The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 1, 1929, Page 6

Page Six : DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, TUESDAY, JANUARY 1, 1929 — ~~ _——————————— — } > Baily Central Organ Published by National Daily Worker Publis Ass’n., Inc., Daily, Excer at 26-28 Union Telephone, “Daitoork” Stuyvesant 1696: ROBERT MINOR WM. F. DUNNE Imperialist “Self-Defense” That Mr. Kellogg talks to much, is a conclu- Sion that might be reached upon reading that gentleman’s explanation that the Kel- loge “peace” treaty does not in the least interfere with aggressive warfare by the United States, no matter what the circum- stances, in any part of the world, and partic- ularly that it does not constitute the slightest obstacle to the imp st plan for the bloody conquest of Mexico, Central America and South America. But Mr. Kellog can’t help talking so much. For it is still necessary to clarify to a certain extent the imperialist war perspective in order to facilitate the carrying out of the program. So Kellogg explained that the imperialist “peace” pact does not interfere with “ defense” and that “self defense” pression to be applied to any sort of imp ist assault that the United States imperia’ government may care to make. Said he: “The right of self-defense is not limited to territory in the continental United States, for example. It means that this government has a right to take such measures as it be- lieves necessary to the defense of the country, or to prevent things that might endanger the country; but the United States must be the judge of that, and it is answerable to the public opinion of the world if it is not an honest defense, that is all.” is Referring to the British note, he said: “Now then, they did not say ‘we reserve the right to make war against anybody in the world that we want to because we want peace in the country. The British government put it solely on the ground of self-defense. I ap- prehend that the United States has got in- terests, the peace and security of which are necessary to the defense of the United States. Take the Canal Zone. Self-defense, as I said, is not limited to the mere defense, when at- tacked, of continental United States. It cov- ers all our possessions, all our rights; the right to take such steps as will prevent dan- ger to the United States. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: By Mail (in New York only): $4.50 six mos. $2.50 three mos. By Mail (outside of New York): $6 a year $3.50 six mos. $2.00 three mos. Address and mail all checks to The Daily Worker, 26-28 Union Square, New York, N. Y. $8 a year “We have guaranteed the independence of Panama. Outside of that question, we have a right to defend our treaty for maintaining the integrity and independence of Panama just as we have a right to defend San Francisco or New York.” Asked by a senator, “How about Colom- bia?” Kellogg continued: “That brings up the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine is simply a doctrine of self- defense. It does not consist of any agreement between the United States and any country in the Western Hemisphere, or anywhere else. It is unnecessary for me to go through all the utterance of every statesman from the time of Monroe to the present, to show what the Mon- roe Doctrine is. And it was most appropriate that the Wall Street war lord’s last words were to the ef- fect that the signing of the treaty along with the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics does not mean recognition of the Soviet Union by the United States government. For, among all the sharp antagonisms between states, which are rapidly paving the way to the next world-war, the most fundamental antago- nism is that which pushes the impérialist war makers toward war with the Workers’ Re- public. “Headlong into imperialist war’ is an apt escription of the present trend of history. The working class, under the leadership of its own revolutionary world-party, the Communist International, has the greatest task of all time to perform in preparing for the crash that is coming. The theses of the Sixth Congress of the Communist Interna- tional on imperialist war, now being published in the Daily Worker, should be studied over and over again by every class-conscious worker. The fullest mobilization of working class strength to fight the war danger is necessary new, the defense of the Socialist Fatherland of all workers against all imperi- alist Powers is necessary now, and the trans- formation of the imperialist war into the civil war for the overthrow of the parasitic ruling class and for the establishment of the dictatorship of the working class, is a task for which we have not long to wait. ‘THE STRIKE WAVE IN- EUROPE During the last few months a mighty strike-wave has swep* over many countries of Europe. The strike of the textile workers in Northerr France, of the textile workers in Poland, of the dockyard workers in Germany of the miners in Lower Silesia, and the lockout of the German textile workers—these are tthe most important and most typical. economic conflicts of recent yeeurrence, / The mass charagter of the move- nent, the struggld against capitalist ationalization, tHe tendency toward »ordination with the political strug- | de, the sharp chafacter of the con- liet, and finally he increased in- ‘uence of the Cammunist Parties, f the revolutionary unions and rev jutionary minoritits in the union =these are the clgaracteristic fea- ares of these stri The rising wi e of the strike character are not 4 to us. On the contrary, hese facts completely confirm _the nalysis as given by the Ninth enum of the Executive Commit- ve of the Communist International, y the Fifth Congress of the Red aternational of Labor Unions and y the Sixth Congress of the Com- stern. ; The 6th congress of the Comin- om has formulated the perspective { the struggle during the next peri- 1 of development as follows: “,. . the resistance of the work- ng class—which has ulready re- sovered from the severe defeats of ‘he preceding period—is growing ind assuming extremely diverse ‘orms, The development of the sontradictions of capitalist stabili- ‘ation, rationalization, growth of memployment, the increasing e upon the standard of liv- ng of the working class, the ruin- ition of the petty-bourgeoisie, te., inevitably intensify the class teuggle and widen its basis.” ‘The whole course of events has mndantly confirmed the correct- ‘ss of this prognosis. The strike ovement in all the countries of trope exhibits a character such as/ in the resolutions cited. | jally characteristic in this anection are the largest of the bei in progress, namely— of the Textile Workers Poland and Northern France. of these strikes are the re- of capitalist rationalization. it is not an accident that re, being enacted precisely ile industry. Now that tion has been the metallurgica} and les, it is the turn of the ‘y. In the struggle for tg the reduction if tariat, 4 price of textile goods plays the most, France and the C. G. T. U. have important role; therefore interna-| grasped this. This is not doubted tional capital puts its greatest pres-|by our enemies, with Jouhaux at sure on the textile workers, lower-| their head, who have set up the ing their wages, lengthening their | principle of arbitration as against work-day, shortening the rest peri-|strikes. Finally, the capitalists ods, and in the process of rationali-| stress this through their mouthpiece, zation squeezing out the last drop of | one of the leaders of the textile eon- energy from the workers, | | post-war period of the revolutionar: | In France there had been no great | P® 7 Itai saat ent acianie: thatectiin muoversent has come to an end, that svoukers <airies 1021, although wages| t ie capitalists alone are capable of and working conditions had become | (mowing and deciding whether they carly wore, jean increase wages, and that conse- y quently they would not take the de- mands of the workers into con- sideration. | In Poland the textile industry, on account of the loss of export mar- In Poland the political character of the slogans and of the united struggle of the textile workers most clearly shown in the agitation and preparations for the strike by |the Communist Party. The Party pointed out that the fascist regime promulgated the decree as to fines and other regulations, that the struggle for an increase in wages, for the eight-hour work day, against rationalization, and for the protec- tion of factory delegates is a part of the struggle against the fascist dictatorship, which aims to stabilize Decreasing the cost of pro- duction is a vital question here. ince, however, technical improve-| ments have only been carried out on a small scale, the whole force of ra- | tionalization is expressed in pres- |sure upon the workers, in an unpre- cedented exploitation of these work- ers. The rationalization process be- |gan in 1926, a short time aftcr the |May uprising. From that time on) |up to this very last strike there oc- |curred a number of struggles which, with the exception of the general} strike of the textile workers in 1927, |exhibited a pre-eminently defensive character. All these struggles, how- ever, ended, through the treachery | \of the reformists, in defeat or with a paltry increase of the nominal wage not at all conmensurate to the | \cost of living index. Both of these strikes, the French and the Polish, are, therefore, typical strikes, which must be characterized |as the result of the sharpening con- |tradictions inherent in stabilization and capitalist rationalization. However, we have to deal here with a movement not merely of a defensive character but one which has already passed over to the of- \fensive. The demands put forward by the workers in these strikes have | to do first of all with an increase in | wages; they deal, therefore, primar- \ily and in a decisive manner with |the plans of the employers which aim at lowering the prices of goods |through lowering the standard of Ba war against the Soviet Union. The political character of this strike is stressed by the Lodz labor inspector, who declares that “the cause of the outbreak of the strike before the term of the col- lective agreement had come to an end may be laid to the influence of Communist agitators upon the workers and to the efforts of the union to carry through the strike on organizational lines eyen be- fore the expiration of the term of the collective agreement, if only in order to prevent, before such ex- piration, the breaking-out of a ‘wild’ strike over the heads of the union leaders . . . The strike broke out evidently under the pressure of the extreme left elements.” In respect to the number of work- ers participating in them and in re- spect to their proportions, the strikes under analysis are essentially dif- ferent from the economic struggles of earlier years. They are no longer isolated, small partial strikes in single factories and plants, but strikes which embrace the workers of a certain district, as in France, or a general strike in a certain branch of industry, such as the tex- tile strike in Poland. They have a tendency to spread to other branches. Such is the case in Lodz, There the Communist Party is striving to explain the general solidarity strike; it is trying to broaden the economic struggle, and, if possible, to co- ordinate with it other revolts, such as that of the miners, To Be Continued \living of the workers. It must be |mentioned nevertheless that these |strikes in the character of their de- |mands extend far beyond the limits of a purely economic struggle. The | struggle in Lodz against the system |of fines instituted by fascist decree, the struggle for the protection of factory delegates in the demands of the English textile workers, the call- ing of a strike in Halluin as a sym- pathetic strike with the metal work- ers, and finally the struggle of the unions in France for their rights, for their very existence—all this gives these great economic strug- gles of the proletariat a political tinge and thus links them up with the general struggle of the prole- The Communist Party of Bian ud laid |sortium. The latter declares that the | capitalism by pressure upon the| working class and to prepare for| | HIS INSPIRATION | (Note—The ninth instalment of the Comintern theses on the war jdanger, entitled “The Struggle | Against Imperialist War and the | Tasks of the Communists” follows. These theses were adopted at the recent 6th World Congress in Mos- cow.—Editor.) 5 ean 2. Demands in Connection with the Legal Rights and Economic Position of the Soldiers. | Increased pay for soldiers. Improved maintenance. The establishment of stores com-| mittees composed of soldiers’ rep- Tesentatives, Abolition of disciplinary punish- | ments. | Abolition of compulsory saluting. | | Severe penalties for officers and non-commissioned officers inflicting | corporal punishment on private sol-| | diers, The right to wear mufti (civilian |clothes) when off duty. The right to be absent from bar- racks every day. | Furlough, and extra pay while on | furlough. The right to marry. Maintenance for soldiers’ families. The right to subscribe to news- | papers. | The right to organize in trade | unions. The right to vote; the right to at- |tend political meetings. | Work Among National Minorities. The fact that in numerous imper- ialist countries a considerable per- centage of the armies are recruited | from among oppressed national mi | orities, whereas the officers either \entirely or for the greater part be- \long to the oppressing nation, pro- vides very favorable ground for) |revolutionary work in the army. | Consequently, among the partial de-| mands we advance in the interests | of the masses of the soldiers should be included demands corresponding to the needs of these oppressed na- |tionalities (for example: military service in their home district; the | use of the native language in drill-| ing and instruction, etc.). 47. The demands of both the above-mentioned categories (only a) few of which have been enumerated) must not only be put forward in the army but also outside of it—in par-| liament, ats mass meetings, etc.| Propaganda in support of these de- mands will be successful only if they bear a concrete character. In order that they may do so it is necessary: Concrete Propaganda Needed. 1. To have a close acquaintance with the army, with the conditions of service, with the needs and de- mands of the soldiers, etc., which can only be acquired by maintain- ing close personal contact with the| army. 2. To give consideration to the system of defense in the given states and to the situation in regard to the military question at the given moment. 3. To take into consideration the morale of the army and the politi- cal situation in the country at the given moment. For example, the demand for the election of officers, as a rule, can be advanced only when the army has reached an ad- vanced stage of disintegration. 4. To link up close partial de- mands with the principal slogans of the Communist Party—arming the proletariat, proletarian militia, etc. These demands will have revolu- | tionary significance only if they are linked up with a distinct political program for revolutionizing the bourgeois army. Ly |mentioned above. Protection of Soldiers’ Interests. Special attention must be paid to organizing the soldiers for the pro- tection of their interests, in alliance with the revolutionary proletariat, prior to their being called up for Service (recruits’ leagues, mutual aid clubs), during the period of military service (soldiers’ councils) jand also after the conclusion of | military service (revolutionary ex- servicemen’s leagues). It must be the special task of the trade unions to maintain contact with their mem- bers in the army and to help them to form the above-mentioned organ- izations. Social Base For Mass Work. 48. The conditions for revolution-| ary work in volunteer armies differ from the conditions for such work in conscript armies. armies it is usually much more dif- ficult to carry on agitation in sup- port of partial demands like those Nevertheless, the work must be undertaken. The fact that in a majority of cases volunteer armies are recruited from among the proletariat (the unem-} ployed) and from among the poor peasants, provides a social base for mass work among the soldiers, The forms of this work must be carefully adapted to the social com- position and the special features of the troops. Strenuous agitation must be carried on among the masses against~ the special forces the bourge organize for class struggle against the proletariat (gendarm and police) and espe- cially again: | (the fasci: The reformists who talk loudly about the “public utility” of these forces, about the “national police” and about fascist “equality” must | be relentlessly combated with par- ticular energy, and every effort must be made to rouse a passionate hatred among the people towards these forces and to expose their real character. But every effort must be made to stimulate social differentiation even among these forces and to win over the prole- tarian elements in them. Soldiers’ Councils. 49, Revolutionary work in the army raust be linked up with the general revolutionary movement of the masses of the proletariat and poor peasantry. If an immediate revolutionary situation prevails, and \if the industrial proletariat is be- ginning to establish Soviets, the slogan: establish soldiers’ councils, assumes immediate practical impor- tance and facilitates the work of uniting the masses of the soldiers | with the proletariat and the poor peasantry in their struggle for pow- er. Wherever circumstances permit, the Communists must try to organ- ize the masses of the soldiers in |volunteer armies under the slogan In volunteer ; their volunteer forces | them for the fight against the of- ficers and the bourgeoisie. Where the social composition of certain} |units do not permit of this being | | done, the Communists must demand |the immediate disarming and dis- solution of such military units. B. The Military Question During | the Proletarian Revolution. 50. The main slogans upon which} | the democratic partial demands are | |based are: disarm the bourgeoisie; arm the proletariat. The arming of the proletariat as- | sumes various forms at various |stages of the revolution. In the period prior to the seizure of pow- ler, and in the first period after the seizure of power, it takes the form of a proletarian militia—a militia of the toilers, the Red Guard, and also Red Guerilla detachments. The Red Army is the form of military organization of the Soviet govern- ment, i. e., it is the army of the dic- tatorship of the proletariat. Proletarian Militia. The demand for a_ proletarian militia (a militia consisting of toil- \ers, a workers’ and peasants’ mili- tia) in an imperialist country is merely another way of formulating the demand for arming the prole- tariat and can be put forward only |in the inevitable transitional stage in the military policy of the prole- tarian revolution, in the period prior ‘to the organization of the Red) Army. Where there is no imme-} diate revolutionary situation, this | slogan can have only a propagandist significance. Nevertheless, it may become an immediately practical} slogan in the fight against fascism. At all events; the demand for a proletarian militia, or for a militia |of the toilers, can only be put in the form of a direct appeal to the proletariat and not as a demand upon the bourgeois government. That being the case, this demand should be made to governments, or to parliaments, only in exceptional circumstances (for example, where there is a social democratic govern- ment, or where there is a social democratic ‘majority in parliament, or among the masses). Under such circumstances, the demand. must be put forward only as a means of ‘ex- posing the social democratic party. Red Guard. The Red Guard is an organ of re- bellion, It is the duty of the Com- munists to agitate for the estab- lishment of such a Red Guard and to organize it when an immediate revolutionary situation arises. &1. Under no circumstances must it be forgotten that the existence of a proletarian militia, or a Red Guard, in imperialist countries, un- der a bourgeois state and in a state of “peace” is absolutely impossible. The proletarian militia is the armed organization of the proletar- iat fighting for the establishment USSR DEVELOPS AUTOS Buy Truck Engines Here for Project A $250,000 order for truck en- gines and transmissions has been placed by the Amtorg Trading Cor- poration on behalf of the Soviet Automobile Trust. These aggre- gates, purchased from the Hercules Company and the Brown-Lipe Gear Company, will be installed in three and one-half ton trucks and buses manufactured in Russia. This is the first large Soviet purchase of this class of equipment in this country, In connection with this order Mr. M. L. Sorokin, president of the Soviet Automobile Trust, who is at present in this country, said that up to the present time German equip- ment has been used by the Trust. “American equipment may be used to a very large extent in connection with the forthcoming important de- The Struggle Against Imperialist War and the Tasks of the Communists of soldiers’ councils, +and mobilize | of the dictatorship of the proletariat | week; it has since been increased or, an organ of the proletarian dic- tatorship’ for the purpose of sup- pressing the exploiters. This distin- guishes our slogan of proletarian | militia from the reformist plans for establishing yellow “workers’ de- fense corps,” consisting of specially selected, ignorant, or bribed prole- tarian elements. The latter kind of “labor defense corps” was used for the purpose of disrupting and restraining the prole- tariat in the struggle in the Ruhr Favorite of Labor. F akers By WILLIAM Continued FOSTER. S In the “socialist” Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union, the gift graft, among others, is practiced. Its 1924 convention authorized the distribu- tion of $4,000 in tokens ot apprecia- tion as follows: “Pres. Sigman and Sec’y Baroff, $350 each; Vice-Pres. Feinberg, Breslaw, Heller, Dubinsky, Wander, Ninfo, $250 each; Vice- Pres. Schoolman, Perlstein, Monno- son, Lefkowitz, Seidman, Halpern, Reisberg, Cohn, $175 each; Wolf and Danish, $100 each; Yanovsky and Render, $75 each;. Finkelstein, $50; Berny, $25.” Miscellaneous Instances. President Wm. Green of the A. F. of L. gets $12,000; W. D. Mahon of the Street Car Men’s Union, $10,- 000; B. M. Jewell, president of the Railway Employes Dept., $7,500; John Fitzpatrick and E. N. Nockels, president and secretary of the Chi- cago Federation of Labor, each $5,- 200; and John H. Walker and V. Olander, heads of the Illinois Fed- eration of Labor, each $6,500, etc. The average yearly wage of adult male workers at full time is only $1,500. Daniel J. Tobin, president of the International Brotherhood of Team- sters, Chauffeurs, ete., receives a salary of $10,000 yearly with an ex- pense account to fit. He is just as reactionary as his salary is over- swollen. It would take the ayerage yearly wages of about six of his rank and file members to equal his own salary. Wm. Near, head of the Chicago | Milk Wagon Drivers’ Union, draws $10,000 a year and all expenses. The rest of his fellow officials are real aristocrats and receive pro- | portionally high salaries. | James CG. Petrillo is president of the Chicago Federation of Musicians. | He was recently re-elected. Prior to the election his salary was $200 per |to $250 per week, or $13,000 per year. | Innumerable similar instances of |exorbitant salaries are to be found in all localities and in all unions. | When it comes to salaries the motto | of the labor faker is the time-honor- jed railroad slogan of “all the traffic | will bear.” | Variegated Thievery. | Undoubtedly a great many of the | trade union officialdom, ct least of |in May, 1923, and after the Vienna’ the minor grades, are honest and ée- uprising in 1927, It is the duty of | voted to the interest of the uaions velopments in the Soviet automobile industry,” stated Mx. Sovol i dictatorship of the proletariat has | been established and consolidated, in the period when the state and classes are dying out. In order to protect itself against imperialism, the proletariat must have a strong, disciplined, well- armed and efficient Red Army. Under present conditions, this func- tion can be fulfilled only by a standing army representing the core of the armed mass of the toiling population. To demand from the dictatorship of the proletariat, when it is surrounded by a capitalist en- vironment, the immediate and com- | plete transition to the militia sys- tem, is petty. bourgeois and counter- revolutionary stupidity. The more or less complete intro- duction of the militia principle in its pure form without any weaken-| ing of military power will be pos- sible only when the _ productive forces have been completely devel- oped, when socialism has been fully established and the masses have been thoroughly trained in the spirit of Communism. proletarian revolution has been vic- torious in a number of big capital- ist states will the proletarian gov- ernment (as the VIII. Plenum of the E, C. C. I. has declared) be in a position to substitute the stand- ing Red Army by a class militia. At all events, the spirit, discipline and system of organization of the defense force of the dictatorship of the proletariat must bear a dis- tinctly class character. Elements belonging to the exploiting class must not be permitted to serve jn the ranks. (To be continued) ELECT LABOR FAKER. CHICAGO (By Mail)—James .C. Petrillo, with a record as a reac- tionary and foe of progressive work- ers, has again been elected president of the Chicago Federation of Mu- sicians. UNFAIR TO LABOR CHICAGO (By Mail)—The “Su- per-Maid” Aluminum kitchen Uten- sil Co. has been declared unfair to union labor. 3 > BARBERS FIGHT LONG HOURS. SATTLE (By Mail)—Organized barbers are seeking to obtain a clos- ing hour of 6 p. m. instead of 8.30 p.m. a8 at present. LAY OFF FRENCH MILL WORKERS PARIS (By Mail)—Over 2000 oxtile workers have ben laid off in France in the Jast month, Only when the} the Communists strenuously to com- | as they understand that interest. bat these despicable maneuvers of the social democrats. Types of Workers’ Militia. 52. A distinction must be made between the militant slogan of workers’ militia, proletarian militia and Red Guard—to be established prior to the capture of power, and which represent the rudiments of the Red Army—and the forms of militia which must arise after the | Nevertheless dishonest practices are | disastrously widespread. The pad- | ding of expense accounts and the | screwing up of salaries to scandalous | heights are almost universal. The | worst types of officials, of whom there are all too many, also practice many other forms of muleting the | unions. | Strike, Organization, and Legal | Expenses. Strikes offer prolific opportunities | for corrupt union officials to fatten | their bank eccounts at the expense | of the workers and they often take advantage of them. Although strik- ers may be hungry there will only |too often be found union officials | degraded enough to steal from their | meager strike funds. The miners |have suffered much from this evil. |The scandal in District 5 of the U. |M. W. A., following the 1922 strike | was only one of the many cases of | such corruption that might be cited. |The needle trades and other unions have also had their experiences in this respect. The recent cloakmak- ers’ strike in New York was an ex- |ample. Although the general con- trol of the strike was in the hands of | the left wing, the right wing lead- ers were strong enough to intrench | themselves in various committees carrying on vital strike activities. Result, extensive graft by them in spite of all efforts at proper con- trot. Then, with fine irony, these same corrupt officials, aided by Matthew Woll and other ultra-reac- tionaries, raised cries of graft against the left wing leadership. To Be Continued | I'm sending New Year's greetings too, greetings to the new year of 1 only workers’ paper, the Daily Worl er. Which means not picture cards, but dollars and lots of them! purchase of the Kalb County. ald by the Butler Weekly has thr a dozen workers out of wor,