The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 26, 1928, Page 6

ahi fHE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY, MAY 26, 1928 , and Wages. But no perma- @ mere economic struggle. powerful trade union can of the bosses, by it i ‘$ may s of a ful strike, because the increas- St of living can nullify higher | MERE ECONOMIC STRUG- | ‘CANNOT FREE THE WORK- “FROM EXPLOITATION AND ISION. Political struggle is | SSary. But it must be polit- | uggle in the interests of the class and carried on by pol- Organizations of the workin; * Many workers participate in| il struggles but on the side | Phosses. Today the bulk of the ‘s—even those who economic- ¥, in their trade unions, by their fikes, fight the bosses-—sttpport the tical parties of the same bosses, s republican and democratic parties. is is a fatal mistake, because it epveans that the workers themselves oy aelp the capitalists to hold their grip on the state power. Those workers ing who still remain in-the camps of the | republican and democratic parties are helping the capitalists to be the bosses of the courts, to use injunctions and armed forces to crfsh the trade unions and to parflyze the strike movements of th! kers. The workers have made several at- tempts to link up their trade unions and other labor organizations into a labor party. In certain plades farmers labor parties are now in existence. The Workers (Communist) Party supports the formation of those labor parties which are based on trade *mions-and other organizations of the working class. It is willing to parti- stoate in the formation of such labor garties, because it considers this the “irst decisive step toward independent ¥™itical action by the working class, *he first step of the workers to break away from the parties of the bosses. | At the same time the Communist Party considers it its duty to tell the workers frankly that a labor party has its limitations and that it will not be able to lead the workers in| . their final struggle to their emanci pation only a Communist can do that. Only under the leader- ship of the Communist Party can the American worki itself from the louble yoke of cap- italist exploftatjén and oppression. At-is to the Miterest of the workers to participate in all election’ strug- gles. It is necessary to fight for the election of workers to the various legislative bodies. run workers’ candidates for offices, But it is a dangerous illusion to think that the workers can assume power by electing more and more members ef congress or executive officials. The | workers can never seize power by the revolution can the working class swing into power. The most import- ant aim of participation in election campaigns is the mobilization of t working masses for the struggle against the bosses. The chief use- fulness of representatives in legis- lative bodies consists in securing a public tribune for the cause of the working class, from whence it is pos- Stblé to. expose the actions of the bosses and arouse the militancy oi the masses. The workers must know that political struggle is much broad- er than mere election struggle. They | must know that political struggle is | in the interests of the working class | only if it is conducted in the form | of a politically independent working- | ciass party. The notorious “non-par- | tisan” policy of the A. F. of L., which calls upon the workers “to punish the.enemies and reward the friends” within the capitalist parties and cap- | talism itself. The policy of the so- alist’ party, which promises the workers that they can assume power, abolish and control the in-| dustries by the “intelligent use of the ballot,” is an equally base be- | trayal of the work class. The I + which res self to mere “industrial action d that through politice it will lose its revolutionary integrity, has actually become a sectarian and réactionary organization. Demands. 1, Independent political action of working class, formation of a| dabor party on a national, state and | local scale. 2, .A genuine Labor Party nust based on trade unions and other labor Organizations, and on factory, mill, and mine committees of the unorgan- ized workers. A genuine Labor Party | must exclude all politicians of big a true federated body all sections yf the working class, without any crimination, which accept the gen- "eral. principle of the class struggle ésts of the workers and exploited mers. 8. We call upon every worker: ffiliate your trade union to the Party and you jourself join e Workers (Communist) Party. Social Legislation. There is hardly any labor protec- tion and even less social insurance in ‘country. The aim of labor pro- n is the safeguarding of the from the harmful conditions uction. The aim of the United government today is the safe- ig of the capitalists from the ml” effects of trade union or- : There is no law setting m to the working day or r guaran- ‘kers. n can be achieved by the wea- | ed by the almighty Gov-| troops | Party | class emancipate | It is necessary to | id. small business, and must include | sore are willing to fight for the in- | res assured the w compulsory | rules exist or are enforced for safety | and ‘sanitation. Labor inspection is ineffective. America is the leading | country of the world in the field of | industrial accidents, In__ industry |there occur annually 25,000 fatal ac- jeidents and 2% million accidents} jeausing temporary disability. In} }1927 there were no lh than 4 | | casualties on the mining field of bat- |tle. New York state alone had in | 1926-27 in structural iron work not | less than 21,606 accident cases which | j}required compensation. In the metal |mines there were 2,865 accidents per | 10,000 workers. In other words, one worker out of every four was the |victim of an accident. There is no social insurance deserv- ing this name in the United States. |No care is taken of the unemployed, Jof the sick, of the old, of invalids and ples. No help is given to fam- ies of deceased workers. As sub- stitutes there are only the voluntary jorganizations of fraternal societies. Some of the trade unions try to build jup some insurance schemes. All those small-scale organizations are very limited in their effect and mean an additional burden for the work- ers, The group insurance of the em- ployers means the enslavement of the workers to a certain corporation. The private insurance companies are fleecing the working masses. There is a general lack of security in the life of the working class of America. No worker grows old as fast as the American worker. Speed-up and lack of labor protection drives him to pre- mature old age. Scores of poisons, extreme heat and dampness and dust, and lack of sanitary measures ruin the health of the toilers. The lack of labor protection and social insurance in the United States, in the richest capitalist country in |the world, is brought out in bold re- lief by comparison with the Work- ers’ Republic of the Soviet Union. The Socialist Republic of Soviet Rus- sia has the most complete system of labor protection and social insurance. | Her social insurance provides the fol- | lowing benefits: temporary disability benefits; benefits for child birth, in- |fant nursing, burial of insured per- sons and members of their families; pensions for widows; permanent dis- ‘ability benefits; pensions to family lin event of bread-winner’s death; un- employed benefits; maintenance of rest homes, sanatoria, and health re- sorts for workers; free medical aid. In Soviet Russia all forms of so- cial insurance are under the manage- ment of the workers and are main- tained at the expense of the state. Factory inspection and all state pro- tection of labor organs are under the direct control of the trade unions. {Compulsory yearly vacations on pay | are assured. The 7-hour day is guar- anteed by law, The law forbids sys- | tematic overtime. There is a legal | weekly rest of 42 hours. Special pro- tection of women and children in in- | dustry has been enacted. A large |range of, sanitation and safety mea- sures in all factories has been insti- | tuted. | There is a worl«. of difference be- | tween the lack of labor protection and | social insurance in the United States jof America and the complete system jof labor protection and social insur- jance in the United States of Socialist Russia—the difference between a |capitalist and a socialist country. Demands. | 1. Federal law for social insur- |ance in the case of sickness, accident, joid age, and unemployment for al} wage-earners. The administration of all social insurance measures should |be in the hands of the workers. The | cxpenses should be covered by the | state and the employers. 2. Federal law for the enactment of the 40-hour, 5 day week, forbidding all overtime, The law shall provide for a six-hour working day in es- pecially dangerous industri Imme- | diate enactment of a federal law pro- consecutive hours of rest for all wage-earners. | 3. Federal law for compulsory jrules and technical measures for |safety and sanitation. | 4. Establishment of effective labor pinaaes tion; inspectors to be elected | by the workers themselves. Free medical treatment, medi- |cine, and hospital care for all wage- | earners, Tariff and Taxation. The propaganda agencies of the |bosses are spreading the fallacy that hae workers do not pay taxes. In |reality the workers and working farm- lers are the classes of society which | bear the burden of the bulk of all taxation, Direct and indirect taxation and tariff revenues weigh down upon the shoulders of the working masses, The taxes are the basis of public expen- ditures. Publie expenditures, how- ;ever, are nothing but the costs of | viding for 36 weekly | maintenance of the state apparatus of big business. The collection of taxes | from the masses is a method by which the exploited are forced to pay the expenses for the upkeep of the sys- tem of exploitation and oppression. Both parties of big business have been vying with each other for years to lighten as much as possible the burden of taxation for the big capi- talists, transferring the burden of taxation to the backs of the workers and exploited farmers. The various tax-reduction plans of the govern- ment have had only one signal aim: to cut the taxes of the rich and to cut even more the taxes of the rich- est. Secretary of the Treasury Mel- lon, who himself is one of the richest men in the country, is brazenly fol- lowing the policy of cutting down the : : super-tax on high incomes, and de- clares that he is against tax exemp- tion of low incomes, on the ground that the payment of taxes creates for people with low incomes “a sense of part ownership in the government.” The most outrageous privileges are enjoyed by* the parasitic owners of federal, state and municipal securi- ties. This rentier class, which is completely divorced from the process of production and whose only connec- tion with industry is coupon-clipping, owns today no less than 16 billion dol- lars of such securities, which are wholly exempt from all taxation. The most vicious form of indirect taxation is the tariff. The tariff raises the cost of living for the work- ing class, and increases the price of industrial goods bought by the farm- ers. The United States has the high- est tariffs in the world, despite the fact that the industries of this coun- try are the most highly developed and enjoy the strongest. position, Trust monopoly and tariff go to- gether. The chief function of tariff is to secure unlimited monopoly to the trusts. The tariff helps to ex- clude foreign competition. It makes it possible for the trusts to raise the prices of their products to the buyers of this country by an amount nearly equal to that of the tariff. At the same time it makes it possible for the trusts to sell their goods below cost price in foreign countries, thanks to the surplus profits they make in this country. Trust monopoly and high tariff? are the most dangerous factors working for new imperialist wars. The larger the territory “protected” by tariff the greater the amount of super-profit. The trust monopolies, therefore, have a tendency to expand the territory of the United States, to occupy new re- gions. The high tariff wall around this country forces the other countries likewise to “protect” themselves by tariff walls. This hinders or even prevents the export of American pro- ducts to other countries. But accu- mulation of capital is going on with increasing speed, and American big business, instead of exporting goods, is exporting capital on an ever-great- er scale. The next step is again the “defense” of the investments of American bankers in foreign coun- tries. A strong army and a “second to none” navy are necessary. War threats, war danger, and wars are the order of the day. The “protective,” “defensive” tariff is in reality the most offensive weapon in the hands of big business. The tariff policy of both parties of big business exposes the empti- ness and unprincipledness of. their so-called struggle against each other. The republican party was originally the party of tariff, because it repre- sented the growing manufacturing in- terests of the North. The democratic party was originally the party against tariff, because it expressed the inter- ests of the large plantation owners of the South. But with the change in economic conditions both parties are altering their positions on tariff. The industrialization of the South has cre- ated a section of the democrats to come out as advocates of high tariff. On the other hand, the international bankers of the North who have in- vested billions in Europe and are afraid that Europe will not be able to pay her debts if she can not ex- port industrial products to this coun- try, are now in favor of the lowering or abolition of the tariff and are mak- ing their influence felt more and more in the high councils of the republican party which thay dominate. The interests of the working class are against high tariff. At the same time it would be an illusion to think that “free trade” would be a per- manent relief for the toiling masses. Free trade under capitalist conditions is as much a capitalist institution as high tariff. Demands. 1. Abolition of all indirect taxes. 2. Exemption from all kinds of taxation for all wage-earners. 3. Tax-exemption for all working and exploited farmers. 4. Graduated ineome tax, starting with incomes above $5,000 and in- creasing gradually, so that. all in- comes over $25,000 per year are con- fiscated. 5. All tax exebptions on bonds, stocks and securities must be abol- ished. 5. All tax-exemptions on bonds, taxes on great fortunes must be in- troduced, 7. Tariff on all necessities of the working class and on all goods used by the farmers must be abolished. The Plight of the Farmers, For two decades the conditions of the farmers have been growing stead- ily worse. The working farmer is be- coming poorer and poorer. Millions have been driven away from their farms. Other millions are bankrupt jand are only nominally owners of |their farms. Tenantry is growing. | The standard of living for the farmer and his family is becoming lower and lower. Hardships, suffering and pov- erty are features of the life of the working farmer. The working farmer is today in an increasing measure only nominally the owner of.the land. The mortgages and other debts are an unbearable burden on the exploited farmer, of his labor no longer belongs to him, but to his creditors. The total amount of debts of the farmers (mortgages, personal and commercial) is the stu- pendous sum of 15 billion dollars, which, at 6 per cent means an annual tribute of 900 million dollars to the The product | ing absentee owners is steadily in- creasing. In 1880 tenant farmers 1925 they were already 88.6 per cent. Farmers are forced into bankruptcy by hundreds of thousands. In the Middle West between 1920 and 1923 no less than 22.5 per cent of all farm owners and 365 per cent of all tenants lost their farms by bankruptcy, by foreclosure, or retained thom only— as the government expresses it—by “the leniency” of their creditors, At least 40 per cent of the whole agricultural population, 4.2 million people, are neither owners nor tenant farmers but simply agricultural work- ers, who own nothing but their labor power. The agricultural workers have the lowest standard of living, are forced to work the longest working day and under the worst conditions in the whole country. Their wages are actually decreasing. The introduction of new machinery is replacing them by tens of thousands. They are un- organized, isolated, and completely at the mercy of their employers and the state power. The working farmers are in the most disastrous condition, because they are up against trust monopoly. The farmers are forced to pay the highest percentage of taxation. The taxes of the farmers have been in- creased in a most alarming fashion. They amounted in 1913 to $624,000,- 000; today to $1,436,000,000. The general property tax is directed chief- ly against the farmer rather than against other property owners. The local taxes increase the burden of the working farmer to an intolerable de- gree. Even Secretary of Agriculture Jardine was forced to admit that the farmers spend not less than 30 per cent of their net income for taxes. Merchantization of agriculture is another reason for the ruin of the farmers. The number of tractors, which in 1920 was 229,000, by 1925 had grown to 506,000, and in 1927 amounted to 700,000. The use of com- bines is spreading, each of them dis- placing three harvest hands. The poor farmer is too poor to buy ex- pensive machinery. His farm is too small to utilize machinery to its full extent. Industry is trustified and by vir- tue of its monopoly is able to control the prices of machinery and all the other goods the farmer must buy. At the same time big business is able to dictate the prices of all products the farmer thust sell. There is a whole series of special forms of exploita- tion to which the farmer is subjected. He is at the mercy of the powerful capitalist agencies of distribution of farm products, the railroads, meat packers, milk trusts, huge elevator combines, gamblers and cotton brok- ers, banks, and the government farm credit legislation. . The basic reason for bankruptcy of the ‘working farmer is trust monopoly, | is capitalism. All agricultural credit jis in the hands of the banks. The cooperative organizations of the farmers are chained to capitalism by means of | credit. Tariff, which is supposed to | “protect” not only industrial products but . agricultural products as well, | operates only in the interests of the big trusts. All the promises of the | lrepublican and democratic parties have amounted only to betrayal of the farmers, and have only been in the interests of the bigger landowners and farm banks. The big lesson the working and ex- ploited farmers must learn from their own desperate situation is that they must break off their alliance with the bankers and other factors of big busi- ness and must form an alliance with the working class. The fate of the MeNary-Haugen “farm relief” bill and the McFadden branch banking bill is the best proof of the futility of any alliance of the farmers with the bank- ers. The farm bloc in Congress which speaks in the name of the working farmers, but is in fact the expression of the interests of the big landowners and farm bankers, made a bargain | with the representatives of Wall | Street to the end that both bills should pass jointly in Congress. Indeed, both bills passed. But President Cool- idge, as the highest exponent of big business in the government, signed only the McFadden banking bill and vetoed the McNary-Haugen “farm re- lief” bill. And the so-called friends of the farmers—banker Dawes, mil- lionaire Lowden, the farm bloc, the “Progressives” such as LaFollette, Norris, Shipstead and their ilk—are only enemies of the exploited farmers in the disguise of friends. The working and exploited farmers and the industrial and agricultural workers must fight shoulder to shoul- der against their common enemies; | against big business, against the trusts and against the government of capitalism, Demands. 1, A five-year moratorium on farm mortgage debts, including debts on chattels, 2. Protection of the working farm- er against monopoly prices. Essential | lowering of the prices of all trugt products which the farmer uses. 3. Protection of the farmer against special exploitation by distributing agencies of production, by railroads, meat packers,.miik trusts and grain elevator combines. 4, Federal law against forced farm foreclosures. | 5. Abolition of all federal and lo- ‘eal taxes on working and tenant | farmers. 6. The land shall belong to its users, ’ 7. Complete freedom to organize bankers, merchants and other leeches | and strike for the agricultural work-|judices of a narrow, ‘were 25.6 per cent of all farmers; in} seven-hour maximum working day and a 86-hour weekly rest for all agri- cultural workers. Yearly vacation with pay for all farm laborers. Ex- tension to agricultural workers of all benefits of social insurance and labor protection legislation demanded for industrial workers. Oppression of the Negroes. American white imperialism op- presses in the most terrific way the ten million Negroes wh@ constitute not less than one-tenth of the total population. White capitalist prejudice considers the Negroes as a “lower race,” as the born servants of the lofty white masters. The racial caste system is a fundamental feature of the social, industrial and political or- ganization of this country. The Com- munist Party declares that it con- siders itself not only the party of the working class but also the champion of the Negroes as an oppressed race, and especially the organizer of the Negro working class elements. The Communist Party is the party of the liberation of the Negro race from all white oppression. There is a “new Negro” in process of development. The social composi- tion of the Negro race is changing. Formerly the Negro was the cotton farmer in the South and domestic help in the North, The industrialization of the South, the concentration of a new Negro working class population in the big cities of the East and North, and the entrance of the Negroes into the basic industries on a mass scale have changed the whole social com- position of ‘the Negro race. The ap- pearance of a genuine Negro indus- trial proletariat creates an organizing force for the whole Negro race; fur- nishes a new working class leadership to all Negro race movements, and strengthens immensely the fighting possibilities for the emancipation of the race. The Negro tenant and share farm- ers of the South are still, despite all the pompous phrases about freeing the slaves, in the status of virtual slavery. They have not the slightest prospect of ever acquiring possessing of the land on which they work. By means of an usurious credit system they are chained to the plantation owners as securely as chattel slaves. Peonage and contract labor are the fate of the Negro cotton farmer. The landowners, who are at the same time the merchants and the government of the South, rule over the Negroes with a merciless dictatorship. There is the most dishonest and dis- graceful “gentlemen’s agreement” be- tween the two capitalist parties against the political rights of the Negroes. The famous Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments of the con- stitution amount but to a serap of pa- per. They were never carried out for ja moment. The Supreme Court has upheld all state laws which disfran- chised the Negroes. Sheer force pre- vents the Negro from exercising his ; so-called political rights. The federal government has never made any at- {tempt to reduce the representation of those southern states which violate the constitution, as section two of the Fourteenth amendment of the consti- |tution provides. The republican party, the party of Lincoln, has sunk so low that it has provided for meas- ures to segregate the Negro delegates to its 1928 Kansas City nominating convention. Lynch law is the hold over the Negroes. The terror of the Ku Klux Klan is the constitution for the Negroes. They are burned alive, whipped ‘to death, hunted to death with dogs in the name of white civil- ization. There is a general segregation pol- icy against the Negro race. Separate residential sections; Jim Crow cars; separate schools for Negro children; exclusion from “white” hotels, res- taurants, theatres and railway wait- ing rooms; exclusion of Negroes from juries which try Negroes. Negro teachers can not teach in white |schools. The white masters try to re- |duce the Negroes to illiteracy. Ac- lcording to the 1920 white census, there lwere 4 per cent illiterates among the whites and 22.9 per cent among the Negroes. The southern states spend hardly any money for the education of Negro children, but provide lavish- ly for the education of the children of the white. In the cotton states the Negro farm- jers live in shacks together with their animals. In the cities the Negroes do ‘the unskilled, the most disagreeable, ‘most hazardous work and are crowded linto the worst sections of the city. The death rate of the Negroes is much higher than that of the whites. In /1925 it was 11.8 per thousand for the |white and 8.2 for the Negroes. The southern plantation owners and their government havo tried to keep the Negro farmers and agricultural workers in the southern cotton fields by force. But even their brutal terror northern and eastern states. This migration is an “unarmed, Spartacan ‘ uprising” against.slavery and oppres- sion .by a capitalist and feudal oli- garchy, The Negro fled from the South, but what has he found in the North? He has found in the company towns and industrial cities of the North and East a wage slavery no better than the contract labor in the South. He has found crowded, unsanitary slums. He has exchanged the old segregation for a new segregation. He is doing the most dangerous, worst paid work in the steel, coal and packing in- dustries. He has found the racial pre- white labor ers. the unskilled Negro worker as its equal. He has found the treackery of the bureaucracy of the A. F. of L. which refuses to organize the Negroes into trade unions. the South are replaced by the race riots of the East. The employing class tries to.arouse the racial hatred and prejudice of the white workers against the Negro workers with the sinister aim to split and divide the ranks of the working class. The Communist Party considers it as its historic duty to unite all work- ers regardless of their color against the common enemy, against the master class. The Negro race must understand that capitalism means racial oppression and Communism means social and racial equality, Demands. 1. Abolition of: the whole system of race discrimination. Full racial equality. 2.. Abolition of all laws which re- sult in segregation of Negroes. Aboli- tion of all Jim Crow laws. The law shall forbid all discrimination against Negroes in selling or renting houses. 8. Abolition of all laws which dis- enfranchise the Negroes on the ground of color. 4, Abolition of laws forbidding inter-marriage of persons of different races. 5. Abolition of all laws and public administration measures which pro- hibit, or in practice prevent, Negro children or youth from attending gen- eral public schools or universities. 6. Full and equal admittance of Negroes to all railway station waiting rooms, restaurants, hotels, and theatres. 7. The War and Navy Depart- ments of the United States Govern- ment should abolish all Jim Crow dis- tinctions in the army and navy. 8. Immediate removal of all re- strictions in all trade unions against the membership of Negro workers. 9. Equal opportunity for employ- ment, wages, hours, and working con- ditions for Negro and white workers. The Foreign-Born Workers Next to the Negroes the foreign- born workers in the basic industries are the most exploited, most perse- cuted stratum of the toiling masses of this country. There are almoSt 14 million foreign-born in the United States. The overwhelming majority belong to the working class. Nearly half of all the foreign-born is toiling in the manufacturing and mechanical industries. The majority of all in- dustrial workers of America, not less than 58 per cent of the total employed in American industries, is foreign- born. Steel, coal, textile automobile —all these industries are based on the sweat of the foreign-born work- Cut off by differences in language and customs, the foreign- born workers are an easy prey of the employing class. Their fate is the longest hours, the lowest wages, the worst housing, the poorest schooling. Scores of state and federal laws dis- eriminate against the foreign-born workers. There is hardly a state in the United States which has no special laws discriminating against the foreign-born workers, According to the law of some states, the foreign- born has no right to read newspapers or books not printed in English. He has no right to keep dogs or a gun or a rifle, He can not teach in public schools. According to the laws of nine States, a foreign-born worker cannot be employed on public works. Some states do not allow public meet- ings to be conducted except in the English language. But all this discrimination is not enough for 100 per cent Americanism. The Coolidge administration is carry- ing out an offensive against the foreign-born workers as part of the open-shop drive of the bosses, is plan- ning a whole series of vicious meas- ures against them. The foreign-born workers are to be registered. They are to be finger-printed and photo- graphed like criminals. If naturalized, they are to have their citizenship papers taken from them, if their conduct does not suit the bosses. They are to be deported, if they participate in strikes or make speeches in strike meetings. The Chairman of the House Immigration Committee, Albert Johnson, during the powerful demon- strations demanding freedom for Sacco and Vanzetti, uttered the threat: “Aliens domiciled in America should remember that if they par- take in anti-government demonstra- tions here they are liable to deporta- tion under the 1919 Act.” These is a whole series of bills be- fore Congress which are aimed against the foreign-born workers. The Brand Bill, the Hawes Bill, the Ash- well Bill, and other products of American Fascism try to reduce the foreign-born workers’ to modern in- dustrial serfs. The Brand Bill would jhas not been able to check the mighty | compel all foreign-born not only to migration from these cotton planta-| register but “to report at such times tions to the industrial centers of the | and such places” when ‘ ‘in the judg- ment of the president the interests of the national defense so require.” The same Act would decree that ‘“when- ever any alien is temporarily absent from the district in whith he is regis- tered, he shall report at such times and places and give such information in regard to his movements as may be required.” The immigration laws which restrict the freedom of move- ment of the foreign-born workers and discriminate against the peoples of Asia is part and parcel of the sys- tem of American imperialism. The newest demand of the bosses, as ex- pressed in the nortorious Brand Bill, is to give full authority to the presi- of capitalism. The sea ena ers. Federal law to guarantee alaristocracy, which refuses to recognéze| dent to regulate, restrict or enlarge Jommunist Party Is Champion of Workers, Working Farmers, Negro Race” |centism are not the enemies of the The lynchings of | the immigration quotas according to | the actual needs of the different in- | dustries. The apostles of 100 per foreign-born workers, if they can use them as strikebreakers, as helpers “in industrial needs.” The labor aristocracy, under the leadership of the A. F. of L, bureau- | cracy, shares with big business the profits derived from high tariffs and restriction of immigration. High tariff is the material basis for the prohibition of immigration. They were erected together and they will fall to- gether. The platform of the Socialist Party for 1928 shows the true colors of this renegade party in not demand- | ing unrestricted freedom of immi- gration and the repeal of the infamous immigration laws, but calling only for the “modification of the immigra- tion laws to permit the reuniting of families.” | The Workers (Communist) Party of America is equally the party of the native-born, the foreign-born, and the Negro workers. It is the party of the whole working class. It fights the of- fensive of the bosses against the foreign-born workers. It fights against nationalist prejudices which | divide the ranks of the workers. Its slogan is: Workers of all languages and races in America unite! « Demands. | 1. All workers must unite against the common enemy, the capitalist class, to prevent the enactment of new laws (to register, fingerprint, and photograph) against foreign-born workers and to abolish all Cae laws of discrimination. 2. All workers must wage an ac- | tive campaign to uproot the pre- | judices fostered by the employing class against the foreign-born work- ers and to draw the millions of | foreign-born workers more and- more into the political life of the country and the class struggle. 3. Immediate repeal of the immi- | gration laws. Abolition of all restric- | tions in immigration. 4. Equal pay for equal work for | native and foreign-born workers. Working Women. The number of working women is | steadily growing. There are today in: this country 8% million working. women over the age of ten. The capitalists are the apostle of the family, but they do not hesitate to break up the family life of the working class, if the needs of industry make it necessary. They cannot re- sist the call of the profits. The num- ber of adult and married women in, industry is growing fast. It hadj reached in 1920 almost two million. | Manufacturers prefer women, . be-! cause they offer less resistance than male workers to capitalist oppression. Male workers are often replaced by women, because the introduction of new machinery makes the skill of | male workers superfluous. As a gen- eral rule, women work in less well- paid occupations and receive lower wages for identical work. Such and not different is the logic of capitalism, Working women need more protection. They are weaker than the male workers; therefore, they get less pro- tection and are subjected to greater exploitation than male workers. The Communist Party is by no means against women working in in- dustry. It considers it as social pro- gress, but it calls on the worker to fight the harmful effects of industrial work on women and to struggle for the adequate protection of working- women. Only a Communist society can lift the double burden of house- keeping and factory work from the women of the working class. Demands, 1. Prohibition by law of night work, overtime and job work for: working women. 2. The law shall provide for an allowance throughout the period of pregnancy and child-birth to the amount of full working wages. 3. Legal enactment of a special allowance for working women during the nursing period of nine months. Nursing mothers shall have a half hour’s leave every three hours in all working places, 4. Equal pay for equal work for male and female workers. Youth, Child, Labor, and Education. Exploitation of children and young workers is one of the pillars of American capitalist society. Chil- dren’s blood and young boys’ and girls’ sweat are a growing source of’ profit for big business. According to the 1920 census, there were over one million working children between the ages of 10 and 15. To increase the shame there were 378,000 toiling children between the ages of 10 and 18. There are no statistics on the work of children under the age of 10 —that is the sole reason why there is no report about the scores of thou- sands of the smallest children of the working class slaving to the glory of our dollar civilization. There are almost four million young workers and at least one million boys and girls in industry alone. Steel and iron, coal and textile factories are the chief “playgrounds” of our working- class youth. Technical progress means progress of youth and child laber. It is one of the biggest achieve- ments of American democracy that the Supreme Court of the United. States, that notorious guardian of | American liberties, declared any laws forbidding child labor unconstitu- tional. The propaganda agencies of capi- wonderful talism boast about the a aa progess in educati only that the sole commana $$$ ee —ay