The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 20, 1928, Page 6

= Page , Wi THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 1928. or (Communist). Party Published by NATIONAL DAILY W BR I -UBLISHING ASS'N, Inc., Daily, Except Sunday 26-28 Union Square, New York, N.Y. ~ Cable e Addre: 8: “Deiwork” Phone, Stuyvesant 1696. SUBSCRIPT TION RATES By Mail (out ar §. ide of New York): six months $2 three months New York, N. Y. 28 Union Square, . ROBERT MINOR WM. F. DUNNE st-office at New York, N. ¥ under the act of March 3, 1879. VOTE WILLIAM 2 QA For the Workers! COMMUNIST! | WORKERS (COMMUNIST) PARTY | For the Party of the Class Struggle! For V BENJAMID esident GITLOW Against the Capitalists! The War Department and the Young Communist League The sudden decision of the War Department to try to break up the work of the Young Workers (Communist) Le among the sol- diers, be taken as sailors and marines n something of a landmark of progress made by | Lieut. Russell through the territory of Hon-* the Communists. The reaction of the militar- ists at Washington is a reaction to a real sit- uation, and such a real situation did not exist a few months ago. The wrathful concern of the St. Louis millionaire who is secretary of war in the Teapot Dome cabinet for the ideolo- gical condition of “his” armed forces can be taken as one among several indications, that the Young Workers (Communist) League is maturing its understanding of how to do its duty in that supremely important field—anti- militarist work. Inherited traditions of pacifism have had a peculiarly virulent growth in the United States. So far as the socialist party and the Young People’s Socialist League paid any at- tention to questions of militarism, it has been along the lines of supine pacifism expressed chiefly in such lamentations as are to be found in Kirkpatrick’s “War, What For.” That sec- tion of the Young People’s Socialist League that showed itself a partial exception to this during the actual test of war, long ago: split away from the yellow socialist organization, flowed into the Young Communist. movement and rapidly matured from “conscientious ob-| jection” to a constantly rising level of revolu- tionary view. But still the old traditions were} hard to banish. The nondescript, unorganized | and anarchistic wave of “conscientious objec- tion” that swept the country during the war seemed still to represent “anti-militarist” ac-| tivity among workers close to the influence) of the Communist movement. It has been a} considerable task to instil the correct view that | pacifism and individualistic personal protest) have nothing in common with the revolution- | ary activity of a Communist. But up until | very recently there have been traces of the} old tradition persisting. This made it difficult | to establish and maintain a consistent and ef-| fective line of revolutionary activity among the| armed forces of American imperialism. | “GOSH!” The Government of Honduras Against Sandino* On July 12 the Associated Press said that | the press of Honduras criticized severely the Honduran government for permitting the passing of American troops under command of duras at the request of the American’ Minister, | George T. Summerlin. | | A few days ago the metropolitan press an-| nounced that the government of Honduras had |forbidden the .press to publish any kind of | news related to the “campaign which many ‘bandits’ carried on against the legally consti- tuted governments of Central America.” As a result of this order, six days ago the maga-| zine “Ariel” was suppressed. This magazine | was edited by Froylan Turcios, a Honduran poet and Sandino’s representative in Central America. It is easy to explain the maneuver of the | Honduran government. They wanted the press silenced in order to cover up the betrayal of | Latin America by permitting American troops | ‘to attack Sandino from Honduran territory. ; In an “extra-official” way—always as un-| |foreseen accidents, the airplanes which left | |Miami for Nicaragua, landed in Tela, Hon- duras—they “did not violate Honduran ter- ritory—it was merely accidental.” But this, which one might have expected from the government of Paz Baraona, lackey of Yankee imperialism, we must relate with the recent boundary dispute between Gua- temala and Honduras, now revived after many years of silence. The object of this is to pro- voke a war between Honduras and Guatemala for the purpose of American intervention— landing troops in Honduras for the purpose of more easily “pacifying” Nicaragua. This plan was denounced by the Continental | Committee of the Anti-Imperialist League, last | May. masses of workers and peasants in Central America, by the students and intellectuals, who formed a united front to fignt against this threat of war between the two countries. From the border of Honduras, regiments of Honduran troops went over to the side of It was immediately understood by the | The war department discovers that the Young Workers (Communist) League succeeds in reaching the soldiers and sailors fo the U. S. army and navy with revolutionary, propaganda. “It can’t happen in America”—but it does, just the same. By Fred Ellis By REBECCA GRECHT The capitalist parties are deeply concerned in this year’s presidential campaign about the women voters. At no time since women obtained vational suffrage has there been |such a keen interest in their votes as today. She has ben elevated by the republican and democratic parties | to a determining position in national politics, and is expected to play a | decisive role. | 28,500,000, or 49 per cent, are wo- |men. And in the mock battle be- tween the twin candidates of Wall Street, Alfred Smith and Herbert Hoover, women voter’, according to capitalist investigators, will hold the balance of power in several states, particularly in the east. Hence we find, in the camps of both capitalist parties, a feverish activity to capture the women’s vote. For the first time, the demo- established special women’s bureaus as part of their national campaign |committees, both of which plan ex- | tensive nation-wide organization. | Their Headquarters. activities, headed by Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, has established itself in the General Motors building, in headquarters advertised as the lare- est ever occupied by a women’s polit- |ical organization. A movement has already been started to establish | Smith clubs all over the country, as ja first step to mobilize the women. The danger of pacifist ideology is always | Sandino. They were all of the opinion that this| The republican bureau, directed great, but at the present time of rapid develop- | ment toward the second and greater imperialist | world war, the danger is incalculably greater | than ever before. Therefore we are especially pleased that the Young Workers (Communist) League is piling up honor to itself when it | masters the art of successfully reaching the) armed forces of the strongest and most “im-| mune” imperialism of the world. “[t can’t hap-| pen in America’”—but the war department, by its fright and its threats of reprisals and re-| pressive laws designed to prevent human con-} maneuver was to extend the American front against Sandino. In this boundary dispute the government of Guatemala has accepted all conditions for reaching an agreement, but Honduras refused and continued presenting difficulties and pro- voking further conflict—such as mobilizing troops on the border and mobilization in the entire country. Fearing also that the stay of General Fer- tacts with soldiers and sailors, a. There imits that: it | reason to rera, agrarian leader of Honduras, in Guate- ‘take toward preventing gontacts of civilians is happening in Amer believe that the Con work has reached a his inist anti-militarist | er stage. | Whatever action the war department may | with soldiers and sailors and tie expression of political thought among the armed forces them- | selves, whatever laws to this purpose may be discussed and passed—provided the Commun- ists continue and improve and enlarge their work—may be inconvenient and troublesome, but in the long run will help to develop the sit- uation.(and with it, the revclutionary Commu- nist activity) to the next higher stage. In this connection it is interesting to note that General Preston Brown attempted, with some success, to have the capitalist newspapers suppress the news of the glaring and sensa- tional acts of bureaucratic tyranny of military authorities in the case of John Porter. This also is a Syssiphus task, even though it is pos- sible to silence the capitalist press. The Com- munist press will give the news, and the more exclusive the news may be, the greater fune- tioning of the Communist press. We congratulate the Young Workers (Com- munist) League. The incident must be made to sharpen the attention of the entire Communist ‘movement toward the supremely important | mala, might result in his utilizing this occa- sion to become the Sandino of Honduras, trans- | forming the war between both countries into a war in coalition with Sandino against Yankee imperialism—the Américan minister in Guate- | mala asked for Ferrera’s expulson from :that | country last July. At this timé we do not know whether there will be war between Honduras and Guatemala | siring to avoid war, and the fact that Paz Baroan has permitted the passing of American troops against Sandino—shows us that the struggle of Nicaragua has entered a definite phase and urges us to redouble our energies | and our efforts. Against the complicity of the | government of Honduras, against the man-| euver of United States imperialism, we must make our protests heard. For now, not alone the Nicaraguans will take the field, but the persecuted Hondurans will form an alliance with them against Yankee imperialism. The workers and farmers of the United States should protest more intensively and ef- fectively against the sending of additional, marines into Central America, nia taheimtrenenint wa by Mrs. Alvin T, Hert, wealthy so- ciety woman, has held a conference in Washington to organize their eastern campaign, and preparations have been made for similar confer- ences in the middle west and on the Pacific Coast. “Hoover Clubs for Homemakers” are planned in every state. To further the drive for the votes of women not yet attached to either capitalist party bandwagon, a special committee has been formed, with headquarters in New York City, in charge of Mrs. F. Louis Slade, a | prominent figure in New York cap- italist society, who will “devote a large share of her labor to the work- ing women.” As part of this cam- paign, hundreds of thousands of “Vote for Hoover” postcards will be circulated, Every woman who signs | Old Party Bunk; Ignore Needs of the Women| Working Women and Election Workers; the Communist Program ization clubs have already bee established in 8 states. Capitalist Bunk. \of the capitalist parties reveals this \to be correct. Boasting of the fact |“grave concern” for the working-| silent on Working Women’s Rights. | An examination of the platforms | For the 50 million | | American citizens who can vote, | Thus, in the coming weeks of the that capitalist republican women presidential election. campaign, | have been drawn into “full associa- working women will be bombardcd tion and responsibility in party man- {with capitalist “literature,” with agement,” and that women have cratic and republican parties have | The democfatic bureau of women’s | |pictures of capitalist candidates, | heen appointed in the public’ service with appeals of “capitalist” organ- \izations to jsupport ‘the capitalist parties. They will be tempted with “birthday parties” and election com- pliments to join a Hoover or a Smith or a “non-partisan” capitalist club. They will be courted as never before in the interests of one or the other candidate of the business and bank- ing interests. Even the radio will work over- time to draw them into capitalist politics. According to H. H. Ayles- worth, president of the National Broadcasting Company, the women’s vote will be greatly increased this year, due in large measure to the | political debates and speeches brought into the homes of millions | throughout the country by radio. Working Women Majority. The clection campaign this year therefore becomes of’ special im- portance to women workers in fac- tory and mill, and to the working class housewife and mother. They constitute by far the great majority of that 49 per cent of the voters in America whom the capitalist par- ties are so eager to capture. As workers in industry, unorganized for the most part, they slave long kours for wretchedly low wages, several million of them compelled to, do housework as well. As workers in the home, they suffer ,hardships through the exploitation and oppres- sion of those in the family who toil outside. Upon all of them falls heavily the effects of capitalist ra- tionalization and the advance of American imperialism, with its at- | during republican administrations, | the platform of the republican party contains not a single plank bearing on the conditions and needs of the working class women. The platform of the democratic party pretends a greater. solicitude by stating that it “has always op- | posed the exploitation of women in industry and has stood for such con- | ditions of work as will preserve their health and safety.” “We favor,” it continues, “an equal wage for equal service.” A survey of the demo- cratic party, however, proyes the hollowness of these planks. Low Wages. In New Jersey, ruled by the Dem- ocratie Governor Moore, women work 54 to 60 hours a week, for an average wage of $10 to $15. In Maryland, home of Governor Ritchie, one of the leaders in Al Smith’s cam- paign, women toil 60 hours a week, and night work is legally permitted. The democratic “solid south” 7, to its credit perhaps the worst labor conditions for women workers of any section of the country. In Georgia, South. Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia, Mississippi, women’ slave 54 to 69 hours and more weekly, for the miserable pittance of 8 to 12 or 18 dollars. Such is the protection afforded working women in prac- tice in democratic states. The same is true of states con- trolled by the republican party, | whether we turn to Massachusetts, or Connecticut, or Rhode Island, or Pennsylvania. — No Concern for Women Workers. tendant onslaught against the con- ditions of the workers, its wage-| Actual working conditions do not slashing, union-smashing, open-shop | tell the whole story. The wives and drives; its use of brutal terrorism to | daughters of the striking coal min- break the growing resistance of the | ers in Republican Pennsylvania, who working masses; its constant threat | have been brutally assaulted, ar- of new wars. | rested, and otherwise terrorized by Women workers must understand | State troopers; the women textile one pledges herself to vote for | but in view of the attitude of Guatemala, de- iy alleged to have write Hoover and persuade another wo-|the meaning of the efforts of the| Workers in Republican New Bed- man to do likewise. ‘capitalist parties to get their polit- |ford, who have seen the National Not officially connected with the ical support. They must realize | Guard charge against their picket republican bureau, but serving the | that the republican and democratic | lines with bayonets; the dressmak- same purposes, are the “Apron parties are both equally their ene- ers, paper box makers, and milli- Clubs” which are being formed to | mies, representing the interests only ners of Democratic New York, con- women” for Hoover: Thirty organ- | powers. atch the votes of “housekeeping of the money trust and industrial | trolled , by Smith’s own Tammany ‘Hall, who have been beaten up and jailed, and the wives of militants, who have seen their husbands sen- tenced to long prison terms for the crime of fighting for better condi- tions—all can give testimony to the} | | class women manifested by the capi- | talist parties, ier The character of the entire cam- paign of these parties to win the women’s votes bears out the analy- sis. For the serious and vital is- sues upon which the support of the women will be sought have nothing to do with such immaterial factors as wages, hours, working conditions. More important is the “moral issue” of prohibition, and the personal is- sue of the “rival charms of the candidates,” upon which the capi- talist parties’ women’s bureaus will make their appeal! It is clear then that the working women have nothing to expect from | the democratic and republican par- ties, both of which are merely the tools of Wall Street in its prepara- tion for new wars. Communist Party for All Workers. There is only one party which fights for the interests of the women workers as it fights for the | entire working class—the Workers} (Communist) Party, In the national program of the| Workers (Communist) Party, “the | platform of the class struggle,” is| found an extensive program of im-| mediate demands for the women workers, including the following: 1, Prohibition of night work, yvertime 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. 8.,Legal enactment of a special allowance for working women dur- ing the nursing period of nine months. Nursing mothers shall have a half hour’s leave every three hours for child feeding in nurseries provided by employers at all work- ing places. 4. The organization of working women into trade unions and elimi- nation of all restrictions and dis- criminations against women in trade unions. 5. Equal pay for equal work for male and female workers. This is the immediate program of the party which is always on the front line in workers’ battles, merit- ing the active support of every class conscious woman worker in the factory or in the home. (To Be Continued.) TOLD YOU SO --- 8 TomoFiaherty COLUMNISTS always welcome con- tributions that are fit to print and in hot weather the welcome just sings. A letter arrived today which takes me to task for applying the rod of castigation to the political hide of the 100 per cent American, than whom there is no more con- temptible form of life, excepting the 100 per cent Britisher, the 100 per cent Frenchman, the 100 per cent Irishman or the fascist of 100 per cent Italian. Mike Gold. also gets the works for something he is about the alleged scabbing propensities of the Americano: * S an introduction to the letter I wish to say for the benefit of our correspondent that Communists look upon the workers and working farmers—the exploited producing classes—of all countries with the same friendly eye. For the fight- ing, militant heroic American work- ing class every Communist has only the highest respect. These is no country where the working class have a more militant tradition than in the United States. The industrial {battlefields of America are monu- ments to their heroism. _ * * ipor we distinguish between the honest worker who jjoins hands with his fellow-workers in the struggle to better the living condi- tions of the oppressed masses and the “patriot” who worships the mas- ter class and is willing to play the role of stool-pigeon for the employ- ers. The leaders of the Ku Klur Klan, the American Legion, the Knights of Columbus, the American the types that will continue to fascists—those are scourge to the best of our ability. Those types are not indigenous to America only—they are universal. Here is the letter which you will ad- mit is at least interesting though extremely illogical: Dear Comrade:— -I missed your cutting and wittty criticisms while you were around Pittsburgh, but now since you | have come back you seem to have an axe in your hand for Amori- cans. You won’t win the American worker and farm giving them | (Continued from previous column) untrue. And Mike Gold, in the last New Masses, what a fierce lie he told about Yankees always being the first to seab on a strike. What a lie! I’ve watched the la- bor movement in the United States of America for forty-five years and if the American worker hasn’t suffered worse than any workers in the world, then I can’t see, died: ot On July 16 you say: “The av- erage 100 per cent American is willing to sell his vote for any- thing from a ten dollar bill to a thousand.” I want to ask you is all I’ve heard about the Irish ward heeler in all the big cities of the United States, herding great num- bers of the foreign-born to the polls every election, false? T’ve heard that since I was a child, and it was commenced right here in New York City under Tammany Hall. s ¢ © I don’t believe any real Ameri- cans, those who really consider © themselves Americans, ever sell their votes. So take it back, and say what is true. The people who after ten (or forty) generations never call themselves Americans, viz., the Trish! the Jews! the Italians (the latter don’t need to, for no one would believe them if they did). Now, comrade, if evolution is a fact, shouldn’t a race in the forma- tive period have some qualifica- tions a little in advance of races that are acknowledged by social scientists to be degraded? (I re- fer to the Italians—in that last word.) For you and other com- rades .to profess that American workers are on a lower level than the foreign-born isn’t going to win any membership to the Work- ers Party. I am a member, but have failed to find the foreign- born up to the standard of char- - acter of the American. I know what you will say, as a young woman told me recently: “You are American middle-class—not a class-conscious worker.” rate, Sate I am class-conscious, all right, but am not going to stand by and ° see Americans villified. I know such rotten foreign-born workers that when I think of them it turns my stomach. What are my ideals? Lenin’s ideals—truthful, ideal and scien- tific! You know only too well that | Americans are not clannish. We are far more likely to be turned into slaves for the Jews and Wops than we are to become clannish and preserve our new racial char- acteristics. PIO OM Ta And this is why I hate our*pre- datory class with a hatred that is undying. What do they care for a country in which the people who deserve the best are getting the worst? I am a farmer’s daughter and come from a long line of farmers. My father, his father and I were born in Butler County, Ohio, and my father’s grandfather and his, brothers were in General Wayne’s army in Southern Ohio right after the Revolution. We have always ealled ourselves Americans and nothing else. We (the old stock) are the people who made America. We cut the forests for roads and farms and scattered out in a straight line from the Atlantic to the Pacific. x ie We laid the foundation for free- dom and happiness and it has been snatched from our hands; for agriculture is the foundation of all human happiness, and you know it. I can see my father, bowed and broken, after 50 years’ toil, and my only brother, too. My father knew how to raise everything, grains and animals, and how to make everything, too. If that ‘ isn’t intelligence, then what is? { Trickery, cheating, getting the ~ best of your fellow-man on all counts? That’s not my idea of intelligence. Commerce and trade never added anything to human happiness. I can remember this country clearly back to 1874. Suffering Americans! What a difference! * den! If the writers for the Workew Party make more enemies tha? friends amongst the Americar, people, we are more likely to havé a civil war than a revolution, and you ought to bear that in mind. Honest criticism, not lies. I read a_ scientific book recently, in which it was claimed that 5 per cent of the total population of the United States is still old stock. I hardly believe it, but if that is so and the Workers Party writers have no other method of > winning the American . workers but abuse, the revolution is along f way off. - As I am nearly 62 years old and tired of the struggle, it would please me to retire to a log hut on some mountain side and leave the haunts of men. * * I saw your note on Coolidge’s visit to the miners and wished you had noticed the part which I have marked—amused him! I heard 80 years.ago the Steel Trust ac- quired it for 75 cents an acre. Well, comrade, you may never hear from me again. I wish you @nd the cause good luck. ly * Told You Sc.