The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 23, 1928, Page 6

"Page Six THE DAILY WORKER) Published by the NATIONAL DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING ASS'N, Ine. | - Daily, Except Sunday 33 First Street, New York, N. Y. Cable Address: SUBSCRIPTION RA Phone, Orchard 1680 “Daiwork’ By Mail (in New York only): By M $8.00 per yea 50 six months $6.50 per yes $2.50 three months. $2.00 three months. Address and mail out checks to _ eye THE DAILY WORKER, 33 First Street, New York, N. ¥. MOR Sci SEN y sen oie into 8 cp a ose ROBERT MINOR Assistant Editor............+ ...WM. F, DUNNE Entered as second-class mail at the post-offi New York, N. ¥., under the act of March 3, 187 Pittsburgh and Washington If a man more honest than Van A. Bittner were testifying for the coal miners of Pennsylvania before the senate investiga- tion committee, and if the senate committee had the purpose of | finding out the facts, a chronicle of the most terrible tsarism ever | known in modern industry would now be pouring forth at Wash- | ington, instead of the half-hearted and half-concealed story of the terrorism that is being told. But the senate committee has no purpose to expose the con- ditions; its purpose is something entirely different. V an A. Bitt- ner is chosen to give the story “on behalf of the coal miners be- | cause he can be trusted by the capitalist class not to present the case in any really effective way. a The senate committee investigation is a frame-up. It is a disgusting spectacle that Bittner makes of himself | when he testifies in slavish terms of violations of contracts by | operators of northern West Virginia, headed, as he puts it, by “our friend John D. Rockefeller, jr.” It is even worse when this lackey of the coal operators tes- tifies as to how he crawled before the strike-breaker, Herbert Hoover, and “told him of our troubles” and “asked hi what to} do.” Bittner’s miserable confession of political and moral bank- ruptcy, his admission that the bureaucracy of the Mine Workers’ Union applies to the general staff of the open-shop capitalists— to the strikebreaking cabinet of Coolidge (!!!) to get advice as to how to conduct themselves in a strike—this is made on the wit- ness stand as a “defense” of the Mine Workers! And with the strikebreaker Hoover’s advice as his strike pol- icy, Bittner proceeded along these lines: He tried to suppress every sign of fighting spirit in the ranks of the miners, and he tried to expel every mint worker who spoke against the coal com- panies from the Union. Next he went to a local court in which the judge, I. G. Lazelle, was a $60,000-a-year stockholder in scab coal properties,—to ask this capitalist scab court for an injunction against capitalist scab mines! | With this sort of stuff the coal operators and the Lewis bu- reauecracy expect to win the confidence of the mine workers for the senate committee! It is necessary to make clear to every coal miner just what this shameful farce at Washington means. The big vaudeville show at Washington has the general pur- pose of demoralizing the mine workers, turning their attention sway from the picket line, manufacturing reputations for false “<yiends” of the miners, and accomplishing as much as possible ard breaking up the most splendid fighting line the working cless has shown in years—the big heroic strike of the coal miners = that has held like iron for one year. That is the general purpose of the senate committee. But the senate “investigation” show is now being pepped up for a much more specific purpose which is very urgent for the coal operators and their agents. The head-line actors, the pub- licity getters are no less than Rockefeller, Schwab and Mellon, who, it is advertised, will be publicly slapped on the wrist by the senators. The present specific purpose of the “investigation” show is ‘to divert the attention of the mine workers away from the mass . ‘ a movement of rebellion against the coal operators’ agents, Lewis and company—the mass movement that will reach its climax in the big Pittsburgh Conference on April 1. The mine workers cannot afford to deceive themselves about the significance of their own conference—as compared to the cir- cus which the scab senators and Lewis are putting on at Wash- ington with Rockefeller, Schwab and Mellon and Van Bittner as the play-actors. The Pittsburgh Conference is a counter-offensive to meet an attack which threatens to destroy the biggest trade union in‘the United States and to undermine all union organization. The Pittsburgh conference is an attempt of the courageous coal miners to bring up their reserves, to throw fresh troops in| to win a struggle that is already a year old. e . The Pittsburgh Conference is intended not only to turn the ' tide of battle for one trade union, not only the battle on the mine fields,—but to turn the tide of the entire labor struggle in the United States where the trade unions have been steadily beaten down for eight years. The Pittsburgh Conference is not only a counter-offensive to bréak the attack of the coal operators, but also to root out of the workers’ own camp the agents of the employers who have well- nigh destroyed the great United Mine Workers’ Union. It will not be a conference for senators and scab operators and $12,000-a-year bureaucrats. It will be a meeting of the di- rectly chosen representatives of the miners themselves. The Pittsburgh Conference can save the United Mine Workers of America from destruction. The conference will succeed in this just to the extent that it facilitates taking of the Union out of the hands of Lewis and his fellow-traitors and restoring it to the hands of the mine workers, and thus makes possible a militant drive to!to the suppression of the centuries draw the entire forces of the coal fields the strike. The senators’ investigation at Washington is a maneuver of | the enemy. The Pittsburgh Corference is the center of attention for the |not intervene in Haiti to “protect working class of America. into the struggle to win lip Shows Up Cal’s Letters Some of the letters which were secretly exchanged between President Coolidge and Diaz, Wall Street’s puppet president in Nicaragua, published yesterday only after their existence had been indiscreetly mentioned by Diaz, reveal that Coolidge had per- sonally negotiated for the marine “supervision” of elections and for the maintenance of the bloody marine rule in Nicaragua. The existence of the correspondence was very appropriately admitted two days after marine planes had murdered more than three hun- dred Nicaragua men, women and children in the bombardment of the little town of Murra and a day after Diaz had obeyed the or- ders of imperialist Washington and decreed Wall Street “super- vision” of the elections. i © | | | | } | School Pupils Taught Anti- Labor Ideas At the age of six a child’s mind is handed over to school authorities where it begins to be converted by & gradual process of anti-labor propa- ganda, Our children learn speech and declamation through the meaningless salutation of the flag; poetry is pre- sented in form of war epics; ' music is taught in form of militaristic songs. Today’s Problem Avoided. Such training. This discipline does not re- lax in the further steps of their de- velopment. On the contrary, it takes on most intricate forms in or- der to capture completely the grow- ing minds and annihilate any pos~ sible danger of rebellion, The prob- lems of today are avoided as much as possible. Ask as many questions as you please about the Visigoths or the Egyptian religion ,or Medieval Tour- naments, or Macbeth’s dreams—dwell on them as long as you wish—this is your privilege and no teacher will be offended unless she does not know the answer; but try to touch upon the* subject of private ‘property or econ- omic exploitation, and then you be- come at once a harmful member of the society, a disturber of peace, who contaminates and demoralizes society. What Kill Workers’ Minds. By the time the child reaches high- er grades his mind has sunk into com- plete apathy. All his initiative has died out. Forced by the outside con- ditions; he leaves the school early. He begins to work for the same ma~ chine that has shaped him for such a work. The school has let him go; but there are other instruments that still direct the minds of the young work- | ers By JAMES P. CANNON At the recent party membership meeting in Philadelphia one of the eomrades drew attention to the failure of many Party members to render accounts to the respective Party committees on the execution of the work assigned to them, and asked how this condition could be remedied. This is a timely question and one de- serving consideration by the Party. The February Plenum of the Central Committee estimated the sharpening economic situation and foresaw a period of increasing and expanding struggles of the workers. With this perspective before us, the problem of tightening up the party machine and strengthening its capacity to shape and guide these struggles acquires a particular importance. Socialist Party Members Passive. It is a well known fact that Bolshe- vism clashes with reformism on or- ganization questions no less decisively than on points of general politics. The ‘Tasks Face looseness, laxity, and general flab- biness which characterize all shades of opportunism in the realm of or- ganization is alien to the Communist Party. Lenin would never tolerate the idea that party membership could be enjoyed by do-as-you-please people who took no part in the general work and activity of the Party and gave no account of themselves to the Party Committees. It was over a section in the Party constitution dealing pre- cisely with this quotation that the formal break between the Bolsheviks and. the Mensheviks took place in 1903. The differences, today on these questions are no less marked. The Communist Party which or- ganizes the proletarian vanguard for the revolutionary struggle breaks with all these conceptions of organi- zation and carries on a continuous struggle to extirpate their remnants from its ranks. Such a Party must know its forces and be able to esti- mate correctly their capacities and mobilize them for action. The as- signment of definite tasks to every party member and the construction of a whole net-work of responsible com- mittees to supervise and regulate this work is the Communist organi- zation principle. This leads to the construction of a flexible but strong JAMES P. CANNON. “The American marines should be immediately withdrawn from Nicara- | gua,” declared Robert W. Dunn in an j address before the Foreign Policy | | Association of Cincinnati recently. \“The Policy of the United States in the Caribbean” was the subject of the | addr by Dunn, | Discussing the economic forces that | make the United States a virtual fi- | nancial and political empire encroach- |ing on the rights of the Central and Caribbean countries, Dunn said in | part: U. S. Imperialism. “The economic penetration of weak countries by the United States has been accompanied by a ruthlessness that has all the earmarks of imper- ialism. Witness particularly our| military occupation of Haiti and the | present intervention in Nicaragua. “One investment of the National City Bank in Haiti led to the occu- pation of that country by our armed forces in 1925. This occupation lead jold liberties of the Haitian people |and to the killing of at least 3,000— some put it as high as 7,000 Hai- tians, including women and children. ;It should be remembered that we did American lives,” As a matter of fact prior to the occupation not one single American life was ever lost there, no American was ever injured and no American property was ever destroy- led. But the bankers had to realize jon their railroad gamble. That ex- plains why we went to Haiti and why |we remain there with a dummy pres- jident, Borno, in office and the con- stitutional liberties of the Haitian people completely destroyed. Wall Street in San Domingo. “In Santo Domingo the U. S. state department followed practically the same course. Without declaring war the United States landed marines, dismissed the president and. congress force of 2,500 marines. Wall Street finally withdrew in 1924 on cbndition | that the Dominicans would ratify all| the arbitrary and unconstitutional| acts of the military government and! By J. N. CURUCAO, Dutch West Indies, (By Mail).—The steady growth of the colony of Venezuelan laborers, with the continued exploitation and mal- treatment on part of the servile of- ficials of the Royal Dutch interests, together with the intimadatory deal- ing of Venezuelan government spies, has created a strong rebellious feel- ing among workers. In response to the demand for organization, two_ac- credited representatives of the Vene- zuelan Labor Union, an organization of exiled Venezuelan workers and opponents of the Gomez tyrrany, have initiated a campaign among workers to organize resistence to Company and government intimida- sion. Meetings were held, a group was organized, and much revolutionary literature was distributed. At the moment the Gomez consul became aware thru information of his spies, of activities of organized labor repre- sentatives. He planted spies in. the hotel where they lived to” steal the mail coming to them. Inspite of threatening behavior of Gomez spies, Comardes Marrero and Nevare continued their campaign among the workers. . The enthusiastic response on the part of workers. ‘was. demonstrated, when-on an afternoon, Comrade. Mar- rerro went out to the encampment for the sole purpose of taking some and for seven years ruled the popula. tion entirely by military decrees en- forced by a military governor and @ snapshots which would show the in-| arrived at the place frequented by the |American working class to carry human living conditions forced on two trade union leaders and demanded |on the struggle against their British- Marrero | their whereabouts. Arias demanded of American imperialist exploiters. workers. | Comrade the permit us to continue to collect the customs and administer the finances of the country.” But Wall Street still dominates the country economically. “Military forces have also been jeffects of the American economic Venezuelan Workers Fight Imperialism when a shift of workers were leaving the refinery plants, he was’ ap- proached by a few who began to question him, and express complaints against a document felicitating the tyrrant General Gomez, which work- ers were forced to sign, on threat of losing jobs.. The circle around Com- rade Marrero grew from a few to-40, doubled in a few seconds, and Com- rade Merrero was forced to mount: a} table and found himself facing an eager audience of about 500 workers. Marrero denounced thé Gomez Tyurany, espionage and persecutions, called on workers to sift out and punish spies, organize and refuse to sign any documents circulated by the consul, and to prepare for the ap- proaching Revolution in Venezuela, This spontaneous ‘demonstration has aroused the ire of consul and his \hirelings, and they set plans to coun- {teract effect of demonstration. It be- came known that the consul intended on the following Sunday to go out to the encampment to defend tyrrany and make effort to win.good will of workers by free distribution of beer and other drinks. At the same time the consul commissioned his chief hireling, the spy Arias, to seek a way of getting rid of Venezuelan Labor Union representatives, Mar- rero and Nevarez. Morrero and Nevarez that Arias was coming with a squad of police, and urged them to go into hiding. Police ¢ reached the encampment at a moment} the police that they find Marrero and| 2 of = turn him over to him to take him to|the consistent policy of the United Maracaibo, as a prize for torture|States to support the administration That day workers notified in haste! party apparatus interwoven with the entire mass of the party members and drawing them all into active party work. It -goes without saying that our! Party, which is only gradually and painfully developing on the path of} Bolshevism, suffers from the rem- nants of many old and false concep- tions and practices, and the question propounded by the Philadelphia com- rade draws attention to a common evil. A glaring disparity _ exists everywhere between the plans and de- cisions of the Party committees and their practical execution. Passivity and indifference hamper the move- ments of the Party everywhere like a growth of poison vines. This, evil can never be completely eradicated; how to reduce it steadily and in- creasingly to the minimum is the problem. This task has two sides. In the first place, especially now in the face of impending struggles which will tax all the capacities of the Party, we should undertake a general tighten- up of the Party apparatus. The Party committees and sub-committees must be galvanized into a more intense and better regulated activity and the practice of assigning specifi¢ work Every W orkers Party Member to Party members and checking up on its performance must become more thorough and systematic. The prac- tice of reporting on work done by Party members to the respective com- mittees must be insisted on until it becomes the general and accepted order of things. Every party mem- ber must be trained in the habit of| accounting for his specifie work. | This pressure from the apparatus/ alone, however, will not solve the! problem. Hand in hand with it must) go a thorough-going campaign of education on Communist organiza-' tion principles, together with wide-/ spread enlightenment on the party policies which are given life only by the multiform practical activities of} the party members, and the reasons! for them. The key,to successful mobilization) for collective work is the permeation! of the party members with en- thusiasm and conviction. A general campaign of education within the Party on these questions, reinforced by a proportional intensification of discipline and accounting, will go a, long way toward solving the worst features of the present difficulties and equiping the Party to play a more influential part in the impending battles of the American workers. Dunn Demands U.S. Withdraw Marines from Nicaragua used to back our economic control in Panama, in Honduras and in Cuba. “The most important edrrent illus- tration of the political, and military chamber. Against Nevarez he framed} the absurd charge of carrying weapons with intent to kill him. The police, aided by spies, spread the search, determined to take ad- vantage of closed courts and tri- bunals-on- Sunday. As the danger ‘of being discovered increased, Mar- rero and Nevarez were hurried off) by automobile to the encampment wnere,-among the Venezuelan wors- ers, they found safety from capture. Arriving at the encampment they found workers equipped with botties, knives, etc. waiting for the reception of the consul, who failed to show up. The sought comrades remained on the encampment till the next day when the ships were gone. Nevarez on learning of the charge lodged against him, submitted him- self to the police, but was told that the charge was “withdrawn.” Thus were frustrated the attempts of enemies of workers to shanghai and frame organizers. The message of organization, disseminated among Venezuelan workers in. Curacao, has broken thru the spy and gendarme guarded coast of Venezuela, and has reached the workers within Vene- zuela, The tyrrany of Gomez is tot- |tering,; and it is but a question of days when the workers of Venezuela, freed from the chain gangs, and tor- ture chambers, will with renewed ef- forts unite with the rest of Latin > in Nicaragua. The United States marines have, at various times since 1909 virtually acted as bill collectors jfor Brown Brothers & Co. and J. & W. Seligman & Co, of New York City. The Guaranty Trust Co. has recently joined the banking group making loans to Diaz, the present illegally elected president of the country.” After tracing the history of Nica- ragua since 1909 and pointing out that gave the maximum advantages to American investors, Dunn discussed the present policy of the state depart- ment in Nicaragua. “What we are engaged in is simply a war of aggression undeclared by congress, but tacitly accepted and ap- proved even by the so-called liberal senators, It has always served our purposes best—for example in Mexico, Haiti and Santo Domingo—to carry on war without a formal declaration, “In spite of the tremendous forces working for the permanent occupa- tion of the country—forces that are driven on primarily through the bank- ers’ interests and desire for a second inter-oceanic canal thru Latin Amer- ica—Americans who» still believe in the ‘rights of small nations’ should demand the immediate withdrawal of the marines from Nicaragua. We should also demand peace negotia- tions with the leader of the army of defenders of the sovereignty of Nica. ragua, General Augusto ©. Sandino, behind whom are rallying the peasant and working class forces of Nicara- gua.” OUST CHICAGO SCHOOL HEAD. La aul suspended superintendent of Chicago schools, was found guilty of insubordination and of having fos- tered pro-British and anti-American propaganda in Chicago’s public schools yesterday afternoon and or- dered dismissed from his position by the board of education, is the beginning of their | penetration of the Caribbean area lies | CHICAGO, March 22, — William — RI oT