The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 14, 1928, Page 6

Page Farr ‘Page Six + . PEER EIN, WORKER, NW YORK, MONDAY THE DAILY WORKER NTW YORK, MONDAY, MAY 1, 1928 THE DAILY WORKER ——$$—$ Published by the NATIONAL DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING ASS'N, Inc. Daily, Except Sunday . $3 First Street, New York Phone, Orchard 1680 Cc: Address: “‘Datwork SUBSCRIPTION E TE By Mail (in New York only £8.00 per vear $4.50 six ». $2.50 three months 60 three months: Address and mail out checks to THE DAILY WORKER, 33 First Street, New York, N.Y. \ : MGA econ) ae ROBERT MINOR MS Assistant Editor.........-.. WM. F. DUNNE Roterea as second-class mail at the post-off the act of March 2 Strikebreakers Threaten Murder the foul weekly sheet miscalled : e buréaucratic agents of theycoal operators in the Miners Union of the Illinois district, has excelled itself in its issue of May 5. Open strike-breaking propaganda appears undisguised in the words of Harry Fishwick who boast- fully declares the strike of the Illinois miners to have been broken ¢+a damnable lie. The same issue quotes a Wyoming stoolpigeon, zollaborating with strikebreaking propaganda in that state, who tries to incite the mine workers against “Jewish miners,” ing the progressive organizers. The language is an appeal to the gunmen and murderers of the operators and the Lewis ma- chine: New York, N. ¥.. under Our esteemed contemporar ‘The Illinois M organ of “One thing I could tell them is this: ‘They had bet- ter be careful how they proceed in my state ‘Wyoming,’ because all the men there have guns and most of them wre excellent shots and like to shoot skunks and I am afraid they will get worse treatment there than they do from the Lewis Machine as they claim, so if you have any one for whom you care much who is in with this group tell him confidently that if he cares for his wife and family or does not like to stop lead he had much better stay at home when they begin to advance on Wyoming.’” Those “higher up” who are responsible for- the recent mur- ol of Tom Lillis, Pete Reilly and Alex Campbell in the anthra- site fields, thus publicly take responsibility for their open threat 3f cold-blooded murder in Wyoming. They know, that they can vet away with it because the police, federal and local, are on the side of these strike-breakers. Their strike-breakiig paper can get away with it and has the privilege of publishing incitement and threats of murder with impunity, just as the Lewis machine has the privilege of committing murder with the same impunity. But the Illinois miners—the coal diggers—understand the meaning of these facts. They will be doubly determined to make y tremendous success of the emergency district convention on Saturday, May 19, which must put an end to the rule of Fishwick in that state. This issue of the scab sheet of Fishwick and the operators among other things refers to the striking miners as “the stupid material which makes up the bulk of the picket lines.” The mine workers will show Fishwick that they are not so stupid as to fail to recognize strikebreaking of this sort. What! Coolidge Again? Andrew W. Mellon says in effect that Hoover will be the re- ~~~publican candidate this year unless the cesspool of oil bribery can be deodorized well enough to permit Coolidge, the “pr incipal” of the administration. purchased by Sinclair, to run again. Mr. Mellon, whose hands know the feel of Sinclair’s liberty bonds, is the center of authority in the Coolidge administration. What he says is eagerly awaited by all who are concerned in na- tional politics because Mellon speaks for something more than the republican party and the white house; he speaks directly from the inner councils of the biggest bankers in America. This forecast of republican politics for 1928 came from Mel- lon’s mouth just after the public admission that Hoover’s can- didacy for the nomination is costing $300,000—which is probably no more than one-tenth of what is really being spent to secure it. The shifting.of interest from past criminality to the matter of campaign funds for the 1928 election has exposed Herbert Hoover’s more or less accidental mistake of insufficiently cover- ing up his use of money. But just. as the shift to 1928 campaign funds hurts Hoover, the shift away from interest in the 1920 slush fund makes it more possible to consider the candidacy of Coolidge again. So Coolidge is again a tentative candidate. This would be the most desirable result possible from the point of view of the monarchs of finance-capital whose spokesman is Andrew W. Mellon. It would mean unbroken continuity in a bureaucracy thoroughly trained to the service and bribes of biggest banks and industrial corporations; it-would mean the breaking of the “no- third-term” tradition and thus work for future continuity in bu- reaucratic rule; and it would mean the most effective varnishing of the prestige of the “democratic system of government” as ex- pressed in the purchased machinery of state. The democratic party leaders, in helping to side-track Teapot Dome, may yet be shown to have thrown away their chance for 1928 by making possible again the candidacy of the “principal” of Teapot Dome graft. The ptomaine-tortured bones of Harding, the bullet-riddled remains of Jake Hamon, the corpse of Jess Smith with its suicide bullet, may yet rest in ground that is hal- lowed by “vindication.” The “principal” may yet be re-elected. Wall Street’s alternate for Coolidge may not be necessary. and Al Smith’s boom may have been in vain. It is impossible for capitalist political parties to “reform” the politics of imperialism, even to the extent of stopping the direct bribery of presidents and their cabinets. Nor can the na-| ‘ture of capitalist rule be exposed by any petty-bourgeois refor: mist | party of the La Follette type the socialist party now ‘publicly announces itself to be ich a party also must and does “‘militantly” defend the capitalist “democracy” which al-| “ways is concretely expressed in s or the “Barmat” affair, as well as in the imperialism of Ramsay MacDonald ‘and the blood-soaked “order” of a Pilsudski or a Noske. The attention of the working class of the United States | should all the more be centered upon the coming national nomi- | nating convention of the Workers (Communist) Party and its | revolutionary program of class struggle which is the only possible unswer of the toiling masses to the rule, the exploitation, the strike-breaking and repression of the working class and farmers ut home and weaker peoples abroad by the imperialist ruling class. _ This, the first Communist national nominating convention in American history, will put in the field the only candidates who will boldly and tenthtully speak of the real issues before the | masses. Its nominees will speak for the only party which calls for the overthrow of capitalist rule which alone will put an end to cap- ‘italist corruption aad exploitation. ih mean-4 ch corruption as Tent Dome} COMING! By JAMES P. CANNON. Communist tactics and methods of work, the placing of emphasis on this or that form of activity, are natur- ally regulated to a very large extent by the given situation and the stage of development. Communist propa- ganda and agitation through the medium of mass meetings are always in order, even after the seizure of political power, as we see in Russia where great attention and skill is de- voted to this work. If the Russian Party, which rules the,country, has not found it advisable’ to dispense with such activities, it is fairly ob- vious that they have possibilities yet for us, Propaganda Mectings Important. We in America are in that stage of development where the ideas of Com- munism have as yet penetrated only a very narrow fringe of the working class. The overwhelming masses have absolutely no conception of our aims beyond, that false and distorted one furnished them by our enemies. The natural operation of the laws of capi- talism will push the millions of Amer- ican workers, now mental and spirit- ual captives of the ruling class, onto the path of class struggle and in the direction of their historic goal, re- gardless of their present understand- ing and will. It is our task as Com- munists, taking part in all the strug- gles of the workers, to accelerate this process by all means in our power and to impart to it the great- est possible degree of consciousness as it develops. For this an enormous amount of agitation and propaganda course, will take many and varied forms, but the spoken word, the pub-! lic mass meeting, will play a great! part. The day of the ‘importance of! propaganda meetings is by no means over; indeed, for our party the pe- |riod just ahead of us must and will see a much greater emphasis placed upon them. And in connection with this our party comrades will begin. for the first time, to devote serious attention to the technique of organg izing propaganda meetings. | If we except the larger cities where we have staffs of professional party. !workers (and not all of them!) we | must acknowledge that our party on By SCOTT NEARING. | Charles W. Stewart told a meet- | ing of New York engineers ; that ver’s pelief work experience Russia.” of social evolution. The ladder, will be necessary. This work, of} ‘America will surely play; the fore- }most part in the rehabilitation of Russia.” He added that Herbert Hoo- in Russia had proved “a fundational factor in the tremendous goodwill and kindly feel- ing which American engineers have found existent wherever their foot- steps have led them in Russia during the past two years” and that Hoover's in Russian mines had given him an excellent background | “for his future responsibilities in the | American government's relations with The United States and Soviet Rus- sia are very close together in terms United States is at the top of the capitalist The Soviet Union is at the the whole has not properly estimated ; the importance of this elementary revolutionary’ work and consequently has not derived the maximum bene- fits which skillful organization would bring. For the most part, our com- rades who have become experts in a number of activities, remain hopeless jamateurs in this field; although there ‘is nothing involved except the’ as- similation and application of a few organizational rules and _ principles derived from the experience ee the past. The socialist party of pre-war days was far ahead of us on this score and knew how to organize propaganda meetings in such a way as to make and inspiration. The speakers did not do all of this by any means. Organi- zational technique played the princi- pal role in this work of the old so- cialist party. Would it be treason to Communism if we should borrow and learn from this experience? I think not. On the contrary, I would not be above “lifting” a few tricks of the art of propaganda anywhere they can be found and made service- able .for our revolutionary work Aside from that, we are the richtful heirs of all that was sound and pro: letarian in the old socialist party and its accomplishments belong to us. We ought to study the old movement more attentively. Rules for Organizing Meetings. I have had some experience as a | speaker and éven more as local or- ganizer of meetings for other speak- ers. Like all who have had this ex- perience, I have learned a number of jfal organization of meetings which I jam going to enumerate here. These organizational rules and principles are bound up with a certain concep- tion of the function and purpose of agitation and propaganda meetings which I think. is a correct one. They must-be a recruiting ground for the organization, They must. pro- vide- inspiration together with in- struction. They must strengthen the morale of the comrades and leave them witha feeling of success and accomplishment,.and ‘they must pre: yide revenue for the organization and not deéficits..These things cannot be them mighty instruments of agitation} rules and principles for the success-}! the atmosphere in which it is held, have an equal importance. A mediocre speech will often serve the purpose with the proper organization and atmosphere of the meeting, while a good speech will often be a heart- breaking failure without them. As a rule the measure of success is de- termined by the attention and skill devoted to the preparation and or- ganization of the meeting along the following lines: 1. Put a committee in charge of the arrangements of the meeting with responsibility for different phases of the work definitely assigned to in- dividual members, 2. Advertise the meeting widely People won’t come unless they know about it. A pinch-penny policy on advertising is absolutely fatal to suc- cess. Mailing Lists. 8. Build up and use a mailing list This is one of the most important instruments of every local organiza- tion. It should contain the name of every member, sympathizer and pros- pective sympathizer, properly classi- fied. Every name on it should receive notice of the meeting, and as many hand-bills or pluggers advertising the meeting as a two-cent stamp wil’ carry. A lotal organizer who doesn’t keep an up-to-date mailing list and use it constantly is working with one arm in a sling. 4. As a rule admission should be charged for the meetings and tickets should be sold in advance. The most extensive experience shows that more people attend meetings for which tickets are sold-in advance and the financial returns from the meeting are much greater. There are excep- tional circumstances where it is ad- visable to hold a free mass meeting, but the comrades who never want to charge admission on the ground that the workers are too poor to pay are victims of a false theory and-a harm- ful prejudice. All experience speaks against them. Sell tickets in advance and send a number on credit to every name on your mailing list, using dis- cretion as to the amount in each ease. Don’t be afraid someone wil! {sell a few tickets and abscond with | the money. This doesn’t happen very often, and even then the organizatior | acco: is by the speaker: alone ''The organization of the meeting and !bottom of. the ladder that. Jeads to a coopera’ society.) What can. Soviet Russia get from the United States? Technical knowl- edge and ‘engineering skill? Methods of industrial organization? Certainly. Capital? Perhaps, There the story ends. ~ the Soviet, Union will get nothing from the United States because it has already passed beyond the stage of property relations existing in the | United States. The United States ‘has one of the oldest property codes jin the world, The Soviet Union has abandoned this old code and is for- mulating a new’one. There is the ibasie limitation under which Hoover or Ford or any other representative of American big business must oper- ate in his dealings with the Soviet Union, is the gainer for everyone who comes to the meeting on an unpaid ticket. Such an economic limitation made Hoover in Hungary a friend of Horthy and an enemy of Bela’ Kun. The same economic limitation makes and landlords and an enemy of the Soviets. Inexorable historic forces. place In the field of property relations;Hoover on the side of the Roman- noffs and against the Russian Comis- sars. As an engineer he could be immensely useful in the extensive work of technical reconstruction that is now going on in the Soviet Union. As a representative of United States financial imperialism he is an enemy within the gates of the Russian Rey- olution. Perhaps the correspondents report- ed Henry Ford incorrectly. If the; got him right he is either an i, ramus or a liar. According to the New York Times, him in Russia a friend of capitalists’ ws 5. Always try for publicity for the meeting in the local capitalist papers as well as in the party and labor press. The kest way to do this is to establish personal acquaintance with a reporter or staff member on each paper who handles labor news There are few cities where small no- tices cannot be secured if real sys- tematic efforts are made. Of course good-sized write-ups are secured only in rare cases and with the most prom- inent speakers, but it should be re- membered that a small notice in a local capitalist paper reaches thou- sands of workers who do not read oui own press. 6. Hire a hall with a seating ca- pacity approximately the same as the size of the crowd you expect. This detail is of the utmost importance. Atmosphere is a great part of the meeting. A crowd of two hundred lost in a hall with a ‘seating capacity of one thousand throws a chill over the meeting, takes the heart out of the speaker and leaves the crowd at the end with a feeling of failure and de- feat. The same crowd of two hun- dred with the same speaker, com- fortably filling or packing a smaller hall, will produce a meeting with en- tirely opposite effects. Remember this rule: get a hall to fit the size of crowd you expect, 7. Select a chairman able to at- tend strictly to the business of super- vising- the meeting, making the nec- essary announcements and introduc- ing the speaker. That’s all! Many a promising meeting has been spoiled by a loquacious chairman who under- took to make the speaker’s address for him in-advance. This happens al] too frequently and local organizations which take the’r propaganda meetings seriously should put a stop to this harmful- nonsense. It is better to offend the chairman by telling him bluntly that he talks too much than to offend a whole audience by forcing them to hear a long speech they didn’t come to hear. And what about the speaker him- self? Has he no rights at all? An old campaigner once expressed the sentiments of all speakers when he said that if he could get only one wish granted he would ask for a tongue-tied chairman. 8. Ushers should be selected in} advance by the committee and they’ Ford, upon his arrival in England, stated that the talk about bread- lines in the United States was all nonsense and that every worker who wanted a job eould get it. Anyone who is acquainted with the facts knows that this statement is false. Here is a recent copy of the New York Nation in which a correspon- dent, giving his name and address, writes that he has waited outside of a Ford plant for 47 consecutive days, trying to get work—any kind of work and without success. Yesterday I was in Mr. Ford’s own town of Detroit, talking with his workers, The line of job-seckers at ‘he River Rouge (Ford) plant forms as early as 8 a. m. At times’ men we stood all night trying to be -|first in line when the employment office opened in the morning. Ford men reported one of these job-seekers Palestine Police ‘Attack Workers BEIROUT, Palestine, (By Mail).— The terror practised against Jewish workers in Palestine has reached un- usual proportions, according to re~ ports reaching here from the interior, Ben Gurien, the secretary of the Jewish Labor Party, has issued the following report on the conditions in Palestine: “Workers arrested for small of- fenses are led thru the streets in chains to their trial and then back again to tho jeil “The attacks which the police carry on against strike pickets are nothing less than a savage onslaught by the j armed police against the unarmed pickets. “Prisoners are beaten with clubs and whips. They are struck in the face and slugged in every conceivable way. “It is well known that men with dangerous diseases are placed in the jails side by side with healthy pris- The sick and the well are oners, forced to drink out of the same utensils. The bedding which is put in one pile during the day is divided without care again at night. “This regime which is maintained with clubs and fists is dealt out im- partially to pickpockets and political .| prisoners.” Injunction Asked BOSTON, May 13.—The hand of the law is being once more stretched out to strangle labor unions with the filing of a bill in equity in the Supreme Court of Suffolk County by the White Construction Co., seeking to enjoin the Building Trades Council and the unions affiliated with it from continuing a strike now in progress. The White Construction Co. has a con- tract to build one of the sections of the new Dorchester tunnel and the strike was called against the com- pany’s open-shop tactics. Organization of Propaganda Meetings should be on hand early to escort the people to the front seats as they arrive. Then late comers will take the rear seats without disturbing the meeting. Without ushers the early arrivals will invariably take the rear seats, leaving the front ones vacant, Then it will happen just as in- variably that others will straggle in all through the meeting and come gawking all over the front of the hall looking for a seat just at the time the speaker is working hardest to get the attention of the audience for what he considers a particularly impressive point. An efficient set of ushers are indispensable to a well- organized meeting. 9. In cool weather make certain beforehand that the hall is properly heated. This is necessary for the suc- cess of the meeting, the comfort of the audience and the health of the speaker. Such a detail would seem Obvious, but I have never yet made a tour in winter time without having at least one or two meetings in cold halls due to the negligence and thoughtlessness of the local commit- tee, and I never yet saw a meeting held under such circumstances that could be called a success. Sale of Literature. 10. The selling of literature, tak- ing collection and passing application cards for new members are details which work themselves out best in actual practice without a, uniform plan. The best results in selling lit- erature from the platform are gained if one piece is concentrated on, leav~ ing the rest for sale at the literature table near the door. If the speaker is worth his salt, a meeting conducted along these lines will be a success and will strengthen the local organization morally, or- ganizationally and financially, pro- vided one final detail is not over looked. That is: Quit on time and on the right note. Pace the meeting along and get it through quickly after the speech is over. Don’t let it drag along and fizzle out until the audi- ence gets tired and begins to leave of its own accord. Attention to these practical details until they become a matter of routine in the organization of public meet- ings, will bring rich returns to the Paty in the field of propaganda wor! Hoover, Representative of American Imperialism as freezing to death, on a cold nigh On some days, there are thou: in this employment line and the Ford }employment office line is only one lof many in Detroit. William Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, esti- mates the unemployment in Detroit as 82 per cent in January, 1928 and 80 per cent in February. Local esti- mates for April, 1928 place Detroit unemployment at 33.4 per cent. Henry Ford knows his apples as an industrial organizer. ‘As a slave- driver and profiteer he is in a class by himself, But when it comes to history and economics he would grace an ungraded country school. Stick to tin-can building, Henry. Your reputation will be safer and will certainly prove more profitable. than distributing misinformation’ on unemployment in the United States. _——