The Daily Worker Newspaper, November 15, 1928, Page 1

THE DAILY WORKER FIGHTS For a Workers-Farmers Government To Organize the Unorganized For the 40-Hour Week For a Labor Party aily Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at New York, N. nder the a Publ Vol. V., No. 271 Publisbing Asnociat! hed jay by The Nati jaily except Inc, 26-25 Unton Sa. New York, N. ¥. y Worker NEW YORK, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1 LATIN AMERICA SUSPECTS — HOOVER’S BATTLESHIPS 2 Die in Old STRIKEBREAKING S*"*°" of Wh hioball co From Seas Storage, Fire in Brooklyn Two workers ‘and possibly more, Announce That New Chief of American Empire | Will Stop in Nicaragua were burned to death in a fifty |year old firetrap used as a ware- TERROR BEGUN BY SILK UNION HEADS { house at 17-28 Inyimg St., in the Red Keep Details of Imperial Tour Secret; Latin- | Hock section of Brooklyn yesterday. American Newspapers Are Caustic BULLETIN. PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov. 14 (U.P).—President-elect Hooy-|P!&4 high with bales of old paper er’s tentative Latin American itinerary provides for stops in Nicaragua, it was announced today by George Akerson, Hoov- er’s assistant here. The U. S. into, and Hoover is expected to capital. SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., * S. Maryland will stop at Cor-| visit Managua, the Nicaraguan | \ * Nov. 14.—With all details of | his triumphal progress thru Latin America still a profoundly guarded secret, it became known today that President-elect Hoover is considering visiting take place either at the outset® or at the end of his tour; it! has not yet been decided} which. Hoover has also been invited by} Goyernor Towner to visit Porto Rico during his Central and South Amer- ican journey, the war department announced today. | Captain’ Victor Kimberley, com- manding the battleship Maryland, | which will carry Hoover to Val-| paraiso, called this afternoon to dis- | cuss with the president-elect plans | for the overland journey to Buenos | Ayres. There the battleship Utah) will be waiting to carry him north: | Latin American Comment. | Comment in the Latin American | press on Hoover’s projected trip) continues to be suspicious in spite of | the almost complete domination of | the newspapers by eommercial and industrial interests friendly to American investors. ta cia Som MEXICO CITY, Nov. 14.—The daily newspaper “Excelsior,” in an editorial yesterday, said that neith- er the 15 letters which make up the name of Herbert Hoover when it is spelled in Spanish, nor all the words of the Spanish dictionary will be able to blot out the suspicion of) Latin America towards the United Mexico Gity. The visit will RED VOTES HOLD» Socialists Loss in Ohio | Is Biggest Yet | Communist vote gains in the last| election continue to be shown as ad- | ditional returns are reported from| the various sections which have| thus far been able to secure results. The first city or section to show any | loss for the Red ticket over 1924 is| still to be reported and in all prob-| ability does not exist. | Only second in significance to the Red gains is the fact of the equally uniform decline in the vote of the| socialist party. No working class section has as yet been reported here | which shows a socialist vote gain, | whereas the losses sustained by this | | third party. of capitalism are day | by day shown to be of even greater extent than at first supposed. Returns from Toledo, Ohio, for in- stance, show that Thomas this year secured 346 votes in this city; 262 States, unless the coming voyage of | Were cast for its candidate for gov- Hoover has, as a result, genuine! acts of friendship. | The editorial points out that the! handshakes and smiles would be a} good job for a statesman, but the sincerity of these manifestations of | friendship must be proven in a more substantial manner, The editorial ends as follows: | “The Latin American republics | ask only one thing: that they be left alone to live their own lives in their | own house.” | * * * Against Monroe Doctrine. HAVANA, Cuba, Nov. 14.—The daily journal “The World” (El| Mundo), commenting upon “Hoover, | the Southern Nations and the Mon-| roe Doctrine,” under an editorial so entitled, says in part: “Already a rumor is circulated respecting the Monroe Doctrine. Ar- gentina has made a negative in- terpretation of this doctrine. In the last council of the League of Na- tions the Argentine minister to Switzerland flatly declared that the Monroe Doctrine was, at the most, a unilateral principle because it) originated without any intervention whatsoever of the other 20 Amer- ican nations.” The paper cites that Costa Rica made a similar declaration, and con- jecturing that these matters excite the interest of Hoover and lead to his voyage, it says concerning the trip: . “Although the intention is laud-| able, the results so far as getting | information is concerned are not| worth the trouble, because to find out the true state of affairs, an of- ficial trip with an escort of cruis-| ers and a program of banquets is not the most efficient method.” | Bee. Kee Doubts Republicans. SANTIAGO, Chile, Nov. 14.—In the chamber of deputies of Chile, Deputy Alvaraz made an extensive speech upon the international policy of the United States, ending with the expressed hope that the voyage of Hoover will overcome the doubts sown by the policy followed by the republican party toward Latin America, a a AN Bik No Appointments. PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov. 14 (U.P). —President-elect Hoover has Presta no consideration to ‘cabinet appoint- ments, and does not intend to con- sider the make-up of his cabinet un- til he returns from his South American trip, it was said today on his behalf. : GOMPERS FLUNKEY DIES WASHINGTON (By Mail).—Guy or faker and and secre- \d ernor, In 1917 the socialist candi- late for mayor of Toledo, Robert Howarth received 17,500 votes. Solan T. Klotz, socialist party can- didate in 1919, received 21,800 votes. The extent of the socialist debacle is made clear by these figures. Red Gains. The Communist ticket received 211 votes in Mucan County, Ohio, which contains the city of Toledo. The Red candidate for U, S. Sen-| ator received 276 votes. The Red candidate for governor received 198 | votes. | Returns from Jacksonville, Fla.,| show Foster and Gitlow 209, Thomas 241, In Wilmington, Del., where the | Continued on Page Three YOUNG MILITANT RELEASED TODAY LL.D. Condemns Court of Capitalists Joseph Katz, a member of the Young Workers League, will be re- leased from Welfare Island today after serving a ten-day sentence for distributing leaflets to striking laundry workers in the Bronx. Katz was sentenced after an ex- ample of class justice that is un- usual even for a capitalist court. He was tried without being given an opportunity to have a lawyer defend him, When he was arrested Nov. 1, charged with disorderly conduct for the “crime” of distributing leaflets, the New York Section of the Inter- national Labor Defense furnished $500 bail and secured his release. His trial was set for Nov. 8 in 161st St. Court. . Sentenced Without Defense. On the day of the trial Jacques Buitenkant, attorney for the I. L. Continued » Page Two Austria to Have Vote on Tenant Protection (Wireless to the Daily Worker) VIENNA, Nov. 14.—The govern- ment’s committee on the tenancy law having met, Seipel surprised the committee by suggesting that the bourgeois bloc is prepared to ar- range a plebiscite but not re-elec- tions on the tenants” protection law retrenchment. The government The two workers, who are uniden- tified, were caught in a three story extension of the six story building owned by several fire insurance companies under the name of the Effe Trading Company. A boy who discovered the fire, ran through the building warning workers there, 15 of whom escaped, but the boy himself was caught be- hind barred windows and would have also met death had he not been res- cued from the outside. The fire became too strong to put out although five alarms brought all possible equipment to the scene. The firemen finally tried only to prevent its spread. They awaited workers were killed in the flames. CHICAGO CABMEN READY FOR FIGHT Driver Exposes Tricks of the “Yellow” (By a Worker Correspondent) CHICAGO, Ill., Noy. 14.—Resent- ment bordering upon revolt is spreading through the ranks of the Yellow Cab Company workers as realization of the true meaning of the so-called “raise,” just handed out, is beginning to dawn upon the local hackmen. A strike for a union as the only way to solve the problems of the drivers is being talked of more and more. | As one of the slaves employed by this nation-wide scab company, I can report a few things which should he told about our conditions and what is ahead of us. On Nov. 4 we ‘were informed that we would get a raise in our com- mission, which, according to the propaganda of the company press agents, will amount to over $300,- 000 a year. Now isn’t this the bunk! Some “Raise.” I say that for every dollar in- crease we are to get we will have to produce two extra for the company. Now just figure it out for your- self. First of all, no driver is entitled to the “increase” who takes any other day off than the one assigned to him. If he does, a large penalty is imposed. .Every driver must work six days a week to secure the “benefits” of the raised commission. Well, on the average we worked Continued on Page Three Volunteers Needed for W. I. R. Tag Days Local New York, Workers In- ternational Relief, is in need of yolunteers to work on its drive for funds and membership, which will begin with Tag Days on Nov. 17 and 18, Workers who will help in this important work are urged to report to the W. I. R. office at 799 Broadway, Room 226, at any time during the day or between 6 p. m. and 7 p. m. It is the aim of the W. I. R. to build up its organization so that it can give working class relief, not only during periods of acute struggle, such as strikes, but con- tinuously to militant workers who are in need, especially to those who lose their jobs or become des- titute as a result of their activi- ties in the class war. ADMIT 34 WOMEN TO BAR BOSTON, Nov. 14 (UP).—Thirty- four young women were among the 283 candidates who were admitted to the bar today by Judge Edward P. Pierce of the supreme court. It was the largest number of women ever admitted at one time in this state. FIGHT DANGEROUS DEVICE. TORONTO, (By Mail).—Building trade workers here are fighting an attempt by building contractors to save: the cost of scaffolding, by forcing the workers to use stilts. Six foot stilts were provided by the bosses. Several carpenters who re- hopes to conceal the retrenchment behin logy and gain a ma- fused. tone. Oy Break Up Union Meet, Oust the Left Wing Strike Committee Workers Defy Traitors To Strike On, Parade | to Be Held (Special to the Daily Worker) PATERSON, N. J., Nov. 14.— Frantic at the loss of support from the membership of the Associated | Silk Workers Union, the officialdom of that organization unmasked its true reactionary character by start- ing a riot at the-membership meet- ing last night, assaulting left wing | workers, and dissolving the strike committee, a majority of which has been won over to left wing policies in conducting the silk strike. Police were called by a right wing official | who halted the meeting, The left |wing then led the workers to an- other hall at 3 Governor Street. Hitherto posing as “progressive” trade union leaders by not openly! violating the militant policies put forward by the left wing and en- | dorsed by the membership, the offi- | cialdom has now launched a cam- | paign of terror against those who | oppose the breaking of the strike. | The bona fide strike committee an- | mounces that it refuses to consider | litself dissolved and that it will! challenge the authority of the fake | | committee when that body meets to- morrow night. Strike-Breaking Steps. | Two concrete steps toward smash- ing the heroic struggle of the silk) workers have already been taken by the leadership. They are: ordering the eight-hour day parade on Satur- day called off, despite fact that this | demonstration has aroused the en- thusiasm, of not only silk workers, but of the working class in Paterson generally. The parade will be held regardless of the officialdom ukase, the constitutional strike committee | declared. Another direct _ strike-breaking | step taken by the leaders was the announcement of Fred Hoelscher, chief of the reactionary clique, that | the workers striking against the Columbia Silk Company, one of the | largest and bitterest labor hating corporations in town, should go back to work tomorrow morning. | This was announced at the mass | meeting of strikers this morning. It is definitely known that no agree- ment was signed, no working con- ditions are agreed to and the union remains un-recognized. | Try to Gag Militant. | At the mass meeting where this announcement was made another near riot was’ provoked when the | henchmen of the right wing tried to \halt Gertrude Mueller, popular left | Continued on Page Five HOLD PARLEY ON ~ AMALGAMATION \Fur Cloak Unions Take | Final Measures _ Committees from the furriers and | ¢loak and dressmakers’ unions will | meet in jointy conference today | to work out immediate organizational plans for the amalgamation of both these unions when they hold their conventions, When the sub-committee of the Provisional National Executive Com- | |mittee of the Furriers’ Union met recently they officially accepted the invitation of the National Organ- | ization Committee of the Cloakmak- | ers’ Union, to amalgamate both big | needle trades finions. In the let-| ter of acceptance sent by the fur- riers they called for a joint confer- lence to work out these plans. The’ | meeting will probably be held at the headquarters of the N. O. C., 16. W. 21st St. The Cloakmakers’ Union days ago issued an official call for their national convention. 1 Wii be held December 29 in New York on and is expected to last about fouF days. The furriers, though not as yet having issued the official cail are-expected to set the convention date for about the same time. By formal decisions of the leadershin of both unions, and endorsements by the respective memberships,» tne amalgamation is to take place at the close of both conventions. seve~al Workers, fight all clasn-collabo- hi of the bosses and jon bureaucracy. Fight thy inst the offensives of March de N COMPANY GUILTY OF 117 DEATHS IN “V Photo above shows the liner Ves- tris, which sank 300 miles off the Virginia capes, while 339 passengers and crew struggled with the waves. Below is the American Shipper, transatlantic liner, which rescued most of the survivors. The map at the left shows the position of the Vestris when it sank. Important revelations now coming to light show that criminal negligence management were largely respon- sible for the tragedy. The Lamport & Holt Co. is blamed for the disaster, and is charged with having fully known that the vessel was unfit for the voyage before she and mis- left port. The Lamport & Holt steamers are notorious, according %o seamen, for their unseaworthiness. a VESTRIS A HELL FOR CREW, SAYS STEWAR J. K. joined the Vestris February 2, and has “very good” on his dis- charge papers, dated April 3, 1928. He was a steward in the dining saloon and on that trip saw that | while the actommodation was for only 259 passengers 300 were on board. There wus a shortage of sfl- verware for the tables because of this. This member of the Marine Workers’ Progressive League, yesterday, in the office of the Daily Worker, told the follow- ing story: “When we arrived at Buenos Aires on that trip the Vestris wa: taken into dry dock and patched up ‘This company’s ships always over- load with passengers and are short with crew, on account of the bad conditions for the erew. Nobody sails on these ships if possible to get another. Sailors Don’t Like L. and H. “Most of the time the Lampert and Holt steamers depend upon making out the full crew with beacheombers, but tsually are short at this, as beachcombers fail also to find anything attractive on the L. and H. Line. “Even Hindoos and West Indian Negroes, accustomed by force and Continued on Page Two GARAGE WASHERS DECLARE STRIKE worker, VOTE ON STRIKE _ INDRESS TRADE | Cooper Union Meeting | to Decide Tonight Historie Cooper Union Hall. will tonight be the scene of a mass meet- ing where the question of a general strike in the dress manufacturing industry will be decided by the |thousands of workers attending. The meeting, called by the Na- tidnal’ Organization Committee of the Cloak and Dressmakers’ Union, |is to be held immediately after work jin Cooper Union, 8th St. and 4th Ave. A tremendous sentiment for struggle in order to win livable working conditions, and in order to retain them by the erection of a powerful dressmakers’ union, exists among the wide masses of workers ‘in this trade. This | aroused and crystallized by the cam- |paigns carried on by N. 0. C., is to register itself in the decision that will be made tonight. The heroic militancy of the dress workers, in the fights against the reactionary officials of the right wing company union and in their past struggles against the employ- ers have suffered severely in the particularly intense attacks they had to face from the union’s ene- mies. Their conditions are there- fore extremely bad. Since the left wing union has again gone on the offensive, by pre- . | paring an all-embracing organiza- A malotk station rrastiers tion drive in the ladies’ garment aud hie S eee ae tneana manufacturing industry thruout the Greater New York last night. The strike is scheduled for, this after- noon. The men complain that they are compelled to work from ten to fif- teen hours a day and that they are ‘among the most pitilessly exploited workers in the automobile industry. “Automobile washers have only one day off in two weeks and for their labors receive from $20 to $35 per week,” one worker told a Daily Worker representative. “That is if they’re lucky they do,” he corrected himself. A meeting of the Garage Washers’ and Interior Workers’ Union is aa- nounced for today at 4 West Mt. Eden Ave. BROKER CONVICTED OF FRAUD. country, the National Organization cumeaepee planned the first big move against the enemies of union- ization to be made in the dress in- dustry, | The decision to call a general (strike in the dress trades was first made by the monthly conference of shop chairmen and delegates, and their decision is brought for en- dorsement to the meeting of the workers directly. Leaders of the National Organ- ization Committee and of other nee- die trades unions will speak at the meeting. Reds Use Parliament To Protest Reaction PRAGUE, Nov. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In New York OFFICIALS sentiment, | | WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (UP).— lPhe census bureau today reported run | PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 14 (U,P),—| ‘vere held today in the Czech sen- |The Superior Court today affirmed |ate in honor of the tenth anniver- |the conviction of James Willard sary of the Czech national assem- Nixon, formerly a stock broker at|bly. The Communist senators util- Oil City, Pa., on charges of fraudu-|ized the opportunity to protest lently converting stock held by his | against the reaction which every customers on a margin, — day increases. . 2 ‘ * WW) per year. 99 ew York, by mall, by mall. $3.00 per year FINAL CITY | EDITION Hs § KNEW VESSEL WAS UNFIT FOR VOYAGE BEFORE IT LEFT PORT Lamport and Holt Liners Known Among All Seamen as Old and Unseaworthy Giant Dirigible, Groomed for War, Was Held From Aiding in HARVEY O'CONNOR. (Federated Press) Government shipping inspectors, ship owners and captain were re- sponsible for the sinking of the Lamport and Holt liner Vestris with the loss of 149 passengers and sea- men, assert sailors rescued from the lost ship. In most cases penniless, and clad in castoff clothing, they told their stories to a Federated Press representative as they huddled about radiators and drank coffee at the Seamen’s Church Institute in New York yesterday. By Seventeen to 20 hours in the water, or in water-filled lifeboats had left them haggard and drawn, alternately shaken by fevers and chills. They wasted no words in de- nouncing the rotten condition of the Vestris’ hull, the negligence of Brit- ish and American steamship inspec- tors in permitting the boat to go|,. to sea, and the fatal indecision of the captain in calling for help and low- ering the life boats. Knew Ship Was Unfit. “The boat left New York listing badly to port,” a steward related. “We were heading into rough weather when suddenly she was shaken by a heavy sea, the cargo| apparently shifted and the boat tilted over to 30 degrees. Next morn- ing the passengers were ordered to| the top decks. But the captain re-| fused to send out an S. 0. 8. Bhe} list got worse and worse and by noon the port rail was under water. Only then did the skipper order the boats over. “But it was too late. The first |two boats, filled with women and| children, were ruined when the ship lurched again. One sank and the other spilled its women and little ones into the sea. “Not a person should have been lost. Had the radio been sent out when we were struck by the wave and began filling, ships would have arrived hours before the Vestris sank. And had the lifeboats been launched before noon, everyone would have gotten away safely | Hull Was Rotten. “Why was the Vestris permitted 'to go to sea overloaded and listing to port,” asked a fireman. “The hull was rotten. Rust had eaten into the plates, then paint had been slapped on and the whole thing ok’ed by the government inspectors. Why, the first good sea knocked in a bulkhead, and then the ship was lost. “The cargo was just dumped into the boat. After we had been hit, it scuttled over to one side of the ship jand not all the stuff we dumpec over could help out after that.” Other members of the crew were| curious about the insurance. The oat was 20 years old, had seen hard | service with few repairs during the war, had burned at sea once and| been towed into port, and was |“junk,” in their opinion. The mys- terious action of the captain in fail ing to call for help quickly enough reinforced suspicions of seamen that |Lamport and Holt may have felt | better satisfied to have the old Ves- tris at the bottom of the sea and her insurance money in their treas- ury. Brand Official Lies. Passengers pooh-poohed stories that Negro members of the crew had failed to help to the extent of their capacity. More than a hundred West lIndian Negroes were employed in the engine room and on deck. “Inexperience of the Negro crews is not their own fault, but that of |wage-cutting steamship companies, lit was pointed out. Government in- | spectors hand out lifeboat certifi Jeates indiscriminately, they said, in colby! th the companies. | f white seamen on the | Vestris were $45 a month, $10 be- low American standards, Negro sailors, however, received around | $30 and were fed at separate messes, | |where the quality of the food was) much lower than at white tables. | REPORT ON COTTON. ning bales of lint cotton con- sumed in mills of the United States} lin October as 618,788 bales, against | tain permitted the radio op 14.—Celebrations | | October, 1927. 492,221 in September and 618,520 in) WASHINGTON, (By Mail, American coal mines are more dan- gerous than Burapent and British coal mines, the United States Buypau of Mines has admitted, =” of New competent ers |huge insurance that cov Rescue Work With the arrival of 149 of the survivors of the Vestris at the port York from which the ship” Saturday, charges of in- handling and criminal surpassing that of all set sail negligence other ship disasters in recent years were made by members of the crew and surviving passengers. The charges involve the own-, of the liner, Lamport and Holt Company of England, and the U. S. shipping authorities which, by their failure to send out the navy irigible Los Angeies, must -noulder the major part of the blame for the loss of over 100 lives. The survivors, as they arrived at the port, were in a critical condi- tion, and showed the tremendous strain under which they had labored during the past few days. Many were crippled; arms and legs and bs were broken, some of them were disabled for life. And from all came the same stories of horror, of the mismanagement and incompe- tence of those in control and coi mand of the vessel who are prini pally charged with responsibility for the tremendous loss of life, Cargo Badly Loaded. One of the causes of the disaster brought to the fore yesterday was that the cargo in the Vestris had shifted in mid-sea, causing the ves- sel. to flounder. It was pointed out,’ however, that this could not have occurred if the cargo had been prop- erly stored in the hold. Sailors with a score of years of experience ex- pressed their belief that cargoes |have been known to shift in heavy seas without any ill effects on the vessel. All evidence here last night pointed to the fact that the ship had been old and unseaworthy, and that this had been the primary cause of the wreck. One man who had made several trips on the liners of the Lamport and Holt Company told of the fact that the company’s liners were known throughout the world to be the rottenest and most unseaworthy ships to be sent on long ocean trips. “Every time a liner would reach the United States,” he said, “there was talk aboard about’ sending it to the scrap heap when it returned to England. But the policy of the Lamport and Holt Company, in total disregard of the lives of its crews and passengers, would repeatedly put off the scrapping. The sinking of the Vestris, I believe, is * an- doubtedly due to the criminal negli- gence of the company.” é Old, Unfit Ships. Many of the sailors, interviewed / yesterday at the International Sea- men’s Club, 28 South St., told of the reputation the Lamport and Holt line has had among sea workers for the last decade. “L. and H.,” the initials of the company, means Lousy and Hungry to sailors all over the world. It is a standing quip among sailors that sea-gulls, as, soon as they would sight a Lamport and Holt ship, would turn right ~ | back and fly away in terror. of The sailors angrily charged that _ the life-boats on the Vestris had | been old and leaky, totally unfit for | usage. Besides, they added, the . boats were not properly secured in their places, a fact which caused um- necessary delay in setting them afloat and manning them. Surviving passengers were bitter in their denunciation of Captain Carey. Knowing that the ship was unfit for the voyage before it left port, he had allowed the cargo to! be dumped in haphazardly, they charge. After the Vestris began listing, to the starboard side, the passengers and gers had approached the cap’ send out calls for help. tions, they allege, were negligent. For 16 hours vessel began to flounder, hibited any distress signals being sent out, in spite 4 growing anxiety of all on Only after the deck had merged did he allow the aboard the ship, O’Laugh lost his life in the disaster, out an S. 0. S. Even then, # send out calls for aid only intervals, The rumors ship, which came to the of the investigators to ominous aspect to indifference at the