The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 20, 1928, Page 6

Page ‘'° * THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1928 THE DAILY WORKER Published by by the NATIONAL DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING ASS'N, Ine, Daily, Except Sunday 83 Ficst Street, New York, N. Y. Cable Address: SUBSCRIPTION RATES By Mail (in New York only): By Mail (outside of New York): $8.00 per year $4.50 six months $6.00 per year $3.50 six months $2.50 three months. $2.00 three months. Phone, Orchard 1680 “Dalwork” ail out checks to 38 kizst Street, New York, N. Y. -ROBERT MINOR .WM, F. DUNNE N. ¥., under t#€4 as second-class mail at the post-office at New York, R the act of March 3, 1879. “American Empire Conference” It is not many months ago Toei the British Empire Confer- ence at London showed a heart-sick English bourgeoisie that th classic imperialism of Great B.itain bore within it the germs of disintegration. Many of the “planets” of the British imperial “sun’”—Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc., were being dangerously pulled from their orbits by the rival golden sun of Wall Street. The British Empire Conference showed the de- celine of the British empire. | Now the Wall Street Empire is having its “American Empire | Conference” at Havana. There is a contrast and yet a deep re-| semblance. At Havana, Charles E. Hughes, or, as in the other empire it would be said, “Lord” Hughes, exhibited first the strength and arrogance of the Western imperialist power. The hand-picked delegates “representing” the peoples of Latin America are a con- trast to the delegates at the earlier conference. Where Australian delegates patronized the wounded lion, the Latin-American dele- gates are obsequious for the most part, to the powerful Wall Street Eagle. And no “sissified” scion is the American “Prince of Wales” sent on the “Empire tour,” but a hell-roaring, gasoline- soaked, modern agent of camouflaged imperialism who minces his way down no gang-plank, but flops from the sky in “he-man” style. If the British method of imperialist propaganda is antiquated and relatively ineffective, the Wall Street method is the most subtle, the most dangerous because the hardest thru which to see the bloody tallons of the imperialist eagle which will soon sink into the throats of those southern republics over which its fledgling flies. The American Wall Street “Empire Conference” at Havana is powerful in contrast to the British affair. And yet, towards its close, we see more and more sharply the resemblances of this American imperialist orgy to the British orgy at London. For, in the Havana Conference also, there are the seeds of destruction which will develop with a far more rapid deadliness than in the other. | It is absolutely clear that Latin-America cannot submi tamely to United States imperialism even for a few years, without , an explosion of war for independence against the encroachments | of the “Colossus of the North.” When Saturday, the foreign minister of Salvador suggested that a vote be taken on the question of intervention, the political . dynamite that will blow up this “Pan-American” slavery to Wall Street was exposed. That little incident, together with the hissing of the Wall Street agents, even if the hissing was mostly from “the gallery,” goes to show the truth. a This is the period of the decline, as it will be of the final over- rek “throw of imperialism, and the Wall Street plan of ruling a Pan- -o American empire from Washington means a war of the first tk magnitude. of For this among other purposes is the Coolidge billion-dollar * navy to be built. D The little rift in the Havana conference must be widened to an abyss between the republics of Latin-America and their Wall Street enemy. A bloc of Latin-America against imperialism must be formed at the earliest possible moment. tu un M The American workers must understand the need of full sup- port of their natural allies in Latin-America ugainst the common enemy. Oil Scandal Engulfs Hoover Herbert Hoover enters the presidential campaign smeared from head to foot with graft and corruption of the oil scandal. The destination of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of | liberty bonds involved in the oil scandals is now definitely traced to the republican national committee, as a part of the corruption fund with which the Harding-Coolidge administration paid its way to the white house. Not only Harding, Daugherty, Fall, Denby, young Roosevelt and the other beneficiaries of the oil swindles were indebted for their positions to the oil trust which paid their campaign bills in anticipation of government favors, but Coolidge was correctly referred to by the gang as “the principal.” The same election that placed Coolidge, Harding, Mellon, Daugherty & Co., in the national capitol, also placed Hoover there. Coolidge sat in the sessions of the cabinet as vice president | and did not have a vote in the cabinet. Hoover did. Hoover, secretary of commerce since March 5, 1921, was a cabinet member during the transfer of the oil lands and was just as much involved as any in the graft. Hoover’s opponents on the democratic party are in the same -vat as far as campaign contributions are concerned. The oil berons were as considerate of Mr. Cordell Hull, chairman of the dcmoeratic national committee as they were of Will H. Hays, chairman of the republican committee. They supported both parties, thereby making sure of their men in control of the gov- ernment, no matter which party; won. It is quite evident that tHe oil crooks are not the only big capitalists who contyibute to both old parties. In Illinois Samuel _Insull’s public utif’,, combing’ contributes alike to the democrat, lican,/Frank Smith. The House of Morgan n ehd democrat parties and will dictate THE UNOFFICIAL SPOKESMAN ihe Wiute louse rarrot Wearns its Lesson Krom big Business. By Suvanto s & a By BILL DUNNE, IERBERT HOOVER announced his candidacy before the echoes of the revelations before the senate commit- tee connecting Coolidge with the oil scandal had died away. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., by his appearance as a witness and his hypocritical but open repudiation of the purchase of the presidency in 1920 with the proceeds of the Teapo Dome robbery, participated in by the heads of one of his companies, the Standard Oil of Indiana, paved the way for Hoover’s candidacy. When Coolidge inadvertently re- ferred to Hoover as “President” Hoo- ver during the course of a conference ‘with newspapermen recently, he was evidently advised as to developments in the presidential race that might be expected in the near future. Rockefeller—‘“Honest” Biilionaire. It can not be doub.ed that the dra- matic appearance of John D. Rock- efeller, Jr., before the senate com- mittee in the role of an honest billi- onaire who is shocked almost beyond words by the evidence of corruption in the highest governmental circles was staged carefully. “All business is under suspicion,” said Rockefeller. The seepage from Teapot’ Dome has discolored the for- merly spotless floors of the White House and has gathered in a greasy pool in the bedroom of the sole sur- vivor of that odoriferous episode— one Calvin Coolidge. Innocent Standard Oil. Until very recently the Standard Oil Company was able to maintain an appearance of innocence in connection with the theft of oil resources during the Harding-Coolidge regime and the auctioning off of the presidency it- self. During the four years that have elapsed since the first article of Teapot Dome oil smeared the shoes of the gray-haired Gamaliel only the Communist press has accused the moving spirit in the conspiracy. Setting the Stage. Wa'chful care was lavished on the trappings with which the investiga- tion was decorated, Senator Walsh, a Standard Oil senator from Mon- tana, elected with the support of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company— a Standard Oil subsidia: appeared in the role of the shining knight championing the cause of the people, his armor undimmed by one single oily smudge. But a close observer could ‘have noted his copper collar— as they say in Montana. Sinclair and Doheny, those snfith or Herbert Hoover or any of the ‘old party tickets who to be dastardly culprits who haa filched the people’s birthright, and defied the majesty of the people’s gov: Herbert Hoover --- The Salesman for the American Empire were haled before the bar of justice and excoriated with whitehot words ‘to the applause of the mul-itude. Much kudos accrued to the senior senator from Montana while his col- league, Senator Wheeler, altho hounded by the minions of Sinclair and Doheny, was able to charge up and down the countryside and battle for the populace—without ever having to mention Standard Oil. Oil and. Politics. Officeholders and office seekers of both capitalist parties heaved great sighs of relief. No longer would they have to choose between angering the electorate by a failure to de- nounce Standard Oil, and jeopardi- sing heavy contributions to their campaign funds by such denuncia- tions. It seemed almost that the oil age was to be transmuted into a golden age for frock-coated solicitors of the people’s suffrage. Virtue Triumphant. No breath of suspicion was. cast upon Standard Oil for Your long years, tili_y in a few bosoms toward Stan- dard Oil, these doubters simply thought of Sinclair and Doheny and shuddered. Between the manifest integrity of this great corporation and the evil acts of their competitors there could be but one choice. Vic- torious virtue cast its mantle over Standard Oil. The tribunes of the people turned their forensic batieries upon the poltroons who had tapped Teapot Dome. Standard Oil was sitting pretty. The abandonment of a life of sin by the heads of this. great combination of capital brought happiness to many hearts. There was more joy in the political heavens over the conversions of this one transgressor than over ninety-nine just. Laying the Ghost. The ghost of Harding, Jake Hamon and Jesse Smith were laid. Daugherty and Fall were interred in the political graveyard. Only the presence in the White House of Cal- vin Coolidge, the sole survivor of Teapot Dome, brought whispered re- miniscences of the days when the White House pages staged cham- pagne parties with the surplus col- lected the morning after the Ohio gang had been celebrating some new and successful raid on the federal treasury. Oracles Choose Hoover. Long before Coolidge doffed his cowboy gauntlets in his South Dakota retreat to pen his “I do not choose to run,” it was apparent that Hoover was to be the choice of Standard Oil and the house of for | If there lingered any hos-} standard-bearer of the republican arty. ‘the Wall Street oracles indicated Hoover. The entwined entrails of the bulls, bears and lambs slaughtered by the high priests of finance on golden smoking altars spelled Hoover. (The intestines of a few Irish bulls spelled Al Smith.) The Clumsy Coolidge. Not only was Coolidge a flaw in the otherwise spotless halo of Standard Oil, but he displayed a singular inept- ness in popularizing such noble ad- ventures as the conquest of Nicar- agua, apparently believing that all Americans would delight in the feats of arms of the marines in this little country and whoop it up every time a Nicaraguan peasant was slaughtered by a’ company of marines after an engagement in which “there were no American casualties.” Nanking—a Nasty Incident. The same cool acceptance by Cool- idge of the belief that all Americans would rejoice at the courage dis- played by U. S. naval forces when, anchored safely in the middle of the Yangtze river, they bombarded Nank- ing and slaughtered hundreds of Chi- nese workers and peasants and there- by upheld the supremacy of Socony —a Standard Oil subsidiary—cast still graver doub's upon his capacity as a propagandist for Wall Street im- perialism—and boosted Hoover’s stock. The Havana Speech. But all doubt that his “I do not choose to run” statement was de- livered at the order of the lords of finance and industry who want presi- dents who not only take orders but carry them out expertly as well, was removed after his speech to the Pan American Union conference in Havana. The high christian note struck in this oratorical effort was impeccable from the standpoint of a Vermont baptist congregation, but impinging upon the ears of Latin American diplomats whose countries are populated largely by workers and peasants who are ei/her atheistic or lukewarm toward the stock doctrines of the christian hierarchy, it was not calculated to produce the best effect. Delivered at a time when American marines were laying waste to Nicara- guan villages, the smug hypocrisy of the Coolidge platitudes struck a jar- ring note that did not make for har- mony in a gathering where the majority of the delegates knew that a stiletto in the ribs, of Uncle Sam would bring forth loud plaudits from ninety-nine and forty-four hundreds per cent of the ey American (To Be Bontiued)s PHILOSOPHY of DECADENCE Yaroslavsky’s Reply to Joffe’s Letter EDITOR’S NOTE—This is the continuation from Saturday’s issue of The DAILY WORKER of a dis- cussion of the letter written by A. Joffee before his suicide in Moscow a few weeks ago. In Saturday’s instalment the author of this com- mentary, Comrade J. Yaraslaysky, quoted Joffe’s words indicating his intention that the letter be used against the Communist Party, and also Joffe’s fear that since “such a letter cannot but be subjective,” therefore it might be better if Trot- sky should change the wording in any way he might see fit. Yaro- slavsky’s article continues: * (Continued from Last Issue.) “I therefore,” Joffee writes on November 16, “not only give you complete authority to revise my let- ter, but also request you most earn- estly to omit from it anything that appears superfluous to you and to add anything you consider essen- tial.” This is more than a breach, this is pronounced disintegration. Nay, more, He had full confidence that his friends would be capable of adding to his last letter anything they consid- ered essential, i. e., to practice fraud and forgery. Only in the decadence and disintegration of this semi- Menshevist fraction, which is now fighting against the Party of Lenin, can such poisonous plants thrive. And it was only under the supposition that the illegal fraction of Trotsky would keep this “testament” secret that it could be drawn up at all. Had Joffe known that his letter would become known without any “dressing” what- ever, he would never have dared to write it. Evidence of Decadence, Only those who breathe this - foul atmosphere of disintegration, of de- cadence, and of immorality in rela- tion to the Party of Lenin, of which they themselves were members, while all the while engaged in constructing a party. of their own—only the Trot- skyites, under the “flag of Joffe,” could in the face of all this still write in their illegal publication that “the suicide of Joffe was no phenomenon of decadence and social pessimism, but on the contrary a phenomenon of social optimism.” * . It would be profitless to initiate polemics on the question whether aul and Laura Lafargue were right hen they came to the conclusion that they could be of no further use to the cause of revolution. But the bour- geois France of the late nineties is something altogether different from the Soviet Union. There is a great difference between the period of im- perialist rule and the socialist con- struction in the first workers’ state. From the very first pages of Joffe’s letter we learn that he had long be- fore acquired such a fatalistic stand- point, which, sooner or later, was bound to lead him to commit suicide. But what has the Party to do with that? Certainly there is nothing proletarian about this philosophy. Every worker aiding’ in production and even such as are invalid and therefore cannot aid in production but yet do their best to help in the public work of their class, would repudiate such a philosophy as something alien to them. We do not intend, either, to pole- mise against the other “thesis” of A. Joffe, that all our activity is in the service of infinity. We do not recog- nize this as a proletarian sentiment either. Mie * Ill For Years. Joffe was ill for several years. This illness of his made him not only ir- ritable, but also, as is frequently the ease in regard to sick people, unjust towards his surroundings. In this case his injustice expressed itself in com- plaints as to his treatment at the hands of the Party. This accusation has becn taken up and spread abroad by the Opposition. But in what did this ill-treatment, this inattention, consist? One of the physicians who worked in the Medical Commission of the Central Committee reports as fol- lows: “Comrade A. A. Joffe was trans- ported from Japan to Moscow in 1923 in a thoroughly sick condition and was immediately lodged in the Pokrovsko-Stryeshnevo sanatorium for nervous diseases, since his main complaints were morphinism and so-called Korsakov psychosis, “In 1922, Comrade Joffe had con- tracted an infectious disease in Manchuria and had for a year and a half undergone treatment first in China and then in Japan on account of the results of this disease, which had originally lasted for about ten days. The treatment included the. use of opium and morphia prepara- tions as pain-killing means. During this cure, Comrade Joffe absorbed great quantities of these drugs, as much as two grammes of. morphia daily, though 0.1 gramme of mor- phium, taken at one dose, is suffi- cient to entail death. “Comrade Joffe, who was not on- ly cured of his general nervous mal- ady, but had become a victim of morphia as well and suffered from a state of depression characterised by nightmares and hallucinations, a condition known as Korsakov’s psychosis, was cured at the sana- torium near Moscow of his serious psychic complaint but had not over- come the drug habit in spite of the most careful treatment. “From the moment of his arrival in Moscow and his accommodation at the sanatorium, both Comrade and the members of his fam- ily were served by the spécialistw and the entire medical apparatus of the Kremlin sanitary service, “Comrade Joffe had the constant medical attendance of Dr. L. W. Levin, the chief physician of the Kremlin hospital and was through- out his illness treated and advised by the most eminent specialists, whose authority is recognized far beyond the borders of our country. “Among the doctors treating and attending Comrade Joffe, there were the professors Pletnyev, Getye, Vinogradov, Minor, Kramer, Davidenkov, Kannabich, Gannoush- kin, Tarassyevitch, Averbach, Fron- stein and Salkind and the physi- cians Levin, Kanely, and Epstein; the consultations were also attended at different times by Pogossyanta, Rousheinikov, Semashko, and Obrossov took part. “Comrade Joffe was in possession of a sick-ticket and as a doctor he enjoyed the right of procuring pre- scriptions directly for medicaments from the Kremlin pharmacy, so that he was sure of the maximum of medical assistance, “During his illness, Comrade Joffe was several times accommo- dated in the Kremlin hospital, and on one occasion, contrary to the or- dinary rule, his wife and child were lodged there too, since he felt better for their proximity. “In 1924 to 1925 and again in 1927, he was sent abroad by the Medical Commission, mainly to Vienna to Dr. Adler, on each occa- sion for three or four months, In 1926 he was sent with his wife to Yalta in the Crimea. “As to the members of his fam- ily, his daughter was sent in 1925 to undergo a treatment at Mazesta and then for a month to a sanator- ium located near Moscow; in 1926 she was sent for a month to the Crimea, and 1927 for one month to a sanatorium near Moscow and for one month to the Shafranovo san- atorium. “Between 1924 and 1927, more than 36,000 roubles were spent on the treatment of Comrade Joffe abroad. “As already pointed out the chief ailment of Comrade Joffe was his serious and obstinate morphinism. Most of the other ailments from which he suffered were direct or indirect consequences of this mor- phinism. “Since morphinism is an illness which can only be cured in a hos- pital, and since the recent journey of Comrade Joffe abroad failed to bring about any improvement, the question arose as to whether it would not be possible to treat him in Russia.. This question was an- swered in the affirmative by the council of specialists (Professors Davidenkov and Vinogradov, with Dr, Levin and a doctor of the Cen- tral Committee), who pointed out that, if the necessary rules in re- gard to morphinism (a strict disei- pline and the assistance of psy- chiatrist) were observed, the Krem- lin hospital was very well suited to attain the desired result. The hos- pital administration answered in the affirmative to the question as to whether it could afford Comrade Joffe the treatment and discipline of a closed establishment. It was therefore resolved to ask Comrade Joffe for his consent, a task en- trusted to the Central Committee doctor, However, it proved impos- sible to inform the patient of the specialists’ decision and to obtain his consent to their plan, since in the meantime he had committed suicide.” To be continued. Neglecting Literature M. WEINER. EMBERS of the Workers (Com- munist) Party who are active in the unions and fraternal organizations realize that our press is a great fac- tor in the struggle to win over the great masses of the American work- ing class to our revolutionary move- ment. But they fail sufficiently to realize that besides our press we have another instrument as an interme- diary between our party and the workers, and that is literature. It is regretable that our comrades neglect this in their everyday con- tacts with their fellow workers in the shops and unions. They are appar- ently reluctant to carry in their pock- ets, when going to work or to a union meeting, one or two small books or pamphlets on a timely topic in order so‘give them to a worker who might ¢ interested. This is partly the fault of the units which do not insist upon their litera- ture agents getting the literature. At the same time there was no ideologi- cal campaign in our Party press and in our Party organizations for greater activity in this respect, No proper machinery has been established to di- rect and supervise this work, Now all this will hereafter be changed. A district literature committee has organized to direct the distribution of literature. Literature “nests” will be estab- lished in every section and sub-sec- tion, Literature agents and other comrades will always be in touch with the Party book store When this machinery has properly organized it will not idle. A steady flow of lit be directed among the workers te and Create