The Daily Worker Newspaper, November 19, 1928, Page 1

( ) | | For a Labor THE DAILY WORKER FIGHTS For a Workers-Farmers Government To Organize the Unorganized For the 40-Hour Week Party Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at New York. N. ¥.. under the act of Marc! h 8, 1879. ne wn FINAL CITY EDITION — — Nol. V., No. 274 ‘d daily except Sunday by The N 1% Association. tnc.. 26-26 Union ‘ational Dally Worker Sa., New York; -Nr-¥.. .NEW YORK, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1928 New York, by mall. $8.00 per year by mail, $6.00 per re Price 3 Cents 29 LEADING MILL STRIKERS INDICTED IN NEW BEDFORD Vestris Seamen, Enraged, Hit Company Murder at Mass Meet BRING CONSPIRACY CHARGE L. & H, STANDS ARRAIGNED AS FULLY GUILTY Vestris Crew Assails} Lamport & Holt Company Minor Extols Fake Investigation Hides Facts Five hundred angry seamen packed the hall of the Seamen’s Club, 28 South Street, last night. They had answered the eall sent out by Secretary George Mink, of the Marine Workers’ Pro-| gressive League to hear from the lips of crew members of the foundered Steamship “Vestris” the story of last Monday’s tragedy, and to decide for themselyes the respon- sibility for the wreck in which over a hundreti lives \ ere lost as a result of the criminal négligence of the ships owners, Lamport and Holt. Heroes Morgue Tells Tale murder voyage. Photo shows cr Before the evening was over the men had unanimously adopted a} resolution exonerating their heroic| Negro comrades from responsibility and placing it on the greed and! negligence of the ship owners. When Harry Kweits finished read- ing the resolution he had scarcely time to call for a vote before every seaman in the hall had shouted his approval. Before this the seaman heard, with loud approval, a member of | the Vestris crew who declared hat | ites was leaking when. she left, Suey she was’so rotten Hat a sea door gave when a passenger Jeaned against it. His comrades} were roused to fury when he de- | scribed how he, a member of the catering crew, had worked with buckets to bail out the rotten ves- | sel. He described how he had come on | (, to the deck when the ship was about | up from the Vestris wrecka of eaavaa! Voyage Over a hundred dead is the grim toll of the Lamport & Holt ‘owds outside the Staten Islands morgue, waiting to identify bodies of relatives and friends picked VIEW U. PALO ALTO, | Calif, Nov. 18. |—To the boom of 21 guns, the | battleship Maryland will move San.Pedxo,. port.of..... Los Angeles, at noon today, bearing President-elect Hoover on his tour of investigation of the South Ameri- can domains of the United States. Before leaving Palo Alto, Hoover drew the divine blessings of the | reverend of Stanford Chapel, who | prayed for blessings upon Hoover | ‘on his journey across the sea” and in his “pilgrimage to the nations.” to be abandoned and had seen the captain, “But,” he said, “the captain didn’t’) pay much attention to us. He didn’t seem to care.” | A member of the crew of the| “American Shipper,’ the rescuing | ship, created a furor when he de-| clared that although no ship papers could be discovered by the. govern- ment’s “investigating committee,” he himself had seen two portfolios brought from a lifeboat onto the | “American Shipper.” These port- | folios, supposed to contain the ship’s records, have not since appeared. Seamen from all over the hall rose when the speakers had. con- cluded to give them their support. Man after man declared for the end of the superstition of the sea by which, in one man’s words, “The sailors are left to die in the hold while the rich parasites saved their @ogs and valuables in the life- boats.” Earlier in the evening the audi- ence had been brought to their feet | with applause when Robert Minor, editor of the Daily Worker, sa‘d of the Vestris-crew: ’ “For the first time we have seen the phenomenon of a crew standing up for its rights as human beings. ‘We must stand by the Vetris crew. | They are an example for the whole world” At this point one of the sailors leaped on the platform and de- manded to know by a show of hands how many men present had sailed on boats that to their knowl- edge were unseaworthy. Every hand was raised. Man after man jumped to his feet to tell | experiences of his own in which | ship’s crews were subjected to con- ‘ditions which meant: sure death in case of accident. And throughout the course of the meeting seamen shouted the need for organization. “Organize! Organize! Organize!” the cry as every man sat down speaking. At the conclusion of the meeting two members of the Vestris cre./ became members of The Marine Workers Progressive League, t'2 militant seaman’s union. a * * Despite all efforts on the part of| the United States prosecutor, Tut- tle, and leading New York newspa- bud to gloss over the essential facts relating to the sinking of the Lamport and Holt liner Vestris, the absolute guilt of the company for iy: death of 111 people is a clear as further “investigation” is fest had been signed | Songs rie At the same time the United) |States government is beginning its Came here today, jcampaign of camouflage and propa-| 15 per cent has been announced ganda and by means of inspired in- terviews and statements from offi- ‘cial sources is trying to convince} jeverybody that it is a “tour of good- | will and friendship.” Latest communiques have insisted | that the tour is looked upon as cal- culated to cement the “cordial rela- tions” between the South American jand United States governments jrather than “from the narrower as+ pect of an oppertunity to increase trade.” To See Moncado. The same “official sources” point out that the tentative plans of Hoover’s trip will carry him to all Continued on Pagz Three Harlem Calls Vestris Protest Meet; Negro Crew Heroes to Speak | “The .Vestris Horror” will be the subject of a protest mass meeting, to be held “Wednesday evening, against the efforts of the capitalist press and the U. S. Government “in: vestigation” to frame up the real heroes of the disaster, the Negro members of the crew. The meeting will be held at the St. Luke’s Hall, 125 W. 130th St., beginning at 8 p. m. The real facts of the disaster will be told by the Negro seamen them-| selves, Besides the Negro heroes of | the Vestris, the following will speak: Richard B. Moore, national, organi- zer of the American Negro Labor Congress; Robert Minor, editor of the Daily Worker; G. Mink of the Seamen’s Progressive League; Mrs. William Burroughs, of the Teachers’ Union. Otto E. Huiswoud will act as chairman. essential fact, which trickled thru at, Saturday’s hearing: namely, that the line received a wireless from ‘Captain Carey on Sunday announc- ing, “We may need assistance,” and that the company had answered. There has been ample opportunity to hide this message, but it is be- lieved that Captain Carey was told to delay sending an S. O. S. call in order to save salvage money. Rumor Ammunition Aboard. It has further been ascertained that the Vestris had been loaded for an hour and @ half’ after its man: HOOVER LEAVES TO _ S. DOMAINS | MINE UNION TO “FIGHT WAGE CUT ‘Kentucky Lo Locals Get Ready for Strike (Special to the I Daily Worker) PITTSBURGH, Nov. 18. Thomas, Hillquit and -Cahan Own Shares in “Tl Nuovo Mondo” Back Fight on Union S. P. Daily Imports Strikebreakers Leaders of the socialist party are among the shareholders of “II Nuovo Mundo,” Italian socialist daily, which has locked out the members of Italian Typographical Union, 261, and is operating with imported seabs, it was revealed yesterday. The leaders who own shares in this scab “socialist” daily include such respectable figures as the Rev. Norman Thomas, Morris Hillquit, Premier Poincare, who has orbanized the French cabinet with| the help of the radicals and “social- ists” gave him a vote of confidence. The new cabinet is marked by its| comnlately reactionary” character, re- former Judge Jacob Panken,. Abta- hay Cahan, editor, and B. C. Vla-| deck, manager of the Jewish Daily | Forward. “Socialists’ That this ‘ockoul of the union printers and the operation of the composing room with scabs are be- ing done with the consent of these a ist” worthies seems certain view of the fact that not one of them, so far as is known, has voiced the slightest protest. Such conduct is also in keeping with the individ- _ ual records of these gentlemen and jof the party that they represent. The lockout came as a step in a |long series of attempts on the part | ef “Il Sige Mondo” to cut the | ages. of. _printers__ below. che |, union scale. ie ‘after the workers ‘had for the past nine weeks loaned |the paper 20 per cent of their wages, The lockout was preceded | by the firing of a worker on a fake charge of fascist sympathies. No Reply From “Socialists.” Thus far neither “Il Nuovo Mondo” nor ‘its shareholders have _ replied to the revelations published |; BRITISH TAKE UP ~ somo a satin UY §, CHALLENGE Empir eMustBeStr ‘on | | Says Chamberlain QUEBEC, Nov. 18. — Declaring | that England is the “center of a} | world-wide empire” and that she |must’ depend upon that empire to sustain herself, Sir Austen Chamber- | jlain, British foreign secretary, made it plain here yesterday that the British co rush its naval arma-| e allow. the United 1S ‘ae ot to equa qual then Before leaving on the steamship | Regina for England he recuperated enough from his illness to grant in- terviews to reporters on the Armis- | | tice Day war speech of President} Coolidge. | After declaring that he hoped| |there would be “better understand-| |ing between the English and Amer-| According to information which | in Saturday’s Daily Worker con-|ican people” he cited reason after | by coal operators of eastern a wage cut of ceting the lockout against the |union printers. Both Cahan and | Vladeck are old hands at operating | newspapers with scabs. Their sheet, | Kentucky to become effective the yellow Forward, once resorted | November 18. John Watt, president and Pat Toohey secretary of the new. National Miners’ Union wired ‘all locals in Kentucky today to resist the wage-cut and to prepare for a general strike in the state. President Watt is now en- route to handle. the situation. * 8 8 New Union Wins Victory. (Special to the Daily Worke: MERCER, Ky., Nov. victory won here by the me: of local 701 of the National ers’ Union ‘three weeks ago falkhels strike against the Pacific Coal Com- pany has not only raised the moral and fighting spirit of the coal dig- Continued on Page Five USSR Demonstrates Superiority of Contro| of Industry by Stat MOSCOW, Novy. 18. (UP).—Th former Harriman enterprise ~i Georgia which was taken over fro! the New York interest by the gov- ernment, has been greatly improved under Soviet management, acco d- ing to the president of the Man-| ganese trust. He said that 6,000 workers would be employed within the next two months. At present there are 3,000 workers, compared to 400 employed formerly. Chinese Workers Clash With Police on. Shore of Indonesian Islands (Wireless to the Daily Worker), AMSTERDAM, Nov. 18.—On the occasion of Sun Yat Sen’s birthday a conflict between the police and Chinese, workers at the Indonesian Island ‘banks followed the attempt of the police to prevent a demog- stration, The police used weapons, killij two Chinese workers and injurii many. SCULPTOR COMMITS SUICIDE AISE,. France, Nov. 18 (UP).— Mugene C. Iron, 53, well-known cn Page Five au-| sculptor, hanged himself in his ‘|studio today. (Soviet Union, Talks a’ \Workers School Forum Otto Hall, field organizer of the! {American Negro Labor Congress, to the same methods when their printers struck against the condi- tions in the Forward plant. That high officials of the social- adds merely another party that int many other is playing the role of ai spoke last night at the Workers School Forum, 26 Union Square, on “The Negro Question As a World| Problem.” Over 250 persons headed the lecture, which was followed by questions and discussion. sons between the treatment of op- pressed races in the Soviet Union| and the United States. He had been in Moscow for three years as a stu- dent at the Stalin University of Peoples of the East where over 3,000 student&yfrom 77 races live and work together in perfect harmony. expressed by the capitalist - ess at the work of the Communist Interna- tional for the establishment »f a Negro republic in South . frica, where the oppressed Negroes form five-sixths of the population. The growing importance of the Negro problem was taken up, the speaker reviewing the development of the Negro race in the United States, the role of the various Negro organizations, the development of a colored petty-bourgeoisie, the etti- tude toward the problem of the so- cialist, anti-imperialist and Commu- nist Internationals, and the decisions of Sixth World Congress of the last- named organization on the Negro and colonial questions. He closed with an account of his visit to a Negro colony in Aucausia, a republic in the Southern part of the Soviet Union. AVATION FIELD FIRE" * MITCHEL FIELD, N. Y.. Nov. 18 {UP).—More than $100,000 damage was done by a fire which swept through two metal frame buildings housing the engineering department at the Mitehel Field aviation post early today. ist party are backing a scab or-| | ganization “achievement” to the record of the | Hall made interesting compari-'endeavors of the United States. reason why the British should main- jtain a iarger navy than the United | |States, at the same time very evi- dently contradicting himself in de- \elaring that “we have no rivalry with the United States.” | The interview made quite clear} that the British government intend- ed to maintain its vast empire, at any cost, to keep the colonies in sub- |mission and to ward off any other menacing power by a powerful nei- work of naval bases and the largest navy ‘n the world. “ft is natural that the British reo ple,” said Chamberlain, ‘should feel it an elementary precaution for their afety and even their existence to ve a force suitable not only in size character to guard these vital jes of supply.” | 1 the general tone of the in- jtersiew it seems clear that the chal- lenge hurled by Coolidge has been taken up by the British, and aow that Chamberlain is returning to |England to take personal gharge, it is believed that all energies will be directed to overstep all the naval .F.L. Metal Trades | epartment Endorses avy War Cruiser Bill | NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 18..— In} He explained the basis for the alarm dapat avowal of its role as agent | f American imperialism, the Metal | Trades Department of the American | Federation of Labor in session here yesterday endorsed the fifteen- cruiser program bill for the navy) advocated by the U. S. war mong- ers in their militaristic aims against | british Imperialism. The endorsement by the A. F, of | L. metal trades departments of the government war aims is considered a clear indication of the stand which the whole federation will take if not! openly at least in practice. The resolution voted by the metal trades department advocates mak- ing the navy “a more effective arm of the national defense.” Its most brazenly jingoistic reso-, lution on this subject urges the government to manufacture its own arms and battleships and naval of pacifists” who use the fact of war profiteering as‘an argument against war preparations. Nothing previously advocated in peace time by an A. F, of L. body approximates the above action in lining up with the US. war ma. ! chine. Wife, equipment “so as to take away the|gave William L. Fenker, charged ound from under the large group SOCIALIST PARTY McadsPrer<ee<tom S11 K STRIKERS. LEADERS BEHIND SCAB NEWSPAPER FOLLOW LEAD OF OWN COMMITTEE |Lett Wing C Cheer ed At tternational Labor Big Meeting Held Saturday To Oust Fake Officials 'Accept Aid of National} Textile Union (Special to the Daily Worker) PATERSON, Nov. 18.—Fully aj dozen developments in the workers’ strike here during the past forty-eight hours marked the rally- ing of the membership of the As- sociated Silk Workers’ Union be- hind the regularly Committee in its policy of a mili- tant fight and spelled the ousting lof the officials who in a score of they are| ways have shown that moving for a complete betrayal of the struggle. 1. The strikers voiced their en- thusiastic support of the left wing strike leadership which called and controlled the Saturday morning strike meeting. 2. The strike committee voted | to accept the offer of cooperation some time ago extended by the National Textile Workers’ Union to help win the strike. An or- ganizer from the N. T. W. has been appointed and already re- newed activities are under way. 3. A membership meeting of the Broad Silk Department has been called by the Han commit- i now real of the 1 ey? eens ig, Nov. | 20, at Turn Hall at 8 eeloek. 4, The fake officials locked out the striking silk workers from their strike headquarters Friday evening and when the strikers ar- rived for the meeting they found the door locked and new locks substituted. 5. The strike committee has be- gun definitely the organization of effective country-wide relief measures and has called in the Workers’ International Relief Or- ganization to launch a real cam- paign. 6. Negotiations between a com- mittee of the strike. committee and a committee of the Joint Board further disclosed _ the treacherous and strikebreaking conduct of the officials. 7. The strike committee took | over the “Silk Striker,” official paper of the union, and has be- gun to issue it as a daily mime- ographed sheet which _ sparkles with militancy and life. 8, The strike committee issued a statement on the negotiations for unity with the Joint Board in which it called upon the officials to reply to a num a of important questions and issu 9. Workers from shops work- ing under fake settlements have begun to come to the strike com- mittee to complain against the steadily worsening conditions in these shops, Definite action by the strike committee has ‘been taken to fight these evils. 10. The giving out of relief funds in a highly improper man- ner by officials of the union Sat- | urday without records and the ap- | pointment of certain individuals to head this work whose record | and methods are subject to ser- ious question and criticism, the withholding of funds from the strike committee, etc. These and many other equally im- port developments marked one of | the most active week ends since the! strike began. Following the various efforts by the union officials since their attack Continued on Page Three Children Need Food; Man Steals Auto, Judge Gives Him Year CHICAGO, Ill, Nov. 18.—Judges of the courts of capitalist justice \have a sense of humor as distorted as the justice hey mete out. Judge Lindley of this city who yesterday with stealing an automobile, a year on probation for his “offense.” against property. “Why did you steal the car?” the judge asked archly. “My wife and children ncedd food,” Fgpker replied simply. “Year said the judge. nm probation,” silk| elected Strike} TO OUTLAW UNION ACTIVITY; LEADERS IN FRAME-UP NET Weisbord, Biedenkapp, ‘Crouch: Among Group Slated for Boss Trial in Mill Town Defense to Wage Fight to | Defend 662 in Mass Trial Soon NEW BEDFORD, Mass., Nov. 18.—Decadent Massachu- setts bossdom again prepares for a savage retaliation against those who dare to lead the workers in struggles against in- human | industrial suppression. _ Twenty -five militants, leading Su figures in the bitter strike of 30,000 textile workers which ste six months, were in- on the unheard of pete of “conspiracy to violate the city’s laws,” a “conspiracy to disturb the peac Only Police * matin by) The indictments were obtained, as the frankly cynical announcement of the Grand Jury declares, “solely on the testimony of police,” and in- clude not only local leaders of the big struggle, but also nationally known figures én labor’s struggles such as Albert Weisbord, secretary- treasurer of the National Textile Workers’ Union; Fred Biedenkapp, national secretary of the Workers International Relief, and Paul Crouch, famous soldier-Communist and secretary of the All-America Anti-Imperialist League. Chief of Police McLeod also said that he came before the Grand Jury with a much longer list for indict- ments and that these will be gone after, for the list of those indicted do not include Murdoch and Beal, two of the chief local leaders. They were serving a jail sentence at the time the alleged Er, was, ATTACKS FAIL TO: HALT NEW UNION New Bedford Leader Tells of Progress The indictment of 25 leaders of |the New Bedford strike on charges of conspiracy was characterized yes- terday by Ellen Dawson, women’s organizer in the strike, as a brazen attempt on the part of the mill- owners’ courts to railroad the lead- ers of the strike to long jail terms, In an interview with a representa- tive of the Daily Worker, Dawson, who had just arrived from New Bedford, pointed out the fact that this is a maneuver seeking to assure punishment for those who took the most active part in the strike. The {25 workers cannot be tried separately, thus greatly facilitating the railroading of the strike leaders. Only Police Testified. “The first any of us in New Bed- |ford~-knew.-about-shis -indietment?” | bging.committed. ; ;/Dawson said, “was when we real} Boss ‘Conspiracy. jabout it Saturday in the New Bed- | Although there are 662 of New |ford Evening Standard, one of the! Bedford's textile strikers coming up [most vicious of the boss organs. The| gor trial next week, the chara jentire thing ‘was done under cover seainst these 25 are extremely sin- and the paper openly admits that) ister in portent. It is considered the indictments were geturned only | obviously a bald attempt on the part upon the testimony of Chief of Police |of the New England textile manu- McLeod and several policemen, | facturers outlaw all strikes by send- “But the workers of New Bedford’ ing the cream of the New England jcannot be intimidated by such at-| working class to long prison terms |tacks on their leaders. They have for leading these attempts to halt shown repeatedly their determina-|the economic attacks against the tion to build a strong union, the New mill slaves. Bedford Textile Workers Union, Labor Defense Rallying. ined on Page Fiv arcane MLA deed The International Labor De- fense, who has been handling all | these cases is now rallying all its | forces to raise funds and to develop Ja tremendous movement of mass rotest against this new attack on the working class by the murderers of Sacco and Vanzetti. Mass meet- NEW WAGE CUT IN MASS. MILLS ots | Th 15 Per Cane Slash in The 662 cases including the 25 conspiracy” cases, are to come up North Adams jin the Superior Court next Monday. (Special to the Daily Worker) | Nearly all of these hundreds of | strikers are appearing in an appeal BOSTON, Nov. 18.—In line with! taken from sentences already levied. the general campaign of the textile bosses to worsen the conditions of | Continued on Page Five the mill workers in the New Eng- t Shaw Again Lauds land states, the mill owners of a North Adams and vicinity, in Mas-/ Mussolini; Jeers at sachusetts, have announced a wage H cut, amounting to 5 per cent, to take the Italian Workers effect on December,1. The notice of the wage slash has been posted |by the Berkshire Mills of Adams,| |the Hoosac Mills of North Adams, jand the Greylock Mills of Williams- | wright, shareholder in coal mines, classroom philosopher and “social- . . ist,” has again ex- pressed his warm |town and North Pownal. The Berk-| ¢ ‘Petia tbeadhg |shire and Greylock Mills, employing | Hitsslench ob tases over 3,000 workers, are owned by a. ace ae Bh nia ‘the’ Berkshire Cotton Manufactur-|. > — ~@ Sands o} ae ing Co. of Adams, which claims to|* =" aedeaictaaige i: |be an independent company, The etnalinl.’ sae ae |Hoosac Mills are owned by William is tha bloody. faneile M. Butler, friend of Calvin Coolidge, head, of the republican national committee, and boss of the New| | England Cotton Manufacturing As- |sociation, Butler was also influen- | tial in bringing about the nomina- tion of Herbert Hoover. The cities. and towns affected by the wage slash are all located near each other in the’extreme northeast | corner of Massachusetts, lying| chaos. He expresses his contempt along the Berkshire Hills, on the| for the Italian workers who seized border lines of New York and Ver-|the factories and attempted to mont. Over 60 per cent of the| overthrow capitalism by declaring. workers in these mills are Polish.| that they had “played the fool.” The great majority of the workers|. “After the war,” Shaw said, “the are unorganized, the only union in! demobilized Italian soldiers had the section being a small indepen-| heen cured of laziness by the terri- dent one with little influence. ble discipline of the trenches. When they came home they found the 18 Workers Hurt When men parte been having @ good 2 i time in the booming trades of war Burning Wall Falls MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Nov. time, instead of a bad time in the trenches, playing the fool at what they imagined to be socialism and | 18 (UP).—Eighteen persons were |8Yndicalism, seizing the factories injured, several seriously, when |8"d making a hopeless mess of — the wall of a furniture factory col- ‘apsed as the building was burn- ing. regime. In an interview with Siegfried Tre- bitsch published in the magazine sec- tion of yesterday's New York Times, Shaw calls Mus- solini the man of Likes Blackshirts the hour who saved Italy from them, making speeches and 1 aa revolutionary flags; above all, dis Continued on Page Two ° Bernard Shaw, millionaire play- Ss nets my