The Daily Worker Newspaper, November 21, 1928, Page 6

THO ss oon SO tht <pae ferro sare eg eee Page Six « THE DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, NOV. 21, 1928 Daily Published Daily Except Sunday, a N.Y e Address “Dastoork” National Worker Daily New York 1696-7. by Publishing 26-28 Telephone, Ass’n., Inc. Union Squar Stuyy ROBERT Editor” WM. F MINOR DUNNE Assistant Editor pas <= cera _—F7 Central Organ of the Workers (Communist) Party The One A. F. of L. Demand That | Will Be Realized Living up to its reputation as the most venal and reactionz acy in the world, the American Federation of Labor convention now in session at New Orleans has before it for action the recommendation of its Metal Trades Department favoring a bigger navy. At the Saturday session of the various departments the resolution advoca- ting a bigger navy was passed by the metal trades branch and on Monday became offi- cially a part of the proceedings of the con- vention. The demand for a bigger navy is the one demand of the convention that will assuredly be realized. What is significant as showing the depths of depravity to which the labor lieutenants of capitalism have sunk is the fact that the demand for a bigger navy be- labor bureauc: comes the major political slogan following | close upon the new outburst of imperialist jingoism since the election of Hoover. The Coolidge Armistice Day speech in which he proclaimed the intention of the United States to build the mightiest navy on earth, the an- nouncement of the gigantic naval program of Secretary of the Navy Wilbur, the imperialist journey of Hoover to Latin-America, the fierce European reaction against the Coolidge threat are all indicative of a general political realization of a sharpening of the world-wide struggle between the great imperialist powers of the world that must inevitably culminate in a new war for a new redivision of the World. The demand of the Metal Trades Department for a bigger navy supplements the imperialist armaments program of the government at Washington. It is not to be doubted that the sponsors of the proposition for a bigger navy are the direct spokesmen for the strike-breaking government. It is not to be doubted that an agreement is already in existence which provides that in case of danger of real labor organization in the basic industries, that is to say the potential war industries of the country, the fakers of American Federatione of Labor will step in and create a spurious organization that will be nothing more nor less than an integral part of the war machine, a means of delivering the workers bound and | gagged to the war-mongers. At the identical time the Metal Trades De- partment advocates a bigger navy the labor bureaucracy performs another service for its imperialist masters by laying plans for “strengthening” the Pan-American Federa- tion of Labor, which is nothing other than the yellow labor counterpart yof the Pan- American union, composed of agents of the yankee imperialist government and the vassal governments in the service of Wall Street that terrorize the Latin-American masses. The big navy program enunciated by the A. F. of L. Metal Trades Department should be utilized in all Latin-American countries to expose the true role of the Pan-American Federation of Labor as agents of dollar des- potism. But while the bigger navy proposition of the convention at New Orleans will be re- alized because the imperialist butchers have placed it on the order of the day at Washing- ton, the other demands will not be realized. The fakers will not organize the unorganized into labor unions for the simple reason that, as agents of the capifalist class, their job is to prevent organization. They will not succeed in crushing the Communists, but on the con- trary will have to answer for their crimes against labor before ever larger sections of the working class that, under Communist in- fluence, recognize the Greens, the Wolls, the Worker cage SUBSCRIPTION RATES: By Mail (in New York only) $2.50 three mos. $8 a year $4.50 six mos. By Mail (outside of New York) $6 a year $2.00 three mos. Address and mail all checks to The Daily Worker, 26-28 Union Square, New York, N. Y. $3.50 six mos. Lewises as the splitters of the trade aren movement. The sole defenders of the unity of the la- bor movement against the disrupters, the splitters, the red baiters and all the hirelings of capitalism at the head of the A. F. of L. are the Communists and the left wing of or- ganized labor. And it is precisely this van- guard of the whole labor movement that is driving relentlessly forward toward the mobilization of the masses of labor with new and more powerful organizations preparatory to the time when all the agents of capitalism will go down to defeat before the revolu- tionary fury of the exploited masses along with the class they serve. A Lame Duck Returns to England Alanson B. Houghton has returned to his post as ambassador to the court of the king of Britain after his defeat as republican can- didate for United States senator from New York state. Thus we have another example of the working of American democracy. When a servant of imperialism fails of elec- tion even under the fraudulent forms of democracy in vogue in the United States, it does not disqualify him from holding office. In other countries defeated politicians re- main out of the picture until they again suc- ceed in securing some sort of parliamentary office. But in the United States when a poli- tician becomes so discredited that he cannot aspire to election even as a dog catcher he is taken care of by the political machine and receives what is known as a “lame duck” ap- pointment. § * Kellogg, defeated for United States sena- tor in Minnesota where his record as a paid pleader for the grain trust is too well known, becomes secretary of state by a lame duck appointment. “Big Bill” Taft, defeated more overwhelmingly for reelection for president than any other person who tried to succeed himself in that office becomes chief justice of the United States supreme court, also by grace of a lame duck appointment, The return of Houghton to England as ambassador is not surprising. What is of passing interest is the sneaking, double- faced, deceptive role played by Coolidge in the affair. When Houghton returned from London to participate in his campaign for senator he sent his resignation to the presi- dent. Coolidge replied that he was sorry that Houghton had seen fit to resign and praised his record as ambassador. It was generally taken for granted that the resignation had been accepted. But when Houghton was de- feated he was requested to return to-his post and Coolidge explained that in his reply to Houghton’s resignation he merely expresséd his regrets but did not formally accept the resignation. Houghton’s absence from London did not impair the effective working of the Amer- ican embassy there, however. Which again shows that it is not the particular political appointees who function as part of the gov- ernment machine but, as Lenin so often em- phasized, a whole army of hirelings that make up the bureaucratic apparatus of the state. This apparatus functions at Washing- ton or London equally as well without the government figureheads as with them. The Wall Street embassy at London, in browbeating the British government, seems to make greater progress than before not because Houghton is superior (as he might possibly be) to others who enjoyed less suc- cess, but because the power of American imperialism, its domination in the capitalist world, is so effective that it can carry out its policies better than it did at a time that Britain was the dominant power of the world. (Continued) airplane—was now somewhere out in the unknown... . Throvghout the day there was a cepressing stillness on the ship. The fog came back and vanis!#d again. And then it returned anew, stealth- ily, like a thief in the night. At midnight the fog was scat- ared once more. It was now twenty-four hours that the airplane had been away. At half past two a cry rang out from the bridge: “The plane is coming!” Immedi- ately the whole vessel shook with the tread of runnng feet. Flag: of “Welcome” were run up to the masthead. Rockets soared up an burrahs thundered forth. Every- body rushed down to the ice to meet the plane, which had alighted on the fee at a distance and was already Yaxiing up te the side of the “Maly- gin” on its skis. ; Babushkin, Groshev, Valentei “a all safe and sound. | Where had they been? What had | happened? They had a remarkable | departure they had reached King The soul of our expedition—the |Charles Land and alighted on the ice-ledge frozen around the shore. The island is mountanious and the shores are stark, black granite walls. The ridges of the hills are covered with snow and ice. beers were nearby as the plane came |down. Frightened by the noise, they }ran off into the hills. |set up the red flag on a neighbor- jing cliff, stored the cans of gaso-} line near the shore and hurriedly took off for the return trip. On the! way a dense fog enveloped them. They were forced to descend on the ice and wait, and they had to wait almost twenty-four hours. q | tion picture operator |views and the world will see these |fantastic scenes of the north. The next two days we remained inactive while the aviators changed the motor of the plane. The Icebreaker “Malygin” in the Arctic would bring back rescued. the Italians Days of Anxiety. We escorted Babushkin off at 9.20 p.m. on June 29. Before midnight 1 very Strong east wind blew up, snow began to fall, the ship's rig- ging whistled dismally, the birds took to cover, and heavy clouds drove along. And to cap our anxi- ety, our radio operator lost contact with the plane. Again something had gone wrong with the airplane’s radio apparatus. The “Malygin” remained statio- rary in the ice waiting. The ice lowly and stubbornly jammed us n. Its irresistible motion inspires a strange feeling. At first the ice \‘illed up the lane through which we |had come, then, breaking up, it crept under the hull, then it began to-rise up along the sides toward the deck. Enormous masses of ice, many tons Three polar The aviators The mo- took many sin weight. climbed ever higher andj Finaily, on June 23, everyming slighty like beasts, crunching and was ready for a direct flight to Foyn | grinding. Island. Late in the evening we saw |°overing the sides of the vessel like the fllyers off on atery to tell. Two hours after x, Vinton that before many hours they Here they were already their cal: solid wall. (To Be Continued.) BILL GREEN PLAYS SECOND FIDDLE By Fred Ellis Militants Tried in Washington This is the second installment | of the stenographic.recordtof the trial in Washington, D. C. of 29 |Demonstrators Jailed for Demanding Porter | workers for participating in the | demonstration for the release of John Porter and against imperial- ist war. In this issue, we publish the conclusion of the speech of Karl Reeve, editor of Labor De- | fender, at the trial, and the speech of Paul Crouch, Secretary of the | All-America Anti-Imperialist League. In following installments, | testimony by other_.militant par- ticipants will be published— | Editor, * * * One word more, your honor: It has been stated here, or by some of the officers, who spoke to us yesterday, that we are Communists ~and he swore at us, and threat- ened to turn, yes, when we were in | jail, he threatened to turn the hose on us, and so on; and it has been charged by some of these officers that some of these demonstrators are Communists. Your honor, that is true. I, myself, although I am here officially representing the In- ternational Labor Defense, which is a non-partisan workers’ organiza- tion, yet I am a Communist. The Communist Party is the party of the working class. The Communist Party represents the workers in all its efforts for better conditions, for hetter trade union conditions. The Communist Party represents the workers in all of their struggles against the capitalist class, against these officials, and against these government bodies which are rep- resenting the capitalist class. This is about all I have to say. (The witness left the stand.) e MR. GIVEN—The statement just made does not seem t@ be at all material to the issue here. THE COURT—Does anyone else wish to take the stand? CROUCH—I do. The clerk of the court—Come eround and be sworn, Paul Crouch. The witness, appearing in his own behalf, after having been duly w@n, testified and stated as fol- lows: Direct Statement. The proseeutor in his speech made reference to a former demonstra tion here under the auspices of the All-America Anti-Imperialist Teague, and stated in effect that the purpose of raising the penalty was to stop such demonstration Tn other words, the prosecuting of. cer has acknowledged that th power of the government is bein utilized in this case as the tool o the master class in an effort t: uppress the workers, to prevent 1 from exposing such cases as tha‘ of John Porter. Tells of 40-Year Sentence. I want to say that in, 1925 I hac » similar experience to that of John Porter, in whose .behalf this dem onstration was made. I was sen tenced to 40 years‘ imprisonment b) a court martial at Schofield Bar racks, Hawaii, for the crime, ac cording to the military taw, of of w ng roldiers to protest against heing used-—— MR. GIVEN _ (internosing) Your honor, what has this to de wig the issue here? Release, Define Views on Capitalism THE COURT—Confine yourself to |the charge in this case. Preparations for New War. CROUCH—The court will please remember that the purpose of this parade was to force a release of | John Porter, and I am bringing out ‘the reason why I was personally in- |terested, and why the organization which I represent was interested in the case of John Porter. The All- America Anti-Imeprialist League, which pariicipated in and endorsed the petition prepared by the Inter- national Labor Defense to be pre- sented to the secretary of War, did so because it felt that the impris- enment of John Porter was a part ef the preparations for a new war. And we felt it was our duty, whether we were technically within |the law or whether we were tech- |nically outside of the law, outside |of the capitalist courts of justice, | which the workers should not and TOLD BY A (The following stor} was told to me by a sailor down at the Interna- tional Seamen’s Club the other day. He has just returned from a hos- pital in Beirut, Syria.) tise eR: | MARSEILLES was the first port where I saw the Marine Workers Voice. They have it in the Seamen’s Club there. The French marine pa- per is on sale at all the stands and bought like hotcakes. And you jought to see the “Humanite”’— Christ, when they bring it to the stand, it’s piled this high, just like jany other bourgeois paper. | Lots of sailors belong to our union there. French ships are open and ‘lots of our prop gets aboard. But| |they watch American ships like a hawk. And maybe the Italian sailors don’t carry the stuff right on the \fascist ships to all parts of the world, |Jesus Christ! | Marseilles is a lohsy port to be | stuck in. When you got your dis- charge papers in your pocket and begin looking for another ship yeu got to be careful how you spend your dough. You can live pretty cheap, I worked there as a dock la- borer until I shipped back here, It’s pretty rotten when you ain’t got a cent in your pocket and you to sleep in. The place is all cobbles and hills and stone walls, and there isn’t even an archway a fellow could slip into for a night’s sleep. You got to keep on moving all the time. You can sit down alright, but as soon as you fall asleep you're ar- rested. They got a funny law there. When you're arrested the first time you get a warning, and the second time you get another warning—but the third time you're arrested for sleep- ‘ng out you get a warning that un- ‘ess you leave the country you'll be ent to the French Foreign Legion. ‘ow the hell is a fellow going to leave the country when he hasn’t got a cent in his pocket and he can’t tind a ship? Oh, yes. They got one public flof house in Marseilles, way up on top of the hill. The boys call it the “Monkey House.” You know it’s run by some sort of monks, Fran- ciscan or something of the kind. When you got no other place to jgo and you haven’t got a sou you 'zo te the monkey house. You iine up in the hal and you got to pass three monks sitting at a sort of counter. You know how they are-—hig bellied, and a rosy and milk white complexion, You got ta go can’t ship. There’s not a damn place | SEAMAN; PORTS AND SPOTTERS thru a regular grilling before you're | allowed into that monkey house. If you don’t have identification of some sort they turn you out. The rst monk looks at your identifica- |tion and questions you. The second monk looks over the names in a book to see if you’re not wanted by the police or if you’re not blacklisted. |And+the third monk questions you some more. All the time there are monks walking up and down and snooping around and listening in to what you’re saying in line. We boys got to be careful what we say, you know. | Jesus, that place is like a regular |spotters joint. The police, the ship |companies and the monks help each other along. After you get past those monks sitting in their monkey cages then you're alright for the night. They herd you over on one side of the hall and make a pretense of separ- |ating the cleaner ones from the dir- tier ones. If you’re dressed a little nicer than the other fellow they put you over on one side. But it really don’t make any difference. You all sleep in the same dirty beds. After they get thru seeing that, you're alright, well, then you can go to sleep. You sleep altogether in one big room where the bunks are and no place to put your clothes. So you sleep on the top of them. You know, if you left them out, there would be nothing left of what you had in your pockets. And while you’re sleeping the big- bellied monks and cops walk up and down watching you and listening in to what you got to say. You see, there’s where the church and state walks hand in hand, At five o’clock in the morning they turn you all out of your bunk. They got some showers there but there out in the open court yard without any protection. And the water is ice cold. So you don’t take a bath even if you feel like. They herd you all into a large mess hall and feed you some bread cooked in water. You know what it is, it’s just stale bread they collect from the bakeries in the city and they dump it into ‘some hot water. And after you get thru eating that you’re done. | They turn you loose at six o’clock jand you go around trying to get Ishipptt. | And if you don’t get a ship that |day maybe you go back to the mon- ikey house again or just walk the ‘cobbled streets Hardly any room to turn around, | | las follows: strung one on top of: the other.) inust not recognize in their struggle for better conditions. Political Significance of Case. We felt that it was our duty to suppert the cause of John Porter as a part of our struggle against imperialism. Therefore, the All- America and Anti-Imperialist League participated in this demon- stration. And the the government prosecutor regard- ing the increase in the penalty |shows the political significance of this case; it shows we are not being brought up here because we have violated or have not violated some | technical regulation, but we are brought up here because we repre- sent a militant protest of the wor ing class, which the courts and the authorities in this country are try- ing to throttle. Will Continue Fight. I wish to say for myself that we will recognize no fine which the cap- itulist courts may impose upon us; that we will pay no fines imposed upon us; and regardless of what ac- tion is taken here we will continue to bring forward the case of John Yerter, and we will continue to ex- pose the preparations of the imper- ialists for another war—and we will | do this regardless of what the courts | may do to us, and regardless of what | the government, which is a tool of | Wall Street, may say about the) matter. Questions by Mr. Given: Q. What work do you do? A.I am secretary of the All- America Anti-Imperialist League. Q. You do not do any physical labor at all? A. I have done a good deal of it. Q. You are being taken care of by that organization for doing this kind of work? A. I am making a living inferior to that of the average employe of capitalist organizations. MR. GIVEN. Very well. all I wish to ask you. (The witness left the stand.) THE CLERK OF THE COURT. The next man will come around. Whereupon KARL JONES, another witness presenting himself, having been first duly sworn, stated That is DIRECT STATEMENT. Your Honor, I want to say first| that I am in full accord with the| statements made by the last two comrades. “What's That Nigger Doing Here?” And I want to say in answer to this detective, who asked “What's that Negro doing here?” I want to say that I represent an organiza- tion of 25,000 militant Negro work- ers, and we are fighting for the benefit of the betterment of the condition of the Negro worker, and that we join our fight with the rest of the working class in the United States. And we fight, we demonstrate, for the cause of John Porter, not- withstanding, or at least not taking into consideration, what race or na- tionality he belongs to. The only thing we want to know is that he is a worker and fighting for better conditions. We join with him on those grounds. Protest “Jim Crow” Treatment. I want to say furthermore that I want to go on record as protesting against the treatment we were ac- corded in the jail, and against the attempt to Jim Crow me because I! am a Negro. | MR. GIVEN. If the Court please, }e statements of | Misleaders in the American Labor | Union BY WILLIAM Z. FOSTER. Lewis’ master betrayal was in J |great strike of the 600,000 mine¥s in 1922. On entering this histori |strike the union found itself in |most difficult position. But the sit uation was saved by a_ glorious strike of the unorganized miners 50,000 strong, in Western Pennsyl- |vania, home of the Steel Trust. This| wonderful incident turned the tide in favor of the union. But Lewis, \in signing the agreement upon the| jconclusion of the national strike, shamelessly betrayed these loyal miners. He made no provision for them whatever in the national an district agreements. Abandoned, |sold out, they stayed on strike for several months, until they were | beaten and starved into submission This treachery has dealt the pres: tige and power of the U. M. W. A |a deadly blow, and made the unioni |zation of the non-union fields ex | tremely difficult. 7 | The following letter, written byf\ ¢ |man who made a good record in t jsteel campaign of 1918 as an c |ganizer and who led the miners i the strike in question, but who has |since beccme a supporter of Lewis, jgives a picture of the shameful be- | trayal. Charleroi, Pa., September 21, 1922. Mr. W. Z. Foster, Chicago, Illinois. Dear Friend Bill: J was pleased to hear from you, and learn that you are still in the land of the living. I surely appre- ciate your interest in the battle I am engaged in for industrial free- dom in the Connelsville Region where industrial slavery has been in existence so long. Bill, it looks as though you have the right dope on this situation, as I am the only international or, ganizer in the field. National Board Member O’Leary, and Dis. trict, Board Member Hynes along’ with two of the Pittsburgh district organizers, make up the crew that are fighting this battle against the most powerful coal companies in the country. Our men are holding out remarkably. We are fighting with our backs to the wall. With- out sufficient funds or help. I | have appealed time and again for | assistance, but to no ayail. Five thousand miners and their fam- ilies have been evicted from their homes, and fifteen thousand others | have been served with eviction no- | tices. Tent colonies are erected all over the region, and twenty-five hundred hired thugs and gunmen | have been deputized by the sheriff | of Fayette County. Two hundred state police are scattered over the field. The jails are filled with | | striking miners. Six striking min- | ers have been brutally murdered, and twenty-five others have bee wounded. Hundreds have beei\ beaten up, many of them cripplec for life. Wholesale evictions are taking place daily. We need funds, and need them bad. Appeais have Leen sent all over the zcuntry for assistance by us, anu upon this, depends the very existence of the struggling men and women of the Connelsville coke region. The recent settlement, by the district officials of District No. 5 was a staggering blow to the min- ers of the coke region, when they signed for the large Hillman in- | terests, in the old Pittsburgh dis- trict and left out the twelve mines of that company that we have or- | ganized solidly in the Connelsville field. This was the damndest blun- | der of the age. O’Leary and Hynes fought against this settlement, but the gang overwhelmed them. We are demanding a special conven- tion, and it will be some conven- tion. There will be Hell to pay. I find both International and Dis- trict organizers throwing cold water on this very important sit ation. International Secretary W’ liam Green is the only national ficial that has paid us a vis’ notwithstanding that Vice-Presi- dent Murray, who lives but forty miles from the seat of war, can- not find time ‘to visit the field. Bill, I expect to be a candidate for district president, and believe me, there will be some fun. We have received the paltry sum of three thousand dollars from District 5 to help carry on the strike, with forty-five thousand men involved. I must now draw to a close, for God’s sake if you can help us, do so, we need shelter, food and cloth- ing, children are without shoes, and unable to go to school. Wish- ing you every success, I remain, Yours respectfully, WILLIAM FEENEY. P. S. Billy, I hope you are able to keep out of jail and that some will take your place behind th bars where they belong. Bill, am weary, tired and indignant at’ of those so-called Labor a i | the treacment we are receiving. I will invite you to convention when we get it, although we can look out for an injunction. he may petition to some other au- thority in that matter. THE COURT. Yes; confine your self to the issue here. THE WITNESS. I also protes' against the photographing anc finger-printing of us, like we wert criminals, whereas we are. only, charged with an ordinary violatio: of some ordinance. That. is all have to say. (To Be Continued.) Feat |