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

i : THE DAILY WORKER FIGHTS THE DAILY WORKER FIGHTS For a Workers-Farmers Government To Organize the Unorganized For the 40-Hour Week For a Labor Party aly Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at N lew York, N, Y., under the act of March 3, 18° Publ Vol. Vi No. 308 Publi ished daily except Sunday by The Nat ishing Association, Inc. Dally Worker New York, N. ¥. NEW YORK, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1928 SUBSCRIPTION R Outside N MELLON GIVES MILLIONS BACK TO OWN FIRM: “Tax Refund” of U. Treasury Rich Gift to Scab Mines Most to Tobacco Trust Congressman Charges Looting Increases WASHINGTON, Dec. 27.—The | oficial list, from the treasury de-| partment of those receiving tax re- | funds during the last fiscal year, ending June 30, is now available. It | shows that Secretary of the Treas- ury Mellon has given to big cor- porations, most of them in New) York and Pennsylvania, which is controlled by the Mellon political machine, the sum of $142,393,567. It includes companies financially controlled by the Mellon family. This Year More. The list for the present fiscal year will not be made public before | this time next year, but Representa- tive Garner of Texas two weeks ago! declared on the floor of the house | that millions were this year being | given to coal and mining companies | controlled by the Mellon family, and that the steel trust, with which Mel- Jon is also connected through his banking relations, will get $15,900,- | 000 refunds, and, if present claims are allowed by Mellon, will get $30,000,000 more. Ten More Than Million. Ten refunds on the last fiscal year list amounted to more than * 31,000,000 each, with the R. J. Rey-| nolds Tobacco Company of Winston- | Salem, N. C., receiving the largest | amount—$6,213,808, The American | Tobacco Company and subsidiaries | (Continued on Page Five) NORRIS APPROVES TRUST DAM BILL Says Plan to Let West Give Contracts O. K. WASHINGTON, Dec. 27.—“Pro- | gressive” Senator Norris of Nebras- | ka today declared himself satisfied | with the Boulder Dam Bill in its | present form. The senator pro-| fessed not to be alarmed over the) fact that Roy West, agent of the | power trust, will, as secretary of the interior, allot contracts and de-| cide whether the power magnates or the government shall own the power plant. Bill Adopted. The bill has been submitted to} President Coolidge for his signature with an amendment, adopted by the senate, giving the secretary of the interior the power to decide whether the government or the private power interests shall build and operate the proposed power plant to generate 1,000,000 horsepower. This is, in effect, a victory for the power trust. The amendment was passed after repeated threats from the White House that Coolidge would veto any measure definitely providing for public ownership and operation. Capitalist Conflict. | The Boulder Dam bill was orig- inally agitated for ‘as a project to protect the Imperial Valley and | other southern sections of Califor-| nia from the floods of the Colorado River by the construction of a dam impounding 20,000,000 acre-feet of water. To this were added projects for a canal irrigating the southern part of California and Arizona, and the construction of a power plant for the generation of hydro-electric energy. The petty bourgeoisie of Califor- mia, especially realtors who own Continued on Page Three Ask Workers to Turn in ‘Daily’ Greetings, Donations at Once Many workers are walking around with greetings and dona- tions for the fifth anniversary of the Daily Worker in their pockets. By remaining in their pockets these greetings and donations do the Daily Worker absolutely no The moral of which is: travel light. Unburden yourselves at ‘once of all the greetings and do- nations you collect. Bring them or send them to the office of the Daily Worker, 26 Union Sq. Duncan Dancers to Appear for “Daily” Four Isadora Duncan dancers, detained at El- lis Island by immigra- tion officials, were al- lowed to come ashore after posting bonds of $500 cach. In the picture are Tamara Marie Missorsky, Elena Terenteff and Litia Dicovsky. They will ap- pear with the rest of the Duncan troupe at the great Fifth Anniversary celebration of the Daily Worker, on January 5, at Manhattan Opera House, 34th St. west of 8th Avenue, Many Unusual Birthday Edition of “Daily” TO SHOW GREAT MINE FILM HERE “Shanghai Document” on Bill Also Sunday When the mine explosion in Mather, Pa., wiped out the entire working population of the town, a strict police ban and constant guard- ing were instituted, to prevent “un- vleasant publicity,” for one thing. How it was accomplished is not known, but in the remarkable film | called the ‘Miners’ Strike!” the Mather mine disaster is shown in all its tragic action. Despite police surveillance, the actual scenes are shown here, of the mine disaster from which not one of the hun- dved ninety-seven miners came thru alive. The special performance of the Miners’ Strike film, combined with he Shanghai Document, depicting the revolutionary struggle in China, will be given next Sunday, Decem- ber 30, at 2 p. m., at the Czecho- Slovak Workers House, 347 E. 72nd | Street, All workers and workers’ organ- izations are urged to see these re- markable motion pictures. ceeds are to go for the benefit of the textile workers: The perform- nee is being given under the aus- pices of local New York, Workers international Relief, 799 Broadway. Weisbord Will Speak at Forum of Workers School Sunday Night Albert Weisbord, secretary-treas- urer of the new National Textile Union and leader of the Passaic strike, will be the speaker at the Workers School Forum, 26-28 Union Sq., 5th floor this Sunday evening, Dec. 30th at 8 p. m., on the subject “Textile Industry and the New Unionism.” Weisbord, who is known thruout the country as a strike organizer and leader, who played a prominent part in organizing textile workers in Passaic and New Bedford and who is one of the leaders in the launching of the new Textile Union, will analyze the textile industry, the crisis in that industry, changes within it, the effect of the indus- trialization of the South. Admis- | sion will be fifty cents and the pro- | Features In HOOVER COMING — TO DIIDE LOOT Will Give Imperialist Advice, Patronage WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 27.— |A fierce discussion rages among Oneself million® ‘copies “of thia| enators and representatives in this special edition, which will appear City as to the best way to employ January 5, will be distributed to| President-elect Hoover's forthcom- ‘workers thruout the country. Every 88 visit to the capital. industrial section of the country will|, Hoover will arrive in time to boss be covered in the greatest mass dis-|the Bolivia-Paraguay decision, but tribution that the Daily Worker has| it is generally accepted that his trip ever conducted. Already many cities 0 Washington is for the purpose, have ordered their quotas and spe.|@™ong others, of compromising the cial distribution squads are being|Patronage tangle, many senators appointed. cpenly threatening to sabotage ad- Useiteitby:Caminmniat beadirs: ministration bills if thefr right to t ais have their friends appointed to pub- The anniversary edition will con- jie office is overland eee tain articles by all the leaders of a the Workers (Communist) Party—| Hoover Tightens the Patronuge. | Jay, Lovestone, William. Z...Foster,! Hoover is said te be eom d Ben Gitlow, Bertram D. Worfe,| tc the plan of having the party ma- William W. Weinstone, Max Be-|chinery provide the list of those dacht, Alexander Bittelman, Robert|who shall enjoy the spoils of office Minor and many others. The issue as their reward for heavy political The fifth anniversary edition the Daily Worker will be the great- est working class newspaper ever issued in the English language, This atement.can be made relecrically| in view of the material which it. is planned to include in the special edi- tion. 3 | will also include articles by the var-'campaigning for the republican ious district organizers of the Par-| party. ty, telling of the part the “Daily”) Opponents of « the MeNary- jis playing in the struggles of the | yy, | workers in their parts of the coun- try. Among the special feature article: aughen farm bill threaten a fili- buster in the senate if Hoover con- |sents to bring the bill up in this session, Among these are Senator will.be a history of the Daily Wo ah, who declares that he will er from the day it was founded until permit nothing to go ahead of the ithe present time by A. G. Richman,| Kellogg treaties. illustrated by Fred Ellis; “The! president Coolidge admits that he spantetataes Fotitical Action.” by’ advised Hoover to return. Tt is con- | ; sidered that Coolidge felt the situa- Soviet press by A. G. Richman;) “The Red International,” by Harri- son George; “The Situation in the| | Ellis, William Gropper and Jacob Burck, will have special drawings in| SAN 7 | t eTER Ge CLT tenet, LOS ANGELES, ‘Cal, Dec. 27.— |the anniversary edition, including q¢to Hall, field organizer of the |Workers (Communist) Party, who |will contain greetings from the| |Communist Parties of the Soviet) | Union, of Germany, France, Eng-| rf = nd On Friday evening, January 4, jat the A. M. E. Zion Church, at Pico and Paloma, he will speak on ‘So- | Ellis telling of his early days as a ,- 5 ‘ stockyards worker and a sign paint- Be as aN ga TALKS ON NEGRO Anthracite,” by Pat Toohey; and | some of Gropper’s drawings of the | Soviet Union, Interesting cartoons recently returned from Soviet |Russia, where he made a study of | land, Czecho-Slovakia, Canada, Mex- | Continued on Page Two viet Russia and Racial Questions.” |He will also address the Negro er by A. B. Magil; an interview with IN LOS ANGELES many other feature articles. from the foreign Communist press jracial problems, is scheduled to ad- | Open Forum. Sunday afternoon i Alexander Trachtenberg on the New York Call and the part it played, by Special Drawings, Hall to Address Many Three of the foremost working} Meetings | will also be included. dress several mass meetings in Los Angeles on “Negro Problems and | The Workers (Communist) Party | Mghts for the enactment of the 40- Sol Auerbach; an article on the |class artists in this country, Fred By I. BROOKS | In addition, the special edition their Solutions.” ‘hour. 5-day week. PAINTS USSR LEADERS 50 Portraits To Be Exhibi ted Here Soon “Agrojoint,” an organization to collect funds for equipping Jewish agricultural colonists in the U.S.S.R., will soon place on exhibition and sale in New York, 50°oil paintings of leaders in the U.S.S.R., and scenes of the Jewish colonists at their daily tasks, in Crimea, Uk- raine, and other parts of the coun- try, the work of Frank Horowitz, sent by Agrojoint on a three months’ tour ofthe Soviet Union to get them. Among the portraits is one of Simolovich, the navigator of the Krassin, and one of its aviator, Chuknovsky. These two were paint- ed by Horowitz at the time the Krassin heroes were being inter- viewed by newspaper men on their arrival in Moscow. Horowitz works rapidly, and got the portraits during he will speak at the Civil Liberties | Union Open Forum. ’ Arrangements for other meetin, are in progress and according to in- (Continued on Page Five) 'Labor Conference on War Danger Jan. 12 Plans for rallying New York la- |tor on a mass seale to the struggle against American imperialism will be formulated at the first labor con- ference to fight the war danger and the new offensive of American im- perialism of the New York branch jof the All-America Anti-Imperialist |League, to be held at the Labor the two hours that they could allot him. Painted Lunacharsky Horowitz also painted and Agro- joint will exhibit, portraits of Luna- charsky, Kameneva (wife of Kam- enev, and president of the Society for Friendly Relations with Russia), Smiedovich and Maraschin, of the Commissariat for Agriculture, and two musicians, Hippolite Ivanov, the old composer, and the young pianist, Oborin, who won the international prize for piano composition in War- saw, recently. Horowitz brot back a sketch, but not an oil painting, of Kalenin. Horowitz states that the Jewish colonists are doing very well. He was particularly impresed by the readiness the Russians near the un- Continued on Page Throgs Jan, 12, at 8 p. m. Robert Minor, editor of the Daily Pershing, who as a soldier witnessed the brutal oppression of workers in Hawaii by American imperialism, will be among the speakers, Semenova, | SOCIALISTS OF GERMANY CALL FOR BIG ARMY. iConvention Platform, | | Says Arming Need Not Be Secret | Is Pacifist Camoulflage | Forced Aged to Slave apis 7 j | | Gesture Covers Troops | Shooting Strikers BERLIN, Dec. 27.—Chiefs of the , German social democratic party to- AS aie | : commissioner of New York, jday announced that a program of | jas¢ act at the Wanamaker stor building battleships and creating a where he is a million-dollar ¢ German army would be approved, in| utive, before he was given “leave of |a platform they are submitting to absence” .was. to. order .the .old ata workers, retired on meagre pensions, |the party convention in March, DHkue nei dicta to mas rush. He enforced this by means of a subtle threat Hindenburg and the Nationalists for | of discontinuing their pensions which a revival of German imperialism are all they have to exist on. and the needs of German industrial- | police whose | This militarist campaign, \in perfectly with the plotting of | order and in the evening of the same day, | ists for troops to fight strikers, will be camouflaged by a great deal of pacifist talk, but the kernel of it is that “Germany must maintain her army as a safeguard to self de- termination.” For Open Militarization. The platform proposes that the German government openly and publicly carry on a larger military establishment, with open Reichstag control of and responsibility for army and navy contracts, instead of, as at present, maintaining armies and munitions factories in secret. The socialist platform is in favor jof what they call a “non-partisan” army, that is, a disciplined force, loyal to the present capitalist s: tem, without too many workers | (Continued on Page Five) DON BASIN IS DEVELOPING Rapid Growth in Coal Fields (Special to the Daily Worker) KHARKOV, U. S. S. R., (By Mail).—Rapid development and con- struction in the coal fields of the |Don Basin, one of the main indus- trial centers of the Soviet Union, is |at present taking place. Seventeen new shaits, completely | mechanized and electrified, contain- | ing all possible safety measures, are | now in the construction. In addition 14 old shafts are being completely rehauled and reequipped. All these undertakings are being carried out by Soviet engineers with the excep- tion of a few shafts which are being constructed under the supervision of the German firm, “Tissen.” Over 38 million rubles will be as- signed for the enlarging of old shafts and the construction of new ones during the current year as jagainst 27 million in 1927- In the near future the Soviet |trust “Donugol” intends to start |the construction of a series of new | shafts, similar to the most powerful \shafts in Europe and in America. | hey will yield about 15,000 tons of ‘coal per year. The best scientific {specialists from Germany and Amer- |iea, besides Soviet specialists and | the Institute “Hyproshakhta,” will in |of plans and in the construction of | these shafts, at Irving Plaza Hall | Next Friday Evening The anti-Hoover demonstration arranged for Fgiday, Jan. 4, at 8 m., at Irvin} St. and Irving Place, will prove a |rallying call to the workers to at- |tend the meeting to denounce the ‘imperialist war excursion of Hoover, who is scheduled to return to the U, S. during the first week in Jan- uary. | The workers of New York are urged to turn out in a mass protest demonstration against the war plans of the imperialist Wall Street ad | ministration. Speakers at the’ pro- test meeting will be: George Persh. jing, Scott Nearing and Robert Min. | or. | An expose will be made of the ‘imperialist maneuvers behind the the negotiations of the Pan-Ameri- can conference. The meeting will Worker; Robert W. Dunn, noted |be held under the auspices, of the | economist and author, and George New York branch of the All-Amer-|ave Michae! Gold, Joseph Fr jica Anti-Imperialist League, 799 Broadway, The Workers (Communist) Party ts the party of the class struggle. Robert Dunn will be chairman. | AGED SLAVED IN WHALEN REGIME Wanamaker’sOilyChief Intimidated Workers For a Christmas present, Grover A. Whalen, $100,000-a-year general manager of the Wanamaker on 4th Ave. Astor ceived an extra job as commissioner of the graft-fat New York police from his Tammany ¢ ates while on “official” leave of absence from \the labor-baiting firm; but for the thousands of workers employ: Wanamakers’, Christmas m intolerable long hours, a speed-up made more intense because th are constantly on their feet, 10 and 12 and even 14 hours a day, all under the close surveillance of stére de- tectives. store and Place. re- Exploiting the Aged, Whalen’s terrorism nd the por of the store. A short time before the Christmas period he sent letters out to all the workers who had sold their entire es for a miserable weekly dole to Wanamakers, and were now “r tired” on an even more miserable pension, kindly “asking” them to report to the store during the rush weeks to accommodate the increased number of purchasers. Evidently, the tone of the letter was threaten- ing, because all of the retired work- ers had reported, (with the excep- |tion of a few who could not move their feet anymore after a lifctime lof toil) and had slaved during the Christmas period without pay. A bonus, or commission on their petty jsales, was all they received. Many of these old workers were still in the store, although the holiday rush had somewhat abated, and expected to ‘continue to toil gratis for a few more weeks, not daring to refuse or protest for fear that their pensions, $7 or $8 per week, all they had to exist on now, after 50 years or so of toil here, would be discontinued. And all this had been carried out under the supervision of Grover Whalen, -whose task now pr sumably, to exterminate those who live off the toil of others. The Open Shop Tradition. extends be- Continued on Page Two FINAL CITY EDITION ATES: In New York, ew York, by mail, 86. 0 per year, 1, $5.00 per year. ~ Price 3 Cents CONVENTION T WORKERS CLOAK, DRESSMAKERS OPEN ONIGHT; FUR BEGIN TOMORROW Both Unions to Amalgamate; Will Launch One Needle Trades Workers’ Union Workers in Both Trades Enthusiastic, Prepare for Giant Rally in Lincoln Arena Sunday The convention of the first of the two needle trades unions who are to amalgamate—the rt begins tonight in New Star C The Fur Workers’ Union RECEIVERSHIP ~ ON LABOR BANK B. of L. E. Securities Company in Court PHILADELPHI? —Earl B. Breading, Philadelphia attorney and Louis A. Weiss, of| New York, today were nained as re- ceivers for the Brotherhood of Lo- comotive Engineers’ Securities Cor- poration of New York and Pennsyl-| vani Breading and Wei were previously named receivers for the New York company by Judge Julian Mack of New York City. he Se Dec. 27 (UP). The securities company of the B. of L. E. is part of the huge system of “labor banking” started by the machine bureaucracy which con- trolled the union, as a substitute for a militant action by labor union- ists and as a means of tying up the treasury which might be othe used as strike funds, Thirty Million Debacle. After the death of Grand Chief Stone, who started the scheme, in- j vestigation showed that the whole structure was bankrupt, and that $30,00€,000 of the -workers’ money | and union funds had disappeared. A scandal rocked the last B. of L. E. convention, and the machine was able to cover itself by promis- ing to save some of the money thru a new and heavy assessment upon the membership. Different sections of the labor banking, insurance, and realty schemes of the B. of L. E. have shed recently, and the se- curities company is only the latest. Students in Workers School, Take Note! to all students of the New hool: 1. The class in “Social Aspects American Literature,” Joseph ctor, will have its ion tonight at 8:30 p. m. 2. The class in “Communist Party Organization,” Bert Miller, instructor, will have its session (for this week ony) tonight at 8:30 p. m. 3. The class in “Critical Periods in Human History,” Max Bedacht, instructor, class in “Program of the Cc. 1,” Wm. W. stone, instruc- tor, class in “Marxism-Leninism,” Max Bedacht, instructor, will have their sessions postponed until after New Year. They have their next ssion the first Saturday, the first Friday and the first Thursday, re- spectively after New Year. 4. The class in “Fundamentals of Communism,” Rebecca Grecht, in- structor, will not have a session to- of Freeman, in: | be invited to aid in the preparation! The revorter tried to speak to| night. The next session will be held m. \ Friday, Jan. 4th at 7 p Ma Poetry, music the dance—all the Plaza Hall, 15th |soven arts and a few more will be | vick, Aaron Kurtz, in their glory tonight at the big In- |ternational Red Pocts’ Night and Dance Bacchanal in Manhattan Lyceum, 66 E, Fourth St. The outstanding revolutionary |poets in the country, representing many nationalities, will read from |their latest work. English, Russian, Yiddish, Hungar , Ital- | are only an, Spani |a few of the languages that will be | heard. Negro Jazz Band. After the poet jc. Smith's Negro § make it lively for ybody until Temple, 14th St. and Second Ave.,| Rolivian-Paraguay hostilities and |the early hours of the morning. If |the poetry puts you to sleep, the music will be sure to wake you up. Among the poets who will | Robert Wolf, Henry Rei | Ridge, David Gordon, |Martin Russak, Her | Edwin es B. Magil, | Spector, ‘Aati-Hoover Meeting RED POETRY AND J AZZ ny Bards, Dance Bacchanal Tonight Adolf Wolff, Moishe Nadir, H. Lei- A. Pomerantz, D. Burliuk, H. T. Tsiang, J. Sigzorich and William Weinberg. rst Book. Chinese Poet's Red Poets’ Night will also mark the ar nee of the first book by H, T. Tsiang, called “Poems of the Chinese Revolution.” Tsiang wrote his first poem for the second Red Poets’ Night and has since contrib- uted frequently to the Daily Worker and the New Masses. | M. J. Olgin, editor of The Ham- mer, will be chairman of the eve- ning. A feature of the program will be the singing of revolutionary songs | in four languages by Harrison George, of the Daily Worker. George will sing in English, Span- ish, Italian and Chinese, The festivities will start at 8 o'clock. Buy your tickets in ad- vance to make sure of getting in. They are on sale at the office ofthe | were unemployed in England, or © \Daily Worker, 26 Union Square. : starts ak and Dressmakers’ Union— sino, 107th St. and Park Ave. its convention « tomorrow morning at 10 o’clock in Irving Plaza Hall, 15th St. and Irving lace. Activities final necessary in putting finishing touches on ar- rangements caused the offices of both organizations—the National Organization Committee of the Cloak and Dressmakers’ Union and the National Executive Committee of the Furriers’ Union—to throb with intensity. Great Enthusiasm. While official tements were in preparation, while calls to the mem- bership were being written and dele- gates from all over the country were being welcomed, the functions of the local organizations and its num- erous needs were being attended. An atmosphere of tremendous en- thusiasm pervaded the headquarters. Hundreds of workers came and went in a continuous stream. The N. O. C. offices at 16 W. 21st St. were filled on every floor, with meetings of various committees, officers and shop meetings. At the fur work- ers’ headquarters, while the day-to- y business of the New York or- ganization went on below, the Joint 3oard delegates prepared to go into session for consideration of final plans for their convention opening. Tomorrow the National Executive Committee of the Furriers’ Union meets at 10 in the morning to take up for last discussion various phases of the N. E. C, report which willbe deliyered at the convention. Mass “eet Sunday. Yesterday. tae garment and fur manufacturing district was flooded with literature calling on the work- ers to come to the huge mass meet- ing which both unions are calling for Sunday afternoon at 1 o'clock in the big Lincoln Arena, 66th St. and Broadway. The circulars were signed by Louis Hyman for the cloakmakers’ N, . and Ben Gold for the Furriers E. C. At this rally, where over ten thousand needle trades workers are expected to gather, the leaders of the cloak, dress and fur workers will report the decisions of both con- ventions on amalgamation into one national needle trades workers or- ganization. After the mass meeting in Lin- coln Arena, many workers will at- tend a banquet Sunday night at New Star Casino. All delegates will be at the banquet and the rank and file are invited Monday morning the delegates from both unions will go into joint session in the New Star Casino and will continue their task of laying the foundations of the new union till Tuesday evening, when it is ex= nected the convention will finish its work, Delegates Selected. The Italian cloak and dressmak- ers’ locals of New York and Boston yesterday gave out the list of dele- gates who were chosen by their re- spective memberships at meetings, Twelve delegates will represent the New York local and three are here from Boston. From New York they are: Oswaldo Eusepi, A. Ceccheni, . Guglielmo, A. Bonilace, G. Mas- saro, M. Mo . Santangelo, S, Mila M. Berardi, 8 The Bos- DiGirolano, S ton delegate: Miceli and ( Ss are A. DeRea. Freiheit Chorus Will Give Yiddish Premier of Mendelssohn on Sat. The first performance in Yiddish of Mendelssohn's celebrated oratorio “Walpurgis Night” will be given at the concert of the Freiheit Singi Society at Carnegie Hall, 57th and 7th Ave. tomorrow night. Workers of New York, te whom this opportunity presents itself, can obtain tickets in advance at the | Freiheit office, 30 Union Sq. Accompanying the chorus will be. a symphony orchestra conducted by Lazar Weiner. Gain of 250,000 in . British Unemployed LONDON (By Mail).—In the week ended Dee. 3, 500,000 workers 150,000 more than a year ago. Vv