The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 9, 1928, Page 6

» Page GE : DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK. WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 1928 THE DAILY WORKER Published by the NATIONAL DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING ASSN, Inc. Daily, Except Sunday 83 First Street, New York, N. Y. Cable Address SUBSCRIPTION RATES Ry Mail (in New York only): Mail (outside of New York): $8.0P per year $4.50 six months $6.50 per year $3.50 six months $2.50 three months. $2.00 three months. Phone, Orchard 1680 “Dalwork” Address and mail out checks to THE DAILY WORKER, 33 First Street, New York, N. Y. ROBERT MINOR WM. F. DUNNE eRe}: BATONS oe seer eevee escent pice nees knleread as second-class mail at the post-office a’ the act of March 3, 1879. Now Mr. Mellon’s Preachers! The mine workers have to beware of strikebreakers from many quarters appearing in disguise as “friends.” They have to beware of other strikebreakers in-the disguise of “impartial in- vestigators.” There are no friends of the mine workers except those who are willing to throw themselves into the fight to win the strike and to save the Union, helping the mine workers to take their Union into their own hands. There are no impartial people of any kind in the miners’ struggle. : The mine workers have seen a committee of senators parad- ing as “investigators,” only to try to break the strike from behind the cloak of “impartial investigation.” And now come some more “impartial investigators.” These are incited by the Pittsburgh Council of Churches—that is, an assembly of the most prosperous ministers of fashionable churches absolutely dependent upon the big financial-industrial interests of Pittsburgh, chief of which are the Mellon interests. This Pitts- burgh council of preachers under the thumb of the scab Mellon interests got the Federal Council of Churches (the national coun- terpart of the Pittsburgh council) to undertake a new attempt to} demoralize the coal miners. This national body of Rockefeller’s and Mellon’s preachers is now spreading its “impartial” report. The reverend gentlemen advise “both” sides to abandon the fight—but of course they know that the scab-herding bosses will not abandon the exploita- | tion of the mine workers—what they really want is to persuade | the mine workers to abandon the struggle, while the coal opera- tors continue to force down the mine workers to scab ,conditions. The foul birds of Mr. Mellon’s scab coal companies give the full approval of the churches to the use of the coal and iron police against the mine workers. The real intent of these preachers is revealed behind the words: “in employing with legal sanction the coal and iron police the coal companies incur a solemn obligation not to divert the processes of orderly government to private ends,” and they give their saintly blessing to the cracking of skulls by the state cossacks with the suggestion that it would be all right if only the coal operators make the state pay for the skull cracking. This strikebreaking venture of Mr. Mellon’s preachers will be consigned by the mine workers to the same nether regions to which the impudent and dishonest report of the Mr. Mellon’s sen- ators has been consigned. ‘ The mine workers must understand that any group which pretends to be impartial in this struggle 1s merely lying and is seeking from behind to deliver a death-stab to the mine workers. This sinister and dishonest report of preachers well fed at the board of the Pittsburgh operators, shows its treacherous char- acter when it advises that hundreds of thousands of mine work- ers be thrown out of the industry, out of their jobs permanently; but the disciples of Jesus do not undertake to say where there are jobs for these workers in other industries. They only sing the old song of the scab program of squeezing out a large portion of the workers only to speed up the rest of the workers for a more frightful exploitation under still worse conditions. These saintly men sneer at the idea of anything being conceded to the workers, which they contemptuously refer to as “preoccupation with the humanitarian phases of the problem,”—and then they pass on to real business by denouncing the mine workers for what these holy men have the nerve to call “the beating up cf the men who have taken the places of those on strike.” (They have a word of praise only for John L. Lewis for siding with the strikebreakers.) But the mine wo.vkegrs know that‘all’ who are not. with them in this fight are against them. This applies to the senators; it applies to the council of preachers; it applies to those treacherous “leaders” who for a time posed as being “on the fence”; it applies to all who do not line up unequivocally for the struggle to save the Union, to win the strike. . Mine workers! Give your attention to the struggle! Turn your attention to the picket line, to the immediate calling of emergency district conventions, to enlarging your struggle so as to cover the whole national field—make it more than an economic struggle, make it a political struggle as well! All to the picket line! All busy for the district emergency’ conventions! And let Mr. Mellon’s preachers bray for their oats. t New York, N. ¥., under Strikers Need Medical Help PITTSBURGH, Pa., May 7.—Na- tion-wide sympathy for the brave struggle of the striking miners against one of the most powerful com- attending ind:viduals, and assisting in public health service under the su- pervision of the National Miners’ Re- tief Committee, binations of capital in the Uniteo States finds constant expression in offers of personal service which reach the National Miners’ Relief Committee from. every part of the Sountry. a The latest offer is that made by Dorothy W. Demming, of New York City, who is completing her third year in the College of Physicians and Surgeons. 's Demming, in a letter to the National Miners’ Relief Committee volunteers her services as physician during her vacation period which ex- tends from June to Séptember. Miss Deniming’s offer was made in re- sponse. to the appeal of the commit- tee for money with which to suppl) medical aid and equipment to the striking miners who are finding them- selves helpless against disease be- cause of crowded, unsanitary housing conditions in the barracks and the difficulty of persuading physicians to attend minor ailments. Following Miss Demming’s offer which is under consideration by the committee, Miss Helen Potts, a fel- Jow medical student of Miss Dem- ming, also volunteered to engage in i Every type of medical attention is} difficult for striking miners to ob-| tain. Every type of medical case} from bad colds and scraped knuckles} to confinement esses and pneumonia go unattended. The vitality of thou- sands of children, sapped by almost a year of undernourishment and in- sufficient clothing, is being lowered to a point which makes them ready victims of any disease, Unsanitary and hastily dug wells scooped from the frozen ground will prove a prolific source of typhoid fever man}: physicians believe. Unless sanitation observed, thousands of miners in the vicinity of Pitts- burgh may find themselves facing plagues rivalling those of the Dark Ages. y Vaccine, anti-toxins, disinfectants and simple sanitary appliances are immediate needs, Thousands of chil- dren’s lives may find themselves in real danger unless sanitation precau- “THE PEOPLE SHALL CHOOSE” Change the mask as much as you will, but Morgan’s gove:nment is Morgan’s still! 1,000 Attend Workers Party Picnic on Coast _ OAKLAND, Cal., April 30.—The annual Workers (Communist) Par- ty pienie was held recently at East Shore Park in Richmond, in con- junction with San Francisco, Berke- ley, and Richmond units. May Day was celebrated over a week in ad- vance at this picnic, where about 1,000 workers were assembled to take part in the day’s festivities. The Finnish comrades from Berke- ley were on hand with their usual supplies of good food in the form of hot dogs, delicious sandwiches, and coffee, The more thirsty were able to quench their thirst with soda water, ice cream, and who knows what else. There were plenty of Greeks on hand, and we all know what that means. In fact there was a real international representa- tion on hand, Slavic, Jewish, Greek, Armenian, Caucasian, Italian, Rus- sian, ete., besides the native sons and daughters, and some real Amer- ican Negroes. The Young Workers League made. itself conspicuous with a Red Letter Post Office, which was very amus- ing. The Pioneers were busy sell- ing coupons to raise funds for the summer camp, The speakers of the ,day were Wm. Schneiderman for the Young Workers League, E. Levin, organ- izer of District 13, and Oliver Carl- son, the young organizer of District 12 of the Workers (Communist) Party, who spoke eloquently of the need for international working class solidarity, and described his visit to Russia in 1921 and his meeting with Lenin, the great leader of the worke ers, ‘ Rubber Town--Home of 62,000 Slaves By SCOTT NEARING. More automobile tires are producec in Akron, Ohio, than in any other city in the world. In fact the rubber fac tories of Akron use 65 per cent of th world’s total output of rubber—463,- 665,466 pounds in 1927. Most of thir rubber goes to the three big plants: Goodyear, Goodrich and Firestone which produce the great majority of the 44,000,000 tirés that Akron ships out each year, The automobile industry was a stroke of unbelievable luck of Akron. Only 16,512 people lived in the city in 1880; 27,601 in 1890, and 42,728 in 1900. The population jumped to 69,067 in 1910 and to 208,435 in 1920. The war years were the period of Akron’s greatest prosperity” Popula- tion increased 200 per cent in a de- cade; land values soared; buildings shot up in every direction. The Ohio town of 1880 had become a roaring center of American prosperity by 1920. For 1927 the Akron Chamber of Commerce made this boast: Population - -220,000 Factory workers »» 62,018 Value of manuf. prod... .$603,519,000 Total factory payroll... .$105,866,000 School enrollment «. 39,930 No. of permits to build. Value of bldgs. erected... 5,748 0,967,461 2nd industrial city in Ohio. 10th industrial city in the U. &. The rubber center of the world. Home of Rubber Trust. The tire industry proved to be a “millionaire maker” during the early years. Demand rose fast. The prod- uct was sold before the raw material reached the tire factories. The “big three” rubber companies grew up to gether. The Firestone business was started in 1900 and reincorporated ir 1910. By 1922 it was selling good: valued at $64 million a year and pay- ing dividends of $1,293,182. Fow years later, in 1926, sales were $144 million and dividends $4,039,474. Goodyear has an eyen better record. Organized in 1898; reorganized in 1927, the company made sales of $127 million in 1923 and paid divi- dends of $2,729,000. For 1926, sales were $230, million and dividends $8,- 642,000. Meanwhile the assets of the company had grown from $156 million ‘n_ 1923 to $208 million in 1926. The ramifications of the rubber rust extend far beyond Akron. Only 2 part of its business is located there. Firestone holds a 99-year lease on a million acres of former jungle land n Liberia, Africa; 200,000 acres of this land were planted to rubber trees in 1910.. The remainder is being cleared and planted. Firestone has plants at Akron; Hudson, Massachu- setts, and at Hamilton, Canada. He has preparation mills at Fall River. Mass., and at Singapore. Goodyear has extensive rubber plantation holdings in Sumatra; controls various com- panies producing cotton and cotton fabrics, including the Devon Mills at New Bedford, Massachusetts; the Goodyear Cotton Mills at Goodyear Con.; the Goodyear Clearwater Mills at Cedartown, Georgia; the Goodyear Cotton Company of Canada, and the Goodyear Textile Mills ©o. of Los Angeles, California, all engaged in manufacturing tire fabric, and the Southwest Cotton Company located at Phoenix, Arizona, which owns 35,767, acres of land and is engaged in the growing of cotton. Goodyear products are distributed through a distributing organization with branches in th: principal cities of the world. Goodyear owns 1,300 acres of land in Akron and vicinity; has 66 build- ings, three-fifths of them built since 1915, The Akron plant employs about 15,000 people. Rubber Slaves. Tire building began as a “skilled” trade. It soon became a machine pro- cess with the worker tending the ma- chine. Skilled labor was replaced by semi-skilled and unskilled labor. For- eigners and Negroes shouldered out native white workers who insisted on a higher standard of living. The make-up of Akron’s population at the time of the last census (1920) is a striking picture of the forces at work there. White persons born in the United States of native parents made up 60% of the population; white per- sons born of foreign parents 18%; foreign-born persons 20%; Negroes 2%. There were 121,167 males and 87,266 females in the Akron popula- tion-—141 men for each 100 women. Akron rubber workers have been exploited more and more intensi as the years passed. Tire building is one of the industries that has shown an imrhense increase in productivit; per man.in recent years. Since th war employment in the ‘industry ha increased 7 per cent while the tota output has increased 28 per cent o four times as much as the increase ix the number of workers employed. The 62,018 workers who were ex ploited in Akron factories during 1927 did not lead an easy life. Much of the work of tire building demands grea! physical exertion; in some of the pro cesses the workers are wet; in other the odors and fumes are bad. Then the factories usually work either twc or three shifts per day—the workers going on their shifts by turn. Some- times, therefore, the worker goes to his work at 4.30 a. m.; sometimes in mid-afternoon; sometimes in the eve- ning. During the boom years of the Ak- ron rubber industry repeated efforts were made to organize the worker into labor unions. Thus far the ef- forts have been largely unsuccessful. Among the 62,000 Akron factory workers the total number of card- holding trade unionists is- probably yJunder 3,000 and the total number of active trade union workers is prob- ably less than 50. “Homes” Where Akron Rubber Slaves Spend Their “Leisure” Hours The rubber industry of Akron, 0.,'1s notorious for its vicious open-shop exploitation of the thousands of workers that it employs. Photo above shows a group of wretched hovels on the outskirts of Akron, where the workers and their families live under the most unsanitary conditions. A. F. L. Not Interested. American Federation of Labor of- ‘icials have been slow to help in the organization of the rubber workers. Most of the A. F. of L. members are craft workers and there are no crafts in the rubber industry. The only type t trade union organization that has 2 chance to succeed in the rubber fac- tories is an industrial union. A. F. of L. officials are not industrial] unionists and are taking no steps to! organize this type of union. Inde- pendent efforts at unionization have! lacked financial backing and have failed for want of trained leadership. Akron bosses have handled the union situation without gloves: 1. They have put together in the, same departments workers speaking; different languages and who theree fore have difficulty in understanding one another, 2. They have organized a very ex- tensive spy system in their plants. 3. They have dismissed workers ruthlessly whenever they were en- gaging in organizing activity. During the most recent effort at organization of the rubber workers. in 1927, after a union membership was built up, it was discovered that the man who had been elected secre- tary of the union was a government agent. He had worked regularly at the tire building trade for years, at the same time keeping his sleuth con- nection. On a previous occasion, ten employes of detective agencies were discovered holding various key posi- tions in Akron trade unions. Rubber town is a typical United States get-rich-quick town. Forty years ago it was a village. Today it is one of the most important indus- trial centers of the United States. The rubber industry has paid immense profits. The rubber trust, from its center at Akron, has reached around the world for raw materials; semi- . finished fabrics; markets. The work- ers meanly housed, intensely exploit- ed, denied even the opportunity to build trade unions, go stolidly through their round of daily toil, dimly con- scious that something is wrong and wondering when their turn will come and what it will be, By GERRY ALLARD The situation in Illinois as one of the outstanding states of the United Mine Workers of America, has reached an acute stage. The organi- zation in this district has entered into the general depression that con- fronts the entire coal mining popula- tion. Under the separate agreement policy large coal operators have signed up, installing new machinery, and using every applicable method to decrease the cost of production, As a result many miners are being laid off with the company having the liberty of choosing its men. One of the best examples of the situation is New Orient mine at West Frankfort, Ill. Formerly some 1900 men worked there. When the mine reopened under a separate truce the company had a ‘bulletin at the pit tions in all barrack camps are taken immediately. All contributions to the medical head with all the check numbers of miners that they did not want. As a result of this policy between 700 or fund of the National Miners’ Relief]800 men were laid off. The company Committee should be sent at once to]installed mechanical loaders in the 611 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. ‘ ye rooms that men formerly worked in. Then they- picked the most efficient men to run them, Minois was declared to be the dis- trict of the miners union with the best conditions. The only think that the coal operators lived up to in the last) two years of the Jacksonville Agree- ment was the scale. All miners agree that. wages are a dominant factor in an agreement. Nevertheless, the con- ditions which a miner must work to earn this amount is also a prime fac- tor. Taking up bottoms, «atting tim- {bers,in fact all dead work was un- paid, Longer hours, speed-ups, part time work, lay offs, working machines with great physical efforts for less |nfoney and ete., were part of the Il- linois miners’ conditions, In fact all these things that were governed by the agreement were neglected by the coal operators and no efforts were made on the part of the union of- ficiats to make them respect that agreement. Today the Jacksonville agreement means nothing to the miners.” It has been butchered, and altered so much by fake agreements that it means nothing in the sense of working conditions to the miners. The militancy of the coal miners; accuses of Illinois has been very healthy in the life of the miners’ union. For years the miners of this state had to work under the leadership of an ex- posed bootlicker of the coal operators, Frank Farrington. Working in con- junction with Farrington was Harry Fishwick, then Wee-president and now him. president of the Tllinois miners.|, Today in our giant struggle to pre- Farrington time and time again be-| serve our living standards we coal trayed the Ilinois miners. But inj miners have Harty Fishwick as presi- spite of his conspiracy the militancy, dent. of our union. The policies of of the miners was always upheld. Farrington are being carried on Harry Fishwick has at no time! loyally. Frank Farrington, officer shown a sign of hostility to the be-|for the Peabdoy coal interests, has traying policies of Farrington. Hej his right hand man directing the appeared very satisfied with the! work of the Lewis machine amongst manner in which Farrington was run-| the coal miners of Illinois. ning the district. According to John| Is it surprising that the miners L. Lewis, President of the Interna-|are in such deplorable condition with tional Union, Fishwick figured in the|such leadership No. The miners of conspiracy between Farrington and| Illinois wero.able to obtain for years the Lester Strip mine. The con-|a fair wage and human conditions in spiracy was at that time to let Lester| spite of the collaboration between the operate his mine in order to break|dfficialdom and the operators. But the strike. Lewis charges “two prom-| today with a sharp crises confronting inent officers of district 12 with con-|the coal mining industry the miners spiring with Lester to let him operaté|are in a defensive position. It will his strip mine at Herrin.” He further ‘take a sincere and courageous leader , ie gta “Farrington and Fishwick with having received a_ stipulated sum of money in compensation for their dirty work. Frank Farrington |was exposed as being on Peabody’s payroll... He had to make a forced exit out of the union, but forgot to take his right hand man along with Is Harry Fishwick the President of the Illiriois Miners? to obtain alleviation of the present crisis that effects the Illinois miners. Harry Fishwick and his other pets . in District 12 have been condemning right and left the movement of the Save-the-Union Committee, and many of its outstanding leaders, In the. “Tilinois Miner,” which the rank and file are forced to subscribe. to, he uses every method to attack the pro- gressives. é In the face of the many timely issues that confronts our union in this district he has never made ‘an effort to call a convention to consider them, The necessity of the miners to con- vene to consider the many problems that confront them is urgent. The Save-the-Union Committee of . District No. 12 has called forth a dis- trict convention to be held in Belle- ville, Ill., to consider the important problems that effect the livings of the miners and to set forth concrete policies that are going to save rebuilt the union in this district to work nationally for the establi! ment of a powerful union that solve and lead the destinies of American coal miners, BO: miisie ia |