The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 28, 1928, Page 1

of the murdered deputy, Matteoti to LAE DAILY WORKER FIGHTS, FUR THE ORGANIZATION OF THR UNORGANIZED FOR THE 40-HOUR WEEK FOR A LABOR PARTY Vol. V. No. 125, T Published daily except Sunday by The Nationa! Dally Worker Publishing Association, Inc., 38 First Street, New York, N. ¥. FOSTER Entered an sec: GIL AY, MAY Mill Strike Heads Arrested at New uepadived MURDOCH, BEAL AND 3 OTHERS TAKEN TO JAIL Strikers Are Closing Their Ranks NEW BEDFORD, Mass., May 27.—| The 27,000 textile mill workers out on) strike in protest against a 10 per cent) wage cut are redoubling their efforts as a result of the arrest here on Sat-| urday of William T. Murdoch, secre- | tary-organizer of the Textile Mill) Comntittees, Fred Beal, and three! other militant strikers. The five who were arrested by the | police were declared to have been in-| volved in a “disturbance” at the| Hathaway Mill some days ago. This act is seen by the strikers as a con- tinuation of the series of attempts to railroad their leaders into prison, in an effort to break the backbone of the strike, which is now in its seventh week. After more than six weeks of struggle, the spirit and morale of the striking workers is just as fresh as ever, the leaders report. Picketing | goes on day after day. The arrest of | Murdoch, Beal and the other three strikers has aroused the men to a |> more militant stand than ever. The police, at the instigation of the mill owners, are hampering the defense in every way possible. Eight Harvard students who came here to watch the strike and study | conditions have been addressing strik- ers” meetings, CONVENTION HITS © FINNISH TERROR Social - Democrats Aid | Fascist Charging that the social-democrats aided the fascists of Finland in the murder of more than 15,000 militant workers, the National Nominating Convention of the Workers (Commun- ist) Party passed a resolution ex-| pressing its solidarity with the} masses of Finland and calling upon workers of the United States to aid in the struggle for the release of vic- tims of the fascist terror who are now in jail. The text of the resolution follows: | Torture Workers. “The fascist government of Fin- land, aided by the benevolent assist-; ance of the social-democrats, not sat- isfied with the wholesale exé¢cutio; of 15,000 revolutionary workers im mediately after the Civil War of 19 and starving to death of 15,000 mo: in the prison camps, has ever sin that date persecuted, arrested ai tortured the workers of Finland in the most beastly way. Workers have been persecuted, tortured and jailed for belonging to the trade unions. They have been jailed and tortured for voting for working class candi- dates or particpating in working class political action. They. have been tor- tured and jailed for the “crime” of participating in the formation of in- dependent -political parties of the workers. They have been tortured and jailed for protesting against Finland’s | reparations for entering into a war igainst the Soviet Union as the tool) sf British and American imperialism Above all, the most brutal torture and the longest jail sentences and death have been the lot of those charged with revolutionary Commun- ist activity. “The Finnish government, aided by the Finnish social-democrats, has sup- pressed the press of the militant workers. The social-democrats have played the role of spies and inform- ers, pointing out the active militants to the fascist government of Finland When the fascists were too weak to hold onto the government against the mass protests of the workers, the (Continued on Page Four) Order Matteoti’s Wife To Take Off Mourning PARIS, May 27.—The Italian govern- _ ment has ordered the wife and family | the Workers (Communist) Party cease to wear mourning since it “en- pcerthed the public peace and order.” ' A Centralia Victim \ f Abovelis Eugene Barnett, one of the victiys of American capitalist “class juatice” in the Centralia case. Barnétt is serving a sentence of from 20 40 years in Walla Walla, Wash., prison, as the result of an attack by American Legion. aires and business™inen on the I. W. W. hall in Centralia. The In- ternational Labor Defense is now conducting a campaign for the re- lease of Barnett and the other Cen- tralia victims. The Fighting Slogans of _the Big Meet quose the balcony of Central Opera House where the great National Nominating Convention of took place, the fighting slogans of the revolutionary workers of Ameri- ca were displayed: “Use the campaign to Communism.” “A vote for the Workers (Com- munist) Party is a vote for the class struggle, the abolition of capitalism, the dictatorship of the proletariat and for a Soviet U. S. A.” “We greet the victory of the Ger- man Communist Party.” “The struggles of the Chinese workers and peasants is our strug- gle.” “The Negro workers and farmers are our own brothers in the strug- gle against capitalig’ toppression.” “The imperialistsf are preparing for a new ae is spread * EIGHT against the Wall Street war in Nicaragua; support the struggle of the Nicaraguan people against Wall Street; demand the withdrawal of American forces from Nicaragua.” “The working class women and youth must be mobilized against capitalism.” “Victory in Germany—victory in france—victory in Poland. This is our year; vote Communist.” “Join and build the Workers MORE EVICTIONS QUST THOUSANDS. IN MINE FIELDS Open Shop Operators in! Mad Drive (Special to the Daily Worker) PITTSBURGH, Pa., May 27.—Tents | are being rushed by the National | Miners’ Relief Committee to the) families of five unorganized miners! on strike at Elm Grove near here who! were evicted from their company-| owned homes last Friday. These evictions are part of a total) of 1,400 which are’ now in progress | at Elm Grove. The five families,| threatened with the loss of their homes found themselves unable to! find new dwellings for less than $30, monthly. Unable to pay this amount | because of the poor pay they had re-| ceived prior to their walk-out, the| miners were forced into the streets} Friday by deputy sheriffs armed with eviction orders. Wholesale Evictions. Preparatory to re-opening Crow Hollow Number one mine on a non-| union basis, the United States Coal} Company has asked Federal Judge Benson Hough, of Steubenville, Ohio for eviction orders against the strik- ing miners now occupying company one families are affected by the con- templated “evictions, according to in- formation reaching . the National Miners Relief Committee, Nearly 600 families have been evicted from company houses in eastern Ohio since April 15, it was estimated yesterday at the relief committee’s headquarters. Two- hundred and ninety families were forced from their dwellings by the coal operators on April 15. A whole- sale eviction order enforced a month later left 185 more families homeless. TAMMANY GRAFT TRAIL CREEPS ON Expect Exposures to Implicate Higher Ups While the creeping trail of graft ex- posures was slowly reaching up into the camp of the higher-ups in the Tammany Hall democratic machine a trail which, it is believed, would lead to Mayor Walker and Al Smith him- self, if it were really followed out, a jury in Albany convicted Mrs. Flor- ence E. S. Knapp, former republican Secretary of State, on a charge of grand larceny carrying with it a maximum penalty of ten years. None of those guilty, it is expected, will actually be punished for their crimes. \quarters. One hundred and sixty-| WILLIAM Z. FOSTER Communist Party Candidate for President. ‘BENJAMIN GITLOW C racty Candidate for Vice-President. Patton, Old Railroad Man, ls a Delegate val be seen the rise and fall of the old Knights of Labor and the organization of the American Federation of Labor. I took part in the Granger movement and heard William Jennings Bryan’s famous “cross of gold” speech. And I want to say that this convention of the Workers (Communist) Party is an event of the greatest significance for the American working class.” William Patton, of Iowa, speak- Sentence of Mrs. Knapp who was con- vieted nominally for having diverted to her own use a check of $2,875.06, (Communist) Party of America. Support the miners’ struggle against the coal magnates; against Lewis—for a powerful union in the mining industry.” “We honor the memory of John Reed, C. E. Ruthenberg, William D. Haywood.” UNEMPLOYED BILL TO BE BIG ISSUE Further plans in the campaign for a national unemployment bill were yesterday announced by the New York Council of the Unemployed fol- lowing the announcement Thursday of a drive which will be carried to the city, state and national governing bodies. According to the plans announced, the Unemployment Insurance Bill, which provides for work or wages to all unemployed, will be presented for discussion and approval to the organ- ized and unorganized workers of this section. Mass meetings will be called at which the measure will be adopted. A petition campaign is planned in which hundreds of thousands a sig- natures will be secured. but who was shown actually to have stolen several hundred thousands, has already been postponed to the autumn. Suspend Another. Investigation of the $200,000,000 Tammany graft in the street clean- ing department Jed to the suspension Saturday of James Minchin, Borough Superintendent of the Bronx who is the third ranking officer in the uni- formed service. Minchin was sus- pended indefinitely by Alfred A. Tay- lor, head of the city department, after a conference between Taylor and (Continued on Page Five) SHOTS FROM COMMUNIST CONVENTION Delegates Testify to Development of U. S. Class Struggle RNEST SILVA, Fraternal dele- gate from the Chilean and Mexi- | can Communist Party—"The work- | ers and farmers of Chile not only suffer from the bloody Ibanez dis- tatorship but suffer from American imperialism which maintains that dictatorship.” ‘ LUCY PARSONS, widow of of the victims of the Haymarket executions:—“If, as Jim Cannon, ing. He is 70 years old, a stocky, fighting railroad man from the , west. He traveled to New York to attend the convention in a ram- shackle Ford, accompanied by four (Continued on Page Two) ‘Hold Meet of “Daily” Agents Today All out of town and New York DAILY WORKER agents ara ec to attend a meeting at 10:30 m, today at The DAILY WORKER office in the Workers Center, 26-28 Union Square. © (Continued on Page Three) E DAILY WORKER. ans matter at the Post Office at New York, N. ¥. NEW YORK, MOND under the act of March 3, 1879. 28, 1928 i FOSTER, GITLOW LABOR FIGHTER Have Been in: in Forefront} Of Many Struggles | Working class backgrounds and years of struggle in the battles of me \workers characterize the lives William Z. Foster and Ben Gitlow, |who were yesterday chosen as candi-| jdates of the Workers (Communist) Party for president and vice-president in the fall election. A brief bio- graphy of each follows: WILLIARL Z. FOSTER. Born Taunton; Mass., Feb. 25, 1881. |Father a cab washer. Went to work at age of 10 after attending school for threa years. Worked as- type} founder, factory worker, steam fit- ter, railroad brakeman, railroad fire- man, logger, street car motorman, longshoreman, farmer, sailor, railroad car inspector. Joined socialist party in 1900; ex- (Continued on Page Two) SEND COMMUNIST INT'L. GREETINGS ‘Nominating Convention Sends Cable The National Nominating Conven- tion of the Workers (Communist) Party yesterday sent its revolutionary greetings to the Communist Interna- tional, the leading organization of the working class of the world. The full text of the cablegram, | which will also reach ‘the German, | French and Polish Parties, recently | emerged from their election struggles with conspicuous success, follows in full: “The Nominating Convention is the true expression and genuine mirror of the exploited and oppressed masses | of the United States. Nearly Four hundred and fifty regular “fraternal | delegates from 39 states and District |of Columbia, coming from the fac- tories, mines, mills and shops of the North, South, East and West, repre- senting all sections of the working class delegations of striking miners and textile workers, of the struggling needle trade workers, representatives of the exploited farmers, 25 delegates of the oppressed Negro race, dele- gates from Nicaragua, Mexico, Can- said, jail is a certificate that quali- fies you as a revolutionists, then I have many such certificates.” . * * B. H. LAUERDALE, delegate from Texas—“The farmer is just as militant and ready for revolution as the working class.” * * * WM.. Z. FOSTER, candidate for president.—“The leader of the social- ist party is a sky pilot who believes lehat revolution is too costly to the working class. How costly to the working class is the rule of capi- talism? What revolution has taken las much life ae the imperialist war?” OVETT FORT. WHITEMAN, or- ganizer of the American Negro Labor-Congress—“The - Communist {sphere of political and industrial action, \standard of the Workers (Communist) Party in the coming election campaign. 'cision of the National Nominating Convention of the Workers Party which concluded its three- |day session at the Central Opera Ho i\Hails Convention SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Im New York, by mail, $8.00 per year. Outside New York, by mail, $6.00 per year. CHOSEN WORKERS PARTY NOMINEES WILL CARRY COMMUNIST PROGRAM TO ALL TOILERS IN. AMERICAN FACTORIES AND ON THE FARMS Platform to Mobilize Workers On All Immediate Issues for Class Struggle; 296 Delegates Include 25 Representatives of Exploited Negroes —— ee FINAL. CITY EDITION |, ees Price 3 Cents Tumultuous Demonstration At Nomination of Working Class Leaders Lasts 45 Minutes; International Is Sung On a platform that completely represents the interests of the American working class in every William Z. Foster and Benjamin Gitlow will bear the This was the de- use, 67th St. and 3rd Ave., yesterday. The convention which selected Foster and Gitlow to bear the | standard of the Party was the most representative working class | gathering ever held in the Uni ted States. Twenty-five Negro ers, ten farmers, young workers and women workers were eons the 296 regular delegates from every section of the coun- | try and from virtually every industry who adopted the program for president and vice president. | | drawn up by the Central Executive Committee, and nominated ithe two militant working class leaders as the Party candidates In addition to the regular delegates, more than 150 fraternal | delegates, including representativ es from Nicaragua, Chile, Mex- : PEPPER GREETS ~ BIG PARTY MEET im Cablegram ico, Haiti and Canada, came to the convention to express their solidarity with the Party in its struggle against capitalism and its allies—the socialist party and the trade union bureaucracy. A demonstration that lasted more | than three quarters of an hour greet- jed the nomination of Foster and Git- | low. Hundreds.of delegates lifted.the. two working class leaders to their shoulders and marched around the | huge hall, singing the “International.” The following cablegram has been} young pioneers, carrying banners and received’ from John Pepper, member| placards, and cheering the Party and f the Central Committee of the| its standard bearers, joined the pro- Workers (Communist) ‘Party America, who is now in Moscow: “As a soldier in the army-of the Workers (Communist) Party I salute| the big National Nominating Conven- tion. The very fact that hundreds of| delegates from almost all the states of the United States have come to- gether to adopt the platform of the class struggle, to nominate the only genuine working class candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency, to declare war against capitalist exploi- tation and oppression, to organize the struggle against United States imperialism, is a major achievement of our Party. “The election slogan of the repub- lican party is “Prosperity.” Asa fact, this “prosperity” means unem- ployment, wage-cuts, open-! -shop drive, untold sufferings for the working class. “The election platform of the demo-| cratic party is ‘Honesty in Govern- ment.’ Reality shows corruption, graft, lobbying in the camps of both capitalist parties. “Farm Relief” is the slogan of re-| publicans, democrats and progr es-| sives, In reality, ‘farm relief’ means growing mortgages, increased ten- ancy, merciless taxation, bankruptcy | and ruin for the farmers. “‘Social and Political Equality’ is | the favorite phrase of all upholders of the constitution. Reality shows dis- franchisement of the foréign-born workers, of the youth, of the Negroes. Democracy amounts, in fact, to the (Continued on Page Four) THOUSANDS“ HEAR FOSTER ON RADIO mMhousande of workers thruout the | United States heard William Z. Fos- ter, presidential candidate of the Workers (Communist) Party, de- nounce Hoover, and Smith as capi- talist tools and Thomas as a betrayer of labor over radio station WEAF Saturday evening. Foster emphasized the fact that the object of the Party is the com- plete overthrow of the capitalist sys- tem. He pointed to exploitation of workers, imperialist wars as by-pro- ducts of the present social order. Dozens of hundred per centers called WEAF to protest against the speech. Foster’s address followed the broadcasting of the national ora- Party holds out the Negro’s salva- (Gontinued on Page Three) torical contest at which Herbert Hoover was a speaker, of | cession. A Revolutionary Program. Foster and Gitlow were proposed |as the Party candidates by Robert | Minor, chairman of the nominating es The nominations were seconded by Richard B. Moore, one of the leaders ofthe American Negro Labor Congress; Ella Reeve Bloor 67-year old labor veteran, and Lucy Parsons, widow of Albert Parsons, one of the vi s of the Chicago Haymarket affair. In accepting the nomination, Foster emphasized the fact that it was a clear-cut revolutionary working class program that the Party was putting forward, not merely candidates, Platform Emphasized. Accepting the nomination he de- clared: “I feel it the greatest honor to become of the standard bearers of the Workers (Communist) Party. “I realize that it is the program of the Workers Party that is being put forward and not any individual. But if there is a ing in my past ex. perience in th ss struggle that is jof a alue to the Party, I feel ii ¢ |my ty offer that. “This convention has shown that the Party has begun to obtain a grip lin the working class of all sections, | It not enough, however, that our Party take the lead in the industrial | struggle. It must advance in the poli- tical field as well.” A Complete Expression. The platform which was adopted jafter careful deliberation, following jthe presentation of a report by the |platform committee, headed by Jay |Lovestone, is a complete expression of the demands of the American working class in every phase of indus- trial and political life. Speakers at the meeting stressed the fact that the struggles for immediate demands served to mobilize and organize the American working class for the strug gle against capitalism and imperial- lism. | The program calls for the protec. | tion of the unemployed, the imme |diate abolition of all vagrancy laws, |the control of the mine union by the }rank and file, national mine agree- ments and the Jacksonville scale, the withdrawal of American marines from China, Nicaragua and Haiti, the cancellation of war debts, the imme diate recognition of the Soviet Union, the abrogation of injunctions, the re action of the working class thru the organization of a genuine labor par ty, the eradication of race indiscrim. ination, the abolition of legislatic against the foreign-born, the prohi tion of night work by women, ¢ palaces abolition of child labor, ntinned on Page Two) {lease of class war prisoners, political -