eventually the representatives of the union were \of the mysterious history of the Con- ‘tinental, and gave the details of the $3,080,000 of Liberty Bonds bought by the bank’s New York agency for forced to agree on a 6% per cent in- crease instead of the 7% per cent originally accepted. the lawyer who headed the Continen- Deny Other Requests. tal, came to the bank and carried Further than this, the chief de-|away the bonds in large brown paper mands of the members that allow-| envelopes. ance be made them for excessively Movie Czar Exposed, loaded trains were all refused. At} Basil’ Manly, who has been working the present time, the carrying capac-| privately for the senate committee, in ity of trains is over twice that of | addition to presenting the evidence of twenty years ago. This practically | the $25,000 bond deal offered proof doubles the work of the engineers) that these bonds were received from and especially the firemen, who are} Sinclair by Will H. Hays, despite de- seriously overtaxed to shovel coal.|nials by Hays, who was chairman of Demandh for some additional com-|the Republican National Committee pensation for the speed-up system|and later postmaster-general under now in force on all roads have been} Harding. This evidence is in line with rejected by this arbitration award. | admissions by Hays in 1924 to the ef- Considerable indignation is being|fcet that he had received a $75,000 aroused among the rank and file at|contribution from Sinclair in 1923, what is considered a plain “sell-out”| which is the time the debt was paid in this last award. Workers are|and when Baldwin and Coleman of the pointing to this result of “arbitra-|trust company admit receiving the tion” with considerable bitterness es-| payment. pecially in view of the present at-| These revelations ara considered tempt by the American Bar Associa-| especially significant insofar as they tion to institute a similar country-|contradict the public statement by the Continental. i They described how H. 8, Osler, wide law to include the whole labor|Hays during the 1920 campaign that “no contribution of more than $1,000 OPEN SHOPPERS ATTACK UNIONS IN WASHINGTON Anti-Injunction Bill Considered WASHINGTON, Feb. 12.—Continu- ing his testimony before the senate judiciary committee which is holding a hearing on the Shipstead anti- injunction bill, William Green, presi- dent of the American Federation ot Labor, made what is considered a pecially the Interborough company union on the traction line in New York City. “Organized labor,” said Green, “is awaiting with interest the outcome of the injunction suit of the Inter- borough.” “organized labor is not opposed tu injunctions” but merely objected’ tc the way they were used in some in- stances. Bee re ..WASHINGTON, Feb. 12.—Open shop coal operators, representatives of the country’s railroads, and dele- gates from various anti-labor bodies are here to oppose the Shipstead Bill which would limit the issuance of injunctions _ and which is supported by the American Federation of Labor. Alfred P. Thom, representing the countries’ railroads, has testified to what he termed the “dangerous” char- acter of the bill. “In my opinion this bill is uncon- stitutional,” he said. Furuseth Weeps for Courts. E. C. Greever, counsel for the West Virginia open shop coal companies, testified to the need of injunctions “to protect our property.” Testifying for the A. F. of L., An- drew Furuseth, president of the In- ternational Seamen’s Union, argued that the use of injunctions was breed- ing a distrust of the courts. “For one who has a love of coun- try,” said the old veteran, who has been charged with breaking up his own union to eliminate the militants, “one of the most disheartening things is the destruction of faith in the courts.” Green Quotes Taft. { William Green, president of the Federation, declared that he stood ready to prevent all strikes and pro- mote peace in industry. In order to support the conservatism of his posi- tion, he quoted William Howard Taft, former president who was supported in 1908 by the National Manufac- turers’ Association, a country-wide anti-labor body. eee would be accepted, from any one per- son,” explaining to some degree the large campaign debts. : Follows John D., Jr. This evidence which resulted in the committee going immediately into closed session, came after the testi- mony by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who the senators helped out of hot water. Rockefeller, more than eager to talk, tried to whitewash himself and Stand- ard Oil, doing, everything to show that he was not directly involved and to shift the blame on associates and jess important oil magnates. Nye and Walsh thanked the eil king pro- fusely, and did their best to ask no embarassing questions, even accept- ing the statement by Rockefeller that he had no connection with Sinclair, when questioning him es to the half interest owned by Standard in the Sinclair Crude Oil Purchasing Com- pany, Senator Nye ran to have his | picture taken with Rockefeller, and |they both expressed their “gratifica- | tion at the cooperation arranged” be- jfore the long line of cameras, includ- jing talking motion picture apparatus. | All Testified Before. As a result of the evidence now in the hands of Senator Nye, most of which was presented to Nye and Walsh four years ago by Basil Man- ly, a large number of witnesses will |be called, all of whom testified in the previous investigation. Among them is Leroy W. Baldwin of the Empire Trust who testified as far back as March 27, 1924, as to the debt. of the Republican National Committee, tell- ing of $25,000 contributed by Gen. du Pont and the $75,000 in Liberty Bonds which have again become an issuc. Will H. Hays testified on March 22 of the same year and at that time admitted that to the best of his recollection Sinclair had paid the $75,000 which was applied on the Empire Trust notes. Smoot, Gooding and Dale, old guard republican members of the Public Lands have so far avoided all meet- ings of the committee, while Oddie has attended for only a ten-minute period. aes Rael | T. Coleman du Pont, supposedly re- leovering from a throat. operation which does not permit him the use of his voice, will never testify before the jsenate committee, it was announced today. In the meantime the republi- ‘can senator from Delaware, who ‘knows the details of the transaction between Hays and Sinclair and who ‘himself contributed $25,000 to the party’s campaign debt, is hiding in his home at Irvington-On-Hudson, N. |¥., with all the main roads to his estate barricaded and no reporters being admitted. 5 weak attack on company unions, es- At the same time he stated that John Majory, 44, is a bakery worker in Rensellaer, N. Y., who has never been able to move from the house in which he lives, 3 blocks from the bakery in which he works. He has never seen a show or movie, He has long hours and small wages, he states, NATION WIDE PLOT TO WRECK “DAILY” Efficient Spy System Disclosed (Continued from Page One) relentless war against all those who would pull down our public institu- tions, national standards and demo- eratic ideals. 77 Societies in Plot. “We are associated with 77 other patriotic societies,” Fred R. Marvin, president of the Keymen of America, Room 1201, 120 West 42nd street, New York city, is perhaps the most active agent in this anti-red activity. Several years ago he founded an organization which is now soliciting members with this ad- vertisement. Lists of names and reports are pub- lished and widely circulated by most of the above-mentioned organizations as well as many others. » Anti-red Pamphlets such as Frank A, Good- win's “Sacco and Vanzetti and the Red Peril” are prepared entirely from material gathered in these yellow sheets. In addition to the ambitious ven- ture in attempting to destroy The | DAILY WORKER, these organiza- jtions are making every attempt to | Suppress all sorts discussions on such jissues as militarism, naval building program, the state department’s pol- Hicy in Latin America, and the Soviet | Union in schools, colleges, forums, \and publications, | Practically all of them, and partic- ularly the Keymen of America, have united in aiding and furnishing so- called data in the attack on The DAILY WORKER. Save the Daily Worker. William F. Dunne, assistant editor of The DAILY WORKER, Alex Bit- telman, former editor of the New Magazine section of the paner. and are now awaiting re-arrese on ciuiges fines and five years apiece in federal Penitentiaries. Capitalists have brought this about in an attempt to break the paper completely. Only the united support of the whole militant working class can save these leaders j from jail and The DAILY WORKER from destruction. Rush contributions, Every cent is needed to raise the huge funds nec- Bert Miller, former business manager, | which involve thousands of dollars in| FAMED ENGINEER LAUDS USSR RULE, URGES SOVIET AID visor Speaks in N. Y. The fair minded student and ob- server cannot question the sincerity of the present leadership of the So- viet Union and the sooner the world recognizes this sincerity and acts to- wards Russia accordingly the sooner a real world peace will be possible, declared Colonel Hugh L. Cooper, at the Russian Exposition, 119 West 57th Street, Saturday evening. Cooper designed the Muscle Shoals project and is planning and super- vising the construction of a naviga- tion and hydro-electric project on the Dneiper River in the South Ukraine, U.S. S. R. The Soviet Union project will produce 600,000 horse-power, 70 per cent of which will be used for industrial expansion in the district, Cooper told his audience. The cost will be eighty million dollars. Greatest Appeal. “The greatest industrial appeal in the world is the present appeal of the Soviets for American technical skill,” Cooper said. “This anpeal comes from men at the head of the government and all through the suc- cessive strata down to and including 120,000,000 peasants. “We in the United States are being }called again to do pioneer work in a {place and at a time when we can accomplish a great practical help for these needy peoples,” he continued. “T have said, ‘Yes, I will come and do my small part of this pioneering | work,’ just as I said ‘Yes’ thirty years ago, when I was requested to go to Brazil and build their first major water power, where I taught a staff of Brazilians not only American engi- neering methods but how to use American machinery as well.” In summarizing some of the achievements of the Soviet govern- ment which he observed first hand, Cooper declared that graft has been abolished and a stable government has been established. | What U. S. S. R. Has Done. As specific accomplishments, Coop- er added the following: “I mow of a large American bank who’ examined American contracts with the Soviets involving more than a quarter of a billion dollars, and found not one single instance of graft or failure to pay as promised. “They have set up homes all over Russia to care for and educate ‘the orphan children whose parents died as a result of the war and famine. About 120 million dollars is being spent annually in Russia for educa- tional and welfare work. “jeligious worship is free, not- withstanding reports to the contrary. During my stay I visited many churches. “Transportation is safe and well administered, although it is not so rapid or luxurious as our own. Even the difficult Trans-Siberian service is surprisingly good. “Their city streets are clean and well lighted by eleétricity although the cost of electricity is too great to permit of its general use. “They have established a State Bank on a gold basis. “Great efforts are being made te develop their natural resources for j the benefit of the people as a whole.” Deems Taylor, American composer, will discuss Russian folk music this afternoon at the exposition, and Dora Rose, soprano, will sing songs to which the lecturer will refer. Andrei I, Bochm will speak on Cooperatives lin U. S. S. R. this evening. The ex- position, which will close Wednesday night, is being sponsored by the So- ciety for Cultural Relations with Russia and the American-Russian Chamber of Commerce. Admission to the exhibit, lectures and concerts is essary to save American labor’s only’ militant daily paper. free to the public. (MILL STRIKE SOON IF DEMANDS LOOSE; |RANK AND FILE FORCE UNION ACTION (Continued from Page One) been rising rapidly. Several craft unions belonging to or independent of the textile council had threatened to strike independently. It is quite apparent, according to most workers here, that this latest decision of the union membership was not relished by the council leadership. But the unanimity of opinion on the need for militant action to get the wage cut returned, compelled the of- fieials to ask for another conference with the employers, which was ob- tained Friday. General Strike Possible. Expert opinion here declares that spirit of fight expressed by the work- ers since the unsuccessful strike vote was taken, shows that a general strike may develop if their demands are turned down by the mill owners. Indignation at the ruthless manner in which the wages of the 30,000 tex- ile workers in this city were slashed, uns high mot only among the ranks of those directly affected; but also among many of the small merchants in the town. Several clergymen, both Catholic and. Protestant. have ex- pressed strong protest against the ae tion of the mill owners. Another factor adding to the tense- ness of the situation is the hypocri- tical manner in which the bosses tried to use the recent fire here as an ad- ditional justification for the accept- ance of the wage cut. Insurance com- pany statements after the fire proved that only two mills entered insurance claims, the damage in both totalling not quite $6,900. Liebknecht Meet DETROIT, Feb. 12—A Liebknecht memorial meeting will be held Sun- day at 2.30 p. m. at New Workers’ Hall, 1343 East Ferry St., under the auspices of the Young Workers League. ‘ Milwaukee Bazaar MILWAUKEE, Feb. 12-—A_ two- day bazaar and festival will be given: by the Workers (Communist) Party. lon Feb, 25 and 25, ‘ ; i\Dnieper River Super- \