The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 25, 1928, Page 6

“has thrived on persecution. February 1927, The percentage of lo- ; ; | Page Six THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, FRIDAY, MAY 235, 1928 THE DAILY WORKER Published by the NATIONAL DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING ASS'N, Inc. Daily, Except Sunday 83 First Street, New York, N. Y. Address CRIPTION RATES v) By Mail (outside of New York): 0 per year 3.50 six months $2.00 three months. Phone, Orchard 1680 Cable *"Dalwork” SUBS By Mail (in New Y $8.0 per vear $4.50 $2.50 three m nths Address and mail out checks to THE DAILY WORKER, 33 First Street, New York, N. Y. ROBERT MINOR WM. F. DUNNE the post-office at New York, N. ¥., under of March 3, 1879. Editor Assistant Editor ae second-class mail a the a Welcome Red Delegates! ihe red flag of Communism flies tonight for the first time above a national convention called for the purpose of nominating candidates for president and vice-president of the United States and for launching a national election campaign. Far be it from us to assert that this is the first Communist Party convention, for there have been many and stormy Communist conventions in the United States in the p: the first which is called for the specific purpose of putting the revolutionary party full speed into the parliamentary struggle. Only six years ago the Communist Party convention held in Michigan was raided resulting in wholesale arrests followed by a series of criminal trials in which the only charge was that of “assembling,” in connection with the Communist aims. The Com- munist Party today is an incomparably stronger, a better organ- ized and a more thoroughly trained revolutionary organization, and is vastly more active and influential in the class struggle in the United States than it was six years ago when a solemn judge declared that its existence could not be permitted and that its leaders could not be allowed at large. Our revolutionary party Today’s opening of the convention marks an epoch for the Communist Party of America. Not only in its increased participa- tion in election campaigns, but because at the same time it has become a power in the trade-union struggles which it is learning how to link up with the parliamentary and other political strug- gles. If in 1922 the infamous Harry Daugherty as U. S. attorney | general instigated the prosecutions of the Party out of fear that it would inevitably find its place at the head of big struggles such as the coal and railroad strikes of that time,—in 1928 it is true that the Communist Party is playing a leading role in mass strikes and is, in fact, the only force that now offers the workers any leadership in the struggle against the employing class. In the tremendous struggle of the coal miners, the textile workers, the needle trades workers, for the right to live and to organize, in the resistance of workers in this country against the bloody imperial- ism in Nicaragua and China, in resistance to the open shop offen- sive and the police alliance of socialist party bureaucrats and trade union misleaders,—it is the Workers Communist Party which alone always and invariably is recognized at the forefront of the work- ers’ fighting line. Many times more severe struggles will be met by our Party in the future; many more solemn judges will pro- nounce it illegal in strenuous times to come, many the tragic re- pressions and sufferings,—but the Communist Party is neverthe- less on the road to becoming a mass party and the recognized leader of all the struggles of the American working class. Our brother Communist Parties have only in the last ‘few days made splendid records of revolutionary working-class partici- pation in the sham elections of bourgéois “democracy” in Poland, France and Germany. Their eyes are now upon us. Let us so conduct a revolutionary campaign in 1928 as to make them proud of our common membership in the Commiunist International. Not with illusions in regard to capitalist elections, ut to utilize these election campaigns for the mobilization and development of the American workers revolutionary movement. —— EE ee! wine teehee ieee 6 Se Railway Workers Suffer Lay-Offs CHICAGO, May 24,—The down- { comotives in unserviceable condit:on ward trend of railroad employment | was 16.5%, compared with 16.8% a continued in February, according to| year ago. the interstate commerce commission.| Some of the leading railroads, how- Its monthly report shows that in one! ever, show a sd change for the year, more than 112,000 railroad work-| worse, the pe tage of bad order ers lost their jobs and 175,184 who| locomotives mounting to unwarranted were on the payrolls in 1923 have} figures, This is especially noticeable been forced to look elsewhere for @}in the New York Central system and livelihood. | the Baltimore & Ohio figures. Chart Shows Cuts. | To be in good shape railroads should The railroad wage total for Febru-| have not more than 15% of their lo- ary was $221,813,084, compared with|comotives and 4% of their freight $228,171,570 in February The|cars on the sick list. The non-union decline of 2.8% in wages is t | Pennsy repotts 12.7% of its exactly equal to the decline of 6.2% of its freight cars s and in total railway revenue. W: e} in need of repair. absorbing about the same proportion | * * ‘ of the railroad dollar Ly : | WASHINGTON, (FP) May 23.— The average railroad wage for F Employes who demanded a wage ad- ruary was $138 compared with $ justment from the Kansas City, Mexi- in February 1927, the difference be-|co & Orient Railroad and whose claim ing largely accounted for by the day|/was put up to the first “advisory added by leap year. For workers paid| board’ ever appointed under the on an hourly basis the monthly aver-|terms of the Watson-Parker rail ages were $131 this year and $125 in|Jabor mediation law, have lost out. February 1927. The special board, appointed by Presi- The report contains a chart trac dent Coolidge, has reported that the the changes since 1916 in the w ight raise offered by the company of freight engineers, firemen, ¢ all that the road can now afford ductors and brakemen as a group per|to pay. For a substantial raise in 1,000 ton-miles of freight handled.| keeping with the increased cost of This chart shows graphically how th ng since their pay was last ad- railroads have cut the wage cost of|justed, the employes are expected to traffic in spite of the wage rates| “wait and hope.” Nia ashe have been able to! ‘The White House attitude on this 25 i decision is that i e@ workers are not Shopmen Hit. od with a microscopic increase y, there is not much use in try- Reductions in force compared w | ago as usual bore down m ing to please them in the future. on the shopmen, their 3 1 Killed, 3 Near Death aving been reduced 42,7: level 116,423 short of Mebrua Th: number of train and eng “ a Bis tees: cedtioad 28680; 2 In Factory Explosion 3 7 below Fel pas v May 24, — Mar- as in other di y s burned to death AUBURN, N *€ ion De! 3 of way cut 24,064, clerks 11,0 and Ri hero, 16, and Frank miscellaneous employes in the trans-|Catalano, 39, are near death as the portation department 10, {result of an explosion and fire which Operating statistics issu commission indicate that the in the maintenance of equipment de- partment have not been made at the expense of the cars and locomotive Apparently the remaining employe are speeded up, In February 5.9¢ of the freight cars were reported i destroyed the plant of the Auburn eworks Company, near here. The chances for the recovery of Rose Zucchere are slight, physi¢ians said: he blast was caused by a’ spark which fell into powder ‘where the girls were working. This might never ave happéned had the company in- st eight and a half years—but this is | |the capitalism of Western New York bad order compared with 5.7% injstalled a necessary partition in the factory, workers said. Je é ComentsT Viet RIES Illinois Miners to Fight Fishwick to the End By ARNE SWABECK | What was once the proud backbone of the United Mine Workers of America, the Illinois District, is now being ground to pieces between the eunning policy of attacks of the operators and the sell-out of the union officials. Fishwick Backs Operators Moreover the Fishwick administra- tion by its dealings with the opera- tors has conceded point after point of gains won thru battles of the past. The result of its treason has been to eliminate any respect which it once may have enjoyed amongst the rank and file. Its own machine powers have been broken down. It has now the operators only to depend upon to come to its rescue. The latter have been willing, and in an effort to stop the rank and file opposition move- ment, on April first changed their policy and rapidly re-opened many large mines for opération but alas, after a few days of work, there were jobs only for a small force. The mine bosses appearing at the shaft, picking those who were per- mitted to work, eliminated all who had shown themselves good union men. From company unionism to com- plete union destruction is now the road laid out for the Illinois miners. The former is already taking place, |trap of the separate agreement policy but to the operators this means only a make-shift until they can proceed to the next step. That is, unless the rank and file opposition prevents this, to attempt to crush this opposi- on is the task the operators have igned to their tools, the Fishwick administration. Save-Union Forces Gain. The situation would be a hopeless one indeed without the militant op- position to this treason represented by the Save-the-Union Movement. Undoubtedly, this movement is gain- ing despite the lack of available forces, and the fact that the union machinery is in the hands of the enemy. The first inevitable results of the treasonable policy of separate agree- ments are now showing themselves. Its ultimate result must be‘ wage cuts, and union destruction has long been acknowledged. Result of Separate Agreements The first results are that several local unions have themselves on their own hook signed separate agreements involving wage cuts. The Fishwick administration condemns these ac- tions by the local unions and lifts their charter, while it tries to justify its own separate agreerhents which are in no way different. All the separate agreements signed give no protection whatever to working eondi- tions. Men working on tonnage rate are compelled to clean out their own dead work lay their own tracks, etc. This is indirectly a wage cut. Seven local unions in the north where the mines are small and the coal vein not very deep, fell into “the and made their own settlement on the basis of a wage cut, below the Jacksonville scale. The proceeded to form a new union, for: which the state of Illinois most readily granted a charter. In the heart of the southern field loeal union No. 959 also fell into the trap and signed its own agreement as proposed by the mine super- intendent appearing at the local meeting providing for a wage cut to 9 cents per ton for machine runners or a flat rate of $10.07 a day. The revoking of the charters by the Fish- wick administration is a maneuver to throw dust in the eyes of the coal miners, and shield its own policies. These local unions made a serious mistake, yet they did precisely what had been done by the district officials before. The whole separate agree- ment policy is responsible. Prior to April First W: J. Jenkins, the president of the Illinois Coal Operators Association, referred to John L. Lewis as having promised wage cuts. In a statement issued he said that Lewis had given, “definite promise that he would take it upon himself to guarantee that Illinois would secure needed relief by April first.” The relief sought by the operators was the wage reduction. Miners Rebel. Open rebellion has been the answer by the miners in many instances to the now unvariable conditions in the state, particularly those created by the contract for loading machines, conveyors, and other mechanical de- vices. Unemployment has increased, the speed-up has increased thru com- plete lack of working regulation. In DuQuoin the men struck against it and were literally forced back to work. Numerous resolutions of protest have been adopted by the local unions, some petitioning for special convention to rectify this evil. The DuQuoin locals have begun petitioning for special conventions to abolish all sub-district officials who to them appear perfect parasites. In this situation of chaos, confusion, and betrayal, the corrupt officials in a last effort to stem the tide of op- position are resorting to an intensi- fication of their celebrated policy of expulsions. To the many victims of the past have been added those who signed the special convention call for Belleville, May 19th, some having been expelled for 99 years. However, in this respect also the machine power is broken down. It has become a myth. Those cited for expulsion refused to appear before the district court, and the following answer made by the old fighter of Belleville, Luke Coffey to this sum- mons is typical. “Walter Nesbit United Mine Workers of America Springfield, Il. Gentlemen: “Received your document. It ap- pears to me that your henchmen and stoolpigeons of local 4638 would pro- ceed along the line of the constitution and prefer charges against me in my local union. “T realize that appearing before this board would be like going to law with the devil and holding court in hell.” The task of the Save-the-Union movement is made so much more difficult by this terrible wreckage of the once so proud backbone of the United Mine Workers of America. Knowing however, that it presents the only remedy for this dismal situation of chaos, confusion, and betrayal it is proceeding undaunted to perform its task. Buffalo “Prosperous,” Open Shop City of Low Wages By SCOTT NEARING. UR train pulls into the Lehigh Val- ley* station at six o’clock in the morning,—into Buffalo, Queen City of the Lakes; the Buffalo of the Lackawanna Steel Co., and of the! machine tool industry; the Buffalo! of more than 500,000 human beings; the great, prosperous, open-shop, low- wage city that stands guardian over! State. Rain. The streets are muddy. The air steams. We adjust our bags and prepare to. walk one block on Main Street and three blocks along Exchange Street| for the train connection. | We push open the station doors and step on the Main Street pave- ment. What a sight! As though a high wind had scat- tered an ash dump across the wide street; scattered tin cans, waste, paper, barrel hoops, packing boxes, | broken bed-springs, wrecked auto department of labor in its annual sur- bodies. But the rubbish or? Main Street is from a human dump. Unemployment. The street is filled with men, wait- ing for the employment offices to| open,—more than 150 of them with- in the block. Black men and white men; Central Europeans, Irish, Itali- ans, Mexicans, Americans. slaves lined up on the slave market of Buffalo,—job seekers in a city where tens of thousands already are unemployed. The numbers of men increases as the doors of flop-houses open to dis- gorge their lodgers,—bleary-eyed; unwashed; unshaven; hungry. One man stops in front of us. He is jocular. Evidently he has already had a drink or two. “What do you say, friend?” he jare bums. Others are workers, broken jonly countries in which organized la- The! “Just that! I’ve got a piece of bread. All I need is a bit of boloney.” The man is dressed in blue over- alls, with broken shoes, He is gaunt, haggard. Perhaps it is hunger; per- haps it is booze. One thing certain: a good home, a good job, a good diet, good friends and good books do not carve lines like that on a man’s face. “Well,” he insists, “will you risk it? What do you say?” All about there are other men, watching, speculating. Some of them By LELAND OLDS, (Federated Press). The Soviet Union and China today account for a third of the world’s army of trade unionists. They are the bor appears actively on the upgrade. This is the story told by the Canadian vey of trade union membership throughout the world. The gains in trade union member- ship in the U. S. S. R. and China be- tween 1926 and 1927 more than off- set losses in trade union strength in other parts of the world and they |were chiefly responsible for the gain of nearly 2,000,000 in the total number of trade unionists. Trade unionism ;onee Wourished chiefly in western Europe and the United States. The center of gravity appears to be shift- ing toward eastern Europe and the Pacific. Soviet Russia Leads. The aggregate organized workers at the close of 1927 in the 47 coun- tries covered by the report numbered | 40,355,764. At the close of 1926 the figure was 38,388,956. At the end of 1922 the world total was 44,136,355. Conditions in Germany, Austria, Po- asks, “Will you stake me?” “What is it you want, : aan from their families, who have been out of a job and down on their luck for months. Frightful! This human scrap-pile along the Buffalo slave-market. We walk the grimy street, beside the squalid buildings whose chalked windows and announcement boards tell of “shipments;” “field hands;” “helpers” wanted at poverty’s own wage. So this is Buffalo! this the rich, prosperous America! the world’s greatest capitalist empire, beginning even the great gains in Soviet Rus- sia and China could not make good. Soviet Russia leads with 10,000,000 trade unionists, just about 25% of the world total. This marks a gain of more than 2,000,000 over the previous year and of more than 3,000,000 in the last 5 years. Great Britain has the second largest contingent of the trade junion army with a 1927 total of 5,- 531,000, fourth. The United States ranks Losses and Gains. Trade union figures for 16 coun- tries as reported by the Canadian de- partment of labor for the end of 1922 and 1927 are: land, Czechoslovakia and Spain were | responsible for the shrinkage which Trade union membership 1922 1927 Australia 700,000 800,000 Austria 1,128,054 756,392 Belgium 920,000 726,126 China 800,000 3,000,000 Czechoslovakia 2,000,000 1,379,779 France 1,406,748 1,068,046 Germany 12,595,947 5,077,309 Great Britain 5,128,648 5,531,000 Holland 664,048 517,914 Italy 2,099,900 2,234,520 Mexico 710,000 838,000 Poland 822,777 — 539,089 Russia 6,857,000 10,000,000 Spain 1,805,113 458,578 Sweden 381,018 486,812 United States 4,152,592 4,045,736 to hit the down-grade, economically, as Britain hit the down-grade more than thirty years ago. + The wreckage on this scrap-pile was once alive. Before the profit system smashed them, they were men. On its fertile soil, with its place in the Great Lakes chain, it would be possible to replace Buffalo by a beautiful city, filled with healthy, happy workers and their families. On your toes, militants! To the task, builders of a great future. The “system” is rotten ripe for change! REPORT SHOWS U.S.S.R. UNIONS IN LEAD Eyes on the East. Other countries with more than 100,000 trade unionists at the end of 1927 are: Argentine 120,000; Brazil 104,000; Canada 290,282; Chile 162,- 000; Cuba 190,000; Denmark 274,428; Hungary 267,885; India 195,000; Ire- land 148,501; Japan 235,000, and Switzerland 261,713. Latin America as a whole reported 1,352,000 organ- ized workers. Including Soviet Russia and the United States, countries bordering on the Pacific Ocean have about 20,000,- 000 trade unionists, nearly half of the world total. Because of the increasing competition from low-wage areas all the organized workers throughout the the organized workers throuhgout the world are fundamentally interested in the ability of workers in Asia and Africa to organize and raise their living standards, VICTIMS OF AIR DOPE. SANDUSKY, 0., May 24.—Walter Anderson, 26, professional aviator of Richmond, Ind., was burned to death and Benjamin Buser, 17, student, of Sandusky, is in a serious condition at Good Samaritan Hospital here, the result of an airplane crash at San- dusky airport. HANdO“TS i is rumored that Secretary of State Kellogg will get the Nobel prize for promoting international peace. We suggest awards to a number of other benefactors of humanity: Morris Hillquit, for the self-sacri- ficing spirit which he has displayed in mulcting fat’ fees from labor unions. Mrs. Knapp, for honesty in of- fice. Mayor Walker, for services rend- ered to several million straphang- ers. Calvin Coolidge for the fearless and courageous manner in whicb he has exposed the predatory fn- terests of Wall Street. Andy Mellon, for exposing Harry Sinclair’s contributions to the re- publican campaign fund. * Soe AUERBACH, 21-year old in- structor at the University of Penn- sylvania has been fired for advocat- ing the recognition of the Soviet Union, The authorities told him that “it was felt incompatible for a teacher in the department to take a stand publicly on a public question.” We hereby suggest that Nicholas Miracu- lous Butler be canned from Columbia for advocating publicly the repeal of the Prohibition amendment. * * * qv horse fair of braying mules, euphemistically referred to as con- gress, is shown with lantern-slide viv- idness in an endearing scene by the publication of the following item in the Washington News, Scripps- Howard tabloid: “This newspaper pro- poses, from this time forward, to pub- lish as news the appearance on duty of any so-called dry member of the house or senate in an obviously in- toxicated condition . . . When a fire- eating prohibitionist wanders aim- lessly about the senate chamber dur- ing the discussion of important busi- ness and finally interrupts to ask the presiding officer, ‘Whass bizness be- fore house?’ or when a similar ex- ponent of the Volstead act has to hang hard to the edge of his desk, while his legs weave unsteadily under him as he attempts to make a speech, or when a champion of the 18th amendment relapses from maudlin inattention into snoring sleep in the midst of a senate session, the New s will undertake to make his condition clear to its readers.” No sooner had the above announce- ment appeared than Senator Cara- way of Arkansas flew into a TOLL, grew white about the mouth and de- manded that the News print names. The News thereupon burst forth in its true capitalist colors by remain- ing silent. On account of the libel laws it cannot be said that Senator Caraway was ever drunk. It has becit noted, however, that Senator Cara- way wanders absent-mindedly about the house while it is in session, that his line of progress is not the short~ est distance between two points and that he has been known to interrupt the presiding officer in order to be better informed as to what is going on. It is atso indisputable that he comes from Arkansas. * * * * * steaks righteous members of con- gress are quite irritated at their tactless brothers. These dignified people who have sufficient sense of morality to do their iliegal drink- ing in their paramours’ apartments scorn those who drink ostentatious- ly.’ Any respectable shyster des- pises the man who performs with a lead pipe. Congress is irritated. What august body busily engaged in the important business of divid- ing the loot of a nation wants its attention distracted by silly roy- sterers? : Farm Bill * Vetoes Ss CALVIN COOLIDGE The Vermont Kewpie Cal Coolidge has been squeezed in the stomach again by big capital and emitted w veto of the McNary-Haugen farm bill, The man who usually writes Cal’a — speeches for him is on a vacation and so the style of this one is as unrecog= nizable as the stomach of the fat man in the reducing ads. Of course it’s common Ienowledge around the white house that the president never doca anything for himself any more ex~ cept sleep at home and expectorate, In fact the above is a recent photo» graph a i f *” * * Abe Cahan, the proletarian of the Jewish Daily (Yellow) F ward, has decided to ask for a rai His present salary of $350 a and expenses puts him in a class heap A. F. ‘e Six of Coolidge posed for him by € tm | | i