The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 25, 1928, Page 2

' #4 For example, the officials have ac- _ | PITTSBURGH, Feb. 24.—Charges Page Two THE DATLY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1928 acl ides aks Rush Funds and Subs in Fight to Save Daily Worker (Sa RAP OPERATORS, UNION OFICILS | IN ANTHRACITE ~ Big Meeting Unemployment (Continued from Page One) declared that “es the explosion pointed out that it was the of safety appliances which made sible the acciden They declared inspected would t ing»such an acci As soon as news 0 Spread thru the town, pos- nes properly arded, mines awa cue crews. e from the workers’ far as the mangled bodies of the dead miners were brought up. Many of the injured are not ex- pected to live. By GEORGE PA WILKES BARRE One of the biggest th thracite tri- at time is the question of the ployment and the miners employed by the Lehigh Valley Coal Co., of four local unions have protested with | the following resolution to the Coal} operators on the question of work. Condemn Union Officials and Operators “Whereas, we, the representatives, of Local Unions, Nos. SARS Fs 1766, 3638, of the Ur 1} » Work- | ers of America in a joint meeting as- | sembled in the town hail ot Dury Pa., condemn the augurated by the of: high Valley Coal Co. most flagrant PCUN. | sof injustice ever con- templated by the officials of the Le- high Valley Co. during slack time periods, and Whereas, the Lehigh Valley Co. deceitfully notified its employees that there would be no work on a certain date and then shut down in- definitely, giving the employees no chance to secure coal, that is so es- sential in- winter for the health and happiness of the employees, their| families, w: and children, and Whereas, all high officials of the Lehigh Valley Co reside in the ar that is so favored in the new wor ing schedule, we' contend the new Policy adopted is for no o:her reason than for political business and Whereas, ail the people in the towns affected are involved, if not @irectly, indirectly, because when part of their people are idle, it fects the business, professional ple, clergy and the public at large, we therefore call upon all organi- gations in the towns affected to wo! to the end that an equalization of the Working schedule will be brought @bout and that our towns will secur the same degree of prosperity and| ‘work that is allotted the other towns im the area of the Lehigh Vail Company workings. , And whereas we commend the ®tand taken by the Tri-district Exec- utive Board before the Board of Con- @iliation and the stand taken by our mine workers’ representatives before the anthracite cooperative associa- tion. Therefore, be it re’ copy be sent to the pr sprict officials and if necessary the joard of Directors of the Lehigh Valley Coal Co. Similar Resolutions Similar resolutions adopted thruout the ‘wnions protesting against Must be pointed out that the nm cannot expect y.hing from Phe “Officialdom on the question oi employment, and every progres- Bive miner must point out to the Membership that this policy of the ehigh Valley Coal Co. and of other onl Companies is a means which expect to break down the Union with. | Officials Aid Operators. We must fight against the reac- officialdom and force them to energetic action to force the panies to do something about the ployment which is raging thru- the anthracite. a tually encouraged the Pennsylvanis Co. at its number 6 colliery of al Union 1703 to deliberately keep 1700 miners unemployed. On top that they have actually murdered ik and file members who fought jst these conditions. The only that the miners will get any iediate substantial relief is by ing for the Save the Union pro- * Charge Terror a reign of terror, instigated by Protests |i | off a gas pocket and prevented two | senate coal investigating committee today by a number of striking, | miners. | been perpetrated by the coal and iron i{ bed. The police called vile names at | Monday at 8:30 p. m. 4 and by cleaning out corruption the miners’ union. ER. * # and iron police, existed in the on Run Camp of the Pittsburgh Company were made before the \ \ Bosses? Negligence Killed 12 in Scab Mine ne ees oe ,The death of 12 non-union miners in the explosion at the Kinlock mine near Parnassus, Pa., can be la’ owners of the mine. former workers in the mine'now on strike. id directly to the negligence of the The owners knew it was a dangerous mine, say The fan in the mine was faulty, otherwise the gas which exploded would have been sucked out thru the shaft, The non-union miners at work in the Kinlock mine were kept behind wire netting, while armed deputy sheriffs guarded them lest they escape. woods of the South who -had never North by the operators’ misleading The dead miners are said to be men brought from the back- heard of a union, but were lured promises. Upper photo shows a rescue crew entering the mine. Lower photo gives a general view of the Kinlock mine. Kinlock Mine Owners Didn't. Worry Over Safety of Scabs By T. J. O°)FLAHERTY. The Kinlock mine, where twelve strikebreakers were killed in an ex- plosion recently, was never rockdust- ed or watered. The company was making money until it went non- union. It was selling coal at the pit mouth for $2.10 a ton; the cost of sroduction was $1.83—a profit of 73) cents. Not so bad. Why bother about | making the mine safe? Human life is abundant. People must eat to live. | And in order to eat one must either work for a master or be a master and | make others work. And people will take a chance on anything rather than die of hunger. A mine fire boss who once fenced men from working in. the infected |; area was fired. There were 500,000 | bic feet of gas there, right along the motor run. A state examiner came gate and saw nothing. Nice | ! Nice and generous com- to good examiners, also to the aign funds of good governors, Very likely. There will be another investigation | The hearing Was held in the front 100m of a little country store. “Every crime on the calendar has police,” said James Oinsadale, chief of the union pickets. “They have as- saulted and beaten up our miners.” He was followed by Mrs. Mary Kruick, proprietor of the store, and Mrs. Thomas Bresler, wife of the lo- cal constable. Mrs. Kruick testified that some time ago two coal and iron police, with drawn guns, entered her store in search of strikers. They poked their guns in the faces of her chil- dren and thrust them aside, knock- » to the floor. The little boy on the head by one of the en. The policemen then went next door to the home of Mrs. Bresler, where her father was lying on his death him and knicked her around the room. P. M. White, division manager of the Pittsburgh Coal Company, flatly refused to answer Sen. Wheeler when the latter asked concerning the cost of producing coal at the Moon Run mine. Robert Minor to Conduct | Labor Journalism Class | The class in labor journalism, at | the Workers’ School, 108 E. 14th St., | will be conducted by Robert Minor, | editor of The DAILY WORKER. The class in the future will meet every Beatrice Becker will give a course in “Speech Improvement” on Monday from 6:45 to 7:45 p. m. David J. Saposs will give a series of six lec- tures on “Historic Struggles of Amer- ican Labor” on Friday evenings from 7 to 8:20 o'clock. Students in the Labor Journalism class will be given practical labor journalism work and experience thru assignments by The DAILY WORK- HOTEL BURNS DOWN. GALVESTON, Texas., Feb. 24. — Two hundreds guests escaped when the eight-story Hotel Royal, located on one of the busiest downtown cor- be a big one. And one of the points around which the probe will center is} the report made by mine inspector W. J. McGregor and posted in the pit on October 22. It reads: “Reasonably safe. Explosive gas found in No. 17 and No. 18 entries off | No. 9 face. Found ventilation weak | and inadequate to keep fan and en- |tries clear and free from explosive } gas. Recommend that the quantity | f air be increased and conducted to} face the entries in sufficient quantity | to dilute and carry off and render harmless all explosiye gas generated. | Ventilation in No. 5 split, Valley |Camp section. All dry parts of mine be thoroly rockdusted and rockdust barriers be placed in trackless en- tries.” McGregor said that he does not know if the coal company complied with his recommendations. He knows darned well they did not, but the in- vestigating committee may haye to} apply a coat of whitewash. Insidé the company “patch” which skirts the fatal Kinlock mine, strike- breakers, their wives and children, ill- clad and shivering in the raw damp February air, walk like ghosts in the shadow of disaster. Death lurks un- der those Parnassus hills. The grim reaper had a good night on’February 21, Whose turn will it be next? There is blood on Kinlock coal and guilt on the souls of the Valley Camp Coal Company. Only, so much more guilt. Is not the whole cursed capi- talist system stained with blood? On both sides of the Kinlock mine, union miners maintain picket lines. In congested barracks, their wives, cook scanty meals for many mouths. Birth control does not prevail in the mining ‘camps. “Blessed are those ..” Blessed perhaps, but certainly hungry. But those cold and hungry striking miners face the world with the spirit of men and women fight- ing for a great cause. They hunger, it is true, but have not the battlers for freedom in all ages hungered? And they suffer in the consciousness that the eyes of the class-conscious workers of the U. S. and of ali lands are on them and that the hearts of the freedom-loving everywhere. beat with them, But tear-dimmed eyes and throbbing hearts will not help ihe miners win their strike. Milk is more precious than tear-water and one dollar is worth one million sym- pathetic heart tremors. Send money for relief at once to the Pennsylvania- Ohio Miners’ Relief Committee, 611 |Penn Ave., Room 314, Pittsburgh, Pa. TRACE GIL BONDS TO REPUBLICANS WASHINGTON, Feb. 24—The senate’s search for new traces of the Continental Trading Company’s mys- terious $3,080,000 Liberty Bond “slush fund” was centered today upon the accounts of the Republican Na- tional Committee in the Continental and Commercial Trust Company at Chicago. Government experts studied a list of deposits made in the Chicago Bank by the republican committee in Octo- ber and November, 1923. ter month, the republican deposits totaled $300,000 while over the per- liod of the 1920 campaign, they ex- ners of Galveston, burned down, ceeded a million dollars. ‘ theld, |ceeded to the Miners’ Temple which We et s Nore ‘ ; jdent of Bellaire subdistrict of Dis- in Kinlock, This time it promises to | trict 6 of the U. M. W., Adolph Paci- In the lat- | TOOLS OF LEWIS AID OHIO POLICE TO CRUSH MINERS Militaney nS creases Among Rank and File (By a Worker ber Corresponiient) MARTINS FERRY, Ohio, Feb. 24. —Following six successful mass meet- |ings arranged by the Save the Union Committee at which Tony Minerich, | president of the committee, and Vin- | cent Kamenovich, secretary, rallied 90 per cent of the rank and file miners around the progressive program, the sub-district reactionary officials of the United Mine Workers are stopping at nothing in their desperate efforts to stop the mee-ings arranged for the | progressives by John Brophy and Pat |Toohey. at Dillonville, Yorkville, Landing, Neffs and Bellaire. Miners Defy Police. The meeting at Bellaire on the 20th |Iast Sunday, was refused the Miners’ Temple, and procured the Bohemian hall seven blocks away.: Just prior to | the mee_ing the police swarmed in and prohibited the meeting from being The miners, 500 strong, pro- they had originally been refused, and held their meeting for three hours in defiance of the police. Vincent Kam- enovich addressed the miners, followed of che right wing officials who had refused the hall to the miners. The officials are said by the rank and file miners to have instigated the police action in not allowing the meeting to be held in the Bohemian Hall, Officials Conspire. Last Monday John Cinque, presi- fico, vice president, and William Rob- erts, secretary-treasurer, were re- ported to have conferred with the chief of police and Mayor Crunelle of Belleaire. The local paper stated that “(he purpose of the meeting could not be learned,” but the progressive miners are well aware that a con- spiracy between the reactionary offi- ials*of the union and the city police is going on in an effort to ban the meetings of ihe miners scheduled for this week-end. The same paper also carries a statement by the mayor an- | nouncing that miners’ meetings will | be banned under gs ay war ordinances, MINERICK, RELIEF HEAD, RELEASED, (Continued from Page One) States marshall, accompanied by members of the National Guard—the | same Na-ional Guard whose “relief” activities are so widely advertised in the capitalist press. When Minerich protested against Kemenovich’s arrest he was seized, with the explanation: “This is the | guy we want.” Kemenovich was re- leased. He was taken in an automo- bile to Zanesville, where he was searched and his papers confiscated. From there his captors took him to Columbus and lodged in Franklin County jail. The injunction under which Mine- rich is charged was issued on Sep- tember 10, 1927, by Judge Hough, on application of the Clarkson Mining Company et al, against the United Mine Workers, e: al. The charge reads in part: That on the said 17th day of Janu- ary, 1928, the said defendant and div- ers other persons, whose names are to affiant unknown, did conspire to commit and did commit certain acts in violation of azd prohibited by said injunction, and in the commission of said acts and in conspiring to commit said acts, the said Anthony Minerich, | alias Tony Myrovitz—the origin of the Myrovitz is a deep mystery to Minerich who never heard of such a fellow. Evidently some marshall found difficulty in wrapping his. tongue around a Yugo Slav “itch”— (T. J. O'F.) wilfully disébeyed said} preliminary injunction lawfully issued in said equity cause, now pending.” Charges Given. The charge goes on to say that Min- erich “did conduct and conspire to conduct a ga hering or meeting of the United Mine Workers of America and by many rank and file denunciations | . Communist Drive to Extend AN’ iF Yu DON’ CIKE IT, GO BACK waar Yu CUM “AND IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT. .. .” WE STAND FOR THE OPEN SHOP — INJUNCTIONS § UNEMPLOYMENT= LYNCHING = STARVATION WAGES DEPORTATION ~ WAR to May 1 (Continued from Page One) bers of the Party who had dropped out in the past several years are re- joining in considerable numbers. Many new-comers, young coal miners now going thru their first big strug- gle with the employers, make up most of the resi. Party Grows in Struggle. “The short of it,” said SPachel yesterday, “is that the fight in the mining fields is having the effect of drawing hundreds of the best of the militant miners into the Party which they see more and more clearly as the leader of their struggles on all fronts, against the bosses and against the treacherous bureau- lerats who act as agents of the boss- es. In actual struggle the Workers (Communist) Party is making head- way toward beoming a mass party.” Colorado Miners Join. In Colorado, where the sharp struggle reached the stage of the cold-blooded shooting down of six miners, the large number of coal- diggers applying for membership nec- essitated the formation of a new unit of the Party. In the Kansas dis- trict. sixty coal miners have joinea the Party within the past few days, aveording to a report of Hugo Qeh- ler, district organizer of the Party. In Pennsylvania and Ohio the in- fluence of the Party has been greatly increased during the strike, with or- | ganizational gains., New York District Proposal. The proposal for the extension of the big drive came first from the District Committee of District 2 of the Party in New York City. At the office of the New York district it was explained yesterday that the Party’s activities in the campaign for the re- lief of the striking miners and the campaign for help to the unemployed and against the anti-strike bill are resulting in an unusual stimulation of the applications of workers to join the Party. The Lenin-Ruthenberg drive began on January 21, the date commemorat- ing the death of Lenin, and was or- iginally intended to come to an end »n March 2, the anniversary of the leath of C. E. Ruthenberg, who was the seeretary of the Party and it veteran leader. Nation-wide memorial meetings will be held on the Ruthen- berg anniversary, the dates varying in- various cities from March 2 to Information Wanted on Political Prisoners by Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union, 1090 Fifth Ave., is seeking informa- tion concerning difficulties met by yersons convicted during the war for their anti-war views. itheir sympathizers at Dillonvale, Jef- |ferson County, Ohio, which said meet- ing was attended by between three hundred and four hundred members of the United Mine Workers of Amer- ica and their sympathizers, and .hat said gathering or meeting was con- ducted by Anthony Minerich with the purpose of violating the provisions‘or the spirit of the said preliminary in- | junction in tha. said Anthony Miner- jich, at said meeting used the follow- ing language: “If the injunction says two pick- ets, put on two hundred pickets. If {two hundred pickets is not enough, |puc on two thousand pickets. You will never get any place this way, Vio- late the damnable injunctions!” The maximum penalty on contempt proceedings is six months in jail or a ‘tine of $500 or both. The DAILY WORKER yesterday reeeived the following letter from Roger N. Baldwin, director of the or- ganization: “The Civil Liberties Union has ‘ried through quiet work at Wash- ington to secure restoration of the rights of citizenship to all the 1500 persons convicted for their opinions during the war. We have not secured results by quiet methods and we ar’ now about to engage in a public campaign. For that purpose, we wan‘ material directly from the persons af. fected, showing just what difficultie: they have met. Will any of your readers who know any pertinent fact or who have the names and addresses of any persons so convicted be gooc enough to inform the American Civi’ Liberties Union, 100 Fifth Avenue, New York City.” As Many Join April 1, when the last meeting will take place in Detroit. At Chicago the big hall of Ashland Auditorium thas been obtained for the Ruthenberg memorial meeting on March 4. In this hall Ruthenberg had addressed many mass meetings, and from this same hall began his funeral ceremonies which continued to New York and then to the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, where his ashes were buried in the Kremlin wall The purpose of the Lenin-Ruthen- berg drive is the recruiting of 5,000 new members of the Workers (Com- munist) Party—“the party of Len- in,” and an increase of 10,000 new readers of the DAILY WORKER, the central organ of the Party. 'FORD-CONTROLLED STATE PROMISES MORE AID SOON j Take Lead in Campaign to Save “Daily” DETROIT, Feb. 24.—Seven hun- dred and forty-seven dollars has been sent to The DAILY WORKER as the Michigan district’s contribution this week to the national campaign to win’ ten thousand new subscribers to the paper. “This is only a beginning,” declares the message accompanying the collection, and hundreds more sub- scriptions will be sent in’ a short time.” Not only is the Michigan district donating hundreds of dollars to the defense of The DAILY WORKER against the attack of the United States government, but the hundreds of subs collected thruout the Michigan area are putting Ford’s stronghold in the forefront of the national subscrip- tion campaign, Under the able leadership of Sarah Victor, The DAILY WORKER agent in District 7, the sub drive is swing- ing to the lead place as scores of new \subscriptions are being turned in ev- jery day and hundreds more are prom- ised in the near future. TO OUST FULLER'S ATTY.-GENERAL Reading Admits Taking Bribe of $25,000 BOSTON, Mass., Feb. 24.—Attor- ney Genera! Arthur K. Reading, who acted as “advisor” to Gov. Fuller during the fight for Sacco and Van- zetti, was today facing the possibility of removal from office. Yesterday he admitted before the House Com- mittee on Rules that he had accepted $25,000 from the Decime Club, Inc., soon after his office had completed an investigation of that organization. Reading also admitted that the check, in the form of “fee for legal advice,” was made out to a third person, and not to him directly. Resist the Attack | The American Legion, the Keymen of Amer- ica, the National Security League, the Amer- ican Government have combined to destroy Labor’s fighting paper and are attempting to put its editors in jail. WHAT IS YOUR ANSWER? You Must Ave The Daily Worker Here Is MyContribution tothe Defense Fund 33 First Street, New York City NAME ~~ st neeee | | | | | | | | | I ,