The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 7, 1928, Page 6

y THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURD APRIL 7, 1928 ‘Horrors of Slavers Revived on U.S . S. Henderson, Navy Correspondent Says BRUTALITY FROM MINERS, THROW OUT LEWIS, WORKER CORRESPONDENT URGES ST. LOUIS, Mo., (By Mail).—John |S SAILORS’ LOT Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas. He| helped to organize an army to kill the workers and smash the Cacti Officers Stood Above, |* Jeering at Seamen Lewis helped to organize the state Editor, The DAILY WORKER: After reading the many accounts of the army and navy in zecent editions of The DAILY WORKER, I am als anxious to join this new rank of correspondents. These exposures of |) military service under Wall Street rule are the most efficient warni to youth who may feel inclined to join the army or navy. The Workers of this country can easily see the clas character of our military institution by the impositions that working clas: youth must undergo while in this se vice. Class of 1881 on Spree. A good reflection of the navy can be gained from the occasion of the 4881 class of Annapolis reunion with |; a Japanese admiral university. In connection with this old class goin to Tokio to see their old class-mates— our own secretary of the navy Denby, who gave away the Tea Pot Dome de- cided to go along with the Annapolis class. This changed the character of the trip. Instead of a reunion trip, it turned into a typical Lindbergh “Good Will” trip to Japan and at the game time an inspection trip of outly- | Latest Militarist Publicity Hop troopers to break.the miners’ strike.| striking. Part time we are starving.| Committee for what they have done All the miners must organize to throw out this agitator for the bosses and the army of state troopers. The miners are starving, their chil- dren are starving and Lewis money from the bosses. The poor coal miners are working part time or gets] We must get wise and throw out this false leader, Lew Lewis wants the young miners to join the Young} Men’s Crooked Association and the| Red (Bunk) Cross and Salvation Army, the Starvation Army. I am thanking the Save-the-Union for the miners. I am thanking The DAILY WORKER for publishing the truth. I have been a member of the Uni- ted Mine Workers since 1913. During the big strike in Colorado 18 children, two women and five men were killed at Ludlow. Lewis got big money from the bosses then, while the workers got jail and slavery. We must get wise and put out Lewis and Farrington. We must build a big union. 4 —D. P. | ® omnes From Fairbanks ‘in Alaska, the - remotest North : American pos- session of the U. S. imperialists, i Capt. George Wilkins is pre- paring to fly over the North Pole: Hes shown at right above with two mechanics who are inspecting the plane. Flights of this kind are a com- mon method by i which the im- perialists hope to keep the masses “air-con- scious.”” > ing bases to determine what was | necessary to strengthen them for the | next war when Japan may be a pos-| sible contender as the feeling existe; at that time. The faithful cannon-fodder carrier —U. S. S. Henderson, a transport, was assigned for this 30,000 mile trip. The Bureau of Construction and Re- pairs at Washington eceived orders | to spend any amount of money to re condition the upper quarters for the | 1881 class and the secretary. After| a thorough overhaul in the ship yard | costing thousands of dollar we docked at Norfolk to wait for the secretary and the rest of the party. 800 Enlisted Men. . Incidentally my letter is not about | the upper strata of the navy. I want tw say something about the so-called irata—we worker nlisted | 4 (ive hundred enlisted) for | svtatiun and (300 enlisted) at- “wo tne crew. The 500 men who Bower jnice, and think of the money some NOVELTY PAINTERS SLAVE (By ‘a Woman Worker Correspondent) Going to art school sounds rather | fashion artists and illustrators make! | What talented (?) boy or girl will| not give up a few evenings, etc. to be-| come a cartoonist at a couple of hun- dred per? Or a fashion artist who}; can demand his own price? | After a few years studying either | stand some kind of watch, besides the | regular inspections and drills. Conditions became worse, the crew looked upon us as usurpers, as they suffered from this congestion and it resulted in no end of continuous fric~ tion.’ There was 2 washrooms about vd irom the whole coast London, Conn., to Paris. the size of a kitchen for all the men. 3 We would. crowd in lines with our yun Carolina were sure 2 buckets to get the daily allowance of svuaing lot. You see it was), «hig a bucket fresh water” for wry tw maxe the “ballast” im-| ¥4hing -ourselves; also clothing, weciy and not one man knew that téeth and bedding. On the upper > going to be dragged to China| qo-cs they would use fresh water all BE monice. day, even take showers while we Those who were unfortunate enough|scmeimes had to postpone a drink wo arrive as early as a week before} of jvater. departure workea day and night load-/} Pay at Last mg ship. Our condition was 2/ While enroute the ship would not The lack | mnserable lot on the trip. @f accommodations for so many men Gontributed to our hardships. First thing there was only enough bunks for 50 per cent of the passengers. take us up on the payrolls because |we were in “passenger status,” but |finally there was such protest that | they condescended to give a $5 “health | and comfort” money. | - Only Room For Half. Some of the men ran out of soap, | Even in the case where we could|razor blades, and what not so for the procure a bunk—it was only a ques-|sake of health and comfort we got tion of 2 days out and we were in|$5 in a period of two months time. warm climate and sleeping 3 decks|This much for our men—although below, 4 bunks in a row, several hun-|there were a thousand other griev- dred men in a space 4 times larger | ances, losing and stealing of bedding, an an ordinary living room—the |clothes and personal possessions made Abana unbearable. Soon wejanother hardship. The brutality and rould take our bedding up on the deck | ignorance of petty bosses and officers contributed to making our lives; miserable. Most of the men looked with help-| Hess horror on going for duty in China Where we ate chow—and in a di: sted way—men would just litter we decks with stinky bedding. This| Was our lot. Everything smelled bad Because we didn’: have a place to|—the idea of doing duty on small} . i i > ship, that/ river boats 2,000 miles up the river | 45 the part for the d, was al- ze in the heart of China was ways filthy because of congested con-| not so alluring as sightseeing through ! ditions. China. ss | Like Slave Ships. Asiatic Duty Unpopular. | If one reads of the Negro slave/ Many stories had leaked out about Ships that existed a couple hundred| iy. har ips imposed on the men Years ago, they would then get an| doing Asiatie duty. Every man in understanding of conditions. The food} ty. servi nows* of the iron dis- Was very bad—the crew w erved Gest, then the passengers. The ra-| sides these, the men have a certain ions were so little that often it) fear of slipping backwards when they would dawn on you whether you) hit the Asiatics. This is probably line practiced in the Asiatics. Be- @uld stand it much longer. Graft anc} caused by the well-known fact that an Gorruption is rampant in itary OFT ; enlisted personnel coming from Service, and a common sight is a rich} }, jatics have the worst diseases, Paymaster who buys the food for thx ;vecome immoral, get cuckoo, etc. Boys, but God knows how much he| “Class of 1881” Guys from the appropriation allowed| This was the trip of the Henderson. jer man. |For Wall Street it was a “good-will” It was impossible for those whoj|trip to lay the ground for a future fad seats to eat below decks. The/| war ‘édor arising from the food was nause- Sor was necessary to take your |p the militarists—it was a cam- ign to boost up and strengthen out- ng bases by arousing seniiment. mteen up on the iv 1 sit |] Ss, on lown in the scup) th ti Panama-Guam- Hon- | atches, and on the deck and eat like|olulu-San Diego-Covite, P. I. big| dog. Often the upper strata living | business responded to Denby and a tae upper decks which "started half ed for more navy appropriations pay—that is amidship—would stand |in their district and promises of more “di jeer, ridicule and sneer at our| building the future. ne We were held in contempt.| For the 1881 Clas tten I think that if one of the offi-|it was “innocent” p gers decided to throw something in| gir midst, for instance something! For the food to eat, there would have been a/| was duty. seramble. Of course this in an illus-| For the few senators on board shin | eta and politicians it was to back up cer-| Do Dirty Work. tain private interests of putting over We performed the dirty work of |the “ship: subsidy bill” and getting | ie ship enroute. While the so-called| the “low down on Tea Pot Dome with | « strata were promenading the| the secretary of the navy!” | and pounding the adie aela For the extra women on board (7?) passengers were down in the| For the crew—it was duty. poems chipping paint work, For the enlisted personnel in trans- , Cleaning and holy stoning | portation it was Hell: | and after the dey’s work (To Be Continued.) So oneal i of Annapolis— | sure. | Politics and Duty. retary of the navy—it | | ~sererewnlarnatisomyrnteiasns anne ZF ‘Bert Wolfe to Lecture ‘On the Next World War IN SILENCE in day or evening schools, these kids look for the job and are sadly dis- appointed. Some turn to the Art Al- liance Agency where they'll probably get you at novelty painting or lamp- shade painting or stenciling greeting cards. From there on the girl drifts from one job to another, working in the filthiest places imaginable, espe- cially in lamp-shade and novelty fac- |tories where that horrible smelling thinner is used and the filthy floors are seldom swept. The salaries they pay are outrag- ous. I’ve seen girls turn away in dis- gust when offered $15 or $18 for ex- perienced lamp-shade artists. Or if a girl gets $20 per week they rush her like fury. These jobs do not last as a rule more than a couple of months at a time. Eyes Grow Dizzy. The novelty places where compacts, etc. are decorated are even worse. It used to make me quite dizzy having to move my eye from one flower (7?) to another all day long. Working on greeting cards is much cleaner, being water color instead of oils. There is one place, especially, that all girls dislike, that is ‘“Nor- cross.” One sits down at 8:30 A. M., jrises at 12, is seated again at 12.45 and at 5:30 leaves her seat for the day. Not a word is to be said thru- out the day, only what is absolutely necessary. The girls, however, let loose whenever the head of the color department leaves the room. Their rules are the most childish of any place I’ve ever heen in. You're not to talk, you’re not to speak to anyone about your salary, you're to be in on time, you’re to help out when it’s yery busy and you're not to ask for a raise since “they will ad- vance you if you so deserve.” Most of the girls working in these places have studied in Pratts Academy of Design, The School of Applied De- sign and the Art League. The ma- jority of them are dissatisfied. Their only way out is to get married or to} look for different work altogether | (that’s their idea). “NOVELTY PAINTER.” At Philadelphia Forum PHILADELPHIA, April 6—Ber- tram D. Wolfe, director of the New York Workers School will lecture on! “When War Comes” Sunday at 8 p.| m. at the regular session of the Phila- | delphia Workers Forum, 1626 Arch} St. \ Robert W. Dunn will talk on com- nany unionism the following week. Philadelphia Rally PHILADELPHIA, April 6—Aj meeting of unemployed workers called by the Workers (Communist) Party will be held Friday, April 13, at 8] p,m. at 1208 Tasker St. | The speakers will include Mike Toohey, Dominick Flaiani and Jennie Cooper. ( Whipping Post Praised , ee | PHILADELPHIA, April 6.—Judge Joseph Buffington of the United, States Circuit Court of Appeals yes- terday suggested a return nationally | to the whipping post as a means of | WAS AMBULANGE CHASER DE LUXE Did Thriving Business in 38 Cities (By a Worker Correspondent.) H When Silas B. Axtell, attorney for he officialdom of the International Seamen’s Union and head of its lobby n Washington, heard that he was to/ be subpenaed as a witness in the eurrent ambulance chasing inquiry,| »e subpoenaed as a witness in the was last heard of in Florida. If you would understand that no honor is without profit in this coun-| ry, then you will listen to the story) of Axtell. Who is Silas B. Axtell? Had Odious Reputation. For the moment you will pay no} heed to the fact that Silas has the| reputation on the waterfront and} 1 CROPS HUGE IN LAND SHARGE AXTELL WHERE MASSES STARVE (By a Worker Correspondent.) LOS ANGELES, Calif., (By Mail). —The statistician of the California Raisin Growers is responsible for the following showing of “pie” prosperity in California, and land where the | workers live on sunshine and die in jails. | “Pie Prosperity.” “The 1927 raisin crop was sufficient to provide for the filling of 1,400,000,- 000 pies, 10 for every man, woman and child in America,” the statistician | says. “These pies, if piled one upon an- other would reach into the skies for 250 miles, just about the distance laughter. Silas was more and more riled. “Perhaps you yourselves would rather be in Russia,” he challenged. “Tf anyone does not like this country he can go right back, The ocean lanes are open and I will pay the pas- sage of anyone who will go. Discovers Communists Here. “I presume there are Communists elsewhere of being an attorney—and/ jin the United States,” he hazarded, jan ambulance chaser! Forget for aj hut how anyone can become a Com- time that his runners at the Broad) munist in this country where every- Street Hospital have been known to| thing is so satisfactory and free is offer bribes to information clerks to| more than I can understand, they are tip them. off to accident cases. |to be excused on only one ground, Think only of Silas as the protec- | insanity.” tor of American culture from the on-| In referring to those who have tes- rush of Russian Bolshevism, the tified to the improved conditions in guardian of capitalist institutions the Soviet Union, Axtell said patron- against the nefarious attacks of Com-, izingly: munist plotters. | “Well, you know how it is. James Against U. S. S. R. | Maurer, who is well on in years, is a The noble task in which Silas is| socialist by profession and a nice old now engaged is the defeat of in-| gentleman.” “ sidious propaganda to secure the rec-| Admits Efficiency. ognition of the Soviet Union. To ac-| “Russia is efficiency and material- complish this commendable aim.|ism in the rankest form,” he contin- Silas is willing to go anywhere, to! ued. {I will thank God when it is all the International Seamen’s Club, for! over. Democracy ain’t a failure. And instance, (but not again!) to the | we can be thankful that we are sane Community Church, (also not again),| here. Why Russia is’ just an incu- and certainly not to Madison Square|bator of radical ideas and Bolshe- gerous trade unionists, who, on re- so indelicate as to reveal the progress being made by those bold bad Bol- sheviks, Silas was himself a mem- ber of the trade union delegation to on, that account testify with his lips to what his eyes have seen? Such is not the way of honor with profit in this country. Audience Entertained. Several months ago, in the course of things, Silas journeyed to the Com- munity Church, 34th St. and Park Ave. The occasion was a debate be- tween himself and Harry Weinberger, an attorney, on the subject of recog- nizing the Soviet Union. Silas op- posed the idea. The method is more interesting than the fact: “In Russia,” said the defender of American civilization, “everything is upside down. What is on top here is at the bottom there and what here The people in Russia walk on the ceiling.” This juicy gem coming early in| the “debate” brought howls of mer-| riment from the audience. Where-| upon Silas became somewhat peeved. | Calls Them Crazy. | “Perhaps you think that is funny,”| he exclaimed. “But I tell you the} |people there are all crazy.” | Then as the people continued their| laughter he shouted: “Yes, I tell you, they are all crazy, like the people in} this audience! } “Should the United States recog. nize Russia,” he continued, “the Red Flag would soon be waving over the! White House at Washington. Democ-| racy ain’t a failure here, but just | the same those Bolsheviks are able to dig from under and overturn every- thing. Sees Red Everywhere. “When TI came back from Russia. I immediately went to the state do-! partment at Washington. There th | showed me all kinds of secret docu- | ments. Of course, I can’t read Rus- sian, but I could see immediately how ;dangerous they were, The Commun- ist International has a plot to over- throw every capitalist country In the AVON IG. 3. “This Commun’st Party of Russia, you hear so much about,” Silas con- fided, “is worse than you might think. It controls the Russian gov- ‘ernment, the Third International and \all the Communists in the world, And the Third International, which is even worse, will do anything if you let it over here. It was the pet of Lenin. And Lenin is now the God of Rus- Gta Calls Them Liars. “But Russia is all wrong. They’ve breaking up the crime wave. “I am |talked classes and class rule so long not,” he declared, what causes the crime wave as in| steps that may be taken to stop it.” He praised the effect of the Dela- ware whipping post. “so interested in |that they have this class business on the brain, But the simple truth is that the idea of class is just a plain untruth.” The audience was convulsed with Garden at the invitation of those dan-| turning from the Soviet Union, are. the Soviet Union, but why should he| is at the bottom is there at the top.) -he keeps, a word about O’Brien is nec- viks. The government runs and con- \trols everything from shoe laces to straw hats. Every worker has two politicians who stand over him while he works. The people are a vast horde of ignorant masses. The gov- ernment is crazy to try to educate them. . . Compared to Audience. “They'll never be able to get any- where with that bunch of people.” Then as the audience laughed up- roariously he shouted, “Yes, they are jall a brainless mass like the people in this audience.” | After the regular debate a ques- | tion was asked Axtell as to what re- ply he had made in Russia when he |was asked about the Sacco and Van- \zetti case. Slanders Sacco-Vanzetti. “I just told them to mind their own business,” Axtell reported, “and ‘then they groaned and growled and hissed just like you people here.” This is the picture of Silas B. Ax- tell, sketched from his own words and sentiments. In order to fill in the picture with a bit more living content. however, it will be valuable to pre- sent some facts which the Commun- ity Church audience did not have for its delight and which would perhaps have brought no such amusement as was created at the meeting. With Red Baiters. Axtell, who now goes “bout as a budding professional patriot, protect- ing the nation against Russian pro- paganda, is himself hardly as -irtu- ous as he would have the poor uni- formed workers believe. When Axtell returned from Rus- sia he was promptly sought out by Robert J. O’Brien, red baiter, and professional strikebreaker. Axtell has since been coached by O’Brien in emitting froth against the Soviet Union. To show the company essary. Mill Owners’ Agent. O’Brien, who reads The DAILY WORKER and who will, as in the past, turn over this item to the les: alert Axtell, was the agent of the mill barons in the Passaic strike. O’Brien’s activities then and since have so d’seredited him that recently even an employers’ association sent i out a circular letter warning other employers against him, This is Ax- tell’s company. Axtell has become wealthy through his “ambulance” practice in Balti- more, Philadelphia and New York. He is reported to have received $125,- 000 for one case against the Penn- sylvania Railroad. In another case he handled for a stevedore he is said to have collected between $38,000 and $40,000, Usually Axtell’s rake off for this “service” is reported to be one- half the gross collected. Many law- yers take a larger “cut.” But Ax- tell’s business is so extensive he can profitably give wholesale rates to maimed or injured workers. OE al ; i over the Union Pacific from Los Angeles to New York. “The crop amounted to 285,000 tons, enough raisins to load tc capacity 5,700 freight cars, which | would make 114 ordinary sized trains | or one train 54 miles in length.” | 170,000 Jobless. Now since all that foodstuff is here in plenty why are there “more than 170,000” (official figure) unemployed in this state on the point of starva- tion? _Why are so many in bread- lines over this “oasis of abundancé?” Why are not the poor permitted to feast on raisin pies instead of being forced to eat out of garbage cans the year around at the San Pedro St. and Central Avenue market places in Los Angeles? In the San Fernando Valley, within the confines of this city, B. Uneda, a Japanese, has a sty of 7,000 garbage fed hogs on a 40 acre tract of land. But since the unemployment situa- tion became so acute the hogs seem to have lost rather than gained in weight. Too much competition be- tween hogs and men on the point of starvation. The unemployed army of Los An- geles is estimated at 60,000 by the chamber of commerce. The Central Labor Council says 70,000. Well, if this army doesn’t decrease pretty soon the Uneda hog family will be starved out. There are no legal technicalities about that. —L. P. RINDAL. SOCIALISTS LOSE GROUND IN WEST Milwaukee S. P. Fails to Hold Veto Power SIGMANITES BEAT WOMAN IN QUAKER CITY POLL STEAL Right Wing Gags Rank and File at “flection” (By a Worker Correspondent.; PHILADELPHIA (By mail).—The Sigman clique now in control of the International Ladies’ Garment Work- ers’ Union has taken away from all members in any way connected with or friendly to the left wing the right to speak at meetings for one year. Distribute Statement. The particular crime which called {for such severe punishment was the distribution of the statement of the New York Joint Board on Thursday, March 22, when elections for delegates to the national convention took place. Clara Yampolsky came up to the union ha]l_ and attempted to distribute the statement. She was beaten up and thrown out of the hall by the right wing Sigmanite heroes. Later, charges were brought against her to the Executive Board. The decision of the Executive Board was brought to the membership meet- ing March 29. The majority of the membership protested against the de- cision, but despite the fact that the meeting was in an uproar, the Sig- man clique succeeded in polling a vote. The counters of the vote were selected by the ruling clique and con- sisted of so-called “reliable” members of the Union, Thru these methods the vote given was 54 for the decision and 89 against. Off Ballot, At the same meeting the result of the election of delegates to the Na- tional Convention was brought for- ward for approval. This election had been a farce, for every member re- fusing to sign the yellow dog contract. had" her name taken off the ballot. Also any member who was a member of the Workers Party, Trade Union Educational League or was even sus- pected of sympathy with any left wing organization had her name stricken from the ballot. The Sigman machine now rules the Philadelphia local with an iron fist and will not under any circumstances permit the voice of the membership to be heard. _ —. ® qAILWAUKEE, (FP) April 6.— Raise $50.00 Sor ough reelected mayor of Mi - * ° kee ae a 4th 4-year teen ie Sane “Daily es in Ches ter 000 majority, Daniel W. Hoan failed 3 to carry the socialist candidates for (By a Worker Correspondent.) j treasurer, controller and city attorney CHESTER, Pa., (By Mail). — with him. The militant workers of Chester Y The socialist minority in the com-|| are desirous that The DAILY mon council was cut down from 10|| WORKER, their paper, should aldermen to 8, and possibly 6 when || continue to be printed. recounts have been made. It requires At a meeting held yesterday, 9 votes to sustain the mayor's veto|| March 25th, a voluntary collection against the anti-Socialist majority. || of fifty dollars was raised to be scutes | Blader tn Elis ‘a added to the already growing fund of 20 on the county Board at cue ve Aten Hig orkene Spacer: visors. & erat ECAC ATT There are innocent workers be- hind prison bars today. They wait for cheer and comfort from their friends on the outside. Un- til they are with us again in the ranks of Labor, they can prepare themselves to become more valu- able members of the labor move- ment. Prison has often been a “worker’s university.” The La- bor prisoners want books. New books, hundreds of them to make them better fighters in the labor movement. The In- { ternational Labor Defense is taking care of the ship- | ment of these books because prison regulations prevent direct shipment from individuals. It has arranged with a number of publishers to ship books requested by la- bor prisoners. Remember your comrades in prison. Send your donation today on the book blank below. See the new April issue of the “Labor Defender”—the only labor pictorial—for letters from Tom Mooney, Billings, Joe Neil and others. SEND A BOOK I have not forgotten my courageous comrades behind prison bars. I send them my greetings and T enclose . for the INTERNATIONAL LABOR DEFENSE 80 East 11th St., New York, N. Y.