The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 12, 1928, Page 1

TOM MOONEY APPEALS TO WORKERS FOR FREEDOM THE DAILY WORKER FIGHTS: FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNORGANIZED FOR THE 40-HOUR WERK FOR A LABOR PARTY FINAL CITY EDITION Vol. V. No. 87. f SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In New York, by mail, $8.00 per year. Outside New York, by mail, $6. E DAILY WO Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at New York, N. ¥., under the act of March 3, 1579. 00 per year. NEW YORK, THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 1928 Published daily except Sunday by The National Daily Worker Publishing Association, Inc., 33 First Street, New York, N. Y¥. cE. Price 3 Cents BONITA FIRED IN SELF DEFENSE, EXPERT SHOWS TO REVIVE CASE OF Frame- “1h Victims Approve New Labor Campaign for Release YOUNG MINE IE LEADER ACTED AFTER AGATI, CAPPELINI AGENT, LAUNCHED ATTACK | Observers at Trial Agree Evidence Warrants an | Immediate Acquittal of Defendants BILLINGS, MONEY, FRAME-UP VICTIMS “Center on Masses,” Is Message From Cell By JAMES P. CANNON. | SAN FRANCISCO, April 11— | Tom Mooney today appealed through the International Labor Defense to the workers of Amer- ica and the world to raise their voices again in his behalf and) bring about the, liberation of | | himself and Warren Billings | from the California prisons, where they have been confined for nearly twelve years on framed up charges. I talked to him for two hours today| in San Quentin Penitentiary and he asked me to make it clear that he has not given up the fight for his freedom or the hope that, with the help of the working class, it will be gained. i Courts in Vain. | “Our hope is in a new protest move- ment,” he said. “Every possible legal | and technical move has been made to! prove our innocence and our right to| an unconditional pardon, but without success, The years go by until nearly twelve have elapsed, and still we are held in prison for a crime of which the world knows we are not guilty. Our crime was loyalty to the workers. Now, let the workers speak° again in our behalf. I have confidence that our friends will find the way to make our appeal heard ‘throughout the world.” | Twelve years of prison have made their mark on Tom Mooney. It has grayed his hair and impaired his once robust health; but his indomitable spirit, which was the marvel of all who knew him, remains unshaken. His mind is as keen as ever and his eyes flash with the old fire of the fighter who never admits defeat. He still be- lieves in the power of labor solidar- ity, and is full of hope that the power of the workers will yet bring about his vindication and his freedom from San Quentin Prison. Recalls Protest of Russian Labor. “T have been fortified all through these years of prison,” he said, “by my faith in the movement which I serve in this outpost of the class struggle and by the consciousness that, even though confined here, I am an instru- ment of the workers’ cause and a sym- bol of their struggle. I have not for- gotten the protest of the Russian workers which saved us from the gal- lows, and I have not lost my con- fidence that the workers of America, and the world, will again make their mighty voices heard in our behalf.” I brought him greetings from the mass meetings I have addressed throughout the country; particularly | from the Colorado miners, who, in the midst of their own desperate strug- gle, have not forgotten the names of Mooney and Billings and who asked me to take a special message of cheer and encouragement to them. Asks About Miners’ Struggle His face lighted up with satisfac- tion and he inquired eagerly regard- (Comprar on Page Two) JOINT BOARD IN ELECTION GALL Active Cloakmakers to Meet Tonight A joint meeting . of the executive boards of the locals belonging to the left wing New York Joint Board of the Cloak and Dressmakers’ Union, held yesterday, issued a call to the workers for mass participation in the coming elections for delegates to the national convention. The elections are to take place on April 17 in sev- eral polling stations. Bryant Hall, 42nd St. and 6th Ave., Local 22 headquarters, 16 W. 21st St., and the offices of the Pressers’ Local 85 at 8 W. 21st St., are to be kept open for voting purposes from 8 a. m, until 9 p, m. The statement declares that the elections should be used by the cloak and dress makers as a protest dem- onstration against the union-wreck- ing activities of the officialdom of TOM TAXICAB ‘DRIVERS WINNING STRIKE A. F. of L. ‘Will Reply on} Charter Application With the walkout of the Newark, | Elizabeth, East Orange and Bloom- field taxi cab drivers so complete that the Yellow and Brown & White taxi companies were compelled Tues- day night to withdraw their .ma- chines from the streets, the answér of the American Federation of Labor to the union’s application for a charter was expected last night. The taxi drivers are striking for union (Continued on Page Two) FALSE REPORT ON HAIT] ATTACKED Protest Meeting Will Be | Held Sunday The optimistic picture of conditions in Haiti presented in the annual re- port submitted by General John H. Russell, American High Commission- er, was called deliberately false by Henry Charles Rosemond, first ad- viser of the Haitian Patriotic Union in a statement issued yesterday. “While Americans have taken over practically all of the lucrative posi- tions in the civil service, Haltian workers receive wages that are 80 per cent lower than those paid to the | | worst paid American workers,” he said. | A mass meeting to protest against American rule in Haiti, at which Rosemond and Dr. W. E, B. Du Bois, editor of the “Crisis” will speak, will |be held at the Embassy Mansions, 20 W. 115th St., on dora Holly, school inspector in Haiti, obert Minor, editor of The DAILY WORKER, R. T. de Bekkar, secretary of the Committee on Haiti and Rich- ard D. Moore of the American Ne- gro Labor Congress. The meeting will be held under the auspices of the All-American Anti- Imperialist League. Send $3,200 to Miners The Youth Conference of the Pennsylvania-Ohio Miners’ Relief Comm#:tee has called attention to the fact: that up to date the youth com- mittee has sent $3,200 to the coal fields, not $1,500 as was previously announced. Welcome Back Militant) Cloak Union Leader The progressive workers’ organiza- tion of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers’ Union has arranged a “proletarian banquet” to welcome back to New York Sam Lipzin, one of the leading left wingers in the needle trades of New York. Lipzin, one of the leading figures | in the fight against the reactionary administration of the Amalgamated Union, has for the past number of months been touring the country to the International. Although the Joint Board officers. (Continued on ruye due). raise funds for the Joint Defense and » Sunday at 2:30.) Other speakers will be Mme. Theo- | Mr. James P. Cannon, Secret. SaN Prancisct,California. policy that 1 have been following for the past five years will not tring Justice to Billings and Mooney-That our appeal will some wumm smell messure of BY I remain, as ever, Fratern 'OLL QUIZ-T SHOOTING OF WILSON Reminiscent of the series of mysterious deaths of the closing days of the Harding administration, including that of Jesse Smith, the senate’s Teapot Dome scandal investigation TO HOLD BANQUET FOR LABOR CENTER Left Wing Leaders Will Be Among Speakers | | Saturday, April 27, has been fixed as the date of the banquet which will mark the high point of the drive for, $30,000 to purchase and finance the new Workers Center, 26-28 Union Square. The banquet will be held at 8 p. m. at the new building, and all members of the Workers (Communist) Party, ‘|as well as all other militant workers, will be invited. Since the sums col- lected by the various Party divisions will be announced at this banquet, all sections, subsections and units are bending their energies toward mak- ing their totals as large as possible for this occasion. The banquet is also expected to give further momentum Bernsen: on rout Two) A suit brot by a seaman of the S. S. Leviathan against the United State Shipping Board for two days pay that had been deducted from his wages was dismissed by Magistrate O'Neil in the First District Court yesterday afternoon. Garlick appeared in court as his P. 3. Would like to see Owen and &m "The Frenohman"—-Tom at their earliest convenience. California State Prison, Sen Quentin,Cal. 3-27-28. ary International Labor Defense, Vare Edgar Owan, 1212 “arket Street, My Dear Cannon: After my talk with Fremont Older and your self today with respect to the Governors present ettitude regarding my petition for pardon, I am convinced that a broader appeal will have to be made-that the present largely have to be centered upon the great mass of workers, organized and unorgenized,as well,thet great body of liberal minded people throughout the entire faumtimm nation. Anything you can d0,in this direction to help us secure Justice after twelve years of imprisonment, I will, and I am more then certain that My co-sufferer Billings will elso.appreciate miy efforts put “forth by_your organization to bring about the desired results. 4 on your visit very much ad hope that you will pay a return cell upon your return from Los Angeles-some day other - than Saturday ep Sundey,preferably,as there is not such wa crowd in the reception room. With all good wishes for the success of your trip and the International Labor Defense in whos@tehalf your are making it, ally and Sincerely yours. URNS TO — turned yesterday to the unexplained ®shooting here recently of Attorney Dallett H. Wilson. Wilson was an associate and poli- | tical intimate of Thomas W. Miller, ‘former alien property custodian un- der President Harding, now under sentence of 18 months in Atlanta | Penitentiary for conspiracy in the re- ceipt of $50,000 in cash and $391,000 in Liberty Bonds as a reward for ar-| ranging the return of $7,000,000 of | property to the German-owned Amer- | ican Metals Co. Teapot Dome Papers Disappear. Wilson was allegedly shot by his estranged wife, Mrs. Esther Evans de Forest Wilson, Washington society woman and big game huntress. But it has been learned that private documents relating to the leasing of Teapot Dome to Harry F. Sinclair and to the graft in the alien property office disappeared from his files at or about the time of the shooting. Wilson not long ago is reported to have sent a telegram to an unnamed senator charging that a considerable portion of the Liberty Bonds which Sinclair and others gave the republi- can national committee in 1923 for campaign purposes were misapprop- Pate Coane’ on Page Five) _BILLI GS. Tom Mooney has just endorsed the revival of a new campaign call- ing for the organi- zation of a mass movement to bring about his freedom and that of Warren K, Billings. Both workers were fram- ed-up for murder in connection with San Francisco pre- paredness parade in 1916. Mooney was condemned to be hanged after a trial unparalleled for the number of perjured witnesses against him. Only the protest. which, swept thruout the entire world com- pelled the governor of California to commute his sen- tence to life im- prisonment. Fol- 3 lowing a visit to his * cell in San Quen- tin prison by Jas. P. Cannon, nation- al secretary of In- ternational Labor Defense, Mooney urged the new cam- paign which is to be initiated. (DESCRIBE KLAN MURDER PLANS : Victims Branded; Ears Cut Off PITTSBURGH, April 11. — The Klux Klan, had thousands of rounds |of rifle and pistol ammunition stored shootings,” former Klan investigator, testified to- |day in federal court. Van A. Barrickman, defense coun- sel, sought to show that the klan was | instrumental in shaping political pol- | icy in Ohio, but was blocked by klan | counsel. Ramsey said, however, that the klan was active in obtaining po- | litical jobs. Murder Charged. Reading of the deposition of Col. William Joseph Simmons, of Atlanta, Ga., founder of the Ku Klux Klan, in ‘am W. Evans, Imperial Wizard, plin- ned to murder him, was begun in court this afternoon. In the document Simmons alleges that Evans perpetrated the murder of Capt. W. B. Coburn, Atlanta attor- ney. (Continued on Page Two) and several functionaries of that or- ganization. H. C. Campbell, who headed the shipping boards legal battery, stated that the case was of “major impor- tance” because if successful, other seamen, dissatisfied with the treat- ment on board ship would also resort Relief Committee of Cloak and Dress- | own attorney in opposition to the high |to legal suits. makers, , “h Priced lawyers of the shipping board + Garlick told the court he was com- LEVIATHAN SEAMEN WORK 16 HOURS: Suit for or Deducted Wages Thrown Oui in Magistrate’s 's Court pelled to work 16 hours a day in spite of the fact that the Seamen’s Act pro- hibits more than 8 hours in port and 12 hours at sea. Garlick was dis- missed when he refused to work over- time and do the work of a longshore- man. “T refuse to scab on the longshore- men,” asserted Garlick, “nor will I (Cgntinued on Page Five) vi v Knight Riders, a branch of the Ku! in caves and barns “for bombings and | J. R. Ramsey, of Dayton, | which Col. Simmons alleges that Hir-| The reading was halted, however, | ‘Defense Committee War ms Against Over-Confi- dence Pointing to Previous Convictions © TEXTILE STRIKE ~ BALLOT TONIGHT New Bedford Vote Will | Affect 33,000 | | | NEW BEDFORD, Mass., April 11. |_The membership~ef the seven tex-/| jtile unions in New Bedford affiliated }with the Textile Council will cast ballots Thursday night calling a general strike in the New Bedford cotton manufacturing mills. Seven years of continuous layoffs, speed- up, wage cuts, both official and un- official make almost certain the re- sult of the balloting which is expected to be overwhelmingly in favor of a strike as an answer to the new wage slash-of 10 per cent made several days ago and which is to affect 33,- 000 textile workers in the 37 mills of New Bedford and Taunton, according to the sentiment here. Action Anticipated. An announcement from the union headquarters states that the strike ballots will be in as simple a form as is possible. There will be gne slip of paper perforated in the middle. One | side will be printed with “strike,” and | |the other “no strike.” The mood the workers are in after this brutal attack on their standards} is such as to justify belief prevalent that they will brook no actio to that taken by the offici Fall River Textile Council when they announced the result of a strike vote to be 11 votes short of a two-thirds majority, demanded by the official- dom. This occurred when the Fall River mills made a similar reduction several months ago. The strike sentiment is being crystallized by the activity of mill} committees formed by a _ national; progressive textile workers’ organi- |zation, These committees, established | in every mill, are issuing leaflets call- | ing upon the workers to strike against Flimsy Excuse. The excuse given by the mill! | owners of Taunton and New Bedford, which is that they are compelled to (Continued on Page Four) NITTI WILL SPEAK AT SOZZI PROTEST |Meeting Will Expose | Fascist Terror Vincenzo Nitti, son of former Pre- mier Nitti of Italy, will be one of the | |principal speakers at the Sozzi mem- | orial and protest meeting which is to be held at Tammany Hall, 145 E. 14th St. on Sunday, April 15th at 2 p.m. Nitti will relate how Gastone| Sozzi, the 23-year-old Communist, was done to death in the Perouse prison near Rome at the express or- ders of Mussolini and how the entire fascist machine in Italy tried to sup-| press the news of the murder reach- | ing the outside world. the wage reduction. ie WILKES-BARRE, April 11.—That Frank Agati, contractor jand member of the Cappelini machine fired the first shot in the |affair which led to the death of Agati, was yesterday conclusively demonstrated as a result of the testimony of Captain William A. ee a gun expert who was called by the prosecution to establish its own case against Sam Bonita on trial here for his life. Agati Fired First. A sixth bullet found imbedded in lthe wall of the room, Jones testified, came from a gun not found on either Bonita or Adam Moleski, his com- panion. That this was a weapon in the hands of Agati who on previous occasions had beaten Bonita and who at the time of the shooting which led to his death had again struck Bonita was the conclusion drawn from the testimony of the expert called by the state to uphold its own case. The gun has disappeared. Lawyers and competent observers who aré closely following the casé-are uniformly of the opinion that nothing has been established to show that Bonita is guilty. They believe that the young labor leader will be ac- quitted if the decision is made on the basis of the evidence in the case. The Bonita - Moleski - Mendola Defense Committee, however, yesterday warn- ed against over-confidence in the matter and pointed out that decisions (Continued on Page Two) DENEEN MACHINE WINS THE GRAVY -|Will Have Grip on Two Billion in Contracts CHICAGO, April 11.—With election returns showing a majority of 450,- 000 for Secretary of State Louis L. Emerson, Democratic candidate and with Judge John A. Swanson defeat- ing State Attorney Robert Crowe for the Cook County prosecutor’s office, jthe Deneen machine won a clean vic- tory in the Chicago primary election struggle for the $2,000,000,000 in fat contracts which has been appropria- ted by the state, county and city the next four year: Col. Frank L. Smith, who sought the nomination for United States Senator, after being ousted from the Senate because of huge campaign ex- penses, defeated by Otis F. Glenn, Deneen candidate. Grand jury “investigation” into murders, sluggings, kidnapings, bombings, withholding of ballot boxes and other outrages which marked Chicago’s primary election yesterday became a certainty today with an announcement by Attorney General Oscar Carlstrom. Carlstrom, at the appeal of Senator Charles S. Deneen, is making arrange- ment to empanel a special grand jury “to sift the disorders” and to take over the functions of the defeated state’s attorney, Robert E. Crowe, was District Literature Agents’ Meet Tonight William W. Weinstone, organizer Speakers will include Arturo Gio-| vannitti, Carlo Tresca, Francesco) Coco, Dr. Charles Fama, Robert Min- or, Norman Thom: William W.| Weinstone, Max Shachtman, Hugo| Gellert and Moissaye Olgin. Norman} "\Hapgood will act as chairman of cand meeting which has been arranged by the Anti-Fascist Alliance of North America. of District 2, Workers (Communist) Party, will speak at an important conference of district literature {agents to be held tonight at 8 o’clock at 103 E. 14th St. Matters of vital importance to the district is to be taken up, it is an- nounced by A, Gussakoff, district lit- erature agent, and a full attendance is ured