The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 5, 1928, Page 1

THE DAILY WORKER FIGHTS: FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNORGANIZED FOR THE 40-HO!R WEEK FOR A LABOR PARTY Vol. V. No. 54. | T SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In New York; Gy mall, $8.00 per year. Outside New York, by mail, $6.00 per year. Eamtered ax sccond-ciues uuster at ime sum, Office at New York, N. ¥. NEW YORK, MONDAY, MARCH 5, 1928 E DAILY WORKER. under the act of March 3, 1879. Publish: daily except Sunday by The National Datly Worker Publishing Association, Inc., 33 First Street, New York, N. ¥, FINAL CITY EDITION Price 3 Cents PROGRESSIVES ISSUE CALL TO 800,000 COAL MINERS WORKERS DEMAND TRACTION STRIKE CALL TOMORROW Believe Workers Will Force Action Rising sentiment among nearly 40,- 000 New York traction workers for immediate strike action will force of- ficials of the Amalgamated Associa- tion to issue a general strike call to- | Tower Crushes ‘Worker! ; t One worker died and another-was morrow when a mass meeting of the | union members acts on the discharge by the Interborough Rapid Transit | Company of 21 Amalgamated ian bers. The so-called truce which the of- ficials of the union have permitted the Interborough expires tomorrow eve-} ning, Scores of traction workers have already gone on “vacations” as a protest at having to work with scabs, A sort of “creeping strike” | has begun to spread over the lines. if Company To Reject Men. | The Interborough, it is known, will! not accept the offer of the Amalga- | mated officials to “arbitrate.” When | this fact is definitely announced, the traction workers who haye thus far been restrained from action by the dangerous dallying policy of their of- ficials will no longer remain in check. A strike is inevitable according to the | = information of those who are in touch with the situation. It is reported that hundreds of telephone calls have been made to the headquarters of the union offi- cials at the Continental Hotel, Broad- way and 4ist St., by traction work- ers who have demanded immediate strike action. These workers have pointed to the intensified preparations by the company of its strikebreaking activities, It is also known that a majority of the members of the executive coun- cil of the union have demanded an vit but will seek to avoid the strike call by some maneuver at the last moment. The experience of the traction workers with the last strike situation in the summer-of.1927, it is thought, will guard them against another such /defeat as their officials permitted at the time, KOSSUTH STATUE PLANS EXPOSED Horthy Delegation Sails for Unveiling Here. The proposed unveiling of a mon- ument here to Louis Kossuth, Hun- garian liberator, was exposed before several hundred Hungarian workers at Central Opera House yesterday afternoon as part of a plan by the Horthy fascist regime in Hungary to raise a loan here. Speakers said the Horthy govern- ment hopes to raise money among} Hungarian workers here by playing on their sentiment for Kossuth. The unveiling is scheduled io take place at Riverside Drive and 115th St. March 15. Officials on Way. Dispatches from Budapest say Horthy officials, wealthy landowners and former Hungary yesterday for New York to attend the ceremony. Among the speakers at yester- day’s meeting were Arthur Garfield eh. | acter. Hapsburg nobles left | °™' Hays and Roger Baldwin, both of the Civil Liberties Union; Lewis Gan- nett, of the Nation; Dr. S. Buchler, president of the Anti-Horthy league; Hugo Gellert, artist and secretary of the league; Rosika Schwimmer, Em- ery Balint, Hungarian writer. Fake Amnesty Exposed. Balint and Gellert aroused sus- tained applause from the workers present by denunciation of the im- severely injured when the tower of an apartment being constructed in Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn toppled. Such are the risks building labor- ers must take for the meager wages they receive. The Suilding is shown above, photographed after the crash. 30 BOOTHS AT AL D.BAZAAR Workers Thruout City to Participate All roads will lead to New Star Casino, 107th St. and Park Ave., Wednesday night .when workers of New York City and environs will gather the openin night of the bazaar which the International Labor De- fense will hold from Wednesday until Srnday night. The bazaar, which is an annual event, will be international in char- American, German, Hungar- ian, Polish, Chinese, Japanese, Fin- nigh, Greek, Ukrainian, Russian and Czechoslovak workers ,for the past few weeks have been engaged, both as individuals and thru their Jaber and) fraternal organizations, in pre- paring booths and the programs for each of the days of the bazaar. There will, be 30 booths. | To Open With Talk. The bazaar will open at 8 p. m. Wednesday ith an introductory talk on the work of the International La- bor) Defense by Pascal Cosgrove, sectetary- organizer of the Hotel, Food and Restaurant Workers’ Union. The evening has been desig- nated as Slavie Night Thursday .will be a Finnish Night, Friday Hungarian and Night. Saturday afternoon will be Children’s Day and in the evening an, international masquerade _ ball will be held. The program of Sunday ing, the last night of the bazaar, will consist of a concert by the Brooklyn Art Trio. The bazaar, after opening Wednesday night, will be open all day throughout its dura- tion, it is announced. BOX WORKERS EXPECT VICTORY: The 1,500 saper hex workers. stil prisonment and torture of the Com-| out on strike are enthusiastically pick: (Continued on Page Two) U; nique Tableau plain clothes men. to intimidate At “Red Revue” Proletarian minstrels, jazz, satire, and proletarian tableaux. All will be found at the “Red Revue” to be given atth e New Star Casino, 107th St. and Park Ave., Friday evening, March 16, for the benefit of The DAILY WORKER. Striking, original, prole- tarian tableaux will also be staged at that time. Maurice, the dancer will lead the Workers’ Theatre that will participate in th presentation. eting the paper box'district on Greene, Mercer and Wooster streets. Despit efforts of the police squads and tl workers, the strikers have continued the systematic picketing. Owners the shops still out have combined to discriminate against the shops whi¢h have settled. The drivers are in the paper industry are out solidly in support pf the other workers, according to Irvii Freeman, manager of the Paper Box Makers’ Union. Over 30 shops, among jing this week, he said. WILL DEMAND RELIEF AT UNION ~ SQUARE MEETING Workers ‘Wasenstiohal Relief Opens Kitchens Unemployed workers will assembl in Union Square at 2 p. m. today t hear speakers on organization anc on demands for relief, under the auspices of the New York Counci! of the Unemployed, 60 St. Marks Pl. At the same time the women’s sec- tion of the Council and the Workers International Relief, 1 Union Square, will continue plans for opening three kitchens here for unemployed men and women and their children. The kitchens are scheduled to open Thurs- day. 1 | i | | | 1500. Assemble. Children will be fed ffom 3:30 to 5 p. m. daily. Adults will be served from 9 a. m. to noon. One of the kitchens will be located at 60 St. Marks Place and the others in Har- lem and Williamsburg. To Hold City Conference. Preparations are also under way for a city-wide conference on unem- ployment that the council has called for Saturday, March 17, at 2 p. m. at Webster Hall, 119 E. 11th St. Labor and fraternal organizations, as well as committees of unemployed workers thruout the city will be rep- resented at this conference. The executive committee of the ‘women’s. Section will meet toni at 6 p. m. at th office of the Work- ers International Relief to plan the first meeting of unemployed women called for Wednesday at 2:30 p, m. at 101 W. 27th St. A meeting of unemployed seamen will be held tomorrow at 2 p. m. at jthe Seamen’s Club, 28 South St. BISCUIT WORKERS FIRED FROM PLANT Low Wages, Speed-Up, Spying Revealed The National Biscuit Company, which operates a number of larg: factories at 15th and 16th Sts. be- ween Ninth. and Tenth Aves., em- ploys 10,000 workers. The company’s net profit last year was $15,000,000. The same National Biscuit Company |employs an army of bosses, sub-boss- es and foremen whdse duties are th driving of the workers to ever grea - er speed in production, maintaining strict discipline and driving deep in- to the workers ‘the fear of losing " nas Fohaan | their jobs. The National Biscuit Company is guilty of wholesale discharges of workers in order to keep a minimum vumber working under high pressure o make up for the production of chose discharged. The Wage Plan. The salary at which a woman vorker starts is usually $12, some- ‘mes $15, a week. Men start at from ‘5 to $22 a week. The custom at se National Biscuit Company is to | aise the workers $1 a week after | he first month of employment. This ostensible generosity is largely ex- “(Continued on Page Five) Declaring that The DAILY WORK- f ER is passing thru a crisis more se- vere than any which has attacked it in the past, that the combined attacks of the reactionary forces is becoming sharper, Section 2, New York City, calls upon all militant American |workers to come to the defense of the paper. At the same time the Section pledges itself to raise $1,500 immedi- ately. Issue Challenge. Challenging any other section in Aved Left to Charity Under Cap‘talism Mrs. Bertha Liss slaved for her strength, the capitalist system had no more interest in her, had her choice of starving on the streets or starving in a home for the aged. She chose the latter, in a home, where she must spend fort. Capitalism has no further After it had sapped all She 80 years. Above photo shows the aged woman the rest of her life amidst discom- use for the aged workers after it has drawn the last drop of blood from them, WORKERS PARTY CALLS FOR TRACT ION STRIKE Pointing out that only an immediate strike on the part of the Unemployed Workers to Hold Demonstration Today : g “SAVE- THE-UNION” 3 COMMITTEE OPENS NATIONAL DRIVE ‘Summons All Union Locals and Unorganized 4|Fields to Huge Conference at Pittsburgh April ] Calls Upon Miners to Defeat Coal Operators’ At- tack and to Oust Lewis Machine Declaring that the incompetency and corruption of the Lewis | administration in the United Mine Workers of America and the | efforts of the operators to destroy the organization have brought | the coal diggers’ union face to face with the most menacing crisis in its history, the “Save the Union Committee” has issued a call for a great national conference of coal miners to be held in Pitts- burgh on April 1st. The call states that the purpose of the conference is to defeat the nation-wide attack of the operators and their government agencies upon the union and on the wages and working conditions of the miners, to oust the corrupt Lewis machine and to lay plans for the complete organization: of the industry. ee > Lewis and his machine are charged |by the National “Save the Union Committee” with having lost district | after district because of their refusal jto wage a militant struggle during MINERS’ STRENGTH iNew York traction workers will prevent a repetition of the de- feats of 1916 and 1926, the Workers (Communist) Party of Dis- trict 2, New York, yesterday urged these exploited and unorgan- ized workers to vote unanimously in favor of a general traction walk-out tomorrow night. The statement follows: Twenty-one of your most active union brothers have been fired for membership in the Amalgamated, In spite of the “solemn” promise of Jimmie Walker that you would be protected, this servile tool of the trac- tion trust has openly betrayed you by an agreement to permit the I. R. T. wise shown his legal department under Quackenbush to decide upon your rights. Judge Wasservogel, who has been mentioned as your friend, has like- role by refusing And> Mpootsticked’ to “interfere.” Pat Connolly, or avian to his master’s voice, says ‘the Brotherhood will not tolerate any Amalgamated members. HA aot, pinks: hate: LAs 6) ®° future to a condition of virtual slav- game to defeat you? It should be clear now to every- one that the whole traction gang from Hedley to Walker intend to stand by the discharge of your twen- ty-one brothers. They are seeking to establish these discharges as a precedent for the complete destruc- tion of the union. Then, shackled by the yellow-dog contract, you will be made to pay for your defeat in low- er wages, longer hours, and condi- tions of even more intense exploita- tion than at present. The issue is clear: Either you will seize the present favorable oppor- tunity which is now in your hands or you must resign yourself in the ery. Only by a strike can you establish your union! The choice is either strike or sur- render. And no worker who pos- sesses a spark of intelligence, cour- | age or self-respect will any longer hesitate. | You Must Strike! 100 Per Cent. Never in the history of the New | York traction linés was there a stronger movement for organization among the workers. A strike move will now bring a prompt and en |thusiastic response in every shop, terminal and power house. Organ- (Continued on Page Five) \Medical Supply Campaign Is Begun for Nicaragua “Enlist with Sandino,” is the watchword of the Sandino medical supply campaign launched yesterday ~by the All-America Anti-Imperialist League, whose United States headquarters are at 39 Union Square. although he is well supplied with’ arms and ammunition taken from the enemy, General Augusto Sandino has written to the Mexican Head- qurters of the Hands-Off-Nicaragua Committee that his wounded soldiers “are dying like dogs on the roads’ from lack of medical supplies. The All-America Anti-Imperialist League is sending out 25,000 deserip- tive folders on ihe situation in Nicaragua. A list of 10,000 contrib- utors is being circulated through the mails and individuals receiving them will solicit funds. A direct appeal will be made to the labor movement through speakers going before local rade unions. Checks or money orders for the Sandino Medical Supply Fund should the tradition of Charles E. Ruthen-) berg, the unswerving champion of The DAILY WORKER as the only daily voice of militant labor in Eng- lish, by raising as large a fund for the defense of their class paper. “Charles E. Ruthenberg, one of the most aggressive leaders the Ameri- can working class has ever produced, left us the supreme task of defending our daily paper against the persistent attacks of its capitalist enemies,” says a communication from Secion 2 to The DAILY WORKER. “It was Charles E. Ruthenberg who. said, ‘It be made out to the .!l-America Anti- Imperialist League and sent either o the district office or to the nacional headquarters. “This is the most important cam- »|}paign we have ever undertaken,” Manuel Gomez, secretary of the All- America Anti-Imperialist League, said yesterday. “The drive should become part of the anti-war activities of every or- ganization which declares itself against the war in Nicaragua. At every meeting called, for no matter what purpose, collections should be taken up for the Sandino Medical Supply Fund. “All money collected will be sent (Continued on Page Two) 'PARTY UNITS PLEDGE MORE SUPPORT Ruthenberg’s Words on “Daily’’ Cited by N. Y. Communists the battles of the workers against ar- rests, deportations and imprisonments and which is aiding to build the move- ment for labor defense; it is The DAILY WORKER which supports and fights for a workers’ and farm- ers’ government.’ It was. Ruthenberg who laid down the great task of de- fending the paper as the militant or- gan of the American workers.” Asserting that no other section in New York City and perhaps in the country can take first place from Section 2 in its example of complete loyalty and sacrifice to the cause of (Continued on Page Two) AWES OPERATORS, Forces Lewis Machine to Retreat SCRANTON, Pa., March 4. — The rising power of the progressive min- ers under the leadership of the Save- the-Union Committee has driven fear into the hearts of both the mine own- ers and union officials of District 1, headed by Rinaldo Cappelini, chief henchman of the Lewis machine. Mass Fury Rising. Under the pressure of this rising force, officials of the Pennsylvania Coal Company, which controls all op- erations in the Pittston region, have hastily combined with Cappelini, in an agreement to resume mining op- erations in the Pittston district for a period of thirty days in order to ward off the rising mass fury of the miners who are holding Cappelini and the mine owners jointly responsible for the murder of Alex Campbell and Peter Reilly last week as well as the killing of two other progressive min- ers. * -* * Thousands Mourn Campbell, Reilly. PITTSTON, Pa. March 4.—The funeral of Alex Campbell, progressive mine leader, murdered at the hands of the Lewis-Cappelini machine gun killers, marked the solemn occasion here yesterday of the renewal by fifteen thousand mine workers of a pledge to carry on the struggle (Continued % yPage Tw0) 3,000 WOMEN JOIN Urge Organization at New York Meeting “We, the working women of New York, gathered at the celebration of International Woman’s Day, send our revolutionary greetings to you, the emancipated working women of Sov- iet Russia, who are today the van- guard of all the oppressed women thruout the world.” Thus began the greeting endorsed by over 3,000 wom- en gathered at Central Opera House yesterday. Juliet Stuart Poyntz, Secretary of the New York Federation of Working Women’s Conference acted as chair- man, and Marian Emerson, of the Workers International Relief, Fanny ut ~of the Pennsylvania- Ohio "Miners? Relief Commifttee, and Ray Ragozin, organizer of the United Council of Workingclass Women, were the principal spea! eer The speakers all emphasized the growing influence of the women in the labor movement and the great need for organization. Other features included violin solos by Fanny Levine; piano selections by Valentine Righthand, and readings by Genevieve Taggard, American poet. Dances by Dorsha, and especially “March Slav”, was enthusiastically received. IN CELEBRATION, the strike or prepare for the inevit- able contest with the operators since the signing of the Jacksonville agree- ment. Big Lewis Money-Grab. Lewis is scored for drawing $11 | 093.66 in salary and expenses during }six months of the strike while hun- dreds of thousands of miners and their dependents were starving. The conference call declares that the rank and file of the miners are in a state of insurgency against. the. Lewis machine and are already in several states adopting a militant JOHN BROPHY. strike policy in defiance of the orders |of the reactionary leaders. The program of the National “Save the Union Conference” calls for unity of all honest elements in the union, for the struggle against the operators and Lewis, for the mobilization of the membership in Pennsylvania and Ohio for the winning of the strike, for a six-hour day and a five-day week, for nationalization of the mines, a Labor Party, the Jacksonville scale, a national agreement for all coal min- ers, against arbitration and separate agreements, for an honest and age gressive leadership, democracy in the union and abolition of company con- trol. The statement reads: Pittsburgh, March 1, 1928. GREETINGS: : To all local unions and members of \the United Mine Workers of America and the miners of the unorganized districts: The National “Save the Union Committee” will hold a great national conference of coal miners in Pitts- — | burgh on April first. The purpose of this conference will be to work out a program to meet the deep crisis which has been brought upon the — union by the incompetence and corm ruption of the Lewis administration, The conference will take definite steps for winning the Pennsylvania- Ohio strike, to defeat the nation-wide attacks of the operators and their government agencies upon pred and the wages and working s' 4 (Continued on Page Taed—